u/metalswansongs

Spoilers for the new campaign and cinematic, if you haven't seen it already, you've been warned.

I'm going to start this by making a comparison to the most infamous ending of a fantasy IP I can think of.

When Game of Thrones' Season 8 came out, there was a collective backlash to basically everything, because it took the most massive fantasy IP in the world and burned it to the ground (literally) with zero buildup, frankly insulting cliches, and the prevailing idea that anyone changing the system needs to be put down like Old Yeller (Daenerys). Status quo to a vast surveillance system under the guise of old traditional religion was literally king (Bran).

Whether you liked the fate of certain characters or not, the fact is that the show's ending and the revelation of these characters' fates coming to ultimately nothing, a long shaggy dog story that provided no satisfying tragedy, made a lot of people feel like idiots for caring about Game of Thrones. All those theories, all those ideas that there was rich storytelling done by writers who loved the work-- gone.

I loved the Amani storyline. I love Zul'jan and Zul'jarra, especially the supplemental material showing how much they cared for each other, how they had basically nothing, BUT each other. And I truly liked that Zul'jan was rebelling against old traditional religion, calling out the fickle nature of their gods (yes, I know the loa had their reasons, but the fact remains that these are godlike beings who can just easily decide not to help, and there's no guarantee of ANY safety).

Well, they put him down like Old Yeller. Stripped him of all his good qualities from the supplemental materials, consistently had the narrative punish him for questioning the status quo, shaved him and humiliated him in his final moments with 'you are so much cooler than me, sister', before joining the ranks of Rastakhan, Vol'jin, and so many other trolls.

This was the first time I ever got very invested in a character from WoW, I'm a relatively newish player. I haven't experienced all the other times Blizzard has taken a morally complex antihero and executed them, so this is my first moment of depression and I'm pretty sure it's the last, because what's the point?

Blizzard loves asking interesting questions about faith, the meaning of tradition, the worth of religion, the worth of faith in a fickle source-- and then essentially saying 'SIKE, YOU THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE THEMES? THEMES ARE FOR EIGHTH GRADE BOOK REPORTS!'

Because now I know that their whole 'The Light is multifaceted' storyline is going to result in 'Light bad zealots bad', we're already seeing 'but void good? Sometimes?' and no consequences for Void aligned characters doing dumbass things (Umbric being responsible for the death of potentially hundreds of people in Magister's Terrace, yet no one calls him out). There's no point in speculation on if the forces of Life are good or not, if the Titans are worth believing in or not, what Azeroth the being wants or not.

Because the minute they question the status quo, snarl in a less-than-pleasant way, not immediately kneel down and beg forgiveness for all their sins, they're marked for death. I was in denial the whole time, I genuinely thought that this was Blizzard's attempt at making the most compelling character and storyline in years--

And I felt like the world's biggest idiot for caring. So why bother caring about the story anymore? Why bother rooting for characters? Why bother engaging with any of this?

At the end of the day, they're all going to be put down like Old Yeller for not being Good ™️.

(If you've read this far, thank you, I'm a bit irritated with Blizzard lmao, hope you're having a great day)