What expansion "ending" is your favorite?

[starstationprofm]

Jaina's arc is overrated as all #$&% imo (seriously, gal goes into a parallel dimension full of ghosts and ends up forgiving herself, because she is such a swell fellow...), Baine has no arc other than running to his Alliance pals as soon as there are storm clouds in the horizon, Thrall or Bob... What are their arcs, anyway? The former's ended effectively in WoD, and the latter literally has no arc worthy of that name. No, getting to shag day and night with Thaly gurl doesn't really count as a story arc in my book.

I mean you're free to try and simplify them to 10 words ( hehe LOTR is about destroying some silly piece of jewelry - see? Any story looks dumb and simple if you do that ) but saying they have no plot is factually wrong.

[Jastall]

Ignoring the dumbass "the must always be a Lich King" nonsense, Wrath's ending cinematic is often quoted for good reason. It's a good capstone to the expansion and a fitting end to Arthas's story.

Runner up is Legion, over the top as it was it was still well done and set up BFA with just enough ominousness.

[Iheartnathanos]

MoP actually fulfilled the promise of its theme. Al the trial of Garrosh shit was only there because it had to lead to WoD.

[Kyphael]

Legion, Wrath's ending suffers so much from that "there must always be a Lich King" copout. Major points deducted for what was otherwise a perfect story, or as good as WoW ever got, anyway.

Everything else was even more heavily flawed by varying degrees from least flawed (Cataclysm) to most flawed (BfA.)

[Soon-TM]

I mean you're free to try and simplify them to 10 words ( hehe LOTR is about destroying some silly piece of jewelry - see? Any story looks dumb and simple if you do that ) but saying they have no plot is factually wrong.

Comparing LotR with that mediocre Jaina questline... You sure have a strong point there, don't you?

But you didn't contest any of my points - for example, what is Baine's arc? How has he evolved as a character, what does he do differently now as compared to 10 years ago? What is Thrall's after WoD? Has Bob done anything of note, other than trying to go back to the Alliance back in MoP (speaking of which, Jaina's little murdering stroll is NEVER mentioned in that oh so awesome arc of hers)? Poor Bob is barely above the dwarven council in terms of protagonism, and you have the gall to talk about "arc"... Get serious m8.

[Boricha]

Wrath I suppose, if we ignore Ruby Sanctum. MoP ending was good until Alliance once again chose to do nothing after effectively defeating the Horde.

[KainneAbsolute]

Legion or Mop because they show promise on what comes next.

[Aucald]

Comparing LotR with that mediocre Jaina questline... You sure have a strong point there, don't you?

But you didn't contest any of my points - for example, what is Baine's arc? How has he evolved as a character, what does he do differently now as compared to 10 years ago? What is Thrall's after WoD? Has Bob done anything of note, other than trying to go back to the Alliance back in MoP (speaking of which, Jaina's little murdering stroll is NEVER mentioned in that oh so awesome arc of hers)? Poor Bob is barely above the dwarven council in terms of protagonism, and you have the gall to talk about "arc"... Get serious m8.

Baine's arc is overcoming his own reticence and trying to define himself faced with the long shadow of his father's tenure as High Chieftain. Both Cairne and Baine sort of serve as the unofficial "heart" of the Horde, representing its nobler qualities to the rest of Azeroth; Baine was thrust into the role of leader due to his father's rather sudden death. Thrall's post-WoD arc is pretty evident as he struggles with the outcome of his decisions as Warchief, his spectacular failure in appointing a successor, and the world-altering fallout of that choice that required him to murder the former Warchief to put an end to yet another devastating war. Thrall was so crippled by doubt and guilt that he lost his shamanic gifts and sought refuge in seclusion in Outland, until he could no longer avoid the continuing ramifications of his life (in the form of Saurfang appearing on his doorstep). Lor'themar too has been pretty busy increasing his own presence in the Horde at large, from his first step into the limelight at the Throne of Thunder, leading Horde operations there preparatory for securing his people against Garrosh brutal repressions, to joining in the coup against Garrosh at the close of MoP and fighting personally on the front lines at the Siege of Orgrimmar. From that point, Lor'themar has been a much stronger presence in Horde politics than he was pre-MoP, where he more or less stayed in Silvermoon and dealt with the Horde leadership via emissaries and proxies.

