SPOILERS: ideas what to look forward to after E5?

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@"perilisk.1874" said:They've basically written themselves into a corner (under which they installed a trapdoor ahead of time with a light fixture they could twist to escape, and this metaphor is getting out of hand). If we don't kill Kraalkatorik, reality is completely destroyed, shut down the servers and move on.

If we do kill Kraalkatorik without bringing Aurene back to life (barring something pulled out of nowhere), magic is destabilized and runs rampant. The wall between Tyria and the Mists breaks down, and Jahai showed us what happens then -- every area in the world would be filled with historical events that are locked in time, repeating in an endless lo-- oh, kitten. Oh kitteny kitten. YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! KITTEN YOU! SIX KITTEN YOU ALL TO THE REALM OF TORMENT!

Here's my question about "if we do kill Kralkatorrik without Aurene":

What has the Pale Tree been doing?

Remember in Season 1, Zhaitan's strongest living champion, Tequatl, was gathering a majority of Zhaitan's power, growing stronger, and was about to become the next Elder Death Dragon (per interview)?

The Pale Tree should be able to do that with Mordremoth's magic, given she's a dragon champion, and even though Primordus and Kralkatorrik took a big chunk of Mordremoth's magic, they did so when Zhaitan first died too (or Kralk should have, at least).

So by now, with so much time to recover, she - or Malyck's Tree in all honesty - should be close, if not already, the new Elder Jungle Dragon.

And that gives us a buffer to kill Kralkatorrik without a replacement.

[perilisk.1874]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Here's my question about "if we do kill Kralkatorrik without Aurene":

What has the Pale Tree been doing?

Something other than undergoing Ascension so she can become a replacement for Mordremoth in the All to stabilize the flows of magic?

Or maybe she did, the rules about Ascension (how to do it, what it does) are one of those things that they just sort of make up as they go along, both in GW1 and GW2. I doubt Aurene spent her time with Glint unlocking the ability to learn a secondary profession or see Mursaat.

For dragons (Arenanet will claim, continuing to make it up as they go along), Ascension is probably more akin to the blessing given to Kormir -- the process by which Aurene actually gains the ability to replace Kraalkatorik, rather than just absorbing some of his energy. I would speculate that the trials in combination with Kraalkatorik's desperate last-ditch unrestrained energy blast she absorbed at the end transformed her into.. well, in god terms, whatever Balthazar or Dhuum were. She is now the same class of being as an Elder Dragon, and fully capable of replacing Kraalkatorik, but she has to actually acquire his sphere first (and also, be alive). I'm pretty sure that will go more like Kormir/Abaddon than Grenth/Dhuum.

[Nath Forge Tempete.1645]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@"perilisk.1874" said:They've basically written themselves into a corner (under which they installed a trapdoor ahead of time with a light fixture they could twist to escape, and this metaphor is getting out of hand). If we don't kill Kraalkatorik, reality is completely destroyed, shut down the servers and move on.

If we do kill Kraalkatorik without bringing Aurene back to life (barring something pulled out of nowhere), magic is destabilized and runs rampant. The wall between Tyria and the Mists breaks down, and Jahai showed us what happens then -- every area in the world would be filled with historical events that are locked in time, repeating in an endless lo-- oh, kitten. Oh kitteny kitten. YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! KITTEN YOU! SIX KITTEN YOU ALL TO THE REALM OF TORMENT!

Here's my question about "if we do kill Kralkatorrik without Aurene":

What has the Pale Tree been doing?

Remember in Season 1, Zhaitan's strongest living champion, Tequatl, was gathering a majority of Zhaitan's power, growing stronger, and was about to become the next Elder Death Dragon (per interview)?

The Pale Tree should be able to do that with Mordremoth's magic, given she's a dragon champion, and even though Primordus and Kralkatorrik took a big chunk of Mordremoth's magic, they did so when Zhaitan first died too (or Kralk should have, at least).

So by now, with so much time to recover, she - or Malyck's Tree in all honesty - should be close, if not already, the new Elder Jungle Dragon.

And that gives us a buffer to kill Kralkatorrik without a replacement.

