I, like many of us, have been greatly disappointed in how Sylvanas’s story has been shaking out up to this point. But while what we have right now many consider to be a hot mess, I believe with the right tweaks, what we have could have been made far more palatable. With that, here are some ideas I had that I’d like to share.
First: Why would Sylvanas work with Zovaal at all? She despised Arthas and Frostmourne, that hatred being a defining part of her character, so her alliance with the Jailer flies directly in the face of that. But then something occurred to me: how do our characters know the Jailer was the one behind Frostmourne at all? Where exactly is this information presented? There is, to my knowledge, only one source that deals with this subject at all: the Runecarver. Once enough memories have been restored, you are given a quick cutscene of the Jailer torturing him to extract how to create a mourneblade and the Helm of Domination. But there is no follow-up to that, so as far as I know we are the only ones with tangible proof as to this fact, and we never tell anyone about it. So considering this, Sylvanas never knew Zovaal made Frostmourne. He deliberately kept this fact from her.
But then a question arises: what about the runes on his skin that look just like Frostmourne’s? Wouldn’t she see those and put two and two together? That, at least, is easy to deal with. When we free the Primus during the campaign, the Jailer speaks through Anduin, saying the Primus used Domination magic to imprison him. So all Zovaal would have to say to Sylvanas was, “The Primus put these on me to make me a prisoner, just as he made Frostmourne that bound you.” And the best part is, there is just enough truth to it that it wouldn’t be a complete lie. Zovaal could have just painted himself as a victim just like she was, cementing their partnership. Have her mention all this during her conversations with Anduin and bam, the audience is up to speed. No need to change nearly all of the conversation here either, simply remove the line of being made to serve and save that tidbit until their next interaction.
So we have Sylvanas’s motivation now. Just like in the official canon, she joins the Jailer to remake reality, except now we clearly see why. So what about her betrayal? Why turn on him at the end of the Sanctum of Domination? This is where I diverge a little from the official canon, but not very far. Simply have her doubts creep in long before the events of 9.1. Specifically, I refer to the second Torghast cutscene in which Kingsmourne is created. Sylvanas first sees it there, and she is understandably shocked. Her eyes widen and mouth falls slightly agape, seeing an echo of the sword she has spent her entire unlife despising. This adds another dimension to her conversation with the Jailer, who says, “We have not come this far to falter now.” So now Sylvanas does as asked, but with extreme reservation. She’s doing the same thing Arthas did to her, and now she is rightly suspicious of Zovaal.
Fast forward to 9.1. Sylvanas can be seen clearly having doubts now, seeing Anduin in armor covered in Domination runes and being forced to do things he would never consider otherwise. Then comes Tyrande’s revelation that Nathanos has been dead for some time, his soul somewhere out in the Maw with God-only-knows what happening to him. Sylvanas’s suspicions continue to grow, but she keeps forging ahead. She can’t stop now, not after all she had gone through just to get to this point. She and the Jailer are the same, she’s convinced herself. She couldn’t have been wrong all this time, her pride would never allow it. (She was described as being quite vain in life, so there is some basis to this.)
Now we come to the Sanctum raid. Her doubts have only continued to deepen. Every time we encounter her, her voice sounds unsure for just a moment. But she quickly slips back on the mask of confidence and everything continues as it does ingame. Then comes the final cutscene. It plays out exactly the same. Sylvanas tells Zovaal they have what they need, but he takes a moment to gloat while he mind-controls everyone. He says all will serve, echoing Arthas. At this point Sylvanas can’t deny reality any longer. She’s been duped, and Zovaal was not the victim he said he was. She betrays him, he leaves her to rot.
And there you have it. The major story beats remain the same, but now the audience has crucial context.
