Anduin Lore Problem

Community General Discussion
1

I rarely talk about lore stuff because it’s been extremely mid for the past 2 expacs (N’zoth stuff was the last time lore was cool).

However, you have the foundations for a potentially really cool story here in TWW. Some highlights

  • Azeroth potentially awakening (or whatever the world soul is)
  • Potential titan betrayal arc elaborated in DF
  • More old god shenanigans with mommy Xal’atoes
  • Nerubians are genuinely cool (could’ve honestly gone off the deep end and do some horror thing with them like something out of “The Mist” movie, although I guess a lot of players would have complained)
  • Etc

The problem I keep getting here is with Anduin.

Every single time he talks about how he can’t use the light, I swear my back cringes. I get that he did some bad things while he mind-controlled by the Jailer, and sure maybe he “liked” it, but that has to be the weakest excuse for him letting his entire life break apart. For the love of Christ he was literally MC’d, just like Sylvanas was with Arthas in WC3, except that she actually killed her own people (the High Elves at the Siege of Silvermoon when she got turned into a Banshee after the gate breach). Having Anduin kill people he didn’t even know (Shadowlands people) while MC’d isn’t his fault.

The way he talks about it is even worse: It sounds like some college student complaining about not being able to pay back his student loans as an excuse for why they can’t get a job.

For reminder: this is the same person who, as a child, walked up to Garrosh (aka Orc Hitler for those who don’t know) and his magic bell during MoP, struck it with a magic hammer that disabled the bell, then got every bone broken when Garrosh tried to kill.

These are not the same people and it’s messing up the immersion of the lore.

A good metaphor for how bad this is messing it up for me is the following: Imagine if during WotLK, you’re fighting the Lich King and Millhouse Manastorm teleports and starts yelling obscenities during the fight. Completely destroys this finely crafted atmosphere

Please either retcon Anduin’s MC arc during Shadowlands to make him have done some crazy crap that we somehow didn’t hear about (he didn’t even kill the Archon in Bastion! She survived his assault!!!) or create some kind of twist here, where maybe he’s remembering something he did in a past life or something.

I beg of you, this story is finally getting good please do not lose it to some murloc-tier cringe

Edit: Again, you can make Anduin be this Eeyore character, but just make his crime worthy of it. If this was Arthas? Sure, I could believe that; that dude violated the Geneva convention on a good day. But Andiun killing furries in Ardenweald while MC’d by the Jailer and liking it? Hell, I’d like it too.

10 Likes
2

That’s pretty in line with all RPG light users. You have to be good-aligned to use the light…

He did bad things and enjoyed it. Therefore, he is no longer good.

He has to find a way to change his alignment back and regain the light’s favor.

4 Likes
3

Listen, I hear you, but this just aint sticking here.

Life (and well written RPGs) aren’t just black or white.

They’re a mix of grays. Best example of this is Garrosh (and why he is so controversial)

Anduin needs to have messed something major in my mind to be down bad like this, and current story is just not sticking.

Like what, is he going to get depressed and not be able to use the light everytime he steps on a butterfly because that’s “ebil”? There has to be an appropriate scale of magnitude here

5 Likes
4

I had another suggestion from a common trope, why not have the memories of Arthas (the soul was within Anduin) attempt to dominate Anduin? :robot::thought_balloon:

2 Likes
5

Yeah, do something like this

And maybe Anduin is sad because he remembers what Arthas did as if he did it himself, because Arthas actually did something bad enough to lose the light (culling of stratholme, burning the ships in Northrend, etc.)

Idk just something that isn’t this cringe thing I’m witnessing here with current Anduin

6

Didn’t you see him wrecking havoc in Ardenweld?

2 Likes
7

He tried to assassinate a good “god” and then tried to kill all of us. Plus he likely did a lot of things off screen that we don’t know about.

That’s gotta rank pretty high on the evil scale.

2 Likes
8

He stole a rune while MC’d

Bro this wasn’t like Arthas where he killed an entire city genocide style prior to getting MC’d by Frostmourne.

Arthas deserves to have lost the light, not Anduin

9

Except that’s wrong.

Scarlet Crusade is not good-aligned and they use the light.

1 Like
10

Sure they are. It’s not evil if you do bad things in the name of the light. Same with Yrel.

Both are religious zealots.

11

Possible that can explain the hair style, he doesn’t want to resemble Arthas. :carpentry_saw::robot:

Funny if that’s the actual plan. :8ball::robot:

12

It’s not to my knowledge he did something bad and it won’t answer him. It’s he did things that make him feel unworthy. Just having your faith shaken can be enough to deny use of the Light in Warcraft.

4 Likes
13

Bro I bet you if you ask the broad community (include the vast majority who are mostly lore illiterate) to rank the “evilness” of Anduin when compared to Garrosh or Sylvanas (and include his MC period knowing he was MC’d), I bet you they (the lore nerds and illiterates) would both rank him nowhere close to those two.

14

Ardenweald, he killed many denizens there.

1 Like
15

Its not about good or evil.
Its about belief in yourself and your actions.
And thats what hes lacking.
Its his doubt thats stopping him.

9 Likes
16

Sir Zeliek in Naxx is legit controlled and does bad things but uses the light. He knows he does bad things and uses the light.

17

A lot of that has to do with timeframe, Garrosh and Sylvannas did a lot of bad stuff over a long period of time and we saw it all.

Anduin did waaaaaaaaaaay worse stuff on the cosmic scale but it was reduced to a few cutscenes and 1 raid.

Did he enjoy it?

1 Like
18

Idk yall, we can agree to disagree but I swear this Anduin plotline is not sticking.

I get the doubt thing, but like I mentioned in a previous example, say he killed a troll in BfA (which he did; it was a literal war), would he then feel “unworthy” because the expansion ends with the horde and alliance “pseudo-allying” together (bringing Saurfang into Org after he died fighting Sylvanas.

1 Like
19

I hope I am surprised later, but Anduin is straight up ruined in this expansion. He has been one of my favorite characters, but this charmin soft Eeyore act is killing me.

1 Like
20

YES THIS

PERFECT DESCRIPTION

HE’S F***ING EEYORE FROM WINNIE THE POOH

“Womp womp, I have to build my house again, woe is me”

1 Like