Episode 4: thread for spoilers and comments.

[Lucius.2140]

@"JTHMRulez.9378" said:

Kralk is eating the energy of the mists, that's why he is a threat, him been powerfull make it difficult to fix it. Plus the mist are likely infinite, there's no way all beings of power will know about him been there.

Only if they know to be honest, same if they care, how knows if they can protect their own space.A threat doesn't mean all the affected one will know it exist. Still i doubt any been comparable to Kralk will appear, this is the commander fight, gods are fine since we know about them and have some contact with them, pulling a: super being randomly deal with Kralk will be superanticlimatic.

Personally i will like this to end in a way we don't see the gods, but been in the mist seem likely they will appear. Whatever happen it will impact the game a lot.Either Kralk is taken down in 2 episodes or we take him down in LS5 (i doubt it), LS5 will dealt with the end of Kralk and connect either to a new expa (i hope) or a new game (wasn't expecting this but Kralk "evolution" has made me wondering).

[Bast.7253]

@JTHMRulez.9378 said:

@Tails.9372 said:

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:with Kralkatorrik as powerful as he is, with no possible combination of factors available to us enabling us to win, as seen via Aurene's visions, really the Gods are the only sensible answer to this story conumdrumNot really, there are all kinds of weird s**t living in the mists. He might even get off-screened by a more powerful trans-dimensional being if it gets annoyed enough to brother.

Such beings are probably already retconned to non-existence or hand-waved off. If something in the Mists will stop Kralkatorrik, it will be the Six, not some other random monster.

Well we don’t really know what the beings are in the space fractal. There might be a leader for their kind that is on par with the gods or higher. We only saw virastra and the sun guy who may only be soldier status that just wound up sucked into the fractal.

I suppose we also potentially have the norn spirits, the pale tree, and the celestials that could be explored or introduced to help with the fight.

But I never would have seen this plot coming with an elder dragon going on a mist meets space like voyage consuming reality. So you really can’t be certain what is going to happen or what they have the potential to explore. We know practically nothing about the mists or the many different beings connected to it. At this point they could go alternate reality on us and bring in non-evil elder dragons from another Tyria to fight Kralk. I like the possibilities, but it still feels strange.

We also have the potential to find living forgotten somewhere in the mists, or potentially seers.

Literally anything is possible now with the current plot and making predictions is fun but futile.

It is interesting to speculate what Caithe could possibly offer at this point though. The Pale Tree’s involvement and possible mordremoth replacement is the only thing I can think of that would even relate. Or possibly some kind of interaction with Melandru given the sylvari’s nature of... nature. But they haven’t really had any ties with Melandru so that would be strange. On that note, it’s attributed to bedrock and kormir’s protection but with the Melandru shrine I wonder if part of the reason suns refuge is so protected from the brand despite the giant hole in the ceiling is due to somekind innate protection Melandru’s element provides against Kralk’s magic if nothing else.

Did they imply the bedrock prevents all elder dragon magic or just Kralk? If just Kralk that makes sense but if all then I’m not sure how Primordus has managed to uproot entire islands and move through the continent.

I don’t know. At this point it’s easier to just not think about it and wait for the next episode to reveal more even though these cliffhangers and story pauses are a little too suspenseful! It feels like we have a lot less closure per episode this season. Sand swept was pretty good with it as was last episode, but team A really loves giving you a small victory only to leave you really hanging and waiting for the next episode.

[Tails.9372]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:The only 'Mists beings' we've ever really been told about are demons, spirits, nightmares (aka evil, twisted, spirits), and gods.There are also astral beings like Viirastra or this guy:

@"cptaylor.2670" said:you really can’t be certain what is going to happenThat's true, for all we know we might team up with another elder dragon to take him down, dragons are intelligent creatures after all and we don't really know the mentality of the DSD but I'd imagine Kralkatorrik destroying this dimension would be a problem for them as well.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@JTHMRulez.9378 said:Indeed. But what I am trying to say is that certainly is there is any being with a power comparable or greater than his, by any means and logic, they would stop Kralkatorrik at the first chance they got.- The effects of him eating the magic of The Mists is none other than reality (Not Tyria, all of reality) being destroyed.Not necessarily. I mean, first of all, they have to learn about Kralkatorrik. You and a lot of people seem to be thinking of the Mists as something planetary, or solar system-y. But it's a full out multiverse. Practically infinitely huge. And Kralkatorrik is still nearby Tyria within the Mists.

