Delaryn Summermoon, the Night Elf from the warbringers cinematic, the one that was killed and in her last moments, forced to watch the genocide of her people.
The one who also had to suffer in the maw and was later risen by Sylvanas / Nathanos and made to fight her own people.
Does this remind us of anyone else? Oh yea, Sylvanas and Arthas basically had the same relationship, but Sylvanas wasn’t forgotten about in wotlk. She didn’t get the kill on Arthas, but she still had her justice by seeing him suffer in the maw.
Delaryn however was completely forgotten about. There was a theory that she joined Sylvanas willingly but that would be the same as Sylvanas joining Arthas willingly right after he commited genocide against her people, so no it doesn’t make any sense. And Sira herself (the other night elf that was risen together with Delaryn) stated that she did not choose to come back.
In short? Where is Delaryn and why is she being forgotten about? Why does she not want to see her Arthas (Sylvanas) brought to justice? It’s really frustrating to have a character that suffered the same trauma Sylvanas once had but then have the narrative not include her at all.
My understanding is that the Night Elves who fell at Darkshore and Teldrassil, and who were subsequently risen by the val’kyr, formed a tenuous alliance with the Forsaken – not Sylvanas. At the time at which they met, Lillian Voss, Calia Menethil, and Derek Proudmoore were speaking for the undead.
I agree that generally all of the undead storylines have been dropped right now, which is unexpected given that this is literally the Death expansion. Calia is sitting in Oribos, not doing too much, but presumably more is to come.
She, and the other undead night elves, joined up with the Forsaken. As far as I’m concerned that can be the end of her story. She and her pals can go to Med’an’s planet and never be spoken of again. Night elves have enough story developments that need to be covered without adding on “undead existential angst”.
That would be new to me, as Sira is in the Stormwind stockades and Calia wanted to speak to Tyrande about the others including Delaryn during the pre patch.
Tyrande and Maeiv should nip this in the bud and have the lot of them killed lest ten years from now we start hearing claims of Hyjal rightfully belonging to the Forsaken.
This isn’t really a theory, it’s just canon. Shadows Rising fixed the details of it, and reverted the Val’kyr back to how they used to be where the raising itself is not consensual, but they all still chose to join the Forsaken, as dumb as it might be.
It’s likely part of why Anduin is such a big deal now, because while the raising themselves in the past haven’t been a choice, the choice of what people want to do with their new life has always been something Sylvanas has given (aside from Derek who is a major plothole and kind of dumb anyways).
But like others said, ideally both Delaryn and the night elf dark rangers, as well as Derek, will go into a plot hole of just not existing because I don’t know much of anyone interested in seeing their stories shape out with either their old people nor the Forsaken.
I think that Delaryn and Sira should be a part of the story but not a large part. It should definitely be a Sylvanas confrontation orinated and figuring out where their future lies. I want Delaryn to see Ferryn in Ardenweald since he is asking about her.
Anduin is doing the retread of Slyvanas’s story with Slyvanas now playing the role of Arthas. She stabs him with a mourneblade and makes him her master’s puppet. So I doubt they’re going to have another character try to play a similar role.
Dark Rangers have never done much for me. None of them have much in the way of personalities, which is a problem since they all dress the same too. I can’t tell them apart and I’m the sort of weirdo who knows the names of abominations so that’s saying something. So I wouldn’t hold out hope for the Unnelves doing much.
Thats not to say I don’t think they couldn’t work, though. Personally I’d make them sort of the guardians of spooky nature. Big spiders, zombie bears, skeleton birds and giant bats need love and affection too. Between Lordaeron and the Ghostlands they have no shortage of eerie forests to wander around.
Delaryn was last seen leaving with Calia and Derek, where per an interview with Windows Central, it was mentioned that the two had vowed to help them find a future rooted in something beyond hatred and malice.
Now as Calia and Derek have since joined the Horde, it is reasonable to assume that Delaryn and the undead night elves who were with her returned since the Shadows Rising implies that the Horde still has undead night elves within it.
Furthermore Blizzard didn’t forgot about her, as Night Fae players get a quest from Ysera to rescue night elf souls from the Maw and among them is her lover Ferryn, who directly about Delaryn.
However the thing is to question is if/when Delaryn’s story will continue. After all Blizzard has entered characters in the story that have remained where they are like Gorgonna and others who move forward in the story like Nazgrim.
I honestly think that if 9.1 has a faction divide in some manner, that Shandris and Delaryn can mirror each other for quests like how Shandris and Thalyssra mirrored each other for quests in the Drowned Market in Nazjatar.
There is also the possibility that Delaryn could be one of NPCs to be present for the fight against Slyvanas, the Jailer, and the Mawsworn but not be seen engaging them in combat like Trag Highmountain in the Argent Tournament.
To quote directly from wowpedia here: After being raised as a Forsaken in-game, Sira tells Horde players that the newly resurrected night elves have their own reasons for accepting the Val’kyr’s gift. However, when confronted by Tyrande in ‘‘Shadows Rising’’, Sira claims that she did not choose to return.
