[Major Spoilers] The Titans in Guild Wars 2: A Theory

[Teletric.3821]

I feel like I have a plausible theory as to what the titans are doing exactly in Janthir and it has to do with a key part of their identity that is seemingly missing from Guild Wars 2.

Any Guild Wars 1 player would know: killing a titan is not the end of the fight. Instead, it would spawn several lesser titans upon its death. Then, killing those titans would have them spawn even more Titans. This was a fundamental part of their identity and made them stand out from other enemies in the game, and I do not think the developers would get rid of that part of them even if they're saying that the ones we are encountering in the story are more advanced.

What is the theory?

One of the key points of information we learn during the Titan Researcher achievement is that "The titans have grown so large that they've developed the ability to produce spawn" but we know this is not entirely accurate. They've always been able to produce spawn, but the difference in Guild Wars 1 was that the progenitor always died prior to or during the spawning process. Whether the spawning was a latch-ditch effort by the titan to preserve some part(s) of itself or just a natural byproduct as a result of its death/critical damage is unknown, but regardless the progenitor had to die for the spawning to occur.

What I believe is meant to be implied in the quote is that the progenitors have grown so large that they're able to produce spawn without dying, specifically. In other words, the progenitors have gotten so big that they can sustainably split parts of themselves off into spawn without losing a significant portion of their body. Also, keep in mind that all of the spawn we have fought so far appears to be the smallest denomination of titan that are unable to split further, which likely makes it less taxing on the progenitors' bodies.

A piece of supporting evidence from the Titan Researcher achievement is that Born from Thunder describes the behavior of the Titanspawn as if they are "the limbs of the big fellas", which adds further credibility to the idea that they are just parts of the progenitor.

How do the progenitors get bigger if they're breaking off parts of themselves to create spawn?

That is where the Bloodstones come in. In addition to holding magic, they also have been shown to hold souls. And you know what titans are made from? That's right, twisted and tortured souls, of course! They could be absorbing magic from the Bloodstone as a bonus, but I think the primary reason they're draining them is to absorb more souls. By absorbing those souls, they grow bigger. By growing bigger, they can spawn more lesser titans with lesser risk. And more lesser titans means they can cover more ground.

So how do they recover after they fail to drain the bloodstone?

Most likely by reabsorbing some of their "limbs", the lesser titans. We have never been able to see what a titan could do with its spawn since they were never able exist alongside them in the past, but it feels pretty plausible. Also would explain why the lesser titans do not gravitate towards the Bloodstones like the progenitors do (another detail we learn in the Titan Researcher achievement): they don't need 'em. It's the progenitor that needs to get big to be able to spawn more powerful lesser titans.

In Closing:

Hopefully the theory makes sense, please ask if it does not. Definitely would like the community's input on it!

Edited August 29 by Teletric.3821
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