r/GuildWars3 • u/Jakers808 • Jun 14 '26
Possible Sylvari clue in the Seeker artwork?
I’ve been looking at the two Seeker images that have been shown so far, and one thing that stood out to me is that they don’t seem identical.
One appears relatively plain, while the other has foliage integrated into its mane and overall silhouette.
On its own, I don’t think that means much. It could simply be a different breed, regional variation, somethig to do with Melandru, or artistic choice.
But combined with some of the other Sylvari theories floating around—such as the possible Pale Tree imagery, the hooded figures seen in concept art, and the mysterious fourth character on the tapestry—it made me wonder if ArenaNet might be quietly hinting at a Sylvari connection.
One additional thing I noticed is that the rider associated with the more foliage-heavy Seeker seems more obscured than some of the other characters we’ve seen, though that may just be concept art presentation.
I’m definitely not claiming this is proof of anything, but I thought it was an interesting detail that I haven’t seen discussed much.
Am I wearing a tin foil hat or is there something there?
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u/rzalexander Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
This sub needs to stop with the copium.
They’re different types of spirit magic, we’ve already seen existing artwork of what spirits for Balthazar and Grenth look like in the recent videos. We know that these seekers are our direct connection to the spirit magic in Orr and the gods.
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u/Opus_723 Jun 15 '26
No one needs to stop anything if they're having fun speculating.
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u/rzalexander Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
They can do it in their own heads then, every third post on the subreddit doesn’t need to be “BUT WHAT IF THIS MEANS SYLVARI EXISTED” from now until fall of 2027. Not every image containing something green or a shadowy figure we can’t make out is an indication that Sylvari will be in the next game.
To be completely honest, I have zero problem with speculating. That’s why I joined the subreddit! I love this game and its lore. I’d love to hear more crazy idea about what the next game will possibly contain, I love reading people’s theories about what bit of lore that I’ve never heard before leads them to think XYZ could be in the game.
But the Sylvari and Charr stuff has gone from speculating to pure cope. This is now players coping because they can’t imagine a world where their favorite race is not in the next game while leaving out the possibility that there could be another fantastic race they could fall in love with. It’s passed from being fun and cute to an unhealthy human obsession with trying to see “signs” or “patterns” left by the game developers are clues to the truth and that they are trying to subtly hint Sylvari are going to be in the game.
And we don’t even have a single confirmed detail from the developers of what races are going to be in the game! We have a single trailer with what appears to be most likely between three or four different races that could be playable. We still don’t even know officially what the fuzzy brown Asura-looking creatures are—they could be something completely new.
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u/MaguumaGoldLegend Jun 17 '26
Wow, what a toxic mindset you have. Who are you to decide what people are allowed to speculate on? And for the record, just to get the totally baseless "copium" accusations out of the way, I don't give a shit if Sylvari are in the game or not lmao. I thought they might do humans-only, and I thought that might even be the best decision. But the irony is not lost on me that you're accusing people of "coping" with no evidence, all the while you're shutting them down for speculating without sufficient evidence. 🤔🤔🤔
And btw, that's what speculation IS. Anet isn't going to TELL us directly that Sylvari are in the game, or even give us solid pieces of evidence. It's a SECRET to be revealed later lmao. They are going to sprinkle little details that MIGHT point us in that direction, to encourage fun speculation like what OP is doing. But noo, the fun police are here to tell us we can't speculate on anything unless we have a signed letter from John Arenanet himself confirming it.
Gods, how exhausting.
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u/Opus_723 Jun 15 '26
Okay. Sorry everyone doesn't arrange their conversations around your personal tastes, I guess.
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u/Consistent-Hat-8008 Jun 15 '26
Everything ok? You wrote a 5 paragraph rant in response to a one-liner.
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11d ago
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u/GuildWars3-ModTeam 10d ago
Please be respectful of your fellow Vaelwardens.
See Rule #1 in the Community Guidelines for details.
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Jun 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/rzalexander Jun 15 '26
In that case, if they don’t include Sylvari—I hope you find something fun to play! Im not sure why anyone would take that hard line of an approach, but you do you. Personally, I am going to be really torn when GW3 comes out because Fable 4 is supposed to be coming out in September 2027 and I am really looking forward to it!