Well the pale tree is just a seed coming from the dragon (more like a big blighting pod) so maybe it doesn't work. And malyck's tree is the pale tree. Just that his pod fall into a river and got ported away from the grove. (dunno where I read that tho... it's been a while)

[Bast.7253]

@perilisk.1874 said:

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Here's my question about "if we do kill Kralkatorrik without Aurene":

What has the Pale Tree been doing?

Something other than undergoing Ascension so she can become a replacement for Mordremoth in the All to stabilize the flows of magic?

Or maybe she did, the rules about Ascension (how to do it, what it does) are one of those things that they just sort of make up as they go along, both in GW1 and GW2. I doubt Aurene spent her time with Glint unlocking the ability to learn a secondary profession or see Mursaat.

For dragons (Arenanet will claim, continuing to make it up as they go along), Ascension is probably more akin to the blessing given to Kormir -- the process by which Aurene actually gains the ability to replace Kraalkatorik, rather than just absorbing some of his energy. I would speculate that the trials in combination with Kraalkatorik's desperate last-ditch unrestrained energy blast she absorbed at the end transformed her into.. well, in god terms, whatever Balthazar or Dhuum were. She is now the same class of being as an Elder Dragon, and fully capable of replacing Kraalkatorik, but she has to actually acquire his sphere first (and also, be alive). I'm pretty sure that will go more like Kormir/Abaddon than Grenth/

That’s a good point actually, didn’t Kormir technically die when she took all of Abaddon’s magic into her and became a goddess? So Aurene doing the same thing now would make sense and mirror that part of nightfall. And perhaps Jokos magic would substitute the gods blessing that kormir received in order to survive her death and transformation. I don’t think the Joko bit is just some flippant fan service or excuse of why we abruptly killed him. I think they planned far enough ahead at that point to realize that Jokos death in that manner would be impactful and necessary instead of just deciding to kill a fan favorite and give us a few lines thinking it would appease people that are still salty about his manner of demise.

It just makes perfect sense to have that be the key to her resurrection and paces perfectly with the fact that we have ONE episode left in this season with the potential to finish an arc that has been going on for YEARS. It allows the writers to move past this and start exploring other directions in a manner that actually makes sense.

I challenge all of these people saying her being resurrected by joko magic and her becoming an elder dragon due to the events of glints trials and the events of this instance, with all of the hints and the visual changes to both Aurene and Kralk during this episode, to come up with a better plot direction that actually makes sense. I’ve heard a few theories that sounded interesting, but mostly I’ve just heard people whining about how death doesn’t mean anything in this game and about how it would be nonsensical or a cop out to go the resurrection route with no other reasoning than “that’s bad writing”... yet they only thing they seem to be writing are bias and ill thought out critiques of a story of which the plans and behind the scenes knowledge they aren’t even privy to.

Also, along with Jokos death and everything else involving Aurene since her introduction and bond forming with the player character... what purpose would the visions she had of her dying serve if she were to stay dead? Just to give us the opportunity to revisit Glints corpse and gain access to some supposed prophecy Kralk had... and prepare Aurene for something that if permanently dead was completely negated the next instance? Is the opportunity for a pep talk and some glint nostalgia a better reason to have us witnessing those visions better story telling than potentially hinting that her death is inevitable but prevented by Jokos magic? Jokos magic that was obtained by an at the time rather controversial and mocked story decision but can now have an actual payoff and strong reasoning behind it? Or would people rather just be salty about his death, say it was a poor story decision, and wait for the writers to pull some other solution out of thin air with no breadcrumbs or hints and then spend yet another season trying to motivate us to pursue something that not only we have failed at but Destiny’s Edge as well? So we just chalk this up as attempt number two, then three, and how many times do we try?

I just don’t know how people are reaching the conclusion that her death needs to be permanent or that her involvement is Jokos death is completely irrelevant. “But everybody just comes back from the dead now.” Well yeah, becaus Kralk is devouring the place where the dead go and it didn’t become so prevalent until now due to this very reason.

People are just over simplifying things in their own heads and trying to project it into the story, when in reality, despite being the people the story is aimed at, they aren’t the ones getting paid to write it... Expand your train of thought beyond disregarding things as “bad writing” and start imagining the possibilities of the future while weighting the events of the past. I’ve had my sour moments towards the story decisions too, but I have more faith in them than to think they’re just killing off a character that they’ve spent years on getting us acquainted with, and roller beetle drift plowing in some random story direction that they then have to spend probably at most a year of a new season trying to create the same impact as something they have been building up for years....

