Ask the Commander/Hero/Champion/PC to deal with the problem alone
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A form of Quarantine would be the smartest most realistic move if I took the matter seriously, however doing so would enable Mal’ganis to essentially gain an Undead army right on the realms doorstep.
Unless I got reinforcements to tie up the dead in Stratholmes chokepoints Lorderon could be overrunned by the damn things, not to mention losing my own life making a last stand with Uther as we bitterly fought tooth and nail to slow the unstoppable horde of living dead spilling out into the surrounding landscape.
Given that outcome I’d have to send some kind of support into Stratholme to stop Mal’ganis while attempting to save as many people who aren’t infected as possible, an almost impossible task but standing by and doing nothing could be much worse.
Arthas simply mitigated causalities of his own people by treating everyone in Stratholme as hostile targets. Its a cold move but you could lose many more people trying to save who you can. Plus in the book he was running ragged and didn’t really stop to consider other options.
In the grand scheme, morality aside; Stratholme was necessary. The people within were doomed. The people that likely had the means to not eat the grain and survive off of their own reserves were a minimal number and there’s no telling if they’d survive when the commonfolk began to turn.
A key thing to remember about the Scourge is that they’re animated corpses- they don’t fear, they don’t succumb to normal injuries like normal human beings and are exceedingly dangerous as a swarm. What they kill ends up rising again, causing their numbers to multiply and spread like a cancer. That’d be hard to contain. It might had been best for them to go down while they were still frail living humans, than undead monsters.
A strong quarantine was necessary and were it not contained at Stratholme, would had expedited Lordaeron and SIlvermoon’s problems much more quickly.
There’s also a malicious manipulator at work that would had hastened the end result. Mal’Ganis probably would had weakened quarantine enough for it to rapidly spread outside of Stratholme, were it not met with such a heavy hand like Arthas’.
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Stratholme is still burning and full of undead to this day. That alone proves the entire thing was a horrible decision. Not to mention it was exactly what Ner’zhul wanted him to do and it was an action that ultimately cascaded into the destruction of Lordearon/caused so many deaths.
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No.
The problem with the “There’s no other way” mentality is that it’s inherently arrogant to assume that, if you can’t think of any other way, there must not be any other ways. And it causes you to stop looking for other ways.
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Now imagine had he not purged the city. And in what way did Ner’zhul want the purge? City’s dead either way - difference is the bigger army.
You can go for the temptation to win story angle (which is the theme played out with Arthas), but that only applies to Frostmourne, ultimately. A whole number of things could have not happened in tandem with the culling. Northrend, seeking artifacts, picking up Frostmourne.
This seems to be the most common counter, but that in of itself doesn’t present a solution, however. And there was only so much time before the Undead started turning.
Overthinking and slow leaders doom their cause as much as the hot headed ones. Leaders sometimes have to make difficult decisions and expect obedience to have their plans come fruition. They can’t always have advisors second guess their decision. Nuances will always exist however, sure, but Stratholme was a matter of time.
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There were necromancers in Stratholme alongside other heavy-hitters that doesn’t include Mal’ganis. If a Quarantine was performed then the Necromancers would continue resurrecting undead that fell while they continued to attack the perimeter until it broke.
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That’s kind of the point. The city was doomed no what matter what anyone did. The ultimate irony is, all the culling did was hand Strat over to the Scourge that much quicker.
I think it was ‘better’ than the alternative. Had Arthas stayed outside and tried to quarantine, Mal’ganis would quickly convert the city. They would be undead and mind controlled, but Arthas would still end up killing his own people- and Mal’ganis would fortify the city into a base.
On the other hand, Stratholme begins the slippery slope into darkness. Arthas feels bad about killing people when they technically aren’t undead yet, and it enrages him to get revenge- leading to frostmourne- leading to the fall of Lordaeron and Silvermoon and Archimond coming. Maybe if he just purged Stratholme without feeling bad about it, things would have turned out better, but… that’s not very nice.
Is it ethical to kill a large number of people infected with a zombie plague before they actually turn into hostile mind-controlled zombies? If there is a good chance that you can cure them before they turn into zombies, then i’d say not. But at the time, there was no cure, and even if there was it was probably too late.
