That’s interesting, because you keep bringing Jarod up, even though his role leading the Sentinels was pre-WotA.
But ok, let’s talk about just the post-War temples of Elune. Got one in Darnassus and one in Val’sharah, so that’s two. You have numerous shrines and holy places in Kalimdor actively used in-game. And I’m obligated to point out the sheer number of places that have names based on Elune or the moon.
Cenarius doesn’t come close. Claiming otherwise is just done out of ignorance. You claim to be a nelf fan, but you’re here trying to diminish the reverence night elves have for their goddess, in spite of it being SO PREVALENT that npcs were coded with voice lines of “goddess bless you”, but no “Cenarius bless you”. Even the mighty druids pay respect to Elune, and you think the priesthood devoted to her are… Second fiddle?
This is such a dumb point, i cannot even believe any of you mean it earnestly. You gotta be making it disingenuously.
Actually yes. Outside of Tyrande they’re pretty much all third raters compared to the Night Elf Druids. Malfurion was a major leader in WOTA, while Tyrande was Princess in Peril (although that did humorously swapped in Legion) and the one who led the big smackdown on Archimonde, who exiled the Highbourne. and who was the key figure (and target) in the War of Thorns. Fandral led the War of the Burning Sands even with most of his fellow Druids in hibernation. ArchDruid Renferal (a lady btw) was a key figure in the Alteraac Valley Battleground. She would later give up her life for her people in the War of Thorns after having summoned Ivus the Forest Lord to it.
Outside of Tyrande, the only noted Night Elf Priest was her immediate predecessor.
Given that WOTA is essentially the reason and the cause of the Sundering it’s not “pre”.
You seem to be under the delusion that making the Night Elves an Amazon style matriarchy is a good picture for the race. it’s not. Amazons are a male-created fetish image that originated from the most misogynistic society of the Classical Age.
The actual lore is that in the world we had one active temple of Elune in the game. the one in Val’Sharrah was a ruin, and since you did bring up that place, Druids outnumbered the Sisterhood six ways from Sunday.
You’re the one with the headcannon if you imagine there were temples in Azeroth other than the one in Darnassus that were anything but abandoned ruins in various stages of decay. Unless of course, you count Naga.
See, the problem with your whole line of argument is that the game contradicts you. Factually, you have been shown why you are wrong. The best you have offered as a retort is hypotheticals, spectulations, and an argument that “the canon is bad”. You refuse to accept that canon is canon, favoring your personal fanon while calling it canon.
That isn’t an attack. That is just the argument tactics you have made.
Factually, the night elves have always revered Elune above Cenarius and other wild gods. Factually, the Sisterhood of Elune is their religious center. Factually, the druids are not, nor have they ever been, nor are they even portrayed as a religious institution. They respect and honor the wild gods. They pray to Elune.
That you refuse to accept or even acknowledge this is on you. Pointing it out is no more a personal attack than you accusing myself or others of “making night elves into fantasy Amazons”.
Except me pointing out your refusal to accept the lore is factually correct. Your accusations are not. We’re not making night elves into anything.
Except no. Night elves had been tending to it before the Legion invaded again. Night elf priestesses. Because it held the Tear of Elune.
In the zone, sure. As would be expected. It’s the center of druidic traditions (at least for the night elves).
And unlike any wild gods, Elune was still important enough for there to be a whole temple dedicated just to her in the middle of this center of druidic traditions and learning.
Because Elune and her worship was that important even to the druids, that they had a whole temple, staffed with priestesses, even in their sacred place.
Also considering that to the Night Elves (and the Tauren), Elune (Mu’sha) is the mother of Cenarius. The Demigod that taught Malfurion, the first official druid. I think having a temple dedicated to the mother of your patron demigod in his home terf would be very important. Same reason why the Zandalari considered the remains of Rezans mother to be extremely important to them. Even though we can kinda infer that Xibala was not a Wild God.
Although I could see the Val’sharah one being built after the main Temple of Elune, the one in Surumar (now the Tomb of Sargeras) was tainted by the Legion during the WotA and sunk to the bottom of the ocean during the Sundering.
