Guild Wars 2 Mysteries: The Gargoyles

[@WoodenPotatoes]

I've got to be honest I rushed the hell out of this video because I was trying to meet some plans I'd made yesterday! (Which I failed anyway). I'm glad it turned out okay! :D

[@Tyrone36]

i like you woodenpotatoes because you find these mysteries and you go so much in depth in the lore of games and i love these kinda stuff

[@Minale__]

You make me interested in things I never thought about. It's amazing! I checked the timeline when I was reading the GW2 books, but I didn't pay much attention to the gargoyles, because I was mainly interested in the Elder Dragons.. but they definitely are a mystery. Please keep up the awesome work, you can't imagine how excited I get when I see a new upload! ♥ ( fangirling much, I'm so sorry! Hahah )

[@Chessrook44]

Also, it would be nice to have a big lore video explaining the ENTIRE story of Mad King Thorn. Maybe do it in October as a special?

[@Muharrem017]

My friend, I really enjoy watching you putting real energy and intellect into these. You are a user worth subscribing for

[@fadekill]

I also really like the idea of a very long story with the lunatic court and mad king thorn (containing the gargoyles) that went over years and years with little steps of information and will go on for many more years. You right, that is really strong and interesting world lore design.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Uploading the next one soon!

[@Nexessor]

WP you are amazing! Finding all these hints and tieing them together... blew my mind!

[@Ashi8No8Yubi]

I feel like this is another weird random thing ANet has stuff locked away somewhere and for some reason it'll never come to light.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Yep it was recent! Funnily pre-searing remains one of the more populated.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

That's a great thought! Still the question of why they died out, though. Unless that can be answered, as I said, by the ghosts/charr.

[@miggyboiboi]

I absolutely love your observations WP! Amazing and insightful! I hope to see more videos from you in the future! As a lore lover, your videos are just plain amazing! Keep up the good work! :D

[@TheFibrewire]

The Durmand priory is still leading research on it and that NPC is still in the ruins of Rin

[@PyroReguLus]

Well, they loved the underground, right? Suddenly these stone creatures have access to the underground of the asura and dwarves, that was overtaken by primordus, and now that they're back they're volcanic looking? I'm sensing a connection.

[@silc3ents74r]

As you heard in the video, the whole story isnt available yet since Anet releases bits and pieces at the time - however the known story about The mad king is on gwwiki :)

[@imkluu]

I noticed in the ruins where the gargoyles lived,15:04 for example, there were statues that resembled the new gargoyles quite a bit.

[@kecs2]

I can't remember for sure, but there was some stuff about the gargoyles near that giant crystal guarded by stone elementals in the Plains of Ashford

[@Chessrook44]

As such, I imagine we'll find more of the Aloes when the Maguuma regions visited in the original game (currently inaccessable) open up, and when the Crystal Desert becomes visitable we'll find Hydras, possibly even corrupted ones. Forgotten might even form a big focus point with Kralky, since he's in their homeland, and they fought the dragons the last time they woke.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Yeah I'd love to see hydra in the CD. And the fire island chain. I think they were only in ascalon because of the searing.

[@roksoulja84]

it's good to know that there are so many mysteries within the guild wars universe.. it just means there's more new content that can be used by arena net in the future!!

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Perhaps. I think maybe they didn't like the design, or it really does tie into mordremoths story.

[@Chessrook44]

Hydras were also mostly found in the Crystal Desert, and while there were a few in Ascalon, they were all in a very small area, specifically the pass between Ascalon and the Shiverpeaks. It's likely, in my opinion, that the Hydras in that area were hunted to extinction in order to make the pass safer. Combine that with the area becoming less fiery, and the only Hydras left are in the unreachable Crystal Desert.

[@adellheartmusic]

just won a subscriber as a guild wars 2 lover i never had the chance t play gw1 and i love lore so more of these please

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Sure, the flame legion tried finding gods of their own when the humans won ascalon from the Charr. They picked both the titans, and the destroyers. Both were simply powerful races that were, in time, bested by humanity in some form or another. For this (and other stuff), the flame legion were shunned and kicked from the iron-ash-blood alliance.

