I think the division between the Alliance and the Kaldorei is being vastly overblown by many players - especially when they think it should give rise to a factional division like we’re seeing with Saurfang and Sylvanas. Tyrande and Anduin do have a disagreement over Darkshore, but nothing that breaks what is established in Elegy. The Alliance cannot spare their full force to retake Darkshore, and Tyrande wants to make a push sooner rather than later. Both parties make valid points, and I can’t really say either are in the wrong…
But really, none of it drives a wedge in the relationship between the two outside of some harsh words. Anduin DOES send people to aid in Darkshore - both by condoning Genn’s support and by sending the player (subjective though, maybe the player is a Kaldorei - for this example, I’m a Human Paladin). The Tyrande of 8.1 remains consistent with Tyrande of Elegy. She’s just rightfully frustrated.
Well, by that logic, the Alliance is supporting the Night Elves in Darkshore in the form of Genn and the player, as Grandblade said. I’m just saying, Anduin wasn’t saying “oh, we’re just going to give up on Northern Kalimdor, because F the Night elves.” He was saying that reclaiming Night Elf land is a central war goal of the Alliance, and that the Alliance will devote its resources to achieving that goal once the opportunity is right. As in, once the Horde navy is sidelined, allowing the Alliance to bring its full forces to bear on Darkshore and Ashenvale. Tyrande’s decision, while understandable, was also emotionally driven, and imo incorrect.
genn not only helps her, he helps her with anduin’s blessing, anduin does not even try to persuade genn to keep his forces here he is just like “okay, have fun”
It does also help sooth things over that Genn decided to support Tyrande on Darkshore.
Anduin also does not interfere in Genn’s decision to do so (in fact he seems relieved); Genn does not chastise Anduin for his decision to postpone a Darkshore invasion till a more opportune time (which considering the difficulties of that front, was the right call if you’re thinking about the WHOLE Alliance War Effort); and Anduin sends the murder hobos for support (and they’re one person armies).
With Genn supporting Anduin and Tyrande there really shouldn’t be much of a rift, and tbh if Tyrande turns out to be so butthurt with Anduin for prioritizing the needs of the ENTIRE Alliance at that moment (over the needs of ONLY the Kal’dorei) than she’s the one at fault for creating and maintaining it (no matter how justified her desire to retake Darkshore was at that moment).
Assuming you are talking about the Alliance-Horde War from Cataclysm and MoP, a large portion of the Eastern Alliance did back up the kaldorei across Kalimdor, from the Barrens, through Desolace I believe. In fact, unless I’m mistaken, the main reason the Alliance pushed into the Barrens was because they wanted a second front in Kalimdor to relieve the pressure from the night elves up north.
If you’re talking about the War of the Thorns, then the most help the kaldorei got was portals to help them get out of Darnassus because the entire Alliance military was focused on Silithus.
We can’t really say the Eastern Alliance was backing up the Kaldorei here. They were supporting Theramore. The Kaldorei pretty much had no aid in all of those war, except maybe limited Dreanei support.
We don’t actually know this, but its more likely that Theramore was the Alliance’s only line of supply from the East. As I said, the humans were, as always, prioritizing their own interests before the Kaldorei. Which remains true in BfA, where the Alliance has prioritized Lordaeron, Arathi and Kul Tiras before the reclaimation of NIght Elf lands. Which is why Tyrande finally leaves.
Pretty sure in Wolfheart the EK Alliance is fighting alongside the Night Elves in Ashenvale.
I don’t think it’s fair to say the humans only helped out in Kalimdor for Theramore. They clearly cared for the nelves, as they fought and died alongside us in our lands.
I thought the only reason Theramore was at risk is because they moved to do just that, make a second front in the south to help the Night Elves. I want to say either Wolfheart, Tides of War, The Shattering, or Chronicle 3 outlines this.
Well, first issue there is that Richard Knaack frequently used Night Elves as damsels in distress for his misogynistic story telling. But putting that aside, the Alliance was not there to aid the Night Elves, where just happened to be there for a diplomatic meeting.
No, Theramore moved to open another front in the Horde because the Horde attacked Northwatch Hold, it had nothing to do with helping the Kaldorei. It was an opportunity Theramore capitalized on, not something they did specifically to help the elves.
Yes, the EK Alliance very much came to the aid of the Night Elves in Wolfheart. But that was during Varian’s Alliance, when Varian himself was on the frontlines in Ashenvale.
This is now Anduin’s Alliance, where Anduin will say he feels sad or something about the plight of the Night Elves, but deny Tyrande aid when she asks for it. Even Genn, his biggest supporter, to the point many jeeringly call him Anduin’s lapdog, is like “Woah. These people need help”, and acts on it. Even if it is mostly at the behest of his wife (Mia for High Queen? Please?)
Look, you can ascribe whatever selfish motivations you want to the EK Alliance. It doesn’t change the fact that the Alliance, by opening a front against the Horde in the Barrens, helped the Night Elves, whether that was their main goal or not. Every single soldier, every single weapon, and every single coin the Horde expended to fend off the Alliance in the Barrens, and in Stonetalon, was one less resource the Horde could send north to Ashenvale. The Alliance, from Theramore and Northwatch Hold, took a lot of pressure off of us, and in doing so, helped us to defend our land. Opening up a second front against a shared enemy is one of the most valuable things a military ally can do, and it is what the Alliance did for us.
If anything, I would argue that the War of Thorns demonstrated just how exposed we were in Kalimdor, without the Alliance presence in Theramore. Would the Horde have still attacked us, with an Alliance military stronghold breathing down their necks to the South? If they did, would they have been willing to commit as many soldiers as they did, or would they have held some back, to guard against a counterattack from Theramore? Even further, if Thereamore still existed, maybe they would have sent troops to Silithus instead of us, leaving our army in place to fend off Horde aggression. The point is, the Alliance has been a much more valuable ally then you give them credit for, and the War of Thorns shows just how bad of a position the Night Elves would be in, if they had to fight the entire Horde all on their own.
Not really… The Horde attacked Ashenvale and Northwatch, thus opening up a two front war by themselves.
The Night Elves near single handedly beat by the Horde during that War. In Tides of War, Theramore was destroyed along with the Stormwind Navy, leaving the Night Elves to fight the remainder of the War alone. Despite that, the combined forced of the Alliance and Horde couldn’t breach the gate of Ogrimmar without the Night Elves…
The Alliance committed to that war, and took the pressure of the Night Elves. Again, the point is, the Alliance, with their military presence in Kalimdor, forced the Horde to divide their strength, not allowing them to commit everything to an invasion of Ashenvale. Therefore, the Alliance, with their military presence in Kalimdor, helped the Night Elves in a real and significant way.
My understanding is that the Night Elves won Ashenvale during Cata, and therefore before the events Tides of War, meaning that we won while the above mentioned second front was still at full strength. I never did read Tides of War, though I am familiar with most of the plot points. If I am mistaken about the timeline of events, please let me know.
My point is the Alliance has helped us in the past, and are certainly helping us now, providing us with a safe place to live as our people deal with one of the worst events in our history, and dedicating their military might toawards the defeat of our shared enemies.
Now, the Night Elves are pretty weakened and are in no position to survive against the Horde without allies.
As well, Anduin really wants to reclaim Darkshore for his allies, but, concerned with the Alliance as a whole, he literally CANT. He has no troops to spare, and seeing that we needed them all to stop the Horde from claiming one of the strongest navies in the world, he was right.