…is not only “ok,” but right and proper, and serves as an example for other factions to learn from. Blogpost follows:
Firstly:
Before we even start talking about the Worgen or Gilneas, I want to talk about the kingdom of Lordaeron. Among the allied human kingdoms of the Second War, Lordaeron was considered a first among equals. It didn’t have quite the magical pedigree of Dalaran, or the implacable warrior culture of Stromgarde, or the maritime expertise of Kul Tiras, but Lordaeron was no slouch in any category, and served as an example of general human excellence. The people of Lordaeron were the ARCHETYPAL humans against which all other human nations were compared. They rallied the Alliance of the Second War, which concluded in victory due to their efforts, and maintained human civilization against overwhelming odds. They had pride in their history, their people, their achievements. They had hope for their future. Prior to the start of the Third War, however, Lordaeron fell victim to a plague they had no means of fighting, which killed untold numbers and raised those it killed as undead, some feral, some under the control of the death knight Arthas Menethil. It was a time of suffering, fear and widespread panic. It was apocalyptic, and nearly destroyed the kingdom of Lordaeron. But there were those who survived, including the daughter of the murdered king, including simple peasant farmers, including great warriors, paladins, priests, willing to stand their ground and fight against the plague. While the undead were under Arthas’ control, the living citizens of Lordaeron were fully justified in fighting to destroy them and to preserve their kingdom. The undead were puppets of murder, cursed by a necromantic plague, and could not be reasoned or bargained with.
Secondly:
That changed when Sylvanas Windrunner, not a citizen of Lordaeron, not even a human, was killed and raised by Arthas, and subsequently broke free from his control. In large part because of her efforts, Arthas was forced to retreat to Northrend, and as a result of this, many of the undead under his control in Lordaeron also broke free of his will and regained at least a portion of their memories and personalities. This was a good thing that Sylvanas did, and she was rightly respected for it. However, what followed was a decades-long, systematic effort of extreme abuse and gaslighting on her part, enacted against the whole of the kingdom of Lordaeron. The undead humans were dealing with extreme mental and emotional anguish, many unable to figure out where they fit into this new world or how they could move on with their un-life. All they knew is they had died, and woken up in a type of hell they had no context for. But they were still humans, still citizens of Lordaeron. Many still remembered their names, their old lives. Many might very well have chosen to fight the feral undead that still existed, to reclaim their homes and lands. But in their panic and confusion, these undead humans desperately latched onto the strongest will they could find to lead them, and that will belonged to Sylvanas. SHE is the one who named them Forsaken, and told them they could never go back to their old lives. SHE continued to spread a version of the plague for decades, infecting as many of the uncursed survivors of Lordaeron as she could, and dragging them down into her hell. Like any abuser, Sylvanas gaslit an entire nation into believing they had no hope of any future outside of her plans and her will, and like sufferers of stockholm syndrome, many of the newly-named “Forsaken” believed her, and started to sympathize with her, and then became worshipful of her.
But it’s clear Sylvanas never cared about the undead humans she led. She was a military leader, not a real queen. The Forsaken were her weapon, and she used them as a weapon to achieve her personal goals. Arthas and the plague didn’t kill the kingdom of Lordaeron. Sylvanas did. She killed Lordaeron and replaced it with a cult of personality based around her, surrounded by abuse victims who were aimless outside of her worship. That’s a big part of the reason why Calia is looked at unfavorably by many Forsaken. She may be the heir of Lordaeron, but Lordaeron no longer exists; because Sylvanas killed it, and the undead humans’ connection to it, through years of horrific, inhumane (and inhuman) acts.
Thirdly:
So where do Tess Greymane and the Worgen fit in? It’s not a direct comparison, but during and after the Third War, Gilneas also suffered a plague. A curse which, much like the Scourge plague, infected its victims and turned them into mindless killing machines, who then went on to murder or infect further victims. Like with the Scourge plague, the Worgen curse eventually spiraled out of control, leading to large numbers of the Gilnean population becoming monsters and making a working society almost impossible. Like with the Scourge plague, this was a time of panic and confusion, with cursed and uncursed Gilneans alike committing atrocities against each other, with constantly-rising tensions and violence. But there was one major difference. In Lordaeron, the plagued undead came under the leadership of a foreigner who did not care about the kingdom or the people. Sylvanas worked to intentionally separate her undead servants from their past and their connections to their past lives. The Forsaken are DIFFERENT from “Lordaeron Humans” because they were socially programmed to be different. But in Gilneas, the curse was handled very differently. After the initial chaos, cursed and uncursed Gilneans alike took good-faith efforts to help each other. They found alchemical means of containing the Worgen rage, if only temporarily, and did their best to administer these treatments to their afflicted friends and family, rather than just hunting and executing them. Worgen who were so helped also did their best to control themselves and protect their uncursed countrymen. There was distrust on both sides, and it wasn’t perfect, but they all did their best and held together, as ONE people of ONE nation. Eventually, the Night Elves allowed the Worgen to find more effective and permanent means of dealing with their bloodlust, and the whole issue was largely resolved, on a societal level. A big part of this was also because Genn Greymane fell to the curse and became a Worgen. However, unlike Sylvanas, who had no connection to the people of Lordaeron OTHER than their curse, Genn was the KING of Gilneas. He became a Worgen, but he never stopped being the king of ALL Gilneans.
Because of this, the cursed and uncursed Gilneans alike were united by a ruler who cared about ALL of them, because they were ALL Gilneans. As a Worgen, he will additionally understand other Worgen better than his daughter could, but his daughter is still a Gilnean, and ALL playable Worgen are also still Gilneans. Unlike Sylvanas destroying the Forsakens’ identity as citizens of Lordaeron, Genn reinforced the Worgens’ identity as true Gilneans, with all the rights and respect of any other Gilnean citizen. As such, the Worgen don’t need a “racial leader,” because the Worgen don’t see themselves as a “separate race” or a “separate political faction.” They are Gilneans. Cursed Gilneans, but Gilneans nonetheless, and still loyal to the kingdom of their birth and to the uncursed family and friends they live and interact with every day.
Finally:
Tess makes sense as the leader of the Worgen, because she is now the queen of all Gilneans, including the cursed ones. Calia does not make sense (to many) as a leader of the Forsaken, because she is the heir of Lordaeron, and Sylvanas killed Lordaeron.
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