I recall a bit of writing advice that went along the lines of;
“Is this the most interesting part of the character’s life? If not, why aren’t you showing us that?”.
I kept thinking about that as I read the book. Because while some of the Quel’Thalas stuff is interesting, is it really more interesting than her being the Banshee Queen of the Forsaken? Or having a conversation with the Devil in perdition?
Well it shouldn’t be. But somehow it is. Because the story sprints through her WC3 to SL storyline after devouting half the book to the Windrunners idyllic life in Eversong.
Now I get that was important. We had to understand why she so single mindedly pursued what she’d lost. But if this book had any objective it should’ve been fleshing out the Jailor and explaining Sylvanas’s reasoning.
She just doesn’t allow herself to doubt. She only confides this great revelation to Nathanos who’s a complete Yes Man. She doesn’t really weigh the possibility that she could be being manipulated. She never tries to learn more about the Shadowlands. She just decides this is the right thing to do based on a staggering lack of a complete picture.
So, yeah I guess she’s not evil. She’s just really, really, really, dumb. Thanks for the 400 pages wrapping that up. I’d kinda figured that much when she power slid at Arthas.