Just because Kralk is in the Mists doesn't mean every being in existence will know 1) he is there, 2) he poses a threat to all reality, 3) how strong he is or can become. Regardless of power levels.

Besides that, Snaff and co. are talking about Kralkatorrik from the perspective of Tyrias. It might not even be possible for Kralkatorrik to consume the entire multiverse.

@JTHMRulez.9378 said:I am aware of Demons existence, they are just not comparable to Kralkatorrik in terms of power so I did not compare them.

I mean, the Dreadspawn Maw, Mallyx, and Deimos would all be somewhere between dragon champion and Elder Dragon levels of power. Demons are capable of being threats to the Six's servants, even their avatars, so it stands to reason there could be some out there vastly more powerful. It's a whole multiverse, yet you're saying "it's not possible" because we haven't seen any in our small third of a planet.

@"cptaylor.2670" said:Literally anything is possible now with the current plot and making predictions is fun but futile.

The Kralkatorriks from Tyria B and Tyria C (the other Tyrias from the Mist War) will meet each other, and merge into one Ultralkatorrik.

@"cptaylor.2670" said:On that note, it’s attributed to bedrock and kormir’s protection but with the Melandru shrine I wonder if part of the reason suns refuge is so protected from the brand despite the giant hole in the ceiling is due to somekind innate protection Melandru’s element provides against Kralk’s magic if nothing else.

Did they imply the bedrock prevents all elder dragon magic or just Kralk? If just Kralk that makes sense but if all then I’m not sure how Primordus has managed to uproot entire islands and move through the continent.

The bedrock thing is just for Kralkatorrik. It was brought up in some parts of Ascalon and in Edge of Destiny as well (it was how Eir, Caithe, and Rytlock avoided being Branded when Kralkatorrik breathed over Glint's lair).

Should be noted the hole was made by Aurene flying out (I think?), but it was mostly bedrock that prevented corruption when Kralkatorrik flew over, while Kormir's fire keeps them out afterwards. They've made multiple direct and indirect allusions to divine magic countering dragon magic, so this isn't the first. Melandru's shrine seems more a tie in back to GW1, where it's mentioned it seemed to be an ancient abandoned temple/shrine of Melandru.

@Tails.9372 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:The only 'Mists beings' we've ever really been told about are demons, spirits, nightmares (aka evil, twisted, spirits), and gods.There are also astral beings like Viirastra or this guy:

-snip image of Harbinger of Woe-True, forgot "Astral creatures" in that. But we don't really know what they are. So if they're like Razah, they're effectively "well made, benevolent demons" for all intents and purposes. But otherwise they may be akin to Celestials (modified souls), Spirits of the Wild (divine souls? dunno), or the Six Gods (called "Mists beings" by asura)

[kasoki.5180]

If we kill Kralk in the mists, is his death problematic to balance of Tyria? Since there wont be any fallout of his magic to hit Tyria

[ThatOddOne.4387]

@"Tails.9372" said:Just because something is strong doesn't mean that it's malevolent (and/or cares about lesser beings living on a random "isle"), the "gods" themselves were just some beings wandering through the mists and who knows what else is out there. We don't even know if the Six are particularry strong for what they are, we've already seen some other beings who are at least comparable so I guess not.

Umh. I don't really get how you can take away that we don't know if the Gods are particularly strong when we very much do know how strong they are.

The magic of a single god escaping (Abaddon) is enough to destroy Tyria whilst it takes at least 3 Elder Dragon deaths to start to result in the same. The mere clash of Abaddon versus the other Gods caused a sea to turn into a desert from the fallout, something no Elder Dragon has managed.

It's really quite funny how people are so desperate to deny a foundation of the franchise some screentime before they go away for good (Because lets be honest there's no chance of them appearing again after this expansion so they need a proper send off) that they're willing to accept some random massively powerful Mists being just showing up to do the narrative job the Gods could do.

I mean, like Konig said there's bound to be massively powerful Mists beings out there, but narratively one or several of them showing up to fight Kralkatorrik is just nonsensical.

