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Janthir Wilds is an expansion forGuild Wars 2that brings back an old enemy from the first game, the Titans. These creatures were forces of mass destruction during the original game, being part of the Flameseeker Prophecies and general mayhem and chaos.
Their return in Guild Wars 2 is interesting since we see them speak for the first time. If you want to learn why this is such a surprise, or you simply want to know all there is to know about these mighty creatures, you’ll find all you need here.
What Is A Titan?
All Titans share aroughly similar shape, composed of a torso with two arms, a monstrous head with no neck, and three insect-like legs; two on the sides, and one on the back, looking almost like a tail. Theirouter shell (and overall abilities)seem to bedictated by the environmentthey inhabit, although we don’t know if they can alter their powers once they attain them.
They areas large as buildingsand are able tospawn lesser Titans to fight for them. In the original game, this would happen whenever a Titan was slain, but in Guild Wars 2, the Titans summon theaptly named Titanspawn, and can create them from their surroundings.
We don’t know if these new Titans spawn lesser Titans when slain since none have been killed yet.
While the most remembered Titan variants from the first Guild Wars were made of fire or flesh, there were also somemade of rotting wood, known as the Rotting Titans. So, while the ones encountered in Janthir Wilds have a unique design, their plant-like natureisn’t something newto the franchise.
Creation Of The Titans
The Titans aredemonic entitiesseemingly created through an amalgamation of tortured souls. The one behind their creation isa demon known as the Fury, an evil creature with many masters over the centuries that relishes the chaos its creations can bring.
The Fury originally served Dhuum, the first god of death, but when said god was overthrown by Grenth, the Fury was imprisonedin the Realm of Torment, a prison Realm of the Mists. Abaddon, god of secrets, was also imprisoned there, and that’s where boththe Fury and Abaddon started to plotagainst their jailors.
Abaddon corrupted the entire Realm of Torment, and the Fury builtthe Foundry of Failed Creationsto make abominations for his new master.These were the first Titans, who took corrupted and fleshy forms when spawned on that Realm.
Fall Of Ascalon
The gods favored the humansabove all other races, which gave them an edge in theirongoing war against the charr.This made the charr susceptible to otherworldly influences since they were looking forany advantageagainst their human enemies.
The Foundry of Failed Creations had a portal to Tyria, specifically in the volcanic area known as the Ring of Fire Islands. The spectral Titans liberated there assumed a form of rock and fire, somethingthe charr saw as a divine advantageagainst the humans, so they treated these Titans as gods.
The Titans, in turn,gave their charr worshipers the Searing Cauldron, an artifact capable of leveling a city to ash thanks to itsconstant meteoric summons.
Since the Titans weren’t known to speak up until this point, it isn’t known if Abaddon was tricking the charr, or if the Titans spoke to them on their own.
With the Titans backing them up, the charr of the Flame Legionruled over all other Legions, and marched on Ascalon, destroying it beyond recognition. They then set their eyes on the other human settlements,Orr and Kryta, but those invasions wouldn’t be as successful.
The Scepter Of Orr
Whenthe charr marched on the island nation of Orr, their victory was almost guaranteed. That is, untilVizier Khilbron cast a forbidden spellthat sank the entire island, killing humans and charr alike; since Khilbron was working under Abaddon’s influence,the Vizier was raised as a lichto continue his dark master’s plan.
You see, Khilbron had attained a powerful artifact known asthe Scepter of Orr, a device powerful enoughto control the Titans.With it, he was meant tolead the Titans into total world destruction/domination; thefall of Orr was necessarysince it was the main place of influence of all other gods.
The Flameseeker Prophecies
The Flameseeker Prophecies areprophetic visions of the dragon Glintthat speak ofthe fall of the Mursaatat the hands of the Titans.She purposely let the Mursaat see her Propheciesso they would kick-start a series of events thatwould lead to their downfall, as well as thatof Khilbron and the Titans.
Sincethe Mursaat feared the impending doomthe Titans posed, they infiltrated the humans as protectors,using the White Mantle for their own goals.They protected the human nation of Kryta from the charr, andtook control of the portal leading to the Foundry of Failed Creations, keeping it sealed through human sacrifices.
Vizier Khilbron, the Flameseeker depicted in the Prophecies, hid his undead nature andled a group of heroes(the players) tofight against the White Mantle,unveiling the Mursaat creatures behind them.The heroes defeat the cultists protecting the portal to the Foundry of Failed Creations, andKhilbron takes advantage of this and releases the Titans, controlling them with the Scepter of Orr and commanding them to wreak havoc on the world.
The heroes defeated Khilbronwhile the Titans slaughtered the Mursaat, just as Glint predicted. Then,the heroes turned their attention to the Titans, and while the demonic creatures were able to cause a lot of damage,they were ultimately defeated.
Destroying The Foundry
Eventually,the heroes of Tyria manage to defeat Abaddon, aiding the human Kormir to ascend asthe new goddess of truth.She enlists the aid of these heroes once more totake back the Realm of Torment, anddestroy the Foundry of Failed Creationslocated within.
Said Foundry was still being used by the Furyto create new Titans, this time in the name of anew demonic master known as Mallyx.The heroesslay both Mallyx and the Fury, destroying the Foundry in the process, sono new Titans can be made.
The Titans Of Janthir Wilds
Hundreds of years after the events of the first game,new Titan sightings are being registeredin Tyria. As stated before,these resemble the Rotting Titansthat once roamed the land, but oddly enough,they are capable of speech.
It is hard to say if all Titans were capable of speaking since they never did so, but it might explain how the original Titans communicated with their Flame Legion worshipers.
We don’t currently know where they came from, butthere are several possible optionsthat explain their origin:
Even if their origin is slightly different from that of older Titans,they are still treated as demonic and destructive entities.Much like Vizier Khilbron tried in the past, it seems that we will be the onesusing the Scepter of Orrthis time to control the Titans and stop their rampage.
