Patch 9.2 PTR - Build 41360: Sylvanas Cinematic

[Irian]

Oh boy, there's the redemption arc nobody saw coming. Can we move on now?

I don't absolutely hate it and I have to admit the style of the flashback portions is extremely nice, I wish the entire game lookedl ike that. It's just, I wish they wouldnt've pretended it was something more than a split personality.

Elegantly?

We re being told in this cinematic that the sylvanas we ve known from WC3 to now is basically not sylvanas but a fraction of sylvanas thereby destroying her entire character arc. Literally 17 years of her arc can now officially go to the garbage bin. Everything the banshee sylvanas did basically means jack shit because it was not the real sylvanas who did this. Her revelation at icecrown means absolutely nothing.
To me this is on the same level as destroying Anakin's sacrifice and story arc at the end of episode 6 by bringing back palpatine in episode 9.

This is anything but elegant.

I think a big point here was that it was Sylvanas. She has to contend with the fact that both of those people were her, that's the entire point of Uther's spiel.

Not saying it's good writing, but 17 years haven't been invalidated, more like recontextualized. She's still the person who did all those things.

[Rootsbum]

The thing that makes me most salty is that Sylvanas-model. Can some kind of cosmic force transform her to look like that in-game!?
Its so gorgeous and im sick of emo-Sylvanas

[Edlarel]

I love how you don't consider that subjective, but my enjoyment of the story is.
If you can't see what's wrong with that then don't @ me bro.
The entire issue is subjective enjoyment because that's all is can actually be.

I'm with you on this. I liked it quite a bit, actually.

If it were two separate people, and we saw the real Sylvanas locked in a prison that we could never get her out of, people would probably feel differently. That's basically what this has been, but we didn't know she was prisoner in there. And if we did, we would spend years trying to figure out how we could let her rise to power the way she did knowing that she was literally in the sense crazy. Thinking she was just cruel and uncaring meant people could let go some of the stuff she did "because she's like that." But people forget way back in Cataclysm what she did between Koltira and the other DK whose name escapes me. Ever since she came back from ice crown, she has never been "good." She's just been sneaky and gotten away with stuff. She used the war with the alliance and Genn's hatred of her to make it look like she was being attacked, but literally nobody (in world) questioned before she became warchief why she was making a deal with Hella, who was unquestionably evil.

There were threads all throughout that she was on the path toward BFA/Shadowlands, and we've now seen how that was possible. After being returned from the Jailer, the real Sylvannas learned she was now a prisoner to the banshee queen within her own body. (woke up) probably references coming to her senses after the shard was put back into the banshee queen

So yeah, not trying to win anybody over, but I liked it for what it was, and this was a proper, natural conclusion.

[procne]

And again Sylvanas talks of true freedom. That's how the expansion started, with her promising to free us from the prison. I still cannot see what this prison and freedom are, what is the Jailer's plan. I am afraid we will not find out, we just kill the Jailer and that's it.

[crusadernero]

This was fucking great.

That said, it sucks its already on PTR and tbh it should never have been there. One of several big issues with retail wow, getting these spoilers when the patch is far away.

I know I know - I can just not watch it, but thats not how this really works. I play the game, I have friends that play the game, my guild, community overall - everyone will talk about it so it would be a big hurdle not to know anything about this when the patch is months away. If 9.2 was a week or two away, then yeah maybe.

[MiiiMiii]

Too many different writers having a different vision on Sylvanas as a character.

Wish they did not fall into the Game of Thrones "anyone can die" phase (burning of teldrassil), they don't have the writers to do it in a good way. Wish they did not spend 3+ expansions for this story.

Wish their story makers focused on making characters act natrually, and let the story follow the characters, instead of the characters acting a certain (unnatrual) way only to fit the story they want.

[crusadernero]

And again Sylvanas talks of true freedom. That's how the expansion started, with her promising to free us from the prison. I still cannot see what this prison and freedom are, what is the Jailer's plan. I am afraid we will not find out, we just kill the Jailer and that's it.