[Gray.8635]

@Nath Forge Tempete.1645 said:

@Randulf.7614 said:

@Nath Forge Tempete.1645 said:

@Randulf.7614 said:Hopefully getting back to decent heroic fantasy without having a silly dragon pet interfering with the plot. Ive wanted her dead since the destroyers invaded the egg chamber. It has been a long pay off...

We got it ... you didn't like Aurene at all ... Fine

What annoys me : they build the entire story around that character for months or even years and now they just "delete" or "destroy" all their story logic by just a making Kralk feint he was almost dead and killing aurene in the processe with an extraordinary regain of power at the last second ... I mean ... it came from nowhere.

The entire episode was great... just that right moment was rushed for me and makes almost no sense in term of story writting or even logic.

As if story writters were in a competition to know which one will get the most dramatic (and useless) death in their story episode .

I don't mind killing important characters but when it makes some sense in the lore at least. HEre it felt almost like you wanted to make something BIG and you were saying like "let's throw the past 10 months of the story away and start something new" with almost no link in between.

I'm really dissappointed in the way the things were handled. And that cliffhanger ... plz this is not even a good end for a poor soap on netflix ... feels unfinished and rushed.

I don't disagree with those who find it distasteful in building her up for so long and investing so much into her and then throwing her away. But there are two points to bear in mind. Her death was heavily telegraphed, including actually showing it the previous episode. If people chose to believe something else, that's not a fault of Anets writing. Secondly, it seems clear this is not the end of her involvement or journey given the secret between her and Glint re; Ascension. Something will happen to either bring her back whole (and no lets not start the whole Joko thing please) or bring her back in a way that still keeps her relevant to the direction they have been going in.

Sadly (for me) this is not the end of Aurene. it's just a twist. Players have cried out for genuine loss, a defeat and a cliffhanger for years. This is where we are at.

Regardless of how I feel about this terrible episode, the vast majority have found an emotional reaction to it and that is what the writers want. They want people talking, speculating, getting emotional. For all else, I'll give them credit for that.

I'm not really for or against the importance of Aurene in the story ... as long as it's good.

As I said , as long as their pick one idea and they go through it with sense and all the steps needed to make a coherent and understandable story ... I'm totally fine with that. I will enjoy either way. If the commander was a total kitten and would ruin the world it would be awesome as long as they put all their imagination at it and being crazy.

But that last scene for me , comes from nowhere with almost no sign of it the entire fight. Ppl had speculations from the vision in the last episode but for me, loosing again would mean the story was staling ... and nothing really knew would happen ... and then why making a vision at first if it's not changed? Kralk was almost dead then with some weird magic out of nowhere it gets up and fly away after spitting on us ... i mean ... wut? what is that scenario?

FOr me the episode ended too early ... we don't need cliffhangers like soaps or sequels for a video game. Waiting even 3 months to get some character thougths about what happen or even something to talk about after that ... whatever. Living story was the only patch of content quality but not even now ... too many content that feel rushed into the release for me.

Not only that but the entire fight against Balthazar is now pointless if the story ends with Aurene being sacrificed. I was looking forward to the living story to actually give us all the understanding of the Elder Dragons through Aurene progress, but if the death remains, I too feel this is a really bad daytime soap opera writing, with killing off important characters just for fun,

[Yannir.4132]

@Slowpokeking.8720 said:Caithe will be the key to bring her back.

She was suspiciously quiet during the final scene. Like she was leaving something unsaid.

I honestly don't think this is the end for Aurene, just a plotpoint along the way.

[Nath Forge Tempete.1645]

@Yannir.4132 said:

@Slowpokeking.8720 said:Caithe will be the key to bring her back.

She was suspiciously quiet during the final scene. Like she was leaving something unsaid.

I honestly don't think this is the end for Aurene, just a plotpoint along the way.

You must have watch WP last video on youtube Hahah

[Yannir.4132]

@Nath Forge Tempete.1645 said:

@Yannir.4132 said:

@Slowpokeking.8720 said:Caithe will be the key to bring her back.

She was suspiciously quiet during the final scene. Like she was leaving something unsaid.

I honestly don't think this is the end for Aurene, just a plotpoint along the way.

