[Spoilers] About Aurene

[Blocki.4931]

@Ashantara.8731 said:Just replaying for achievements, and in the light of the outcome I am more convinced than ever that that was not Glint with us in the trial rooms. That was pure manipulation of our minds. Well played, Kralkatorrik.

Now I'm curious what gave you that impression? I've had that thought for a little while when I saw the brand on top of the other crystals inside the instance. How did her body even get in there? lol

Planting false information would indeed be quite the 4 dimensional underwater chess move by him, that would be a good twist actually.

[Fat Disgrace.4275]

"I don't know."

[Reynarth.4819]

@maddoctor.2738 said:Aurene reviving because she ate Joko would be lazy writing.Keep in mind that Aurene sacrificed herself to save the commander, this means we are more important than her. If Aurene knew that she is the only hope for Tyria, she'd let us die and let our other friends work with her to save the world. Saving the commander means WE are more important than her in stopping Kralkatorrik, and not because we are the player. Or at least I HOPE it's not because we are the player and find something else.

No, it just means she loves us and she would save us even if that would mean doom for whole Tyria.

[Ashantara.8731]

@maddoctor.2738 said:Aurene reviving because she ate Joko would be lazy writing.Keep in mind that Aurene sacrificed herself to save the commander, this means we are more important than her. If Aurene knew that she is the only hope for Tyria, she'd let us die and let our other friends work with her to save the world. Saving the commander means WE are more important than her in stopping Kralkatorrik, and not because we are the player.

Wrong. She is a child. We are her parent. She loves us unconditionally. She would have sacrificed herself to save us no matter what.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Blocki.4931 said:

@"Ashantara.8731" said:Just replaying for achievements, and in the light of the outcome I am more convinced than ever that

that

was

not

Glint with us in the trial rooms. That was pure manipulation of our minds. Well played, Kralkatorrik.

Now I'm curious what gave you that impression?

The kitten (sorry, can't call it anything positive in the light of things) she would babble about: "Scion and Champion^ destined to succeed", "This is your time!", blah blah blah. Sounds like a devious pep talk to motivate us even more to run, blinded by "hope", into that death trap. Not to forget the "huuuge secret" she would share with us about Kralkatorrik, painting him in a weakened state of mind etc. If that wasn't manipulation at its best then I don't know what is.

^) now commonly known as Shish-kebab and Loser

I've had that thought for a little while when I saw the brand on top of the other crystals inside the instance. How did her body even get in there? lol

Good question. Conspiracy theory confirmed. ;)

Planting false information would indeed be quite the 4 dimensional underwater chess move by him, that would be a good twist actually.

I think so, too. Hope we won't have to wait too long to find out what's going on.

[Laila Lightness.8742]

@perilisk.1874 said:My idea:

! They'll reveal that she was primed to become an Elder Dragon in Glint's lair, but needed to get hit with a massive amount of energy to actually complete the transformation process. Note that, unlike in her vision, she wasn't actually branded despite taking the brunt of that breath attack. I think that's because she (or the magic given to her, anyway) absorbed the bulk of the energy, Kormir style-- though she still died regardless due to being impaled. That said, I don't think she can replace Kraalkatorik as a ghost, so resurrection is a necessary step 2 (and it provides a sort of narrative symmetry between her story and the PC's). Like forging the spear -- set the mold (Glint's trial), heat the material (thanks, Kraalk!), and then quench it (resurrection).!! There are several justifiable ways to pull off a dragon resurrection (doubt there's another Eater of Souls in Dragon Heaven, though), but there's a lot supporting the Joko theory -- one, it makes the manner of Joko's death essential to the plot, rather than just casually dispensing with a fan favorite character to move on with the dragon story. Two, they shoehorned in an awakened sylvari in the final fight -- an answer to a question no one has ever asked, but which pre-emptively justifies using Awakening magic on a purified minion of Kraalkatorik. Three, they've repeatedly indicated that divine magic (even from fallen gods) retains its nature after being absorbed by dragons, by pointing out that Balthazar's sword and priestess can sense his presence inside Aurene. Now, nothing so far has confirmed that Awakening is divine magic, and Joko certainly isn't a god whatever he might say. But comparing it with ordinary necromancy is like comparing the foefire with elementalism, and the raids usually have at least some tenuous connection to the larger plot, so... what if it's Underworld magic that Dhuum sealed away on general anti-undeath principle, and Joko (who seems plenty familiar with the Underworld) managed to get his hands on it? If she's still got it, then rumors of her mortality are drastically... overstated.!! I mean, sequestering herself away to commune with long-dead prophets before steeling herself to become the central player in an ancient plan that saves the world and fundamentally changes the metaphysics of reality by letting herself be pierced with spikes and then self-resurrecting after a bit, during which time all the people who though she would just show up and kick kitten scatter and grieve and starting wondering where it all went wrong... I mean, it's a little on the nose, right?