Thats how Blizzard storytelling works. Never a real 100% closure/ending, always leaving tidbits and cliffhangers scattered about. Always leave us questioning, never get an answer. Abruptly end storylines, never really finish storylines(thereby creating questions) they started.

Im just speculating but this "prison" Sylvanas has been talking about, maybe its her own soul(the ranger general?) in conflict with the banshee. They both want to be free from whatever that haunts them and in the end maybe it was the jailer and herself(Banshee & ranger) that kept her "in prison"?

Something like that, I dont know.

[Armael]

Because one storyline used a Kerrigan (the actual Kerrigan story itself), that means no other story can use anything similar, nope!

Geez guys.

[ArenaDk]

Man screw you Blizzard. First you make me actually like Uther as a character with all his new storys ( ice kingdom etc. ) and now i start to feel for Sylvanas.

This is actually a smooth way to have her help us and doesnt feel out of place anymore.

Animation is 9.5/10. only critic human Sylvanas hair and Uther showing his light side when talking about been evil.

But still… when all is over Sylvanas needs to be executed

[Akka]

She's female. She saying "I'm sorry for everything" is enough to make hearts bleed and she'll walk away scot free. I mean, just like often happens in real life.

Don't see what female has to do with it. Grom is clearly not a female and he just had to wave his axe at his captor and shout "Draenor is free" to be cheered and absolved by the very people he spent decades genociding. Blizzard just seems to believe that "forgiving whatever" means "deep and good writing".

[Kumorii]

Nice to see sylvanas pre undeath.

Other than that. Yeah, redemption has been on the table since the whole debacle with sylvanas started.
It's not surprising tbh.

[FelPlague]

And again Sylvanas talks of true freedom. That's how the expansion started, with her promising to free us from the prison. I still cannot see what this prison and freedom are, what is the Jailer's plan. I am afraid we will not find out, we just kill the Jailer and that's it.

Ok seems you missed a lot, as sylvanas literally had a whole speech about this.
Life is short, a couple years, to a few decades for most.
But the afterlife is eternal, so which is more important.
The afterlife. And sylvanas does not like that something you do, so short, so tiny. So miniscule in the concept of life, will decide your face for all of eternity in the afterlife.
You make one mistake in life. And you are danmed forever.

She was promised by the jailer they would break that, break the ",flawed machine" of death, and with that let people choose which afterlife they wanted. Much like Alexandros mograine, he felt he deserved bastion, he felt punished by being sent to maldraxdus, that is unfair. He should have been able to choose to go to bastion.
And those that refuse to wipe their memeories in bastion should not be banished, they should be free to go to another afterlife.

So her goal that the jailer said was also his goal, was to stop this injustice, and free the shadowlands of its tyranny, allow it's people to choose their own fate, and their own afterlives.

However the second SOD ends... The jailer reveals. Fuck that. I got my power back, I'm unmaking everything, because EVERYTHING is flawed. I will remake it all in my will.

- - - Updated - - -

Thats how Blizzard storytelling works. Never a real 100% closure/ending, always leaving tidbits and cliffhangers scattered about. Always leave us questioning, never get an answer. Abruptly end storylines, never really finish storylines(thereby creating questions) they started.

Im just speculating but this "prison" Sylvanas has been talking about, maybe its her own soul(the ranger general?) in conflict with the banshee. They both want to be free from whatever that haunts them and in the end maybe it was the jailer and herself(Banshee & ranger) that kept her "in prison"?

Something like that, I dont know.

Read above. He prison is the fact you are locked into an afterlife for all eternity, decided for you by the "flicker of life" before hand.

[rrayy]

I.. LOVED it. I really did. No one comments anything positive anymore. It's like anyone with a positive view just keeps it to themselves, only negativity is spoken... In game and out of game.

