Did anybody else find it weird she didn’t have anything to add in the discussion between the Night Elves and the delegation about the necessity of the Sunwell in light of its corruption? I kept expecting her to weigh in or even have a stay a while and listen, but she stood there and did nothing despite having gone through this exact thing.
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I guess fair is fair for Liadrin sitting back and not saying anything when Thalyssra declared to shut the Nightwell off?
I would have been bothered if she had weighed in during that discussion. As you said, her people faced the same choice. So, think about the options here. And keep in mind she would only be advocating for a choice, she has no actual power or vote in what happens.
If she spoke in favor or keeping the Sunwell it would seem out of line. Why is it actually different? The Nightborne are doing just fine, why couldn’t the Blood Elves? It would be legitimately weird for her to advocate for keeping the Sunwell. And it would likely have made the already tense conversation even more tense.
If she spoke in favor of getting rid of the Sunwell, she would be putting herself on the Night Elf side of the conversation. And, while I would not call it hostile, the conversation was also not exactly cordial. So, her publicly inserting herself on the side opposite her husband in a tense and charge conversation would be a terrible thing to do to him. If she does feel the Sunwell even might be to big a risk, that is a conversation to have with Lor’themar in private. Not something to do in front of everyone, and certainly not when some of the parties involved represent a nation that was pretty recently hostile.
Given the choices, and the fact that no immediate demand was made, the choice to remain quite was the correct one. We likely wont see it all written in game, but he healthiest way for her to handle it would be to stay silent (as she did) at the meeting and then in private discuss her views with Lor’themar. Offer what support she could, promise to help either way, and then leave the final choice for his people in his hands.
FWIW the arcan’dor is, afaict, basically just a different kind of well when it comes down to it, Thalyssra, Valtrois and Farodin basically have every major ley line in Suramar running through it and given what the corruption of the first arcan’dor resulted in, I’m not really sure it’s ultimately a huge difference. It’s not the nightwell anymore, but it’s basically a confluence of magic that happens to be growing a magical tree.
Ultimately it’s not like there’s any group of elves that can be said to not build their society around a source of magic of some sort, it’s just that the Sunwell (and the Nightwell) are big, flashy and if corrupted will break more land and people than a corrupted moonwell (and even if not corrupted can clearly be abused if the people who have control over it aren’t basically Cincinnatus-as-a-mage).
she married a major character so from now on her only voice lines are “my love” or some deviation of that.
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Shal’aran has its own leyline conduits, but it was the manastorm conjured in Suramar’s most powerful conduit that caused a surge of energy large enough to reach Shal’aran, which the Arcan’dor required to reach the next stage of its development.
A simple, “I trust you will make the right decision for your people, my love,” would have been sufficient. But for the writers to not afford her any dialogue at all is egregious.
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I found it quite odd that Thalyssra and Lor’themar didn’t exchange a single word…
The writers seem to have short memories, nothing new there.
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Well, yes-ish. It is less easily corrupted and less easily used as a massive font of power that would attract forces seeking to corrupt it. The same reason the Night Elves grew a tree over their well.
My point is the Blood Elves could easily do something similar. The Sunwell in its current form is not required for the Blood Elves, and Thalyssra knows that from experience. So, if she argued the Sunwell had to stay it would be weird to say the least.
I don’t think that would have been a good approach. Look just above your post for how that would have been taken.
And the reality is, she doesn’t have any official ‘horse in the race’ on this one. She has no authority and it is not her people yet*. Her position here is entirely advisory, so even a simple ‘I trust you’ would have been out of place. Add to it that no decision had to be made at that time. Keeping quite during the conversation and then advising Lor’themar in private is the best choice for her character to make. And, unfortunately, private means not in game. Though I would love a short story that includes that private conversation.
*Note: I say yet because they were just married. Over time you would expect their people to integrate more. And it is conceivable that any child they have could become heir to both nations. Give it some time and the Blood Elves will be more and more her people. But they are not yet.
Agreed. I’d have been happy with, “My people chose to live without the Nightwell, yet circumstances afforded us that option. I cannot speak to the needs of the Sin’dorei beyond my commitment to our mutual prosperity and peace.”
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One is assuming that the Sunwell can be “shut down” just like the Nightwell. Given that is was formed differently, that is a big assumption.
