Uniting The Elves

Lore Story Forum
1

I’m not really an elf player so I pose these questions to elf players and fans of the elven lore:

Do you like the idea of all the elves uniting under one banner? Do you think they mean just the Quel’thalas elves (High, Blood, and Void Elves)? Do you think they mean Night Elves and Nightborne as well? Could they potentially also mean the other variants of elves such as Darkfallen, Naga, and Saytrs?

Would you prefer all elves under one banner or do you like how some groups are separated? Are you worried this will ruin each culture by possibly meshing them all together?

I personally think night elves, nightborne, and Thalassian elves should remain separate. But that’s just my opinion.

2

I think that’s going to be the main factions of elves. I don’t see Naga and Satyrs joining and Naga would only join if Queen Azshara is the leader of the elves and that’s not happening unless Tyrande drops dead at the thought.

The majority of the elves are very divided, but the populations of Thalassians/Darnassians/Shalassians are so low and depleted it doesn’t make sense for the elves to remain divided especially since the Alliance-Horde War ended with peace for all elves. Kaldorei will have to reunite with their cousins and that almost happened in Legion during the Suramar campaign where High/Blood and Night Elves joined together along with Nightborne to fight Elisande.

I can see another unification of the elves if all sides have to bite the bullet to survive. The elves need to survive and as a divided people that’s unlikely. To survive, and to thrive are two different things, and right now the elves are barely surviving. Especially the Kaldorei after Teldrassil and their numbers are severely depleted same with Thalassians who lost 90% of their population during the Scourge invasion. Not to mention all the wars since.

1 Like
3

This is a tricky one. There was some “heavy” stuff used to make sense for Silvermoon to burn the bridge with the alliance.

What makes it more complicated is that they double downed on that thing in a later expansion.

It’s part of the blood elf narrative for the player. Why do you think so many blood elves are so for the horde?

Personally I think they’ll ignore the past complicated and delicate issues because it is easier. The future for Azeroth seems to be neutral no matter what happened in the past.

3 Likes
4

That’s so NOT going to happen. The Blood Elves and the Night Elves both have long standing beefs with each other. The Void and High Elves are both persona non grata in Quel’thelas.

Heck one High Elf killed by Deathwing was that lone figure standing on the peir in Auberdine waiting since Vanilla for the Night Elves to take her in.

3 Likes
5

I don’t think Naga and/or Satyrs will be apart of the “united elf tribes”. They’re Old God/Void/Fel servants through and through.

As for the actual Elves… I think the whole “uniting the elf tribes” is mainly about the Thalassian elves (Blood, Void, High) banding together to protect their homeland from the Void invasion. The Night Elves will mainly show up out of practicality to defend Azeroth and not necessarily Quel’thalas itself, much like they did in Suramar. The Nightborne are most likely going to take defending Quel’thalas more personally than their cousins seeing how Thalyssra and Lor’themar are a couple now.

2 Likes
6

In that… they kind of did that bit in the liberation of Suramar.

1 Like
7

Pretend I have smooth skin and pointy years for this.

I’m holding my breath for what ‘uniting the elves’ is going to entail. Is it something more grand and formal, leaders convening every year to discuss elf things and conducted multi state agreements, or is it just the defense of the Sunwell - little different than defending the Wold Tree, Amirdrassil, or assaulting the Nightwell and Sunwell to prevent the big bads from doing their big bad things?

If it is the latter, I see no problem. Its a pretty run of the mill defense of important thing from bad people wanting to do X, Y, and Z. The Sunwell and Nordassil, best to my recollection, are the only vials of the Well of Eternity left. So defense of the Sunwell is far more than simply defending the honor or home of an elven people given what it can do and has been tried for in the past (BC).

If it is any formal agreement among the various elves to become closer among each other, I’m going to press a hard no on most everything. Just taking our OG elves for a moment, Night Elves and Blood Elves, the two have suffered such catastrophe recently (history of playable Warcraft) that reconciliation should be near impossible given their current affiliations. You have folks outright labeled traitors in Void Elves and long troubled histories between Silvermoon and the High Elves. Nightborne are the only ones not actively hating other groups, just feel a bit snubbed by the Night Elves. But overcoming the two main groups differences for one ‘united elf whatever’ is not the way to go.

8 Likes
8

I disagree, the elves have more in common than they dare admit, and we see this in WoTLK when Silver Covenant High Elves were all over Darnassus and the Night Elves worked in tandem with them. We even see Night Elves joining their faction in Icecrown.

Now when it comes to High/Void Elves and Blood Elves the betrayals run deeper. The two sides have a lot of pain which both sides have inflicted to each other during MoP and BFA. Legion the High Elves and Blood Elves stood together and prior to that in Cata during the Zul’Aman assault.

