"Guild Wars 2" - The Living World, Year 1 Quiz

Answer: Halloween

Kicking off the monthly release schedule, "The Shadow of the Mad King" saw Lion's Arch, one of the primary cities in Tyria, redecorated to celebrate Halloween. Traditionally, Mad King Thorn would be allowed to leave his prison in the Underworld for one day a year and return to the land of the living.

This occurred every year on Halloween. However, during the two hundred and fifty years between the events of "Guild Wars" and "Guild Wars 2", Mad King Thorn did not return to Tyria. Eventually, it was believed that Mad King Thorn was just a myth, that he did not really exist. Strange occurrences throughout Tyria prompted the Durmand Priory, a group of scholars, to join forces with players and investigate. Mad King Thorn did finally make an appearance, free again from the Underworld, bursting through the magnificent fountain at Lion's Arch. Players needed to rally together to fight the Mad King in his own Mad Realm and return him to his prison before he could be unleashed onto Tyria and wreak all sorts of havoc.

Answer: Southsun Cove

What appeared to be a delightful tropical resort destination had a far greater menace lurking beneath its pleasant facade. Once the home of the karka, a race of crab-like creatures who were driven to the surface of the ocean by the movement of the dragons, Southsun Cove was a dangerous place for holidaymakers and heroes alike.

The anger of the karka saw their leader, the Ancient Karka, attack Lion's Arch and destroy the iconic lighthouse on the peninsula. The fight was taken to Southsun Cove, where players joined forces and destroyed the Ancient Karka in its volcanic hive, preventing further large-scale attacks on the mainland of Tyria.

Answer: Tixx

Lion's Arch once again got a makeover, transforming it into a wintry wonderland. For all the danger and chaos caused by recent events, the Wintersday celebration was rather relaxed in comparison. Players could visit Tixx himself in his Infinirarium airship and stop his malfunctioning toys from getting out of control, a brand new jumping puzzle saw players delivering presents to children, and a bell choir allowed players to ring in the spirit of Wintersday with a selection of festive tunes. Players hungry for action could participate in fast-paced snowball fights, collecting gifts and prizes for their team.

Answer: Flame Legion & dredge

With the Flame Legion's power and the dredge's subterranean prowess, the Molten Alliance became a significant force in Tyria for the duration of the "Flame and Frost" arc, which included the "Prelude", "The Gathering Storm", "The Razing" and "Retribution" releases each furthering the story. Two new allies were introduced to players: Braham, a norn guardian and son of Eir Stegalkin, and Rox, a young charr gladium. Covering the Shiverpeak Mountains and Ascalon, the fight against the Molten Alliance culminated in a showdown against two very powerful Alliance leaders and the destruction of the huge Molten Alliance facility deep below the surface of the land. During this arc, the Super Adventure Box was unveiled: a homage to 8-bit video games of yesteryear and, lore-wise, a source of entertainment for players and refugees of the Alliance attacks alike.

Answer: Canach

When settling on the island, the Consortium were given strict instructions not to interfere with the wildlife. However, Canach accidentally angered the karka and set up the events that caused Lion's Arch to come under siege by the Ancient Karka. After realising the Consortium was after him, he went into hiding and began to work on a way to stop them.

This activity caused the wildlife of Southsun Cove to turn aggressive and attack the Consortium settlements. Players were given the job of collecting toxin samples from around the island, so that the cause of the chaos could be determined.

After investigation, it was revealed that Canach was behind it and a bounty was subsequently placed on him. "Last Stand at Southsun" revealed the location of Canach's lair, and players were sent in to stop him once and for all.

Answer: Garrot Ambercowl

The Dragon Bash was a celebration of the fight against the Elder Dragons. The highlight of the festival was a pyre lighting ceremony, which honoured those who had been killed by the Elder Dragons or minions of them. During this ceremony, it was revealed that the pyre was sabotaged when it exploded and killed Garret Ambercowl, who was there on behalf of all the charr to recognise those who had fallen.

It was then that the Aetherblades showed themselves, a group of pirates in an alliance with the Inquest asura. Players then took time out from the festivities to trace the Aetherblades and their magic back to their hideout, which was in Lion's Arch itself.

The 'Sky Pirates of Tyria' release saw players entering the hideout and defeating Mai Trin, leader of the Aetherblades, but not before the mention of a mysterious figure known as Scarlet.

Interrogation of Mai Trin in her prison cell yielded nothing more about this Scarlet, however.

Answer: Zephyrites

With the arrival of the travelling Zephyrites and their Zephyr Sanctum, players could travel to the Labyrinthine Cliffs, east of Mount Maelstrom, and visit the great airship, mastering new magic as they did so. Harnessing the powers of sun, wind and lightning, players could run, jump and fly to new heights in this new area.

A lucrative trade contract was on the cards for the successful Captain's Council candidate, so it was down to Ellen Kiel and Evon Gnashblade to begin negotiations with the Zephyrites to secure the contract.

The Zephyrite leader, the Master of Peace, declared that the trade contract should go to the candidate with the most support from the people of Tyria, thus setting up the events of "Cutthroat Politics".

Answer: Ellen

Voting tokens could be found all over Tyria and players could use them to support their favourite candidate in the election. Voting baskets were placed on the Zephyrite airship in the Labyrinthine Cliffs, and players could submit as many votes as they liked. Candidate Trials were introduced to help either Ellen or Evon retrieve treasure from the Aetherblades and gain even more support tokens.

When the release came to a close and the results were tallied, Ellen Kiel emerged victorious, claiming 52% of all votes, compared to Evon Gnashblade's 48%. Over 9 million votes were cast. Kiel's victory also meant research into a new Fractal dungeon investigating the events that destroyed the Thaumanova Reactor Facility would begin.

Answer: The Great Collapse

As a testament to humanity's resilience and will to survive given the treacherous times in which they live, Queen Jennah celebrated by commissioning the construction of the Crown Pavilion, an arena designed to represent the struggles that humanity had overcome and was continuing to fight. Divided into six sections, players could battle against centaurs, bandits, destroyers, Flame Legion charr, ogres and pirates. Additionally, for the more battle-hardened heroes, the Queen's Gauntlet was opened, a series of (mostly) one-on-one cage matches against some of the toughest foes in Tyria. Specially-constructed Watchknights also stood watch over the arena, sworn to protect the celebrations from danger, but in true Tyrian fashion, they were taken over by a strange force and transformed into Twisted watchwork creatures, thanks to the appearance of Scarlet Briar.

Answer: Clockwork Chaos

Beginning her invasion of Tyria in "Clockwork Chaos", Scarlet Briar opened portals across the world, spewing forth her Twisted creatures, elite Molten Alliance members and hordes of Aetherblades. In a worldwide counter-offensive, the players of Tyria banded together to stop these invasions, defeating what appeared to be a seemingly endless stream of enemies. An invasion consisted of three waves, each introducing another set of portals from which one of the three aforementioned groups would come. Players only had forty-five minutes to end the invasions completely, so it was important to work together and fight quickly. If all three waves were defeated before time ran out, Scarlet herself would appear and put up a fight. Defeating her would cause her to teleport away to safety and end the invasion.

These invasions happened on a regular basis during the release, in a variety of different areas, excluding low-level starter areas and the three high-level Orr maps.