So… lets say Arthas convinces as many people as he can to put themselves in restraints before they turn into zombies. Arthas fights off the hostile necromancers and zombies, and is left with a city that has a small population of zombies tied to chairs. What the heck are they going to do with the zombies? You can’t just leave them there, he’d have to garrison the city, and watch them 24/7. You can’t kill them can you? or is Timmy not protected under the Geneva conventions? He’d have to section off a piece of Stratholme and turn it into a zombie-holding facility. (Of course, that’s not going to happen. Undead were killed on sight.)
That’s the most ethical solution I can come up with. It might not have even worked, (would you be convinced to tie yourself to a chair during a zombie attack?) . Also, it could backfire if people refused to cooperate, and he would waste time having to fight people he would have otherwise killed quickly.
and even if it did work, the results are still ugly… except maybe Arthas doesn’t go down the slippery slope.
Magic.
Magic is always the solution.
Honestly, yeah. In the deus ex of WoW Jaina can just cast a spell on Strat to keep it guarded until help arrives. I mean, she already does stuff like that.
Holding the city with men probably wouldn’t have worked, but there was another way to at least buy time. He could have ordered his troops to collapse the entrances and any sewer outlets, it wouldn’t save the people inside or stop the scourge but it would slow them down enough for him to do as Mediv asked and take some of his people to Kalimdor.
But I recognize that probably wouldn’t worked out after the “seal the city” part of the plan. Most likely this would have occurred once he got back home.
“Father, nobles of Lordaeron we have to evacuate as many people as we can to Kalimdor before the undead overwhelm us!”
Gets thrown into a cellar.
Noble: I’m so sorry your majesty but clearly your son has gone mad, saying our only hope is to go to a supposed land of purple tree elves.
“You’re making a huge mistake, they’ll kill us all!”
Noble: Be quiet and stay in there until you are no longer insane.
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The humane choice: Sitting back, putting the city under strict quarantine, etc… would only have served the scourge.
How many soldiers did he have to quarantine the city with ? How many people in Stratholme ? That’s the amount of scourge he would have had to deal with not 12 hours from when he first got there. All bent on getting out of the city through his men.
In the end, he did the best he could… and it was monstrous.
the courage to do what was necessary
Regardless of the choice he made, it was a lose-lose situation and that was the purpose of it. If Arthas chose to sit back and try to find an alternative solution, Mal’ganis would just walk into the city uncontested and turn everyone into mindless zombies for the Legion (via the Lich King).
After Mal’ganis “retreats” from the city, you can see the survivors burning the dead. You can see them doing it when Jaina walks throughout the city when she is approached by Uther then later Medivh.
That was the point. The purpose of Stratholme was to bait Arthas into going to Northrend on a revenge trip. Then force him to pick up Frostmourne if he had any chance of surviving. It is also why Kel’thuzad name drops Mal’ganis as the “true mastermind” behind the scourge and that he will be in Stratholme.
Ner’zhul had convinced Archimonde and Legion that Arthas was the key to victory. Because of that, the scourges role at the start was to bait Arthas into going to Northrend and find Frostmourne. It is why Kel’thuzad name drops Mal’ganis as the “true mastermind” behind the scourge and says that Mal’ganis will be in Stratholme if Arthas wants any further proof. It is also why Mal’ganis was stunned when Ner’zhul gives permission for Arthas to kill the dreadlord.
Kel’Thuzad : I serve the dreadlord Mal’Ganis. He commands the Scourge that will cleanse this land and establish a paradise of eternal darkness!
Seek him out at Stratholme if you need further proof.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/The_Cult_of_the_Damned_(WC3_Human)
In secret however Ner’zhul was going to use Arthas as a vessel so he could be free of the Frozen Throne and the Legion.
Tichondrius: The Lich King’s young death knight has been performing well… almost too well. I begin to wonder if Ner’zhul has ulterior motives for his new… champion.
Mephistroth: The human means nothing in the long run. Ner’zhul wouldn’t dare undermine our efforts now.
Anetheron: Our only concern is that the Scourge accomplishes what it was created to do. Archimonde will have all our heads if we do not keep control of this situation!
https://wow.gamepedia.com/The_Dreadlords_Convene_(WC3_Undead)
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This does not really answer the question.
