The title is obviously bait, but I have had a few thoughts about the whole debate listed in the title. And I believe that people are asking the wrong question. It isn’t about whether or not she has done anything wrong; it is whether or not she is going to get repercussions for it.
Personally speaking, I hate Sylvanas. Not because she has done bad things, but because she cannot lose. Even as a Raid Boss, she flutters away and technically gets a rewards from us beating her. She is a villain of this story now. Let me quote myself from another thread on some of the things she has accomplished:
- Organized a treaty with Alliance forces to drive the Scourge out of Lorderon only to betray them and have them consumed and added to the ranks of her Forsaken (WC3, and definitely a war crime)
- Has her scientists conduct painful experiments on sentient creatures (War crime)
- Chemical Warfare on the Gilneans (War crime, which EVEN GARROSH thought that was bad mojo)
- The burning of Teldrassil, which was originally supposed to be held to force the NEs to surrender to the Horde. She burned this on the goading of a dying soldier (War crime)
- Orchestrated a false war between the Horde and Alliance to get things ready for the Jailer (War Crime)
- Slaughters she own people that wanted to see their living loved ones. The Alliance and Horde managed to actually broker a peace-deal that would allows the living and Forsaken families to be reunited. She had them all slaughtered because a few wanted to defect.
But since Sylvanas is such an OG and popular character, its impossible for the writers and dev team to give us something that will satisfy everybody. There are also other characters that have committed atrocities that are still popular and seen as both villains and heroes. That’s why I don’t think its right to ask the question, “Was what Sylvanas did wrong?” because to some, she’s evil incarnate and to others she’s the dark lady/queen of the forsaken/undead waifu.
I suggest a sliding scale of war crimes that represent the level of repercussions received of characters that I think are comparable to Sylvanas. It goes: [Arthas - Garrosh - Illidan - Jaina]. All these characters have committed crimes, have been the villain, are liked, but have different levels of justice meted to them.
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Arthas: First off, Arthas is, hands-down, my favorite Warcraft character of ALL TIME. Half of WC3 was about him, there was an entire expansion about him, and we feel the effects of his actions throughout the WoW history. Is he a villain? Yes. Did he commit war crimes? Yes, both before and after he became the Lich King. Did he need to be stopped? Yes. Is he cool? Ice cold.
–His punishment: Death and in the Maw somewhere. Hopefully we don’t see him again. -
Garrosh: I am mostly a true, blue Alliance player, but Garrosh has my respect. His writing was (mostly) consistent. His expansion was fun (in my opinion). He did some truly awful and great things. Mana-bombed Theramore. Led bloodly campaigns across Kalimdor and Pandaria. He helped organize the Iron Horde. I honestly don’t know if I can say he did anything wrong that wouldn’t be acceptable sometime during wartime.
–His punishment: Put on trial, killed in a dishonorable duel, tortured for his unending pride, and died killing a raidboss in SoD (I guess he goes to super-heaven? Wherever you go if you die in the shadowlands). -
Illidan: The Betrayer. Initial Villain of TBC. Fed Demonblood to Orcs to make them stronger. Hoarded resources in Outland. Worked for Kil’Jaden. Created a second well of eternity that became Nordrassil to fuel his addiction for magic. Sacrifices his own followers to achieve his goals. He was so popular that the Devs thought they did him dirty initially so they retconned him into being a misunderstood hero.
–His punishment: Since he is immortal, he is the perfect person to watch over another immortal in space-jail. So, he’s banished for eternity technically. He isn’t coming back but he also doesn’t have to answer for what he did. -
Jaina: Sacrificed her father and his soldiers to preserve a fledging peace with the young Horde on Kalimdor. Indiscriminately purges Dalaran of the Blood Elves following the Mana-bomb. Quits the Council of the Six when Khadgar pleads for the Horde to be allowed back in (not a crime but a bad move). Almost releases a tidal wave that would have destroyed Orgrimmar (all the men, women, and children) but is talked out of it at the last minute. Oh, and the Battle of Dazar’alor. Interpret that as you will whether it is a crime or not.
–Her punishment: Not so much physical as mental/social. Yes, Varian was incredibly angry with her and thought about removing her until she wasn’t. Yes, she was shunned by every Kul Tiran until she wasn’t. Yes, she has been in danger, but also never really lost. We do see her struggle emotionally with the weight of her actions and 90% of her friends/family are dead or insane, but I would say that she is still seen as a hero in most aspects.
All have committed crimes. All have been raid bosses. All have had some type of punishment. All have dedicated fanbases. So, where does Sylvanas land in all this? Somewhere between Garrosh and Illidan. I don’t think we will be able to kill her off, but I could see the writers having her sacrifice herself to beat the Jailer and give us freedom. I could also see them set Sylvanas up as the new Jailer when Torvaal (I think that’s his name) is beaten. But that’s my opinion. What do you think they’ll do with her?