The Lyssa mystery

[Fundor.2098]

Through Living Story Season 3 and Path of Fire we get these hints that Lyssa just might be somehow involved with Balthazar. For example, he uses Lyssa's mirror to disguise himself even from the other gods and during his final stand he curses all of the other gods... except Lyssa.

Are we on to something, or is it just pure specutation? :D

[Ruadan.9301]

This is something that has been bugging me too.

Balthazar used Lyssa's mirror to disguise himself, and it was NEVER explained where he got it from.

For the longest time, lore buffs assumed that it was due to Lyssa's inherent duality, that one half of her decided to secretly support Balthazar, maybe even also stay in Tyria.

This got even worse when Balthazar cursed every god except Lyssa before he died - as you already mentioned.

It's a thing of great uncertainty, especially now that a new theory suggests that Balthazar may have simply stolen the mirror from Lyssa's reliquary in Siren's Landing.

It would be really great to know how he acquired the mirror. And whether or not Lyssa is really, entirely gone from the world.

 

[narwhalsbend.7059]

> @"Ruadan.9301" said:

> it was NEVER explained

Welcome to GW2 writing.

 

[Justine.6351]

Maybe Lyssa carrying the new God of war? But which one?!??! ;-)

[Malavian.4695]

SPOILERS: Actually, another thing bugged me about Lyssa. When we are in Orr it claims that Lyssa was the last to leave because she enjoyed interacting with the humans so much and wept when she left. Yet, when we meet with Kormir in POF she says that Lyssa laughed at her for not wanting to leave. I think it may indicate that Lyssa not only has two faces, but two completely different personalities.

[MornJack.3579]

I've seen this thread yesterday evening ... and read it. Bad for me and spoilers but, i just played the _"Flashpoint"_ first part (for the first time) and what i can guess with your question @"Fundor.2098" and what i've seen in the game is :

Kasmeer = Lyssa (And i'm pretty sure of my idea).

First, she's the only character with [a Regal outfit](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Kasmeer%27s_Regal_Outfit "a Regal outfit"). Why ? I'm wondering that since months ! It's completely normal if Gods got one ... but why a "simple" human have one ?

Second, the way she acts after the revelation Lazarus = Balthazar. So shocked. Just like somebody who discovers that her actions have consequences. I think that Lyssa didn't know what Balthazar could do with her enchanted mirror. Third, she exactly knew what was the Balthazar's mirror. She didn't wonder or think about. She knew it.

Lyssa is still in Tyria. As long as Kasmeer is in Tyria. In a way or another Lyssa is Kasmeer or an illusion or something like that. ... Or you killed Lyssa and not Balth' at the end of PoF (but i don't believe that).

[Ruadan.9301]

> @"MornJack.3579" said:

> I've seen this thread yesterday evening ... and read it. Bad for me and spoilers but, i just played the _"Flashpoint"_ first part (for the first time) and what i can guess with your question @"Fundor.2098" and what i've seen in the game is :

> Kasmeer = Lyssa (And i'm pretty sure of my idea).

> First, she's the only character with [a Regal outfit](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Kasmeer%27s_Regal_Outfit "a Regal outfit"). Why ? I'm wondering that since months ! It's completely normal if Gods got one ... but why a "simple" human have one ?

> Second, the way she acts after the revelation Lazarus = Balthazar. So shocked. Just like somebody who discovers that her actions have consequences. I think that Lyssa didn't know what Balthazar could do with her enchanted mirror. Third, she exactly knew what was the Balthazar's mirror. She didn't wonder or think about. She knew it.

> Lyssa is still in Tyria. As long as Kasmeer is in Tyria. In a way or another Lyssa is Kasmeer or an illusion or something like that. ... Or you killed Lyssa and not Balth' at the end of PoF (but i don't believe that).

 

How even...? :D This is so crazy and out of touch with what happens in the plot, it's admirable. Did you play Path Of Fire, friend? Why would Kasmeer want to converse with the gods and find out about her own departing? What does she get out of playing pretend with Kormir? Why would she not know what her own artifact does? And do you know that Kasmeer wears a regal outfit because she IS from a noble family? It is not an indicator for her being a goddess, which would in fact make her a pretty stupid goddess, to be honest... just my opinion. ::pensive:

EDIT: I re-read what you said, friend, and realized there is a certain likeliness that you really did not yet play Path of Fire. I am sorry for spoiling some stuff, but don't let it drag you down, because it is a lot more beautiful and awesome than it sounds on paper and you will certainly enjoy it!

