Glint

This article is about the historical figure. For the revenant legend, see Legendary Dragon Stance.

Glint

Race

Dragon, Branded, Ghost, Legend

Level

80

Location

Storm Tracking
(The Mists, Sun's Refuge)
Scion & Champion
(Glint's Trials, The Durmand Priory)
The End
(The Mists, Underworld, The Auditorium, Pact Command, Fissure of Woe, Melandru's Lost Domain)

Organization

Mist Wardens

“

Tyria's last hope rests on the unity of the races. The pooling of their strength. It is the only way.

— Glint

Glint, once known as Glaust, and nicknamed the Crystal Queen, was a champion and scion of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik. After the Forgotten had purified her from Kralkatorrik's corruption at the Altar of Glaust, she remained in crystalline form but regained her free will. Glint began empathizing with other races as she felt their suffering, and she turned against her master while devising a complex plan to preserve Tyria's magical balance by replacing Elder Dragons with equally powerful but less predatory entities, a plan in which her scions Vlast and Aurene were intended to play a large role. Before Glint could see her plans come to fruition, however, she fell in battle against Kralkatorrik, but her work would be continued by the Exalted and later, Dragon's Watch.

Biography

Early years

Glint was born as the scion of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik. She was known by many names, including Glaust, in the distant past when she served Kralkatorrik as one of his Branded champions. As an oracle she was able to hear the thoughts of creatures, which allowed her to unravel and stop the plots against her master and sire. Kralkatorrik revealed his greatest fear to her in private: he had foreseen a potential future of a world without strife between dragons and other races and without Kralkatorrik himself. In response, the Elder Dragon ordered his scion to prevent this future from coming to pass.

When the Elder Dragons last awoke, the Forgotten discovered and performed a great spell at the Altar of Glaust which was intended to purify Kralkatorrik's scion. Glint remained in crystalline form, but she regained her free will. She was only able to remember fragments of her life from before the purification ritual, but she remained loyal to Kralkatorrik for some time. However, hearing Kralkatorrik's thoughts and the thoughts of those she killed eventually led to a change of heart as she grew to sympathize with her victims.

Choosing to side with the elder races, Glint hid many of them from the Elder Dragons until the dragons went to sleep and it was safe for the races to reemerge. It was presumably around this time that a group of grateful dwarves formed the Brotherhood of the Dragon, an organization that served as the keepers of her heritage. They forged an alliance with Glint, and let her into their minds.

Guild Wars

Glint and her eggs in 1072 AE.

In the time when the Elder Dragons slept, Glint began working with the Forgotten on a plan that would ensure a brighter future for Tyria free from the threat of the Elder Dragons. She secretly prepared for her former master's eventual return and collected his crystallized blood to keep it from mortal hands. She also laid eggs in her lair, waiting for the time for them to hatch so she could prepare her scions for the great task ahead.

In approximately 272 AE, Glint compiled the Flameseeker Prophecies, foretelling the defeat of Vizier Khilbron and the fall of the titans and mursaat. In 1072 AE, this came to pass, and it was Glint who guided the Ascendant heroes, who were the prophecies' subjects, to their destiny. Some of these Chosen later returned to battle her. Glint had lain many eggs but only two of these eggs, containing her scions Vlast and Aurene, would become prominent over the following centuries with the fate of the other eggs remaining unknown.

Some time after, Glint's Forgotten allies built the hidden city of Kesho deep within the Elon Riverlands where they and Glint studied Ascension for secrets that might help them fight the Elder Dragons in preparation for their plan to replace the Elder Dragons with more benevolent balancers of magic. Glint's first scion Vlast hatched in Kesho, and was later taken to Glint's lair in the Desert Highlands where Glint had traveled to at the time. Dwarven and human heroes arrived in the lair at the behest of Glint and successfully defended her hatchling from the still slumbering Elder Dragon Primordus's invading destroyers in 1078 AE.

