What do you think about [SPOILER] becoming the new Arbiter?

[Sasquatch]

Better than Sylvanas getting to become the next Arbiter. I honestly hope she's held to account for what she's done, but I don't Danuser and Co will be doing that.

[AlmightyGerkin]

Imagine a twist were Pelagos is about to become the arbiter and suddenly Nathanos appears and takes it

[MrLachyG]

do we know when Pelagos arrived in Bastion? was it well before the anima drought or literally right before it started?

[Aucald]

do we know when Pelagos arrived in Bastion? was it well before the anima drought or literally right before it started?

Not specifically, but his dialogues refer to him having attempted the rites to become Ascended for a long, long time with no success. Given that years and years of reflection tend to be needed for faltering aspirants, it's likely Pelagos has been in Bastion for quite some time.

[ro9ue]

Meaningless character become meaningless arbiter of meaningless shadowlands.

Welp, there it is.

[hecpercu]

Danuser doing danuser things

[Theangryone]

I hated every quest where I had to deal with Pelagos. Can’t think of a better embodiment of SL than him

[qwerty123456]

I mean, it makes sense. Personally I didn't want another arbiter at all, but w/e.

-It had to be a member of the Shadowlands

It really does, it just makes more sense for someone that actually has been part of the system to be the one to change it, so that does leave out any of the living characters.

-Makes sense it was a Kyrian

Kyrian had a campaign story where they actually addressed the flaws of their way of existence, and it ended with them redefining what their purpose was. They are the most primed to champion a new and improved system for all.

-Makes sense it was Pelagos

We really didn't delve into too many SL characters, and we really didn't influence them as deeply as we did with Pelagos. He had a story of being unsure of his purpose in the Afterlife, and we help him on his path to reach his potential and be ready for his next step. He is one of the characters more affected by Us, the PC.

Part of me wanted Uther because we also have that connection with him, but he still has unfinished business, and the duty to lead the Forsworn.

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How would that be any better than actually have an existing character take the role?

If the new Arbiter is literally a new character, it lacks any sort of connection to us, any sort of narrative impact.

Pelagos was a failed Kyrian who had to be hand held who only started to do anything after we showed up and even then its Kleia and the player character that end up doing all the heavy lifting.

Still I'd rather have Pelagos over Sylvanas. But if we can make new Arbiters why not make a couple so shit doesn't get fucked up again?

[Magnagarde]

I hated every quest where I had to deal with Pelagos. Can’t think of a better embodiment of SL than him

That's hillariously true.

You know it is bad when the best response to this possibly being true is that "it could have been worse, at least it is not Sylvanas...". I honestly can't believe they'd make this bad of a choice either way. Maybe he'll sacrifice his soul among thousands of others or something in order to get the Arbiter running again.

[LordVargK]

Perhaps they seek to learn from the mistake that allowed the original (at least the one we were aware of) Arbiter to be knocked offline and foul up the machinery of death. Perhaps in light of the anima drought and the reduced circumstances of the Eternal Ones, with Denathrius imprisoned, Kyrestia injured, and the Winter Queen stretched the brink they're not able to simply will a new Arbiter into being.

Isn't the anima drought solved though? That's the entire arc in 9.0, we the players helping the covenants to deal with the drought, which we succeeded in. Also, if just anyone can be arbiter, we could have replaced it way before Zooval reached oribos, right after CN raid. Which would have meant more anima for the covenants and less for the jailer. I get the (stupid) reason why they did not react right after the arbiter shut down (they did not care to know or worked for the jailer...), but why is appointing a new arbiter a priority now, with all the firstborn weakened, like you said? If it's not urgent, then they can wait until they recovered. If it were urgent, they should have done so the moment they noticed the arbiter being offline or at least after they saw Denathrius betrayal.

Also, just another question; When we first arrive in Oribos, we are told that the arbiter moved a little bit. Was that ever brought up again? I honestly feel like were missing an interaction between the PC and the arbiter here. I can't imagine that replacing it (her? Female machines?) has been the writer's plan all along.

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Imagine a twist were Pelagos is about to become the arbiter and suddenly Nathanos appears and takes it

Oh yeah. He exists too. Wanna bet if the writers remember him?

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The character is incredibly bland after all.

But he was the best soulbind for many kyrian players. Granted, bastion wasn't the best covenant for most of them, so it's excusable to forget him.