Also explain why joko before aurene was such issue since they tried all and he just kept rising

[perilisk.1874]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@maddoctor.2738 said:Aurene reviving because she ate Joko would be lazy writing.Keep in mind that Aurene sacrificed herself to save the commander, this means we are more important than her. If Aurene knew that she is the only hope for Tyria, she'd let us die and let our other friends work with her to save the world. Saving the commander means WE are more important than her in stopping Kralkatorrik, and not because we are the player.

Wrong. She is a child. We are her parent. She loves us unconditionally. She would have sacrificed herself to save us no matter what.

There is a slightly more cynical take -- she was willing to take the hit because she knew the PC was in close range, and the bond-effect would be active -- remember the first trial? the whole point was that when we were close together, it helped her to absorb energy that would otherwise damage her by dumping some of the burden on the PC. Basically, we're her ranger pet and she's running empathetic bond.

[ProtoGunner.4953]

Her death didn't touch me. Never had a connection to her as she was sentient but not really speaking (aside from the through Caithe part). That didn't give me much empathy. I wondered why she never spoke. Glint could speak and the elder dragons too. Why not Aurene?

[Ashantara.8731]

@ProtoGunner.4953 said:Her death didn't touch me. Never had a connection to her as she was sentient but not really speaking (aside from the through Caithe part). That didn't give me much empathy. I wondered why she never spoke. Glint could speak and the elder dragons too. Why not Aurene?

Wrong. All Elder Dragons could only communicate telepathically, that means you could hear their voices only in your head. Glint had perfected her communication methods with humans, but Aurene is still a child and had not developed such skills yet. However, she could link with Caithe due to her sylvari nature and speak through her.

By the way, Aurene was well designed in terms of being able to transmit emotions through her dragon-y reactions. The fact that you felt no empathy towards her is because of you, not her. ;)

[ProtoGunner.4953]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@ProtoGunner.4953 said:Her death didn't touch me. Never had a connection to her as she was sentient but not really speaking (aside from the through Caithe part). That didn't give me much empathy. I wondered why she never spoke. Glint could speak and the elder dragons too. Why not Aurene?

Wrong. All Elder Dragons could only communicate telepathically, that means you could hear their voices only in your head. Glint had perfected her communication methods with humans, but Aurene is still a child and has not developed such skills yet. However, she could link with Caithe due to her sylvari nature and speak through her.

By the way, Aurene was well designed in terms of being able to transmit emotions through her dragon-y reactions. The fact that you felt no empathy towards her is because of you, not her. ;)

I actually got this though (telepathic communication) but wasn't 100% sure if true. Nonetheless, Aurene even didn't do that with you, and aside from being 'cute' - and I hate when done that intentional since it's done so obvious - there wasn't a lot of connection between us. There are so many games and movies which have so much deeper involvement (say Final Fantasy, Zelda, Mass Effect, Walking Dead Game etc.) which really move me. But not here. It just was too short and obvious to feel a great bond with her.

[ScottBroChill.3254]

I think theres something going on with the spirits being feasted on by kralk for energy, aurene going through the ascension process and defeating her mirrored self, Glint talking about dragon ascension, then as described on guild wars wiki ascension basically makes you immortal and have the ability to hop through the mists willy nilly. (She can already go through the mists, but I dont think that is enough without some final transformation step. Also, I think we will starve kralk by cutting off his ability to feast on spirits). Joko was immortal (as long as he had his magic), maybe ascended because he's like right next to the ascension place... So I think its safe to assume Aurene has ascended, and possesses abilities to live through physical death. Also, we are unaware that any energy was released by aurene, and she currently has a kitten-ton of power.

Another thing I noticed is that kralks vision involved being defeated by aurene, and thats the whole reason he's going buck wild and stirring up all the other dragons. Basically hes doing an abbadon, and the other dragons by nature are trying to consume magic so kralk doesnt kill them. But, if he believes aurene is dead he might chill back a bit as his fear of defeat is no longer there.

