Headcanon Time: Guardian Magic (Feat. Braham Eirsson)
Note: This is out-of-date with my current theories of magic.
I’ve written several iterations of this post, and all of them get long and rambly, so I’m going to hyperfocus on one aspect of guardian magic as I see it that pertains to my ongoing series of posts about Braham: how personality affects magic. There are a lot of rabbit holes, exceptions, and alternate situations that could be discussed, but let me hyperfocus for a minute.
We all know there’s a finite amount of magic in the world, in leylines, etc. There is also a finite amount of magic per person - not all of us can have Queen Jennah’s power.
Each person has a different range of magical power depending on several factors; heredity, affinity, and emotion. I want to focus on affinity and emotion (which are two sides of the same coin).
I’ve mentioned before that I envision magic in several different Aspects, one of which is the Aspect of Deception, for mesmers. And guardians use the Aspect of Protection. I believe that these Aspects have a sort of animal-like intelligence or instinct, and they choose who is blessed with their particular brand of magical power upon conception. (I see conception as a magical event.)
The Aspects choose these ‘hosts’ based on affinity, which is an inclination or tendency toward the primary motivators of that Aspect. For the Aspect of Protection, its primary concern with whether and how much magic to give Braham was based on his inclination or tendency to loyalty and protectiveness.
We’ve never been given a canon estimate of magical power for Braham, but, building from this assumption that his magical power correlates to his loyalty and protectiveness - he’s super powerful. Several key events tell us this: we meet him as the only one willing and capable of trying to get help for Cragstead. In Thunderhead Keep, he shielded the Commander from a blast of magic from Kralkatorrik. He was severely drained of energy, but he survived! (Note: according to the novel Sea of Sorrows, it IS possible for a guardian to kill himself by attempting to shield from a too-powerful blast of magic.) He also (IBS Champions spoilers) let himself be corrupted solely on the basis of ‘I need to protect my friends.’ He was astonished to be alive afterward.
The Aspect of Protection would have given him a sizeable chunk of innate magic, based on this evident affinity for loyalty and protection. Now, affinity only describes a range of power; a floor and ceiling. (These, of course, are also dependent on how much magic Braham has spent since he was last at full power, which could have been the last time he slept, or meditated, or let his cooldowns finish, or got a buff of Regeneration, or had a long rest, etc….)
Now it’s time to focus on the third factor: emotion, which defines where in the affinity range a given spell is cast. Emotion is the moment-to-moment version of affinity; if Braham casts a spell while feeling extra-protective and loyal, the spell will be in the higher end of the range. In addition, if Braham casts a spell motivated by emotion - say somebody is going to die and he reacts to save them - the spell has even more power.
That moment when he was shielding the Commander was a high-risk, high-stakes moment - the Commander and others in close proximity could be killed or even corrupted. But instead of panicking over his own safety, Braham cast a shield that could have killed him to save the Commander. Because of the motivation-emotion boost, along with an affinity that allowed him to get that much power, he succeeded. And affinity, motivation, and emotion are personality things, not magic things - magic just uses them.
Braham Eirsson is a remarkably loyal and protective friend. He’ll go to the ends of Tyria, get corrupted and die for his friends - for the Commander. This isn’t just my magic headcanon - he has done these things.
We need to appreciate that more.
~oOoOo~
If you're going through my series of posts entitled Character Study: Braham (or if you're interested):
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