Ammo for a new Talk

[Ravellius-wyrmrest-accord]

@Incompleted-moon-guard

Scarlets have been so overused they’ve lost any sorta oomph they had because they’ve repeatedly been the bad guys we kick around over and over. Imagine how different and even interesting it would have been if instead, it was the Scarlets shoring up the support for helping retake Gilneas.

I actually posted about this in another thread just recently! I’ll repost what I said, because I strongly agree.

@Ravellius-wyrmrest-accord

Honestly, this part made me actually angry. We know NOTHING of why the Scarlets were there, what their motives were, etc. The Scarlet Crusade is a villainous faction and they should remain one, I’m not arguing for sympathetic Scarlets. But damn it, I’d like a BIT of nuance. If they’re the villains I’d at least like to know what their goals are, what they’d like to achieve in Gilneas, etc.

Those Scarlet Pamphlets found at the end of BFA could have been used to give them motives that made things WAY more interesting. (https://www.wowhead.com/news/manifestos-from-the-scarlet-brotherhood-tabloid-books-in-tirisfal-glades-312225 for reference, there’s four of them, they’re not long, they’re interesting and worth a read.) One of them, “The Cursed Old Wolf” argues that the Crusade needs to rally behind Greymane in order to achieve their objectives, even though they think he’s cursed and very much hope to betray him someday.

How much more interesting would this story have been if the Gilneans went in, armed and ready to retake their home, and the Scarlets simply… bowed. And welcomed home the King of Gilneas to his rightful human lands. Perhaps they could have painted a narrative of being desperate refugees, clinging for life in the wake of a resurgent Forsaken, begging for asylum in Gilneas. Genn might have been conflicted. Had he not failed the help the humans of Lordaeron once before? Why spill the blood of people who WANT him to return as King, people who only want asylum from a world that hates them. He might see himself as their redeemer, a hope for the future.

Perhaps the questline, then, could have revolved around figuring out what the Scarlets REALLY want, and why. In uncovering their plot, it could be discovered that the Scarlets are not so friendly to Gilneas as they seem. That one could have even involved the Forsaken, who would be interested in Gilneas’ willingness to deal with their own personal devil, so to speak.

Instead the Scarlets seem to have been ONLY present as a convenient punching bag for both factions. It was a frustrating waste of their potential as villains.