When asked if this was a deliberate retcon, Madeleine Roux stated “’‘I’d like to rebuttal with ‘Not every character tells the truth all the time’. We’re not in Sira’s head in that moment. We don’t know what she’s thinking or why she’s saying what she’s saying. She ‘‘is’’ in a prison with a woman who is probably coming to execute her. […] People react differently in different situations. The Sira you see alone in a jail cell surrounded by enemies is not the Sira you see swaggering around in the jungle giving guff to Nathanos, right? Like, circumstances matter and context matters, so to me, in that moment […] it’s like every circumstance has to come together in that moment for [Tyrande] to not [kill Sira]. […] So that’s what I would say: people lie a lot and especially when self-preservation is potentially on the line. So yeah, and I think hopefully it’s obvious that Sira does not act the same way in that scene as she would if she was with her allies. She’s responding to context, is what I would say in that scenario.’’”*
I repeat what I said on another thread: undead Delaryn was a completely terrible idea that makes nobody at all happy. They should never have done it in the first place, but now that they have, they should quietly shuffle her offstage and never speak of her again. There is no way to turn that character into anything positive.
If I was a big fan of the Night Elves (which I’m not), I think I would see Delaryn as pretty heroic… fighting on even with her body full of arrows, until Sylvanas finally puts her down. Delaryn had no hate for Sylvanas. She felt sad and bad for what she perceived Sylvanas had become.
But after Sylvanas burned the her home, Delaryn was very confused as she was dying. After her short stay at the Maw Hotel and Resort, she was reborn as a Dark Ranger. In her very own words “hope is not enough”. Ii believe that Delaryn eventually came to understand what Sylvanas wanted her to see.
Her friend Sira Moonwarden was also brought back, but into rage. I don’t think she understood why Elune did not save her, or why Sylvanas brought her back- and as a result went on a rampage against the world. Sira said she did not choose to come back, yet, she had already said she did at darkshore. What is meant by this, I believe, is that the choice was forced on her- she would have chosen a better fate if it was an option.
When Sylvanas saw Arthas suffering in the maw, it was not to her delight. There was no sense of justice being achieved. They were there together, condemned in the same darkness- a darkness that made everything that Arthas ever did, look insignificant. Even the slaughter of the High Elves- which not only did Arthas do; but Sylvanas had to watch herself massacre them as well as a puppet of the Lich King.
Delaryn isn’t like pre-wrath Sylvanas because she was already condemned to the Maw. Her experience there changed her priorities, like post-Edge of Night Sylvanas. Delaryn fought for Sylvanas, because her hope in Elune failed. Instead, it was Sylvanas that got her out of the Maw.
While there are surface level similarities between Sylvanas and Arthas, and Delaryn and Sylvanas, their stories are not the same, and I would not expect them to end the same.
Personally in fiction I don’t believe there’s bad concepts, only bad execution. If someone managed to make something as inherently asinine and cynically corporate cash graby as the Lego Movie legitimately great then anything is possible.
And I think the unnelves could be interesting. They’re clearly having a rough go of it and I can see why. Being essentially cut off from the Nature / Life pantheon isn’t that big of a deal to a human. Ish you can continue having a passion for gardening or dog breeding if you want.
But to a Nelf who’s spent centuries to millenia very in tune with the fae forests of Northern Kalimdor? That loss is going to be extremely traumatic. And I think that could be worth exploring.
Idk about them being major characters in the plot. But when the Forsaken either get a new zone or have an old one revisited I’d be cool with a questline helping them adjust. Because luckily for them, the very dirt and trees of Lordaeron are haunted. The lands practically undead itself. So them finding a spooky nature equivalent to find passion and satisfaction in unlife could be a fun storyline.
I don’t see this as a Lego Movie situation at all. “Undead Night Elves” is a general concept that might work, but a character with the specific history of Delaryn Summermoon is already beyond repair.
Delaryn makes Alliance fans unhappy because they hate how she was raised and joined the Horde. She makes Horde fans unhappy because she’s an in-game source of shame.
If she stays with the Horde, the Alliance fans will continue to be upset about that.
If she returns to the Alliance or becomes neutral, she’s still rubbing Horde guilt in the faces of Horde fans, becoming just Jaina Proudmoore lite.
The best thing they could do for the character is kill her again and send her soul to Ardenweald for a happy afterlife. (Even if she were to get resurrected somehow, see “Jaina Proudmoore lite.”)
I guess an alliance aligned deity should have save her soul from the realm of eternal torment then. I got 10 Macaroons on the Alliance having to forgive her.
I don’t think Delaryn is a source of Horde shame. She doesn’t really seem to hold anything against them.
I just find them annoying because they’re stealing the spotlight from the actual Forsaken. I don’t feel anymore shame for Teldrassil than I do for the Game of Thrones season finale.
It was a bad story written by silly writers trying to outsmart their audience by mistaking shocking for clever. But it’s part of the lore now. Might as well try to salvage what’s left.
I really dislike the idea death is a good ending for an undead. It’s at odds with their portrayal as you can see plenty of Forsaken begging for their lives in games. And as they frequently use undeath as a paper thin metaphor for things like depression or surviving trauma, it moves from merely bad writing to thematically insulting.
I really don’t have a passion for the Unnelves. I at length decried how annoying it was to have their sadness be the topic of the last Forsaken quest we’ve gotten in game. And I really wouldn’t care if they just wandered off from the story, never to return.
But I maintain you could do something interesting with them if they wanted.
I just think that’s a really lazy approach. The characters pretty much at rock bottom so until they bust out shovels, which I’m not putting past Blizz, the only way is up.