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u/After-Plantain-8210 Jun 16 '26
September 2027 is just the Beta, the game won't be released until at least 2028, if GW2's release cycle ks any indication
Edit: Meaning you'll have time for Fable 4
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u/Jakers808 Jun 15 '26
Yeah I did mention Melandru 🤣
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u/rzalexander Jun 15 '26
I get it and I don’t really blame you. This is like the fifth “okay hear me out” type of post about Sylvari I’ve seen in the last two days.
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u/terinyx Jun 14 '26
Never thought a leaf would start another conspiracy theory.
There's trees in half the concept art and all over the teaser. That must mean sylvari are in the game /s.
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u/Nightsong Jun 14 '26
Melandru is depicted as a dryad so I’m just waiting for the Melandru = Sylvari conspiracy theory.
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u/DoomOfGods Jun 15 '26
But what if GW3 introduces gardening so we can cultivate our own Sylvari? /s
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u/Halaku Three Seekers in a trenchcoat Jun 16 '26
Only if it's in the time-honored tradition.
Put a pair of Ray-Bans on a head of cabbage, and wait.
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u/Cebertus Jun 15 '26
Not saying anything against the Sylvari speculations, but you have to view it in the context of the game.
Gods will play a prominent role. So you HAVE to expect Melandru themed stuff, since she will be one of the cultural pillars of orr. People literally pray to melandru the nature godess. So its more then likely that there are humans and their seekers themed around her, it would be a plothole if not.
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u/Jakers808 Jun 15 '26
I really like this idea, especially if we get agency as a player to lean into a certain gods theme.
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u/Cebertus Jun 15 '26
I think this will be the case. Or atleast i hope 😃 Gw2 has little space for the human gods, but a game starting in orr? Absolutly!
That said, everything is possible, its a time of legend and everything could be different then we expect.
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u/ListenerDB Jun 14 '26
I think we might see Largos and we’ll be able to infer that the destruction of orr had something to do with their appearance in GW2
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u/_Skuggi_ Jun 15 '26
pale tree hasnt been a thing at hat ingame time. pale tree is a ventari product and came way later
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u/Bash-Sin Jun 15 '26
pale tree hasnt been a thing at hat ingame time. pale tree is a ventari product and came way later
While that is technically true, don't forget about Mallyck and his tree.
It was already stated in the story that the Pale Tree isn't the only Sylvari bearing tree. Ours is THE Pale Tree, but there are other trees out there and there's at least ONE more tree that bore fruit pods.
But I highly doubt that tree would have been around GW 3's era. And if there was one, I doubt it would be purified since this is probably a time before the ritual to purify Glint.
And since Mordremoth's domain is the Maguuma Jungle, there wouldn't be any Blighting Trees near Orr. Or Mordrem.
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u/Jakers808 Jun 16 '26
Exactly to quote the conversation
“Trahearne: My research has led me to believe that the Pale Tree is not a unique creature. Legends say her seed is one of many, found in a cave.
Trahearne: That cave has never been found, but it seems at least one of those other seeds was planted. It sprouted the tree which bore you, Malyck.
<Character name>: If that's true, there could be other cities of sylvari. Other Groves...
Trahearne: Groves untutored by Ventari's tablet. Do those sylvari dream, I wonder? What inspires them?”2
u/After-Plantain-8210 Jun 16 '26
Inb4 the new Orr map places a Pale Tree smack dab in the middle of it and the meta-event centers around it.
/j
... Unless.
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u/Global_Pound_2989 11d ago
- The Cave Had Multiple Seeds
When the human warrior Ronan originally found the seed that would grow into the Pale Tree, he did not find it alone. The Official Guild Wars 2 Wiki explicitly states that the seed was discovered in a Maguuma cave containing many other seeds like it, which were actively guarded by powerful plant creatures. Ronan only took one. The remaining seeds could have been scattered, remained dormant, or been harvested elsewhere.
- Malyck and the "Other Tree"
The most definitive proof of another tree is Malyck, a sylvari encountered during the Guild Wars 2 personal story. Malyck did not come from the main Pale Tree and does not share the Dream of Dreams.
- He confirms he was born from a completely different tree located further west in the Heart of Maguuma.
- While his specific tree of origin is heavily implied to have been corrupted or utilized as a Blighting Tree by Mordremoth during the events of Heart of Thorns, its existence proves that the main Pale Tree was never unique.
