I am concerned with how Blizzard addresses redemption from attempted (or completed) genocide

Lore Story Forum
427

It’s literally after:

    The majority of night elf society continued honoring the old ways of revering the wilds. The fact that these folk still lived in harmony with the land warmed Cenarius’s heart, but he knew that they had no influence over Azshara and her arrogant followers.

    As time passed, the night elves began eschewing diplomacy and largely ignored Azeroth’s other cultures. Azshara’s dogmatic beliefs regarding racial purity seeped into the night elves’ psyche, creating an atmosphere rife with xenophobia.

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428

I’ve already got you in check mate, but I’m doing double time just so I can give everyone page numbers.

Imgur incoming.

429

If you were really doing double time you’d type it out yourself.

430

Well I was going to post a youtube video of nodding guy, but apparently I can’t youtube post anymore.

Which is strange as heck.

432

https://imgur.com/a/aFzfnXU

In the first map we can see the grand expanse of four troll empires. We can also see what land the Dark Trolls migrated to.

PAGE 94
In the first image, we see how Cenarius guided the night elves as a people. How they embraced nature and are basically the perfect hippies for “many centuries.” No wars.

In time night elves discovered that the Elune-Blessed Titan Blood that digivolved them from trolls into night elves could give them super magic. And so, the Highborn evolve and with them cometh Queen Azshara, Lord of Dabbing.

PAGE 95
Queen Azshara held the most coveted traits of her people. The lowborne adored her, even if they hated the highborne. It is in this time that the nelven empire begins expanding its borders via PAX NELFANA and taking lands as their own. This happens before Troll combat is ever mentioned.
During this moment, Cenarius watched with growing unease as her empire expanded. Lowborne still loved nature, but they agreed with Azshara: She believed her race superior to all others. Her people, including the lowborne, were rife with xenophobia.

Map 2 Before we even read about troll combat, we’re shown Azshara’s designs on the world: It is her world, and trolls are, at best, guests upon it. They were intent on taking land, and were taking land, and the trolls reacted to invasion into their homelands.

PAGE 96
The first mention of “troll aggression” comes after PAX NELFANA initiates. Azshara didn’t care. She charges the Zandalari with policing all other trolls to stop them from invading “nelven territory” (see: MAPS 1 & 2). The Zandalari agree purely because they know they cannot survive PAX NELFANA if they decline: they will be killed.

With the Zandalari enslaved to police the other trolls and keep them in line, Azshara continued expanding her empire.

433

There is no question that Azshara expanded the empire. She was likely not the first leader of the Night Elves to do so.

As far as your fixation on all Night Elves loving her, she literally had them brainwashed:

    One of the first things Azshara did with Sharas’dal was use its power to enhance her legendary beauty. As the years wore on, the queen seemed to grow younger and more mesmerizing. A brilliant aura enveloped Azshara, enthralling those who looked upon her. The Highborne marveled at this strange phenomenon. A few even took it as a sign of divinity.

And she got that scepter on the very day of becoming queen:

    An excerpt from The Coronation of Queen Azshara :

    “For days the coronation ceremony went on. Each night, the Highborne nobility lavished precious gifts on Azshara to curry her favor, but there was one she cherished more than all the others. A night elf named [Lord Xavius] presented the queen with a jeweled scepter, etched with delicate magical sigils. He promised Azshara that so long as she kept it close, it would bring her prosperity and great power.”

434

You’re making things up there, Amadis.

I mean, true or not, orcs were brainwashed too.
They don’t get a pat on the shoulder.

inb4 orcs weren’t brainwashed:
https://youtu.be/Hl3rQ4fH4IA?t=6283
https://youtu.be/Hl3rQ4fH4IA?t=8107

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435

Thus, golden eyes were commonly regarded as a sign of future greatness. Indeed, she was widely considered the most beautiful of night elves and swiftly became the most beloved monarch in night elf history.

This implies there were other monarchs then here, you can’t be the “most beloved” monarch by default.

436

I am not Sean Copeland, nor did I write the Darkshore Warfront introductory quests.

437

I should’ve quoted the entire thing. That’s my bad, Zerde.

438

Sounds like you can’t accept possibility of nelves being in the wrong. Even if the source is quite telling.

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439

You pat the Orcs on the shoulder plenty for everyone:

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440

That’s not wrong? She said orcs had direct knowledge of what they were getting into. They were deceived the entire way, thinking the Draenei were betraying them and torturing their dead kins’ souls and Kiljaeden used magic to do it.

That’s not forgiveness for genocide, it’s just pointing out that the manari fan lied.

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441

Night Elves can be in the wrong same as everyone else. Tyrande should not have attacked the Orcs for stealing lumber in Warcraft III without even having tried talking to them first.

442

Some Orcs certainly don’t think so, no:

    Kolgar Flameguard says: Dying here wasn’t peace for him. He knew what he was doing. Always knew how to hurt himself worse than anyone else could.
    Kolgar Flameguard says: I started to wonder if I should have felt the same. The Blackrock clan added our share of bones to the Path of Glory. What was the difference?

443

Guilt doesn’t mean they could comprehend what was happening, the orcs were a stone age people convinced by a man who was so good at deception it became his epithet. The truth is they couldn’t have known what they were signing up for, and its likely the only reason there are orcs and not another dead planet left in the legions wake

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444

In this specific case, it is the zandalari who did it because they didn’t want resistance when they claimed the specific fertile pieces of land that were promised to them by the lands previous rulers the mogu. But they saw it as their land given to them, the handover had just not happened yet.
Not a nice thing to do by any means, but keep in mind that at this point in time had they lost a lot of land already to the night elves.

We don’t have any sources where the ancient trolls attacked first for simple expansion.
The yanguol heading south is simply said to be because the yanguol didn’t wish to share hunting grounds, nothing of warfare.

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445

Yes this is the lawful technicality that was used there. If Mogu gave those Lands to Zandas, and then Mogu were overthrown, should said decision be still legal. This is the neuance lots of people miss.

I think Mogu/ Zandalari Alliance is quite amusing example, becuase it shows that despite two sides distrusting/hating each other were still capable of forming alliance. It wasn’t formed out of any warm feelings or anything, but because if they clashed they’d devastate each other.

So it’s not like trolls are always super agressive and strike for no reason, becuase they could. They can deffinietly be agreeable.
But from my understanding it looks like nelves were expanding and claiming territories, and since trolls showed resistance nelves were even more into dismantling them as the only force that actually was against them. Alas, WoE was really a game changer.

446

I was talking about the whole ordeal with Azshara. Because your response gave me completely different impression.

447

Too long! Garithos was right!