The Other Tree

With the addition of the Sylvari, a completely new race was added to the lore of GW2. Ever since then, the Sylvari were subject to much debate. Why add an entirely new playable race if it won’t play a big part in Living World Story? The fact that the Sylvari are a very young race and we know little about it’s origins adds to the mystery. Where do these Sylvari come from? What’s their role in the world of Tyria?

What follows tries to adress all these questions. FULL CREDITS go to STEPHEN.6312, who’s the author of the article below.

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Posing The Question

Where do sylvari come from? Are we to believe that they are indeed the newest race to come to Tyria? What if, rather than being the newest race, they were eventually revealed to be one of the oldest?

If they are, the implications could be staggering. It’s not just that there are other trees out there, but that they are unlikely to number more than a few. Moreover, if the Pale Tree is herself a child of another tree, it suggests that her mother may still be alive.

As you are no doubt aware, in my excitement I overlooked a minor detail about the Pale Tree – she is an oak tree (as per “The Movement Of The World”). In my opinion this is a very significant fact, especially because it reveals that she produces (among other things, such as sylvan hounds) acorns (henceforth referred to as sylvari).

Anyone familiar with oak trees, particularly white oaks (upon which the Pale Tree has probably been modeled) knows that it can take many years for a tree to produce it’s first mast. In the case of the Pale Tree, it took over two-hundred and twenty-five years for her to produce her first mast of twelve. Just as importantly, of the many seeds that may follow a tree’s first mast, only a small percentage will ever actually become trees. According to “Acorns: The Inside Story” (you can find this article by performing a generic Google search – I am assuming the information presented in it is accurate) the likelihood of an oak’s seed successfully germinating into a tree is about one-in-ten-thousand.

But if the odds of any one of the Pale Tree’s seeds developing into a tree are so low, what does that mean for the seeds that Ronan found in a cave? Were they all destined to become trees? If the accuracy of development’s modeling extends to seemingly trivial matters such as the likelihood of a seed becoming a tree, it would mean that – statistically speaking – few if any of the other seeds from which the Pale Tree was taken would develop into trees. Indeed, it is entirely possible that none of the other seeds ever matured.

Which brings me to an important point: the Pale Tree may have been produced by another, much older tree – namely, her mother.

It’s A Magical World

But Tyria is magical. More than that, it seems somewhat absurd to try to explain magical phenomenon using real-life models. This is a good point and I invite everyone to consider how relevant this approach is, especially in this case.

How Long Can Oaks Live For?

In the real world, oaks can live for a very long time. North Americans may be familiar with the Pechanga Great Oak Tree, the Angel Oak, and the Seven Sisters Oak, all estimated to be between one-thousand and two-thousand years old. I’m sure that you’d agree – if the real world can produce such ancient trees, how much more so the magical world of Tyria! Just consider the age of the Pale Tree – she is now over two-hundred-and-fifty years of age!

A Fist-sized Seed

Still, one puzzling detail remains. If the seeds that Ronan found were produced by a tree much older than the Pale Tree, why did he find one that was the size of a human man’s fist? After all, wouldn’t he instead stumble upon fully-formed sylvari? It is said that Ronan did encounter terrible plant creatures, so it is possible that he did find sylvari. Not everyone is satisfied with this idea. You might envision Nightmare sylvari as terrible plant creatures, but the same cannot be said for Dream sylvari. Furthermore, Malyck – a sylvari believed to originate from the same region (considered by many lore-enthusiasts to be Magus Falls) as the Pale Tree, is nowhere-near as vicious as members of the Nightmare Court. Thus, if Ronan did encounter sylvari – even sylvari like Malyck – it seems a bit far-fetched to describe them as terrible plant creatures. Or does it?