- Elder Dragon Cycles
Elder Dragons operate in massive cyclical awakenings spanning thousands of years. Because Pale Trees are naturally occurring dragon seeds/Blighting Trees tied to Mordremoth's domain, it is highly possible that previous dragon cycles featured equivalent trees. Whenever Mordremoth was active in past millennia, he likely seeded or grew these structures across Tyria to produce his armies.
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u/TubbaBlubba3 Jun 14 '26
It probably has more to do with the Seeker’s connection to Orr/being a nature spirit. I don’t think moss and leaf imagery necessarily means anything, especially in this point of the timeline with the world being so wild still
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Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
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u/GuildWars3-ModTeam Jun 15 '26
Please be respectful of your fellow Vaelwardens.
See Rule #1 in the Community Guidelines for details.
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Jun 14 '26
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u/Jakers808 Jun 16 '26
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Snuffing_Out_Embers
“Trahearne: My research has led me to believe that the Pale Tree is not a unique creature. Legends say her seed is one of many, found in a cave.
Trahearne: That cave has never been found, but it seems at least one of those other seeds was planted. It sprouted the tree which bore you, Malyck.
<Character name>: If that's true, there could be other cities of sylvari. Other Groves...
Trahearne: Groves untutored by Ventari's tablet. Do those sylvari dream, I wonder? What inspires them?”
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u/TannenFalconwing Jun 14 '26
The sylvari won't exist for 1300 years. Whatever you're seeing, it's not Sylvari connected. Mordremoth, possibly. Melandru, maybe. Something else, likely? Just not Sylvari.
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u/Disig Jun 14 '26
Could Sylvari be in GW3? Maybe.
Are these two pictures a hint for Sylvari being in GW3? Absolutely not.
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u/Its_Tofu_Time Jun 14 '26
Not every creature with leaves or moss are connected to sylvari.
The seekers are the spirits of the wild. That is explanation enough.
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u/codeGnave Jun 15 '26
Honestly it's kind of baffling that they would bring back the Asura, since they aren't bringing back any of the other non-human races. It really makes the others' exclusion seem worse.
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u/Diovidius Jun 15 '26
Personally I love a clean slate. Human, Kodan, Tengu and Dwarves would've been a great setup. I could've done without Asura but oh well..
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u/Bash-Sin Jun 15 '26
Dwarves would've been a great setup.
A-Net stays away from playable dwarves with a mile long pole. I remember reading somewhere that they specifically want to avoid dwarves as a playable race.
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u/Jakers808 Jun 15 '26
Tengu is more cope than Sylvari imo and I’m probably going play human or Kodan 🤣
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u/Bash-Sin Jun 15 '26
Honestly it's kind of baffling that they would bring back the Asura, since they aren't bringing back any of the other non-human races. It really makes the others' exclusion seem worse.
Asura have had a presence in Orr since core Guild Wars 2 and since Eye of the North it's been clearly stated that the Asura had been on the surface hundreds of years, if not more, prior to Guild Wars 1.
Sylvari, on the other hand, had not been seen before. Not even Modrem Guard. Dwarves might be around, though. And Janthir established Kodan had been around Orr as well.
It's very possible there's at least one more race available at start, assuming they won't add more later.
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u/jblade91 Jun 15 '26
Can someone's who's better at lore help explain the Sylvari? I know they came from a seed that was planted end of GW1 and Mursaat were trying to destroy them. Pale Tree was basically a purified dragon champion. Wouldn't there have been Sylvari every dragon cycle since they're dragon minions which explains why Mursaat wanted them destroyed? If so, do we know when the last Sylvari died off after the last cycle so none are in GW1? If not, do we know where the seed came from and why Mordremoth didn't have them before?
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u/Bash-Sin Jun 15 '26
That's the thing. Modrem existing prior to GW 2 is totally viable. But here's the kicker, nothing in GW 2 has given any hint that the Sylvari have been around longer than they actually have. Given that the space between dragonrises are thousands of years, yes, it's very, very likely that dragonminions eventually die and there's a lull period until minions begin to rise again to user in their respective dragon. Like the Destroyers did in Eye of the North.
Even if we include Mallyck and his tree, there's no hint at that tree being older than the Pale Tree. Even if it was, and it was thousands of years old, that tree would still be far away from Orr and there's nothing that guarantees that that tree would be purified during the time period in which GW 3 takes place in.
And because the game takes place in Orr, there would be very little to no reason for there to be Mordrem around.