[@Ph4zers]

Do you think the mergoyles were called back to the depths when the deep sea dragon woke up?

[@Dyst]

You can get also a Gargoyle Fossil accessory (+3 power) from a karma vendor near Lake Feritas. "A fossilized piece of a gargoyle." So their remains appear to... remain.

[@001tonbushcrafting]

in per searing asclon in a ranger skill quest it mentions aloe seed been made because of elley skill trainer exeraments

[@Kajsiegler]

God I miss Guild Wars 1! WP- you really make GW1 come back to my mind except this time with the full story.

[@JorikPar]

It's the skill animation of "Imagined Burden" of Guild Wars 1. A mesmer skill to slow down enemies.

[@mongururo4448]

Actually I think this was related to the now canceled gw1 Hallowen of the guild wars beyond storyline update, where there would be a few more Lunatic Court quests, it was assume those would explain why mad king would be absent for these 250, also there was that cryptic message from the Nameless Lich and more importantly it was noted it was due to mad king thorn that palwaka joko vowed that "All of Tyria will pay for this grave offense!"during "Open the Flood Gates of Death" quest.

[@Bragdras]

Oh my god the picture of the gargoyle that suddenly pops creeped me the hell out.

[@Minale__]

Yea, GW2 definitely is a game to come back to. Even if you get a little bit bored.. you can wait for the next update and you have loads of new tasks and adventures. That's why I love how it has no subscription fee.. I don't feel bad for leaving it for a while and coming back as soon as I'm in the mood to play again.

[@acedianPianist]

Adding a thought to the "gargoyles tied to seals of the Mad King" theory; since Gargoyles were thought to be wards of evil spirits in the real world, it may be a possibility that they served a purpose as a kind of supernatural watchman in Tyria. Perhaps directly to Grenth/Dhuum. When the first seal was broken, it's possible that the gargoyles were 'retracted' into the underworld because they lost the unifying power that tied them to the living world.

[@Chessrook44]

Thinking about the creatures you mentioned... the plant-creatures, the hydras, and the Forgotten... I think I can actually think of a reason they haven't shown up. The Aloes primarily appeared in swampy areas or, more often, the maguuma. This isn't seen very often, and most of the maguuma is unavailable. The Forgotten were mostly in the Crystal Desert, and were hunted and killed quite a lot in the first game.

[@jamersrandom]

I think the reason we haven't heard much about the Forgotten is because I honestly think there could be plans for an "ancient Destiny's Edge" type arc. If you look at the lore for the ancient races, none of them are around any more, right? But then 1 of each race seems to have been written in to staying. We have Ogden already. Lazarus the Dire was resurrected in EotN. The Seer seemed from Prophecies? There's a Jotuun who studies the old ways. There may still be a single Forgotten out there.

[@Lukos0036]

I kind of want to see Snaff when we go to fight Krallkatorrik. Because he was mentally connected to the dragon when his body died it stands to reason that his mind became trapped in it. It would explain why the crystal dragons domain is smaller and less aggressive than Zhaitan's or Jormag's. It would give an opportunity as well for an Asura to pull a Kormir and ascend to godhood by subsuming Kral's power for his own, and give Zojja and the others some closure and growth.

[@tousdreb]

what I find most weird is the Ascended Accessory called the Gargoyle Skull ha s apiece of text saying "A remnant of the presumed-extinct gargoyles."

[@servantofsoul]

If you go to the laurel trader in LA, in ascended gear he sells you a Gargoyle skull with the tag 'A remnant of the presumed-extinct gargoyles.'

[@boydrek]

by all means, YES!!! even if you don't cut it into smaller bits and it's bloody 3 hours long or something, WE WANT IT!