[Fleebag.1384]

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:

@Tails.9372 said:The magic of a single god escaping (Abaddon) is enough to destroy Tyria whilst it takes at least 3 Elder Dragon deaths to start to result in the same. The mere clash of Abaddon versus the other Gods caused a sea to turn into a desert from the fallout, something no Elder Dragon has managed.Not sure exactly how big the sea was, but K-rik by himself turned a lot of stuff into the brand/crystal - across several zones, seems pretty huge fallout, and that just by himself? (+Zhaitan lifting Orr and Mordy jungle corruption etc...)

[ThatOddOne.4387]

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Crystal_Desert

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@kasoki.5180 said:If we kill Kralk in the mists, is his death problematic to balance of Tyria? Since there wont be any fallout of his magic to hit Tyria

Elder Dragon deaths aren't just an issue because of magical fall out, but because of their connection to The All. That connection would still be an issue, but so long as Aurene can properly replace him (how we still don't know but apparently her being present at his death is enough I guess), then it should be fine.

@Fleebag.1384 said:

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:

@Tails.9372 said:The magic of a single god escaping (Abaddon) is enough to destroy Tyria whilst it takes at least 3 Elder Dragon deaths to start to result in the same. The mere clash of Abaddon versus the other Gods caused a sea to turn into a desert from the fallout, something no Elder Dragon has managed.Not sure exactly how big the sea was, but K-rik by himself turned a lot of stuff into the brand/crystal - across several zones, seems pretty huge fallout, and that just by himself? (+Zhaitan lifting Orr and Mordy jungle corruption etc...)

The Crystal Desert + The Desolation (its coastline) are much bigger than Orr or the Dragonbrand, tbh. Nearly twice the size, and that was just unintended fallout. Orr, the shattering of the Shiverpeaks, the creation of the Dragonbrand, that was all intentional acts.

[Fleebag.1384]

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Crystal_DesertSo a rough eyeballing measure would put K-rik branding about the equiv 1/3 of the Crystal Desert in 2 strafing fly-overs - would that be about right?

[Genesis.8572]

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:The mere clash of Abaddon versus the other Gods caused a sea to turn into a desert from the fallout, something no Elder Dragon has managed.As you say, it took the clash of six gods to turn the Crystal Sea into the Crystal Desert, one of whom was a fiery god of war who likely could boil the seas. The topographical changes of the elder dragons, however, have been solo operations. The magic of one elder dragon brought Orr from the depths of the ocean, flooding the entire seaboard from Kryta to Elona. Another left a large scar down the cheek of Tyria stretching from the Blood Legion Homelands to Kourna from their flightpath alone. Jormag turned the Far Shiverpeaks into a series of inland seas. We have no idea what happened in the Tyrian Deeps with Primordus or the oceans with Bubbles.

This is not to deny the power of the gods, but the Elder Dragons have been fairly tame in terms of what we know is in their power.

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Crystal_DesertSo what?

I mean, like Konig said there's bound to be massively powerful Mists beings out there, but narratively one or several of them showing up to fight Kralkatorrik is just nonsensical.There is little heroism in that. It's a narrative that strips away a lot of the feeling of victory from the player. So from the perspective of designing a player-based narrative experience, it is nonsensical.

[ThatOddOne.4387]

Unless the player is using the divine power of Balthazar. Temporarily.

That's the way I'd like to see this go. The player gets Balthazar's divine power in order to fight Kralkatorrik alongside the other Gods in the Mists, then at the end of the fight it can be removed and used to either ascend a new God of War or even returned to a Balthazar that is seeing sense again, if his old-man-imprisoned guise gets spat out of Kralkatorrik as it dies.

What do you mean "so what"?

"It was formed alongside the Desolation, also formerly a part of the Crystal Sea, when the Five Gods defeated Abaddon."

The Gods have also been fairly tame in terms of what we know of their power, given they can apparently raise continents and the mere unleashing of their power in battle turns seas to deserts.

[Genesis.8572]

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:Unless the player is using the divine power of Balthazar. Temporarily.That already treads old water. That is essentially the entire basis of the final encounters in PoF with Sohothin.

What do you mean "so what"?You just posted a link as if it were an insightful comment. That's what I mean by "so what?" You need to put meat and fat on your posts so they actually can become arguments.

"It was formed alongside the Desolation, also formerly a part of the Crystal Sea, when the Five Gods defeated Abaddon."

