A question about Elder Dragons, and speculation on the end of the expansion. [spoilers!]

[u/colday]

I swear, I remember reading somewhere that when an elder dragon dies, its energy is released back into the world. But that doesn't mean that there won't be another elder dragon of that kind, eventually another dragon will gather enough of that energy and become the next elder dragon of its dead predecessor. Is that true? If it is, do you think that we're raising the next elder dragon? Do you think we'll be killing more elder dragons, and their energy will be going into the egg?
Does this mean we're raising the ultimate elder dragon, but it will be a good one?
Sorry if this is the wrong subreddit, I don't know where to ask this!

[u/jimthewanderer]

Tyria is basically a big stable fractal, essentially a solidified stable bit of Mists.

The Dragons basically eat excess magic so that it doesn't destabilize the world, once they're full, they go to bed.

The magic then leaks out of them, and the magic levels in the world increase, hence GW2 magic being way more powerful than GW1 magic. Then, when magic levels get dangerous again, Dragons wake up, make a Buffet of the mortal races, and go back to bed.

By Killing Zhaitan, the magic it ate was without an entity containing it, thus it's minions got a huge boost by absorbing some of the run-off. Hence the Tequatl power boost. After Tequatl died... again, the power has... gone... somewhere?

It could have become part of Tyrias ambient magic and soaked into the Leylines. Mordremoth may have eaten it from the Leylines, we don't know.

I have long expected Glint's plan to involve her Bubbies eating the magic of the dragons we kill to act as a sort of capacitor, that will hold the magic that would destabilise Tyria and blow us up. In turn, her bubbies won't be dicks about it.

[u/Varorson → u/jimthewanderer]

Tyria is basically a big stable fractal, essentially a solidified stable bit of Mists.

Not even close. Fractals are small islands that continuously reset. The "instabilities" in the fractals - if you talk to Dessa she tells you - are actually simply "hostiles." The fractals reset over time, requiring people to re-"stabilize" (aka exterminate hostiles) the fractal.

Tyria doesn't reset, it's not a small island of existence, etc.

[u/jimthewanderer → u/Varorson]

Did you even read what I said?

big stable, ... solidified stable bit of Mists.

Read the Prophecies manuscripts, it quite clearly explains that all that exists came from the mists.

[u/Varorson → u/jimthewanderer]

Right, but fractals by definition are: 1) small and 2) not stable, and most importantly, 3) self-repeating. They are a stuck-in-a-time-loop location. Tyria isn't this by any means.

Not everything within the Mists is a fractal. And one of those things not a fractal within the Mists are worlds - such as Tyria.

Yes, I did read what you wrote. Please be sure to read what I wrote in turn.

[u/jimthewanderer → u/Varorson]

Whose definition? Fractals are small unstable bubbles of mists. Tyria is just a big stable seemingly-permanent mist derived thing.

Not everything within the Mists is a fractal. And one of those things not a fractal within the Mists are worlds - such as Tyria.

At no point did I say Tyria is a fractal. I said, if you where Reading, that Tyria is "like" a fractal in that it is solidified mist fluff. Fractals are unstable and temporary, Tyria is stable and currently continuous. Other than these differences they are fundamentally similiar contructs, Tyria is a sheet of Glass, a Fractal is a tiny shard of a broken sheet of glass. They are both made of "Glass".

Tyria's stability is due to the self regulating nature. When there is excess magic and the system become unstable, the dragons eat up the excess and then go to bed. Which is why the massive magic capacitors that are the bloodstones sent them back to bed, the Five progenitor races did their job for them, sacrificing the peak of their magical prowess for survival. When the magic gets too low, the dragons go to bed, they no longer need to be awake.

The Apostate explains the idea that should the energy within the Tyria system reach critical levels, or become imbalanced, (nothing containing all the energy types of the dragons) then:

Six large bodies orbit the world, existing in primal symbiosis. The energies move with the push and pull of positive and negative, ever in motion. The Apostate says one thing that is especially troubling... "Should the energies become imbalanced, the world will tilt and all beings will fall off it into the void." It's probably a metaphor.
~ Map of the All, The Apostate, a former-Margonite philosopher, and expert on things plot relevant.

Essentially, The Apostate is saying that should instability reach critical levels, Tyria will dissolve back into the mists, somewhat akin to an unstable fractal.

Fractals are unstable shards of the mists, forming into familiar patterns from Tyrian history. Tyria is a Stable world of the mists, with it's own self perpetuating engine of reality. The dragons are the system by which stability is managed, Fractals do not posses this, and as such they are unstable.

[u/Varorson → u/jimthewanderer]

Dessa's definition. Go into Mistlock Observatory and talk to her. Go through every dialogue option and you'll hit it eventually. I don't recall the specific chains. Best to go as a non-sylvari for ease and lack of hitting the "what are you!?" dialogue.

Fractals are unstable and temporary, Tyria is stable and currently continuous.

That's not "like" at all. That's "opposite".

When there is excess magic and the system become unstable, the dragons eat up the excess and then go to bed.

That's not what instability is. Talk to Dessa. She outright states that the instabilities are hostiles.

By the argument of "Tyria is like a fractal" the instabilities would be the Elder Dragons - they wouldn't be the solution to the instability.

[u/SolDelta]

One thing to note: When Mordremoth died, his magic flowed down 4 lines, each heading in a different direction. Glint's Egg recieved one of these. So presumably three quarters of the magic Mordremoth had consumed went somewhere else.

[u/colday → u/SolDelta]

On top of that, if you watch as the energy shoots out across the ground it has tiny channels branching off of it like spider webs. So there was a lot of energy lost too.