So a large part of what I have seen be claimed by many as an act of weakness from Sylv is when she is “lul triggered by night elf to burn tree” as seen in the cinematic.
But for those of us who have read the books, we know that Sylv’s decision to burn the tree was to save her ultimate plan in inflicting an emotional wound to the Alliance. To kill hope, to the point that the Alliance will spread themselves too thin, as we see happening in 8.1 with Tyrande and Anduin butting heads when she asked for help in Darkshore. This is the effect she wanted from taking Teldrassil.
Buttt what is the official cannon lore for the game as they 100% ruined that cinematic for me, it was trash.
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Ultimately, we don’t really know just yet. Sylvanas was withholding information about the whole campaign from even Saurfang, the guy who was in charge of planning it. Might be it’s a blend. The cinematic and the story don’t actually contradict each other, they both still happened, though the cinematic isn’t repeated for the story. It could be that Delaryn implanted the idea to save her ultimate plan by improvising.
In short, they could both be “cannon.”
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The Novella is canon. Be it CGI, animated or in-game, cinematics are unreliable or vague and subject to retcon.
Just some cinematics that I know are retconned/changed
- Naxxramas trailer cinematic is retconned by Kel’thuzad short story
- Battle for Azeroth CGI Cinematic is not canon, don’t @ me
- Wrathgate cinematic is retconned by Chronicle 3 (Dranosh died to blight)
In Sylvanas Warbringer, there’s no Ban’dinoriel which should’ve been active when Sylvanas died but we see path to Silvermoon is clear, so it least “flashback” scene is not correct portrayal.
We also get know the reasoning behind Sylvanas choice by reading her thinking lines which animated short didn’t depict, so it’s possible both are canon but only that animated short was vague.
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I don’t feel there is a conflict. The cinema doesn’t show Sylvanas’ thoughts, so it appears she’s just burning the tree because she’s a petulant tween girl.
In the novel you can see what she’s thinking, and you see that she’s actually being written as an evil petulant tween girl.
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I’m a mariner, not a cannon.
Also I don’t really think there’s a disconnect between the two. Her plan was always burning the tree, Delaryn just inadvertently talked her into doing it faster. Neither really portray her in a favorable light - unless that kind of stuff is why you liked her in the first place.
There’s nothing in the cinematic that states she is triggered in that moment and acting rashly. It’s just a popular fan theory that sprung up and, like many popular fan theories around Sylvanas, it’s lingering on like a bad fart.
There is no contradiction in the story here. What is said in A Good War is canon.
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The books retconned the game and cinematic.
“secure the beach, prepare to occupy the tree”
seconds later after she talks with the random nelf
BURN IT!.
Triggered.
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Huh, it’s almost like I addressed this theory in my original post.
The story made it very clear, she was continuing the original plan of invasion while improvising in light of Malfurion’s survival. She came upon her solution after giving the order to secure the beach but before her forces had set up.
Not triggered, she’s just not capable of improvising an entirely new war strategy at the drop of a hat.
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You asked if the cinematic suggested that she was triggered, at the moment that the warbringer was out, the content of the novel was a mystery.
So yeah, of course that people are going to think that she was triggered by a random nelf.
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The Old NES game Rampart was pretty Cannon.
I didn’t ask a thing. I stated outright that the cinematic doesn’t state she is triggered and acting rashly. And attributed the persistence of that view to a fan theory. You then came along and showed us that fan theory.
At the time it was a reasonable fan theory, hell, at the time it was a fan theory I shared. But it’s still just a fan theory, and now there is actual lore that takes precedence.
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Then your statement is wrong, because that is clearly what the cinematic says.
you just admitted it.
The cinematic says one thing
the novels says other.
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You are incorrect. Not only did the cinematic never state such a thing outright. I never said it did. I would challenge you to prove either of those claims.
At the time it was a reasonable fan theory but it was never definitive. Now it is an unreasonable fan theory. There was never a contradiction and the cinematic never said the thing you are claiming it said.
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i already said my points, if you are not convinced then there is nothing left to discuss.
warbringers:triggered by a random nelf
novel:she had a major plan from the start that is only communicated in a novel that most players would never read.
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See you say that, but then you repeat your assertion while still saying nothing of substance to support it.
Sylvanas chose to burn Teldrassil. One source tells us why, the other source shows a flashback. Anything else is just you making up lore to fill a gap that no longer exists.
It’s both.
She had a major plan, but was triggered into speeding it up.
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My brain hurts from reading things like this.
As I watched the video, I didn’t think she was triggered. Saurfang didn’t kill Malfurion, so this was the next best thing. Occupying it wasn’t an option anymore with the most powerful druid on Azeroth after he was recovered.
I honestly and truly think that what is going on is you are getting way too into the Meme pictures that depict hilarious scenarios of the events and just basing her decisions as if she were just a petulant child throwing a temper tantrum.
Both are canon, one does not contradict the other, one does add more light to the inner workings that a video couldn’t provide in the time it was alotted.
I think if we all just put the petty knives down and think a little more rationally, that the sensationalism will die down so that intelligent conversation can be had.
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They could have taken important hostages and sacked the city for resources (like the Azerite that was supposedly there).
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May not have provoked a total and ill planned response. Her actions did.