Shadows Rising Thread [Spoilers]

[Combatbutler]

Don't worry, they'll have a second half elf kid that will pop up randomly in another expac or two. That will be their development.

Don't make even jokes about something like that.

[Sarethion]

I read it differently. Yes, Zandalar was collapsing, and many troops didn't join due to the hostages, but by end, it was a more hopeful, fragile rebuilding of trust. Not towards collapsing but towards getting better with small steps.

Holy fuck, my brain is not working well today - I guess listening to an audiobook in a foreign language for 10 hours can mess things up

I mean, by the time the final battle started, Zandalar seemed to be on the edge of collapse, i.e. if the Horde didn't come, things would probably go really badly. And by badly I mean Talanji dead, Bwonsamdi gone, Zandalar in chaos.

[Skytotem]

Here's a quote:

"When his cousin Steffan was just a young lad, Sylvanas had given him the coin - a gift to fund his first sword. Steffan always wanted to be a paladin and serve the Silver Hand. And had indeed achieved his dream. A dream that was soon ended when he became the clay used to shape and rebuild Nathanos. His body has been ripped to shreds by an abomination and then he has risen as a mindless Ghoul..."

Okay, going through that again - I may have misunderstood that part, i.e. perhaps the abomination wrecked Nathanos, not his cousin? Someone who read/listened to it and/or is a native English speaker - a little help?

Hm, give me the next paragraph after that and the previous paragraph before that just to be sure.

[Friendlyimmolation]

Don't make even jokes about something like that.

Then both of their children are killed by a steam engine in a vain effort to add sympathy to Alleria's story.

- - - Updated - - -

Here's a quote:

"When his cousin Steffan was just a young lad, Sylvanas had given him the coin - a gift to fund his first sword. Steffan always wanted to be a paladin and serve the Silver Hand. And had indeed achieved his dream. A dream that was soon ended when he became the clay used to shape and rebuild Nathanos. His body has been ripped to shreds by an abomination and then he has risen as a mindless Ghoul..."

Okay, going through that again - I may have misunderstood that part, i.e. perhaps the abomination wrecked Nathanos, not his cousin? Someone who read/listened to it and/or is a native English speaker - a little help?

An abomination killed Nathanos, Ramstein in Strathlome.

[Raetary]

Here's a quote:

"When his cousin Steffan was just a young lad, Sylvanas had given him the coin - a gift to fund his first sword. Steffan always wanted to be a paladin and serve the Silver Hand. And had indeed achieved his dream. A dream that was soon ended when he became the clay used to shape and rebuild Nathanos. His body has been ripped to shreds by an abomination and then he has risen as a mindless Ghoul..."

Okay, going through that again - I may have misunderstood that part, i.e. perhaps the abomination wrecked Nathanos, not his cousin? Someone who read/listened to it and/or is a native English speaker - a little help?

Ye, narration is referencing Nathanos' body.
He was a mindless ghoul before Sylvanas brought him back to his senses.

[Fewane]

Holy fuck, my brain is not working well today - I guess listening to an audiobook in a foreign language for 10 hours can mess things up

I mean, by the time the final battle started, Zandalar seemed to be on the edge of collapse, i.e. if the Horde didn't come, things would probably go really badly. And by badly I mean Talanji dead, Bwonsamdi gone, Zandalar in chaos.

Ah yeah, absolutely. And even if Talanji had lived but lost that last battle, she definitely would have been off the throne.

[Sarethion]

Hm, give me the next paragraph after that and the previous paragraph before that just to be sure.

"His body has been ripped to shreds by an abomination and then he had risen as a thrall of the Scourge, a mindless Ghoul. Until Sylvanas freed him from that fate. The process had left him renewed in undeath, but in a mangled body that grew ever weaker. Sylvanas sought to repair that crumbling form. And used Steffan to do so."

That's directly after the previous quote. I think it's enough - I think I'm just stupid and for some reason I assumed that Sylvanas had Steffan killed by an abomination, then risen him as a ghoul, then used him to rebuild that form and.. oh gosh, I'm dumb Sorry!

[Maljinwo]

Holy fuck, my brain is not working well today - I guess listening to an audiobook in a foreign language for 10 hours can mess things up

I mean, by the time the final battle started, Zandalar seemed to be on the edge of collapse, i.e. if the Horde didn't come, things would probably go really badly. And by badly I mean Talanji dead, Bwonsamdi gone, Zandalar in chaos.

