Shadows Rising: Maiev, Tyrande, and Sira

Spoilers ahead for Shadows Rising.

There seems to be some confusion about how the Night Elves treat the Undead Night Elves that were raised by the Val’kyr at Darkshore. Short of it is, over all, the Night Elves do not forsake them, not even the ones that stayed loyal to Sylvanas even after she abandoned the Horde.

Even more unexpected, Maiev of all people does not want Tyrande consumed by vengeance and does not want Tyrande to end up the way Maiev was herself before.

    “I wish I could have done more to protect you,” Tyrande said, cold. “But some natures prove too evil to curb. Too ambitious to abide. Sylvanas has such a nature, and I will not forget that. You are her servant now, Sira, I have not forgotten that, either.”

    She drew the long, curved sword at her side, letting Sira see it plainly.

    “Tyrande.” Shandris’s voice was gentle as silk, as if Tyrande might startle and do something they would all regret. “Think. Look.”

    “I see a sad and defeated thing that has chosen a path,” Tyrande replied. “Nothing more.”

    “I chose nothing!” Sira shrieked, and Maiev stepped forward, so close her shoulder brushed Tyrande’s. “I did not choose to return. I would never choose to return. Everything inside me is ugliness and rage, and the only thing that quiets the scream is death. For what was done to me, I will see a hundredfold done upon this cursed realm!”

    Maiev’s hand fell on Tyrande’s forearm, but the Night Warrior shrugged it off. Her wrist twitched, the blade shimmered.

    “I knew you once to find a fawn with two snapped legs,” Maiev whispered. “A fawn everyone, even I, claimed was beyond healing, beyond help. Many offered to end its suffering, but you saw inside of it a spark of life. A hidden light.”

    “It died,” Tyrande murmured, squinting down at Sira. “I could not save it.”

    “How long did you try?” Maiev asked. “And would you try again? If you continue down this path, Tyrande, you will find yourself no better than Sira. She is in pain, can you not see it? She is in agony. The only relief comes from spilling blood. Is this what you want? To find your only comfort in the suffering of others?”

    “And so I should do nothing?” Tyrande seethed.

    “That is not what I suggest and you know it. Listen, Tyrande.” Maiev went to stand beside Sira, a warden she had considered more than a friend. A sister. “I have lived as one consumed, and though there is no great love between us, Tyrande, I would not see you become what I was. What Sira is now. You are more than just rage and vengeance, you are more than simply the Night Warrior: you are a priestess and a leader. Can you not, as a priestess, take pity on this creature?”

    Tyrande raised the blade again, considering it.

    The corrupted, undead warden flattened herself against the wall, then hissed. “You will not,” Sira spat. “You lack the—”

    A single strike, swift and true, cut an opening in Sira’s neck, but shallow, no deeper than the width of a fingernail. There would be no blood, for she had none to shed. Sira grabbed for her neck, sure it was the blow of death.

    Tyrande raised the weapon again, a shudder passing through her body. She had thought to feel nothing, to know nothing but perfect rage. She was the Night Warrior, revenge made flesh, but now with that one shallow cut, she felt suddenly, horribly alive again.

    “Mercy,” Shandris murmured, taking the blade easily from Tyrande’s hand. “Mercy for that little hidden light.”

    “Mercy,” Maiev added, “for a sad, defeated thing.”

    Tyrande simply nodded, no longer armed. Shandris and Maiev had more things to ask, but the Night Warrior was finished. She had seen what she needed to see. Turning to go, she paused at the door, opening and closing her fist around the blade that was no longer there. “Alas, Sira, I do possess the courage,” she said. “And that is what frightens me. That is what should frighten us all.”

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So, the whole “consumed by rage” thing didn’t actually hold any water.

Got it. What was the downside to the Night Warrior ritual again?

:pancakes:

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She is dying. :ghost:

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WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO MY BABY?!

Why can’t Blizzard just give us the savage nelves that we want?

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Hoping for consistency in Maiev at this point is doomed to disappoint, I’m sad to say. After Blizzard had everyone completely forget that she was literally a traitor and a terrorist against her people in Wolfheart, it was all downhill. Her sudden 180 in Legion is one of the most tragic and offensive soft retcons ever implemented, I think.

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I am so sick of human moralizing in WoW. Night Elves are supposed to be savage and violent. Sira betrayed her people, keeping her alive is not mercy. It’s idiotic. Killing her would not only be a mercy, it would be justice.

I don’t understand the morality here. Killing an enemy? Just punishment to a traitor? That is somehow being “Consumed by vengeance”?

The retcon from Wolfheart I was fine with, because that was a stupid arch anyway. But this is the absolute worst direction Blizz can take nelves. Maiev should have been VINDICATED for her stalwart pursuit of Illidain. She should be the model for the Kaldorei’s future, not 180 to human-moralistic BS.

