The Departing mission

[Razor.6392]

I just wanted to give props to anet, this story chapter had a really fitting atmosphere going. It was unsettling, nostalgic and perhaps even a little emotional.

Good job!

[Ayakaru.6583]

yea, i loved it. My only concern in writing is how Sylvari got in there.. but i guess that's a point for debate

[Ayumi Spender.1082]

@Ayakaru.6583 said:yea, i loved it. My only concern in writing is how Sylvari got in there.. but i guess that's a point for debate

You can say the same even for Asuras actually.

[Rognik.2579]

@Ayumi Spender.1082 said:

@Ayakaru.6583 said:yea, i loved it. My only concern in writing is how Sylvari got in there.. but i guess that's a point for debate

You can say the same even for Asuras actually.The asura get there the same way as the charr and the norn. It just tells us that the sylvari actually do have souls, or something resembling it. Perhaps the connection to the Dream gives them that, or all constructed dragon minions do have a soul, but most don't die horribly enough to end up in the Land of Lost Souls.

[Westenev.5289]

It could be possible that previous information given about Sylvari Souls was simply an incorrect informed guess. I mean, at the time, it would make more sense to explain that sylvari are created, not born (thus having no souls) than leaping the gun and assuming Sylvari are Dragon Minions.

[Aaron Ansari.1604]

@Westenev.5289 said:It could be possible that previous information given about Sylvari Souls was simply an incorrect informed guess. I mean, at the time, it would make more sense to explain that sylvari are created, not born (thus having no souls) than leaping the gun and assuming Sylvari are Dragon Minions.

The thing is, there was no previous information given about sylvari souls. There's an Inquest asura in Mount Maelstrom who seemed to believe that they existed, but beyond that it's always been one big blank in our knowledge.

Now that we know the answer, it's (in my biased opinion) honestly been one of the more exciting things about PoF. Like Rognik mentioned, it has implications for what exactly a soul is in the Guild Wars setting, as well as how sylvari fit into that bigger metaphysical picture.

[draxynnic.3719]

@Aaron Ansari.1604 said:

@Westenev.5289 said:It could be possible that previous information given about Sylvari Souls was simply an incorrect informed guess. I mean, at the time, it would make more sense to explain that sylvari are created, not born (thus having no souls) than leaping the gun and assuming Sylvari are Dragon Minions.

The thing is, there was

no

previous information given about sylvari souls. There's an Inquest asura in Mount Maelstrom who seemed to believe that they existed, but beyond that it's always been one big blank in our knowledge.

Now that we know the answer, it's (in my biased opinion) honestly been one of the more exciting things about PoF. Like Rognik mentioned, it has implications for what exactly a soul is in the Guild Wars setting, as well as how sylvari fit into that bigger metaphysical picture.

I vaguely recall that there's a sylvari somewhere wondering if they had souls, but the whole 'sylvari have no souls' thing had no basis in it beyond that. Now that's been answered.

We also know that certain powerful Risen contain the souls of the being they were before they died (the priest of Grenth and the Eyes of Zhaitan being two examples) but like constructs, the souls are not necessarily actually in control. We do also know that some of those who become Risen have their ghosts elsewhere, so the more robot-like minions probably don't have souls. Where the line is, we don't know, but the precedent does suggest that anything that's fully sapient has a soul.