You must have watch WP last video on youtube Hahah

I really haven't. Just came home from work, and I don't YT there. :lol:

[Wilster.2985]

Pretty sure Aurene will be back due to usage of Joko's resurrection capability. I would imagine we try to fight Kralk head on, then at the last second while losing Aurene appears out of nowhere and destroys him. I have a hard time thinking that with all the talk Joko made about his powers before his death are for nothing, or simple comic relief to go along with shock of Aurene having her pre-nap snack.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Nath Forge Tempete.1645 said:Well the pale tree is just a seed coming from the dragon (more like a big blighting pod) so maybe it doesn't work. And malyck's tree is the pale tree. Just that his pod fall into a river and got ported away from the grove. (dunno where I read that tho... it's been a while)

Malcyk was born of a different tree. The idea that he's from the Pale Tree and lost his memories of the Dream were the false first conclusion of the PC, Caithe, and Trahearne. They learn he was born of a different tree and never had a connection to the Dream.

And if Tequatl could become a replacement for Zhaitan (confirmed he was on his way, like Glint was), then so could the Pale Tree. After all, it's pretty darn unlikely Tequatl and all those other dragons like Blightghast are literal children of Zhaitan (unless Z was one hell of a pimp daddy / broodmother).

@Yannir.4132 said:

@"Slowpokeking.8720" said:Caithe will be the key to bring her back.

She was suspiciously quiet during the final scene. Like she was leaving something unsaid.

I honestly don't think this is the end for Aurene, just a plotpoint along the way.

Suspiciously quiet, except for the line "She's gone..."

Everyone was rather quiet, in their sorrow and mourning.

@Wilster.2985 said:Pretty sure Aurene will be back due to usage of Joko's resurrection capability.

Except Joko didn't resurrect. He simply never died.

I would imagine we try to fight Kralk head on, then at the last second while losing Aurene appears out of nowhere and destroys him.

Ah, yes, the Dues Ex Machina. Had it for Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Lazarus, Joko, and Balthazar. Must have it for Kralkatorrik too.

(okay not seriously having it for all those villains, but did for Mordy and Joko).

[perilisk.1874]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Except Joko didn't resurrect. He simply never died.

How are we defining "died", such that we can say it did not happen to Joko, but did happen to Aurene?

He was a mummy so I doubt he had normal vital signs even when he was in good shape. Less so when chopped to bits or however else they tried getting rid of him. Presumably we aren't talking about standard biological death.

Do you mean died as "physically broken, nonresponsive, and severed from his connection with his minions"? Well, that did happen to Joko when the commander beat him, unless his guards were also pretending to be dazed.

Do you mean that his soul was not parted from his body and his magic was not released? We have no way of knowing about the former either way, and Aurene's magic did not seem to be released either.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

Khilbron, The Hunter, and Joko all show being able to be to, well, not die. In that there is no moment they seem unable to control their body. Was Joko physically broken or was he like The Hunter, who was faking it, because Khilbron never reaches that point until his soul is ripped from his body.

And I do think the dazed state of the Awakened is faked, though not by them but by Joko; when Joko actually dies, the Awakened just describe it as losing their compulsion. Not "I was dazed for a moment, then the compulsion was gone". Furthermore, the two guards were dazed even while Joko was recovering.

And I would say Aurene's magic was released, as we see Caithe's crystals disintigrate, which is a catch method for Anet to go "life/magic is gone", like with the Eye of Janthir. And Caithe confirms her connection is gone with her words "She's gone...". This, to me, mirrors Zhaitan's and Mordremoth's deaths and their minions no longer hearing their Elder Dragons' voice.

(EDIT: Plus, GuildChat just confirmed Aurene's a corpse, intentionally bookending the episode with Glint's corpse and Aurene's corpse)

[Randulf.7614]

Was that actually glints corpse or a representation/mirroring of some sort? I thought her corpse became the aspect crystals we use in dry top and labyrinthe cliffs, but maybe I'm misremembering?

[perilisk.1874]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Khilbron, The Hunter, and Joko all show being able to be to, well, not die. In that there is no moment they seem unable to control their body. Was Joko physically broken or was he like The Hunter, who was faking it, because Khilbron never reaches that point until his soul is ripped from his body.

