Zovaal Manipulated BOTH Arthas and Sylvanas - Edited

Community General Discussion
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Hi, title.

So, again, Zovaal dominated BOTH Arthas and Sylvanas.

Arthas was already fighting for control with Ner’zhul due to the Helm of Domination.

Frostmourne, in Wrath, might have claimed Arthas’ soul, and would appear to be the item by which Zovaal was doing his best to force Arthas to do what Zovaal wanted him to do?

The problem here is that possibly among the retcons to Wrath, the item itself may have had text changed. I played during Wrath. I thought I recall a GM wearing a Frostmourne, and the item’s text mentioned something about the wielder “losing” their soul.

As for Sylvanas, the game most likely has Sylvanas manipulated into working for Zovaal, after he lies to her and claims he is asking her to help him, “Fight the system.”

So, here’s the problem:

  • Sylvanas: lied to. This is a form of manipulation.
  • Arthas: Zovaal appears to be trying to use mental domination through Frostmourne.

And…

  • Sylvanas is to be redeemed.
  • Arthas, however, is to be condemned.

While not direct parallels… Both of these two are not entirely responsible for their actions.

Arthas may have done at least some of what he did because there was as nagging voice in his head always trying to get him to most likely kill as many people as possible.

Sylvanas however was convinced, after Zovaal lied to her, that he wanted to fix Creation as it was in his eyes.

So, for those wondering, the why for this thread:

  • If an NPC were actively fighting a player’s toon for control of their own agency, or, was able to, “take over,” the RL player’s input, every single second of all the time said person is trying to play their toon in game…

I think most would unsub, especially if they never chose to sign up for this hardship.

And yet, here we are in the story, with two different NPC’s, both presumed to be full individuals, in the story, that each were manipulated, at least in different ways…

Towards the same result.

While supposedly having two opposite narratives forced upon us in reference to each.

  • Sylvanas is to be redeemed. She never had full agency.
  • Arthas is to be condemned. He never had full agency.

…

Blizzard?

Please explain.

Edit: added a part above in regards to Frostmourne. The item’s text may have changed since Wrath.

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2

That’s the World of Warcraft that you play

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And yet, WoW could be so much better.

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TLDR: the wow writing is helladoodoo

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5

Blizzard response to turgin pleads.

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6

Blizzard should.

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They really should but sadly this is the reality we live in. We have egotistical writers who don’t care. I’ve learned to just make my own fun but that’s not something you should do in a video game

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God help us next expansion what kind of crazy crap they’ll come up with. I’m somewhat worried.

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9

I’m honestly still convinced that 10.0 will be both dead on arrival and also the start of End of Life Cycle, or, Maintenance Mode.

Which it honestly should never be.

WoW has SO much lore if they’d just stop killing new story angles as they keep going with this trainwreck in progress and getting worse so called, “Story.”

I mean… it’s 2022.

WoW started in 2004.

In game, there’s still only the one story and lore tree!

The same one from 2004!

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Finally. Someone said it.

I’ve learned to make my own fun, take breaks, take another stab at SLs, and try to ignore the retcon or “reasons” for where we are now. Aaaannnd keep finding enjoyment - which I’m fairly decent at, BUT /sigh: what you said.

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11

Sorry. Read that as employment first time.

Seriously explains the death of fun in game right now.

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12

Wasn’t Arthas already headed down a dark path before getting Frostmourne?

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Im on the EU right now in terms of playing WoW and fresh start and I’m enjoying BFA a lot more story wise then I appreciated. I still dislike it and think it’s subpar but the side storylines are rich with lore.

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14

I fear for my lord illidan.

I fear them making him come back…Happy. Wearing khahki’s and polo shirts.

You are not prepared…for my golf skills. He goes. Tee time sat at 0900,

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The fact we are debating if arthas was right or wrong shows how good of character he is. As opposed to slyvanas where her actions are just evil

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Yes. He was.

However, the issue is that story wise, at least as presented way back in Wrath?

AFTER getting Frostmourne, Arthas… wait, DID Arthas remove the portion of himself that became the Memory of Arthas?

Or was that Zovaal?

As it happens off camera, can we ever truly be sure?

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He was on the revenge path because Mal’Ganis basically forced him to murder a bunch of his own people.

This caused him to burn his boats so his men wouldn’t leave Northrend. Then he killed the ogres and trolls he hired to do the burning.

So yeah, a bit of a dick.

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I thought the side quests in Vol’Dun were particularly fun

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Lol!! Particularly apt word instead!

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I mean I go as far to say shadowlands is not consistent with slyvanas character. BFA was more in line with how she acted. This soul splitting stuff completely retcons her personality and everything that made her loveable

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