Interim years

After the Transformation of the Dwarves in response to the rising threat of Primordus, Glint's guardianship was gradually passed down from the Brotherhood of the Dragon to a secretive group of Canthans and Elonians who would become known as the Zephyrites by 1125 AE. Some of these Zephyrites underwent Forgotten trials to transform into the Exalted who would be tasked with carrying out Glint's plan and raising her scions in Kesho and Tarir, the Forgotten City once the Forgotten had moved on. Glint and selected members of the Zephyrites developed resonance crystals while her dwarven followers built the Forge deep within Thunderhead Keep. With Glint's help, the dwarven weaponsmith Frodak Steelstar used the Forge to create the Dragonsblood Spear from the crystallized blood of Kralkatorrik's spine which Glint later took to her lair.

At some point Glint also set up an extension of her lair in the Mists where she prepared trials and recorded messages for her scions for the time when they were ready to play their roles in her and the Forgotten's plan. The messages were part of the lair's magically reactive space which would update its knowledge and responses based on the lair's occupants at the time of the visit.

Edge of Destiny

Glint meets with Destiny's Edge.

In 1320 AE, Grand Duchess Faolain of the Nightmare Court sought out Caithe and, in an attempt to sway her to her side, informed her that the previous struggles of Destiny's Edge against dragon champions had amounted to nothing as the Elder Dragons would continue to rise. According to Faolain, the Nightmare Court had learned that Glint had kept her loyalties concealed and was preparing for the rise of Kralkatorrik as his champion. Caithe delivered the troubling news to her companions in Destiny's Edge who were torn about the reveal as they did not trust Faolain and were aware of Glint's actions against the enemies to Tyria in the past. Despite their initial misgivings about Glint's suggested treachery, however, Destiny's Edge resolved to seek out Glint's lair in the Crystal Desert and had the blessing of Queen Jennah, who was equally torn about the decision, to stop Glint before the dragon could help her master return to the world.

Glint had foreseen the coming of Destiny's Edge, however, and waited for them in her lair while sending Vlast to the safety of Kesho. She had plans for him as part of her legacy and did not want to risk his life in the coming conflict with Kralkatorrik. She was also troubled that her usually accurate visions were cloudy regarding her fate after Kralkatorrik's rise and what the Forgotten and the Six Human Gods knew that she did not, but she resolved to continue with her plan regardless of what might happen to her.

Glint and Destiny's Edge clashed briefly, and she easily defeated the guild during the confrontation. She realized that Destiny's Edge had good intentions and had been led astray, however, so she decided to tell them the truth to end the battle: she had once served Kralkatorrik but would do so no longer and was acting against her former master who would inevitably rise.

Sensing Glint's earnestness, Destiny's Edge was swayed to her side and suggested that she should fight alongside them against Kralkatorrik. Glint was surprised when the Destiny's Edge members Eir Stegalkin and Snaff hatched a plan to use the Dragonsblood Spear and powerstones made from Kralkatorrik's crystalline blood, which Glint had gathered in her lair, to subdue the Elder Dragon for the finishing blow. Realizing that they might be able to stop Kralkatorrik as long as they worked together to use their respective strengths in battle, Glint chose to fight alongside the guild.

As Glint had foreseen, Kralkatorrik awoke and sought her out for her betrayal. The sudden departure of Logan Thackeray to protect Queen Jennah in the Ogre Revolt weakened Destiny's Edge. Despite this, Eir believed in their chances and chose to confront the Elder Dragon according to the original battle plan regardless of Glint's warning. Although at first they were able to stand up to Kralkatorrik, the Elder Dragon proved to be a powerful adversary. Sensing that they only had one chance of defeating her former master, Glint sacrificed herself in Kralkatorrik's jaws to put a yoke Snaff had made from crystallized dragon blood on the Elder Dragon. The established link allowed Snaff to access Kralkatorrik's mind and force him to land while the Elder Dragon was distracted.

However, Logan's absence affected the fighting capabilities of Destiny's Edge. They were unable to protect Snaff from Kralkatorrik's Branded minions which killed Snaff and allowed the Elder Dragon to wrestle free and flee the area before Rytlock Brimstone could use the Dragonsblood Spear to harm him. Having barely survived the battle, Destiny's Edge mourned the loss of Glint and Snaff and disbanded out of grief and anger, leaving their dragon ally where she had fallen.

Legacy

Interim years

Destiny's Edge standing before Glint's corpse.