[@OMEGAS246]

maybe the gargoyles were always apart of the underworld and are being returned which is part of why he is stuck there

[@lordofgangstas]

I think the Roasted Aloe Seeds are literally just actual Aloe Vera as we know it in our world,not the plant creatures. Although,all the plant creatures in the first game may have been pre-spawned minions of Mordremoth(like how the Destroyers were around long before Primordus woke up),and the Nightmare Husks in the game right now ssssssort of fit into the space of those plant creatures possibly,so perhaps in lore the Husks are the same sort of thing as the Aloes and stuff?

[@karbonkeldiedonk]

I personaly like to think of the mergoyles as a group of gargoyles that got over the shiverpeaks and adapted to the different environment of kryta by evolving into mergoyles :)

[@MysticEyedKiller]

You should do a video on the Mad King. I love listening to you talk about lore.

[@7Leksu7]

Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2. WoodenPotatoes has a lore series and a mystery series on GW2, where he more often than not needs to bring in elements from GW1, since the lore and many of the GW2 mysteries ties back to GW1 :)

[@JustDeifyme]

yes it does, over the week my server is on medium, on weekends it is often listed as "High", so It counts active players

[@possum6381]

Forgive me if this was already mentioned by someone, but the Laurel Vendor has an item that leads me to believe the Gargoyles may yet return. The Gargoyle Skull flavor text says, "A remnant of the presumed-extinct Gargoyles". Sounds like a hint that they'll be coming back, likely in an event of some sort.

[@DaneFalco]

thought the margoyles in Kryta was suppose to be related to the Ascalonian gargoyles

[@TheCoffemaniac]

They say that each human god represents an elder dragon. We can say that gargoyles have a connection with death, so maybe with Grenth also. That could explain the reason that Zhaitan (dragon of death) is next in timeline. Maybe they are used in some way to force the dragon to rise??

[@jp23764]

These small details I'd never pick up but you seem to see it 😀. But yeah so curious about the gargoyles???

[@CainOrdamoth]

Hail Algorithmus, the little-known 7th human god of random videos from years ago. Now that the dragon storyline is over they could delve into stuff like this more. Not only in future Living World seasons, but they might finally take the time to continue the Mad King storyline next Halloween as well.

[@vivovix1]

I don't know if anyone's said this already: the word Gargoyle is derived from French "gargouille", which in turn has something to do with "se gargariser", which is gargling. It makes a lot of sense: Gargoyles are actually gargling with water! :)

[@FinallyAGoodUsername]

Thank you for that heart attack at 1:24

[@mooglenaur]

Wonder if the hydra will be added in as well at some point along with the aloe, given Taidha Covington is referred to as the hydra queen.

[@wehbeteeej]

Since the wiki says that The Gargoyles are there to ward off evil, perhaps when we destroyed the first seal in Gw1 we allowed the Mad King to bring them into the Mad Realm.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Why would you comment before finishing the video? :P

[@WolfStricker]

the gargoyles seem to conect to the crystal dragon as you can see the revived gorgoyles were kind of pink like kractoricks crystals.and it will make sense because they are made of stone ...

[@jaywall9723]

I want to know why devourers don't "pop-up" from the ground anymore. Plus they would live in groups, or at least pop in groups of 3-6. Maybe a bit obscure but made me wonder.

[@RedPlayerOne]

Looks like The Forgotten... lived up to their name. YEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

[@Floreum]

I wonder if Gargoyles were a response to the searing. Yes I know they were in the catacombs but for some reason they didn't want to come out until after the searing, plus they moved pretty far North, why? Then again I guess we wouldn't know if there were Gargoyles above land in the north before the Searing either, since we never got to go very far past the wall.

[@regendo]

It is? Thank the gods, I thought it was my connection refusing to load anything about five times during those first seven minutes.

[@johnnywhiteshoe]

If you see a monstrous thing on a building that is used for diverting or controlling water flow through or around building facades, then it is a gargoyle. If you see a monstrous thing on a building that seems to not have a function other than to look horrid and scary, then it is called a grotesque.