The Gods have also been fairly tame in terms of what we know of their power, given they can apparently raise continents and the mere unleashing of their power in battle turns seas to deserts.So your point is what we already knew all along? The Gods have been tame, but playing with their power is not something that should be mused with so haphazardly for a Deus ex Machina solution for Kraalkatorik. It absolves a lot of the players' own responsibility for getting the world of Tyria to this impendingly dismal state.

[ThatOddOne.4387]

Fleebag asked how big "the sea" was and I linked the article to the Crystal Desert for explanation, I thought that was obvious but maybe not to someone so keen to jump on a post and say what it needs to "become an argument". (Hint: It wasn't being used as an argument)

That is not a Deus ex Machina solution, especially when it's already been established as an element of the story.

Yes, it does tread old water, and in this case that's a good thing, because like I said it's using previously established story elements. The very basic of it being "Using Divine Magic against Dragons = Good idea". It also removes that little thing you got hung on about the Gods helping against Kralkatorrik "removing player agency" as if that's a bad thing. The player shouldn't be able to win every fight without help.

[Genesis.8572]

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:That is not a Deus ex Machina solution, especially when it's already been established as an element of the story.Gods are an established "reality" of the classical Hellenistic worldview and even are "characters" in Greek Dramas, or mentioned offhand in script, but the trope is nevertheless referred to as Deus ex Machina. Regardless of whether deities are pre-established elements in the story, this would constitute Deus ex Machina.

Yes, it does tread old water, and in this case that's a good thing, because like I said it's using previously established story elements. The very basic of it being "Using Divine Magic against Dragons = Good idea". It also removes that little thing you got hung on about the Gods helping against Kralkatorrik "removing player agency" as if that's a bad thing. The player shouldn't be able to win every fight without help."Using previously established story elements" has no inherent value or virtue in making an idea "good." If that were the case, then this forum would be filled with nothing but "good" ideas flowing forth from their use of "previously established story elements." It is not just retreading old waterin terms of story elements, it's also retreading the story. There is a reason why people speak of "Balthaddon" when discussing PoF's story. By no means is it a compliment towards ArenaNet's use of "previously established story elements."

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:Did they imply the bedrock prevents all elder dragon magic or just Kralk? If just Kralk that makes sense but if all then I’m not sure how Primordus has managed to uproot entire islands and move through the continent.They only mention that the brand can't penetrate that much bedrock.

[Fleebag.1384]

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:Fleebag asked how big "the sea" was and I linked the article to the Crystal Desert for explanation, I thought that was obvious but maybe not to someone so keen to jump on a post and say what it needs to "become an argument". (Hint: It wasn't being used as an argument)Yup - I got it was in reply to my question :)

[draxynnic.3719]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@"cptaylor.2670" said:Literally anything is possible now with the current plot and making predictions is fun but futile.

The Kralkatorriks from Tyria B and Tyria C (the other Tyrias from the Mist War) will meet each other, and merge into one Ultralkatorrik.

Who then finds the Zerg and Brands them, leading to the creation of his newest champion, the Ultralkatorrik Ultralisk. However, we don't get to fight or even see the result before Jormag's lawyer shows up with litigation papers and shouts about weakness and laughing.

@Genesis.8572 said:

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:That is not a Deus ex Machina solution, especially when it's already been established as an element of the story.Gods are an established "reality" of the classical Hellenistic worldview and even are "characters" in Greek Dramas, or mentioned offhand in script, but the trope is nevertheless referred to as Deus ex Machina. Regardless of whether deities are pre-established elements in the story, this would constitute Deus ex Machina.

Simply introducing gods into a plot, however, is not enough to qualify as a deus ex machina. A deus ex machina is essentially when the crisis is resolved by a sudden and unexpected element which had not previously been part of the plot and often which could not have been predicted by the audience.

The subplot of the Six and the ability of divine magic to combat dragon minions at least has been running in Guild Wars 2 since the second half of Season 2. The only thing that would make it "unexpected" is that we've been given the impression that the gods were gone, gone, gone, never to return: however, the departure of the gods was under the assumption that the Elder Dragons was still a problem local to Tyria. His entering the Mists and thus potentially becoming a multiversal problem might catch their attention. We've also got another episode before the season climax (unless they pull a repeat of Season 3, where episode 5 was really the climax), which could involve looking for something that will even the balance against Kralkatorrik: chasing down the gods is as good a means as any.

