Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Discussion Thread: Story and Lore

[Ashantara.8731]

Just now, Dante.1763 said:

Sure, but after 200 years of being subjugated by said empire, i wonder how much identity would be left.

 

They still have to live somewhere. Those forest areas, however, looked completely abandoned.

[Dante.1763]

3 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

 

They still have to live somewhere. Those forest areas, however, looked completely abandoned.

Ah, i see what you mean now, sorry ;-;

[Bast.7253]

I mean, the trailer didn't give much to speculate on. I can't say I was even interested enough to go back and analyze it. 

[brenda.9723]

I liked the trailer and talk very much. I love the seige turtle and fishing. I am so curious how they will design their gameplay ^^. PoF mounts were so much better then regular mounts, it would be so cool if they did the same with fishing.

[Woop S.7851]

The new trailer reminds me of 'Princess Mononoke (1997)' with deep meaningful themes such as humans vs. gods, nature vs. technology, love vs. hate, war & peace...it's a classic! 😹 Keep up the great work story team! 👍😁
 

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Woop S.7851

[firedragon.8953]

Didn't care much for the animation in the trailer, but other than that I am looking forward to the next story installment. Website is awesome though, and gets the gears turning a bit!

Dragonjade? Hmm, is this going to turn out to be similar to bloodstones, except now I guess it would contain corrupted dragon magic, too? Maybe Mai Trin learned a thing or two in the Mists. Some Seer technology, perhaps? Is this where most of Jormag's and Primordus's energy really went? Is this why we are now headed to Cantha? Is the "end" of dragons because now the power of dragons can be harnessed by humanity through technology? 

 

 

[hugo.4705]

https://imgur.com/bXlXIs0 something i caught during the stream, during the first 15 minutes countdown, at 10 mins remaining precisely. The gate symbol behind the red force field reminds me the chaos star from warhammer or a ship rudder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_of_Chaos

 

 

[Woop S.7851]

9 hours ago, hugo.4705 said:

https://imgur.com/bXlXIs0 something i caught during the stream, during the first 15 minutes countdown, at 10 mins remaining precisely. The gate symbol behind the red force field reminds me the chaos star from warhammer or a ship rudder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_of_Chaos

 

 

 

Nice! Great find! 😄 There's quite a lot of small details since the first trailer + this one hinting at the lore...

 

Summary from the GW1 manuscripts/lore:

• Empire of the Dragon (Cantha) was found based on celestial Dragons
• While Tyria was found based on the different Gods
• Gods and Dragons since ancient times were always at war against each other
• The Gods won, the Dragons went into sleep/hiding
• Magic exists because of these beings and their conflicts
• Emperors were believed to have inherited Dragons' magic or was able to control it, the very first ones became Weh No Su (ascended ones closer to the stars)
• The events of Jade Wind from GW1 was due to the God Abbaddon, whom manipulated Shiro Tagachi to kill the existing Emperor
• When Shiro killed him, he absorbed the Emperors' magic
• The Luxon hero Archemorus and Kurzick Hero Saint Viktor together defeated Shiro
• Shiro's defeat released chaos magic onto the land (a event called: Jade Wind)
• The Jade Wind turned the Luxon Sea into raw Jade
• It also turned the Kurzick home of Echovald Forest into Amber Stone

 

GW1 Factions Trailer (Jade Wind Event) 

 

Due to the event, refugees from both sides re-settled in Kaineng and crowded the undercities

• The 2 factions from GW1 has been at war with each other ever since this event..
• After death of the emperor, the Ministry of Purity kicked out all other races and integrated the 2 factions
• The Kurzicks had the knowledge of using magic from the stone forest to create Juggernauts and God of Vengeance (likely a beam cannon)
• The Luxons had the knowledge to mine the Jade sea and utilize it as a resource
• Then the Dragons rose (especially the Deep Sea Dragon that blocked Canthan trade routes)
• Due to the Deep Sea Dragons' rise, the Jade sea slowly turned back to water while absorbing its magic
• Cantha goes into isolation...