[@Drewxor]

Grenth totally snatched them up as ornaments for his front yard or something imo

[@anialator1000000]

gargoyles also make wierd noises when the water flows through them. they are meant to scare away evil spirits

[@regendo]

If you are referring to the gargoyle in the video that had a pink aura: In Guild Wars, bosses had these auras displayed around them to indicate which profession they were part of. This particular boss was a mesmer, and their aura was pink. I don't believe those auras actually exist in lore, they are just a visual indicator for the players, much like the auras in Guild Wars 2 that appear when you're hovering your mouse pointer over players, enemies, NPCs, and even objects.

[@jumpkicking]

Also i must note gargoyles only inhabited land with humans, the shores of Kryta including Lions arch are home to many more races, gargoyles in mythical lore only existed in human only expanse.

[@Poki3]

Finally in PvP there's a Gargoyle Scythe. It's the PvP equivalent of Final Rest. Not sure how much to read into that, but I wouldn't do it too much personally.

[@EstoCentura]

I always thought Meroyles were Gargoyles that had lived in Orr but has since become water adapted since the Cataclysm sank it to the bottom of the sea. That said, your theory interest me. I'll be keeping an eye out for any new developments

[@AirAquila]

I'm thinking they might have ties to Kralkatorrik. The crystalized victims of the brand is kind of reminiscent of the Gargoyles in the way they attack (the purple projectiles) and the way that they are stony. Since the Dragons have been awake earlier the Gargoyles could be last remaining minions of Kralkatorrik. There's nothing but visuals hinting at it though.

[@jefaus06]

As the Gargoyles obviously came from the ruined buildings of Ascalon, did the Mergoyles come from the ruined buildings of Orr? Gargolyes not only conveyed water away from rooves, but to also scare away evil spirits from buildings. Did the disasters of the searing of Ascalon and the sinking of Orr awaken these creatures? Did it release them from their protective bonds, allowing them to roam freely and attacking whomever they felt like?

[@JAK1234jr]

oh and maybe they ymight have like a living story thing where we can go to the crystal desert and maybe that might say something about the forgotten that would be cool

[@haldir1991]

They are now in WVW map

[@Watertaint]

a VERY interesting video...Never really thought about those little buggers.

[@erickr777]

Very interesting! I'll like to coment one point. Gargoyles look like a stone race, and in Tyria we have another "stone" race: The dwarves. Maybe the gargoyles were time ago a sentinent race that goed through a ritual similar to the Great Dwarf one, and converted themselves into stone. Note that, in the depths of Tyria, there are structures that are very similar that the ones we can see in Ascalon... ;)

[@michiel412]

Given the location of the tengu (watery area in Kryta), that might be true for the Mergoyles, but for some reason I don't think the Gargoyles are there.

[@TheGreatSkirazi]

Background music, if anyone was wondering: /watch?v=-qs5JmLAElg

[@VinniTheCleric]

I love these lore mystery videos, however there is one mystery that I would love to see uncovered...The identity of WoodenPotatoes. Even just a hair colour?

[@DrascirGuild]

Could be to do with Drascir. Fallen city with one of the last portals to the Mists/Rift. If Gargoyles are highly magical creatures (potentially animated stone sentients, rather than animated stone elementals), they could have known about or sensed the dragons reawakening and sought refuge in the mists.

[@LittleV179]

hey man i love your videos what armor is your dervish wearing at the start of the video it looks amazing and i may be being incredibly derp but i don't think I've ever seen it before :S amazing job on the gargoyle lore i felt very nostalgic when i got the "fossilized gargoyle skull" item in gw2 I've been waiting for a video on them for a while :)

[@PedroCapelaVideo]

Wait! I'd heard about the releigious use of gargoyle statues to "ward of evil" and such. But the whole change the water flow is new to me! Please elaborate or give some reference material as i'm rather curious on this subject. =)

[@mrvoltar]

Join the Priory. You get to meet one...again.

[@SendMeOnMyWayy]

I wish they'd update the game frequently with things like this! Instead of only updating it through the "Living Story" plotline every month. honestly to me I wanted Living Story to mean multiple things are going on, new events etc, linked to all sorts of stuff, not just one new storyline. They could have like Elonian refugees turning up on the shores of LA or in Divinity's reach with just a bit of dialog, a couple of Tengu events & NPCs, something about the gargoyles. Small, interesting things.