It wouldn't be an unexpected surprise resolution of an otherwise unwinnable situation, but a product of an undercurrent that has been building for years.

Now, you might find that unsatisfying for other reasons, and that's perfectly valid as... I guess you might call it pre-emptive criticism? But if it DOES happen, enough groundwork has been done that it wouldn't be a deus ex machina.

Just because a story has gods as part of the resolution does not make it a deus ex machina, just as a deus ex machina does not have to involve actual gods.

[ugrakarma.9416]

Being "cheap" inst Deus ex-machine.

As I explained in the first posts, bringing the Gods is a 2-sided blade. the good side: is to please players who are fans of the pantheon, GW1-nostalgia, and prevent our character(or Aurene) from turning into a Dragon Ball Z Goku; the bad side: is that it is very risky to seem like a cheap, easy solution.

In the end what counts is how they are going to do it mechanically. For example, despite Zhaitan's having a whole build-up to kill it, the final mechanic of killing him with turrets sounds like too easy for most players.

Even Aurene turning an Elder Dragon will not escape a Dragon Ball Z effect, will be a very strange end, after all, we are her champion. Then after that? end game? No one is going to touch us anymore, cuz will have to fight the rage of an Elder Dragon?

[draxynnic.3719]

It is something I've been wondering myself. The good guys don't seem to have any fear of taking out dragon champions, though, so one could presume that the bad guys wouldn't be opposed to taking out a champion of Aurene either, if the risk to them of not doing so is greater than the risk of doing so.

To be frank, through the nature of the game, we know the PC isn't going to (permanently) die, so there's no tension in that direction (honestly, for this reason, I'm getting really tired of the "PC is disabled and somebody else breaks them out" trope that ArenaNet has grown so fond of. It's not just predictable that SOMETHING is going to break that stasis, but the last couple of times I'd gone ahead and (correctly) guessed who it was going to be the moment the paralysis was applied).

Preventing Aurene from being dominant to the plot (obviously she's a major character, but you know what I mean) could be a matter of finding some reason for her to have to sequester herself like Glint once she's absorbed Kralkatorrik's power. There are a few possible reasons that could be given for this: it could become seen as too risky for her to put herself in danger (right now, she's important, but she's important for a purpose that requires her to engage her enemies; once she becomes the Elder Dragon, she becomes important because if she dies before magic is brought back under control, the world goes kaput), it it could turn out that Branding is something that the Elder Crystal Dragon simply cannot avoid doing if they wanted to, and Aurene would then need to sequester herself to avoid becoming a mobile natural disaster.

That said, though, I wouldn't be surprised if the next set of elite specialisations turn out to have a "champion of the Crystal Dragon" theme, apart from professions with specialisations that could already be said to have that theme.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@draxynnic.3719 said:Preventing Aurene from being dominant to the plot (obviously she's a major character, but you know what I mean) could be a matter of finding some reason for her to have to sequester herself like Glint once she's absorbed Kralkatorrik's power. There are a few possible reasons that could be given for this: it could become seen as too risky for her to put herself in danger (right now, she's important, but she's important for a purpose that requires her to engage her enemies; once she becomes the Elder Dragon, she becomes important because if she dies before magic is brought back under control, the world goes kaput), it it could turn out that Branding is something that the Elder Crystal Dragon simply cannot avoid doing if they wanted to, and Aurene would then need to sequester herself to avoid becoming a mobile natural disaster.I always presumed Aurene would go live in a cave or something once she got Kralktorrik's Elder Dragon-ness. I mean, at that point her continued existence is needed for the world to function, and, while stupidly powerful, we know Elder Dragons aren't immortal, so I doubt they would let her come with us into dangerous unknowns.

I wouldn't be surprised if they mention she keeps patrolling the Brand however, killing off what remains of the Branded army or something, like how Vlaast did. That way she could be doing something, but not something too dangerous.

