It would if you were the kind of person who thought in the long term… like say, an elf.
Not even necessarily then, as per Elegy:
- “Sentinel Eriadnar,” Malfurion said, moving toward her.
She sat on the edge of the pool, her slumping form revealing that she was still worn from her travels, but she got to her feet at his words.
“No, Sentinel, you have earned the right to sit. What grim news do you bear?”
She sank back wearily. “I come from Silverwind Refuge. Almost all of our outposts suffered a coordinated attack by the Horde. Anaris Windwood is dead. Delaryn Summermoon commands in her stead. She sent me to tell you—” For the briefest of instants, it seemed as if the Sentinel could not bring herself to utter the words. Then she spoke, in a voice that cracked. “To tell you that an army is coming.”
For so long, Malfurion had lived in expectation of this news—that one day, the Horde would rouse and turn its cruel eye toward Darnassus. It had finally happened.
And A Good War:
- “We fought together in the same wars, and we died for one another. It was true long ago, and it was true only a few months ago, out on the Broken Isles.”
Malfurion said sharply. “And despite the years of war between our two factions, we never attacked your home.
We have never even dreamed of it.”
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Since you’re quoting Elegy I will riposte with “A Good War”
Sylvanas’s eyes did not waver, even in the face of his rage. “If I dedicated myself to peace with the Alliance, would it last a year?”
“Yes,” Saurfang said curtly.
“How about two years? Five? Ten? Fifty?”
Saurfang felt the trap closing in on him, and he did not like it. “We fought side‐by‐side against the Burning Legion. That creates bonds that are not easily broken.”
“Time breaks every bond.” Sylvanas leaned across the table. Her words flew like arrows. “What do you believe? Will peace last five years or fifty?”
He leaned forward, too, his face inches away from hers. Neither blinked. “What I believe doesn’t matter, Warchief. What do you believe?”
“I believe the exiles of Gilneas will never forgive the Horde for driving them away. I believe the living humans of Lordaeron think it is blasphemy that my people still hold their city. I believe the ancient divide between our allies in Silvermoon and their kin in Darnassus is not easily mended.” There was a
smile on Sylvanas’s face. It was not a pleasant one.
“I believe the Darkspear tribe hasn’t forgotten who drove them from their islands,” she continued. “I believe every orc your age remembers being imprisoned for years in filthy camps, wallowing in despair and surviving on human scraps. I believe every human remembers the tales of the terrible Horde that caused so much destruction in its first invasion, and I believe they blame every orc for that, no matter what your people have done to redeem yourselves. And I remember very well that I and my first Forsaken were once loyal Alliance citizens. We died for that banner, and our reward was to be hunted as vermin. I believe that there will be no permanent peace with the Alliance—not unless we win it on the battlefield on our terms. And believing that, answer this, Saurfang: what use is delaying the inevitable?”
By the spirits, she is cold .
Silence hung between them for a while. When Saurfang spoke, his voice had calmed. “Then we should talk of preparing for the next war, not starting it today.”
“We are,” she said. “You are the only living creature I know who has conquered both Stormwind and Orgrimmar, Saurfang. You say a direct attack on Stormwind is impossible with our forces today. Is the same true for the Alliance? Do we have enough natural defenses in Orgrimmar to repel a surprise assault?”
No , Saurfang concluded instantly. He rebelled against that thought, but every counterargument he could think of died quickly. Orgrimmar was more exposed than Stormwind. Its port was outside the city walls and thus was vulnerable. The civil war against Garrosh Hellscream had proved that. It would not be simple to crack open Orgrimmar again—Saurfang had spent years making sure of it—but it was possible, and he knew how it could happen. Draw off our navy, land troops in Durotar and Azshara, isolate the city, begin the siege from two directions, wait for the city to starve . . . “It’s my duty to make sure that doesn’t happen, Warchief.”
“And if it does?”
Saurfang laughed bitterly. “Then the Horde charges into battle and dies honorably that day, because there will be nothing else left for us but a slow death inside these walls.”
