Xe'ra, why did Illidan kill her?

[Headayke]

This was one of the worst things about Legion. The attempt to redeem Illidan to the fanbase, teasing at a literal redemption by the light only to just throw him in the bin when the expansion is over and never heard of again. Light Scarred Illidan was badass but because the story needed to imprison him in the final patch they couldn't do it so early.

[Varitok]

To me the answer to that question is pretty straightforward.

Xe'ra was never an ally.

Naaru are absolute beings - like computers with hardcoded directives.
You simply cannot reason with them.
They don't sidetrack either - as soon as she was restored she immediately tried to Lightforge Illidan.

If Illidan just broke free, Xe'ra would simply try again at all costs, specially because there was no time to imprison him until he changes his mind.


Once she tried to force him, her nature became obvious to him, and he saw her as the same kind of evil as the Legion or the Void.
Furthermore, he needed to transform to break free, which shows the degree of strength she was using on him.

She was his enemy from the beginning.

Except, they aren't. They are nothing like computers and you can even see their compassion and ability to reason when one of them travels all the way to the north of Icecrown to ascend one man and help ease his suffering at the hands of the plague. It's not logical or safe to do it but it did out of goodness. I don't like when people make up a head canon like that because Blizz made one Naaru evil to fit the "illidan didn't do nothin wrong!" narrative.

[Daan]

only to just throw him in the bin

Sorry for OT, but Blizzard should have thrown the hole DH class in the bin.

[Hctaz]

"i need an adult"
- illidan

"I AM MY ADULT!!!!" -Illidan 2 seconds later.

[Hellobolis]

self defense. pretty obvious.

the real question is was what xera did a one time thing of a bigger reflection of the light as a whole. going with diablo lore copy pasta until proven otherwise.

[Houle]

Im actually amazed how so many people are crying that Illidan is a hypocrite, yet at the same time cry we only have holy lawful-good characters left.
Yes, Illidan is a hypocrite in that regard, and its exactly that what makes him a great character. He has flaws. He does shit that isnt entirely good or righteous.
Compare him to fckn Anduin or Talanji or whoever, and dont tell me they are better characters.

[matrix123mko]

I think it was out of character. In Warcraft 3 he was an egoist that accepted any corruption to become more powerful. He should have consumed the Light too.

[Dellis0991]

Bitch tried to rape his body and soul.

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"I AM MY ADULT!!!!" -Illidan 2 seconds later.

I laughed a few good minutes after reading this.

[Yarathir]

Sorry for OT, but Blizzard should have thrown the hole DH class in the bin.

It's probably better for you to throw your subscription in the bin.

[Vakna]

Regardless of Illidan being a megadouche and almost as bad as the villains he fights to destroy... at the end of the day, wouldn't you do whatever you had to if someone was trying to rape you?

[schwarzkopf]

Because CC always generates high levels of aggro.

[Shaetha]

Right now FFXIV is my main go-to MMO. However, it doesn't change that Ilildan's behavior is inherently hypocritical. There's no difference between what Xe'ra tried to do to him and what he did to countless others except that he made sure to bully people who couldn't fight back. Did the Broken consent to being made into slave labor for his naga allies, or Akama to having his literal soul held hostage?

This is the main issue when you try presenting a nihilistic antihero as your main protagonist. Emet-Selch worked for this point of view because ultimately, he was your antagonist. Your goals and his were inherently incompatible. Imagine how disappointing Shadowbringers would have been if Emet spent all the MSQ telling you about why presuppositions about Light and Dark need to be re-examined, only to refuse to even reflect on his own shortcomings, and for the plot to treat him as unambiguously in the right when he decides to double down on his schemes. I would have been let down in a way I haven't felt let down since Warlords of Snoremore.

That's what Blizzard did with Illidan: the countless acts of rank cowardice where he threw everyone around him to the wolves, the enslavement of a shattered planet (again, out of cowardice as the whole reason he went to Outland was to hide from Kil'Jaeden), the way he took the easy way out every time a fast path to power presented itself, all that was swept under the rug in a single moment of glorious lack of self-awareness from the writing team because 'Aye yam muh skaerz!!!!!1'

He does do this. You may have interpreted it differently from me, but his entire story was, "You're wrong about us, and I'll show you why so you'll fight for my cause instead." That is literally no different. The only difference is Eorzea is very black and white. You know exactly who the bad guys are at all times so you know not to trust them. Emet-Selch didn't learn anything. He made no internal reflections. He did nothing but work you, trying to make you his buddy so you would be sympathetic to his cause. He was doing nothing but serving his own interests the whole time.

