Alrighty, I’m not saying he did, but here’s a situation I feel would’ve been more fitting for the Banshee Queen.
So - Sylvanas leaves Saurfang to kill Malfurion as a test of trust - she wants to make sure that the old orc is still loyal. She assumes he will be, given his record of devotion. The death of Malfurion is essential to her plan…he’s the night elve’s icon of hope. With him dead, Tyrande will be broken, and the citizens of Teldrassil will be more than willing to submit. However, when she finds out that Maldivian lives…that entire plan falls apart. The fact that he is even alive will rally the elves into an ever greater threat. Tactically, she decides that the only thing to do is to burn down the tree, as submission is no longer an option. Malfurion will heal, and the elves vengeance will know no bounds. Sylvanas wanders the battlefield, about ready to give the order, when a shuddering form catches her eye - Delaryn Summermoon. “Why?” Delaryn asks. “There are only innocents left in the tree.” Innocents, Sylvanas knows, who have the potential to crush the horde. “This is war.” She says, ready to give the order to fire. “No,” Delaryn chokes. “This is hatred. Windrunner…you were a defender of your people. Do you not remember?” Sylvanas leans down to the dying elf. “I remember a fall. The fall of my people. A fall caused by our ignorance of a growing threat. Then, when the time came to defend ourselves…we were already dead. We left our lives in the hands of fate.” She stands, turning towards the tree. “That is not a mistake I will make again. The horde will survive.” Her musings are interrupted by a haggard sobbing. Looking down, Sylvanas sees tears streaming down Delaryn’s dirt-streaked face - which she wipes away. “Don’t grieve…you’ll soon be with your loved ones.” This wasn’t her original plan, and it’s not one she favors, but it’s the only one that will ensure the safety of her people. “I grieve for you.” Delaryn whispers, giving Sylvanas pause. “You’ve turned your back on your life, and made it your enemy.” Sylvanas, annoyed, remarks quickly “I live for the Horde. You are my enemy.” And turns, though not before delaryn can choke out “You can kill us…but you can never kill hope.” Sylvanas, with a grim face belying the dread behind her ensuing action, merely says “I will.” She then gives the order for the burning.
I feel like this would’ve painted Sylvanas in a less…evil light. The conflict between her and Saurfang would’ve been between honor and survival, instead of “right” and “wrong.
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The tree would probably be standing today if he had taken Malfurion’s head. Already hinted at in the game and stories.
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Yep! If he had just listened, we wouldn’t have had this issue!!
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Of course if Malfurion acted like the badass he’s written as (seriously he’s one of if not THE strongest mortal on the planet) the War of Thorns would’ve been over in like 2 seconds.
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There are two things that makes Saurfang at least indirectly responsible for the burning.
First, it was his strategy to occupy Teldrassil and thus set in motion the events that led to the burning even if the burning itself wasn’t part of the plan.
Second, he didn’t kill Malfurion because of ‘Muh Honor!’
That said… at the end of the day, it was the genocidal tendacies of the Banshee queen over-reacting to being sassed by a dying elf that caused the event.
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Admittedly he did put up a good fight. That wisp wall kept the horde out for weeks, and even then, he managed to stop almost every advance in its tracks. The only reason the Horde made any leeway was because they flanked the alliance forces by coming down from felwood.
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The issue with this is that the War of Thorn was literally the Night Elves vs. the entire might of the Horde. Malfurion may be a badass but he isn’t that much of a badass. You have to remember that the rest of the Alliance was falling for the Horde feint to Silithus at the time.
That said, I do agree that they really have done a poor job of depicting him and how powerful he is in the game itself.
Oh absolutely. They really need a do a better job. Heck I could probably do a better job!
Even then he could’ve strangled the entire horde army to death before Saurfang would even get there. But that’s the problem with ingame characters and their book counterparts. Like at one point Jaina almost wiped out the entire Horde with a single tidal wave, why wouldn’t she do that to Zuldazar?
But it wouldn’t be fair player wise in game if the horde got wiped out in some out of game story.
Remember that time Jaina almost wiped out the entire Horde with a single tidal wave? Malfurion is stronger than she is. It’s not that they did a poor job of depicting him, they didn’t do a job period. Look no further than the upcoming fight with the Night Elves and Nathanos.
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Well…I don’t think our goal in zandalar is to obliterate it - just to cripple it. She’s definitely capable of that power, but with great power comes great responsibility.
The world tree would still be standing if Night Elves stopped jumping when Stormwind commanded them to, especially knowing how worthless SI:7 ‘intel’ really is. Stormwind could’ve sent its own fleet to Silithus, if the majority of the Night Elf military was where it should be it would’ve stomped the Horde in Ashenvale, like it did in Cataclysm.
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We saw that fight, Nathanos wins with two night elf heroes turned into horde sycophants.
Sure it would. Players wouldn’t lose their characters. The story implies the night elves were almost entirely wiped out by what happened. You can depopulate the HOrde down to the players themselves with a handful of NPCs and nothing much would change.
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Malfurion is overated. He’s just a dude. Immensly powerful lorewise, uses his brain not brawn. Owned by Xavius. Xavius owned by a 20 man raid. One shot by saurfang. Wisp wall was as silly as a dude with a box of matches burning down Stormwind.
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So you imagine she had the catapults transported and set up, and it was an overreaction that was the reason for the burning? The power to destroy that tree wouldn’t have been there for no reason.
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I mean the reason the tree got destroyed was pretty stupid. Catapults? That was their go to? I mean hell they could’ve gone with something a little more impactful like Sylvanas forcing the newly joined Nightborne to have mages fire blast the tree. You know, really test their allegiance to your Horde.
I was kind of hoping it would eventually be discovered that Greymane was behind its burning. He was tired of trying to convince Anduin to go to war with the Horde and realized nothing short of an atrocity would get the Boy King to move, so he created one and framed Sylvannas…
Yea, that’s not what happened… I guess that was too complex of an idea for the development team… lol
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Yes, because a man whose sole story is being driven by the death of his family would try to kill his wife.
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Technically he is. Sylvanas knew he didn’t kill Malfurion because she didn’t present her his head. She wanted Malfurion dead to break the Night elves’ spirits. Leading Tyrande into a trap and kill her therefore holding Teldrassil hostage.
All this could’ve been avoided if Saurfang wasn’t such a patsy.
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