Freedom for Tiamat

[Celef]

That might be the case, but if so it's odd that Nidhogg would take a consort (Tioman) when he's still mourning Ratatoskr. He doesn't seem particularly interested in companionship.

Wasn't he mourning her as his sister rather than consort ? (can't remember)

[LineageRazor]

Wasn't he mourning her as his sister rather than consort ? (can't remember)

I don't think that it was ever stated that Ratatoskr and Nidhogg were mates. He clearly loved her, but I always took it as familial love, rather than romantic love. The Ishgardians killed his sister - honestly, having siblings of my own that I'm very close to, I could sure see why he'd go insane with rage at that.

I don't recall seeing any lore indicating that Azdaja and Vrtra are mated, either - unless it's in the lore book.

[Ririta]

Wasn't he mourning her as his sister rather than consort ? (can't remember)

Yes, he always refers to Rata as his sister.

[Vidu]

Wasn't he mourning her as his sister rather than consort ? (can't remember)

And even if there was any romantic intrest between Nidhogg and Ratatosk (which there is no evidence of, afaik) wouldnt it make sense for him to take a new mate - simply to reproduce and create an army of his own children to take down Ishgard.

[Lukha]

And even if there was any romantic intrest between Nidhogg and Ratatosk (which there is no evidence of, afaik) wouldnt it make sense for him to take a new mate - simply to reproduce and create an army of his own children to take down Ishgard.

Which is why I'm confused, since that's the only reason taking a new mate would make sense while he's still raging over Ratatoskr's murder...but as Enur has pointed out, the lore book claims dragons reproduce asexually, so I'm still left to wonder why he'd bother.

And I really, really thought it mentioned somewhere along the storyline that they were mated, that all the First Brood spread across the globe in mated pairs in order to propagate the species...but the closest reference I've found so far is Middy mentioning that his children spread out to breed (but not specifically anything about them pairing off), and Tiamat refering to Bahamut as 'my beloved', so maybe I'm mistaken, and Nidhogg and Ratatoskr didn't have that sort of relationship even though their siblings did...

[LineageRazor]

Which is why I'm confused, since that's the only reason taking a new mate would make sense while he's still raging over Ratatoskr's murder...but as Enur has pointed out, the lore book claims dragons reproduce asexually, so I'm still left to wonder why he'd bother.

Well, not to be pedantic, but I believe that it's stated that dragons CAN reproduce asexually, not that they MUST. It's possible that dragons may have methods for producing offspring as a mated pair, but maintain the option of reproducing even without taking a mate. We already know that dragon biology is super weird, given that the variety of shapes a dragon can grow into seems to be nigh-limitless. Who knows what other quirks they may have hidden?

Whether or not that's true, it's possible that Nidhogg took Tioman as a mate out of convenience. Perhaps she had a sizable brood of her own that Nidhogg wished to add to his army, and she was amenable on condition that they become mates. It's unclear how much actual affection there might have been between them; she certainly seemed to hold some for him, as her dying "beloved" shows, but was Nidhogg's anger because he, too, held affection for her, or was he just enraged that we'd destroyed one of his most valuable assets?