Sylvanas did not laugh with him. “It is my duty to stop that from happening.”
“The boy in Stormwind will not start a war tomorrow,” Saurfang said.
Her eyebrows lowered. “With Genn Greymane in his ear? We will see.”
That was a concern, Saurfang had to concede. In the thick of the fighting against the Burning Legion, Greymane had launched a mission to kill Sylvanas. It had gotten some of Stormwind’s few remaining airships destroyed.
There were whispers that Greymane had ordered the attack without Anduin’s permission, but as far as Saurfang knew, Greymane had not been punished. The implications of that were troubling, and every possible explanation led to same conclusion: the old worgen would always drive the Alliance toward war
against the Horde.
Sylvanas’s eyes glittered. “And the boy is becoming a man. What if that man decides that he has no choice but to launch a war on us?”
She pointed at the map. There was a large marking in Silithus, the place where the Dark Titan’s blade had pierced the world. “No matter what I do, that will change the balance of power. Azerite sightings are coming in from across the world, Saurfang. We still do not know its full potential, nor does the Alliance. We only know that it will create a new generation of warfare. What will war look like in twenty years? In a hundred?”
Saurfang’s voice had dropped to a low growl. “A hundred years of peace is a worthy goal.” But as soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back. He knew what Sylvanas would say.
And he would agree with it.
The warchief did not disappoint. “If a hundred years of peace ends with a war that annihilates both sides, it was not a worthy goal. It was a coward’s bargain, trading the future for temporary comfort. The Horde’s children, and their children’s children, will curse our memories as they burn.” Her voice softened, but only slightly. “If life had any mercy at all, you and I would exist in peace for the rest of our days. We both have seen enough of war, but neither of us has seen the last of it.”
On that, you and I agree. “Do you have your mind made up, Warchief? Are you driving us to war? Despite the cost?”
“I see an opportunity. I need a plan to achieve it,” Sylvanas said.
“And if I cannot create a plan?”
“Then we do nothing, of course.”
“Then explain this ‘opportunity,’ Warchief,” he said. “Because I do not see it.”
“Yes, you do. You already said it,” she said. “Why is it impossible to invade Stormwind today?”
“We don’t have enough ships.” Saurfang looked at her suspiciously as he worked through the implications. How is that an opportunity? “We can commit our ships to transport or to war, but not to both—”
The answer slammed into him with such force that he literally staggered. His knees buckled, and he caught himself against the table with both arms. After a moment, he looked up at Sylvanas again, the blood draining from his face.
She had led him to a truth he had not seen, and it felt as if the entire world had changed. Only seconds ago, he had known to the very core of his being that war was impossible.
Now . . .
“You understand, yes?” Sylvanas asked quietly.
He said nothing. He couldn’t. He had been so focused on defending the Horde from the Legion thathe had been blind to the consequences of that war.
There had been a stalemate, of sorts, between the Alliance and the Horde for years. Both sides were strong and had forces placed all around the world. No action could be taken without suffering a swift reprisal. That was why Varian Wrynn had decided not to crush the Horde after the Siege of Orgrimmar—he knew how many lives it would have cost his people to see it through. And, in hindsight, it would have meant the death of Azeroth, for it had taken the full strength of both the Horde and the Alliance to ensure the world’s survival.
But the Broken Shore had altered the balance, hadn’t it? The disastrous counterstrike against the Legion had destroyed a significant portion of both factions’ fleets, and the months of warfare that followed only made the problem worse. The Horde and the Alliance still had strong positions on every continent, but they now lacked the means to reinforce them or maneuver their troops to another front.
Until our navies are rebuilt, the high seas are wild again.
That would take years to change. And once that happened, yes, that stalemate would return, and war would become too costly to pursue.
And by all the spirits, Sylvanas was right, no matter how strongly Saurfang tried to deny it. War would come again one day, and if both factions were strong, that war would raze entire nations. How many different peoples on Azeroth would become extinct in that fight?
But before then, both sides have vulnerabilities and a limited time to exploit them. For a price, we can survive.
