End of Dragon Gameplay trailer [lore discussion]

[EdwinLi.1284]

The big lore reveal why we are going to Cantha is revealed in this trailer.
 

 

It appears the main antagonist for this expansion will be the Aetherblades as their long silence has finally been broken revealing all this time they had been in Cantha preparing for a new plan that may lead to a all out war if they are not stopped. We also learn Cantha still very much are untrusting of outsiders so part of the story will focus on earning their trusts.

That aside, I really like that New Kaineng still looks like the old Kaineng from GW1 while new buildings and technology has been added. It feels like going to that certain part in a city in China where they have modernized but still maintain a lot of old buildings as well.

 

I also love how the new Jade tech mastery expands on our Gliding Mastery. I always felt expansion masteries have potential to expand on old expansion masteries.

Not to mention that Meta boss reveal with that Giant Dragon Fish! It is Leviathan!

Edited February 1, 2022 by EdwinLi.1284

[Farohna.6247]

I really enjoyed the trailer, well done and intriguing and more polished.  I like getting a little snippet of why we're going there and what's changed.  It's really lovely and look forward to it's arrival.  

[Randulf.7614]

Love the thought of what might be a leviathan or similar fight after waiting nearly 10 years for one. Are those lay lines going into the sky?

[EdwinLi.1284]

47 minutes ago, Randulf.7614 said:

Love the thought of what might be a leviathan or similar fight after waiting nearly 10 years for one. Are those lay lines going into the sky?

Ya it has been a very long time teased at us since GW2 began and now we finally get the Leviathan boss fight. 

As for the ending scene of this trailer with Ley Lines going into the sky, looks like it. Why is in question but since part of this expansion story is to discover the very Secrets of the Dragons, I think it may related to something big about Elder Dragons. Maybe a hint to their origins so we learn how the whole Elder Dragon Cycle began for my guess.

Edited February 1, 2022 by EdwinLi.1284

[SunRoamer.5103]

A little tidbit that caught my attention (and that might warrant its own thread eventually after release) is that from 1:19 onwards we can see a mechanist and his Jade-Pal fighting Unchained gorillas in what is most likely Shing-Jae island (overall very green environs, a toppled lighthouse of sorts in the background). There was no Unchained/Risen presence in all of Elona despite it's proximity to Orr (there even being a landbridge) so I find it most curious that we end up finding some washed up all the way south in Cantha.

Of course it's possible that they simply recycled the model as a generic undead monster/spirit, which I don't necessarily mind, but in that case some changes would have been nice (similar to how the Mouth of Zhaitan model was modified to suit the spectral demon that appears in PoF's The Departing).

And side note: from what we've seen so far I don't particularly like what we've seen of New Kaineng City. I don't mind the Jade-Punk theme, but rather it just doesn't feel like a space that people would convincingly live in. It all kinda clashes and some spaces seem way too open. It feels like maybe ANet struggles with designing urban spaces since launch, since similar issues are present in the redesign of Lion's Arch/Vabbi (Amnoon kinda dodges the bullet due to just being so monumental and having half of the city buried by a recent sandstorm). That said, of course I will wait until Friday's stream/until I get my hands on EoD at the end of February to really make a judgment, though. When I zoomed in on certain parts I didn't mind the urban design as much, so maybe it had more to do with the angles, FOV and (possibly) despawned actors.

Edited February 1, 2022 by SunRoamer.5103

[EdwinLi.1284]

1 hour ago, SunRoamer.5103 said:

A little tidbit that caught my attention (and that might warrant its own thread eventually after release) is that from 1:19 onwards we can see a mechanist and his Jade-Pal fighting Unchained gorillas in what is most likely Shing-Jae island (overall very green environs, a toppled lighthouse of sorts in the background). There was no Unchained/Risen presence in all of Elona despite it's proximity to Orr (there even being a landbridge) so I find it most curious that we end up finding some washed up all the way south in Cantha.

Of course it's possible that they simply recycled the model as a generic undead monster/spirit, which I don't necessarily mind, but in that case some changes would have been nice (similar to how the Mouth of Zhaitan model was modified to suit the spectral demon that appears in PoF's The Departing).

And side note: from what we've seen so far I don't particularly like what we've seen of New Kaineng City. I don't mind the Jade-Punk theme, but rather it just doesn't feel like a space that people would convincingly live in. It all kinda clashes and some spaces seem way too open. It feels like maybe ANet struggles with designing urban spaces since launch, since similar issues are present in the redesign of Lion's Arch/Vabbi (Amnoon kinda dodges the bullet due to just being so monumental and having half of the city buried by a recent sandstorm). That said, of course I will wait until Friday's stream/until I get my hands on EoD at the end of February to really make a judgment, though. When I zoomed in on certain parts I didn't mind the urban design as much, so maybe it had more to do with the angles, FOV and (possibly) despawned actors.

