Wasn’t a force choice. Nobody made them join either side. But they wanted to join one of them to connect to the world after their milennia of isolation.
So they joined the one that was willing to accept them.
A perfectly reasonable story.
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That would make sense. That said;
You’d think those three should’ve noticed some parallels between Sylvanas and Elisande then.
They played a big enough role that Tyrande and Thalyssra met face-to-face to make a plan of attack (and sass each other). One that worked until Elisande unleashed her super-big-time-stop spell.
Weren’t the three main Nightborne present in the War of Thorns?
The Nightborne’s involvement or lack of opposition to the Burning of Teldrassil kind of validates Tyrande’s concerns about them. Most of Tyrande’s grievance towards them are completely reasonable, as well as the fact the she still went out of her way to aid Thalyssra’s rebellion. The fact that the Nightborne willingly go through with burning down Teldrassil, killing thousands of Night Elf civilians in Battle for Azeroth made Tyrande’s concern came across as completely founded while making Thalyssra came off as a hypocritical, petty ingrate while the Nightborne as a whole came across as expecting the Night Elves to fawn over their footsteps after thousands of years hiding away and then allying with Burning Legion.
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How did joining in on a world war help them connect to the world?
Battle for Azeroth had both Thalyssra and Valtrois questioning the direction the Horde was going throughout, and in the end, they stood with Saurfang’s camp when it came time to oppose Sylvanas.
Thalyssra after Zelling was killed and Baine imprisoned:
Thalyssra says: Our rebellion against Elisande was just, and it earned me a blade in the back. I pray Baine does not meet a similar fate.
The nightborne are still new to the Horde. Perhaps I should seek Lor’themar’s council. He understands what my people have endured, and I have learned much through our conversations.
Valtrois and Rexxar before infiltrating Tol Dagor and freeing Ashvane:
Rexxar says: …but we can follow the Warchief’s plan for now. One guilty human out is worth the lives that will be spared.
Arcanist Valtrois says: I still have an uneasiness, Rexxar. I advise caution in doing as one is told, when it is against their better judgment.
Arcanist Valtrois says: However, in this case, you may be correct in it bringing more good than harm.
Valtrois and Rexxar after the mission to infiltrate Tol Dagor:
Rexxar says: Seems we need to find our own way back.
Arcanist Valtrois says: Such is the way of things.
Arcanist Valtrois says: This war has taken many turns. It seems to me our current path is… perilous.
Rexxar says: Indeed, my friend. The Horde is at a crossroads… once again.
Valtrois after Derek Proudmoore was raised into undead:
Arcanist Valtrois says: "I was skeptical of the Forsaken when I first joined the Horde, but was assured that they chose their state of undeath willingly. This, however…
The nightborne suffered greatly under the Legion’s heel. The atrocities I witnessed… it is distressing how much I am reminded of them now. I will leave it at that.
That is a ludicrous take, especially after it’s been established the Nightborne didn’t participate in the War of Thorns.
That would be akin to saying, “The Draenei clearly didn’t care about the Burning of Teldrassil, considering both their proximity to Teldrassil and their lack of involvement.”
No, they just weren’t a component of that story and their point of view wasn’t shared. It’s not rational to qualify them as such because they were omitted from the story.
The war Sylvanas would instigate would have happened regardless.
The important thing to note is that the Nightborne’s choice to join the Horde was done without malice, during a time of peace.
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I think we can say here that the Nightborne like the allied races in general didn’t take a part in the events that happened before BFA.
They got to see some of Kalimdor, Kul Tiras, Zandalar, Naz’jatar… They got to explore quite a lot of the world and murder many connections acoss that side of the globe!!
They say the best way to connect with the world is to conquer it and grind it under your boot heel.
You act as if Sylvannas took a time out to take a referendum before giving her order to burn the Tree.
How exactly did Tyrande “go out of her way”, she engaged the Faceless Champion, she didn’t put a force of her own people into play untill the final showdown where they joined the Silver Covenant and the Sun Reavers. Tyrande made her call from the Shrew side of her personality, which had no one around her to put it in check this time.
Again, they WERE NOT EVEN PRESENT. Nor were any of the Horde leaders outside of Saurfang, who wasn’t exactly participating as an equal. Sylvannas made her call on the spot, and no Nightbourne had even been brought over to fight.
