Guild Wars Theorycrafting: A Different Kind of “Bug”
A few days ago, the Guild Wars team finally released a trailer for the next episode of Living World – A Bug in the System. Now back from the Mists and deadset on revenge, Palawa Joko has seized control of the Inquest’s portal network, using it to launch a full-scale invasion of mainland Tyria. To stop the carnage, Dragon’s Watch must find trace the portals back to their source, and shut them down. But if we want to get to Joko, we’ll have to go through the Inquest first… and that won’t be an easy task.
Action! Drama! Subterfuge! Zombies! What more could they possibly add to such a gripping tale?
Answer: A doomsday weapon, a ticking clock, and a frightfully large number of carnivorous insects.
That’s right, folks. With the patch just days away, it’s time once again for some rampant speculation! Today’s topic of discussion: Palawa Joko’s imminent attempt at world domination.
Here’s the situation, last we checked: Following a vision from Aurene, we stumbled into an old Inquest base under the ruins of Fahranur. Joko’s attack was already underway, but we shut down this batch of portals. We also met up with Rox and Braham, who fought their way in from the other side.
Oh, and Joko tried to murder Taimi. So it’s personal now.
When I’m done with him, I will play kickball with his skull.
On the surface, the situation seems grim. Joko can launch attacks from a full continent away, and we have no idea how to retaliate or shut him down. And with his endless army of the dead, bolstered with every kill, he can keep the invasion going for as long as he likes.
But that party won’t last forever. As Rytlock said, it’s only a matter of time before the Blood Legion rolls into Kourna. Along with the Iron Legion, the Ash Legion, the Seraph, the Ebonhawke Guard, the Wardens, the Arcane Eye, the Lionguard, half the population of Hoelbrak, and the Pact. See, that’s the big downside of declaring war on the entire world. The world responds.
Joko’s army might be huge. It might be infinitely sustainable. It might be on the other side of a vast, inhospitable wasteland. But all of those advantages applied to Zhaitan’s army as well, and Zhaitan lost. On top of that, he lost without having to deal with little things like a massive populist uprising.
On the current course of this story, Joko is headed for certain defeat. He’s not an Elder Dragon. He can’t fight the combined forces of an entire continent to a standstill. Unless, that is, he has something up his sleeve. And I think I know what that something is.
“Experiments… He has them doing experiments.”
“What kind of experiments?”
“I don’t know. Bugs. Something about bugs.”
As far as distant threats go, “something about bugs” doesn’t sound particularly scary. But if you pay close attention to the game’s backstory, that little off-hand quote becomes a heck of a lot scarier. Elona doesn’t have a pleasant history of human/insect relations.
Case in-point: Fahranur itself. It’s no coincidence that the first episode took us to those ruins. The writers wanted to show us what will happen if Joko succeeds in his plan. And based on what Taimi said in Fahranur, that plan seems to revolve around the Scarab Plague. But what is the Scarab Plague, exactly?
Short version: An extremely deadly disease that wiped out an entire nation. The reason the Primeval Dynasty fell.
Long version: Eight hundred years ago, at the height of Elona’s power, the Scarab Plague was born in the slums of Fahranur, sweeping through the entire island of Istan. The island was quarantined to prevent the contagion from reaching the mainland, but refugees made it through the blockade, spreading the infection to Kourna and Vabbi. By the time it was done, Istan was completely depopulated and the rest of Elona was in chaos.
But that’s not the scariest part. The scariest part is what it does to its victims. According to in-game lore, the Scarab Plague causes beetles of varying sizes to grow underneath the skin, before tearing themselves free, Chestburster-style. Those beetles, one assumes, would then spread the plague farther, as many insects do in real life.
All in all, the Scarab Plague was so horrifyingly effective that some think it may not have been entirely natural. A few observers have pointed out that it may be related to the Apocrypha, a cursed relic of Abaddon, which fell from the sky shortly before the Plague began. It was being housed in Fahranur during the outbreak, right next to the apaprent epicenter. Pretty suspicious timing, if you ask me. And it perfectly fits the MO of Abaddon, patron god of convoluted revenge schemes.
It might be a trivial little detail, the idea that Scarab Plague may have been a biological weapon. But it’s definitely a thematically-appropriate one. Because under Palawa Joko’s guidance, it may be again.
That’s what I propose Joko’s endgame is, here. Revive the long-dead Scarab Plague. Unleash it upon his unsuspecting enemies. Profit.
For a necromancer like Palawa Joko, the Scarab Plague would be the perfect tool of conquest. Any population exposed to it would be utterly destroyed, and the dead would rise as soldiers under Joko’s command. Being undead, Joko himself would be immune to its effects, along with everyone else in his army.
All he needs to do is recreate a viable sample and deploy it somewhere in Tyria. Which he could easily accomplish through the Inquest portal network.
Fortunately for us all, that first bit would hardly be easy. Just like many plagues in the real world, the Scarab Plague was too lethal for its own good. No virus can spread without a living host, and once Istan was depopulated… well, that
It all fits disturbingly well. The Inquest set up shop in Fahranur, researching the Scarab Plague in the name of Science. Using live subjects for their tests, they start kidnapping Istani locals, attracting the attention of the Mordant Crescent. Joko storms the place and Awakens the lot of them, finding out about the whole project. And then Joko does what he does best – twists the work of others for his own gain. He directs the Awakened Inquest to continue their work, while he uses the portal network to prepare for his invasion.
And so we end up going full circle, back to the trailer Arenanet just released. When you hear the name “A Bug in the System”, what do you think it means? Is it a reference to our little infiltration mission? A hint that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong in the Inquest labs?
Or is it a subtle hint that there’s something bigger going on?
Regardless of the answer, I’m very excited to see how it plays out. See y’all on Tuesday!
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