Shadows Rising Thread [Spoilers]

[Gref]

yes yes let the spoilers flow.
read it faster people and share more! I am dying for more info. seriously.

[Aucald]

What are Theron and Thalyssra up to in this book? Anything outside of the council meeting, perhaps a reference to their relationship? I swear I read something about his poetry book coming up in this.

Lor'themar is still composing poetry about Thalyssra, and is apparently besotted. Also of interest is that the Alliance has a Blood Elf spy in the court of the Horde Council.

[Skytotem]

Not a whole lot. The only mention of them is spies for the Alliance are keeping an eye on what the Horde are up to, notice that Lorthemar is writing a lot more in his books, they go through his writings to see if anything is of note, notice he's writing poetry about his dusk lily. That's literally it.

Damn, he's got it bad for Thal.

[Aucald]

I'm currently on page 196, getting ready to sit down for dinner, though. I thought it was interesting to note that this book confirms Thrall is indeed cut off from the elements still - though it hasn't yet provided a reason. His duel with Garrosh is also considered a true Mak'gora, at least in Thrall's own mind.

[Sarethion]

yes yes let the spoilers flow

There's not much left to spoil - if you go through the thread, you'll know all the really important stuff.

But if you really need an extra spoiler - Nathanos has a bottled death-smoke tentacle teleporter thing, which he uses to escape.

[Nagawithlegs]

I'm currently on page 196, getting ready to sit down for dinner, though. I thought it was interesting to note that this book confirms Thrall is indeed cut off from the elements still - though it hasn't yet provided a reason. His duel with Garrosh is also considered a true Mak'gora, at least in Thrall's own mind.

Considering they seem to be building up a Element Rebellion 2 storyline (Firelands weirdness with missing Firelord, Therazane no longer likes mortals, Uldum and Nazjatar + elemental themed Stormsong Valley, assorted other quests in BFA) and now the plotpoint in the book (plus Thrall being back at all), I wonder if that ties into the supposed Cataclysm 2 theme for the next expansion.

[Skytotem]

Considering they seem to be building up a Element Rebellion 2 storyline (Firelands weirdness with missing Firelord, Therazane no longer likes mortals, Uldum and Nazjatar + elemental themed Stormsong Valley, assorted other quests in BFA) and now the plotpoint in the book (plus Thrall being back at all), I wonder if that ties into the supposed Cataclysm 2 theme for the next expansion.

Huh, where did the bits about the Missing Firelord and Therazane no longer liking mortals come from?

[ChronoSul]

Huh, where did the bits about the Missing Firelord and Therazane no longer liking mortals come from?

Firelord is from the dark iron unlock quest chain. And I'm guessing the Therazane is from an island expedition item.

[Nagawithlegs]

Firelord is from the dark iron unlock quest chain. And I'm guessing the Therazane is from an island expedition item.

It's actually a profession quest. Very easy to miss too.

https://www.wowhead.com/news=290545/...ne-patch-8-1-5

[Aucald]

I've finished the book - it was a pretty good read, although because it tends to shift from perspective to perspective in 4 overall parts it really doesn't contain a lot of substantial plot, to be honest. The most interesting takeaways I can think prior to full digestion are as follows:

• Thrall is still disconnected from the Elements and his power as a Shaman - no reason given as of yet.
• Maiev and Shandris basically acting as Tyrande's minders, as apparently she is so volatile that she cannot be trusted not to act in extreme violence.
• Sira Moonwarden appears to be "stuck" in the undead rage state, tormented by being undead and only temporarily sated by murder and bloodshed.
• Zekhan dies and temporarily goes to the Maw, bringing back some intel on it before he is snatched back from the brink.
• Talanji's behavior stems from her hatred of Jaina as the face of the Battle of Dazar'alor, and while she softens towards the Horde she does not let go of a desire for vengeance.
• Bwonsamdi is vouchsafing the souls of the dead Zandalari, including Rastakhan, from the Maw. It's a significant expenditure on his part to do so.
• The book ends with a recap of Sylvanas' defeat of Bolvar, the breaking of the Helm of Domination, and her entry into the Maw. Nathanos is sent to await word at the Marris Stead.
• The Flynn/Shaw romance isn't really belabored, it's actually not a big feature of the book at all. They share perhaps 3 main scenes all in all.
• Thalyssra gets a few moments to shine, and I kind of like her even more now.
• Ji Firepaw also gets a couple beats in the story, probably more exposure than he's ever gotten in any other WoW story. He and Thrall make a good team.
• Alleria and Turalyon are low-key torturing people to get intel on Sylvanas' whereabouts, although they do get limited sanction to do so from Anduin. Jaina is disgusted by this, and does *not* trust Alleria at all anymore.

