Culling of Stratholme: what else could Arthas, or even Uther, have done?

[Melius]

my question is will we ever get stratholme as a hub since the argent crusade cleared most of it from scourge and balnazzar? would be nice

[samus]

You say that like there's a cure to the plague now, lol.

There is a cure for the plague now.

[nothingsjim]

The point stands, Antonidas came up with a specific counter in very short time. Who knows what he would have been able to do with more?
And of course, Kel'thuzad was responsible for analyzing and taking down the barrier, another genius Archmage who would have stayed dead if not for Arthas.

But the specifics don't even matter. Jaina and Uther come from extremely powerful organisations, both with a scientific and holy background (pretty much tailored to solve these kind of issues). It made perfect sense for them to go "Wow wait a fucking second, how about we request the help of the most powerful magic kingdom and an army of Paladins & Priests before slaughtering everyone?".

Is it through? I mean, sure, Holy Light is usually pretty good against undead in RPG in general, but Warcraft-verse has never seen serious undead invasion prior, barring some Old Horde Death Knights. And given that Kirin Tor banned the study of necromancy, it's unlikely your average mages of Dalaran know how to counter it.

Dalaran is also likely to be stationed upon some powerful magical leyline so that it can sustain the anti-undead barrier, doubt the same can be applied to Stratholme.

Consulting Kirin Tor and Church of Holy Light is the logical choice, but one that wouldn't affect much of the outcome.

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There is a cure for the plague now.

I am not sure how much Putress's cure to plague of undeath is canon, or if the cure can still be replicated now that Putress is dead. Given that later in Icecrown we still failed to save Crusader Bridenbrad, despite trying so many different things (Dragonfire, Emerald Dream stuff, Naaru Holy Light).

[McNeil]

There's nothing else they could've done, Arthas made the right call. He learned how quickly the plague turned civilians into zombies and how devastating this effect will have if Stratholme were to turn. And at the time they had no cure, there wasn't even enough time left to call the Kirin Tor for aid as the civilians were about to turn the moment Arthas showed up. Uther had way to much pride as a full blown paladin to do the job and Jaina wasn't ready emotionally. Maybe he could've tried to quarantine the civilians who were running out of Stratholme a bit longer to see if they are turning, and if they do just execute them right ahead. Though he may have lacked the manpower to do so.

Its a beautifully yet tragic piece of lore when Blizzards writing was at their best. This was fully orchestrated just to lure Arthas to Northrend to pick up Frostmourne, knowing that he would let anger take him over when he had to execute his own people when they were still alive. If only Blizzard could write villains as good as the WC3 Scourge, rather than these never ending faction conflicts..

[samus]

Is it through? I mean, sure, Holy Light is usually pretty good against undead in RPG in general, but Warcraft-verse has never seen serious undead invasion prior, barring some Old Horde Death Knights. And given that Kirin Tor banned the study of necromancy, it's unlikely your average mages of Dalaran know how to counter it.

Dalaran is also likely to be stationed upon some powerful magical leyline so that it can sustain the anti-undead barrier, doubt the same can be applied to Stratholme.

Consulting Kirin Tor and Church of Holy Light is the logical choice, but one that wouldn't affect much of the outcome.

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I am not sure how much Putress's cure to plague of undeath is canon, or if the cure can still be replicated now that Putress is dead. Given that later in Icecrown we still failed to save Crusader Bridenbrad, despite trying so many different things (Dragonfire, Emerald Dream stuff, Naaru Holy Light).

Isn't the issue the length of time between infection and treatment?

[Malacrass]

Is it through? I mean, sure, Holy Light is usually pretty good against undead in RPG in general, but Warcraft-verse has never seen serious undead invasion prior, barring some Old Horde Death Knights. And given that Kirin Tor banned the study of necromancy, it's unlikely your average mages of Dalaran know how to counter it.

Dalaran is also likely to be stationed upon some powerful magical leyline so that it can sustain the anti-undead barrier, doubt the same can be applied to Stratholme.

Consulting Kirin Tor and Church of Holy Light is the logical choice, but one that wouldn't affect much of the outcome.

I'm always talking from the perspective of Uther and Jaina, and so the answer would be: yes. Uther, as a former Priest and later Paladin, knows what holy magic can do to cure people from all kinds of shit. In his eyes the plague was another severe illness that the light may be able to cure.

Same deal with Jaina. Even if necromancy is frowned upon or even downright forbidden, the Kirin Tor surely know a lot about it still (else they wouldn't forbid it). That's why I noted how Antonidas was able to come up with a super effective counter-barrier within weeks. He knew his stuff, and he might have been able to come up with more.

And yes, now we know that there is no cure for the plague, but they didn't know back then. Uther and Jaina had a really good argument given their own position, despite people often calling them dumb or naive.

[Gwathir]

Ultimately Stratholme was doomed no matter what. Probably all of Lordaeron was doomed no matter what. What makes this a tragic part of Arthas' story is that he abandoned his principles for the sake of victory, but still wound up losing in the end. The Culling of Strathome wasn't really about saving Stratholme, it was about saving Arthas' soul. If he'd refused to cull the city, there likely wouldn't be any great differences for Lordaeron. But Arthas wouldn't have become a villain. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I bet Arthas would have chosen the latter if he'd known.

[vertigo12]

my question is will we ever get stratholme as a hub since the argent crusade cleared most of it from scourge and balnazzar? would be nice

Yes, light undead capital for Calia's light forsaken. Ruins of Stratholme.