Originally Posted by
Ifurzzar
I am still not good at English, if you guys find any ambiguity or odd expression in this thread, please point out so I can right them, thanks.
So, as we know from spoilers, Rhonin is the one killed in the imminent Tides of War. And before the spoilers Metzen updated his blog which told us the death of this famous one "has its great meaning, it will advance the story."(not quite the literal words of Metzen, but I think the tenor is grasped)
And I really doubt the reality in his words after reading the spoilers.
The reason I say so is that Rhonin's coming to Jaina's aid is odd and illogical.
As you guys know, Rhonin is the leader of Dalaran and Kirin Tor, which all the while insists their neutrality to the extent they even rejected to dispatch any representative to attend to the Alliance gathering held by Malfurion in the novel Wolfheart.
Then, how could it be possible that a neutral leader so flagrantly came to aid Jaina with Dalaran's elite magi against the Horde ? Remember there are many blood elves in Dalaran and their leader one of the Kirin Tor council, how could they possibly brook Rhonin so obviously being in favor of their enemy? But still Rhonin came and died. It's too irrational and at odds with common sense.
Besides, I find myself can't agree with that "Rhonin's death helps advance the story".
The major thread of Tides of War is about Jaina's conversion from pacifist to a provoked warmonger, and the reason for such resulting conversion is, by Metzen's logic, 1)the ruination of Theramore and 2)Rhonin 's death.
But if you mull it over, it's not difficult to find out Rhonin's death is totally unnecessary, the reasonings are as below:
1)if Rhonin survived but Theramore did not, would Jaina go mad at Garrosh and try to obliterate Orgrimmar?
Certainly! She's the leader of this city state and the one held responsible to it's citizens' safety, but Garrosh killed them ALL, anyone can't bear such atrocity.
2)if Theramore survived but Rhonin not, would Jaina go trying to wipe out all orcs as she did in the novel?
Hardly. Never in game nor in any novel her friendship with Rhonin has ever been mentioned, so to her Rhonin is no more than a mage colleague. She might become angry at Garrosh, but never would she come up with the idea of killing all orcs to revenge him.
In short, Rhonin's death is unnecessary, or rather peripheral in effect at best.
See, Rhonin's death is quite abrupt, beyond all expectations, irrational and unnecessary. Quite to the contrary of "advancing the story", in my opinion his illogical presence and violent death in Theramore compromises the quality of the book.
And, too odd in timing to be coincidental, Krasus also died not a year ago in Goledn's novel Twilight of the Aspects.
Both Krasus and Rhonin are Knaak-created and the main characters in his novels. But they both have been "written to death" by the irrelevant Golden. Coincidental? Can't believe it.
To me, Krasus and Rhonin's death appears too "artificially designed" to sit well with the books' plots. It just gives me the feeling that "Metzen or Blizzard's got bored of Knaak's characters and decided to make Golden by the way wipe the key two(Krasus and Rhonin) out in her writing, even if the book's plots do not demand that."
When I read another one's thread who's in similar opinion with me, he/she minted the word "de-knaakfication", and this word I use to explain the reason for Krasus and Rhonin's death -- both unnecessary and too violent and tragic.
I may never know what has happened between Blizz and Knaark, whose partnership has lasted more than 10 years, even much more longer than WoW itself, that so suddenly Blizz turned it's back on Knaark and began so callously methodically and intentionally killing Knaak-created characters. You see, they even did not bother to demand Knaak do such work, which is rational, after all Knaak is the father of these characters, they just put him aside and called Golden to such unhappy things.
Is it because their contract ended? Any unhappy experience happened? or Blizz wanted to warn Knaak of something? We may only guess.
Still, whatever happened, either Knaak was forced to relinquish his characters or has quit writing any more WoW novel, such behaviors of Blizz profoundly sickened me. It's reckless at best. If Blizz doesn't want these characters to play any roles in this expansion, then let them be, there are too much more ways to make a novel exciting instead of producing gimmicks from their brutal deaths.
Look around, WoW is a world full of shattered families and broken souls, that gives forlorn feelings. But all the while Rhonin, Vereesa and their intact family is a solace to many, until this time Blizz decided to shatter it, rendering another woman husband-deprived and a pair of twins fatherless. I very much want to ask Blizz that what made you so mean and petty towards Krasus and Rhonin, whose creator has helped you extremely expanded the wow universe in the last decade? Have you so easily forgotten if Krasus and Rhonin had never existed, the Aspects and Deathwing would never have been, and the whole Cataclysm expansion the same?
I'd like say, as one of my earliest acquainted Warcraft heros, I always feel Rhonin like an old friend rather than lines of cold binary coding, he's exactly as a happy neighbor who has lovely wife and laughing children and every time I see them I feel the warmth well up in my heart and tell myself life is so beautiful. But now, knowing he is gone, is no more, my stomach churns and heart wrenches and the world goes sullen.
As to Blizz, be honest and sincere, it's behaviors make me think of a couple(Blizz and Knaak) ended up in violent divorce, and so distraught and maddened and furious was the wife, that to retaliate her ex-husband she resorted to abusing and exploiting his children--also her own children.
There are some words I want to tell Blizz, despite any troubles between you and Knaak, those characters you together created are still your children, venting personal gall upon children has never been recommended to parents. Besides, that's either not the way recommended to end a partnership. Future is unpredictable, what if some day the hot honeymoon between you and Golden ends? The story of wow will continue, it's rather probably Blizz will need other new authors to help expand the universe.Then, where to put those Golden-depicted characters? Will one day Jaina die ridiculously falling from the hovering Dalaran? Will Thrall be torn to pieces in front of his son? Will Anduin behold Varian assassinated by a black dragon? And, worst of all, will all these things happen shockingly, oddly, savagely, illogically and unnaturally concentrated within several months, only serving to make the introductions of new characters theatrical and affected?
No, Blizzard, exploiting them to slags then casually forsaking them is not the way parents are supposed to treat their children. Never the way.