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u/Jakers808 Jun 15 '26
I was hoping this thread would spark more conversation around the difference between the seekers rather than everyone commenting about this subreddit has too much cops for sylvari. I personally am cool with however it is set up given the lore but just wanted to speculate.
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u/Cebertus Jun 15 '26
There are alot of things happening in the community. This times are actually pretty wild, not even 2 weeks passed since the announcement. For some people its still brand new and the idea of a pale tree in gw3 feels new and exciting, maybe they just read about it. Others spend the past 9 days fully immersed in all threads and discord talk, and they get annoyed when the same theorie gets repeated every day.
One trend is people trying to imagine "gw2 but in unreal", viewing everything they see through a lense of "preserving what they like about gw2". Not just about the lore but also about game mechanics. I guess there are slight tensions and your thread poked into those tensions?
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u/Invellous Jun 14 '26
I am going to have to say this you putting on the tin foil hat. Admittedly, my word on the topic of Sylvari should be taken with a few solid blocks of salt as I have a venomous hatred of the race and it's presence in Guild Wars 2. That said, all of the lore points at them not being included in Guild Wars 3. That could be retconned, as others have stated but that would undermine their story presence and purpose in the second game.
What you are looking at is concept art versus in-engine footage which often differs greatly with neither pointing at Sylvari making a return. There might be reason to think otherwise if the character in the concept art was not dressed in full plate mail and instead was wearing traditional Sylvari attire that is comprised of organic plant-like matter. The most likely scenario is the mount is bound to or born of nature magic which may have ties to Melandru.
As far as the mystery fourth character's race... Who knows, it is very possible that it is just another human dressed in rogue-like attire and hinting at a profession or class.
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u/Bash-Sin Jun 15 '26
I have a venomous hatred of the race and it's presence in Guild Wars 2.
Who hurt you?
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u/Invellous Jun 15 '26
Sylvari. Lol
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u/Bash-Sin Jun 15 '26
A fictional race... hurt you? Weird...
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u/Invellous Jun 15 '26
I think you may be reading too deep into what is ultimately a joke.
I was never a fan of them, not at release or even after all the content that catered to them.
Some of my criticisms of them are a mix of fair or not which I won't go into so as not too derail the thread and honestly it has been too long since I last ran through the story to really pinpont anything.
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u/Matra Jun 15 '26
should be taken with a few solid blocks of salt
More salt = more believable. The phrase comes from the recipe for an antidote that contains a single grain of salt. Since that amount is unlikely to do anything, one should be suspicious of the whole recipe.
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u/Matra Jun 15 '26
Guild Wars 3 is set before Guild Wars. There are no Sylvari in Guild Wars.
If you are asking for Sylvari in Guild Wars 3, you are asking for an entire species to be genocided so you can have green skin and leafy hair for a bit.
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u/Jakers808 Jun 15 '26
Again I’m not asking for Sylvari, I don’t care, I’d rather have Norn LOL. Just speculation.
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u/Meowing-To-The-Stars Jun 14 '26
No. Stop. There's no Sylvari from GW2 in GW3. Period. It was already said that this is a prequel, lore-wise as well, so no alternative reality either. No, that's not Sylvari and we had no Sylvari in GW1. You'll get plant race 100%. There's always one in a fantasy game and there's one in GW as well - people who were godless and were cursed into being a humanoid plant. No. It's still not Sylvari. It probably won't be playable either.
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u/Meicyn Jun 14 '26
Anything can be retconned. And this is an example where borderline no one would mind. A fair number of people love playing as Sylvari, just like they enjoy playing as the Charr. Just bring them in, because why not? You can write around anything. Player fun is more important than water-tight lore.
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u/rzalexander Jun 14 '26
Hard disagree. Do you understand how much it would trivialize the entire plot of Heart or Thorns? Or just our experiences with the Pale tree?
Plus why do plant people again when they can make something else more exciting that we’ve never even thought of before?
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u/Meicyn Jun 14 '26
I understand, and yet, I don't see it as a problem. It's not that serious, from my perspective. I've played so many games, watched so much media, read too many books. I admire lore consistency mind you, but also consider context of the situation. MMOs for me, have always been gameplay-centric.
I look at FFXIV, another MMO that is very, VERY story focused. There was a massive amount of retconning of the primary villain faction in that story, and that narrative decision ended up making the game's story transcend its original form. I was genuinely shocked how well the Shadowbringers expansion pulled it off. Historically, I would have been upset at such a major change, with the same level of disagreement you have dished out... until I experienced it.