The Night Elves and Nightborne need to unite as Tyrande is literally a native of Suramar and much of her Kaldorei came from Suramar stock as the Priestesses of the Moon all originate from Suramar proper so it doesn’t make sense for them to be against each other outside of Thalryssa feeling snubbed by Tyrande who tends to be off-putting to what has occurred in her hometown.

Elves uniting would be more like an assembly of the elves to decide the future of their species. In spite how the races vary in form, they are all elves and should first consider that above all else.

2 Likes
9

I can imagine it being done in a way that I like, but I can equally imagine it being done in a way that I don’t. Without more information I just can’t say.

10

Well yeah, High Elves and the Silver Covenant would work well with Night Elves. By definition these are not the same people of Silvermoon who categorically rejected the Alliance. By the time of BC and Wrath, the Alliance was practically one big happy family. Dreanei to Gnome and everyone in between. They also, largely, did not experience the same traumas and difficulties the Blood Elves faced in those 6 years from WC3 to BC. They’re not having a civil war among survivors, sucking arcane and fel to survive, putting down initiates because they’re too weak, culling hordes of undead, and falling into wretched in mass.

If you’re referring to Suramar, sure but begrudgingly just as they stood with the Night Elves. This is little different than what I had already suggested that if what is coming down the pipeline is just a shared defense of the Sunwell just as we all defend Nordassil because the threat faced was greater than what any could individually muster. This was also Suramar - kin of them all, in one way or another, isolated and preserved since the Sundering. None of them have seen it since then, if at all. Its almost like rediscovering some ancient ruins, everyone wants to see them. Except people still live there and actually have a large scale society.

And even this was met with disapproval from Lor’themar.

Silvermoon Messenger says: I bring word from the Regent Lord of Silvermoon
Silvermoon Messenger says: Lord Lor’themar demands an explanation for the presence of this… exile in our lands.
Vereesa Windrunner says: Quel’Thalas is as much my home as it is yours and I would not see it fall to our ancient enemy. Now, you tell your cowardly regent –
Halduron Brightwing says: Vereesa, please!
Halduron Brightwing says: She is here at my invitation, courier. Most of my Farstriders are away and cannot be recalled easily. Vereesa’s rangers know the land and they are experienced combatants.
Silvermoon Messenger says: Lord Lor’themar does not concur with your reasoning, ranger-general. You have no authority to invite this –
Halduron Brightwing says: I am the commander of Silvermoon’s defenses and I will seek assistance as I deem necessary!

So sure, they worked together but had Halduron not gone above Lor’themar, they would never have been invited. Despite Halduron’s claims, Lor’themar probably does have authority above Halduron and could have vetoed it outright if it was worth the hassle.

What is the need? Truly, what is the need for them to unite on this basis? Suramar is shown as a wholly arcane and magic society with little religion or or serious belief in Elune to foster a connection on those grounds. Outside of Nightborne being able to play priests, we’ve been struggling for years to find that connection to little avail. Unless they’re looking to proselytize, which I can’t imagine would go well, its just another Horde city. This was all before Teldrassil too. You don’t let that go so quickly.

I really just dont see any of them feeling a need to unite and decided their future on a pan-racial basis. They clearly have not wanted to for the past 30 years and relations, while closer at some points, are strained to say the least. These are deep political divisions that aren’t going to be overcome easily and should remain. Of course if Blizzard wants to write it in, they have the power to do so, but given what we’ve seen, read, and played, they really shouldn’t begrudgingly come together for more than world survival.

1 Like
11

I think metzen’s words were incredibly intentional to create speculation on the player’s part.

I have no history with his era in wow to know that, but that’s my hunch.

“Scattered Elven Tribes”

First, is very non specific what counts here, as we see the speculation, does it mean all elves? All thalassian elves? All horde elves? Those are 3 very different and very possible onez.

Scattered tribes is also a weird term because there aren’t scattered tribes of elves.

Blood Elves have Quel’talas, Nightborne have Suramar, Silver covenant have Dalaran, Night elves have Northern Kalimdor and Amirdrassil and the only group close to be scattered would be the void elves, but they live in Telogrus Rift and Stormwind.

Now, uniting those “tribes”

Suramar and Silvermoon are as united as they can be, with their rulers being married, so no unification possible. Night Elves don’t care for quel’thalas and despite Tyrande being from suramar, doesn’t seem to care about that being horde territory, so It seems the only rupture that needs mending is between the Thalassian Elves.

