Please correct me if I’m wrong, because I would actually be happy to patch the lore holes I found in this campaign. Right now I want to discuss this strictly from the lore perspective and from the point of view of my character who is going through this story.
The problem is not even the information itself. The problem is how it is presented, and especially the reactions of the main characters. To be fair, I am playing in Russian, but I highly doubt there are huge differences from the original version.
The fact that elves originate from trolls is already common knowledge in Azeroth. This is literally something the world already understands. We can even remember the Legion quest (I don’t remember the exact name) where blood elves mocked night elves with a troll tablet saying “your ancestors.” So everyone already knows this. This is basically history class material in Azeroth.
So why does this meeting between trolls, elves, and haranir feel like the “biggest revelation of the century”? Why do 10 000-year-old elves react as if they are hearing for the first time in their lives that they have troll ancestry?
(Citations in my translation):
Zekhan: “Maybe this is a good thing. Our ancestors were an ancient people of hunters and guardians of hidden worlds.”
Zekhan: “Does it really matter that elves share the same origin?”
Rokhan: “It matters a great deal, Zekhan.”
Queen Talanji: “Our people have fought with elves for thousands of years. They will not simply forget the past.”
This dialogue actually shows the real point much better. The problem is not discovering that elves and trolls are related. Everyone already knew that. The problem is that elves and trolls are discovering that they share the same ancient origin and that their histories are connected.
However, some NPC reactions completely destroy this idea.
For example:
Lor’themar Theron: “We share a lineage with trolls? With the Amani? This is… absurd!”
Let’s ignore the fact that players often know lore before the characters do. From an in-universe perspective, this reaction is still extremely strange.
The leaders of Azeroth and my character already know that the haranir existed in the distant past, that some of them went underground, and that others remained on the surface. Some possible connections are already obvious. This is literally information that my character could have discovered while exploring Harandar and then shared with everyone else.
The possibility that the surface haranir eventually became connected to troll civilizations is not some impossible idea that nobody could ever imagine.
So why does Lor’themar, who is supposed to be intelligent, calculating, and someone who has lived for thousands of years, react as if someone just hit him in the head with a brick of realization? This is the part I genuinely do not understand.
And I can accept that Blizzard probably wanted to present this information clearly for newer players, even if it creates problems for people who already know the lore. I don’t want to overanalyze everything. The general idea is understandable.
The problem is not that the characters are uncomfortable with this revelation. The problem is that they are surprised by the basic information itself.
But then the later dialogue creates an even bigger question.
Zul’jan: “Hmph! You expect me to believe scribbles on a wall?”
Orweyna: “Our magic only works on our kin. If you are not related to us, why are there paintings with Amani memories here?”
What exactly is this supposed to mean?
Does this imply that the player character who was sent to Harandar and experienced this entire campaign must genetically be a troll or an elf?
Because then what happens with a human character, for example? How did they see these visions? How did they complete quests connected to these paintings and memories?
The only explanation I can come up with is that the player character was chosen by Alnara (or Azeroth itself), and that this connection is more important than blood. That interpretation actually makes sense with Warcraft’s themes.
But even then, it is still very strange.