[Soon-TM]

Baine's arc is overcoming his own reticence and trying to define himself faced with the long shadow of his father's tenure as High Chieftain. Both Cairne and Baine sort of serve as the unofficial "heart" of the Horde, representing its nobler qualities to the rest of Azeroth; Baine was thrust into the role of leader due to his father's rather sudden death. Thrall's post-WoD arc is pretty evident as he struggles with the outcome of his decisions as Warchief, his spectacular failure in appointing a successor, and the world-altering fallout of that choice that required him to murder the former Warchief to put an end to yet another devastating war. Thrall was so crippled by doubt and guilt that he lost his shamanic gifts and sought refuge in seclusion in Outland, until he could no longer avoid the continuing ramifications of his life (in the form of Saurfang appearing on his doorstep). Lor'themar too has been pretty busy increasing his own presence in the Horde at large, from his first step into the limelight at the Throne of Thunder, leading Horde operations there preparatory for securing his people against Garrosh brutal repressions, to joining in the coup against Garrosh at the close of MoP and fighting personally on the front lines at the Siege of Orgrimmar. From that point, Lor'themar has been a much stronger presence in Horde politics than he was pre-MoP, where he more or less stayed in Silvermoon and dealt with the Horde leadership via emissaries and proxies.

Nice read, sadly that it's most headcanon. since the game shows little, if anything of all you said - ditto for the novels. The only part that is more or less portrayed is the one about Thrall, whose position today is absolutely perfunctory in terms of actual outcomes (btw, has any non-baddie told him at least a couple of harsh words concerning his monumental screwups?), and the same could be said about Bob's "protagonism". So now he's chilling in Org instead of SM... Big difference.

[starstationprofm]

Comparing LotR with that mediocre Jaina questline... You sure have a strong point there, don't you?

But you didn't contest any of my points - for example, what is Baine's arc? How has he evolved as a character, what does he do differently now as compared to 10 years ago? What is Thrall's after WoD? Has Bob done anything of note, other than trying to go back to the Alliance back in MoP (speaking of which, Jaina's little murdering stroll is NEVER mentioned in that oh so awesome arc of hers)? Poor Bob is barely above the dwarven council in terms of protagonism, and you have the gall to talk about "arc"... Get serious m8.

I actually got through WoW storylines and books, unlike the LOTR trilogy by Tolkien which was so full of purple prose I dropped it through Two Towers so yeah, it's a bit unfair to WoW to compare it to LOTR.

what is Baine's arc? How has he evolved as a character, what does he do differently now as compared to 10 years ago?

He stood up to a tyrant warchief when no one would and ''betrayed'' the Horde at the cost of his own safety. The Baine if 10 years ago wouldn't have had the guts to do that.

What is Thrall's after WoD?

Forgiving himself for his past mistakes and becoming worthy of the elements and the Horde/Orcs once more.

Jaina's little murdering stroll is NEVER mentioned

You mean when she killed the Sunreavers who betrayed Dalaran's neutrality and helped nuke her city?

Get serious m8

You get serious and google what 'opinion' and 'subjective' means in the process. Stop being a big baby, people are allowed to disagree with you.

[Alanar]

Already addressed.

And Yes it was. If you can't see it then frankly I'll never get through to you.

Wtf are you talking about again..

You literally said that and now its not.

Just cut your bs please.

Infracted.

[Ragu4]

Controversial, but the Cataclysm ending. Game could have ended right there. Most of the WoW RTS stuff has been wrapped up. In my opinion and headcanon Vanilla wow to cataclysm is the "true game". MoP on is alternate dimension stuff.

[Nick980]

MoP definitely, closed off the story nicely and felt like a good contained story. Wish we had more MoP style expansions, with a solid contained story and plenty of intrigue, not every expansion needs to have a token bad guy that's an end of the world threat. I miss the feeling off we've just arrived in a strange land that we're going to explore and see what happens instead of you're going here because the bad guy is going to destroy the universe and only you can stop him

[Soon-TM]

I actually got through WoW storylines and books, unlike the LOTR trilogy by Tolkien which was so full of purple prose I dropped it through Two Towers so yeah, it's a bit unfair to WoW to compare it to LOTR.

So you were calling Tolkien into play, because you thought that LotR was full of "purple prose"... and you didn't even finish reading it. Look folks, we have a fine connoisseur of literature here.

He stood up to a tyrant warchief when no one would and ''betrayed'' the Horde at the cost of his own safety. The Baine if 10 years ago wouldn't have had the guts to do that.

He didn't stand up when the tree was burned up, he didn't stand up when civilians were being speared into the wall in Brennadam, he didn't stand up when Sylv was raising his own fellow Tauren during the siege of Undercity. He only stood up once a human from an annointed bloodline was in danger. Yes, his arc is being a huge hypocrite, that's at least consistent, but in no way "an arc".

Forgiving himself for his past mistakes and becoming worthy of the elements and the Horde/Orcs once more.

Oh look, he forgave himself. Exactly like Jaina, and probably like Anduin in the future. Isn't that great? Such an enticing, thrilling "arc"

You mean when she killed the Sunreavers who betrayed Dalaran's neutrality and helped nuke her city?

Looks like genocide or ethnic cleansing are bad only when it is the Horde doing it. When it's the Alliance turn to do funky stuff, the denial is quite a thing.