Ronan was a man of war prior to his return to Arbor Bay. It was only after his return, following the loss of his family to the mursaat, that the Shining Blade soldier sheathed his sword. Given that he was a warrior, it seems reasonable to conclude that he would not be squeamish about using force, especially against non-humans. Additionally, Ronan was essentially snatching the progeny of a sentient race from them. If a charr entered a human’s home and stole it’s baby, do you think that the human would behave peacefully, especially when opposed by a member of a race trained to be violent? Do you think that if the charr killed the human and escaped with it’s baby, it would tell it’s fellows that the human was not somehow terrible? In short, Ronan behaved like a warrior whilst he was on patrol. Anything he found that resisted him that was not human was as likely to feel an edge of metal as assuredly as any member of the White Mantle, be they human, mursaat or otherwise. Likewise, sylvari living in the wild, unfamiliar with other races, would be just as inclined to respond to the encroachment of outsiders with force.

Malyck is often used to help demonstrate that sylvari are not terrible plant creatures by nature. But don’t be so sure. Malyck has much more in common with Caderyn than we realize. They both think similarly – a very logical, emotionless form of thinking unique to sylvari, who are only a shade of those after whom they have been modeled (humans). But whereas Caderyn rebelled as a result of the Tablet, Malyck, who has never had to choose between his love for sylvari and his duty to a Dream (a crisis portrayed in the standoff between Caderyn and Aife over the fate of krait young), does not suffer from the same kind of inner conflicts, making the similarities between the two sylvari easy to miss.

Finally, consider that because Malyck was never forced to interact with anyone other than his own kind, we (players) never got to see his true nature. For the real nature of a sylvari can only truly be observed when they interact with other races (consider, once again, that Caderyn’s nature was revealed as a result of his proposal about how to treat members of other races (such as the krait)). And this may be significant in Malyck’s case. Why? He is wearing human clothing. This suggests that he got it from the Wardens. But the Wardens are sylvari – they can grow their own clothes, they don’t need to steal them. Furthermore, they would be unlikely to give Malyck any when he too is sylvari. Instead, they would teach him to grow his own clothes, just as they could. No, this minor detail is a strong indication that Malyck may be less than receptive to other races, particularly humans.

Returning to the matter of the seed’s size, we find ourselves asking the question: Why would you find such a seed in a cave if it is nowhere-near as big as it should be if it were a sylvari pod? The answer may lie in the short story “What Scarlet Saw”. In this story it is said that Ceara witnesses the life-cycle of sylvari bound through the Pale Tree to the Dream:

“[Ceara]…saw a vague, glowing shape ahead. A tree, she thought…the Pale Tree. Its great off-white trunk connected a broad network of branches and leaves to a root system below. Instead of nuts or berries beneath its leaves, there were sylvari. Thousands of her people hung from the tree’s boughs like ripe fruit ready to fall. Their bodies did not move, but their eyes shifted and rolled, eagerly taking in their surroundings.

Some dropped like autumn leaves, slowly drifting down to root level. There they stood, stretched, and then set out into the void, disappearing as they cleared the spreading canopy. Some never made it that far, staggering, falling, and withering within the shade of the great tree.”

Ceara witnessed the deaths of countless sylvari as they struggled to emerge from beneath the boughs of the Pale Tree. Although it is not openly stated, it seems safe to assume that many more sylvari never make it out of their pods. Indeed, some of the Pale Tree’s fruit may fall from her branches long before it reaches maturity. Examples of said fruit (sylvari) would be smaller than normal; some might even be the size of a human man’s fist. It is this possibility that I would like to propose: The Pale Tree’s seed dropped from a much older tree – her mother – before she could fully form. The only reason she survived is because Ronan and Ventari nurtured her into the tree that she became. If this is the case, it is no wonder that the Pale Tree clings so ardently to the tenets of the Tablet.

Malyck: Speculation On Origins

Malyck may not be the progeny of the Pale Tree’s sibling, but her mother. Why? Consider that the Pale Tree produces sylvari for the next five-hundred years and you have your answer. All things considered, Malyck is more likely to be the product of a parent tree than a sibling tree.

Why Haven’t We Seen This Other Tree?

If such a tree is out there, it must be big. Why haven’t we seen it? I have several points to make about this topic, as it constitutes a strong counter to the body of my presentation.