- - - Updated - - -

It's actually a profession quest. Very easy to miss too.

https://www.wowhead.com/news=290545/...ne-patch-8-1-5

That's mostly Therazane being Therazane - she was never nice to anyone outside of her own realm, and she isn't now. Even when you become Exalted with her faction she still mistrusts the PC.

[Skytotem]

Firelord is from the dark iron unlock quest chain. And I'm guessing the Therazane is from an island expedition item.

It's actually a profession quest. Very easy to miss too.

https://www.wowhead.com/news=290545/...ne-patch-8-1-5

This actually doesn't seem to be anything beyond the usual disdain for mortals that Therazane has.

[BaumanKing]

Sigh, I'm starting to think that bringing Alleria and Turalyon back was not a good idea at all. I can somewhat understand what they are trying to do with Alleria and the Void. But Turalyon? It's like Luke Skywalker from TLJ all over again.

[Super Dickmann]

Sigh, I'm starting to think that bringing Alleria and Turalyon back was not a good idea at all. I can somewhat understand what they are trying to do with Alleria and the Void. But Turalyon? It's like Luke Skywalker from TLJ all over again.

Turalyon tortured a death knight way back in Beyond the Dark Portal and his religious revelation was based around how the orcs are aliens who need to be destroyed. He's still a heroic dude - being okay with being harsh towards evildoers isn't really that dire. We aren't losing the old Turalyon here, we're getting him back after being stuck with some pansy who lets his wife run off with an ethereal and meekly sits by while a demon fries his god/guide of 1k years.

[Amaterasu65]

Gotta love some harsher behaviours from the Alliance characters. Jaina and Anduin try to keep the honorable/peaceful face, while the cosmic duo tortures people for intel and the night elves also bare their fangs. Malfurion nowhere to be seen though.

Bwonsamdi protecting the troll souls from the Maw is lowkey tsundere stuff.

I think the Thrall x Elements stuff will be expanded on in the future, we already get an item from Island Expeditions which we turn on in Lord Hydraxus or whoever it was that used to give the douses for MC in Azshara, and he says that the elements are in an unresting state because the lesser elemental lords fight for supremacy in the planes.

[Super Dickmann]

I should feel bad for Liadrin but I don't.

You can't feel bad for someone with no personality. It's like feeling sorry for a brick because its brick children left home and never write letters.

[Omedon]

I really liked this book. I played the audiobook while farming mounts today and it was a good day, but Shadows Rising is a clear example of Blizzard "hearing feedback" that "nothing important" should happen in novels because "I play a game not a book." At the same time, even though it safely returns to the "home position" like a sitcom episode, technically a lot happened in this book, and I'm sure people will complain about that too.

Madeline Roux fits perfectly in the "bigots please quit" WoW of 2020, and that is absolutely not a complaint!

I wanted more cosmic plot, but again "can't be mandatory reading," and there was a good cornucopia of things for people to enjoy in this book. It was a variety show, and that's a fair way to write a book like this.

I truly hope, given the aforementioned limitations, that no one goes in on this book's reliance on character pieces, fan service and shipping, because again, you can't (according to the community) "advance the world" in a book, so character profiles are your safest and most fertile grounds for storytelling.

I might be alone in this, but I kinda felt a lot of a "direct sequel to Before The Storm" vibe in Shadows Rising. Like, there has been a lot of story in game since before the storm, but there seems to be an effort here to, in the "only tell B stories in a book" vein, kind of have the novels be a self contained series of their own. Not sure how I feel about that.

[Ardenaso]

Why is Maiev trusted now? Wasn't she murdering highborne citizens of the Night Elves?

wasn't it retconned into "Maiev was actually controlled by the Twilight's Hammer back then" or Wolfheart was simply retconned out?

- - - Updated - - -

a bit unhinged and out of nowhere but - another year without the two surviving Perenoldes; better luck in 2 years again I guess

[Varodoc]

Jaina: Omg Alleria how dare u torture 3 guys for information about a dangerous genocidal fugitive, you are so despicable, our friendship is over.

Also Jaina:



Wtf is this writing, I hate Jaina so much in this novel.

[Easo]

Wtf is this writing, I hate Jaina so much in this novel.

I will play devil's advocate - people change. One of the themes of WarCraft, btw.

[VinceVega]

Jaina: Omg Alleria how dare u torture 3 guys for information about a dangerous genocidal fugitive, you are so despicable, our friendship is over.

Also Jaina:



Wtf is this writing, I hate Jaina so much in this novel.

So if i have done one thing i am stuck in an infinite loop of repeating said thing?

People change. It is even adressed in this novel...