Characters are allowed to have development. They are allowed to change. Illidan was killed for his actions. Do you not think that he could have learned from that? How is it hypocritical that he think someone else trying to do exactly what he did (while trying to make him someone's minion again) deserves death? It's literally what happened to him. It actually would have been insanity to go along with it since it would be doing the same thing and expecting different results.

That is the moment the story showed Illidan was redeemed. Regardless of how well it was sold, it was incredibly important in showing he was truly changed. He denied the easy way that would only perpetuate the cycle, instead choosing to look for a new way. One that wasn't, by his reckoning, doomed to failure.

Also, "I am my scars", however memey, is a bland statement. Everyone is the sum total of their experience. Illidan is no different. He's just stating, in a different way, he's learned from his mistakes.

[Varodoc]

Im actually amazed how so many people are crying that Illidan is a hypocrite, yet at the same time cry we only have holy lawful-good characters left.
Yes, Illidan is a hypocrite in that regard, and its exactly that what makes him a great character. He has flaws. He does shit that isnt entirely good or righteous.
Compare him to fckn Anduin or Talanji or whoever, and dont tell me they are better characters.

But no one brought up Anduin and Talanji

[lockybalboa]

It's horrible how he murdered a well-meaning ally like that just to be an edgelord. Totally unnecessary and very cruel

[Otaka]

His hypocrisy is mostly about the fact that he keeps talking about sacrifice when he hasn't really sacrificed much but has forced others to sacrifice for him a lot.

What do you mean he hasnt sacrificed much?

He sacrificed himself initially to infiltrate Suramar and fight the legion as spy within their ranks... without him malfurion would not have been able to cast out all the demons at the end of war of the ancients.
He also attempted to stop Lich King in WC3, alone, but failed unfortunately...
Then he sacrificed himself in the Black Temple so his demon hunters could finish their mission, and btw Illidan was fighting the legion at this point, and had freed outland from the legion, so us killing him was not a very good decision. Thanks Maiev!

And now hes dueling Sargeras instead of us mortals... so until we know what happens i think its safe to say he once again sacrificed himself so we wouldnt need to fight the dark-titan.

[Kanegasi]

If you were forcibly restrained, about to get mutilated from your point of view, and had the power to stop it, wouldn't you? Illidan didn't just destroy Xe'ra randomly.

[mrsohta]

People didn't like that storyline or Xe'ra so they got rid of her

[Lorgar Aurelian]

I love it how everyone who dislike Illidan goes on about ''sacrificing others to obtain power.'' sentence is utter bullcrap.

Illidan was sacrificing people before he even made his deal with Sargeras he kills all the mages under his command and absorbs there power back in the war of the ancients then hides behind “there was no other way” when he didn’t even try any other then boosting his own power.

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Illidan doesn't force his destiny on anyone, what the fuck are you talking about?

Drained his mages of life against there will.
Enslaved the orcs of Outland.
Enslaved the goats of Outland and stole there temple.
Burned goat souls to power his portals even when they were his allies.
Forces a portal to argus open over Azeroth.

Just because we won in the end doesn’t clear him of all the evils things he did and all the people he forced against there will to work for him.

[Nurvus]

Except, they aren't. They are nothing like computers and you can even see their compassion and ability to reason when one of them travels all the way to the north of Icecrown to ascend one man and help ease his suffering at the hands of the plague. It's not logical or safe to do it but it did out of goodness. I don't like when people make up a head canon like that because Blizz made one Naaru evil to fit the "illidan didn't do nothin wrong!" narrative.

I didn't claim Blizz made Naaru evil nor did I claim they are evil.
I said Illidan saw Xe'ra as the same kind of evil (in his view) as the Legion.

They do things that are aligned with their ideals, and their ideals are absolute, just like the Void, but opposite.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

Nobody fucking listens to me, so I have to do everything I can, alone now. I want to save these stupid fuckers from a threat that will literally kill the all the worlds if I do nothing, but they try to stop me every step of the way!

Classic anti-hero schtick. he wants to do the good thing, but in order ot actually get it done, sacrifices must be made and he will be vilified for doing them. I assume you say that every character in a leadership position in warcraft where a single soldier is lost "forces their destiny" on others, right? you're not just some hypocritical asshole, yeah?

No one ever listens to illlidan because he’s a team killing asshole. He doesn’t give order to soldiers that lead to deaths he kills them his self steals there power for his own or burns though there souls after allying with them and pretending he’s looking out for them.