I already acknowledged the ‘descent into madness’ angle being played out, but problem with that is Stratholme isn’t the make it or break event for Arthas. He could have not gone to Northrend, he could have not used Frostmourne. Hell, he could have failed at convincing the army of not going home. It is also possible to say the culling was correct and also that Arthas should not have gone to Northrend/picked up Frostmourne.
Except that Ner’zhuls knows the type of person Arthas was. Ner’zhul had chosen Arthas to be his champion long before the scourge even began, as Kel’thuzad says to Arthas after the fall of Quel’thalas. So knowing that Arthas will be consumed by vengeance after being forced to slaughter his people as an act of mercy is why Stratholme happened.
Arthas: The Lich King knew that I would kill you?
Kel’Thuzad: Of course. He chose you to be his champion long before the Scourge even began.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/The_Revelation_(WC3_Undead)
Except that he was led to believe that Frostmourne would be the key to save his kingdom from the scourge. His base was surrounded on all sides and he knows they won’t last that long against the full might of the scourge in Northrend. Arthas’ story is a dark reflection of King Arthur’s mythos.
Mal’Ganis: The Dark Lord said you would come. This is where your journey ends, boy. Trapped and freezing at the roof of the world, with only death to sing the tale of your doom.
Muradin Bronzebeard: This looks bad. We’re completely surrounded.
Arthas: There’s still one chance. Help me claim Frostmourne! If it’s as powerful as you said, it might tilt the scales in our favor!
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Frostmourne_(WC3_Human)
That is why he burned down their ships. So they were more or less forced to see their mission completed.
After Arthas culled Stratholme, Arthas approached Jaina and told her that he is going to Northrend to hunt Mal’ganis. Jaina pleaded with him not to go but Arthas ignored her. Later on Muradin, knowing that Frostmourne was cursed given the warning on the dais, tried to reason with Arthas that it was not worth it. Arthas however at this point was so consumed by rage and vengeance that he would be willing to sacrifice anything if it had a chance to “save his kingdom”.
Jaina Proudmoore: He came to me before he left. I pleaded with him not to go. I told him it sounded like a trap!
Uther the Lightbringer: Where?
Jaina Proudmoore: Northrend. He’s gone to Northrend to hunt Mal’Ganis.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Divergent_Courses_(WC3_Human)
Muradin Bronzebeard: Hold, lad. There’s an inscription on the dais. It’s a warning. It says, “Whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit.” Oh, I should’ve known. The blade is cursed! Let’s get the hell out of here!
Arthas: I would gladly bear any curse to save my homeland.
Muradin Bronzebeard: Leave it be, Arthas. Forget this business and lead your men home.
Arthas: Damn the men! Nothing shall prevent me from having my revenge, old friend. Not even you.
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Frostmourne_(WC3_Human)
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Yes, this already was addressed and precisely why it went the way it did culminating in him picking up the Frostmourne. One may state whether Stratholme was the royal flush hand in a poker game by Ner’zhul, but Stratholme was but one of many events. As you say yourself, this was predicted long before Stratholme, showing that Stratholme was not necessarily the make it or break it event. It was a series of necessary events.
That said, none of this disproves the culling as the wrong choice, and it is still possible to say something could have been done to avoid Arthas falling… unless we accept Arthas’ character as necessarily static and predestined to corruption.
After Arthas realized for sure that Stratholme was doomed, he could have did what Medivh said, and rolled out… completely avoiding his corruption. There would be way more survivors, and if the Scourge even managed to bring back Kel’thuzad and summon Archimonde, the Battle for Mount Hyjal would have been more decisive and there would probably be way more survivors of the third war overall.
This has me wondering, though, if Medivh ever spoke to Anasterian, Kael’thas, or even Sylvanas. Maybe that would explain why she thought she was a fool- for not following Medivh’s advice. Did the High Elves doom themselves as well?
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Which is pretty much what happened. The plagued grain had already been delivered to every outlying town in Lordaeron so Arthas’ actions did not contain the situation in Stratholme. The Prophet had said that the only plausible action was to evacuate to Kalimdor. And if others besides Jaina had heeded him, more would have been saved.
Arthas’ action condemmed everyone in the city that could have been saved and did nothing for those who were to fall.
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