To begin, it is possible that the region of Tyria in which the Pale Tree’s parent lives is as yet uncharted. Certainly, players could journey to The Falls during the events of Guild Wars 1. But the tree probably doesn’t live immediately atop the water. Although Malyck is widely believed to have been delivered by a subterranean watercourse running east from The Falls, he is the only one to ever have done so, suggesting that his is an isolated case. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that as Malyck’s mother grew larger (over the curse of two-hundred-and-fifty years) some of her boughs overhung a waterway; previously, they would not have been observed by travelers through the area.

Second, Caithe relates to players that when the sylvari were young, only she and Faolain ventured away from the Pale Tree – the other firstborn remained at the tree’s base. Furthermore, a strong argument can be formed in favor of the idea that it is the Dream that has driven sylvari away from their mother’s trunk and into greater Tyria. In other words, if the mother of the Pale Tree is not burdened by a Dream, she has no real reason to dispatch her other children into Tyria. Like so many other races, she and her children remain xenophobikittenil necessity drives them to migration and integration. It is entirely possible that the rise of Mordremoth will provide the ancient tree with just such an incentive.

Why Does The Pale Tree Produce Sylvari And Sylvan Hounds? Justifying The Use Of Real-World Examples To Help Understand Fantasy-World Models

If I asked you why the Pale Tree produces sylvari you’d say, “That’s easy – she’s a tree and they are her fruit (acorns),” and I’d say that you were right. But have you ever been puzzled about sylvan hounds? Don’t they seem a bit out of place? Why would the tree produce them? The answer may lie in the nature of real-world oak trees.

In the springtime, oaks produce both male and female flowers. The female flowers are very small; the male flowers form long aments, disperse pollen, then drop dead at the foot of the tree. Could it be then that sylvan hounds are the magical equivalent of catkins?

The Nature Of The Dream

An acorn is not a wind-borne seed. What this means is that when it drops from a tree, it falls straight down. This is a very inefficient means of ensuring that you will effectively reproduce; as such, oaks rely on natural predators such as squirrels and birds to help spread their seeds.

In GW2 the Pale Tree does not enjoy the luxury of squirrels or birds (the closest natural predator related to the possible spread of anything sylvari is the Great Jungle Wurm of Wychmire Swamp) but it’s seeds – sylvari – are magical, allowing them to relocate themselves with ease. And there is something else that the Pale Tree has, which helps it to motivate it’s seeds: the Dream.

Could it be possible that the Dream has something to do with ensuring the reproductive success of sylvari? This same Dream may ensure not only that 1) the tree produces larger yields of seeds each year but also that 2) those same seeds spread as far and wide across the face of Tyria as they can (via Hunts, whether Wyld or Dark), in order to ensure the maximum possible chance of successfully producing another oak tree.

Why Is This Important?

In Season One Ceara developed, together with her Nightmare Court allies, the Tower Of Nightmares. Intriguingly, this plant produced wind-borne seeds, making it’s ability to reproduce far more effective than the Pale Tree, especially when we consider that these plants (presumably) only served Nightmare, eliminating the inner-conflict that has hampered the reproductive efforts of the great oak. Just as importantly, the Tower was big enough to produce a massive taproot – a taproot that might have been as big as that of the Pale Tree, reaching deep into the ground to a source of magic which the Pale Tree may also have access to. When the Tower was destroyed Ceara devised a new plan, using machinery, to produce a mechanical version of the Tower’s taproot – a drill. This is why the Pale Tree’s survival may be important. Her taproot penetrates the heart of Tyria, accessing reservoirs of magic that would make the energy sealed in the Bloodstone look like the mere morning-tea snack of an Elder Dragon.

In short, something may wish to preserve the Pale Tree, or at least her ability to access magic….

If this hypothesis is correct, it may introduce a massive plot twist concerning the fate of Zaithan. After all, of the six Elder Dragons, only Zaithan has ever truly threatened the success of the Pale Tree’s reproductive cycle. Perhaps, with Season Two commencing in a fortnight, we will finally get some answers.