EDIT: hold up, snaff already wrestled with kralks mind so that may be a big part. Forgotten tried to convert kralk but weren't strong enough. Aurene can now enter minds, has brand abilities which is also kralks weakness, and yeah. Someone said something about kralk having blue branding on him when he dips out at the end. Could be something.

[Sir Alric.5078]

@"Alimar.8760" said:Ok guys, please don't click on the spoiler unless you want major spoilers but these are my thoughts.

 

1. Aurene ate Palawa Joko

2. Palawa Joko is a lich.
3. Joko can come back from the dead.
4. Aurene can now come back from the dead.
5. Please?
6. Please tell me I'm right...
7. cries

Tell me you felt the same way. Also props to the new tech that introduced camera control and the custom animations for the last scene. Definitely adds a lot more to the game that I didn't know I wanted.

I agree with you. I think that's pretty much the only solution that would make sense.

[Randulf.7614]

The joko angle makes no sense. In dying she would have released that magic as Joko did. Even if not, she has shown no signs of using such magic which we would have seen by now.

The line about the lich bring dead in this suddenly appearing prophecy is merely a nod back to try and justify Jokos early death in the story given the backlash against how it was handled. And as for Aurene being sick, she did just eat centuries old rotting flesh held together by tar etc...

Whatever the angle, Joko doesnt work as a solution.

[Kal Spiro.9745]

Out of curiosity, did no one notice that she Branded Kralk? The right side of his face was covered in her blue branding as he was pulling back.

[Randulf.7614]

@Kal Spiro.9745 said:Out of curiosity, did no one notice that she Branded Kralk? The right side of his face was covered in her blue branding as he was pulling back.

There's been idle speculation that it means she took over in full or partial control of him. I think it is more likely it is to show you she inflicted significant damage to him as their rival blasts hit together, esp since the landscape gets hit too

[Typh.8027]

It's all part of Glint's Plan, from I understand. Aurene had to sacrifice her mortal form to ascend? Making Kralkitorrik think she's dead could be an advantage too. Glint did say something about Ascension and had to tell/show Aurene something. But we have to wait and see. It'll be a devastating and long wait though.

[perilisk.1874]

@"Randulf.7614" said:The joko angle makes no sense. In dying she would have released that magic as Joko did.

We stuck Joko full of sharp objects, and it "killed" him, but he got right back up, no release of magic. Aurene attacked his magic, not his body. Well, I guess she attacked his body too, but it was gobbling up his magic that actually did him in for good. It wasn't like Balthazar, where the killing came first and the gobbling second.

Aurene was stuck full of sharp objects, but there's no evidence of a release of her magic. If anything, it's the opposite -- she and the Commander should have been branded, they're both sitting at the center of a whole mess of purple crystals.

Go back to the first instance. It was the prospect of being Branded that terrified her, not dying (hence the final boss of the first instance, though it was also a callback to Ascension's doppelganger fight). In her visions, she was completely purple-crystallized, not stabbed to death. Or look at the first part of that instance -- the whole point was explaining that when she and the Commander are close together, she can absorb levels of magic that would otherwise kill her, by somehow making use of her bond with the PC. Aurene didn't release magic at the end, she absorbed it. And every stage of her evolution toward becoming an Elder Dragon has been marked by absorbing a load of magic -- first Mordremoth's, then Balthazar's, then Joko's, now Kraalkatorik's.

These things make the Joko theory more plausible -- if she knew she had Joko's Awakening magic, then being Branded is a Game Over scenario in a way that getting chopped to bits is not. That's why the vision terrified her. And, even though it doesn't seem like it, we actually did avert that future (thanks to Glint's trials). The PC just hasn't put 2 and 2 together yet, even though all the evidence is there for them.

[ZeftheWicked.3076]

I'm not really sure she's dead. I remember sei> @"starhunter.6015" said:

Don't think Aurene is down for the count, Glint told her something in secret, she didn't go poof like Vlast, Balthazar or spew out countless amounts of Magic upon death.Aurene may of ascended or in the process of doing so becoming even stronger.

Possible. One thing that struck me is her "corpse". In her visions it didn't stop where it did - she was almost instantly fully crystallized into brand crystal. Clearly that's not taking place here. She is impaled but not corrupted or completely crystallized.

[Alimar.8760]

@ZeftheWicked.3076 said:I'm not really sure she's dead. I remember sei> @"starhunter.6015" said:

Don't think Aurene is down for the count, Glint told her something in secret, she didn't go poof like Vlast, Balthazar or spew out countless amounts of Magic upon death.Aurene may of ascended or in the process of doing so becoming even stronger.

