(Spoilers) The fate of the Night Elf souls...

[Celvira]

Well, they did help defend Ashenvale in the Cataclysm. But you have a point, I guess they haven't done much defending of each other recently. It's almost as if the Alliance doesn't really have its own best interests at heart unless you live in Stormwind!

Look, those level 20-something Trogg's are really tough, okay?!

In all seriousness though, WC Night Elves wouldn't have needed outside support. WoW Night Elves are more or less as powerful as a slightly wet paper bag.

[Aucald]

So wait, is Ysera alive again? Like, alive-alive? And she's coming back? Huh... I must've missed that.

She's alive, but she's bound to Ardenweald due to the Winter Queen using her own essence to release her from the Wildseed she was in (during the Ardenweald leveling quest series). She does intimate she could return to Azeroth via a "great sacrifice" of some kind, but there's no real information on what that would be or what it would entail.

[Xilurm]

So it seems like the Night Elf souls will be permanently obliterated to build this new seed...

https://youtu.be/YMGN9pK5ZC4

But we won't even know what the seed does. The Forsaken got a long questline to repair Tirisfal and Undercity with new armor and customizations while the Night Elves just got this seed.. at the cost of all the night elf souls that were killed and tortured.
This is awful, the night elves went through so much tragedy and suffering and now that we finally freed them... they will be obliterated anyway??

Even if we got a new world tree out of it which is extremely unlikely, it's extremely bad that the Night Elf souls are being destroyed for it. Instead they should've been part of the actual renewal instead of sacrificing themselves for something that might even turn out to nothing.
It's pointless to have a new home when all the night elves that once were part of the race aren't even part of it. At the very least they should be walking around as spirits or souls, but not be completely erased from existence.


This is an absolutely horrible and disrespectful story decision that goes against the feedback people have been providing for the past years.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the seed gets destroyed by the Horde or some other villain given Blizzard's hateful writing for Night Elves.

I disagree. This is a much better option than having them walk around in Ardenweald. The more we leave anything concerning Shadowlands the better.

[Triceron]

Not really. If you look at the alliance today vs the Alliance in wc 2 then yes, it's quite different, but there was never a destruction of the old alliance and a reforming of a new one. The center of power just shifted after Lordaeron's fall. All that really changed with Lordaeron's fall is that Lordaeron was no longer in it. The only thing that really changes from WC 3 to WoW is Lordaeron's destruction, and Theramore/Night Elves joining the alliance. Stormwind didn't even become the center of the alliance until around Wrath or even Cata, and the name change was more a rebranding rather than a new organization being founded.

Pretty sure Stormwind did become the new seat of power, and the Alliance was born anew rather than any shift of power. It's literally a parallel of how Thrall reimagined the old Horde into what it is today, including certain old alliances with say the Blackrocks, Warsong, Dragonmaw and Goblins in a new faction that now carries the Horde name.

Lordaeron lost its alliances with its fall. Stormwind picked up the pieces and reformed the Alliance under the same values set under the previous. It's not a direct carry over of the old Alliance, though it is very similarly organized. We know this because the lore has made distinctions between the current Alliance and 'the previous Alliance'.

[Florena]

Pretty sure Stormwind did become the new seat of power, and the Alliance was born anew rather than any shift of power. It's literally a parallel of how Thrall reimagined the old Horde into what it is today, including certain old alliances with say the Blackrocks, Warsong, Dragonmaw and Goblins in a new faction that now carries the Horde name.

Lordaeron lost its alliances with its fall. Stormwind picked up the pieces and reformed the Alliance under the same values set under the previous. It's not a direct carry over of the old Alliance, though it is very similarly organized. We know this because the lore has made distinctions between the current Alliance and 'the previous Alliance'.

What distinction? There is no lore or story indicating it's a new organization. There is no story covering the collapse of the Allance as an organization, no story covering the forming of a new one, and the alliance coming from WC 3 into WoW just so happens to have all the same old members real differences are the ones that were a result of WC 3? (The founding of THeramore, the night elves picking a faction to join, Kul'tiras being mad and leaving.)

In Vanilla the alliance even still used the blue Lordaeon L thing in pvp if I remember right.