[@invaderzam]

I'm not sure about this but I believe the Flame Legion became the ruling class because of their hand in the Searing. However, later on it was revealed that the gods they worshiped were just titans, minions of the god Abaddon. These gods would be slain in front of the Charr by Devona and company. The Flame Legion would then try and serve the Destroyers, but they turned out to be false gods as well. After those events the Charr would forever be suspicious of magic and would turn to industrialism.

[@theflaminggroundon632]

I only played gw2 and The only instance I have heared of a gargoyle would be in a trade for an acended of their skull with info about them being extinct or some sort

[@SnickyMcNibits]

KZbin videos suddenly cutting out is a well known bug at the moment. If the problem persists, you can fix it by clearing your cookies.

[@uonoho]

in ascalonian catacombs, there is gargoyle heads that spits fire on you

[@jumpkicking]

I may have something to aid your conclusion, gargoyles in most general mythical lore have an affinity for humans, also they dwell in ruin, ruin, catacombs before the searing, Ascelon after, Kryta when the coastal shores were in ruin from the undead, also the huamans evacuated from the charr homelands, ascelon was built on, kryta had a total reform and these coastal areas where dominated by profitable harbours, the gargoyals had no ruin to retreat to. Please comment on this with your theory!

[@mrvoltar]

With that gate by Ebonhawk, I can't see the CD as anything but inevitable and impending. I'm imagining that or Maguuma (though I'd almost prefer Janthir) as the first large unveiling of areas from the last game. I think they have regrets or trepidation over multiple maps-worth of continents causing the community to spread out. Maguuma would be a good way to introduce your thorns and earth-turds back into the game.

[@kangataz45]

I vaguely remember gargoyles in real life are also used as scarecrows at cathedrals, so pigeons won't poop on the roof.

[@Krionion]

What if the Gargoyles when on vacation somewhere in a resort dimension in the mists and they area ll drinking fruit punch and laying on nice golden beaches where they talk about how happy they are nobody is off farming them anymore.

[@TankWalker37]

You said the gargoyles ward off evil, the mad king if i am not mistaken is responsible for many deaths not just of the player, but of the people he ruled as well. that being said, I believe the seal that was broken may have, if you may, stopped the gargoyles from being able to reproduce. Also we dont know how long a gargoyles life span is so we could assume the gargoyles were able to survive the long period until they vanished. So there you go gargoyles were a bi-product of the seal.

[@SAYE2]

What about the Gargoyle Staff "Final Rest" ? That would have been a perfect reward while doing a kind of story related to it or it is a hint what they really wanted to... just be stone. Just my thoughts.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

It rains in some areas ^^

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Yeah that's insane it's not dead

[@moosiesan]

Well I think we didn't hear anything about Fhe Forgotten cause they live in Crystal Dessert. To not forget is that the minions of Palawa Joko are there too. So there are a lot of factions wars blocking out the Crystal dessert. And I guess that that causes The Forgotten to be reappeared at the moment we have to kill the Crystal dragon.

[@pwntmatch]

What if the Gargoyles were the keepers of the dead and after they failed to keep them in the eternal slumber,so returned to earth(where they belong) after that. Notice that in Guildwars in the catacombs pre-searing the lived in loads under the Grenth Statues.

[@goatjugsoup]

Hey woodenpotatoes love your gw2 lore mysteries vids, how often do you put them out and can that frequency whatever it is be increased? Cheers

[@joshinator78]

Hey WP when is the rest of the 1000th Q&A videos coming out!? Really enjoyed them :)

[@R0r7va5tor]

What do you think of the latest update on Southsun? Any thoughts on where they are going with it?

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Oh god I don't really remember anymore? Ancient, maybe? I still like it though :D

[@taenyftw]

what about the final rest? that staff has gargoyle on top of it. that could be something