what are your thoughts on all the people in the fandom who write trahearne surviving maguuma?
I’m not really one to judge, tbh. People are allowed to imagine and write whatever they’d like, which is what makes the fandom as colorful as it is. To be completely honest with you, I’ve penned a bit of AU where Trahearne lives myself, just for the hell of it. It was fun to write, angst-ridden, and a nice hope spot for Ive and the others.
That being said, that’s all it is: an AU. Trahearne’s dead. While I have my own questions about some of the logic in GW2′s storyline, I still believe in respecting the canon unless it is offensively nonsensical. Stories are written for a reason. And if you wish to write that story, that’s yours to write. I can’t judge for that, just like how the existence of the canon timeline that I established centered around Ive’s story doesn’t invalidate the existence of anyone else’s Commander.
I guess I think of writing within an established universe/canon a bit like a game of DnD. If you get an unlucky roll, everything can go sideways. You might die. You can’t change that, because the DM won’t (or shouldn’t) just change things because you wanted another outcome. You take the hand you’re dealt, and you let your characters grow and change in the aftermath. There’s appeal in writing the story exactly how you planned it. At the same time, respecting the original canon, as much as it may hurt, is a good reminder that not everything is within your control, and there’s value in how you respond to and grow from it.
I actually penned something about the treenerd eons ago, essentially that while I don’t like the manner (in terms of storytelling) or timing of Trahearne’s death, I see nothing wrong with him dying. In terms of Ive’s canon, it is a brutal gut punch and serves as one of the biggest doses of character development that he’s ever been hit with. While it’s heartbreaking to see him go through that, it’s also something I wouldn’t trade for the world. It was a wake up call for him, forcing him to come to terms with his own mortality, but even though he has a long road ahead of him and plenty of work to do, he knows that someday he’s going to earn his happy ending. Even if it’s in the Mists.