[draxynnic.3719]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@draxynnic.3719 said:Preventing Aurene from being dominant to the plot (obviously she's a major character, but you know what I mean) could be a matter of finding some reason for her to have to sequester herself like Glint once she's absorbed Kralkatorrik's power. There are a few possible reasons that could be given for this: it could become seen as too risky for her to put herself in danger (right now, she's important, but she's important for a purpose that requires her to engage her enemies; once she becomes the Elder Dragon, she becomes important because if she dies before magic is brought back under control, the world goes kaput), it it could turn out that Branding is something that the Elder Crystal Dragon simply

cannot avoid doing if they wanted to

, and Aurene would then need to sequester herself to avoid becoming a mobile natural disaster.I always presumed Aurene would go live in a cave or something once she got Kralktorrik's Elder Dragon-ness. I mean, at that point her continued existence is needed for the world to function, and, while stupidly powerful, we know Elder Dragons aren't immortal, so I doubt they would let her come with us into dangerous unknowns.

I wouldn't be surprised if they mention she keeps patrolling the Brand however, killing off what remains of the Branded army or something, like how Vlaast did. That way she could be doing something, but not something too dangerous.

One thing that's been bouncing around in my mind is... we've seen some cases of what happens to minions when a dragon is killed (the Unchained, and while a special case, there was an ex-Mordrem Guard sylvari at the Bazaar of the Four Winds not too long ago), but not when they're replaced. It could be that if Aurene was to take over Kralkatorrik's role, she'd also gain control of the Branded. Of course, the maps would remain frozen in time, but it could lead to having Branded allies in the future, as well as raising the question of how society reacts to Branded attempting to reintegrate.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@draxynnic.3719 said:One thing that's been bouncing around in my mind is... we've seen some cases of what happens to minions when a dragon is killed (the Unchained, and while a special case, there was an ex-Mordrem Guard sylvari at the Bazaar of the Four Winds not too long ago), but not when they're replaced. It could be that if Aurene was to take over Kralkatorrik's role, she'd also gain control of the Branded. Of course, the maps would remain frozen in time, but it could lead to having Branded allies in the future, as well as raising the question of how society reacts to Branded attempting to reintegrate.Hmm, I don't know if that would work in the Branded's case. Both the Risen and the Mordrem displayed intelligence even before their masters were killed. The Branded on the other hand, with the exception of a few top bosses, have displayed zero ability to speak or reason. I'm not sure if there is enough left of the Branded's original self to have a possible reintegration story line we got with the Awakened.

[ugrakarma.9416]

well i replayed the episode with my other toon, I noticed comander giving orders to Rytlock to go to the mists seek "answers" on how to "fix" it.so we can have a sense of what will come.

[draxynnic.3719]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@draxynnic.3719 said:One thing that's been bouncing around in my mind is... we've seen some cases of what happens to minions when a dragon is killed (the Unchained, and while a special case, there was an ex-Mordrem Guard sylvari at the Bazaar of the Four Winds not too long ago), but not when they're replaced. It could be that if Aurene was to take over Kralkatorrik's role, she'd also gain control of the Branded. Of course, the maps would remain frozen in time, but it could lead to having Branded allies in the future, as well as raising the question of how society reacts to Branded attempting to reintegrate.Hmm, I don't know if that would work in the Branded's case. Both the Risen and the Mordrem displayed intelligence even before their masters were killed. The Branded on the other hand, with the exception of a few top bosses, have displayed zero ability to speak or reason. I'm not sure if there is enough left of the Branded's original self to have a possible reintegration story line we got with the Awakened.

That was pretty much the case with the Risen as well, and with non-sylvari Mordrem (the Mordrem Guard were always a special case, since they weren't minionised so much as mind-controlled).

According to what I recall of ArenaNet's explanations, when something becomes a dragon minion, the Elder Dragon claims their magic, and then re-invests some of it back into the minion. Mindless drones require relatively little magic while still being reasonably effective soldiers when properly led (or programmed), so that's what the majority of minions are, and making a minion physically larger while still only requiring a single animating force is probably more efficient still (which explains Abominations and their ilk). Minions with the potential to be leaders are allowed to keep their original intelligence in service to the dragon, and in some cases, are supplied with additional magic to make them more powerful. So a typical dragon minion army is a horde of drones with a few powerful champions.

So if Aurene replaced Kralkatorrik, and claimed the Branded in turn, she could probably re-invest enough magic back into those Branded that were formerly sapient beings in order to restore their intelligence and personality. In fact, her doing so could be killing two birds with one stone from a narrative perspective, since it would also provide a justification for Aurene's personal power to be significantly less than Kralkatorrik's, since instead of hoarding as much magic as practical in herself and a few select champions, she's distributing and sharing it.