We are absolutely not going to get the defias treatment are we?
Unfortunately, someone at Blizzard really hates the Scarlet Crusade/Onslaught/Brotherhood. Iâm only half-joking!
throws away tin-foil hat
We donât know the details of whatâs going to occur in the reclamation of Gilneas questline exactly but all of the Scarlets Iâve seen in screenshots from the PTR are of them dead which makes me wonder if they were massacred by something or someone else by the time the Alliance and Horde gets there. Whatever or whoever it is, is possibly the real enemy occupying Gilneas.
Iâd really like to see the Scarlets reluctantly try to join the Alliance, if only out of convenience because they realize that what theyâre doing isnât working⌠for like the 20th time. Youâd think that whatever leadership is left, especially since there doesnât appear to be any Nazthrezim meddling about, that there has to be some kind of change. This would be a call back to the situation the Forsaken were in at the start of Vanilla and the Scarlets would cause inter-faction conflict, appealing to the Lightforged, Nelves and Worgen or anyone who isnât keen to the armistice the two factions have going on.
Just like in the BfA pamphlets, Iâd be fine with them betraying the Alliance eventually once or even if they achieve any of their goals and it causes a schism among the Scarlets between those whoâve grown to respect their new allies and the betraying Scarlets.
I donât think this is ever likely because even Genn Greymane himself seems fine with the Horde helping to take back Gilneas and the Nelves getting Amirdrassil and the overall shift when it comes to the faction conflict issue (or lack thereof).
The Scarlets as a serious, morally grey/necessary evil faction pretty much ended with the Ashbringer comicâs retcons it brought about, namely that instead of a once-noble organization that had Dwarves and High Elves among its ranks and who had their fears and paranoia played upon and manipulated by a Dreadlord, the Scarlet Crusade was a xenophpbic, racist and anti non-human group from the get go with their anti-undead/demon/evil slant being put on the back-burner.
This not only makes them unsympathetic and bad in the eyes of the Alliance but further legitimatizes the Forsaken, who are an actual player race/faction. Theyâre just cannon fodder for easy (but boring) conflict, brought back to take advantage of nostalgia.
TL;DR: no, because the Defias was always a diverse group of people (including race) who despite doing bad things and winding up corrupt, were fighting for equality and against oppression which means itâs easier to give them a redemption arc. With the Ashbringer retcon I mentioned above, who cares about racists?
You can tell by my t-mog and rambling that Iâve thought about this way too much and could go on and on lol
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Its genuinely frustrating the level of persistence blizzard has put in to make the last remaining descendants of Lordaeron be completely retconned from its beginnings.
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Well thatâs really because of the Forsaken being a playable race here to stay, so the narrative needs the Scarlets to be less legitimate and less justified.
If the retcon never happened and/or the Scarlets were never established as being racist, human supremacist crazies then I would definitely see them gaining sympathies among the Alliance whether itâs refugees wanting to reclaim Lordaeron or grievances specifically with the Forsaken and Horde, such as in the case with the Night Elves and Worgen.
Specifically a truce with the Gilneans/Worgen I couldâve definitely seen happening since they both have major issues with the Forsaken. I know Scarlets likely had some sympathies during and after the Fourth War but it wouldâve been much more significant if not for the racism.
It is what it is but I would definitely be compensated with some more Scarlet items. 
Like a horse mount with red armor that doesnât look demonic/evil, or either (or both) of the more clean tabards seen on NPCs. Blizzard puhhh-lease!!! All you have to do is just add them to the Scarlet Quartermaster at Darkmoon Faire! 
Well judging by the Arathi armorsets coming Iâm certain there will be a resurgence, I just dont want to BE Arathi in order to be a zealot of fiery paladin shenanigans. I very much enjoy being of Lordaeron.
I donât expect nuanced storywriting from blizzard anymore and have fully accepted I am spoiled by the Black Library. It just pains me to see where this setting could be going and just⌠Isnât.