You get serious and google what 'opinion' and 'subjective' means in the process. Stop being a big baby, people are allowed to disagree with you.

Disagreeing is all fine and dandy, throwing factually incorrect statements is not.

PS: throw more ad hominems, I'm waiting to see more of that awesome argumentation of yours

[Aucald]

Nice read, sadly that it's most headcanon. since the game shows little, if anything of all you said - ditto for the novels. The only part that is more or less portrayed is the one about Thrall, whose position today is absolutely perfunctory in terms of actual outcomes (btw, has any non-baddie told him at least a couple of harsh words concerning his monumental screwups?), and the same could be said about Bob's "protagonism". So now he's chilling in Org instead of SM... Big difference.

None of that is headcanon, it's all either in-game or in the official canon materials, spanning multiple expansions and/or sources. You can review the primary sources if you want to refresh yourself on specifics:

Baine: Baine Bloodhoof: As Our Fathers Before Us, Tides of Vengeance arc, Rise of Azshara arc, Shadows Rising
Thrall: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, The Iron Tide arc, the Shaman campaign of Legion, Safe Haven, Shadows Rising
Lor'themar: Rise of the Thunder King arc, Escalation arc, Rise of Azshara arc, A Moment in Verse, Shadows Rising, Death Rising arc

Unless you skipped the vast majority of quests and/or events, all of this and more is covered quite well in-game.

[Terrorthatflapsinthenight]

Wrath of the Lich King with Arthas' regaining his humanity right before he dies and asking his father if it's over and his father comforting him and closing his eyes just as he dies before repeating his warning to Tirion, and Mists of Pandaria with Vol'jin becoming the warchief in an epic cutscene (too bad that the writers completely failed to develop and exploit him as warchief).

[starstationprofm]

So you were calling Tolkien into play, because you thought that LotR was full of "purple prose"... and you didn't even finish reading it. Look folks, we have a fine connoisseur of literature here.

You really don't understand how this opinion piece works, huh? Yes, Tolkien is ridiculous amounts of purple prose. Yes, I didn't finish it, I didn't like it.

I'm entitled to my opinion and no godly force in this world can factually say it's a good book and my opinion is wrong.

He didn't stand up when the tree was burned up

1. Was he there?

2. They were engaged in a world war after that

He only stood up once a human from an annointed bloodline was in danger

Yeah let's forget Sylvanas was using mind control to turn Derek into a bomb. But it was totally abount Jaina bro.

Oh look, he forgave himself. Exactly like Jaina, and probably like Anduin in the future. Isn't that great? Such an enticing, thrilling "arc"

You're entitled to not like it, but saying it does not exist is factually untrue.

Looks like genocide or ethnic cleansing are bad only when it is the Horde doing it. When it's the Alliance turn to do funky stuff, the denial is quite a thing.

More incorrect statements. Jaina wasn't killing blood elves, she was killing Horde agents, who broke neutrality.

Disagreeing is all fine and dandy, throwing factually incorrect statements is not.

Right back at you.

[Razion]

BC and Wrath strike me as the 'perfect' ending situations.

Both the monologue of Velen at the Sunwell, or the monologue by Illidan as he dies...
Or Arthas when he dies, reaching out and seeing only darkness...

These are impressive moments.

Compared to like, Cata, Cata felt terrible. Thrall got the last blow, "age of mortals" and all that ended up being received terribly...
In Mists, we ended in SoO with Garrosh hauled away and the Horde and Alliance in conflict and Vol'jin being the new Warchief. Kind of nice for Vol'jin, but not too impactful.
In WoD, Archimonde dies, "we're free" and all that... also received terribly.
In Legion, Velen gets to kablooie KJ, breathes the sigh of relief, Sargeras stabs the world... huge impact. But, not especially evocative as BC or Wrath imo.
In BFA, final moments were, the origination beam through the Heart to dissolve N'Zoth, also received terribly.

So, apparently the only good endings were BC, Wrath, maybe Mists, and Legion having a decent one.

In retrospect I think BC and Wrath were the only real major contenders for truly great expansion endings, and of the two I think Wrath was definitely the better entertainment.

[Ethas]

WotLK of course. Was the best expansion game wise, ended epic.

[Soon-TM]

You really don't understand how this opinion piece works, huh? Yes, Tolkien is ridiculous amounts of purple prose. Yes, I didn't finish it, I didn't like it.

I'm entitled to my opinion and no godly force in this world can factually say it's a good book and my opinion is wrong.

Sure, you are entitled to your opinion, but don't expect to be taken seriously lolz. There isn't anything else to discuss with someone with such a deep knowledge of literature and its tools. Have a fun day!

- - - Updated - - -

WotLK of course. Was the best expansion game wise, ended epic.

The finale was indeed epic, until they threw that "there must always be a LK" meme line. Which was (and still is) TERRIBLY stupid, even for WoW standards.