You’re forgetting that Blaine thought that he was utterly alone at the time, a feeling Sylvanas worked to reenforce as much as she could, such as her quip to him in the Undercity about leaving Saurfang to die and he could join him (or something to that effect.) It was a veiled Threat to him and he knew she’d carry it out and no one else in the leadership was going to stand against her for the same reason.
You know, they don’t “immediately” turn on her. They were all left dumbfounded and bewildered by that and her subsequent hasty departure, with a Dead Saurfang the posthumous Victor by default, effectively leaving them Leaderless and positively lost as to what to do following that fight (You can see that with “banner bae’s” hesitation to open the gates.)
What were they to do? Follow after?
Yes, but before the Horde player gets the quest to kill Rorka, if the Horde player talks to Rorka the Horde player actually mentions the peace treaty to her. And then the Horde player gets the quest and kills her. It’s particularly strange.
You know, I think you just touched upon the reason he didn’t Challenge her right there.
I mean, he was just caught red-hoofed, committing Treason against the Horde.
I don’t believe he would of had the standing to call for Mak’gora nor would anyone would of abided by it if he had. Sylvanas would of had all the right to shoot him down “for the audacity to spit on the honor of the Horde and then use something as sacred as Mok’gora to hide his shame” and no one would of blamed her or questioned her. She would of won before the war even started.
No, Blaine was better off making the choice he had. Better to be a Martyr then a Pariah.
Saurfang called for a Mak’gora while leading a rebel army beside the Alliance. Mak’gora appear to be magic words for the Horde. Basically, it’s a faction of MMA fans.
Doesn’t matter. If he’d done what he thought was right, even if he thought was alone and even if he thought he had no chance, that would have shown where his real bravery was.
Except that he DID do what he thought was right. You may not agree with him or even like him because of it but he did what he thought was best at the time.
Nobody doubts that he’s sincere. He’s just not very heroic, in the fantasy adventure sense.
His MO is to quietly complain while going along with most of the stuff he disagrees with, and then sneakily intervene when he feels it has gone too far (specifically, when Jaina is threatened).
That’s why Blizzard needs to give him a truly bold, unequivocally ferocious moment that is just for the Horde. The guy looks like he could rip phonebooks in half. During the next pre-expac. event have some massive scourge-beast about to kill the orphanage or something, scattering all the troops in front of it, and then Baine steps up and literally tears its head off while bellowing “Loktar Ogar!” and rallying the Horde counterattack.
It would give him instant cred.
Edit: It’s no secret that I’m not a Baine fan. I think he’s lame. But I want to like him! I want to get onboard the Baine train! I’m saying what I think it would take to help make me a fan.
Because it wasn’t. It might of been the “Impressive” and “cool” thing for him to do. To You.
Doesn’t mean he thought it was the morally right or wisest course of action. Like I said, it probably would of been the stupidest and most useless thing he could of done. And we’ll be here lamenting how Baine the Fool threw his life away for a stunt that likely gave Sylvanas all the support she needed.
Honestly, I like the “Gentle Giant” aspect of his character. He has all this power that he can barely contain while having a even Bigger Heart. I don’t want him to lose that aspect.
No, to me it would have been the impressive, cool, AND morally right thing to do.
Maybe. But as it is, we’re talking about how Baine the Alliance Bootlicker cares more about Jaina Proudmoore than any of the other enormous red flags that came earlier in the expansion. Is that really better?
Baine may be consistent as a character, but he’s not inspiring to me. And frankly, I usually love shrewd planners who would prefer to find peaceful solutions but know when a line has been crossed. I’m just trying to think of a way to push Baine into a space where he actually works as that kind of character.
Agreed, at this point havin’ Baine do anythin’ “fierce” would be out-of-character for him. He’s pretty much reached the point of no return. He needs to just sit on his rump in Mulgore and hand out quests like he did in the old days.
And that’s a shame. Because there’s zero reason Baine couldn’t be a diplomatic leader with ties to the other side who wants peace… who will also completely and utterly destroy you if you directly seek harm his people.
Baine would be so much better if you took out the notorious quote from Cycles of Hatred and showed him making human pancakes out of the idiots who thought poking the 9 foot tall muscle cows was a great idea.
Careful. You could wind up with Mary Sue Baine who has every negative characteristic of Baine’s current portrayal, but also happens to oneshot iconic characters. Would you really like Baine if he’s ridiculously strong, but we only see it when he uses his strength to defend Anduin?
What we really need is for Baine to get into explicit, visible confrontation with the Alliance. Baine’s fought the Alliance in multiple battles, but it’s usually reserved to books or auto-attack background NPCs.
Baine needs a moment where the Horde is threatened and he goes toe-to-toe with some major Alliance characters. (Preferably a climatic cinematic.)
It’s fine for Baine to want world peace and personally like members of the Alliance. But we gotta know when push comes to shove - he’s on our side. The biggest criticism of his character is he personifies an olive branch when players really want war.
