An investigation into the symmetry of the domains of the dragons and gods, and the possibility of a unified theory of magic.
A scholarly argument for the symmetry between Elder Dragons and the human gods. Unfortunately, by the end, it is clear that no proof exists to support this theory.
Appearing in the Priory Special Collections in Living World Season 2, the text quoted above served as something of an official denial of theories, that were popular at the time (and sometimes raised even afterwards), that attempted to align each of the Elder Dragons with one of the human gods. At first, such a theory seems promising – there are (or at least were) six of each, both sets of beings appeared to have dominion over specific domains of magic, and fairly clear resemblances can be seen between Primordus and Zhaitan versus Balthazar and Grenth, respectively. However, once you get past these initial similarities, the theory begins to break up – assigning each of the remaining dragons to a god required increasingly dubious leaps of logic. Additionally, the Elder Dragons were creatures of Tyria’s magic, while the magic of the gods came from somewhere else, even if Grenth and Kormir ascended (by seizing power from their predecessors) after the arrival of the gods on Tyria.
With the release of the Soo-Won legendary weapons alongside What Lies Beneath, however, we finally have a complete identification of each dragon’s domains. This raises a question – while there was not a direct symmetry between the gods and the dragons, could there be a symmetry between the domains shared among the two groups, even if those domains are paired differently among one group than the other?
To review, here is a list of the domains of each Elder Dragon according to the legendary weapon achievements, along with the domains of the gods as per the human character creation screens:
| Dragon | Domains | God | Domains |
| Soo-Won | Water, Life | Dwayna | Life, healing, air |
| Primordus | Fire, destruction | Melandru | Nature, earth, growth |
| Jormag | Ice, persuasion | Balthazar | Fire, war, challenge |
| Zhaitan | Death, shadow | Lyssa | Beauty, water, illusion |
| Kralkatorrik | Crystal, fury | Grenth | Darkness, ice, death |
| Mordremoth | Plant, mind | Kormir | Order, spirit, truth |
| Aurene | Prisms, light | Abaddon | Knowledge, water, secrets |
A number of these domains are clearly equivalent to one another. Water, life, fire, ice, and death are all present in both groups by name.
However, cases of succession between gods and dragons have shown that different entities might choose to emphasise different aspects of their domain in expressing their identity and personality. Kormir and Abaddon, for instance, are both gods of knowledge. Abaddon, however, emphasised hoarding knowledge for one’s own power, while Kormir appears to express it more as a spiritual quest for truth. Similarly, Aurene’s domain of prisms is clearly derived from Kralkatorrik’s domain of crystal, but she emphasises the property of refracting light, representing her role as the steward of an entire spectrum of magic, even though her own powers still most closely resemble a more benign form of Kralkatorrik’s. With this in mind, we can possibly link Zhaitan’s shadow domain to Grenth’s darkness fairly conveniently.
Another consideration when examining the domains of the gods is that, with the domains of the gods having been assigned as a result of theology rather than academic analysis of their magic (as with the Priory’s study of the dragons), it is likely that ancillary effects of a domain have been listed as a separate domain. For instance, in Dwayna’s case, healing is likely to be part of the Life domain, not a separate domain in and of itself. Similar observations can be made regarding Melandru’s life and growth, Balthazar’s war and challenge, Lyssa’s beauty and illusion, and the various aspects of Knowledge. In this context, another link clearly presents itself: Melandru’s domain of nature and growth likely lines up to Mordremoth’s domain of plant, albeit with Melandru taking a broader interpretation rather than focusing entirely on plants specifically.
This leaves five of the draconic domains that need a little bit more consideration: Destruction, Persuasion, Crystal, Fury, and Mind. For now, we’ll look at Destruction, Crystal, and Fury – in part 2, we’ll consider Persuasion and Mind, and have another look at whether linking Shadow and Darkness is really as fitting as it seems.
Destruction:
Of the five, Destruction might be the clearest to assign. Balthazar’s aspect of war is essentially one of organised destruction, of destruction being employed for a purpose whether that purpose is good or ill. Primordus’ animalistic nature, however, meant that Primordus leaned more to mindless, chaotic destruction. A link between Destruction and War is further reinforced through Balthazar’s half-brother and former rival for the title of God of War: Menzies, the Lord of Destruction. Although it is worth noting here that Menzies might have Shadow as a secondary domain.
Crystal:
Crystal is probably the next most convenient to assign. At first glance, it appears as if Melandru’s association with Earth lacks a direct analogue among the draconic domains – however, it is worth noting that Kralkatorrik’s domain of crystal seems to be limited specifically to mineral crystals: ice crystals would, naturally, fall under their own domain. This is further hinted at by the presence of a small number of crystal-themed skills in the Earth Magic discipline for elementalists, and through Kralkatorrik’s own external appearance being that of a dragon made of stone with crystalline outcroppings. As a result, it seems likely that Kralkatorrik’s crystal is simply a specific manifestation of the general domain of Earth (and Aurene’s prisms an even more specific manifestation).
Fury:
Now we start getting into some of the thornier domains. In consideration of what might be in the Fury domain, it is probably best to start by looking at the powers that are associated with Kralkatorrik, but are not directly associated with crystal (or earth). In doing so, what we mainly see is meteorological phenomena: windstorms (including the infamous branded tornado) and lightning.
Further evidence can come through looking at the Zephyrite crystals harvested from Glint’s body. Wind and lightning crystals clearly fit into this theme, but there are also a third type of Zephyrite crystal: namely, sun crystals. This introduces an aspect of light into the domain. Furthermore, an NPC in the Zephyrite Cliffs hypothesised that Zephyrite crystals were a specialised form of air magic, which makes a degree of sense: while primarily associated with wind and lightning, air magic has always been associated with blinding flashes of light, although sun crystals appear to be much more versatile in their application than a magical flashbang. Even when relating to Kralkatorrik himself, his breath when causing the Branding was originally described as a beam of golden light, even if that is not observed during the cutscene where he relocates at the end of Path of Fire.
So does this make sense when we compare these abilities to those of one of the gods? It turns out that, thanks to an obscure line in the Wintersday event in Guild Wars 1, it does. Namely, as part of Dwayna being on the side of an early spring (in a conflict that we now know to be between mother and son… awkwarrrrrd…) she is described as a goddess of light by her followers. This suggests that while Dwayna, too, has emphasised the air-related aspects, we have a link between wind, lightning, and light in both cases. This would also imply that, like the link between Aurene’s prisms and Kralkatorrik’s crystals, Aurene’s domain of “Light” is essentially the same domain, however Aurene is emphasising a part of the domain that Kralkatorrik de-emphasised, possibly as part of distancing herself from her grandfather and presenting herself more as a symbol of hope.
This connection suggests that Kralkatorrik’s fury might instead be a particularly violent manifestation of the domain of air. The inclusion of light suggests that that might not even be a complete description of the domain, but that instead it is a domain that represents the sky – therefore containing not just weather-related effects like wind and lightning, but also the light that comes from the sun and stars.
This concludes the analysis of the Destruction, Crystal, and Fury domains. In a fortnight, we’ll finish up an analysis of the domains of Mind and Persuasion, a deeper consideration of the domain of Shadow, and a final conclusion to the analysis comparing the domains of dragons to those of the gods!
Virtually Interrupted 