It was mentioned the Jade Brotherhood are experimenting on animals with Dragon Jade to understand the effects they have on living beings. These undead maybe one of their results which may mean we maybe able to find data about how Dragon Jade affects living beings there or through a Main story quest. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by EdwinLi.1284

[Zola.6197]

It’s also possible the risen traveled to cantha on their own. They had risen ships they used to travel all over Tyria, so any remaining unchained could have conceptually gotten in a boat and traveled south, especially if the effort was led by one of the more intelligent unchained risen.

Edit: or zhaitan could’ve sent an invading force before their fall 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Zola.6197

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

4 hours ago, EdwinLi.1284 said:

That aside, I really like that New Kaineng still looks like the old Kaineng from GW1 while new buildings and technology has been added. It feels like going to that certain part in a city in China where they have modernized but still maintain a lot of old buildings as well.

Same. It still feels a bit too advanced for what is still implied to just be 10 years of advancement, and that holographic whale is a bit much IMO, but I'm glad it's not as horrifically neon jadepunk catatonic as the concept art all implied.

4 hours ago, EdwinLi.1284 said:

Not to mention that Meta boss reveal with that Giant Dragon Fish! It is Leviathan!

NGL, this was easily one of the most hyping moments of the trailer.

I wonder if they'll finally add that leviathan to Viathan Lake as was originally intended.

[EdwinLi.1284]

1 hour ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

 

NGL, this was easily one of the most hyping moments of the trailer.

I wonder if they'll finally add that leviathan to Viathan Lake as was originally intended.

It will be interesting to see how they will play this Meta boss out considering we will be fighting underwater in this meta.

 

That aside, guess we now know how we begin the story with entering Cantha. The commander and his/her companions are attacked and shot down from the sky. As a wise person once said, "another happy landing".

[DeanBB.4268]

Maybe it's not a meta-boss, but the final fishing challenge?

"Land the Leviathan 50AP"

[SunRoamer.5103]

30 minutes ago, EdwinLi.1284 said:

It will be interesting to see how they will play this Meta boss out considering we will be fighting underwater in this meta.

Playing with siege turtles might be encouraged or required (so that we actually do have a reason to do the ocean floor walk), plus maybe anchored skiffs can also be useful so as to blast the leviathan from above. Remember, we don't need to be close to a shoreline anymore.

[Tails.9372]

2 hours ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

Maybe it's not a meta-boss

I can see it being an underwater SM boss.

[Randulf.7614]

Can’t see it being a strike since it says monumental large scale event. That suggests a World Boss or at worst case, an instance like Marionette/Jormag + Primordus

[Hadi.6025]

Can we get some Jade Tech Golems / Siege in WvW? Just for funsies. Since they said they MIGHT consider Siege golem

 

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

4 hours ago, EdwinLi.1284 said:

That aside, guess we now know how we begin the story with entering Cantha. The commander and his/her companions are attacked and shot down from the sky. As a wise person once said, "another happy landing".

That's an Aetherblade ship being shot down.

[EdwinLi.1284]

6 minutes ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

That's an Aetherblade ship being shot down.

I know but judging by how this cutscene will take place in the Shing Jea Island which is where we will begin GW2 EoD story, I suspect that Aetherblade ship is one that the Commander and his/her companions manage to steal or manage to sneak on to so they can sneak into Cantha with the other Aetherblades to discoer what they are up to. My suspecion is that in the beginning of the story the Commander and his/her companions do not even know the Aetherblades have been traveling to Cantha so they sneak on to that Aetherblade ship so they can follow them.

 

If the trailer is anything to go by, Cantha may still has its isolation policy and the Commander and his companions are entering the place illegally. I suspect the first mission in EoD is going to be about taking that Aetherblade ship we see shot down or will be about getting on that ship so the Commander and his/her companions can follow the Aetherblades due to currently not knowing that the Aetherblades have been traveling into Cantha for years now. 

 

Of course everything goes wrong the moment they enter Cantha which leads to that cutscene in the trailer.

Edited February 2, 2022 by EdwinLi.1284

[ugrakarma.9416]

7 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

but I'm glad it's not as horrifically neon jadepunk catatonic as the concept art all implied.