[Raetary]

So wait, is Ysera alive again? Like, alive-alive? And she's coming back? Huh... I must've missed that.

No, she's dead and stuck in Ardenweald.

[Triceron]

What distinction? There is no lore or story indicating it's a new organization. There is no story covering the collapse of the Allance as an organization, no story covering the forming of a new one, and the alliance coming from WC 3 into WoW just so happens to have all the same old members real differences are the ones that were a result of WC 3? (The founding of THeramore, the night elves picking a faction to join, Kul'tiras being mad and leaving.)

In Vanilla the alliance even still used the blue Lordaeon L thing in pvp if I remember right.

Sure there is. Ultimate Visual Guide made this distinction.

Memories of past allegiances and idealism ultimately inspired the new Alliance of the present day[22] led by the Wrynn dynasty.

[Every Pwny]

Another nothing cinematic so we can watch the souls of the night elves who were burned alive and tortured in the maw can be obliterated to make a suicide seed that will likely never appear other than more "wait and see" while the night elves are still homeless in stormwind as of 9.2.5, meanwhile the forsaken have been reclaiming their home and development people have been asking for. Just showing that blizzard hasn't changed at all.

[Progenitor Aquarius]

I am actually happy that they will have a new tree and that Ve’nari is dead and has been apparently turned into a toy. That’s the most positive thing about this new patch.

[Finlandia WOAT]

What i dont like about the cinematic:

1) Another “justice is vengeance” bullshit.

Shadowlands was written while Blizz was under investigation for a toxic workplace culture towards women and minorities lmao.

@OP Are you the same Ethriel from the NA WoW Story forum? Please stop following this story, the amount of stress and angst it causes you is not worth it.

[voidox]

every time Danuser brings up the "justice is vengeance" BS, I roll my eyes cause of how dumb that whole story point is in the context of Tyrande and the genocide.

as for all this stuff, I like that the Night Elves will be getting a new home but I don't like that the night elf souls had to basically be used for this seed, like really? can't just give them the seed, need to have some night elves sacrifice themselves as well... there must always be some catch for night elf story eh Blizzard -_-

[Zephre]

Y'all really expected night elves getting revenge or a good ending? This is the age of Steve Danuser, the same guy who had his story shit on the titans, the burning legion, the dreadlords, Arthas and more simply so he could shoehorn in his villain with zero build up or backstory, decades of work retconned to make the Jailer into the big bad.

Allows a character like Sylvanas who murdered the original desolate council, invaded Gilneas, committed war crimes with the plague and killed Genn's son, started another Azeroth world war and in the end basically get's off light because she " wasn't completely herself " - The game's lore is beyond redemption and it's all thanks to that clown and his team and you expected a satisfactory outcome for night elf players?

Blizzard don't just hate night elves they hate the whole lore and characters within, I literally can't wait to watch them ruin what's left of the aspects next.

[Powerogue]

They're obviously not going to destroy it, what on earth makes you immediately jump to a conclusion like that?

Some of the night elf spirits voluntarily sacrificing themselves to complete the seed, which was established earlier with one of the fey sacrificing and powering the item for the Bastion questline IIRC = Let's completely ignore the voluntary part entirely!

Holy shit a new world tree seed using the combined power of Elune and the Winter Queen that could finally be a new, uncorrupted home for the night elves after their home was burned and blighted beyond recognition, after years of living in Stormwind farming pumpkins = Nyehhh, I'll bet it won't even work or will be destroyed first!

Don't get me wrong, I agree that the notion of "renewal" when initially proposed before any of this was revealed felt sour, as they pushed that direction before Sylvanas received justice and before the night elves received this incredible gift, so it felt like they were just being asked to ignore everything that had happened and "just move on." But it seems like you're adamantly determined to hate every new step in the story even if it's working to address every one of those concerns.

[VladlTutushkin]

They're obviously not going to destroy it, what on earth makes you immediately jump to a conclusion like that?

Some of the night elf spirits voluntarily sacrificing themselves to complete the seed, which was established earlier with one of the fey sacrificing and powering the item for the Bastion questline IIRC = Let's completely ignore the voluntary part entirely!