Same here. But people hate Sylvanas so much they are going to hate this regardless,

- - - Updated - - -

This "transition" has all the elegance of a car crashing into a brick wall at 100 MPH. The cinematic literally erases the Banshee Queen that has been in the game for 20 years and transplants an innocent and pure Sylvanas in her stead. Literally everything Sylvanas has done from mission 5 of the UD campaign in WC3 to shooting an arrow at Zovaal doesn't matter at all because she wasn't herself this entire time. All her agency was ripped away completely. This is in no way, shape or form elegant storytelling.

No it does not. This shows BOTH Sylvanas's and the the Ranger General does not like what the Banshee Queen did. The Ranger General wants to take responsibility for the Banshee Queen's actions. None of what you say is true.,

[Armael]

Same here. But people hate Sylvanas so much they are going to hate this regardless,

- - - Updated - - -

No it does not. This shows BOTH Sylvanas's and the the Ranger General does not like what the Banshee Queen did. The Ranger General wants to take responsibility for the Banshee Queen's actions. None of what you say is true.,

That's what I find funny too, so many of the people "upset" or think the story/outcome is "trash" don't even understand what's going on. Seems like the Dunning-Kreuger effect in full effect.

[procne]

Ok seems you missed a lot, as sylvanas literally had a whole speech about this.
Life is short, a couple years, to a few decades for most.
But the afterlife is eternal, so which is more important.
The afterlife. And sylvanas does not like that something you do, so short, so tiny. So miniscule in the concept of life, will decide your face for all of eternity in the afterlife.
You make one mistake in life. And you are danmed forever.

She was promised by the jailer they would break that, break the ",flawed machine" of death, and with that let people choose which afterlife they wanted. Much like Alexandros mograine, he felt he deserved bastion, he felt punished by being sent to maldraxdus, that is unfair. He should have been able to choose to go to bastion.
And those that refuse to wipe their memeories in bastion should not be banished, they should be free to go to another afterlife.

So her goal that the jailer said was also his goal, was to stop this injustice, and free the shadowlands of its tyranny, allow it's people to choose their own fate, and their own afterlives.

However the second SOD ends... The jailer reveals. Fuck that. I got my power back, I'm unmaking everything, because EVERYTHING is flawed. I will remake it all in my will.

- - - Updated - - -



Read above. He prison is the fact you are locked into an afterlife for all eternity, decided for you by the "flicker of life" before hand.

Where is that said?

[Bloomer]

Blizzard:
"Everybody deserves a second chance!"
Also Blizzard:
"Except the old devs, the innocent Kael'thas voice actor, etc. etc."

[Rageonit]

Elegantly?

We re being told in this cinematic that the sylvanas we ve known from WC3 to now is basically not sylvanas but a fraction of sylvanas thereby destroying her entire character arc. Literally 17 years of her arc can now officially go to the garbage bin. Everything the banshee sylvanas did basically means jack shit because it was not the real sylvanas who did this. Her revelation at icecrown means absolutely nothing.
To me this is on the same level as destroying Anakin's sacrifice and story arc at the end of episode 6 by bringing back palpatine in episode 9.

This is anything but elegant.

Yeah, because in the cinematic she was like: "Sup dudes, it wasn't me so chill, can we be friends plox?"
What she did will have lasting consequences - for her and for everyone else - whether it was conscious or not. So no, nobody's throwing 17 years of her arc to the garbage bin. If anything, for her alone, the 17 years will actually mean something now, and it won't feel pretty.

[DreamSlaveOne]

Sad to see such bad animations quality from Blizzard. I know many exceptional 3d artists left already but it's so heartbreaking to watch the art department sinking low and low.

[Tarba]

Great... a new skin for Anduin has been unlocked. The "Sylvanas Anduin".

All shall be Anduin.

[Swnem]

Well, i liked seeing the ranger general and Uther in their former glory. I miss them like that.

But, the story is as daft as it comes.