The Nightwell wasn’t really even “shut down”. It was created, and sustained, with the Eye of Aman’thul. It become unstable when that was taken away. And the Nightborne decided let it die of “natural causes”.
the nigghtborne are lower in the elven hierarchy that get focus from blizzard in the story
First you get Alleria and arator above all of them, then void elves, then blood elves, then night elves
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Then high elves and only then nightborne
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To the story’s detriment, which is why so many are tuned out of the main campaign, and the Blood Elves, of all races, is barely a major force.
Private does not have to mean not in game, but considering that it would feature characters that are not: Arator, Alleria, or Vereesa, it couldn’t happen with these writers.
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You know, when you put it that way, I just realised that the Arcan’dor is Mt Hyjal in miniature
There’s a big ol’ source of arcane power with a tree above it that absorbs the arcane energy being given off.
The result of this arrangement is a fusion of Arcane and Life that allows for a controlled and portable source of arcane energy (moonwell water for Nordrassil, and Arcan’dor Fruit for the Arcan’dor)
Two problems with that:
First (and primary): That doesn’t add anything to the conversation that was happening. I agree something in that vein should be said, but not in the public conversation that was happening. She should offer the suggestion that it is likely possible and offer help should he choose it, while also reaffirming her support should he choose to keep the Sunwell. That is a conversation that should happen. Just not right then. It should be in private afterwards.
Second, that could easily be construed as undercutting his words. Something she definitely should not do in public.
Well, the suggestion was made for that to be done after the current crisis. Presumably that means looking into methods and issues. So, if it couldn’t be shut down that would be the answer.
‘Listen into their private conversation’ option as a stay a while and listen choice feels wrong to me. Maybe there could be a cutscene, but I can’t see Blizzard putting that much resources into it. So, sure you could have it in game. But none of the options to do it feel good. But adding it as a scene in a short story could do it well and add a lot of nuance, thoughts, and details that you would not get in game. And I do think that kind of a conversation needs to have the nuance included in ways the game cannot or you get lots of people taking it wrong.
Most of the lines in the conversation that was happening added nothing to the conversation that was happening. Definitely felt like a room full of politicians.
How? She literally says that her people had a choice, one which the Sin’dorei do not necessarily have.
I don’t agree. But, for the sake of argument let’s say it was. The question is: You want to add more pointless commentary?
Anything she says is going to be:
- Advocate with keeping the Sunwell = problematic
- Advocate for getting rid of the well = problematic
- Pointless fluff inserting herself into something she has no authority and no stake in = problematic
Keeping silent was the best choice.
Lor’themar’s immediate response is ‘we can’t, we need the Sunwell.’ Her speaking up to say ‘we did it’ could easily be taken as ‘you could as well.’ Sure, you put a caveat on it. But, that just makes it feel like political jargon and a slightly passive aggressive way of taking the other side.
Try and imagine yourself in a similar situation. Imagine if you were talking to someone, who you have a less than friendly relationship with, from another company. That person asks you to have your company make a change. You reply that you can’t do that. And then your wife, in front of that person, says, ‘We did that at my company and it worked out, but maybe your company can’t do it. I support you either way.’ Are you really saying you wouldn’t feel undercut? And maybe a little condescended to.
The wording in your example is off. Instead try your wife saying, “My company was able to make that change, but only due to very unusual circumstances which your company doesn’t have. No matter what, I’ll support you.”
You can try to word it in a way that mitigates the issue. It still fails on the face of it for one really big reason: What would be the point of even bringing it up if not to suggest that might be possible?
Really the best case scenario, even with your wording, is a ‘Then, what does that have to do with anything’ response.
And that is the key issue with your suggestion. Either:
- She would be seen as inserting herself into a tense conversation with irrelevancies
- She would be seen as undercutting Lor’themar
While #2 is much worse, #1 is still pretty bad.
And that is before we even talk about the other side of the implication your suggestion would add. If you want to try and interpret it with the second half, the ‘but you might not be able to.’ Remember, the suggestion was to consider getting rid of the Sunwell after the current crisis was over. So, when things are settled. Why would Blood Elves be unable to find a solution during peace when the Nightborn did it during a Legion invasion?
Your suggestion would either be her suggesting it is possible despite Lor’themar just saying they couldn’t or it would be her taunting Lor’themar with her people being able to do it when his couldn’t. Neither is a good look.
The point of bringing it up is to point out that it ISN’T possible. The Nightborne managed, but only because they had the Arcan’dor. The Blood Elves don’t have that option.
It’s a, “Shandris, I know you think that’s a good idea, because it worked out well for my people, but its not a good idea, because the situation is different.”