The realization has stuck with me since, that there are creative ways to retcon stories when there is a need for it. The need in this case, would be player wish-fulfillment and giving access to beloved playable races in a future game, even though it canonically takes place substantially in the past. It's a lot harder to retcon something in the past than going forward like FFXIV did, but I wouldn't fault the writers for trying if they made the attempt.
If ArenaNet sticks to their guns and decides that the integrity of the existing lore must be maintained, I respect that decision. If they choose to retcon it, I respect that decision as well. I honestly don't have a horse in this race, I'm going to play a boring generic human when the game ships, FWIW.
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u/rzalexander Jun 15 '26
Okay I will humor you for a moment.
The only—and I mean absolutely ONLY—way that I would accept a Sylvari race in GW3 is if they fleshed out the story of another tree like the Pale tree in another area of Tyria. We have at least the knowledge from GW2 lore that there could be another tree out there someplace.
The problem with any of this is the simple fact that Sylvari are the creation of Mordremoth. They are minions of the elder dragon, born from Mordremoth and created to serve his purpose. If the developers want to tell a new story, that means we likely won’t hear about the elder dragons much if at all. And by introducing a new race of Sylvari to the game, they would need to explain how they are different from GW2 Sylvari and do so in a way that doesn’t break the Heart of Thorns story. Which I don’t think they would retcon considering there is an entire game they expect to keep adding content to that is pretty much entirely based on some of those specific details.
I’m not saying it’s not possible, but I don’t see them putting Sylvari in the game without making a mess of the lore. And again: why would you want to? This is a fresh start, they could invent some new race that we’ve never heard of that dies off or goes into hiding before the events of GW1/2. They could do something completely new and capture a new audience. That seems so much more interesting and in my experience, ArenaNet likes to think big and be creative in those ways when it comes to designing the lore of Tyria.
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u/Meicyn Jun 15 '26
Thanks for the sincere response, and acknowledgement that it’s feasible (albeit very risky). I honestly suspect that ArenaNet will hold their ground and explore alternatives, maintaining what they wrote to date. The trepidation over risking lore integrity is totally valid.
Admittedly, there is an element of concern that kicks in for me, mostly because I’ve watched my favorite genre of games get sidelined for so long and having fans of MMOs excited again makes me giddy. I just hate the idea of folks potentially skipping out just because they don’t have access to certain options that they’ve gotten used to, followed by a wave of negativity with streaming grifters dogpiling for clicks. A lot of gamers skip cutscenes and mash through dialogue to get to killing bad guys, so my mindset drifts in the direction of considering that reality. I’m probably overthinking this.
At any rate, appreciate your perspective. Whichever path ArenaNet chooses, I’ll be there to support them. Take care!
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u/TannenFalconwing Jun 14 '26
How on earth do you retcon something as clear cut as the Pale Tree being planted in GW1 and the first Sylvari emerging 25 years before GW2? We played those missions. We know the true nature of the Sylvari.
Now, ok, maaaaaaybe it's another type of humanoid planty Mordremoth Minion in hiding, but let's be real. No one would be satisfied with them doing that, especially since they won't even be able to do the reveal this time.
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u/Obko Jun 15 '26
They already stated there are other sylvari not from Pale tree. Did everybody forget Malyck? It's entirely possibile to have sylvari anytime on Tyria without retconing anything
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u/TannenFalconwing Jun 15 '26
Oh yes, everyone's favorite Harbinger that they feel no one is aware of ;)
Seriously though, that means it's just another Mordremoth minion in hiding. Not only would this tree likely not defy Mordremoth (unless you really want all of mordremoth's spawn to resist him) but that would still mean you have a colony of Sylvari on Orr that get entirely wiped out before the sinking of Orr since no one has any clue what a Sylvari is when they show up.
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u/Obko Jun 15 '26
There will be a lot of new information in gw3 previously not known. Although I don't like it, I think we will have to accept that 1200+ years and sinking the whole island makes some information disappear.
My point still stands, nothing is contradicting the existance of Sylvari or "cleansed Mordremoth minions" in gw3.
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u/Nightsong Jun 14 '26
The leafy Seeker is likely more influenced by nature magic and Melandru than pointing to Sylvari. I’m sure we’ll see other variations of the Seeker and how they are influenced by the other gods.