Why does the Winter Queen feel more like the Witch Queen?

[Beloren]

I mean, am I the only one that feels this? Sure she's disguised as being benevolent, but in warcraft witches can be "good" - but I guess it won't have served to call the Witch Queen. Winter Queen was close enough I think.

Has echoes of Frozen... hehe.

[Varodoc]

Yes, you are the only one who feels like that.

[Narwhalosh Whalescream]

She's hot.

[Biomega]

Can't say I feel like this.

Melancholy? Sure. Malevolence? Not in the slightest.

The name isn't a coincidence either, since it derives from old faerie folklore divided into the Summer Court (with a Summer Queen) and the Winter Court (with a Winter Queen). It's not something WoW just invented to avoid the word Witch. At all.

[PixelFox]

She's a cold-hearted bitch and I really dislike her. I have not forgiven them for the cute bear soul thing. Still the best and most dramatic story line in the expansion so far.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

I'm more surprised at how nice the Winter Queen is than anything, but then again I guess I'm just contrasting it with my perception of the inspiration for the Night Fae (ie. the fae/sidhe from folklore).

- - - Updated - - -

She's a cold-hearted bitch and I really dislike her. I have not forgiven them for the cute bear soul thing. Still the best and most dramatic story line in the expansion so far.

That "cute bear soul thing" was literally a bear-god that died in the War of the Ancients, fighting to protect Azeroth from the Legion. Had it been given a choice, sacrificing itself would've literally been in exact keeping with its character.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I mean, am I the only one that feels this? Sure she's disguised as being benevolent, but in warcraft witches can be "good" - but I guess it won't have served to call the Witch Queen. Winter Queen was close enough I think.

Has echoes of Frozen... hehe.

She's a cold-hearted bitch and I really dislike her. I have not forgiven them for the cute bear soul thing. Still the best and most dramatic story line in the expansion so far.

Seriously? Because she isn't "nice"? Jesus christ I weep for the women in your life.

[Vakir]

That's the entire damn point. The "flaw" we address in Ardenweald (alongside the memory fuckery in Bastion, the infighting in Maldraxxus, and the corrupt aristocracy in Revendreth) is that the preoccupation with sacrifice under the Drought has hardened her. That's why Ysera's cutscene has her being convinced to start reconsidering rebirth rather than always turning to sacrifice to prolong the inevitable. The implication being that she has not given equal attention to the rebirth element of her charge. That's why it directly contrasts them nomming up Ursoc in the Afterlives cinematic.

Our characters incredulously shrug when she shows up for all of 2 seconds and then poofs early in the zone. It's to give a demeanor of being standoffish and cold. And bureaucratic. It's not done for no reason.

[DazManianDevil]

F for Ursoc

[KOUNTERPARTS]

I see what you are saying. But you are reaching for something that isn’t there.


So no.

[Traveler Voltin]

her logic has issues.
you can only sacrifice so much before you have nothing left.

[jellmoo]

Not the vibe I get at all. To me, she's doing her best for all those in her realm even when she knows her best isn't enough and she's doomed to fail. Her story is a sad one because she cares, but also she's the one that has to make all the worst choices. She's the only ruler in the Shadowlands that seems to legitimately care about those she rules and steels herself to absorb the sins they have to perform to survive in order to spare her subjects that pain.

[Depakote]

Because you're inserting your own feelings into the storyline trying to twist the story into something it is not.

[Napee]

I feel like for some reason alot of the promotional content, advertising and some of the leaked+beta storyies painted her in a less interesting and more ominus role then what she has turned out to be.

I cant tell if thats on purpose or an accidental fake out but im genuinely happy that the one zone and characters I disliked the most has become my favourite.

[Raugnaut]

Eh, personally the Witch Queen has it the roughest - Everything going on in Ardenweald isn't really her fault.

In Bastion, for instance, is having trouble almost entirely because the Archon had her head stuck up her ass. Devos brought her issues to the Archon, and instead of discussing the obvious issues (Items of the Maw outside of the Maw - If the Maw is inescapable, how did those items get out?), or even trying to reassure Devos that her chosen way of doing things was the correct way, she was basically "Eh, fuck you Devos, you listen to me bitch".

Maldraxxus is what happens when you lose the top dog of a pack of slavering wolves.

And of course with Ravendreth, Denathrius and his psycophants basically don't give a fuck about anything else.

But in Ardenweald? She's the caretaker of the Heart of the Forest, an artifact that's basically keeping things inside the Maw IN the Maw - It's why the Jailer can't just up and leave whenever he wants. And since Denathrius fucked everything over, she's having to make hard choices between her subjects lifes, or the safety of the rest of the Shadowlands. And with the Drust also siphoning off as much anima as they can, along with the Gorm moving in and breeding out of control, she's having a hard time of it all.

[Relapses]

Relevant:

[javierdsv]

To me she feels like the "Queen of Narnia", she seems nice but she uses harsh words... Like when she calls ysera just a pet.
I feel there is some shady stuff involving the Maw lock up.
And well, his brother from Revendreth turned against them all so they could perfectly be evil if they'd like.

Where's the winter though, and why is she the queen of it?

[Count Zero]

Winter Queen is cold. Film at 11.

[Lindon]

To me she feels like the "Queen of Narnia", she seems nice but she uses harsh words... Like when she calls ysera just a pet.

She's basically just alluding to the fact she's just a higher tier of being. Like humans do with any other animal.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Also, I don’t know why nobody is talking about the underlying theme of the Shadowlands: the systems in place by the respective afterlives are not working. They are either flawed, outdated, or cultivate corruption.


It is apparent that by the end of the expansion the entirety of how the Shadowlands is governed or at least ran will be radically different.