LOL u killing me. im imagining that stuff LOLZ

Edited February 2, 2022 by ugrakarma.9416

[TheOrlyFactor.8341]

No sign of Rytlock anywhere, thank God. If he's completely absent from EoD I'll buy the expansion.

[EdwinLi.1284]

3 hours ago, TheOrlyFactor.8341 said:

No sign of Rytlock anywhere, thank God. If he's completely absent from EoD I'll buy the expansion.

after what happened in current story events, I am not surprised he decided to sit this one out until the next living world story. Rylock probably has a lot of things he needs to sort out after the death of his son and the mess left behind within the Charr's society. 

 

While the commander is with his/her current chosen companions in Cantha, a lot of offscreen events may play out for both Rytlock and Braham. I am still guessing that these off-screen events may lead to both Rytlock and Braham finally retiring from the group like Rox did. Thus leading to them only showing up once in a while to act as representatives like Rox is now for the Olmakhan and Logan for the Pact.

Either way I expect since we are reaching the finale of the Elder Dragon storyline and moving on to a new one after that each Dragon's watch member may retire and Dragon's watch fully disband to make way for a new group of companion in the new storyline after the Elder Dragon storyline end. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by EdwinLi.1284

[draxynnic.3719]

3 hours ago, EdwinLi.1284 said:

after what happened in current story events, I am not surprised he decided to sit this one out until the next living world story. Rylock probably has a lot of things he needs to sort out after the death of his son and the mess left behind within the Charr's society. 

I think there's also good reason for all of the other characters:

Marjory has the family history, and has been involved in investigating the Aetherblades before (I think it was her introduction, even).

Kasmeer is apparently the Queen's ambassador.

Caithe has the strongest link with Aurene apart from the Commander, and may end up being very interested in Wardens.

And Taimi and Gorrik are both neck deep in the 'investigating magic' stuff and will probably have some interest in jadetech as well.

Since Arenanet is trying to keep a limit on how many characters are spotlighted at once, then Braham and Rytlock are pretty much pushed out. Heck, Rytlock probably only tagged along to Elona because he at least suspected that the Mists guy who reignited an old human relic might have been the fire god that was causing problems now.

[Legion.4198]

I like to think the Empress sees Kasmeer and her companions as a bunch of unwashed and technologically backwards barbarians. I think this approach would be better representation of Canthan chauvinism and arrogance as the most powerful empire in the world. It doesn't help that, besides vague tales from the Zephyrite or the interrogating Aetherblades minions, the only other big empire (that we are aware of) that Cantha may have been in contact or traded with is Palawa Joko's United Kingdom of Elona. 

 

On the other hand, you can see Taimi is clearly wearing Jade-powered orthopaedic legs. 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Legion.4198

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

16 hours ago, EdwinLi.1284 said:

I know but judging by how this cutscene will take place in the Shing Jea Island which is where we will begin GW2 EoD story, I suspect that Aetherblade ship is one that the Commander and his/her companions manage to steal or manage to sneak on to so they can sneak into Cantha with the other Aetherblades to discoer what they are up to. My suspecion is that in the beginning of the story the Commander and his/her companions do not even know the Aetherblades have been traveling to Cantha so they sneak on to that Aetherblade ship so they can follow them.

 

If the trailer is anything to go by, Cantha may still has its isolation policy and the Commander and his companions are entering the place illegally. I suspect the first mission in EoD is going to be about taking that Aetherblade ship we see shot down or will be about getting on that ship so the Commander and his/her companions can follow the Aetherblades due to currently not knowing that the Aetherblades have been traveling into Cantha for years now. 

 

Of course everything goes wrong the moment they enter Cantha which leads to that cutscene in the trailer.

ArenaNet already confirmed a while ago that EoD begins with Empress Ihn opening its borders again, so there'd be no need for the Commander to sneak into Cantha, let alone steal an airship to do so. The trailer to me rather implies that - like with PoF, Kasmeer got sent on a diplomatic mission when the borders opened, and just because they're open to negotiations with trade doesn't mean they trust Tyrians.

Not to mention in the Shing Jea stream, ArenaNet confirmed that the first map takes place before the "kitten hits the fan" moment in the storyline, so I can't see it being an "everything goes wrong the moment they enter Cantha", otherwise the first map's narrative wouldn't make sense.

And in the trailer, at 1:04, we can see that very same crashing airship is now swarmed with idle Aetherblades (implying open world).

 

IMO, we're joining Kasmeer and Caithe as diplomats of Tyria with our own agenda (investigating the flow of magic, hence Taimi and Gorrik, who may or may not also serve as diplomats of Rata Sum), and run into the Aetherblades ala that drive-by-each-other meme while they're attacking Shing Jea (which is what the Shing Jea stream implied - that we stopped an Aetherblade attack before entering the map), which causes a minor delay before we head to the second map (New Kaineng City) to meet Empress Ihn.