“You believe we can secure Kalimdor,” he said. “The entire continent.” It wasn’t a question. The Alliance’s main strength was in the Eastern Kingdoms. The Horde’s was in Kalimdor.
Sylvanas inclined her head slightly. “Yes.”
Saurfang was already thinking it through. Where would the Horde need to strike? Mount Hyjal?
Azuremyst Isle? No—there was only one true center of Alliance military power, where forces were staged and could be projected to the rest of the continent. “Darnassus,” he breathed. “Teldrassil, the World Tree. Warchief, even if it is possible—”
“ Is it possible?” she said. “If we marched an army to Darkshore to take the World Tree, would the Alliance be able to stop us?”
No. Not if the attack caught them by surprise. Not if the Horde could avoid getting bogged down in Ashenvale . . .
“High Overlord,” Sylvanas pressed, “speak your mind. Is it possible?”
“It is possible,” Saurfang said slowly, “but not without serious consequences.”
“Indeed.”
“We would win one battle, not the war,” Saurfang said. “If we shift the balance of power, the Alliance will respond in kind. Our nations in the Eastern Kingdoms would be vulnerable to retaliation.”
“Especially mine,” Sylvanas said.
He was glad she had said it instead of him. What target would Greymane demand the Alliance attack but Sylvanas’s seat of power? “I do not know if we can protect the Undercity, not while the Alliance is united against us.”
“And what if they were not?” Sylvanas smiled again. “What if they were divided?”
Then the Horde wins. “How would that happen? If we launch a sneak attack on the night elves’ home, the entire Alliance will seek vengeance.”
“At first, yes. They will be furious, united against our aggression,” she said. “But what will the night elves want more than anything? They will demand that the Alliance help retake their conquered home.”
But the Alliance will not have the strength, not in Kalimdor, not with their fleets.
Again. She had done it again. She had opened his mind to a new possibility, and the world shifted under his feet. The strategic implications spun out before him like the Maelstrom. “It will take years before they can even consider retaking Darnassus.”
“You understand, High Overlord,” Sylvanas said. “Think it through. What happens next?”
“They might try to conquer the Undercity . . . but Darnassus becomes our hostage against that. The night elves will not allow your city to fall if they fear it means you will destroy theirs . The same goes for a strike against Silvermoon.” Saurfang’s thoughts raced. She’s right. This could work. “And even if the Alliance agrees to retake Darnassus . . . The Gilneans!”
Sylvanas’s eyes disappeared beneath the edge of her hood. “They lost their nation years ago. The Gilneans will be furious if the Alliance acts to help the kaldorei first,” she said. “The boy in Stormwind will have a political crisis on his hands. He is smart, but he is not experienced. What happens when Genn Greymane, Malfurion Stormrage, and Tyrande Whisperwind all demand differing actions? He is not a high king like his father. The respect the others give him is a courtesy, not an obligation. Anduin Wrynn will rapidly become a leader who cannot act. If the Alliance will not march as one, each nation will act in its own interest. Each army will return home to protect their lands from us.”
“And that is how you defeat Stormwind.” Saurfang was in awe. It was brilliant . Destroying the Alliance wouldn’t take a thousand victories. It would take one. With a single strategic push, the pressure on the Alliance would cripple them for years, just as long as they could not conjure any miracles on the battlefield. “You destroy the Alliance from within. Their military might counts for nothing if their members stand alone. Then we strike peace with the individual nations and carve them away from the Alliance, piece by piece.”
“If you want your enemy to bleed to death, you inflict a wound that cannot heal. That is why I need you to make the plan, High Overlord,” Sylvanas said. “The moment our strike begins, there will be no turning back. We can divide the Alliance only if the war to conquer Darnassus does not unite them against us. That only happens if the Horde wins an honorable victory, and I am not blind—the Horde does not trust me to wage war that way.”
Once again, she was right. Saurfang chose his next words very carefully. “It will take time to prepare this. It may not even be possible, not with the Alliance watching our every move.”
Sylvanas’s smile broadened. “I believe their spies will soon become our greatest assets.”