 

GW1 Factions Story/Lore (after events of the Jade Wind)

 

...200+ years later...(now)

 

Based on the GW2 trailers:

• The logo has a white and dark dragon (deep sea dragon? chaos vs. balance?)
• Luxon ancestors harnessed knowledge of dragon magic (Dragon Jade)
• From GW1, its said large Luxon cities (like Cavalon) were once built on the backs of Giant Turtles for mobility (Mortal Engines and Howl's moving castle comes to mind)
• If the Kurzicks & Luxons were integrated into the dragon empire, they indeed will have generational knowledge to harness dragon magic + create high-tech Siege Turtles, rivaling Asura golems?
• Deep sea dragon concept art was revealed during the stream yesterday & the result of its magic released on a high tower was shown: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/end-of-dragons/
• Kuunavang was revealed in the first trailer (likely a guide to the new dragon, or act as an echo from time)
• The Asura (Zojja?) on the airship had a conflicted expression due to their reluctance to visit Cantha that purged her ancestors long ago
• The Aetherblades and/or Zephyrites (followers of Glint) driving the ship (mix of races and cultures) will play a major role
• The lady/empress in the trailer has the ambition to help her people using dragon magic/jade, but at what cost? and for what purpose?

 

whew..that was alot to cover 😋
 

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by Woop S.7851

[vandrefalk.6823]

You do realise that abandoned Kurzick forest could just be because of video footage that doesn't want to reveal info about story.

 

I'm firmly believing Luxon and Kurzick factions to exist to some degree, ready to break out after being oppressed/forced into Usoku's unified Cantha 250 years ago.

[angelica.7406]

I found this page where it includes the Cantha map for the EoD expansion. Will it be original?

The truth is that it looks like the maps that ANET makes.

 

I leave you the page and the map, so that you can contemplate it

 

 

 

[Meridian.4983]

It’ll be interesting to see if the Eternal Grove kept its name, and if it still has the Wardens. Almost sounds like it’s trying to one-up the (Sylvari) Grove and it’s wardens😆

[Hadesengel.2980]

3 hours ago, angelica.7406 said:

I found this page where it includes the Cantha map for the EoD expansion. Will it be original?

The truth is that it looks like the maps that ANET makes.

 

I leave you the page and the map, so that you can contemplate it

Seems fake to me, it was explicity stated that the new guild hall is a Shing Jea guild hall, the map instead has 3 halls: Kaineng City, Kurzick and Luxon and no Shing Jea. Also mainland Cantha looks exactly the way it looked in GW1, no changes in landmasses, islands etc., also unlinkely.

[alcopaul.2156]

21 hours ago, Dante.1763 said:

I was fairly certain it was written in the Lore that the Empire forced the Kurziks and Luxons to join them or..well..die.

 

someone from the Kurzicks and someone from the Luxons got married, fulfilling that the word of the Emperor is true and set in stone.

 

and that event signaled the end of the perpetual war that could happen for days to come - when 1 faction will just be the permanent predator to the prey and that predatory faction is that which control the waters..

[Donari.5237]

5 hours ago, angelica.7406 said:

I found this page where it includes the Cantha map for the EoD expansion. Will it be original?

Given that it even calls itself a "fan made leak" I would be very surprised if it has any resemblance to actual map areas.  However, if you scroll down just past Story in https://www.guildwars2.com/en/end-of-dragons/

you will see a mostly blank map area.  If you mouse over the + in a diamond icon on Shing Jea Island, the map fills with concept art.  There are two more greyed-out icons in the main landmass to the east, and a text box hides things more to the south.  So there probably are at least three maps, with easy room for a fourth.

[vandrefalk.6823]

Was that extra crosshair on the EoD site there on Tuesday? There's a greyed out crosshair now centred approximately on Kaineng in the Locations section.

 

All the screenshots, concept art, etc so far is from Shing Jea, so I'm curious at what frequency Anet will drop tidbit from other locations. Maybe every 3 weeks or so, to coincide with each new elite spec, and more info?

[Dami.5046]

All well and good saying how previous events of HOT/POF have affected Cantha, but what about what really happened after Shiro was taken to the Realm of torment and what happened to his spirit?  

It's a shame they wrote out the kurz/luxon thing to suit at the time - Echovald will always be 'Kurzick' to me, as will the house zu heltzer,( if it's still there and not a bunch of stones :() i really hope they kept in with the gothic ness, but it just looks like another part of maguuma. 

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Dami.5046

[rylien.3824]

In the meantime, I found some original soundtracks from End of Dragons live, at least the music remains qualitative !

Hope they play some old Guild Wars 1 music through (CoastLine is my favorite)

 

 

 

[DragoTheWise.7256]

I'm really looking forward to all the little things that will be in the game. PoF had a lot of little gold nuggets. With us so long away from Cantha, I'll be looking at every nook to find the little details.

