No, we were not. I really don’t know where you concocted this fantasy, but it doesn’t match up with the reality. No attempt is made prior to 9.2 to show Sylvanas in a sympathetic light. The only attempt made to show Sylvanas in any light that could be considered sympathetic is when Uther is telling us about her soul and showing that the part of her soul that was spit is now being tormented, and that torment prevents her from waking.
But very quickly we’re shown that not only do the other leaders not care about that, but even Sylvanas knows that she is beyond sympathy, beyond forgiveness, and she’s spot on the money. Her crimes cannot be forgiven, she knows this.
Both are armed combatants as far as the rules of war are concerned. End of story. A militia member who picks up a weapon is treated no different than a professionally trained soldier.
Again, fighting a war is not a crime. Up until the burning of Teldrassil, that’s all the War of Thorns was. A war. Remember that as far as Saurfang knew the goal was to occupy Teldrassil and hold the people there hostage, ensuring that the Alliance would listen to the Horde’s demands. Sylvanas however had no plans to capture the Night Elven people. She was planning on burning the tree from the start, but she kept Saurfang in the dark.
Sorry, but he directly disobeyed orders from Anduin. He was given permission to engage ‘only’ if the situation called for it. But if you pay attention to what Genn is saying and the meaning behind those words, he makes it clear that he’s going to engage Sylvanas directly regardless.
So he disobeyed orders, willfully. Attacked the Warchief of the Horde completely unprovoked, lost one of the Alliance’s few remaining airships and killed the majority of the crew. If Genn didn’t have plot armor, that would have resulted in a military tribunal followed by imprisonment or execution.
Nope, because again Saurfang did not plan for what happened, at all. He did not plan for it, he did not authorize it, he objected strongly towards it being carried out. It’s that simple.
And all he did was wage a war. Waging a war is not a war crime.
Nope, that never happens. You’re misremembering events.
When Astranaar is attacked initially it’s Lorash Sunbeam, under orders from Sylvanas to clear the town, and you can choose if you want to, to kill the civilians in the town. But importantly killing the civilians earns you no credit towards your objective, heavily implying that the Horde gain nothing from their deaths. In the official novel it’s Lorash that commits these acts alone.
After the attack, Malfurion and the Night Elves engage Saurfang’s forces elsewhere and after being defeated retreat back to the city and set a trap for Saurfang. They arrange the corpses of fallen soldiers to make it look like the entire town has been wiped out by the Rogues, which is what Saurfang then praises, because there are no ‘night elves left alive’ when he got there (he could only see the corpses of soldiers, propped up by Malfurion and his army). Only it was, as stated, a trap and the trap was sprung, almost killing Saurfang. It was only due to Sylvanas intervening in the battle that Saurfang was not killed by Malfurion.
Nope, because he was outranked by the Warchief, who was literally right there.
And had he challenged mak’gora, he would have been executed, right there on the spot. Nathanos would have seen to his death personally. Mak’gora does not have to be accepted. It can mean dishonor, and so an Orc, who values honor highly, would accept, but Sylvanas, who doesn’t give a toss about honor, wouldn’t have to. The only reason she accepts Saurfang’s challenge outside Orgrimmar is because, as Saurfang states: “She wants to see him suffer.”. She doesn’t give a single piss about Orcish honor and customs.
I never said flee. I said he ‘abandoned the Horde’ which he did. He tried to go out in a blaze of glory, but was captured and then made it clear in his jail cell that the Horde Sylvanas was leading was not the Horde he knew or accepted.
Honestly all you’ve done is proven one of the key points that I made way back at the start of this thread. That you only see what you want to see, twisting what is presented until it fits the narrative you’ve formed inside your own head. Which is ‘Alliance good, Horde bad, Saurfang is a war criminal and Genn did nothing wrong’.
Which is so far off the mark it would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad.
The reality is far more nuanced.