Holy shit a new world tree seed using the combined power of Elune and the Winter Queen that could finally be a new, uncorrupted home for the night elves after their home was burned and blighted beyond recognition, after years of living in Stormwind farming pumpkins = Nyehhh, I'll bet it won't even work or will be destroyed first!

Don't get me wrong, I agree that the notion of "renewal" when initially proposed before any of this was revealed felt sour, as they pushed that direction before Sylvanas received justice and before the night elves received this incredible gift, so it felt like they were just being asked to ignore everything that had happened and "just move on." But it seems like you're adamantly determined to hate every new step in the story even if it's working to address every one of those concerns.

1) Sylvanas got no "justice". Social service for genocide is not justice, its a complete joke.

2) They dont NEED a new tree! Its not about living in a fucken tree! What they need is to reassert themselves as a force to be reckoned with and actually confront the "pansy tree elf" bullshit writing. Not fucken reinforce it by making them forgive and forget because they saw a shiny new TREE!

Amount of concerns it addresses is zero, because tree was never an issue. If Teldrassil burned while empty of people, it wouldnt even matter in the end.

[Highlord Hanibuhl]

I like it as well; It's sad all those souls were used to create the seed, but
- they couldn't be reborn onto Azeroth
- this means the seed will be all the more powerful

I just hope all the aspects, including Nozdurmu, will now give the blessing for the new tree - given what has happened with the Night Elves.

Logistically, I doubt they will settle on the Dragon Isles. You cannot have a massive settlement of one faction on a new leveling continent, balance-wise.

Maybe they'll plant something on the ashes of Teldrassil... maybe close by. I just hope that whatever tree gets planted, we actually see. Teldrassil was a stump ingame... and Nordrassil is so freakin' small. More mass!

[Hugnomo]

No, she's dead and stuck in Ardenweald.

This is incorrect. She was resurrected, but due to the lack of anima, the Winter Queen used her own essence/anima to complete her incubation, which bound her to Ardenweald. According to the latest quests, she infers it is possible for her to return to Azeroth if Elune wills it. She is alive, but you are right that she is stuck, at least at the moment.

[voidox]

lol, the usual writer over at wowhead going to great lengths to try and put a positive spin on this cinematic, as if the NE souls weren't sacrificed and it's a good thing that it happened. Also trying to say that Tyrande "found justice" and that Sylvanus's "punishment" was a punishment and justice for the genocide, so Tyrande being all about renewal somehow totally makes sense.

and it's crazy to me how some people are saying it's totally fine that Danuser and co. wrote that these NE souls had to be sacrificed for the world seed, as if Elune + WQ weren't enough to make a proper world seed for a single world tree for a single planet. These immensely powerful beings somehow can't make one seed, nah, it totally also needed all these NE souls to sacrifice themselves as well -_-

[Rozz]

I'm pretty sure the NE souls will exist as wisps or spirits in the new tree. I think they went this route because NEs already have a death culture of serving the future generations/those still living. It's believable that they would bind themselves to this seed, but to a player that isn't what we want to see. More sacrifice from those who already lost so much, with no promise for anything more than a vague hope represented by the seed.

I think they're just using this as an excuse to remake a smaller but modern Darn and hopefully, there will be references to those needlessly lost in this messy plotline. For those referencing the Undercity, yeah it is messed up they legitimately come out with more (a surface city and home) but because of that, it's unlikely they'll waste many assets to remake what was below for a long time. NEs are probably getting an entirely new place to call home with modern design standards, then Forsaken players will start to winge about their reused assets and campfires.

[Aresk]

So is anyone here going to point out that the Legion's whole modus operandi was using souls as fuel, obliterating them in the process?

Weird how the so-called "good guys" have no problem doing what Sargeras the big bad one was doing for 1000000000 years.

No, I don't think anyone here is going to try to draw a false equivalence between murdering people so that one can use their soul to murder more people vs. offering the souls of the dead a choice to sacrifice themselves to help their still-living kin.

[Soon-TM]

a smaller but modern Darn.

Even smaller than the "original" Darn? And here I was thinking that it was small enough... Hell, even the Exodar feels more spacious than Darnassus :/