Sidenote: I do hope we do find out what purpose the Titan facility that Agewynn repurposed was originally for. I would also want to know what the original name of Ahn’Qiraj was. Unless it was part of Uldum as a whole.
Yes, that is why Zerde and I have been using the Devs words about a “call back” to WC 3 when they were a matriarchal society - meaning they no longer are. We are using actual words the Devs used.
It is the people who keep claiming the kaldorei remain a matriarchal society that are ignoring the words of the Devs.
Also - I believe Blizzard’s removal of “Gender” and replacing it with “Body Type” speaks volumes about their position on gender stratification - in case their words about a “call back” did not already make it clear enough for some.
This is probably the worst lore discussion thread I have had the misfortune of lurking through.
So many fan fictions, confirmation bias, blatant representation and etc and etc.
Y’all are getting frustrated over something Blizzard never bothered to world build for. It’s all vague speculation and the “dev’s” word is being treated like GRRM’s commentary on his world where every little hint gives us a clue about the master plan.
There is no master plan. These guys make it up as they go and if they feel like it they hit the reverse button and redo it.
Yeah Blizzard is going full inclusive politics on this. It has nothing to do with unique cultures, conflicts or world building.
Its a game, they want to be inclusive and they view that as more important than any hard world building rules for cultures or races in the warcraft universe. Its a marketing decision, not a story decision.
Except if you listen to the interview, he’s talking about artistic imagery. He’s not making a declaration about the current state of night elven society. Throughout the entire interview, Terran is doing that. Y’all just look at this one line, willingly misrepresent what it is, and decide it’s the new state of the lore.
Because as we all know, it’s always been the art director to tell us changes to the status quo.
EDIT: For clarity, the full line:
“And this is of course a call back to that classic Warcraft III image. … The male night elf and the female night elf are just standing side by side, with the druid here (motions behind himself), female in front, because that’s the culture of Warcraft III. The sentinels, the matriarchal society…”
Unless you’re also saying that the sentinels have been abolished from night elven society, then he’s not making a declarative statement about the matriarchy being abolished; he’s talking about artistic imagery. Like he does throughout the interview. About everything.
Because Terran Gregory is an art nerd and adorable for it.
He’s not, however, the guy who comes in and makes changes to the status quo of the game in a single statement.
Looking at the character creation screen, seeing “body type 1 or 2” and concluding that Blizzard is more open to the idea of gender is giving them quite a lot of unearned credit. Taking that and making any conclusions about their lore decisions about a matriarchal society is… more than a leap.
It’d be like concluding that since Jaina was portrayed as really powerful back in MoP, there’s no way they could be abusive towards female employees behind the scenes during that same time!
We are not talking about the Sentinels being abolished. However, the sentinels have changed as shown by the fact there are probably a good chunk of male sentinels nowadays.
He isn’t. But the “show don’t tell” nature of WoW certain paint a different picture now of the night elves.
Heck, the druid/priest statue tell as much that things are now ALOT different from how they were before:
It was a tremendous societal change when night elf men were allowed to become priests and the women druids. For thousands of years previously, the two roles had been exclusive to the other gender. This pair of statues commemorates those momentous and tumultuous events.
It’s really awesome now that players will be able to create characters that more represent themselves, or the diversity of the world, and we’ll see that woven into the populations of places. And part of that also includes the representation for other perspectives on gender or sexuality. And while Warcraft is not a game that’s about those things - it’s a heroic adventure - we want players to be able to see themselves reflected in these characters, and a lot of different perspectives, and maybe it’s an opportunity to see the world through someone else’s eyes, rather than just your own.
As much as Danuser is also sometimes used as a curse word here, looks like he might have given us the answer already.
So as every other playable patriarch of Azeroth drifts to one where the gender/sexuality of someone is not a hindrance, the same can be said of the playable matriarchy.
Except the fact that the night elves are current ruled by both a man and a woman, equally.
And you are defending a matriarchy when the very reason we want to see more views on sexuality and gender is because we should realize any form of discrimination/inequal treatment, whether it be done by a guy or a girl, is wrong.