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Maybe, but havenât the Arathi always had red in their color scheme as well? I know these are supposed to be descendants of Arathor who left the original group that established Stromgarde (I think) but I donât feel it means thereâs going to be Scarlets involved, just that Blizzard wants to reuse the whole âbad Light fanatic humanâ thing without continuing to beat a dead horse with the Scarlets.
Anyway, if somehow Scarlets were to ally with the Arathi we come across (and judging by their dungeon, the Arathi are either completely hostile or have a splinter group that is), itâd be more of the same: just killing them via quests.
As much as I love the Scarlet Crusade, Iâd rather them be confirmed in canon to be completely wiped out/dissolved (like in times past) instead of constantly being an undying punching bag. Unlike with other antagonistic factions weâve slaughtered like the Twilightâs Hammer, who have much farther reach with much more races whoâve bought into the cult, the Scarlets are much more isolated with far greater losses. It makes no sense theyâre still around as a formidable threat
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Which is precisely why I want them to be redeemed. Blizzard retconned them once, surely they can do it again. Iâm tired of them being the punching bag.
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This just in, Blizzard adds new training dummies to Org and SW and itâs just a random Scarlet Crusader
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I think technically they did kind go to the Alliance for help in Vanilla. Everyone forgets about Brother Crowley being in the Cathedral as a friendly npc. I honestly donât like the Ashbringer retcon and feel like itâs too out of place honestly. I donât consider it to be canon just because of how out of place it is.
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I donât think many of us arenât fans of how blatant the Ashbringer comic was of destroying vanilla nuance.
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The Scarlet Crusade always started with noble intentions.
They were portrayed as wholly evil in Vanilla WoW.
All Ashbringer did was add more context to the Scarlet Crusade and fleshed them out more.
I donât know how youâre saying this when youâve been countered on this in other threads after saying the same thing lol.
The Scarlet Crusade are just evil, man. Donât know what to tell you at this point lol.
Theyâre a blatant stand-in for irl hate groups, and Blizzard has always been quite consistent with that (their iconography is largely inspired by the Klan, along with all the references to 1940s German Ideology both in Vanilla, Cata, and MoP)
Their âredemptionâ or whatever came through the Argent Crusade, and the Scarlets which repented and joined that.
The ones that didnât are wholly brainwashed or entirely evil, and thatâs the story going forward.
There is no âredeemingâ the Scarlet Crusade because the idea of the organization itself is flawed. Everything the Scarlets are is placed into contrast with the Argent Dawn, which is meant to be the âgoodâ version of the Scarlets in that they embody all the values the Scarlets pretend to represent.
Whereas the Scarlets are zealot racists the Argent Dawn are portrayed as the opposite.
Theyâre also not a representation for the last remaining living descendants of Lordaeron either.
At this point, any halfway sane members of the Scarlet Crusade have either ditched the organization or are long dead. None of their original leaders are even left and their most well known champion is a Death Knight now. The only ones left are the true blue crazy lunatics and schemers who think they can control those lunatics.
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You guys know we forsaken mains arent good guys AT ALL right?
Like the settlements the scarlets torched only happened because after the Scourge, the Forsaken kept messing with them.
Meanwhile the Forsaken actively conducted inhumane biological weapons experiments on kidnapped citizens (that the Crusade actually tried to protect while wrestling with their own upper management.)
Lets not mention Southshore.
The ironforge mountaineer would like a word with you all, the farmers the forsaken stole pumpkins from, slew or turned into living âcropsâ would like a word with you all.
Hating the undead is actually reasonable, it isnt even a race, and every forsaken begins their journey by choosing to be a the highest octane murder hobo in the game, and its hinted and at some points even shown that the decent ones choose to die after being raised in the initial quests.
Like nothing the Scarlet Crusade has done holds a candle to the outright âDEATH TO THE LIVINGâ bio horror shennanigans the Forsaken have performed on the daily.
ARE THE FORSAKEN A JOKE TO YOU?
Put some respect on the Forsakens name here, they are beyond redemption, whatever the latest heritage quest tried to gloss over.
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THANK YOU.
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