After Glint's death, the Zephyrites sought out her corpse in order to ensure that the draconic energy stored within her body would not fall into the wrong hands. They found that with magic from her body, they were able to harness the power of the Aspects of Sun, Wind, and Lightning. Using these Aspects, they built a magnificent Zephyr Sanctum, and with it they roamed the world in peace. They composed the "Song of the Zephyrites", a lyrical retelling of Glint's last moments which honored and lamented her sacrifice. Although some of Glint's crystallized body was harvested for Aspect crystals, the corpse was eventually taken to an extension of Glint's lair procted in the Mists where it would lie since.

Furious at his mother's death, Vlast took it upon himself to avenge her by culling the Branded horde and keeping the Dragonbrand from spreading throughout the Crystal Desert over the following decade as Kralkatorrik carved out his new territory. However, Vlast was conflicted over what he should do when Glint was no longer around to guide him as he wanted to fight Kralkatorrik but knew he had to wait for the full legacy to ripen with the hatching of Aurene.

Glint continued to influence events in Tyria long after her death as her scions Vlast and Aurene would carry on the plan she had begun with the aid of the Exalted in the following years. At an unknown point in time, Glint had a prophecy involving Aurene and the scion's future champion who were destined to defeat Kralkatorrik together. The prophecy required three signs to appear, such as Aurene hatching and the lich Palawa Joko dying, before the second scion and her champion would face their final trial in preparation for the confrontation with Kralkatorrik.

Path of Fire

Glint's spirit met with Rytlock who was traversing the Mists in search of his missing sword Sohothin after a failed Foefire cleansing ritual. She reminded him of the importance of dealing with Kralkatorrik while teaching him the ways of the revenant in 1328 AE when the Pact was beginning the invasion of the Heart of Maguuma in the war against the Elder Dragon Mordremoth.

The Pact Commander's party accessed Glint's memory crystals in and around her lair in 1330 AE. Upon activating the crystals, they heard Glint's voiced thoughts and learned of important moments in her life, including her reasons for turning against Kralkatorrik and what plans she had set in motion to ensure Tyria's salvation. Touched by the revelation and the return to the site of Glint's death, Rytlock told the party about his meeting with Glint in the Mists and not being sure what her intentions for him were when the party were now trying to save Kralkatorrik from the former god Balthazar instead of killing the Elder Dragon. To prevent Balthazar from stealing the Dragonsblood Spear and using it against Kralkatorrik, the Commander destroyed the spear despite Rytlock's objections.

Living World Season 4

After consuming the magic unleashed from Balthazar's demise in the Battle of Kodash Bazaar, Kralkatorrik retreated to a distant mountain in Western Kourna. The Elder Dragon stayed there until 1331 AE when he mastered his new powers and phased into the Mists with a Branded horde, allowing him to send his minions to various locations in Tyria by using his connection to his grandchild Aurene as an anchor. Glint realized the danger her former Elder Dragon master posed to not only Tyria but other realms and the space-time continuum itself and fought against the invading Branded in the Mists with the help of Primeval ghosts as well as other ghostly allies such as Eir and Snaff who formed the Mist Wardens.

Kralkatorrik continued to grow in power despite Glint's best efforts to stall him, however, which prompted Glint to send the ghosts of Eir and Snaff to Tyria via one of Kralkatorrik's rifts to warn the Pact Commander of the threat and to convince Aurene to confront the Elder Dragon and take his place as per the Legacy plan as soon as possible before Kralkatorrik would become too powerful to be stopped. However, Aurene's refusal to face Kralkatorrik forced the Commander and their asuran ally Blish to devise a temporary solution as a stalling tactic: they would enter the Mists and bait Kralkatorrik into swallowing Balthazar's still magically potent greatsword, which contained a tracker devised by Blish, thus allowing Dragon's Watch to predict the Elder Dragon's next potential targets before the attacks and evacuate would-be victims when needed.