And I do think the dazed state of the Awakened is faked, though not by them but by Joko; when Joko actually dies, the Awakened just describe it as losing their compulsion. Not "I was dazed for a moment, then the compulsion was gone". Furthermore, the two guards were dazed even while Joko was recovering.

And I would say Aurene's magic was released, as we see Caithe's crystals disintigrate, which is a catch method for Anet to go "life/magic is gone", like with the Eye of Janthir. And Caithe confirms her connection is gone with her words "She's gone...". This, to me, mirrors Zhaitan's and Mordremoth's deaths and their minions no longer hearing their Elder Dragons' voice.

(EDIT: Plus, GuildChat just confirmed Aurene's a corpse, intentionally bookending the episode with Glint's corpse and Aurene's corpse)

Regardless, Aurene was a living dragon, Joko was an undead human kept animate only by the magic of Awakening, which he had mastered using over centuries.

We have no way of knowing how long it took Joko to initially transition from life to undeath the first time, or whether it works differently for dragons and humans. We don't even know whether Aurene still has the magic or converted it to crystal magic. If it's divine magic, then we have no way of even knowing if it works the same way for Joko and Aurene, since those magics seem to allow a bit of leeway for interpretation (e.g Truth versus Secrets).

We just have to hold our breath for 3 months and see. We're going to be very purpley-blue looking.

[Crini.3985]

Nope, nothing, when i finished the episode i couldn't play anymore i just closed GW2 and went Dota2, it was too much for me srsly, i guess ill wait some days or something but there's little desire for GW2 right now.

[Fenom.9457]

The more a universe expands over time, the more ways we usually get to see loopholes for characters to come back. This story is starting get a little bit like supernatural where there are half a dozen possible ways to come back. I think there are several open to aurene.

Personally I’ve been wondering: what if the spellwork keeping Joko alive, which we know is highly capable of regenerating damage to one’s body transferred to aurene? I’d think killing Joko involves destroying that magic, but maybe since aurene was consuming him as it broke down, it might have just jumped over to her. In which case, all of her wounds from being impaled (?) would simply heal and she would come back to life.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

So, at this point, I don't think Kralk will die in episode 6. Instead, I think Aurene will find some way to come back at the VERY VERY end of episode 6, as the season end big reveal.

LWS5 will continue the Kralkatorik story, maybe not the whole season, but part of it. There's still a massive chunk of Elona we haven't visited yet which would easily serve as 2-3 maps, which could end the Kralk story, with the second half of s5 being a setup for whatever comes next.

[Tanith.5264]

@"Slowpokeking.8720" said:Caithe will be the key to bring her back.

I suspect this as well. Not sure which character said it, but there was a remark about "Caithe's Flowers" as my poor exasperated necro limped onto the scene. I think Aurene was prepared for this eventuality, even if the rest of us were not.

So what comes next? Well, remember that Taimi noted a burst of Zhaitan's energy coming from the Branded or some such during the fight. So soon we'll be coping with Risen Vine-touched Branded Icebrood Destroyers. Coming soon to a defenseless farming community near YOU!

:)

[PhiLL.1746]

Charr homeland as the new map (kralk will need to recover where everything started)Caithe as the "new Aurene" (she is eligible to become an elder dragon since she is a dragon minion and is connected to Kralk).gg

[Lord of the Fire.6870]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:So, at this point, I don't think Kralk will die in episode 6. Instead, I think Aurene will find some way to come back at the VERY VERY end of episode 6, as the season end big reveal.

LWS5 will continue the Kralkatorik story, maybe not the whole season, but part of it. There's still a massive chunk of Elona we haven't visited yet which would easily serve as 2-3 maps, which could end the Kralk story, with the second half of s5 being a setup for whatever comes next.

I believ too we will know at the end some more I think the episode will focus on Taimi and how Braham wants to help her (maybe with an ritual fuse her with an animal spirit to heal her body).

Its a bit melancholic but I think the general direction everything is going is change or die

[Slowpokeking.8720]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:So, at this point, I don't think Kralk will die in episode 6. Instead, I think Aurene will find some way to come back at the VERY VERY end of episode 6, as the season end big reveal.

LWS5 will continue the Kralkatorik story, maybe not the whole season, but part of it. There's still a massive chunk of Elona we haven't visited yet which would easily serve as 2-3 maps, which could end the Kralk story, with the second half of s5 being a setup for whatever comes next.

