A clue to the roadmap?

[Meridian.4983]

I was checking out the posting for the Canthan Phoenix wings & backpack (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/gem-store-update-canthan-phoenix-wings-backpack-and-glider-combo/) and saw the line 

Quote

With Empress Ihn visiting Divinity’s Reach soon, demand for phoenix-themed attire has taken off.

I’m hoping this is a clue to any upcoming story, has anyone seen anything else that hints at what will happen next?

[NotTooFoolish.7412]

Back in 2022, we knew that Empress is planning to visit Kryta. It was mentioned as a part of EoD story.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next story episode starts with a visit.

There are also the Koi weapons, I have a strong feeling that the next major villain is a fish.

[Wolfshade.9251]

2 hours ago, NotTooFoolish.7412 said:

There are also the Koi weapons, I have a strong feeling that the next major villain is a fish.

Underwater Koi raidboss let's go!

[Randulf.7614]

17 minutes ago, Wolfshade.9251 said:

Underwater Koi raidboss let's go!

Someone call Earthworm Jim!

[Bast.7253]

Maybe they will get married and we will have a beautiful ceremony in the DR courtyard.

[Balsa.3951]

I guess those Bots will be part of it

[Meridian.4983]

They’ll be hovering around filming it all, then the next villain will show up, hack them, and the Jade bot uprising will begin

 edited for autocorrect not knowing wth I was typing

Edited February 1, 2023 by Meridian.4983

[Andy.5981]

Wonder which evil bad person will end up kidnapping Empress Ihn sparking a full blown diplomatic incident requiring the Commander and a certain Canthan with an UNFEASABLY LARGE HAT to get involved 🙂 

[Randulf.7614]

Shiro returns, kidnaps the Empress and takes her to the underworld. The only way to rescue her is via a 1 v 1 tournament to the death, requiring the use of finishers to end your opponent. Opponents include; a Canthan with an unfeasibly large and razor sharp hat; an elementalist specialising in ice magic; a thief dressed like a ninja throwing something called a scorpion wire; an inquest member with a laser eye; a masked  Canthan princess; a centaur; and a reaper who is actually a bit of a “noob”

[Meridian.4983]

3 minutes ago, Randulf.7614 said:

Shiro returns, kidnaps the Empress and takes her to the underworld. The only way to rescue her is via a 1 v 1 tournament to the death, requiring the use of finishers to end your opponent. Opponents include; a Canthan with an unfeasibly large and razor sharp hat; an elementalist specialising in ice magic; a thief dressed like a ninja throwing something called a scorpion wire; an inquest member with a laser eye; a masked  Canthan princess; a centaur; and a reaper who is actually a bit of a “noob”

Inquest with a laser eye, or finally the return of (mostly) Zojja, having to be rebuilt and rehabilitated with Jade parts. She is one with Golem.

[Randulf.7614]

18 minutes ago, Meridian.4983 said:

Inquest with a laser eye, or finally the return of (mostly) Zojja, having to be rebuilt and rehabilitated with Jade parts. She is one with Golem.

Zojjax, one of three cyborgs reborn through Jade tech along with Blishtor. 

[Bast.7253]

lol Nah. Ihn and Jenna - the two randomly barefoot rulers of the sister kingdoms? queendoms? will be revealed as Lyssa. 

We will find out they/she has been working behind the scenes this entire time orchestrating events that led to the resolution of the elder dragon plot because she didn't want to give up on humanity. 

Kasmeer will have her true identity as the rightful heir to the throne revealed and we'll either:

1. Go to the mists and deal with the other gods (not as antagonists but fighting some other baddy)
2. They will return and unknowingly bring some baddy to Tyria.

Hopefully if the latter happens it may give them an opportunity to explore one of the newly added continents and we may look for help defeating the new baddy because Aurene will be in slumber mode or won't be able to help due to some magical technicality so we will reach out to other primordial magical beings. (Forcing us to travel all over various parts of unexplored regions in the areas we already have and maybe tying up some loose ends including the pale tree and the bloodstones.) 

Though theoretically if it's an entity from the mists we could be dealing with something in which Aurene would not make the fight trivial.

Or we will go to one of the new islands and the entire plot will revolve around Kas and Jory's honeymoon. 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Bast.7253

[Edcy.4091]

am more curious as to which of the cowardly godlings return to teh globe to proclaim their divinities and how they think they can avoid their derelict of things in the first placewhatever

editadd; but i dont ofc mean to be included in the above bickering miself in anyway as ive still to find those other trees that spout lifelikes down the rivers and other~

Edited February 2, 2023 by Edcy.4091
too many

[Meridian.4983]

If it has anything to do with the human gods, I hope we find out who replaced Balthazar as God of war. 
 

(…awaiting Kratos reference)

[ugrakarma.9416]

On 2/1/2023 at 6:32 PM, Randulf.7614 said:

Shiro returns, kidnaps the Empress and takes her to the underworld. The only way to rescue her is via a 1 v 1 tournament to the death, requiring the use of finishers to end your opponent. Opponents include; a Canthan with an unfeasibly large and razor sharp hat; an elementalist specialising in ice magic; a thief dressed like a ninja throwing something called a scorpion wire; an inquest member with a laser eye; a masked  Canthan princess; a centaur; and a reaper who is actually a bit of a “noob”

their names:

Kung Lao: a Canthan with an unfeasibly large and razor sharp hat;

SubZero: an elementalist specialising in ice magic;

Scorpion: a thief dressed like a ninja throwing something called a scorpion wire;

Kano: an inquest member with a laser eye;

Kitana: a masked  Canthan princess.

