Solarion:
There’s some doubt to how much he was in his right mind at the time. In the cutscene where Xe’ra dies, Turalyon’s eyes fade from their golden hue, indicating that some kind of hold she had over him was broken.
The doubt exists in fan theories or wishful thinking. If Xe’ra had a hold over him, he wouldn’t have protested her initial decision. When Alleria was locked, he planned decided to talk Xe’ra her about it later (or maybe considered Xe’ra had a valid point that she’s allowed to make rules forbidding Void use on her own ship).
If you know anyone in the army, ask what they would do if their partner broke a law during wartime in front of their CO.
Solarion:
Context in this is important. Turalyon used the light to shackle the orc mother and human smuggler father Alleria was interrogating to prevent them from hurting themselves by lashing out in agony from having the void rip knowledge from their minds. Basically, they were a danger to themselves and those around them. Neither Turalyon nor Alleria took any joy from what they were doing, either.
Good point. Also, it was the pain of Alleria using the Void to pull the knowledge from their mind that hurt.
Solarion:
You’ll never hear me say that what happened to the orc mother/human smuggler father in that novel was good or remotely justifiable. That said, that’s what I like about the characterization of Alleria and Turalyon in those novels. They’re not perfect mary-sue type characters like Anduin, or full blown two-dimensional mustache twirling villains like Garrosh or Sylvanas.
Flaws in characters are good things, and we’ve seen how their history as soldiers, a history of constantly fighting losing battles, shaped them in a way to bring victory despite the odds. If a bronze dragon allowed for modern Turalyon and Alleria to meet their past selves from before the Second War, the past versions would no doubt be as horrified as Sylvanas, “Good,” soul fragment was at the actions of the Banshee Queen. The only difference is, I believe their past selves wouldn’t outright reject what they became as monsters, but acknowledge they had the capacity to become that.
My main issue with people trying to paint Turalyon as some zealot looking for an excuse to go crusading for the weekend, is that it’s just not how he is presented. Turalyon is very interested in peace, and does not want the Light to control him ever again, even if he still believes in it. He’s open minded, willing to change his stance when new information comes to light, and determined to make the world a better place.
Turalyon isn’t going to start a war with the Horde, but he’d sure as hell finish one.
While there’s some good points here, I have a problem with the premise. If the Light controlled him, he never would’ve disagreed with or challenged Xe’ra. If Xe’ra was so controlling, she wouldn’t have compromised (the number one thing fanatics don’t do) at Turalyon’s (and Lothraxion’s) pleas or allowed anyone to question or challenge her decisions.
Solarion:
You’re not wrong, but I think you’re ignoring one key component here: he’s free now. He knows it can happen, understands what it is like. Even while controlled/manipulated by Xe’ra, however, he still managed to plead for Alleria to be spared death.
Much with the Forsaken maintaining free will from the Lich King, or Alleria avoiding succumbing to the whispers, I imagine Turalyon and probably most of the Lightforged now have the experience to avoid falling under the control of the Light like that again. Mind you, that’s purely speculation, but it makes sense in the context of the way other cosmic powers have had this effect thwarted.
They were not controlled by the Light, especially not as much as Mith claims. I’ve even done a thread addressing this very topic (and Mith/Ren knows it too).
There’s no actual evidence that Lightforging itself does brainwashing at this point, just edgelord fan theories.
The closest thing to evidence of brainwashing is a twisted interpretation of one character’s words - Geya’rah - and that scenario was a one-sided snapshot of the situation. Addendum: evidence for my claim;
If Xe’ra could brainwash Alleria with Lightforging, why bother imprisoning her? If Lightforging was brainwashing and Xe’ra would force it on the unwilling there’s no reason s…
That said, you make some solid points.
Solarion:
There’s no basis for this in the modern character, however. I think this may have been a fair statement back circa WC2, but even back then, for the longest time during the war he couldn’t countenance fighting the Orcs because it seemed to be against the Light’s teachings to willingly inflict harm on others (or something to that extent, basically, he couldn’t figure out how the Orcs could be people, and be so given over to evil). It was only after Lothar’s death that Turalyon had the, ‘epiphany,’ that the Orcs weren’t actually people at all, but monsters, and that there was no redeeming qualities to them at all, meaning destroying them only made the world a better place (this being your aforementioned rant).
Since his return to Azeroth, however, we’ve seen an older, wiser Turalyon whom is much more moderate, rather than extreme. We’ve seen him tell Anduin that the Light should guide them, but not control them. We’ve seen him talk down a raging Genn from restarting the Fourth War, in order to preserve peace.
Most notably, we’ve seen Turalyon do something NO ONE ELSE IN THE ALLIANCE DID FOR OVER TEN YEARS. When presented with a Forsaken for the first time, face to face, when actually talking to one, all of his preconceptions about them were lifted. Unlike everyone else on Azeroth, he realized that the Forsaken are NOT in fact monsters masquerading in the flesh of dead loved ones, but are those people brought back to unlife.
This is not indicative of someone prone to, “extreme beliefs.” If he were still that person, he would’ve just killed Faol and made it his life’s duty to exterminate all the undead.
Xe’ra is more indicative of a character driven by extreme beliefs. She believed that the Light alone was pure and just, that all other powers were profane and needed to be destroyed. Turalyon accepts and embraces diversity of thought and culture. He’s maintained peace over the years, and while he may be cautious, he’s far from a zealot. Try to compare Turalyon to the Scarlet Crusade, and you’ll understand why this view of him is so intrinsically flawed.
Spot on about Turalyon.
Partially wrong about Xe’ra. She allowed mages in the Army of the Light, who use Arcane magic, the force of Order/the Titans, something she would not have done if she considered all but the Light profane.
Plus, she had a valid point opposing Fel and Void after everything they’ve done and are doing.
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