“Good-Guys Alliance” May Be About to Change

Community General Discussion
1

I’ve played Alliance and only Alliance since I first got this game, and throughout that time we’ve been (mostly) portrayed as more the “heroes” down the road or the “good guys”.

We’ve had some bits and pieces though where we turned out to not entirely be so great after all, namely with minor stories like the ones behind Westfall and some questlines on the Horde side, but it was never anything blatant or appallingly apparent. There’s never been any cinematic for instance describing us in any particularly negative way, in fact for every expansion thus far it’s been the opposite.

But I feel like that’s about to change in the next couple of expansions, and it all begins with Anduin, hinted in The War Within teaser.

Anduin: "I’m not that person anymore! I have no light. Not after what I’ve seen.

Not after what I’ve done!"

My belief is he’s going down the path towards a villain arc, namely due to the Light he’s always believed in seemingly abandoning him to all the suffering he’s endured, hence maybe a gradual loss in faith. Or perhaps an overall weakened resolve to darker, manipulating forces. His father died when he was still so young, he was forced to take on the rule over an entire kingdom during trying times with nary a thread of preparation, he’s been taken and held captive in a nightmarish plane of death and torture and worse still he’s been possessed by dark forces, overtaken to act against his own will to do things he never would have done.

Once more throughout the entirety of Dragonflight he was absent and missing, thinking about who knows what in all that time, reflecting perhaps in negative ways upon the things he once believed. We don’t know yet.

TL;DR - If Anduin doesn’t prove strong in the end after everything he’s dealt with and been through, if he breaks or loses his mind to darker powers, submits or begins to believe less and less in the light and moves towards a different path, we could be seeing a deep and potentially dark change in the Alliance for the first time.

If you ask me, I hope we are the bad guys for a change some point soon. And if not Anduin, then somebody else.

Who would you think should be the villain of the Alliance if one is eventually to come, or who do you think would be the first one to go down that path?

7 Likes
2

I dont know why people still attribute the Defias as some moment of Alliance being evil.

It was Onyxia, she used shadow-magics to trick the Stormwind nobles into not paying the workers. They then started murdering the farmers in Westfall and building a giant boat to attack Stormwind with.

The entire story is about them falling from freedom fighters trying to break free from Stormwind into simple highway killers into a military bent on attacking a city.

But, I agree that we are likely going to see an Alliance character go full Garrosh in the next expansion or two, and probably be forced to go along with it until the patch they become a raid boss.

15 Likes
3

Im going to put this at around a 0% chance :stuck_out_tongue:

26 Likes
4

Because it’s honestly the only thing we had at the time that was marketed on us as “evil”, mind controlled or not. It’s not my favorite example to use because of this but it’s one of the few things.

Horde players have complained for a long time about how the Horde has always been the “bad guys”. I know Blizzard for their “cringe” tactics to try and surprise us with a series of "all of the sudden"s, so I would bet they’re next attempt to try to surprise us would be “oh Anduin’s evil now, yeah, k bye.”

5

I highly doubt it. I see him getting his light back and being stronger than ever. They turned Arthas into nothing and I think that’s the end of any more parallels between him and Anduin.

I bet we see thrall teach Anduin now.

8 Likes
6

I will literally eat crow if the alliance ever gets hit with a meaningful villain bat. And not something that’s handwaved and disregarded later as being justified.

8 Likes
7

Wouldve been cool but it wont happen. He will get the redemption arc treatment. Ohhh no im depressed and then the alliance brings him back not the old self but to a more mature non naive leader.

The only hope for alliance going full murder instead of its usual “im the good guy when in reality im very morally grey like america” trope is with that light dude who replaced andiun as leader temporary going all lights crusade on the alliance and having internment camps for the fel draeni and void elfs. Like garrosh but with the alliance.

8

So soooort of like Sylvannas… Of all people why did she get a redemption piece? Pretty sure she was of her own head way back with the Forsaken. At least mostly. Probably because Horde players loved her too much.

1 Like
9

Golden boy is not going to be evil.