[ShadowDove.8329]

> @"Malavian.4695" said:

> SPOILERS: Actually, another thing bugged me about Lyssa. When we are in Orr it claims that Lyssa was the last to leave because she enjoyed interacting with the humans so much and wept when she left. Yet, when we meet with Kormir in POF she says that Lyssa laughed at her for not wanting to leave. I think it may indicate that Lyssa not only has two faces, but two completely different personalities.

 

Considering that lore states that she's made up of Ilya _and_ Lyss, she might be two completely different people after all.

[Rajani Isa.6294]

> @"ShadowDove.8329" said:

> > @"Malavian.4695" said:

> > SPOILERS: Actually, another thing bugged me about Lyssa. When we are in Orr it claims that Lyssa was the last to leave because she enjoyed interacting with the humans so much and wept when she left. Yet, when we meet with Kormir in POF she says that Lyssa laughed at her for not wanting to leave. I think it may indicate that Lyssa not only has two faces, but two completely different personalities.

>

> Considering that lore states that she's made up of Ilya _and_ Lyss, she might be two completely different people after all.

 

> @"ShadowDove.8329" said:

> > @"Malavian.4695" said:

> > SPOILERS: Actually, another thing bugged me about Lyssa. When we are in Orr it claims that Lyssa was the last to leave because she enjoyed interacting with the humans so much and wept when she left. Yet, when we meet with Kormir in POF she says that Lyssa laughed at her for not wanting to leave. I think it may indicate that Lyssa not only has two faces, but two completely different personalities.

>

> Considering that lore states that she's made up of Ilya _and_ Lyss, she might be two completely different people after all.

 

Yeah, Lyssa is referred to as "The Twins".

[MithranArkanere.8957]

The way Kormir said it was peculiar.

 

> @"Kormir" said:

> "The rest of the Six—Dwayna, Grenth, Melandru, even Lyssa—reached an agreement. Balthazar had to be dealt with."

 

"Even" as an adverb is used to emphasize something surprising or extreme. Meaning that Lyssa would have not agreed with that under normal circumstances.

 

But was that because it was Balthazar, or some other reason like Lyssa usually staying neutral?

[Rajani Isa.6294]

I'd guess it's more along the lines of Lyssa, essentially being the ultimate mesmer, is disinclined to direct action - which what they did to Balth is definitely direct action.

[Arden.7480]

> @"Ruadan.9301" said:

> This is something that has been bugging me too.

> Balthazar used Lyssa's mirror to disguise himself, and it was NEVER explained where he got it from.

> For the longest time, lore buffs assumed that it was due to Lyssa's inherent duality, that one half of her decided to secretly support Balthazar, maybe even also stay in Tyria.

> This got even worse when Balthazar cursed every god except Lyssa before he died - as you already mentioned.

> It's a thing of great uncertainty, especially now that a new theory suggests that Balthazar may have simply stolen the mirror from Lyssa's reliquary in Siren's Landing.

> It would be really great to know how he acquired the mirror. And whether or not Lyssa is really, entirely gone from the world.

>

 

It was explained, but it makes Kormir responsible for that. The Gods are hiding something much more behind this Balthazar situation, the whole "Facing the Truth" didn't make any sense.

 

Let me show you:

 

_When he returned to this world, Balthazar disguised himself as Lazarus with Lyssa's Mirror—the only magic powerful enough to hide the truth from our eyes._

 

So he was chained in the Mists, then he went to Tyria (?), and then went back to the Mists and took Lyssa's mirror? So it was all happening on their watch?

 

It must have been something what Lyssa told Kormir.

 

Lyssa is freaking powerful as hell... Her magic can hide the truth even from the other gods... Why did the gods even let her possess such powerful magic? Maybe it was forbidden and she broke the rules?