Upon entering the Mists and powering up the tracker on Balthazar's greatsword, the Commander and Blish heard Glint's voice urging them to hurry as Kralkatorrik's Branded would be breaking through Glint's ghostly army in an attempt to surround the pair. In order to make sure that the tracker would work as intended, Blish chose to stay behind and sacrifice himself while Glint guided the Commander out of the Mists via her echo. As they reached a dead end with Kralkatorrik about to reach them in the form of a storm, Glint urged the Commander to make a leap of faith, which led to the Commander's safe return to Tyria. Glint stayed behind in the Mists, coordinating the battle against Kralkatorrik and the Branded horde.

With the help of Ogden Stonehealer and the magical hourglass kept in the Durmand Priory, the Commander and Caithe entered the extension of Glint's lair in the Mists where they found Aurene next to Glint's body in 1332 AE. As they went through the trials in the lair, the Commander and Aurene listened to Glint's memory crystals which instructed them how to channel and share the burden of magic and work together to overcome their fears in order to prevail against Kralkatorrik.

Once the pair had proven their bond, they were taken to separate areas: Glint's memory crystal communicated with Aurene about Ascension in ways only dragons would understand while another crystal told the Commander about Kralkatorrik's fears and the importance of hope in the Legacy plan. Once the scion and champion had been properly briefed, Glint's memory urged them to travel to Thunderhead Keep to forge more Dragonsblood Spears in order to replace the original spear which the Commander had destroyed earlier during the campaign against Balthazar.

As Kralkatorrik continued consuming magic in the Mists, he successfully scattered Glint's army of Mist Wardens after a series of battles. However, he received grave injuries from the ghosts as well as from the sealings of each rift his minions had created on Tyria. To recover his strength and grow in power, the Elder Dragon entered the Domain of the Lost to feast on the souls there. Glint sent another ghostly messenger, Gwen Thackeray, to Thunderhead Keep to let the Commander know that they were running out of time and that the confrontation with Kralkatorrik was imminent.

Aurene, emboldened by her mother's reassuring words, set the plan in motion to lure Kralkatorrik back to Tyria by using herself as bait. She successfully did so, leading the Elder Dragon straight into a trap set by the Commander and their Central Tyrian and Elonian allies. Although Kralkatorrik was severely injured in the resulting battle, he managed to kill several attacks and impale Aurene with a Brand spike. Shortly after, the Crystal Dragon retreated back into the Mists to continue his feast on the god realms and recover from his injuries while leaving the Commander and other survivors to mourn Aurene's demise.

However, Glint had foreseen the outcome. Ogden had already been made aware that the prophecy had needed three signs to appear before it could be fulfilled: Glint's egg hatching, the lich Palawa Joko's death, and Aurene's demise. The Commander and their allies discovered that Aurene, despite appearing lifeless, still had magic within her which resonated with the song of the mourning Zephyrites when the Commander began removing pieces of the Brand from her body. Using the abilities learned during the campaign and the connection to Aurene, the Commander was able to shatter the rest of the spike which had pierced Aurene's heart and witnessed her resurrection via the power she had absorbed from the Joko.

Aurene, empowered by her resurrection and now able to speak, urged the Commander to join her so they could chase after the weakened Kralkatorrik through and force him to return to Tyria one last time so they could finish the battle and prevent his magic from scattering into the Mists. As the pair located the Elder Dragon and began an aerial battle with him through ravaged realms of the Six Gods, they heard the words of Glint's echo which reminded them of the prophetic vision which Kralkatorrik had wanted to prevent and that a better world would soon be born. The pair successfully forced Kralkatorrik to fall from the Mists into the Unending Ocean where he was trapped under severed chunks from the god realms, creating Dragonfall.

As the Pact and their Elonian allies set up a base of operations on Dragonfall to begin the battle against the trapped Kralkatorrik and his amassing Branded horde, the corsair Sayida the Sly noted that Glint's Mist Wardens, led by Gwen Thackeray, were massing to the southern region of the island to aid the Pact although there was no sign of Glint herself.

