Eh from what I understand about the Gilnean heritage armor quest - you’re not that far off. At least to the point where she decides Gilnean culture has nothing to do with Worgen. Which I guess is technically true but really it’s the most interesting thing about them. The Kul Tirans are doing the British thing much, much better why not focus on the werewolf angle?
And I’m not really that broken up by Windrunner leaving. I hope I’m eating my words come SL. I hope the Forsaken have a huge role in that which expands on or introduces new characters and gives the race a satisfying direction moving forward. I mean on top of Slyvanas being a huge part they’re also the only race who’ve all experienced death to one degree or another - presumably this isn’t the first time they’ve seen the afterlife.
My worry is though is that’s not going to happen. WoLK presumably should’ve also been the Forsaken’s expansion at least from the Horde perspective and how’d that turn out?
It’s why I chose the Worgen as my example! Thanks to Blizzard botching their Heritage Quest my suggestion for Tess to betray the Worgen after sampling their power and denying it-- is plausible!
Even though it’s a horrid suggestion, and not good for them at all, it’s plausible. Because that’s how Blizzard is treating the Night Elves and Forsaken, so I can speculate who is next to get thrown into the plot woodchipper!
Unfortunately I think the Worgen are in the place I’m worried the Forsaken will wind up. The twisting nether of plot development where everything’s put on hold forever and nothing much ever happens. Because the devs or writers can’t seem to think of anything to do with them.
Hypothetically I should be excited to see Windrunner gone. It should mean new characters will come to the forefront. But so far the only new undead characters are chatting it up with Jania in Alliance territory. Maybe Windy couldn’t kill hope but Blizz is sure good at it.
More WET appropriate but I kinda liked writing my chaotic good Priest here to stay with the Forsaken. I had him counseling newborns Forsaken in Death Knell. Trouble was I’d written him as trying to get in touch with their families if they wanted - and wrote it as rarely working out. As their living family members had already grieved them and now saw them not as returned but nightmarish monsters. I had like one happy ending with a couple who decided they’d try to make it work and moved to Hearthglen.
But then BtS happened and my headcanon has to be this changed abruptly with Windrunner’s ascension to Warchief. Until then there was nothing to even sort of suggest Forsaken couldn’t leave whenever they wanted to.
It’s funny because in fact, we had the exact opposite shown right in the starting zone, when only one of the three newly raised undead you talk to for the Gravedigger actually join the Forsaken. Redpath goes insane and runs off, to which everyone in Deathknell simply shrug and go “Hey, it happens,” and then Voss, who we have to take extra steps to get her to acknowledge her undeath before she ultimately goes off to do her own thing to the dismay of pretty much no one. And when we do kill Redpath, it’s only because he gathered up a group of similarly insane undead and now poses a real threat to Deathknell.
With BtS being a thing, none of that makes any sense anymore.
No race should ever have the character who founded it, lead it, and served as the foundation for their entire identity for 15 years suddenly be turned into their antagonist. Anyone who thinks this is a good development for the Forsaken in the slightest probably never really liked the race to begin with, and that’s not the sort of people the race should be written to appeal to when it already had fans who were perfectly content with what the race has been since Vanilla.
Write the race for its fans, not the people who dislike everything about it and want to see it be something completely different than what its always been.
Seriously. Also in the Plaguelands there’s the likes of Apothecary Judkins who says,
“I once worked for the so called Banshee Queen, Slyvanas, as an apothecary. I used to admire her, but something’s changed within her. She’s not herself anymore. I broke my vows with the Forsaken and joined the Crusade. Now, I use my knowledge of alchemy to seek a counter-plague agent”
It’s not implied he made some daring escape. I got the sense he took issue with RAS’s direction and just left. Something it’s never suggested until BTS a Forsaken couldn’t do.
Also if she’s so terrified of the Forsaken learning they can go exist with the living why does she let Argent Dawn recruitors hang out at the Bulwark. Like any Forsaken wandering near there would find out they can go get a job with them and presumably live in Hearthglen with the living if they wanted.
It’s seriously a retcon that doesn’t make a lick of sense if you think about it for more than 2 minutes.
Cause the argents are powerful I mean right now she could do what she wants but why would she provoke the ashbringer before bfa I doubt thrall or garrosh would be ok with that
There’s a difference between attacking them and going “Absolutely not you may not send recruitors into my borders”.
And generally speaking the relationship between the Forsaken seems amicable. You’re sent to aid them by Forsaken quest givers in Andorhal. There’s never any animosity hinted at.
There is some annoyance expressed at the Cenarion Circle though. They’re doing too good a job at restoring the land which is causing a human infestation. This attitude isn’t shown to the Argents though.
I know it’s not an exact parallel but the Night Elves did have Staghelm, who was sort political leader of the Night Elves (Tyrande being the Religious Leader), had pretty much the same thing done.
Sort of want to see more of him, possibly leading into finding the Cure for the Blight.
Well, if you consider that these Dystopian policies are only fairly recent, only coming about after Sylvannas’ declining mental state, You can reason that any Forsaken already living outside of Undercity would have already escaped it.
Fandral was an active antagonist of Tyrande’s from day 1 though. She and Malfurion are the founders of the current iteration of night elves. Fandral was a relative newcomer who, in Malfurion’s absence, was trying to usurp power from Tyrande because he disagreed with her politics.
Honestly I never hated Fandral more than in Vanilla when I mained a night elven druid.
Ad even if you do count Fandral as a good leader being villain batted, he got immediately replaced by the OG night elven druid hero: Malfurion Stormrage.
Before the Storm is not nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. The ‘clapping will wear us out’ bit is ridiculous. I know that most undead don’t regenerate naturally, but that was a bit much. I always thought of UC as blighted ground where undead could heal… but I guess not. Anyway, the totalitarian-police-state-forsaken is an exaggeration of the book that is just as ridiculous as the clapping bit. The fanfiction is the only frustrating stuff to me.
I think the main difference, which helped that situation, is that he was one among several Night Elf leaders, not the one who founded and shaped their society basically single-handed. The best equivalent Alliance situation I can think of–and it hasn’t happened (yet)–would be trying to play a Void Elf after Alleria becoming the main villain of 2-3 expansions in a row, and Magister Umbric going with her because he’s loyal to her.
As I said from the start I am not going to pretend it is badly written. Golden is a talented author and I hope she continues to find success.
My issue was whoever okay’d it at Blizz just did not care about established Forsaken lore. So much about the portrayals there are at odds with existing precedence or just plain didnt make any sense.
The book burnings for example. I can’t get over that. For any other race that’d show a dangerous regime trying to destroy knowledge of history like it does in our world. But to the Forsaken? They all lived the history being burned. They’re also the only race with an option to have no eyes. How useful were books for a people with a sizable population that can’t see in the traditional sense? Be like if they tried to show Demon Hunters were under cruel new management by having Illidain’s replacement break all their mirrors. Guess that’s mean spirited but I think it’s pretty pointless.