Just played through both dungeons today after finishing the main campaign. Genuinely confused and a little concerned about the writing choices here.
Spoiler warning!
In Murder Row we’re tasked with taking out an illegal Fel shipping operation. Sounds fun, if you ignore the clear history of Blood Elves siphoning power from Demons and using giant Fel crystals. None of the bosses or adds mention any specific nefarious plan for the Fel, just literally using it to power up and defend Silvermoon.
In Windrunner Spire we battle Forsaken troops taking Sylvanas’ belongings in reverence to her. For this, we kill them all. Now nowhere in the dungeon do they say these are offshoot genocidal undead who are going to enact some ritual to cause chaos or destruction. These are, for all intents and purposes, legitimate Forsaken troops complete with banners and a Forsaken ship on the docks. If we could have peace talks with the Amani, why are we forced to kill literal allies of the Blood Elves, members of the Horde for the crime of - checks notes - looting?
Playing through these as a Forsaken main and dark caster feels… awful. The main story is very heavy-handed with Blood Elves now being Holy-centric and borderline racist even towards longtime allies like the Tauren. Blizzard writers are ignoring their checkered past - a past that makes them interesting! Paladins draining a holy being for its power is interesting! Pretty elves going against the grain by being slightly power hungry and using Demons for mana is interesting! Noble undead rising from their circumstances and making the best out of their new state is interesting! Undead also aren’t even present at Voidstorm, the Void Elves have taken center stage as the de facto Shadow experts even though the Forsaken are literally animated using Shadow magic and have a whole religion around it.
I’m just really curious why the writers would try to justify these two dungeons and the change in direction for the Blood Elves. These issues really feel like the writers are still incredibly Alliance-biased and are unwilling to make interesting stories about Horde races using corruptive powers for good.
The Forsaken presence in Quel’Thalas downgrading from an allied army to dungeon fodder is indefensible, but the blood elves regulating fel magic after their prince nearly killed the world with the stuff is pretty sensible progression for the race, however much its edgier fans whine.
We’ve been ringing alarm bells about both of these Dungeons since the moment they dropped on beta, to no avail. Not surprising, but it is what it is.
It feels terrible.
It feels terrible to be a Warlock murdering scores of my own people for daring to touch fel without… going through whatever totally undefined process makes it okay for us to be doing it.
It’s going to feel worse when we reach the end of the main story and we’re all browbeaten with the lesson that the Void Elves are totally cool and chill and we were wrong to exile them. The GREEN all-consuming magic is evil, but the BLUE all-consuming magic is fine, actually: so much so that we’re going to put some of it into the Sunwell!
Exiling the blue warlocks was bad and judgmental and bigoted, but murdering the green warlocks is good and righteous and correct.
I really wish I could have some idea of what went on in the room when these decisions were being made. Did anyone even bring up the idea that these were our own characters we’re killing? Did anyone care?
Did anyone else find the Magisters Terrace dungeon weird? As a Horde character you go in slaughtering Blood Elves, with no setup suggesting you would. Only that you’re following along with Rommath’s plan. Maybe I glossed over if this was a secret Lorthemar kept from Umbric?
Still, it is strange there was no backlash or outcry for killing Blood Elves doing their jobs, especially as a Horde player. Stranger still, you actually have to incapacitate a boss at one point. I guess the others weren’t important enough?
Then after that you make a portal, Umbric arrives to moan you made a mess and that’s it. No hostiles for murdering elves trying to stop you opening void portals everywhere.
Given that Rommath does yell at Umbric over what happened in the dungeon and the object he took, it is more likely that Rommath was not consulted on the plan and therefore the guards / automated defenses he left did not get the memo. I think Lor’themar even mentions this. However this only happens if you trigger the ‘stay awhile and listen’ option after opening up the portal to the Voidstorm.
Grand Magister Rommath says: How DARE you step into Magisters’ Terrace, Umbric! You nearly destroyed us all, just like I knew you would!
Magister Umbric says: I have confidence in the strength of myself and my allies. Something you noticeably lack, Rommath.
Grand Magister Rommath says: Confidence? Arrogance! The same arrogance that transformed those poor souls who follow you into void monstrosities!
Magister Umbric says: We are not monsters. We are in control. We are ren’dorei.
Lor’themar Theron says: Enough. It was a risk to let them near the Sunwell, yes. But we will not win this war without taking risks. The ren’dorei have not wavered yet.
Grand Magister Rommath says: Yet. We shall see if this “mission” succeeds.