The Pact ultimately succeeded in damaging Kralkatorrik's body with newly forged Dragonsblood Spears forged from the Elder Dragon's blood, but his heart continued beating and needed to be destroyed from within. Aurene and the Commander flew into the fallen Crystal Dragon's maw and eventually located the heart while also coming across its fierce guardian, Kralkatorrik's Torment. As the pair battled against the Torment and the facets of magic which the Elder Dragon had absorbed from Zhaitan, Mordremoth and Balthazar, they also heard the enraged Torment arguing with the more sane side of Kralkatorrik. When Aurene spoke with her grandfather, Kralkatorrik revealed that he had never been terrified of his prophetic vision despite what Glint had assumed; according to Kralkatorrik, Elder Dragons were not afraid of anything.

Aurene and the Commander ultimately defeated Kralkatorrik's Torment and, with Kralkatorrik's blessing, pierced his heart with the Dragonsblood Spear. Aurene absorbed her fallen grandfather's power and ascended into the Mists as the Elder Prismatic Dragon, fulfilling both Kralkatorrik's prophecy and the first step of Glint's Legacy by becoming the first Elder Dragon replacement. Glint was nowhere to be seen during this time, however, and her ultimate fate is unknown.

The Icebrood Saga

As the Exalted rallied to the Eye of the North to help Aurene's allied factions defend Tyria against the converging armies of the Elder Dragons Primordus and Jormag in 1333 AE, Dulann, Luminate's Envoy answered the Pact Commander's inquiries if they were on the course Glint had planned. According to Dulann, Glint's words had said little of the days after Kralkatorrik's fall because she could not share all she knew for fear of affecting the outcome of events.

Physiology

Glint had the gift of prophecy, being able to foresee the future or possibly even multiple futures, which her scion Aurene inherited. She had the ability to read minds and communicate telepathically and was said to be a rare case of a dragon who could connect with other races in such a way.

Story involvement

Path of Fire story

• Act II
  • Crystalline Memories (voice only)

Living World Season 4

• Episode 4: A Star to Guide Us
  • Storm Tracking (voice and echo only)
• Episode 5: All or Nothing
  • Scion & Champion (voice only)
• Episode 6: War Eternal
  • The End (echo only)

Scions

• Vlast
• Aurene

Gallery

• 

  A render of a Mists-echo of Glint.

• 

  Glint's appearance in Guild Wars Prophecies.

• 

  Illusion of Glint as seen while using Herald skill Chaotic Release.

• 

  All or Nothing wallpaper with Glint and Aurene.

• 

  Isolated model shown on Guild Chat - Episode 79.

Related achievements

• Specialization Collections: Glint's Bastion — Collect these 14 items and skins to receive the herald's shield, Glint's Bastion. (3)
• Heart of Thorns: Act 2: Wild Dragon Chase — While being pursued by the Mordrem beast, find and retrieve all 23 Echoes of Glint. (5)
• Path of Fire: Act 2: All the Essences — Collect all the crystal essences outside of Glint's Lair. (2)
• Path of Fire: Act 2: Dragon's Lair — Open the way to Glint's Lair within the time limit. (2)

Notes

• In Echoes of the Past during Living World Season 2, it is revealed that at least one other egg survived intact, and came into the stewardship of the Master of Peace. Upon his death at the hands of the Mordrem, it was stolen by Caithe, whose Wyld Hunt compelled her to protect the egg with reckless abandon. The egg is recovered in the Heart of Thorns storyline and put into the care of the Exalted, and eventually hatches in Rising Flames during Living World Season 3.

Trivia

• Glint is voiced by Jocelyn Blue since A Star to Guide Us release.
• Glint has her own leitmotif, called "Glint's Theme", which was composed by Jeremy Soule.
• Glint's model in Scion & Champion is built from Aurene's model, using her original Guild Wars model as inspiration.
• Multiple sections of Glint's lair can be accessed during the story:
  • Glint's Lair via Ornate Hourglass in Hidden Arcana.
  • Glint's Lair in Crystalline Memories.
  • Glint's Trials in Scion & Champion.

See also

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Glint.

• Family trees
• Aspect
• Brotherhood of the Dragon
• Glint's Hourglass
• Glint's Egg
• The Legacy
• Zephyrites

Associated items

• Crystal from the Mists
• Egg of the Crystal Queen
• Eternal Sands
• Glint's Bastion
• Glint's Gaze Mask Skin
• Glint's Scale
• Glint's Winter Dye Kit
• Roaring Dragon Glider