Maybe if Tyrande hadn’t been such a stiff necked shrew, she might have had a legion of Nightbourne spellcasters and spellblades, and Malfurion would have had more to work with than a small contingent of Highborne mages who did some good but were not strong enough on their own to prevent themselves from being massacred by Forsaken rogues.
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Agreed. I get the grunt aesthetic is one of the iconic horde looks, but maybe, just maybe, the kind of armor that works on the big beefy horde races isn’t really fitting or sensical for the more willowy elves.
Heck, I would assume with the orcs having an actual industrial base now, that not even most orc warriors would wear grunt armor anymore in lieu of something more practical.
Thalyssra also counselled peace in the Nazjatar patch and cited the joint-faction liberation of Suramar as proof of its possibility. I think this idea that she hates the night elves and joined the Horde to burn them is corroborated more by the hurt feelings of players than the text… which admittedly put too little focus on Lor’themar’s observation of all Silvermoon and Suramar have in common and a little too much focus on Liadrin meowing.
In fact I recall Thalyssra expressly hoping to foster better night elf/nightborne relations while scouting honeymoon spots on the Dragon Isles.
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Correct. Thalyssra and the Nightborne did not join the Horde to kill the Night Elves. They did not participate in the War of Thorns, the Battle for Darkshore… They actually had little to no combat interaction with the Kaldorei. Its simply just headcanon to assume otherwise.
The only reason(s) Thalyssra joined the Horde were always just Tyrande’s poor diplomacy skills paired with the excellent diplomatic skills of the Sin’dorei, and that the Horde wouldn’t stagnate and suppress her people’s culture. Thalyssra and the Nightborne post Elisande are never depicted as actually hating the Kaldorei.
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On the other hand, Tyrande makes it abundantly clear that when she sends the Champion out to do things for the Liberation, it’s not because her heart bleeds for the people that she once called kin.
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Yeah, Tyrande makes it abundantly clear multiple times she doesn’t give a damn about the Nightborne; as far as she was concerned - they were there to kill demons and that was the end of it. The Nightborne were not her friends, but begrudging allies of convenience that she’d ideally want nothing to do with. Suramar was no city full of oppressed citizens, but just another Legion stronghold.
“I never believed I would return to the place of my birth to wrest it from the grasp of those I once believed were my people.”
“I did not expect to see you in the company of mana addicts at the footsteps of the city of my birth. Speak quickly, I am not in the mood for Thalyssra’s petitions.”
Comparing this with Liadrin who made it quite clear she sympathized with the Nightborne and thought of them as true allies, even if untested.
“Few understand the plight of the Nightfallen better than the Sin’dorei. My heart goes out to them. But Thalyssra must understand that there is a difference between an insurrection and a war. Until now, her rebels have got by with a few skirmishes here and there. But they have not been hardened by battle as we blood elves have.”
“I understand the struggles of the Nightfallen echo our own, First Arcanist. Addiction… betrayal…”
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This was not the “taking in strays” or “feeling sorry for caged creatures” Tyrande of the War of the Ancients books. this is a person who’s 13,000 years older, is a lot less flexible in outlook, and hasn’t had a man for way too long. I personally suspect that Malfurion spent a lot of time sneaking out to play cards with Jarod Shadowsong and Huln Highmountain at the future Hunter Order Lodge.
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Of course that had nothing to do with the decision. That came after. But I think we both new that.
The irony is that the implication is also wrong. In fact, historically, wars do create exchanges.
[Note: tried to correct the typo. Got an error. (“Resource couldn’t be found”). Small Indie company indeed. :-)]
I would even say that would be true of the Night Elves as well … if it weren’t for the Warsong Clan.
I think it’s important to remember that regardless of the reasons, night and blood elves helped the rebels of Suramar. And considering the history they have with Tyrande and her group, I thought it was all very coherent.
Tyrande did not come to Suramar to gain allies or increase her armies, she came to offer aid to a people who had once turned their backs when it was their own who needed it. In both cases the aid would go far beyond just benefiting that group, but it would help all of Azeroth.
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Well, this went off the rails rather quick. Anyway, to the OP, I honestly don’t understand why Nightborne were the only Elves to not get the Dark Ranger skin tone. It can’t be that hard to copy + paste the color palette from Night Elves to Nightborne. I don’t think it had anything to do with lore and it just Blizzard straight up didn’t copy + paste it to Nightborne.
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Because Void Elves are a copy-paste of the Blood Elves and not Nightborne with Night Elves. So just pretty easy to share the same skin for the same model (and I’m not saying Nightborne can’t have it).
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