Her arguments turn her biggest skeptic into her most important ally. Because without Saurfang, none of it would have been possible.
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That’s an interesting quote. So that writer never say walked out the back door of Orgrimmar after Cata.
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Also we had an entire short story devoted to Delaryn, her perspective, etc. She was very central to the Alliance short story we were given in a two-faction short story series.
And then she was killed and given over to the Horde as their new character.
Sucks especially more when there are players who actually want less story focus about faction leaders and more about secondary characters to help flesh the playable races more and offer new perspectives beyond just a single leader.
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What do you think I was referencing when I first responded to you on this?
Admittedly I misremembered it as a hundred years, when she only went up to fifty. That the Alliance might attack in fifty years was not a valid justification to go to war. Saurfang bought into an invalid reason because he was so willing to buy any of Sylvanas’ lies because she was Warchief:
- Saurfang considered, not for the first time, that Sylvanas wasn’t telling him everything.
Does that matter? Saurfang asked himself.
No, he decided. She wasn’t lying about the importance of this objective, and if she had plans beyond the coming battle, well . . . she was warchief, was she not?
Plans beyond that battle that she had always had with the Jailer. And even in A Good War she had been lying from the start:
- The kaldorei knew they were outnumbered. They knew their homeland was lost. Maybe a few of them knew in their hearts—just as she knew—that Darnassus would one day burn to ashes.
And Saurfang was wrong even on this evaluation, as the Night Elves won the Darkshore Warfront even without the Alliance fleets.
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That writer didn’t even remember that the Night Elves sent espionage forces to Quel’Thalas in the Blood Elf starting experience:
https://twitter.com/RoBrooks13/status/1026641679757991936
However, what you’re reference is even more interesting, though, given that was a war Garrosh started, and even twice after that having made it to the gates of Orgrimmar (SoO and SoO 2.0: War Campaign Finale) and the Alliance have just left Orgrimmar in peace.
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What he’s referencing was the Alliance being repelled from Orgrimmar’s north gates during Azshara questing. So not really any version of “left in peace.”
You still get credit for the end of Mists though, so once. But only partial credit since you don’t say why it’s interesting.
Imagine all the bloodshed that could have been solved if Saurfang was as good a debater as he was a general.
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Doesn’t he tell Garrosh in WotLK he’d kill him then and there before he allowed him to take the Horde down the dark path again? lol
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He did. It was my favorite Saurfang moment.
I can kind of buy him agreeing to the War of Thorns with the right arguments. I can’t fathom him ever agreeing to it if Sylvanas of all people was the one to propose it.
Like, come on. It’s Sylvanas. She absolutely has ulterior motives.
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But not totally on their own… They had major support from the Gilneans…something that was not part of Horde calculation.
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Which just shows Sylvanas and Saurfang being even more wrong in their evaluations, as they expected Genn and the Gilneans to abandon the Alliance instead of helping the Night Elves as part of their calculations.
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To be fair if your experience with Genn dated from the RTS, that’s exactly what one would expect. He was a complete nozzle during the 2nd and 3rd wars.
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Goes to show how little Sylvanas knew about the Night Elves. She didn’t know how much of a good influence they were on Genn and the Gilneans. She expected Malfurion to be aghast at the Night Elves killing the Horde in horrific manners. She expected the Night Elves’ hope to break. And she was just always wrong.
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Maybe Sylvanas didn’t break the hope of the night elves, but Blizzard broke the hope of night elf fans
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Maybe Blizzard will try to have Calia save Night Elf fans from the hopelessness same as the Undead Night Elves.
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I don’t think that a reaction is recorded. Sylvannas did think that the night elves took their time to find their brutality and that cost them.
Malfurion would be very upset to see what his people have done, Sylvanas thought.
Malfurion’s narrative response, at timestamp 1m:23s:
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Aside from giving a troll a bit of a hair cut, Malfurion’s kills in that sequence are all pretty quick and clean. So I don’t get it. He may be engaged in a little bit of terror on said troll, but not the protracted slow death by torture we’re talking about.