World of Warcraft - Lore & Storyline discussion [SPOILERS] - Page 713

Katria · 03/20/12, 6:34 PM

Losing Theramore is different than the other disasters in Jaina's life. She has spent years cultivating a relationship with the Horde through Thrall, and it has been her mission to promote peace. She even declined to intervene and save her father's life in the name of her vision of peace; it's her life's work. With the destruction of Theramore, that dream, and all her hopes for it, are seemingly destroyed as well.

The flaw I find here is that her hair goes white. She's clearly going Dark Willow, so her hair and eyes should go black. I find myself wondering who WoW-Xander is, as a pissed-off-superpowered-mage is clearly world-destroying material, and Jaina won't be a raid boss, so someone has to talk her down.

Krixooks · 03/20/12, 6:58 PM

someone on MMO champ just posted this from wowhead press tour

Lore Updates

Monks initially were those who brought hope to the oppressed Pandaren under Mogu rule through song and stories. Weapons were forbidden among slaves, so the Monks taught their fellow Pandaren how to fight by harnessing positive energy, or Chi. When the opportunity for revolution struck, they were well-trained to take control.
Pandaren get a cutscene with the Alliance and the Horde, showing the current situation and the personality of their faction leader.

Horde: Garrosh is berserk that he's missing a fleet of ships, after using the floor in front of his throne to show animated versions of naval battles he's instigated and won against the Alliance. There were major victories off the coast of Tanaris and Tol Barad, with a supply root to Booty Bay established. He ends up strangling a goblin who brings him news of Alliance counter-attacks and reveals that a ship has been lost. He ignores advice to focus on the future instead of the past, and demands payment of debts from realms in his power. This clearly sets the stage for how Garrosh will spiral out of control later.

Alliance: The Alliance scene is more subdued, taking place in Varian's war room. The generals calmly analyze the situation and decide to try to rescue their survivors and cargo. The cutscene ends with an epic shot of your character flying over the sea on an Alliance airplane.

Seems well connected with the Twilight Highlands intro cinematics; Garrosh being a reckless leader and a bully, and the Alliance version just involves a plane ride :P

Cybsled · 03/20/12, 10:10 PM

Varian is becoming too level headed and reasonable. You know that means he is dead meat this xpac

Cybsled · 03/24/12, 5:46 AM

Ragefire Chasm has been updated in MoP. No more Twilight's Hammer/Troggs, rather there is a dark shaman raising some flame beasts, to tie in with the corrupted Garrosh theme. The orcs down there also have red skin vs. green. The quest dialogue inside doesn't incriminate him at all at this point, so I imagine this will be fleshed out more during the course of the expansion and subsequent patches.

Kirion · 03/25/12, 8:58 AM

Some info on Zandalari from blue posts on official forums

Thousands of years ago, when the Zandalari and the Mogu boasted the most powerful empires in Azeroth, the Zandalari were actually allied with the Mogu. So when the Pandaren revolted against the Mogu, of course the Zandalari displayed their allegiance to their Mogu friends by attacking the embryonic Pandaren empire. Overcoming this threat was to be one of the Pandaren empire's first tests of strength.

After the passing of so many thousands of years, after the mists had covered Pandaria for so long — keeping ancient threats like the Zandalari at bay — Pandaren children have now come to see the mythological Zandalari somewhat like our children see bogeymen. Scary enough to ensure compliance with the instructions and requests of parents, but at the end of the day, not the kind of threat you ever really see with your own eyes and in your own backyard... right?

The misty shrouds that the last Pandaren Emperor used to protect Pandaria from the demonic jeopardy that threatened Azeroth have done a particularly good job, for no troll has been seen in Pandaria for over 10,000 years. No wonder the Zandalari seem like nothing more than freakish figures of fiction to many Pandaren.

Imagine the Pandaren's surprise when the mists collapse and Pandaria's lush forests and cloud-ringed mountains are once more threatened by the ancient Zandalari menace that they had come to see as nothing more than scary savages in some superstitious stories.

After the mists collapse, of course after 10,000 years the Zandalari are intensely curious about Pandaria, even more so perhaps than the Horde and Alliance are. But is there more to their interest than pure curiosity?

So, just like the Alliance and Horde, they send out their forces to Pandaria. But it would appear they have it in mind to re-connect with their ancient allies, the Mogu. It seems they want to help them retake the land away from the Pandaren and once again bring it under Mogu rule. How very kind of them!

But is their mission to re-establish Mogu rule really so altruistic as that? They seem so desperate to acquire Pandaren territory. What exactly could be their motive, if it isn't just to help out their ancient Mogu allies?

To find out more, we will need to wait a little while longer so we can head towards Kun-Lai Summit and unravel the secrets that are there to be discovered.

JustOneFix · 03/25/12, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by Cybsled

Obviously we know what sorts of things happen in the underbelly of Orgrimmar. Perhaps he felt the orcs lost their edge when they escaped Mannoroth's curse and he is trying to recreate the felblood boost without the side effect of being the slaves of the Burning Legion?

