Why didn't the Forsaken citizens die in Lordaeron?

Lore Story Forum
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If Sylvanas was trying to feed souls to the maw by killing the NEs and a never ending war (lol) then why not… not evacuate the city?

She could have easily used the excuse “we need every hand we can get” and press them into service in a way to make sure both armies and lordaeron citizens perish in the attack.

If her plan is to maximize the death then why not?
Is this a clue that she is actually good, wants to defend them from harm AND free them from death by sacrificing other people?

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I don’t think there is enough information to suggest that her goal was to feed souls to the maw (could be wrong); unless Sylvanas’ burning of the tree was explicitly retconned and it was always her plan to toast the tree, then I don’t think this is a thing.

Why would she want her own people to die? The Forsaken are the people she hates the least. No rational military leader would have not blighted the area had they been in her position, but I don’t think it’s fair to say that she wanted them dead.

Idk about this theory.

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Maybe I misunderstood but apparently this whole BFA thing happened as set up to Shadowlands and Sylvanas’ master plan with the Jailor.

All the killing and genocides was to power up her new bf the Jailor and get powered up herself.
So… if Sylvanas thinks everyone is nothing and was using them for this master plan then why not feed the forsaken to the jailor like she did the Horde armies?

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In the loyalist ending, she says something like: (paraphrasing)

In truth, I cared nothing for the living. But I did pity the Forsaken. They had no choice in what they became. Ultimately, they chose to side with life.

So she does have a soft spot for them. Or did, at the time.

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Putting aside the “They’re her people” arguments, which Blizzard has been retconning with a chainsaw since Before the Storm, keep in mind that the Forsaken were the core of her power base. She needed to be Warchief of the Horde to drag out the war, and the extermination of (most of) the Forsaken would have deprived her of the one part of the Horde whose loyalty wasn’t fragile.

Without her power base in the Forsaken, Saurfang could have seized control of the Horde without nearly as much trouble.

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Actually, it was always Sylvanas plan to burn Teldrassil as stated in “A Good War”. It just wasn’t planned to do it right there, but it was part of her plan.
I can quote it later if you want

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Because that would mean the Alliance would be very obviously killing civilians and we can’t have that.

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It would actually be evil Sylvanas that killed them and Andiun’s conscious would still be as clear as winter’s fresh snows.

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And miss out on a chance for Anduin to be sad? Not likely.

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You are indeed wrong. We gave the following from the Sylvanas loyalist ending:

    Saurfang’s ill-considered challenge may have ended the war prematurely, but it doesn’t matter now. Countless souls have been fed to the hungering darkness. Though I cared nothing for the living, I did pity the Forsaken. For the great injustice that made them what they are. I understand the cruelty of fate better than anyone. But despite all I taught them, they stubbornly clung to hope. To life. They will learn the truth, along with all the rest. My bargain with Azshara will yet bear fruit. The armies of Azeroth will fight her master, and he will line their streets with corpses.

And this clarification from John Hight at Blizzcon:

    This is- I mean- this has actually been part of her plan all along. Certainly in the events in Legion where souls stopped going to the rest of Shadowlands- to the rest of the Covenenats, and they were all going into the Maw. And the Maw is the place where the souls that cannot be redeemed go. And so basically have this shortage of souls going to the rest of the Shadowlands- they’re all piling into the Maw- Sylvanas is part of this master plan, and she’s going to use that power.

Which gives context to this passage from A Good War that we had from the very beginning of BfA of Sylvanas’ inner-monologue when the Horde was still in Astranaar, before the Horde even reached Darkshore, well before Saurfang let Malfurion live or even before Sylvanas ever talked to Delaryn:

    The kaldorei knew they were outnumbered. They knew their homeland was lost. Maybe a few of them knew in their hearts—just as she knew—that Darnassus would one day burn to ashes.

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Because she has to keep up appearances.

She can’t LOOK like she’s trying to get everyone killed, or else no one will follow her.

Hell, she already caught flak for gassing her own troops along with the Alliance.

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I get that but remember Saurfang saying there are too many Alliance forces (again lol) arrayed again them?
Well she could have used her citizens as militia knowing they would get killed anyway.

She would have probably killed more people if she made sure all Alliance forces, Horde Forces and citizens are all fighting in one city before she blows everything to hell.

But your point is solid too… honestly it could be that. Just keeping appearances.

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My explanation, which I think is best, is that the “souls fed to the hungering dark” was a contingency. It’s the opposite of the “Kobayashi Maru”. It’s the “I win!” scenario of Sylvanas.
If the Horde wins the war, then Sylvanas wins… because she is the warchief. If the Horde can’t win outright, well, then the war will go on long enough so that enough people die, so that Sylvanas can be empowered in this way, so that she still wins.
I think at the time Sylvanas was honestly still trying to just beat the Alliance, and make the horde the supreme power in Azeroth, after which she would have whatever resources at her disposal to accomplish her goals.

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Others already covered the in-universe explanation.

Out-of-universe, though? Blizzard seems to have genuinely been trying to present Sylvanas’ side as potentially in the right. Which is absurd given she just committed genocide, but the writers really wanted you to believe that she was doing it for the good of the Horde.

I mean, she bombed both sides with Blight at Lordaeron. On the Alliance we have Anduin looking on in shock and horror at the fact she’s killing her own troops.

Horde side? The now dying of a grotesque blight-based death, which we’ve seen melt faces and is described as absolute agony, soldiers apologize for being in the way as they die. They literally tell the PC it was their fault for dying in the most inhumane way in the entire setting to assuage us of any concerns that Sylvanas might be evil.

It is insane how far the story bent over backward to try and make Sylvanas’ obviously insane actions seem reasonable. From refusing to let any Horde characters speak out against her until it was convenient for the story to lying in dev interviews about her being morally grey and representing the “ruthless pragmatist” side of the Horde faction identity.

They didn’t want us to really see her for what she was until she killed Zelling, it seems. Only at that point were Horde leadership suddenly allowed to openly speak their opinions on her.

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The only line that mentions that is “It was foolish of me to get caught away from the line. Thank you for the second chance.” . The six other lines are all thanks for helping them, because we can just hug the Blight away now and they’re all fine. (The Blight also doesn’t melt your skin if you have a gas mask on apparently.)

Being out of position seems like a justifiable reason to blame yourself for getting hit by friendly fire to me, especially since your current leader is known for throwing out the Blight if she so much as sees two enemies standing close together.

Which isn’t to say Sylvanas was right and the Horde soldiers got what they deserved or whatever, but it wasn’t exactly Sylvanas dropping Blight off the side of Lordaeron’s wall hot oil style into the entire Horde army and the Horde army blaming themselves for not magically knowing she was going to do it.

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