Obligatory Shilling
I think the cosmic forces are cool. I’m extremely interested in where the lore of the game is going, and I don’t mind exploring the cosmos and all that crazy stuff like the First Ones. Mythological and mystical stuff like that fascinates me.
Also, as always, I love the cinematic artwork and the music itself. I think those parts are brilliantly done (as they always are), and it does such an amazing job at creating an intriguing atmosphere. It’s extremely pleasant to watch on its own.
The Big Issue
With that said: don’t sacrifice your storytelling to further lore implications. There is absolutely no way the team couldn’t have come up with a more satisfying ending to that cinematic to contribute to Tyrande’s ongoing character arc.
I think it’s obvious that Tyrande losing her power on the cusp of strangling Sylvanas is implying that Elune doesn’t want Sylvanas dead (which I don’t even have a problem with since that could go in so many directions), but it feels like plot armor, which just isn’t good.
If you’ve been following the story, what follows is Tyrande dealing with the fact that she’s become overloaded by Elune’s power and she basically needs to undergo a ritual that allows her to gain control of her power.
What the Cinematic Should've Been
Just my own opinion of what the cinematic should've been:Have the same battle between Sylvanas and Tyrande up until Tyrande pins Sylvanas and strangles her. Then, actually have Tyrande… y’know… mortally wound Sylvanas. The Nine (Sylvanas’ nine val’kyr and a boss in Sanctum of Domination) could then swoop in and save Sylvanas. Obligatory “she gets restored and empowered even more by the Maw” to become a raid boss, but obviously not in the cinematic.
(Also yes, I know that Sylvanas’ val’kyr died for her. Not sure how Blizzard got around making all nine of them alive since they were already bound to the Shadowlands and they loved touting that “once you die in the Shadowlands you die for good hur dur!”)
Then, after Sylvanas is taken away, Elune intervenes by draining the power. That way, it’s not a consequence of her control over her own relationship of Elune’s Wrath that causes Sylvanas to escape, but rather a result of threatening the life of Sylvanas by actually doing significant damage to her.
I think that would’ve been a great way to show how powerful Tyrande already was without completely crapping on her character development (and that of the night elves) while also showing that she still has more to overcome, as well as still providing the same general implication that Elune wants something done with Sylvanas.
Final Thoughts
Essentially, what I’m trying to say is that Blizzard doesn’t need to sacrifice storytelling for lore development. These aren’t mutually inclusive things that must be sacrificed to allow for the development of the other.
I don’t think it’s too difficult to come up with a way to respect characters in a more intriguing manner of storytelling while going down the same general lore path. I mean… I typed this up in like 15 minutes on my own. There’s no way they can’t do better.
