You know… I’ve been thinking about this and … based on how powerful many of the current cast of characters are I could actually see a large number of the current cast of characters set to go to the Maw after they die… not for being evil or anything… simply that they would be ‘too strong’ for the Shadowlands. Jaina, Tyrande, Malfurion, the player characters… all strong enough that they could pose a threat to the Shadowlands and be sent to the Maw instead.
Would be an interesting twist if we learned that the maw is our intended destination for our characters as well.
I agree they need to put the faction war aside but they need to resolve certain parts of it so that we can stop being angry. They need to successfully resolve the night elves worgen and Undead situation, The writers have to stop shying away from this mess they made of the story.
If they don’t that it will poison any future stories going forwards as it will always be brought up and overshadow anything new.
I agree they need to get writers on board who aren’t afraid to clean up the mess of the story the old writers have made. They also need a focus on writing a cohesive story and stop retconning everything that came before it. They need to focus of fixing the story and not trying force their Politics or moral standards into the story where it doesn’t fit.
The excerpt from the new Novel doesn’t fill me with confidence that she isn’t just copying Goldens previous work.
Meh, i would give her the benefit of doubt, seeing as i havent read anything from her yet, however with that being said:
1-im not a troll fan, it seems interesting that theyre expanding on zekhan and talanji but thats it, not enough to buy this book imo.
2-genn sounds like a caricature from what ive read and i dgaf about what anduin is doing, im more interested in what the night elves will do.
3-the overal story is not that interesting, so sylvanas wants to kill bwonsamdi, bwonsamdi wont die, nathanos wont die, IF he dies the jailer will probably let him out and we will meet him in shadowlands, they will probably kill sira, which personally i dont like the way she has been portrayed lately, for me its a clear reminder of everything that is wrong with bfa.
This is probably the biggest problem with the whole “Worgen vs. Forsaken” storyline.
Back in Cataclysm, Genn Greymane was a genuinely sympathetic character. The guy made some colossal mistakes on behalf of his kingdom, which resulted in:
A massive civil war engulfing his kingdom
His kingdom then being invaded/infected by werewolves
His then-infected and under-attack kingdom being totally unprepared for a Horde/Forsaken invasion (they didn’t even have any real Alliance backing until the time of the Forsaken Silverpine Forest questline, with the arrival of the 7th Legion)
His own son dying during the failed counterattack vs. said invasion
In summary, Genn Greymane was very much a man haunted by his past mistakes and forced to bear the weight of responsibility for them. It could definitely be argued that Gilneas would never have fallen–heck, maybe even Lordaeron would never have fallen–if he hadn’t withdrawn and isolated his nation. It gave a lot of weight to making a new worgen character, especially with the novel Wolfheart.
All of that was in 2010 (the novel was released in 2011), a whopping ten years ago.
Fast-forward to 2020, and:
Gilneas still has yet to be reclaimed
We’ve been forced to watch Genn and Sylvanas engage in a never-ending game of “tag, you’re it!” with no real resolution (probably because Blizzard realizes they can’t kill off either Genn or Sylvanas without massive player outrage)
And a once-likeable and sympathetic character now has more in common with the cantankerous old man on the porch who yells at the local kids to get off his lawn:
"Hey, you Forsaken hooligans! One day I’ll getcha! One day!"
Along with everything else in Battle for Azeroth that’s Sylvanas-related, it’s kind of a literary cesspit that Blizzard dug for themselves, with no easy way out.
And we have Anduin to thank for that. Though somehow, it makes Greymane even less interesting than before.
Ironic as it is, the more fixated he becomes on Sylvanas alone, the less and less personal identity he has.
They probably won’t be killing Tyrande off anytime soon, due to the Burning of Teldrassil, but with how long they’ve left the fallout of Gilneas hanging, I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw Greymane to the “vengeance is self-defeating” wolf pack.
Well, I am not so sure. I am inclined to agree with you, but I feel like that would be a bit dishonest for me to do so. I can’t read the minds of Blizzard’s writers. I have no way of knowing the lore assumptions made by the writers from the Classic Era of the game. We do know that Thrall was not much in control of the Horde… He failed to keep the Warsong (And the Horde Heroes of Azeroth) from skirmishing into Ashenvale… It is quite possible that Thrall was stuck between his new vision of the Horde, and the cultural norms of his people.
Did Thrall want to exonerate those War Criminals? Or is the act of renouncing them fully carry to much of a social backlash from those he needed to keep united?
I can -assume- that is not something the writers did not even consider, but an assumption is not an objective truth, and I would like to hear that from the writers themselves, or get an in-depth look at their creative process.
I am not so sure if that is as safe of a bet as you think.
I don’t know what makes that obvious… In fact, I do not think that is obvious at all. But I will say the case of Fascism is made in The Next Generation, as the original cast of the show didn’t give us enough detail to make a case for anything.
Thrall had quite a lot of leeway here, as many of those “war criminals” (I’m assuming you mean the generic orcs of the Horde) were under the influence of demonic blood at the time.
As a result, the notion of how much agency they had committing their crimes is certainly up for debate.
Except, in the RTS game alone, we know two things. The Orcs drank willingly, knowing what it would do. That is, at least, what Grom told Thrall.
We also know Ogrim had killed the Burning Legion Puppets and the Shadow Council just after the 1st War… Yet, then went on conquer all of Azeroth.
While the Demon Blood probably didn’t do them any favors when it comes to managing their Blood Fury, I do not think it is debatable that the orcs had complete agency over themselves.
My interpretation there was that Grom was speaking specifically of the clan chieftains–remember that Grom led the Warsong Clan. Because of the tribal nature of the orc clans, the majority of the orcs likely went along with whatever their leaders told them to do.
Not unlike the modern-day Alliance and Horde…
And again, that’s a reflection on Doomhammer, with most of the orcs following his orders. It’s worth mentioning that the orcs drank from Mannoroth’s blood all the way back on Draenor; it’s not like they required a steady diet of demon blood. They drank once, and the Fel magic lingered in their bloodstreams for years afterward. It was that potent.
He had the agency to commit a violent uprising that involved slaughtering his superior for the purpose of taking control over for him.
That doesn’t exactly testify to him having enough free will to stop the violence he was committing. It’s literally the case of one warlord deposing another.
That’s not entirely honest… Ogrim had the agency to see what the Demon Blood was doing to himself and his people, and had the clarity of mind enough to rid the Horde of it’s demon masters.
Considering they come from a culture defined by violence, and he overthrew Blackhand by that tradition that predates the Demon Blood, it’s not even evident that he acted any more violent that he would have normally.
Demon Blood didn’t do anything to infringe on orc agency… It just pumped up their muscles and emboldened their Blood Fury.
