I don’t know how people feel about Illidan here but after Legion he seems like a fairly selfless guy, who in the end proved he was doing everything for the greater good.
Yet Tyrande and Malfurion still couldn’t accept him after all that. I know they are supposed to be good guys, but some of their actions are just monstrous in hindsight. If Malfurion really was mainly motivated to imprison his brother because he wanted Tyrande to himself, then him being a monster is basically sealed in my eyes.
I think they still couldn’t accept him was because Illidan often claimed he was working for the greater good, but his actions often said or suggested otherwise. You can’t really trust someone who says one thing and his actions suggest the complete opposite.
Might have also had something to do with illidan killing his own people to gain more power.
That also.
This is indeed evidence that Malfurion was/is a monster, but not for the reasons you think. The real problem is that Malf let this pissant live.
Is this DH RP? I have not gone over to the Worlds End Tavern in some time.
I have seen non-DH Night Elves, Human Paladins, and Orc Warriors RP in the Story Forums. But full out “Illidan is misunderstood and Malfurion is the ebul one!” DH RP ravings…
His ego and pride still caused significant problems all the same.
There’s nothing I see supporting that was the case. We’re consistently told it was related to Illidan’s actions. Not to mention Tyrande chose Malfurion anyway.
Ah okay, people are randomly back to liking Malfurion after BfA I guess.
Everyone besides one person gave pretty direct responses to your theory,it has nothing to do with liking or disliking him.
If the OP is really interested, I would suggest playing WC 3 and reading the War of the Ancients trilogy.
Malfurion spares Illidan - twice.
Once, after the War of the Ancients. Most of the Night Elves were clamoring for his head. ( On top of killing other Night Elves, I think he tried making a new well to use as a power source). Malfurion used alot of his newly earned political capital to secure his brothers life. To have him imprisoned instead of simply executed.
Then in WC 3, Malfurion spares Illidan again. For his involvement in aiding Tyrande.
Illidan intends to go to Outland. Malfurion tells Illidan he can leave Azeroth with his life, but to stay away. Maiev gets mad and goes after Illidan.
Thats two times Malfurion had Illidan dead to rites if he simply kept his mouth shut.
Malfurion seems pretty secure in allowing his brother to romp around the world, knowing he will fix his brother’s messes and probably have say over whether Illidan is executed - again.
I wouldn’t say he was selfless. If anything he was arrogant. He wanted to stop the legion but his methods caused so much upheaval and he thought he knew better than anyone else. Let’s not forget he was also power hungry.
He’d done so much by this point. In Outland he was framed by the legion as a tyrant but his prior actions and history of endangering those he wanted to save made it easy to believe.
Like what? Maybe 10k years was harsh but I doubt Illidan was ever going to relinquish his powers and follow the law. He would have kept on doing what he wanted without letting anyone know maybe had he told people what he knew about the legion he could have had some help
Both Malfurion and Illidan knew that Tyrande’s choice had been made well before he was imprisoned. In fact they knew that before Illidan went to Azshara. He also killed 2 Night Elves at mount Hyjal becuase they tried to stop him from creating the well. Imagine surviving the Wota and getting to safety only to be killed shortly after by one of your own. The elved eye calling for his head, Malfurion spared him.
Let’s not act like Illidan was the selfless hero becuase he wasn’t. He made a lot of mistakes and questionable choices in his effort to not only stop the legion but for power. He was a hero but he made it so hard to see that.
Illidan was imprisoned because he created a new Well of Eternity without consulting anyone just after the last one had been used for a Legion invasion and when the NE leaders discovered it and confronted him over it he lashed out and killed on of them.
Illidan as an arrogant and prideful jackass who on several occasions had plans that ended up backfiring or almost ending in catastrophe because his ego refused for him to accept criticism. Hell, his original attempt to seal the Well of Eternity using the Demon Soul almost gave the Old Gods a way out of their prison.
People got uppity about Malfurion’s ‘Hush Tyrande’ comment but Illidan actually paralyzed her with magic and sealed her voice when she criticized what he was doing.
Illidan was driven by a desire to be a hero and protect Azeroth but he was a arrogant, prideful and frankly cruel jackass in going about it who was the source of many of his own obstacles.
I forgot about that one.
It’s still messed up how they locked him up for eternity though. No matter his crimes, that level of retribution was monstrous.
Would it have been a mercy to kill him instead at that point? Ask yourself if Illidan would have gone to The Maw or Revendreth, then. if the latter, then surely his punishment was too severe.
I never stopped… lawful good heroes are very easy to like.
-Jealousy
-Tyrande chooses Malf instead of Illidong
-Malfurion gets to bang Illidumb’s crush on the reg
Why would Chadfurion be jealous of the Azeroth’s oldest virgin?
Not to mention, despite his intentions, he was a tyrant. Just with better goals than what he was framed as.
I think the sentence was eternity. But yeah locking someone up with no attempt to rehabilitate for that long seems messed up.
Here’s the caveat though–Illidan’s treatment was all done within the context of WC3. There was no Maw or Shadowlands, there was no super secret plan to create Illidari and save the universe, none of that. It was just Illidan and his thirst for power, magic, and his tendency to switch teams as often as your typical High Elf.
So I suppose what I’m saying is that when you look at older lore, you have to look at it within the right context. Illidan is Malf’s brother, close friend to Tyrande, and eventually helped to win the War of the Ancients. Killing him was something they just couldn’t do.
The Scarlet Crusade thought what they were doing was for a greater good, but burning people at the stake because they thought they were scourge doesn’t sound like something “for the greater good: would cover.” Just like all the selfish grabs for power Illidan has done. Blizzard can try, and retcon it all they like, but it won’t excuse them.
Didn’t know sacrificing people, make pacts with demons, and trying to recreate the well of eternity gave them reason to doubt him.
I would say Malfurion was acting with a good head. He could have had Illidan and all the Highborne executed on the spot, and had good reason for it. They did bring fourth planet enslaving demons that want either want to wipe out all live, or corrupt it into server. So he did show mercy and just banish them.
As far as the whole “He wanted Tyrande for himself”, he won that race a long time ago.
The only time Illidan’s plans ended up working out without causing major catastrophe was when he wasn’t put in charge of the operation. Trying to create a new Well of Eternity, dictatorship over Outland, all of his solo plans ended in failure and destruction for him and others. The biggest decision he made on his own during the third invasion was using the Sargerite Keystone to open the massive portal to Argus, and that worked out because Velen and the Draenei had just finished construction of the Vindicaar.
Illidan was not imprisoned out of what he was. Illidan was imprisoned because he couldn’t hide behind “the greater good” when his actions were volatile, harmful, and impulsive. Yes, Illidan did have the greater good for Azeroth in mind, but his views of achieving it were skewed, and oftentimes ended up making him as monstrous as the Legion he faced - which I’m sure was much the point of the characterization.
I don’t think people ever stopped? Some of the largest criticisms I’ve seen levied against Malfurion were his neutrality or the “WHERE ARE YOU TYRANDE!?” stuff in Val’sharah (which wasn’t even him, that was Xavius imitating Malfurion). Insinuating that people’s criticism of Illidan is rooted in a randomized preference of Malfurion is disingenuous when numerous people have given you completely legitimate reasons for his imprisonment.