10

I’m betting it’s actually Alleria that gets a little crazy with her voices in her head. But only for a moment. Lol

11

Well, they ruined Sylvanas, their most interesting female character, so I guess anything is possible.

3 Likes
12

the sons of lothar sacrificed themselves to save azeroth from the horde influence by closing the dark portal (at the time they were even presumed dead, but they were trapped in an foreign alien world)
its silly how they are so chill about the armistice, I want danath and turalyon to take over alliance leadership since anduin is a cryboy and declare war against the horde once again, I dont want alliance to be good, but dont evil either, Iam tired of ‘‘ohhh u cant comite warcrimes’’ bruh who cares its a game, I want strong man fighting strong orcs

4 Likes
13

I don’t think he will.

His trauma comes for him to have lost control of himself and being dominated by the Jailer, when he attacked and almost killed Kyrestia, fought against us and maybe killed some Shadowlands citizens while under the command of the Jailer.

He said he didn’t trust himself because of what he’d gone through.
For a warrior, it is to hold their blade steady, firmly. Being able to strike precisely.

He was just shaking. which is Why thrall pressed his chest against his sword, to help him get it steady again.

Imagine what he went through. He was seeing everyone, and trying to not hit someone with his sword, and yet, even putting all of his strength to MISS the target, he hit that target.

I can try to explain so maybe you put yourself on his shoes to maybe have a little grasp to what he went through and why he has been absent all this time. It is what Thrall told him. He expected time to heal him over time, but time doesn’t heal things by itself.

Anduin needs to get back to the world and the world needs Anduin, just as much the world needs Thrall and Jaina right now.

The War Within is also about the war within Anduin himself, for him to accept that he was used as a tool by the Jailer and he shouldn’t blame himself for those acts, to never forget it, but also to move on and accept that he is in control of his own life once again and that he can trust himself and he can trust others as well.

7 Likes
14

I doubt Anduin is going the evil route. My guess is he is his journey is going to be about finding his balance, maybe he ends up being the prophetized “Child of Light and Shadow” if Arator doesn’t end up being. He has on multiple occasions before wielded the void, if only briefly.

It’s one of those things, “evil doesn’t care about being good” and if there is something in the whole world that Anduin cares about, is being good.

Besides, if Anduin does fall, something tells me Turalyon isn’t just leaving the throne to a void abomination with unclear intentions, neither is the Stormwind nobility who supports Turalyon.

But anyways, I got to a point that I am done with faction conflict, so if Anduin does go evil, just turn him into a raid boss, I am so tired of the infinite cycle of “fight big bad, fight each other, big bad show up, team up, repeat.”

3 Likes
15

If she returns id say she got redemption but with her gone now i think its more of a penance.

Shes not back in the horde shes in the maw helping souls out. Shes literally in wows version of hell hows that redemption.

4 Likes
16

Anduin at this point is the Callum of World of Warcraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI_ojItk2Lc

Sure he will get teased as being “dark” and even constantly compared to another blond prince but he will not likely fall.

17

The thing about wars though is that they can be lost.

I like the things you mentioned though too, grounding himself by getting back to the world again could potentially set him in the proper place. Alternatively though it could remind him of all the issues he has to face as a king, the pressure, the problems he has to not only sort out but try to fix when he still hasn’t yet entirely fixed himself yet.

She’s atoning for a fault of mistake, one of the definitive terms for the processes of redemption. That’s how it’s redemption.

1 Like
18

Evil Alliance isn’t happening.

Siege of Stormwind isn’t happening.

Raid taking place in a bunker under Stormwind isn’t happening.

It’s been 11 years. Let it go.

4 Likes
19

What do you mean let it go? I would expect this directed to a Horde player, who have been chiming for the Alliance to be seen as bad for a change. I’ve not once made any asking either for Alliance to be considered bad before this post.

I’d actually be excited for it actually.

20

It’s directed both at Horde players and at Alliance players who for some reason picked the faction to be the bad guys when the side with zombies and orcs is right there.

4 Likes