So, here we are. I went to bed last night thinking what would be the outcome, but didn't linger on it, and see the outcome.
And here it is, the new warchief of the horde, vol'jin.
I thought how I could express my feelings on the outcome, but honestly, Thrall did that for me, in the first three words he said in the cinematic.
"You disappoint me"
And thats all I felt from this. There was no great devastation, there was no absolute bliss. All it become was just.. air out of a balloon. Just disappointment.
So, better I go over all the reasons why with each character and context to the events. There were some small points i liked in this outcome, but the ultimate resolution was just.. meh.
..................
Thrall:
Probably the only good thing I got from this cinematic, was seeing how Thrall was prepared to kill Garrosh with the doomhammer. Before people complain this was out of character from Thrall, that just highlights how little to know of his character. In past warcraft stories, like the novel cycle of hatred, Thrall did indeed crush the skull of one of his own, who couldn't let go of his hate for humans, so when it comes down to it, we see here Thrall was prepared to kill Garrosh, and correct giving him power in the first place.
Thrall then givng his mantle, which was rightfully his, over to vol'jin, well in a way it shows how Thrall has matured to the point he doesn't wish for power over people, just to help them, it also means, as of this moment, because of Thralls decision, orcs have lost there mantle in the horde, despite the games story since the beginning being about orcs and humans, the game makers have shifted it into unfamiliar grounds, and tbh, it feels also unreal, like a parallel story arch from the comic book.
I'm happy Thralls alive, but whatever this means for the orcs..
The orcs:
This is the biggest problem now I see in the story. As I say, orcs have been the main demographic of the orcs storyline since the beginning, just as humans have been the main demographic in the alliance (which is even shown now with Varian, Jaina and Anduin). This sudden change of role, with vol'jin being in power, doesn't give me any hope for the orcs, at odds, despite them being the face of the horde for so long, they will be bumped down, and that just makes the horde into something else.
Vol'jin:
What can I say about him. I like vol'jin overall, but this sudden taking the torch is.. just such a removal from the hordes storyline. Well he's shown to be a good commander, and will he is a far better option then Garrosh, having him as warchief just leaves the story making no sense. Imagine your an orc player the first time, you read stories about how orcs formed the horde, how it began on draenor with the orcs, how they were enslaved by the legion, then by the humans, rescued by Thrall, doomhammer sacrificing his life for them, moving to a new land, building there homes there, calling there land durotar, and there city orgrimmar. So a new orc player finds himself in durotar, he goes to orgrimmar, he goes to Grommash hold, everything so far is about orcs and orgrimmar is the hordes capital.. just to find.. the troll leader as his defacto leader.
Tell me, how they begins to make sense in anyones mind. People will say 'change is good', but in this case, its not so good, its just dropping the pale.
Garrosh:
TBH, I don't really care anymore. Given everything else that disappointed me in this final cinematic, this was like the final nail in the coffin, but by this stage I don't give a shit. So he's alive, and facing 'justice' by the pandaren, what, there gonna tickle his feet for the next 20 years? What a mulling waste that could have given some enjoyment, but whatever.
And now the alliance side of things.
Varian:
I've hated this character since he first came into warcraft story much like Garrosh, but over time he developed and matured, and it shows here. I still don't like him much, but at least he shows a far more mature and kingly attitude then any other alliance leader. Not much more need be said about him, he did what he came to do and left, thats that.
Jaina:
I can't begin to describe this, but best I can say is, the Jaina I use to know and like from WC3 and on, is now officially dead to me. This thing looking like Jaina isn't her anymore, they couldn't have butchered her character anymore if they tried. He's literally become the sylvanas of the alliance, cold, unfeeling, and overall unpleasent to think about. For a character who use to inspire great promise in peace, she's not that character anymore. I did write in a long review I did of tides of war, the Jaina I knew once died in that book, and none more is it apparent then here. She doesn't even regard Thrall as her friend anymore, despite Garrosh being defeated as she wanted. Honestly, Jaina doesn't exist anymore, she's just a clone of her father now.
Anduin:
Not much be said, he's the good guy kid, he wants peace, end of.
The alliance:
I'm just gonna say this now, but can you alliance whiners, dear god, shut the hell up! You got your victory, you defeated Garrosh, your alliance is now stronger then ever, and you have nothing toi complain about, coming out on top of all this. If you can't even take that for what it is, your never going to, so if you still feel disappointed in this outcome, i have no sympathy for you. Enjoy your human only story.
And:
Taran Zhu.
Kind of glad he survived, guess Garrosh can't kill anyone he tries to without a bomb. And he's right, in he and the pandaren surviing justice on Garrosh for what he did, it would prevent the horde and alliance fighting over who should get to. But, knowing the pandaren, they are obviously not going to kill him, despite Tara having every reason to. Might as well shove Garrosh in a box and have him as a blow up villian for a later story, because thats all he is now.
......................
Overall, I'm not happy, not sad, not angry, not elated. I'm just.. pfffff..
My main disappointment really though, comes from how the orcs, as I say, are now reduced to nothing in this story, a farce even. We're still see orcish structures around, we're still have the orcs as a playable race, but there whole demographic and history has now become meaningless in the story. The whole purpose of the story was to have orcs be the race that overcame things, that showed they were not monsters, and held honor, as well as brotherhood with the rest of the horde.
In the recent story arch, blizzard has outright butchered everything i loved about the orcs, made them into the bad guys again, and even in the end, make it they are no longer the demographic of the horde. In a way, the orcs storyline in warcraft ended this day, and that just feels ... well, dead.
The developers once said warcraft was about orcs vs humans, and it has been since the beginning right to to this point. Now I've had people private posting me saying I need to stop thinking about the horde as orcs.. yet these are usually alliance posters, who despite the orcs now being booted off the story, still have there human leaders representing the alliance, Varian, Jaina, Anduin.
This makes the story of warcraft now, officially, into Trolls vs Humans.
I didn't have high expectations for what was to come, but i at least expected them to think outside the box. And the funniest thing is.. when they said about how the new warchief be something nobody expected, well, EVERYONE EXPECTED THIS. They can't even respect there own playerbase enough to think they could figure it out.
maybe I should race change all my orcs to trolls now, since they seems to be what the devs what all orc players to do.
say whatever you like to this, honestly, it can't touch on anything, I'm not angry, i'm not happy, I'm just, as Thrall said it, disappointed.