Amadis… My day is ruined :rage:

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To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled to hear about Sira being spared either, but for a different reason. The core schtick of the forsaken was that they’re, well, forsaken by everyone because of their condition. And for better or worse, Sira unfortunately falls under that overall group label now. I get that the faction itself is pretty justifiably hated by now, but if what’s supposed to be an incarnation of vengeance and anger can still show mercy to an undead traitor, then what’s the point of the fantasy of the group needing to find sanctuary in the horde due to being rejected by their living kin?

Not that this is new; it happened in Before the Storm too. But meh.

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That she’s dying in SL because of it without achieving anything.

I feel like

They are going to pull this BS or something similar on Sylvanas if she ever happens to lose once

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Oh ffs, I bet you’re right. Gosh darn it.

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If I’m thinking like a storywriter at Blizzard, my thought is that Sira can’t stay Forsaken, because Delaryn and Sira would essentially be the same character and serve the same purpose. One of them had to get the boot, and Delaryn has potential as a sort of anti-Sylvanas (if they decide to follow up on those parallels between their lives that Sylvanas got so unconsciously hung up on in the Teldrassil burning cinematic).

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It’d kinda be visually ironic to come full-circle back to the forsaken being led by a pale night elf that occasionally bounces her boobs in the throne room.

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Isn’t that the whole point of Delaryn? She was a ranger and leader of her (Elven) people, tasked with leading the defense of her homeland against an evil undead invader… just like Sylvanas was. She failed and was forced to watch it crumble around her… like Sylvanas. Sylvanas saw these parallels, and in an effort to justify the bitterness and awfulness she became, tried to prove that none of it was her fault, because anyone in her position would do the same. Delaryn remained hopeful and refused to obey Sylvanas’ expectations, and for that Sylvanas burned Teldrassil in anger.

If Delaryn does a reverse-Sylvanas and goes from bitter to good as a Forsaken, and then lead them into peacefulness, isn’t that the most poetic revenge she could have against her killer? Sylvanas will eventually die, but Delaryn can also have the satisfaction of righteously proving Sylvanas wrong and rubbing it in her face.

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What was the upside?

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When they need to be. Violence and savagery are not their base instinct. They aren’t Orc’s. I like Maiev here. She knows that she crossed the line in the past and didn’t want Tyrande to go that route because it will be far worse.

I’m on the fence about Sira. Clearly this was forced on her and she not in her right mind. Killing her wound be justified but she could have info on Sylvanas. That said in curious to see what she does once she learns that she pain and suffering both in life and in death was orchestrated by Sylvanas.

At this point I can’t see the benefit of the Night Warrior. We adjust know she’s not keeping it. It’s she at least going to unleash that power upon Sylvanas and/the jailor before losing it? (No spoilers please) We haven’t even seen her do anything with it and the Mawsworn are apparently killed off screen. So stupid.

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No spoilers to be had yet. Whatever Tyrande does with the Night Warrior’s power won’t be seen until a later patch.

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I feel bad for partially hijacking Amadis’s thread about this so I’m going to try to make this my last post on the topic, but I guess it could work. It certainly seems like the most poetic angle when filling in the void left behind by Sylvanas’s departure. Though honestly I think I’d prefer Voss simply because she has more history in the franchise and, despite being raised in Cata, she feels more like a home-grown forsaken character with a story arc that leads up to it (even if the last step of her officially joining was leapfrogged a bit). Even if Delaryn only existed for a very short time in the story, she gives me that hand-me-down feeling that makes me go “ick” when I think about her, Sira and Calia.

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This is the most important part. As it shows clearly that the risen NEs were indeed forced and not offered a choice. A solid and important retcon form 8.1 that sparked A LOT of anger within the NE players.

It also shows that there is some kind of Scourge mindcontroll at work. Same as with Death Knights the deep urge to kill that numbes thinking and makes one into a mindless killing mashine.

It is also great to see how Maiev is portraited. I like her. I like Maive being shown as ruthless against her enemies, but with love for her people.
A perfectly balanced character that is nether too Shandris or too hollow like Tyrande.

Very well written. But I am biased. waves her Maiev fangirl banner

What I read between the lines is, that Tyrande indeed is struggeling with the Nightwarrior overwhelming her, but she also found out that there is a way to controll herself.
It is forshadowing in my opinion that Tyrande will ultimately be saved and learns to wield the power of the Night Warrior.

Shadowlands might be her trial on that.

New cosmetic options that seem to be popular. :eye: :eye:

:pancakes:

I disagree wholeheartedly. I see night elves as a perfect blend between civilization and the wilds. A people who know separating your scholars from your warriors only means you will have your thinking done by cowards and fighting done by fools. A people who know the civilized are more discourteous than the savage, because the civilized my act such without risk of their head being smashed in. A people who can recite age-old poetry and bring you to tears, and minutes later gleefully dismember an enemy. I imagine a Priestess, muscular and scarred in perfect jointed duality with her elegant, mooncloth gown. Blood spattered across her face and wine on the breath.

It only makes sense to me that after thousands of years of life, and with such a connection to nature, the standard Night Elf would have a casual approach to violence that shorter lived raced would find unnerving.

It only makes sense to me that Night Elves are the terrifying, nocturnal predators that the rest of the Alliance gives a wide berth to.

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