Blizzard is commited to shit on trolls one way or the other

[Sarethion]

If you're interested who exactly came to aid the Zandalari - Thrall, Baine and Thalyssra. Rokhan was already there. Gazlowe and Lor'themar took the fleet to cut off the potential retreat by sea. As for numbers - about as much as Talanji had, i.e. 40-50 soldiers.

[DemonHunter18]

Nobbel is doing an interview with the author tomorrow so you guys can post questions here so maybe he'll ask some of them

https://twitter.com/Nobbel87/status/1283147479341563906

[Nagawithlegs]

Blizzard is commited to shit on trolls one way or the other

If you don't have Zandalar screwed up after BFA then you don't have a story. If you ignore Zandalar than it likely never gets brought up again. The fact that the entire book is dedicated to Talanji working to restore the empire and solidify her ties with the loa shows they aren't shitting on trolls, not to mention the multiple troll characters in the book (an entire rebel faction with a real leader, Zekhan fleshed out, Bwonsamdi, Rokhan, etc).

[Skytotem]

If you don't have Zandalar screwed up after BFA then you don't have a story. If you ignore Zandalar than it likely never gets brought up again. The fact that the entire book is dedicated to Talanji working to restore the empire and solidify her ties with the loa shows they aren't shitting on trolls, not to mention the multiple troll characters in the book (an entire rebel faction with a real leader, Zekhan fleshed out, Bwonsamdi, Rokhan, etc).

I think some people are concerned that in Blizz and Roux's efforts not to have Talanji look like she does everything perfectly, that they made her too dependent on Bwom.

[Aucald]

Bwonsamdi referring to Zekhan as "zappy boy" is gold, though; ordinarily this little in-joke meme reference might be groan-worthy but from Bwonsamdi it almost seems right somehow.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Bwonsamdi referring to Zekhan as "zappy boy" is gold, though; ordinarily this little in-joke meme reference might be groan-worthy but from Bwonsamdi it almost seems right somehow.

Well, he does make a Sixth Sense reference when you click on him sometimes so there's that lol

He's a comic-relief character so it defiantly fits him lol

[Jastall]

You know... I wonder - how strong are the Zandalari know?

Before the final battle the rebels have 40 troops + 20 Dark Ragers, probably not counting Nathanos, Apari and Sira. In total that's what... 60-70 troops, half of which is elite, but still that's not a lot. Now, the funny thing is that it is supposedly the peak of their power. And yet... Talanji's army got so rekt'd by them before (albeit, the rebels set a trap) that she can't even spare the same amount of troops to protect the Necropolis.

I don't know, I get the impression that either the Dark Rangers are super overpowered or the Zandalari were left really weak after the war.

Troop numbers in Warcraft make no sense at all. We've just had a war where the Alliance was winning on all fronts while simultaneously being down to sending farmers to the frontlines, and then suddenly the Horde's loyalists were stronger than both the Alliance and Horde rebels put together.

[Zaelsino]

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.

[Ryken]

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.

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.

[DemonHunter18]

Troop numbers in Warcraft make no sense at all. We've just had a war where the Alliance was winning on all fronts while simultaneously being down to sending farmers to the frontlines, and then suddenly the Horde's loyalists were stronger than both the Alliance and Horde rebels put together.

LMAO I don't why but this cracked me up xd

[Adramalech]

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.

I'm not into romance plots, but that's pretty adorable.

[Sarethion]

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.

The poetry book doesn't come up in any significant way and there aren't really any big hints of their relationship. As for what they're doing... nothing special - both get some lines, mostly during council work, in which they mainly advocate for keeping the armistice. Thalyssra also appears towards the end and takes part in the final battle, but the book doesn't go into too much detail about that.

P.S. Last bit of lore news - in the end Bwonsamdi actually summons Rastakhan for Talanji. It's a pretty touching and nice scene. Oh, and obviously, Talanji doesn't take Bwonsamdi up on the deal they made, i.e. the pact stays, but Bwonsamdi accepts that other Loa are important too.

Oh, and if you're curious is there anything interesting about Sylvanas at the end other than what was leaked - not really. She does the Bolvar/Sky thing, then she meets with Nathanos and basically tells him to not show his face until he finds a way to stop Bwonsamdi from meddling, says her part about dismantling the unjust life ladder... And that's pretty much the end.