Montaro: a centaur;

Noob Saibot: and a reaper who is actually a bit of a “noob”

..........

But without joking, i think Cantha xpac would be better if was more mortal like kombat/Big Trouble in Little China(the movie that inspired MK thematic).

Edited February 3, 2023 by ugrakarma.9416

[Zola.6197]

“Someone In Need” was the new collection/side story added for Extra Life back in the fall, and it introduce an NPC from Queensdale who has a prosthetic jade tech leg - a little girl named April.

 

So it’s definitely being established that jade tech is spreading with Cantha opening up again, plus the recently added Jadebot terminals in major cities in Tyria. It does seem like a safe bet Ihn’s hinted visit will be part of whatever story comes next as Cantha’s influence expands.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

On 2/1/2023 at 2:55 AM, Meridian.4983 said:

I was checking out the posting for the Canthan Phoenix wings & backpack (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/gem-store-update-canthan-phoenix-wings-backpack-and-glider-combo/) and saw the line 

I’m hoping this is a clue to any upcoming story, has anyone seen anything else that hints at what will happen next?

I wonder how many threads will be made of this. Quite the common thought. Well, to repeat what I've said on reddit, gw2 discord server, and other threads on this forum...
There has probably been over 40 times people have tried to figure out future plots from the gemstore sales, but not a single one ever came true. ArenaNet does not foreshadow in the gemstore updates, and when they tie into the story it's with either concurrent releases (like the Inquest MK II weapons or Branded weapons), or the story released and gemstore update came in the following weeks (like Caithe's Crystalline Sword, or Mini Demmi Beetlestone). People theorized Menzies involvement when we got Menzies' Agony greatsword skin. People theorized Cantha back in August 2013 when we got the first of many Canthan-themed outfits. People thought Deep Sea Dragon when we got Sclerite weapons in May 2013. People thought "Six Gods plot!" when we got the stained glass weapons themed after the Six.
It happens time and time again and never comes true.

This said, this comment already exists in the game!

Mi-Rae: In light of recent events, Empress Ihn is planning her first trip to Kryta following the border reopening.

Mi-Rae: She will be accompanied by Minister Cho and Ambassador Meade, and will be staying at the queen's estate in Divinity's Reach.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mi-Rae#During_Act_V
The gemstore is not foreshadowing anything. It's just continuing on a comment made at the end of End of Dragons, which devs have even tweeted about in the months following EoD.
Now, there is a chance that Ihn's visit to Tyria will be featured in future story. However, it's more likely to just be something that happens off-screen like the human-charr peace treaty. Why? Because we already have confirmation the next story release will be "a Canthan map".

Edited February 3, 2023 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[goodberry.8913]

I wonder if there will be a clash of cultures. I am sure we will see purists causing trouble, or maybe remnants of the white mantle? I guess the white mantle don't hate other humans though necessarily... Maybe we will see white mantle remnants joining the purists? Then again purists are pretty hateful to outsiders, so it might not make sense for them to collaborate with krytans.

[Poormany.4507]

On 2/3/2023 at 6:43 PM, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Now, there is a chance that Ihn's visit to Tyria will be featured in future story. However, it's more likely to just be something that happens off-screen like the human-charr peace treaty. Why? Because we already have confirmation the next story release will be "a Canthan map".

I'm guessing it will start with Ihn's visit (either her leaving or returning to Cantha), but the Purists will either capture (more likely) or kill her, leading us to go to the new area (very likely Old Kaineng based on the hints of Purist experiments on Risen in EoD and the teaser art).

4 hours ago, goodberry.8913 said:

I wonder if there will be a clash of cultures. I am sure we will see purists causing trouble, or maybe remnants of the white mantle? I guess the white mantle don't hate other humans though necessarily... Maybe we will see white mantle remnants joining the purists? Then again purists are pretty hateful to outsiders, so it might not make sense for them to collaborate with krytans.

The White Mantle was pretty much confirmed to be dead/entirely fell apart after LWS3, so I doubt we'll see them again. I could see the Speakers/Brotherhood joining the conflict in some way though, as their temporary truce was dissolved at the end of EoD.

[Yasai.3549]

On 2/2/2023 at 5:32 AM, Randulf.7614 said:

Shiro returns, kidnaps the Empress and takes her to the underworld. The only way to rescue her is via a 1 v 1 tournament to the death, requiring the use of finishers to end your opponent. Opponents include; a Canthan with an unfeasibly large and razor sharp hat; an elementalist specialising in ice magic; a thief dressed like a ninja throwing something called a scorpion wire; an inquest member with a laser eye; a masked  Canthan princess; a centaur; and a reaper who is actually a bit of a “noob”

My favourite character is that Aetherblade guy who has 2 hooks.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Yasai.3549

[Randulf.7614]

7 hours ago, Yasai.3549 said:

My favourite character is that Aetherblade guy who has 2 hooks.

It’s a shame Balthazar was killed off. Using magic and be able to turn into any other character seems like a great idea for a boss to fight at the end of such a tournament 

[Delta.1526]

I mean, that ain't a secret, Kasmeer's been planning Jennah and Ihn's meeting for almost a year now. Maybe we'll have some good old Krytan Intrigue before popping off to the shiny new Cantha map; the Extra Life storyline seemed to implicate Anise in shenanigans so I would not be surprised if we had Krytan story instances during the upcoming plot.