Grand Magister Rommath says: You’ve always been reckless, Umbric. You leave calamity and ruin in your wake.
Grand Magister Rommath says: At least try to make it back alive.
https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/No_Fear_of_the_Dark
iirc the quests that lead into the dungeon show that these warlocks are also kidnapping civilians off the street to be used in their experiments. It is stated that Fel magic is allowed but it is highly regulated and monitored. But the devouring host has everyone distracted, hence why this illegal smuggling operation can go unnoticed. At least until the Illidari got involved.
So funny thing i think alot of people in this board forget, the whole using fel thing, was a state secret that the civilans wherent aware of, blizzard wrote it that all those green crystals, yep the civilizan didnt know they where fel
The demonic nature of the crystals within Quel’Thalas was not disclosed to the blood elf public, as Silvermoon’s magisters were aware that its citizens would not embrace fel magic as their desperate brethren on Outland had. Notably, fel was dismissed as an alternative to arcane magic by Magister Duskwither, whose attempts to purify it for consumption ended in failure.The blood elves in charge of Sunstrider Isle professed ignorance of the “strange power” that had gripped the isle
To be fair, I had been asking for this very thing to be the Night Elf Heritage Armor questline (instead we got Jaedenar for the third time), so if had to come through a request from Lirath instead, well, better late than never, I suppose.
Doing both of the Murder Row fel quests at the same time is unintentionally hilarious.
Belath is like “We must find out what’s going on with the increase in fel”
Meanwhile, I have a copy of the blackmail/evidence in my bag and the lady told me “yeah this guy is involved in fel smuggling and all kinds of bad stuff”
I feel like these quests should have been in the same quest chain because I’m about to do a lot of work trying to find out more information about what I already know and have evidence of on my person at this exact moment.
As mentioned those you “kill” are all unconscious. One interesting thing I noticed was they clearly could not code “deaths” individual so those blood elves attacked by the void creatues are still coded unconscious even though the void creatures would have killed them.
I guess I can understand the Fel thing. The Murder Row questline is still relatively fresh in my mind and I truly don’t remember it stating they were kidnapping people. Using wyrms yes, but not people.
The main thing that prompted me to make this post was Windrunner Spire. It just really feels bad going through that dungeon seeing Forsaken banners and decor and I’m killing my own people. For all we know, they could be retrieving Sylvanas’ stuff to keep it safe from the Devouring Host. At the very least, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want something of hers given her impact on the Forsaken.
To top it off — The Silver Covenant — of the Alliance, get their OWN territory → WITHIN QUEL’THALAS!! AKA those who mass-murdered Blood Elves @ Dalaran – GLEEFULLY might I add.
and Blood Elves can’t use the flight master there.
However, Alliance can …
Also, to top it off – if you’re a Blood Elf - all of the Silver Covenant NPCs there – give you shade & throw shame dialog at you:
“How does it feel to have betrayed us by joining the Horde!?”
“I will fight to defend against the void, but I will never forget how you betrayed us by joining the Horde!”
“I can still smell the fel on you! You are lucky we have a common enemy right now.” – (Even though my Blood Elf is a PRIEST)
Honestly, if we get an opportunity to exile these pompous, self-righteous VIRTUE-SIGNALING A-holes and have us be able to join the Spellbreakers, Magisters and Blood Knights to force them if they refuse – I’ll be ROARING with cheer, signing right the fel up.
“Murder Row’s sanctioned fel-experiments need live produce to yield greater promising results? Well looky 'ere, we’ve had a fresh batch this whole time – Right beneath our noses.”
I dig that stuff being included. Trouble is that I know the resolution is just another in a long line of wet farts that deliberately avoids meaningful resolution because … they can’t be bothered to tackle tension or something, I dunno.
Getting a questline to visit them and tell them to begone or face the consequences, only to get virtue signaled and shoo’d away — followed someone in Murder Row – a place that’s suddenly thriving as opposed to before – saying she ‘visited’ there and left a grimoire for you to retrieve — Then arrive back and find the place in ruins with fel-cracks everywhere, but not a trace of anybody there - would be awesome
More so if Belf Demon Hunters + Belf Walrocks get a questline in between to join an assault of “Gathering the fel feast for our people!”
Lil stuff like that would give some of that ‘edge’ back to the Sin’dorei people feel is missing, for sure
AKA those who mass-murdered Blood Elves @ Dalaran – GLEEFULLY might I add.
Selama ashal’anore!