12

Depends what Metzen meant by “unify.” Unify as in form a grand elven coalition against their common enemy in the Void, Azshara, or whoever? Sure, that’s cool, we’ve done that bit before, and it enriched some of WoW’s best content. Now, unify as in forge a new elven accord that voids (sorry) all old arrangements and makes the entire species and its various factions inexplicably neutral? Less cool, uncool to the point of lame, in fact, and to the massive detriment of the blood elves/night elves.

There’s a right and a wrong way to do neutral content and tossing out all established allegiances and divisions for easier gameplay categorization falls into the latter.

Well, he said we’d be uniting the elven tribes of Azeroth, not Quel’Thalas. Much as certain posters might disagree, Thalassian exiles rejoining the bulk of their people really isn’t a significant enough plot development to warrant the sort of gravitas Metzen gave it. I’m confident this will involve elves of all stripes.

Hopefully. Hearthstone’s blood elves vs Scourge expansion had halfway rehabilitated Wretched/felblood elves fighting in Silvermoon’s defense from the shadows. I’d love to see even weirder elven offshoots tied into this arc.

This, I guess.

2 Likes
13

I really like the idea of all elves getting along. However that doesn’t mean I want then all together under the same banner. They shouldn’t be ruled by a single person or even a council of sorts.
Still the fact that they may end up in good terms fill me with joy.
What I believe will happen is that Thalassian elves will end their fued and that during the fights agains the void Night Elves and Nightborne will join forces like they did in Suramar.

1 Like
14

We need the grounds keeper Willie meme but with elves

15

It’s more like mutual survival and to thrive. The elves can temper their factions from raising arms against each other and the familial bonds between Night Elves and Nightborne can foster a future as a united people. The bridge is already there. When Night Elven survivors came to Suramar they found refuge among the Nightborne rebels. These Night Elves also have family among the Nightborne. I think if they ever decide to bridge the gap. I would start with the Moonguard and their common religion that as far as we know has not been abandoned in Suramar hence the priest class being available to Nightborne and there are temples of Elune all over the Broken Isles. Not to mention that cemetery just outside Suramar.

Void/High/ and Blood Elves would also be natural bringers of Alliance-Horde factions together as they are all essentially Thalassians. I see the inevitable reunification of the elves as a good thing. It buries the hatchet of the Horde and Alliance and it resolves the narrative of global unity in the name of Azeroth’s defense.

1 Like
16

I think a council could work think of an assembly of ambassadors like the United Nations except its elves. The elven factions all working together for the mutual defense of Azeroth and to insure the survival of their species and an end of the bitterness between the elves.

2 Likes
17

there is so much potential faction war stuff in quelthalas so no. that includes even night elves.

18

Maybe they do… but that’s the crux, what divides them does mean that they won’t admit what binds them.

The hatred between the Kal’dorei and the Highborne (which includes the Voids/Bloods, and to at least some extent, the Nightborne, is born from old social caste resentments between the old Imperial noble castes and the peasantry from which the bulk of present day Night Elves are descended from. “lowbourne” to use the Nightbourne term. The fact that most of the present generation of Night Elves is still that very same generation that was offered up to the Legion by the Highborne means that there isn’t a generational gap of memory for the Kal’dorei. For their part the Highborne elves haven’t really lost that much of their contempt for their former peasantry. It’s pretty much a given that Tyrande was most likely kept out of the loop when the rest of the Alliance leadership decided to admit Alleria’s Voids.

There may be much that binds them… but don’t underestimate the gulf you’re trying to bridge.

2 Likes
19

Except that they were the peasantry of Suramar and for t he most part resented the nobility even before the War of the Ancients.

Tyrande was obviously of noble birth but she gave her caste up to join the priesthood as it was clear that Azshara didn’t care much for the Sisterhood sine they favored the divine over the arcane and gave them little to no thought in her plans.

1 Like
20

I don’t, but consider this fact Night Elven survivors of Teldrassil in Darkshore were cheering Highborne magi who were creating portals to escape the fires. The same Night Elves later joined their Magi brothers in killing Horde on Darkshore. Cheering them on as they froze Horde soldiers with their ice spells than charred their flesh with their fire magics all the while druids tore them apart.

In the recent Night Elf Heritage questline Maiev of all people allowed a Night Elf mage to get face tattoos in the tradition of the Sentinels. This means if Maiev can move past the Highborne’s history. So can well every Kaldorei alive today. The hatreds of war and past sins burned with Teldrassil and the survivors can ill afford resentment to fester among their ranks.

If anything Amirdrassil questing is showing us that the elves are strongest when they work together. Be they Void/Blood/High/Nightborne or Night Elf. I think the narrative is very clear even with this current patch. Times change. Elves are needing to change too.

1 Like