Revculter:
He tried to establish peace and was almost killed for it. He lost his father and had to become king and fight off the Legion. Then he had to try to manage a war with the Horde, and eventually Sylvanas. Then he was captured and forced to commit atrocities for the cosmic god of death. Now, he’s been wandering by himself for years. That’s… a LOT.
He’s not “weirdly violent,” he’s been fighting for years. He wasn’t changed into a “PTSD veteran” into a single expansion, it’s been multiple. He’s actually had really good character development.
Not to mention that so many people are looking at it with ONLY the events of Shadowlands in mind, plus the fact that no one here seems to understand what being a ten year old boy (at the start of WoW) in a world that is in a CONSTANT state of war for TEN YEARS (up until the start of SL) is going to do to such a mind.
I covered this in pretty good detail in another topic.
Anduin with PTSD. What am I missing? - Community / General Discussion - World of Warcraft Forums (blizzard.com)
I think people are too focused on just the Shadowlands aspect of Anduin’s storyline. It also doesn’t help that many of the events that would likely traumatize a 10-15 year old boy all happened offscreen in comics, novels, etc.
Keep in mind:
Lorewise his father was split into two men that had both disappeared for different lengths of time (1&2 years respectively)
Onyxia was disguised in plain sight and killed several people upon revealing herself
Anduin was kidnapped by Onyxia
He witnessed a Scourge invasion of Stormwind
Helplessly watched his friend/bodyguard Aerin die in an earthquake during the Cataclysm when she was crushed in a falling building
Was held hostage by Moira during the initial succession crisis in Ironforge
Was nearly killed by the Horde and shipwrecked alone on Pandaria for several days
Witnessed first hand how far Garrosh had fallen and was nearly killed by him
Witnessed the return of the Legion and was nearly killed by them in a failed assassination
Watched in horror as Sylvanas went back on her word during The Gathering, ordered the deaths of her own people, and saw her murder Calia
Fought in the Fourth War
Saw visions of what N’Zoth would do
Was captured, taken to The Maw, and forced into Zovaal’s service
Nearly killed Kyrestia as his first act under Zovaal’s control
Gathered all the Covenant Sigils for Zovaal, outright destroying the souls of multiple innocents in the process
All of the pre-Shadowlands stuff? That was in a ten year span. All the stuff that happened before he was king? That was before he was 17. His imprisonment in The Maw and servitude to Zovaal? That was about one year of his life in lore. Keep in mind that Anduin is a character that wished for peace, watched multiple friends/innocents die as a child, witnessed firsthand a Scourge AND Legion invasion, witnessed the Cataclysm and the widespread damage firsthand while in Dun Morogh, lost his father in a brutal manner, slowly had to learn the horrors of war firsthand, had to learn that sometimes fighting cannot be avoided, and then was imprisoned in WoW’s version of hell before being used as a weapon (and fully aware of it to boot)
Yeah, after that much messed up stuff happening from the point he was 10 years old, up until he was 21, I could totally understand him wanting to bounce for five years. Anduin’s PTSD goes far beyond the things that happened in the Shadowlands. Overall, Azeroth is actually a pretty messed up place that is in a CONSTANT state of war, be it the usual Horde/Alliance nonsense (at least up until the end of BfA), some sort of cosmic/undead horror, etc.
This world has gone from one crisis to the next, and unfortunately for Anduin, he has NEVER had a chance to properly deal with any one situation. This is a boy that became a man in a shattered, war torn world. This man has not known what true peace is since he was about nine years old.
Honestly, it’s actually a miracle that MORE people in this world aren’t forever messed up by it.
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