 

[Ruadan.9301]

>

> Let me show you:

>

> _When he returned to this world, Balthazar disguised himself as Lazarus with Lyssa's Mirror—the only magic powerful enough to hide the truth from our eyes._

>

> So he was chained in the Mists, then he went to Tyria (?), and then went back to the Mists and took Lyssa's mirror? So it was all happening on their watch?

>

> It must have been something what Lyssa told Kormir.

>

> Lyssa is freaking powerful as hell... Her magic can hide the truth even from the other gods... Why did the gods even let her possess such powerful magic? Maybe it was forbidden and she broke the rules?

>

 

I don't know. I deem it very fitting for the power level of a goddess of illusion to be able to fool even the other gods, especially if they do not pay too much attention. This does not irritate me in the slightest. Maybe Kormir should have had an advantage, or maybe Lyssa should have had an advantage, because it was HER artifact, but whatever. To me, the writing can get away with that.

 

And as I just said, we don't know that the mirror was in the Mists. Maybe he quickly took it from Arah, or from Lyssa's Reliquary instead. Then he would just have had to stay low for a little while, until he got the mirror and could pose as Lazarus. As we know now, he had a bit of time to prepare this plan. (He left the Mists around the same time that Rytlock escaped, which was at the very beginning of Heart of Thorns, and I guess the Bloodstone Fen incident happened a couple of weeks later).

 

The only other thing that could have happened is that Lyssa silently gave him the mirror when they all chained him up. Which means she supported him but did not want the other gods to know about it. This could explain why Balthazar could pose as an old man to fool Rytlock. (But maybe all gods can summon and discard their regalia, I don't know.)

In that case, however, she would have had to lie to the other gods once they realized HER mirror was to blame. I do not know if she could have pulled that off, despite what I said earlier.

 

And ultimately, yes, Lyssa is split into two personalities, Lyss and Ilya. Personally, I think they are somewhat different. One seems strict, but still kind-hearted and caring from the lore that we got. The other one seems deceptive, indifferent, and somewhat cruel (judging from the Orr parable, it's either cruelty, or a very... specific sort of kindness, to send laughing soldiers into their death with visions of victory and happiness.) If we take this into consideration, the matter gets even more complicated, and more theories can open up. Did Lyss leave, but Ilya stayed behind? Did Lyss support Balthazar, but Ilya didn't? etc. etc. We do not even yet know which half is which, or whether they are really different.

 

However, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this thread, which has been mostly at the top of the AFC threads for some time now, has been ignored by the devs. What we can thus rule out is that they don't want us to think about her anymore. They want us to. The question is, why?

Because it suits Lyssa to be a figure of mystery, even though she's not relevant to the story?

Or because they still have plans for her and cannot reveal anything just yet?

It's up to us to decide which of the two is more likely. I think it's the latter.

 

[foozlesprite.8051]

If anyone's actually Lyssa or one half of her, it's probably Queen Jennah. She's done some really, _really_ big illusions, on a scale we've never even heard of before.

 

Plus she's got Doric's blood, which is uber-magical and important, apparently. Could maybe make her fit to be an avatar or host for a god.

[Tyson.5160]

> @"foozlesprite.8051" said:

> If anyone's actually Lyssa or one half of her, it's probably Queen Jennah. She's done some really, _really_ big illusions, on a scale we've never even heard of before.

>

> Plus she's got Doric's blood, which is uber-magical and important, apparently. Could maybe make her fit to be an avatar or host for a god.

 

Of course then there’s the locket from season 2 that shows those with royal blood for when oh I don’t know, when Jennah steps off the throne because she reveals herself to be a goddess.

[Ruadan.9301]

> @"foozlesprite.8051" said:

> If anyone's actually Lyssa or one half of her, it's probably Queen Jennah. She's done some really, _really_ big illusions, on a scale we've never even heard of before.

>

> Plus she's got Doric's blood, which is uber-magical and important, apparently. Could maybe make her fit to be an avatar or host for a god.

 

I heard some people say she is not even /that/ powerful, and that the giant bubble over DR was painstakingly prepared in advance, not some divine display of mesmer magic. I do not know whether this has merit, though. She is a somewhat interesting character, whether or not she is actually a goddess.