Possible. One thing that struck me is her "corpse". In her visions it didn't stop where it did - she was almost instantly fully crystallized into brand crystal. Clearly that's not taking place here. She is impaled but not corrupted or completely crystallized.

I think the point the story is also making is that every single time a dragon has had a vision. (Glint or Aurene) it has come true. But then we get story about how Kralk had a vision of him not being around. So who knows. The one thing is for certain, that visions can be perfect in their prediction, but flawed because of the perspective. Perhaps she did get impaled, but we do not know for certain if that is her actual "end." Perhaps it is, but perhaps there's something else going on. For all we know, her entire essence was absorbed by Kralk and that's just a husk while she "lives" on in Kralk. (Dunno, just putting random thoughts out there.)

[starhunter.6015]

@Alimar.8760 said:

@ZeftheWicked.3076 said:I'm not really sure she's dead. I remember sei> @"starhunter.6015" said:

Don't think Aurene is down for the count, Glint told her something in secret, she didn't go poof like Vlast, Balthazar or spew out countless amounts of Magic upon death.Aurene may of ascended or in the process of doing so becoming even stronger.

Possible. One thing that struck me is her "corpse". In her visions it didn't stop where it did - she was almost instantly fully crystallized into brand crystal. Clearly that's not taking place here. She is impaled but not corrupted or completely crystallized.

I think the point the story is also making is that every single time a dragon has had a vision. (Glint or Aurene) it has come true. But then we get story about how Kralk had a vision of him not being around. So who knows. The one thing is for certain, that visions can be perfect in their prediction, but flawed because of the perspective. Perhaps she did get impaled, but we do not know for certain if that is her actual "end." Perhaps it is, but perhaps there's something else going on. For all we know, her entire essence was absorbed by Kralk and that's just a husk while she "lives" on in Kralk. (Dunno, just putting random thoughts out there.)

Oh nice, she takes over Kralk's mind/body, like Snaff tried to do. That is a good theory !

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

Ascension is still at play here considering story dialogue.

[Annette.6278]

My thoughts about what happened.

Glint: Scion, my beloved child, there are things about Ascension that can onnly be expressed between dragons.Glint: Champion, come forward and learn how this long journey began.Maybe Aurene's visions were controlled by Glint to make our little dragon prepared for the future. We gave her trust in us, we made a strong connection with her that she loves us too and loves so much that was able to sacrifice herself and start her "journey" to be Ascended. Is there any harder choice that anyone may accept and strongest one to show the love and true light soul? Someone can do it only if has another one to fight for and who loves us.Glint, once known as Glaust, was a champion and scion of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik. After the Forgotten had purified her from Kralkatorrik's corruption, she began empathizing with other races and turned against her master, devising a complex plan to preserve Tyria's magical balance by replacing Elder Dragons with equally powerful but less predatory entities, a plan in which her children Vlast and Aurene were intended to play a large role. (wiki)I really hope that everything is going as she planned and her children dead not for nothing but it's just a way for dragons to be Ascended and to replace another ones.

The same thing that Dumbledore made with Harry Potter to kill Lord Voldemort.

[Urocyon.8239]

As phenomenal and purposeful the new story is, I have to say I am DEEPLY disappointed in the death of Aurene. I'm getting really tired of losing my favourite characters and this latest ending almost makes me feel like quitting GW2 altogether. It's just too much. After completing the story I had to log off and collect my thoughts. No game should do that to a person.

[Khanco.1584]

I'm wondering if we're finally going to get a canon explanation as to how Glint survived being "killed" by the heroes if GW1 when they stole her egg. That is an actual thing that happened rather than the Easter egg that it originally seemed to be, considering that egg grew up to be Vlast and Glint herself commented on it during Edge of Destiny.

Perhaps whatever Glint used to survive then is what she taught Aurene privately after the final trial?

[perilisk.1874]

@"Khanco.1584" said:I'm wondering if we're finally going to get a canon explanation as to how Glint survived being "killed" by the heroes if GW1 when they stole her egg. That is an actual thing that happened rather than the Easter egg that it originally seemed to be, considering that egg grew up to be Vlast and Glint herself commented on it during Edge of Destiny.

Perhaps whatever Glint used to survive then is what she taught Aurene privately after the final trial?

As bizarre as it sounds... if Glint understood the trials of Ascension well enough that she could run them herself for Aurene, does it mean she knows how to create Doppelgangers? Maybe it wasn't even Glint they fought.