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Oh hell yeah. He found his purpose by not having an identity or personality anymore xD

That's pretty cruel tbh

[Relapses]

A bit hamfisted but what of SL's story so far hasn't been? Let's just hope there's layers of context missing from this narrative choice.

[Powerogue]

I'll be perfectly honest my first response was "who is Pelagos again?"

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Pelagos

I'M NOT RACIST, ALL YOU BLUE PEOPLE JUST LOOK THE SAME TO ME! >.<

[Amnaught]

stupid beyond reason, it just means that any soul can become an arbiter.

Could be a Dragon Aspects scenario, a bunch of Shadowland demigods infuse their powers or sigils into Pelagos who has proven himself worthy to be elevated to such an important role. Less like he steps up to the plate, more like he was infused with great cosmic power like they used to create the first arbiter.

[Wonderment2]

What a random choice.....

I mean I don't hate it. I haven't played since 9.0. so not sure if he got much screen time since then but I liked him enough during leveling.

[Caerule]

I mean, I've been saying from the start it wasn't going to be Sylvanas, but everyone was sooo convinced. Rather than being relieved, now they're hating on who it is instead.

Let's be clear here, there would have been tremendous hatred, whoever they would have chosen. Practically every WoW character is tremendously flawed.

I don't think this was foreshadowed well enough. But I'm withholding judgement to see what it'll actually entail. Maybe he's just having his soul put into a construct and nothing of his identity will remain. In which case, it doesn't really matter who is chosen, and it's just a noble sacrifice. We'll see how it works.

Another reason why we really should see how it works is because Pelagos is a male character, that was born female in life, but wanted to manifest with a male identity. So stuffing him sentiently into a female form to serve for eternity might not be the best way to go here..

I don't actually see a better candidate either, except possibly Kleia. I mean, the Kyrian were put in that realm for their devotion, purging their memories to obtain true freedom from prejudice. So, they do certainly make the best candidates for a role like this. And their leader both sucks and is required elsewhere. Picking a Kyrian that hasn't cleansed all their burdens is a more odd choice. That said, we're still missing the final chapter. Perhaps choosing Pelagos will make more sense after we play through the final patch's story.

[Nize]

The out of nowhereness of it is due to Blizz being incapable of properly implementing inclusive ideas in their stories. Instead of thinking up ways on how they could have made a trans character seem interesting to where the player won't be boggled as to how said character got to lead the afterlife, instead it's just, "Let's put them there and screw anybody who thinks different. They're probably white males anyway." Hi Madelleine Roux! Much like the Activision Blizzard heads who just tokenized a woman to get pats in the back, the WoW creative team is tokenizing a trans character so they get theirs. Hm, like father like son. I just finished watching Arcane (great tv show) and that show had me rooting for the gay characters there. That's how you properly introduce inclusiveness into your IP. Blizz needs to learn.

[Progenitor Aquarius]

I actually couldn't remember who Pelagos was and I played Kyrian when I was playing

Seriously how you couldn’t remember? He is your soulbind. He is situated close to the mission table you can go talk to him. He will tell you funny stories about his past life.

[Hellobolis]

Seriously how you couldn’t remember? He is your soulbind. He is situated close to the mission table you can go talk to him. He will tell you funny stories about his past life.

why would you remember? he is my active soulbind but beyond his name i really don't know anything about him other than some vague impression of his inferiority complex character type. well guess in truth that means i know more about him that i do that owl soulbind.

if you say he is near the mission table ill take your word for it.

[Super Dickmann]

Beyond the character being a non-entity, it's also a narrative wrench because the main, tangible stakes of the story, that being "Blue Man is sending everyone to hell, stop him" gets solved as the opening act with seeming ease to be replaced with "Blue Man wants to kill everyone through an elaborate plot device". Rather than ramp up the tension it defuses it. Discounting my personal preference for spacing the Arbiter entirely and making the realms a lot more chaotic, it makes the premise of the expansion be solved as an afterthought.

I'm genuinely, morbidly curious what the copout explanation will be for why the Eternal Ones didn't just do this in the first place. Unless it's the prosaic explanation that only the Primus could do it and he was MIA at the time, which'd be in line with SL's other reveals being coherent, but deeply mechanistic and dull, like the whole Elune soul mailing thing.

[shadowmatrix]

First people whine that it might be Sylvanas and now people whine that is might not be Sylvanas. How dare the solution not revolve around someone from Azeroth.