(LS Spoiler) I'm curious how the Charr character community feels about Rytlock's story

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I don't see him behaving in an "out of character" manner.

Charr still care for their cubs, you even interact with the charr commanders sire in the early arts of the personal story. Where you find out that even the shining example of a loyal soilder....

..still keeps tabs on their cub.

So that aspect is hardly uncharr like.

As for his distance to the stone warband? It's typical for any tribune and higher. But it's heightened by the fact that yanno, trust and love is a two way street.

Hard to trust people that once made your early life miserable. DE and DW have always been more like a typical warband to rytlock. That's why it took so long for him to forgive Logan.

That is why he mourns Snaff and Eir.

He's not acting like less then a charr simple because he dares to show emotion over the fact that the world may very well be ending soon.

Honestly? I don't find this story to be out of character for him at all. He has spent 11 years now being apart of a 'warband' that involves more than charr. It is perfectly acceptable based on interaction and influence for a character to evolve and develop based on that. He admitted to facts and cultural aspects of not only charr in general but the blood legion themselves. He admitted to not understanding why the commander, Caithe, etc were grieving over Aurene at first.

Charr don't take on mates and they don't raise their cubs but that doesn't mean they don't keep tabs on them. Just because charr are taught to act a certain way does not mean that they don't have emotions, I would say their training teaches them to put it a side. Charr may be soldiers but they are still creatures with flaws, egos, capable of making mistakes.

The comment about this story going against how charr are depicted as a race is also something I disagree with. Again, he has spent a lot of time the last few years in a 'warband' that is not only charr. He has seen things that a lot of charr in the legions don't see. His ego all this time, his desire to use Sohothin to drive his own status is rather charr-like. There isn't a charr in the legions that want to be considered 'a runt.'

It also should be considered where the races stand now, that charr themselves are more open to peace with other races than they have ever been before. Far more open to the influence of the other races than ever before and the same can be said for all the other races too.

I see this as Rytlock having an epiphany, realizing his mistakes, his failures. Not only that but if Mists is the web that binds the world together and Kralkatorrik is consuming that energy, Rytlock is facing the reality of his own end and the end of those he realizes he cares about. Everything that was, is and will be is doomed at this point.

I thought this was well written, I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you all for your insight on this! Charr have always been a difficult race for me to get a firm grasp of even though they are some of my favorites. I will admit that my view of them has been one dimensional and that affected how I perceived this story and many of the points here will help rectify that and hopefully enrich my own Charr characters.

Robin, thank you for reminding me about that aspect of the personal story - its been so long since I've played it I've forgotten.

Melanie, thank you for that post. Its easy to forget that the lore given that the start of the game is just that - the start. That just as our commander evolves so does the world around them. I also never considered how being a part of a DE and DW could really affect Rytlock's world view!

I also confess I was influenced by WoodenPotatoes reading and review of it, but thats also why I wanted to hear from the RP community.

Of course! I'd say when you are use to time lock maps its easy to think that the culture of the races remain the same. It's easy to over look how Tyria has changed since the story for gw2 began. The cease fire, the establishment of the pact, the existence of asuran gates and waypoints shows that the races influence each other. Are even open to communication, trade and with it influence.

The legions helped Kryta when the White Mantle attacked Lake Doric, for example. And working together and helping each other opens the door to that influence.

And that is not to say the charr or any other race does a full 180 on their culture. If Anet did some sort of content showing legion charr giving up their militaristic society as a whole. I'd be upset as a player. Change like that, if it ever happens would take a lot longer.

It's ultimately the bigger picture to me. Characters should grow and change based on the experiences and those around them. If Rytlock had never joined DE would he be the charr in that story? Probably not.

I think they wrote that to show the dire circumstances the characters and Tyria face. It answers questions about Rytlock and shows how he has grown as a character by tapping into his past, his regrets and having him ask these questions.

Sorry for another long one. On my phone waiting for a ride and your response got me thinking lol.

I think the writers might be going out of their way to portray just how unhealthy Legion Charr society is. With the introduction of the Olmakhan and that piece they wrote on Rytlock, I feel that they’re trying to show that Legion Charr are a lot more emotionally suppressed than they let on.
Even with Rox probably joining the Olmakhan, it seems to me they’re trying to say that the Legions way is wrong.
They’ve been writing the Charr up until the introduction of the Olmakhan as the big hardened battle cats that have no room for sentimentality, but as soon as they introduce the Olmakhan, Charr with a completely different world view, they’ve started to state how really emotional Charr are, and how the Legion’s war like mentality has forced them to bottle-up how they might really feel.