He is genuinely a very compelling character and his relationship with Zul’jarra is probably the best you guys have ever written siblings dynamics.
His perspective differs from that of his sister. So what ? That’s good, not bad. There’s enough room in this setting to allow for multiple ways to look at reality and analyze a situation, is there not ? That’s also the job of a right-hand man, after all : provide a different outlook on things. He’s also described as “good with words”, which is valuable. His methods so far have been questionable, sure, but you can have him grow as a person and as a leader while preserving the uniqueness of his approach. Especially since he… does have a point, if we’re being honest. Being too dependent on the Loa could prove problematic, and if we look at the Zandalari for instance, the Loa are intertwined with their caste system, which isn’t exactly a model.
Most importantly. We need new evergreen characters. Zul’jan is awesome, he wears Zul’jin’s scarf, everyone who’s been playing the beta loves him. We’ll need him in the future. You’ll need him for future stories. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by taking the time to build up a genuinely interesting and compelling character only for them to not make it out of the expansion. Remember Zelling, Blizz ? I remember Zelling. Don’t do us another Zelling. Pretty please.
DON’T KILL ZUL’JAN. Don’t kill him off, don’t villainbat him, don’t have him die a redemptive death either. You’ve done a great work with Zul’Aman. Don’t waste these efforts for no reason.
Yeah, I will never forgive them for Zelling. Not only was his story interesting, but the nature of his creation was a fascinating exploration of “what could be” for the Forsaken to continue their population in a more symbiotic way. Offering undeath as an alternative to death, to those who wish for just a little more time. Continuing that option was the one thing I thought might come from Maldraxxus; given its the origin of the Curse of Undeath. But, naw, somehow Blizz didnt think of putting the Primus and the Forsaken in the same room…
But, yes, totally agreed. Healthy, Robust Sibling dynamics, with competing views, is absolutely underutilized in this setting. There is no reason to kill Zul’jan. He and his sister can only benefit from eachother.
I don’t think they are going to just because of how the siblings seem to be reconciling on the beta, still could happen tho they have killed of characters for less.
If Zul’jarra is left deflated or lacking in willpower at some critical point, we can kiss her brother goodbye, because he’s immediately going to flatline in order to give her the anger and determination she was lacking a mere moment before to rise to the challenge.
That’s what secondary Horde characters are good for after all. Motivating others through their demise.
I think there’s a pretty clear path for him to survive. He’s obviously pointed in a very dangerous direction right now - directly at the snake island, with all of its ancient hidden power that will definitely benefit the Amani if unleashed and totally not backfire on them - but I think we spend too much time with him for him to be disposed of like that.
I think he’ll make a big mistake on the island and then commit to fixing it, putting him back on our side.
Why would someone who is openly disdainful of the Loa - of the very idea of relying on higher beings instead of on their own strength - read as the “agent” of a Loa/God/whatever?
Depends on what Ula’tek actually is. If he is being sold on some scheme of the trolls rising up without the loa by Ula’tek, it doesn’t really matter. All he has to do is buy into it.
Remembering Talangi. The T- rex light loa priest we were with the first half of BFA. Everyone around her was killed off and she turned into a stereotype and dropped into the character bin.
Zul’Jan will need to somehow do olympic level moves to dodge the story’s urge to turn him into a baddy.
It felt like the Forsaken FINALLY once again had a whole new angle, arc and potential for the rising!
And then … They wasted it for such a trivial scene too.
Like jeeze, he had so much potential for the Forsaken and the Horde.
as for Zul’Jan
Honestly, having nuanced characters is a good thing.
Along with those who have nuanced or questionable opinions & views.
It helps ground both the characters — and the story.
Plus even if their ideas or themselves are ‘bad’ or frowned upon — That gives room for actually interesting character-development.
Imagine Zul’jan swallowing his pride, change his view in the spar of the moment and becoming a vessel for a loa’s spirit to save the day? That’d be sick!!
My current conspiracy theory is, given they usually do instances before they do open world content, in the Maisara Caverns dungeon the penultimate NPC before the final boss is “Zil’jan” with nearly the same armor as Zul’jan AND the Vilebranch questlines awkwardly have a lack of depth, and mysteriously “Zul’jan’s followers” are never really shown during the MSQ, and there are large gaps where he literally disappears from context.
In the original iteration they were likely planning on villain batting Zul’jan from the get-go and have him die in the dungeon
Non-zero chance that same way that happened with Bwonsamdi, the community reaction to Zul’jan from the announcement led to some quick pivots
the only reason i can even think off to kill zelling was to give forsaken fans a reason to turn against sylvie, but it didn’t really work. cause we had only known him for a year and all his hype was in potential.
Remembering Talangi. The T- rex light loa priest we were with the first half of BFA. Everyone around her was killed off and she turned into a stereotype and dropped into the character bin.
for such a trivial scene too.