 

I'd be (slightly) surprised if we don't get some charr and norn diplomats joining us, but given the trailer they'll be side characters rather than main cast. Sigfast would be a good choice for norn, as he's done diplomatic missions before.

But we'll find out in 26 days.

Edited February 2, 2022 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

6 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

I think there's also good reason for all of the other characters:

Marjory has the family history, and has been involved in investigating the Aetherblades before (I think it was her introduction, even).

Kasmeer is apparently the Queen's ambassador.

Caithe has the strongest link with Aurene apart from the Commander, and may end up being very interested in Wardens.

And Taimi and Gorrik are both neck deep in the 'investigating magic' stuff and will probably have some interest in jadetech as well.

Since Arenanet is trying to keep a limit on how many characters are spotlighted at once, then Braham and Rytlock are pretty much pushed out. Heck, Rytlock probably only tagged along to Elona because he at least suspected that the Mists guy who reignited an old human relic might have been the fire god that was causing problems now.

Additionally for Caithe, she's now leader of the Crystal Bloom, which makes her an international leader as the Crystal Bloom are basically the help-and-recovery-parallel to the anti-dragon-military forces of the Pact. This would put her in a position where making diplomatic talks with Cantha is important.

Logan too, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one asking us to go to Cantha to represent the Pact, being a former Commander, while he does desk job stuff.

[EdwinLi.1284]

1 hour ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Additionally for Caithe, she's now leader of the Crystal Bloom, which makes her an international leader as the Crystal Bloom are basically the help-and-recovery-parallel to the anti-dragon-military forces of the Pact. This would put her in a position where making diplomatic talks with Cantha is important.

Logan too, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one asking us to go to Cantha to represent the Pact, being a former Commander, while he does desk job stuff.

A lot of characters in Dragon Watch and past encounters do appear to be entering that Diplomat/representative/leader position as their retirement plan.

With Caithe now leader of the Crystal Bloom, even if she no longer plays a big role in the new storyline after the Elder Dragon Saga ends, she is in a position to return anytime due to needing to represent the Crystal Bloom organization. That or she gets Koss to act as a representative in her place. 

 

Logan reason for returning once in a while for future storylines after Elder Dragon story ends for the new story is the same with Caithe since relationship development between the organization and countries is still important not just for long term survival of the organization but also to be in a position for their aid to be accepted if a threat appears that requires their talents.

 

Kasmeer on the other hand does appear to be Anet's chosen character to return the most as a long time companion since they set the plot to have Queen Jennah be very direct with negotiations whenever access to a new country is opened. What better way to get there and have the ideal bodyguard than the Commander himself/herself. I expect Kasmeer role as a long term companion is basically set by Anet for the new story after the Elder Dragon Storyline ends and the new Storyline begins.

Edited February 2, 2022 by EdwinLi.1284

[draxynnic.3719]

4 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Additionally for Caithe, she's now leader of the Crystal Bloom, which makes her an international leader as the Crystal Bloom are basically the help-and-recovery-parallel to the anti-dragon-military forces of the Pact. This would put her in a position where making diplomatic talks with Cantha is important.

Logan too, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one asking us to go to Cantha to represent the Pact, being a former Commander, while he does desk job stuff.

Leadership of the Crystal Bloom is part of what I was folding into the 'close link with Aurene' part. It's probably also noteworthy that, to make a parallel with Jormag's arrangements, Caithe is essentially the Voice to the PC's Champion: if there's a point where Aurene wants to talk to someone without being physically present, Caithe would be who she sends.

I'd also contest the distinction between the Crystal Bloom and the Vigil, since the Vigil was pretty much always established as having the help-and-recovery aspect alongside the direct military one. I think a more significant distinction is that the Vigil's charter is the defence of (central) Tyria, primarily against Elder Dragons, while the Crystal Bloom is more about supporting Aurene (as the Brotherhood of the Dragon and the Zephyrites supported Glint, although the Crystal Bloom does seem to be more militarised than either). Which does still leave a lot of overlap, since the Vigil's policy is that Aurene is an ally, but they do focus on different things.

In the end, though, I do think 'spokeswoman for Aurene' is going to prove more significant. Particularly since when push comes to shove she's viewed as the leader of the Crystal Bloom because she's Aurene's voice rather than the other way around (when they appeared in Dragonfall, she appeared almost as surprised, somewhat apologetic even, as the PC).