[SweetPotato.7456]

Glad there is a thread for this. 

Since there are going to be a Siege Turtle Mount, and we know turtle is one of three Luxon Clan 
"Today, the Luxons have grouped themselves into three different clans: the Serpent, the Turtle, and the Crab." 
so, can we get the Serpent and the Crab as siege mount too? 

[miiroto.3672]

The one thing that is small detail yet is key component of revenant proffession, is updating the ambient dialogue with the Shiro legend after we enter cantha.

Small detail such as this or the portal tome icon for Icebrood saga increase the feel of release soo much. 

 

And hearing the "I'd hope to find out one day.." while being in cantha would be big sadge.

[Faridah.8431]

On 7/27/2021 at 4:54 PM, Dante.1763 said:

I was fairly certain it was written in the Lore that the Empire forced the Kurziks and Luxons to join them or..well..die.

 

The Luxons and Kurzicks were already vassal states to the Empire of the Dragon at the time of Factions. Usoku then said enough is enough and raised a military and conquered them fully. I think there is definitely questions on if their cultures survived over the last 250 years as Usoku's whole thing was unifying Cantha around one strong national identity and persecution of non-humans.

[hugo.4705]

Just watched again the new trailer shown during the stream, the cinematic with mai trin - asura and aurene isn't the start of EOD but the end.

Just like the end of LS4 with the sunset and aurene flying in the sky, it is the same here.

 

Mai trin not gonna bring us to cantha, no reason to after we chased her with inspector elen kiel, put her in jail and then she escaped into the mists.

Mai trin and the aetherblade had a mission, and I think it is to ally with the council of purity/ the empress to make a kind of dragonjade machinery to attract the deep sea dragon or somehow create a giant mist portal to resurrect an elder dragon of the past of from another dimension. This was scarlet plan beyond mordremoth. Scarlet saw the all and all the dragons so she selected the ones she can awaken, mordremoth and cantha one.

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Deep_sea_dragon#/media/File%3AThe_Way_Forward_Dragon_concept_art.jpg This is the canon look of the deep sea dragon and the ones in the one that is on several End of Dragon arts isn't deep sea dragon.

 

Which if extended would look something like that:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/35730451/Deep-Sea-Dragon Eel head, turtle or crab like. Not snake like Jormag.

 

 

[Ghostkat.9580]

I don't think the Ministry of Purity is in power anymore. All the new Canthan stuff is very noticeably Korean-inspired, with characters wearing hanboks and armour based on the Joseon Dynasty. The Ministry of Purity was very, VERY Japanese-inspired, and their role in the story took inspiration from the Tokugawa Shogunate, down to their isolationist and ethnocentric policies.

I know Cantha is supposed to be "pan-Asian," but I doubt they'd have Canthans just naturally shift from being Japanese to Korean like that, since that would offend a great many people in the Far East Asian market. No doubt there was some kind of war and the MoP was ousted. We do know they set out to exterminate the Luxons and Kurzicks in Winds of Change, but we don't know what the end result of that was, so I'm guessing the Luxons used Dragon Jade technology to fight back and won. Considering South Korea's relationship with Japan (the Japanese occupied South Korea for a time, and the two nations very much do not get along), I strongly believe they'll lean into that to have the MoP ousted in favor of a more Korean-inspired leadership.

In that case, it's possible that the MoP is still out there, and will serve a role similar to the White Mantle in the Canthan region.

[lezbefriends.7516]

On 7/29/2021 at 7:52 AM, Dami.5046 said:

All well and good saying how previous events of HOT/POF have affected Cantha, but what about what really happened after Shiro was taken to the Realm of torment and what happened to his spirit?  

It's a shame they wrote out the kurz/luxon thing to suit at the time - Echovald will always be 'Kurzick' to me, as will the house zu heltzer,( if it's still there and not a bunch of stones :() i really hope they kept in with the gothic ness, but it just looks like another part of maguuma. 

 

Gothic style is old and dead, now it’s about vibrant and zany.

[medivh.4725]

I think given the story line it is pretty easy to spin off a sub story with the undead or the awaken. Whiles playing "Seasons of Dragon". The only replay I truely enjoy was the Istan one. I could imagine playing a toon with Joko powers, roaming central Tyria. Raking mass destruction exterminating what comes my way. With marching undeads executing my commands. So much fun. 

Please make Undead or Awaken playable characters, preferably with their side stories. Discard the birdman idea. Got no interest in birdman.