Kralkatorrik pretty much can't bring anything new to us. We already fought his minions since PoF and had a big fight like that, there is little to be added. I hope it will end asap because I'm bored.

[Fenom.9457]

@Slowpokeking.8720 said:

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:So, at this point, I don't think Kralk will die in episode 6. Instead, I think Aurene will find some way to come back at the VERY VERY end of episode 6, as the season end big reveal.

LWS5 will continue the Kralkatorik story, maybe not the whole season, but part of it. There's still a massive chunk of Elona we haven't visited yet which would easily serve as 2-3 maps, which could end the Kralk story, with the second half of s5 being a setup for whatever comes next.

Kralkatorrik pretty much can't bring anything new to us. We already fought his minions since PoF and had a big fight like that, there is little to be added. I hope it will end asap because I'm bored.

We can have all manner of new branded creatures, we haven’t seen any kind of elonian creatures branded (ibogas, sand sharks, sand eels?), and other races. We’ve never even seen Branded Norn or asura, though until he could pop out of the mists it wouldn’t have made sense

[Martzi.7341]

Many said that "kralki fainted" and Caith will be the key". I think none of these 2 (not entirely).First: Kralki didnt fainted. That we stabbed him was dangerous for him, he was realy diing, but he is and elder dragon. The last bast was a scared movement to flee (worked perfectly for him).Second: Caith i think wont bring Aurene back, she will be just some detekcor/indicator.The plot I have in mind:First: Aurene absorbed Joko's "immortal-returning-never truly dead" powers, wich I think remained hers, cuz Kralki didnt absorbed any magic in the cinematic while leaving the area in haste (half of his face melted), he was busy to flee, not taking time to have a breakfast.Second: In Glint's Lair we were separated, where Glint stated that Draconic Ascension is only for dragon's ears. So maybe he now knows someting that needed Aurene's death, to aquire some immense powers, found a way to save her daughter. Thus the Joko power and the Ascended Dragon powers at the same time maybe will have some trick in their scaly pockets (maybe The return of both of them).I think, we will take a tour into the mists with Caith and Rithlock, asking Glint, helping her to save Aurene (maybe Glint too, but that would break the lore of Heralds, or this will be the key to it, the Revenants).

[Randulf.7614]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:So, at this point, I don't think Kralk will die in episode 6. Instead, I think Aurene will find some way to come back at the VERY VERY end of episode 6, as the season end big reveal.

LWS5 will continue the Kralkatorik story, maybe not the whole season, but part of it. There's still a massive chunk of Elona we haven't visited yet which would easily serve as 2-3 maps, which could end the Kralk story, with the second half of s5 being a setup for whatever comes next.

I think this is a possibility too, although it could be kralk will find a place to hide out and leave the story a while. He prob knows the Missts are now dangerous too him given the battles he had there and his near death state.

It seems unlikely to me we could have two back to back elder dragon boss battle episodes

[Slowpokeking.8720]

@Fenom.9457 said:

@Slowpokeking.8720 said:

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:So, at this point, I don't think Kralk will die in episode 6. Instead, I think Aurene will find some way to come back at the VERY VERY end of episode 6, as the season end big reveal.

LWS5 will continue the Kralkatorik story, maybe not the whole season, but part of it. There's still a massive chunk of Elona we haven't visited yet which would easily serve as 2-3 maps, which could end the Kralk story, with the second half of s5 being a setup for whatever comes next.

Kralkatorrik pretty much can't bring anything new to us. We already fought his minions since PoF and had a big fight like that, there is little to be added. I hope it will end asap because I'm bored.

We can have all manner of new branded creatures, we haven’t seen any kind of elonian creatures branded (ibogas, sand sharks, sand eels?), and other races. We’ve never even seen Branded Norn or asura, though until he could pop out of the mists it wouldn’t have made sense

Nah, why not save the effort to other villains?

Kralkatorrik as the big bad is no longer interesting, we SAVED him in this xpc after he got a boost from Mordremoth' death, then he got a big boost again, trying to destroy reality and almost got beaten here, the battle is cool enough and he gave almost everything there. To further drag his story would be boring.

More importantly, he got little personality even compare to the other dragons, he simply just destroy and devour, there is little to develop as the big bad.