I bet that it has something to do with Garrosh wearing Mannoroth's tusks on his armor. I'm not that interested in seeing another foe return to life though, so maybe it will serve the same capacity as the Skull of Gul'dan; the skull's owner is dead but the corrupting evil lingers on.

Emeraude · 03/26/12, 12:37 AM

Aren't you guys missing the more obvious? IE The Saronite he brought back from Northrend the entire city is coated with?

Molakar · 03/26/12, 4:02 AM

Originally Posted by Emeraude

Aren't you guys missing the more obvious? IE The Saronite he brought back from Northrend the entire city is coated with?

So the Old Gods did it again? That kinda...sucks. I rather have character that's evil because he want's to be evil (or maybe because he doesn't know better) and not because he's corrupted by Old Gods/the Legion. :/

Exemplar · 03/26/12, 9:23 AM

Originally Posted by Emeraude

Aren't you guys missing the more obvious? IE The Saronite he brought back from Northrend the entire city is coated with?

That would lead to two very bad conclusions:
1) Everyone who spends a goodly portion of time in Orgrimaar should be likewise infected/corrupted. That should be the vast majority of any leadership structures (military, religious, and political). Even actively commanding Generals spend a goodly amount of time back at HQ. Doesn't matter that the deployed war machine is free of corruption if everyone at the top is batshit crazy. Even one-dimensional Emorage Varian is palatable in comparison.

2) Saronite continues to have a corrupting influence years after Yogg-Saron has been 'killed.' Pretty much means the world's screwed - think permanent Cho'gall fight - corruption never goes away. Doesn't matter how long it takes, or how careful you are. People make mistakes and get a drib and a drab here and there. Eventually it will max out.

Blayze · 03/26/12, 6:57 PM

I thought Orgrimmar was covered in "black iron," not Saronite.

Emeraude · 03/27/12, 3:12 PM

Well we know he's corrupted, Blizzard has straight up said, something has corrupted Garrosh, he commits war crimes, this causes Civil War in the Horde and the Alliance/Horde both raid the city to stop him. Obviously because this will be a raid with multiple encounters, we are going to see Horde military corrupted/loyal to Garrosh protecting him before the final encounter.

Now as for the Saronite angle, Tom Chilton or Chris Metzen I forget who, I think it was Tom made it a point @ Blizzcon 2009 when they were showing rebuilt Ogrimmar to point out that Ogrimmar was rebuilt with a metal that came from Northrend. Now they could have simply said "Oh we rebuilt Ogrimmar with that Northrend Orc building design, similar to how they rebuild most Forsaken buildings in their newfound Northrend style, BUT they made it a point to emphasis the fact that they got a metal from Northrend to rebuild the city in this very coy manner, which lead alot of people to think that it was in fact Saronite being used.

I freely admit that it in no way means 100% that they used saronite to rebuild the city, and it has never been confirmed one way or the other, but my lore instinct just screams to me "Oh they made it a point for us to pay attention to the Ogrimmar metal and where it came from, soooo maybe it's Saronite?"

Starfire · 03/27/12, 4:51 PM

It seems fitting, honestly. However I agree with the other poster. Why can't we have someone that's evil without being corrupted. To me, it's more meaningful and less cliche.

Saronite corruption though is fitting with Yogg-Saron's taunts and comments. But you're right about the comment, they made a point to mention it was black metal from Northrend. Though on a side note, it may also be the corruption of Ner'zhul as well. Or Nerubian-related corruption.

Finally, there's also the angle of N'zoth. We know he's the next Old God.

I must say though, there's something else really cool about the prospect of Garrosh -- he's the first main end of the expansion villain created solely for/from World of Warcraft. Kil'Jaeden, Kel'Thuzad, Deathwing, Lich King (and even Illidan if we assume he was originally the end for Burning Crusade) were all from the Warcraft RTS.

Blayze · 03/28/12, 7:10 AM

Originally Posted by Cybsled

But going batshit insane because of the attack just seems like poor writing and character development for her.

This makes me want to invent a dance called the Garrosh that involves a lot of 180 degree turns.

Everybody do the Garrosh! /flip /flop /atrocity

Emeraude · 03/31/12, 1:42 AM

ruinsoftheramore - YouTube video of ruined Theramore is up.

From the looks of things there's an arcane pulse of energy leftover from the battle, right where Jaina's tower is, makes me wonder if she was the one that actually used some powerful magic that caused most of the destruction out of desperation. Would make sense and explain her hair turning a different color and her personality/temperament changing.

In the Jade Forest Anduin uses Fear/Mind Control/Holy Fire, showing his growth as a Priest, before he was just using shields.

Kirion · 03/31/12, 4:30 AM

Originally Posted by Emeraude

ruinsoftheramore - YouTube video of ruined Theramore is up.

From the looks of things there's an arcane pulse of energy leftover from the battle, right where Jaina's tower is, makes me wonder if she was the one that actually used some powerful magic that caused most of the destruction out of desperation. Would make sense and explain her hair turning a different color and her personality/temperament changing.

In the Jade Forest Anduin uses Fear/Mind Control/Holy Fire, showing his growth as a Priest, before he was just using shields.

Doesn't stop Horde from capturing him