A lot of fans are considering Uther’s ascension cinematic being retconned because of what he “said” there (“Light, save my soul”) v/s what he said on warcraft 3 when Arthas struck him down with Frostmourne. Plus, they seem to point out to the dispute of dialogue Uther delivered after the Lich King’s death - about Arthas - which sounded contrary to what he wished for Arthas in the Afterlife cinematic. I believe, there is a catch - a catch that many probably overlooked. So here’s how I believe this is not a retcon. Before I proceed, I want the readers to rewatch and remember “The Afterlife” cinematic of Uther’s Ascension one more time. Cutting back to the scene where Arthas takes his life, Uther’s soul split into two - this many of you probably noticed in the video. One half of the soul was free, the other half was claimed by the runeblade.
Remember before he died he said “Light save my soul” (he said that silently while externally he told Arthas that he wished there was a special place in hell for him…please observe…his mouth wasn’t moving when he was praying to the Light). It could be that the Light did save just a part of his soul from frostmourne-the part that was devoted solely to the Light - the part that eventually made it to the Kyrians in the Shadowlands, while his humanity - the one that mourned Arthas after his second death as the Lich King - was claimed by the rune-blade. This is not a retconn…rather additions of small details as unlikely pieces of a puzzle (If you remember Varian’s story, you might know this is not the first time it happened - if not to Varian’s soul at-least but either way, the two Varians were of a contradictory nature from each other, untill they integrated into one).
Tirion broke that soul-claiming Frostmourne later in WoTLK which freed all the souls that was trapped within it…so strangely enough we do not yet know where the other half of Uther went after it broke free from the blade…A speculation could be…all the souls that was freed from Frostmourne…never truly got free…Devos had knowledge of the source of the runes she saw etched on the sword. It could be that the souls that left frostmourne hurled themselves directly into the maw due to the spellwork of the runes. A story might develop where we will quest to help Arthas redeem himself by freeing the frostmourne-cursed souls from the Maw where we might also meet the other half of Uther. And at the end, there will either be conflict between the two Uthers or they will simply integrate into one…Remains to be seen
His last words canonically were "“I dearly hope that there’s a special place in hell waiting for you, Arthas.” adding that “Light, save my soul” at the end is a retcon.
Definition of a retcon:
“To revise (an aspect of a fictional work) retrospectively, typically by introducing a piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events.”
From the dictionary of Oxford Languages.
This also entailed the soul splitting.
Don’t take it the wrong way, people see the word “retcon” as almost taboo; it doesn’t have to be. Many people might rightly have a distaste for retcons, myself included. I like the stories I experience to remain consistent, I like being invested in a story and having that story being nonchalantly changed to fit more convenient current narratives is not always pleasant. Retcons are, generally speaking, a very inelegant tool of storytelling.
But! Again, it doesn’t have to be. The Draenei retcon, for example, were one of the best retcons Warcraft has had.
I personally hope whatever change they’ll bring to Uther will be just as great.
I did acknowledge that canonical quote of Uther in the 2nd paragraph of my argument…he did indeed say that along with “Light save my life” silently…it was the last ever thought before he died. Ergo, it’s simply a continuation of the event, albeit a very small additional detail that is. Also the “two Uther souls” theory of my argument also enables the interpretation that it might not be a retcon. But then again, WoW story-telling can be highly unpredictable in many ways.
I think that it it too early to come to the conclusion, because the players meet part of Uther next to frostmourne, part was is shadowlands, and we also meet spmething at the tomb.
So, IMO for now people are just evaluating for now the potential consequences of such things: are different parts of the soul are like different personalities, can they reunite, what would happen with their memories if they merge, and so on.
The rest, includng Uther’s monologue is kind of just the surface detail, so it expected to be mentioned quite a lot.
/offtop
You can look at it in the same way as why people hate Calia Menethil. If you look under the hood, people hate the perspective, that as long as she stays in the horde, there is a chance, that somebody among the developers could decide that the forsaken should “change”, and that would mean, since there is no sustitute for this race in the horde, that something would be permanently lost in the process. So people word it like “we hate Calia”, but under the hood there is “we hate the implicit threat that you can steal from us something we love”.
Interesting. I would have taken the retroactive introduction of the spacefaring Light-worshipping alien stuff as one of the worst things they have done with retcons.
By definition, that is a retcon. It’s additional information that was not present at the time of the event.
Yes, even if it was just in his head.
Personally I don’t like their superlative futuristic technology either, but I can say I’m not as contrary to all the other aspects of the Draenei.
Regardless of both of our opinions, we’ve got to admit that the Draenei retcon has been one of the best received retcons we’ve had in Warcraft.
I always noticed a lot of distaste for almost every retcon we’ve been faced with through the years, but I remember very, very few people unhappy with the Draenei.
If that’s not to one’s liking, there’s another great retcon example: humanising the Horde and the Orcs from WCI and WCII into actually nuanced characters, instead of green demons from super hell.
There’s a difference between a retcon and an addition to what is there. If he actively said “Light, save my soul.” as his last words, then it would be a retcon. But this isn’t. Nothing has been changed. It has just been added on.
Sincerally, those words might simply be uttered after Uther got his soul ripped off. The fact that the screen goes black and we see Uther already carried to Bastion means that there is a huge window of time in which the sentence might had happen.
[SPOILER ALERT]
I have another question about Afterlives though. From the Bastion Campaign we see that the Ascended actually review the death of the souls they carry which means that even Uther death should have been seen and there was no need for Devos to complain about losing the information if he purged his life/memories.
Again, incorrect. Uther’s final words were still what they were. That remains completely unchanged. His final thoughts were just revealed. Those were not his final words.
“To revise (an aspect of a fictional work) retrospectively, typically by introducing a piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events.”
“To revise an aspect of a fictional work retrospectively”;
Afterlives takes place after the death of Uther, it’s revisiting a past event, in retrospect.
“By introducing a piece of new information”;
“Light save my soul”
The soul splitting; these are all new pieces of information, that we have received in retrospect, we didn’t have these at the time Uther died.
"That (the information) imposes a different interpretation on previously described events.”
We have a new interpretation: Uther prayed for his soul and it was split in two, instead of being entirely eaten by Frostmourne.
It is, by dictionary definition, a retcon.
Can you explain how this is incorrect? Do you have another definition of retcon that contradicts the dictionary?
The one thing you forgot to notice: I never said the soul splitting was not a retcon. That was, and a good one in my mind. The final thoughts were not an alteration, which meant changing something that was already there. But it is not, because we did not know what Uther’s final thoughts where. If they were something different, then changed to “Light, save my soul.” then that would be a retcon. Plus the interpretation had not changed. The final thoughts are not a retcon. The soul splitting was.
Actually, thank you! I’ve made the necessary alteration to my bad grammar. To quote:
“The final thoughts were not an alteration, which meant changing something that was already there. But it is not, because we did not know what Uther’s final thoughts where.”
The fact that the screen goes black and we see Uther already carried to Bastion means that there is a huge window of time in which the sentence might had happen.
Just above some comments. This is my stance on it and it doesn’t bind it as a retcon.
A retcon will be a retcon whether you think it is or not. I think you might just have a different idea of what constitutes as a retcon, against what a retcon actually is.
I provided the dictionary definition of what a ‘retcon’ is, beyond that, I don’t know, it’s up to you guys to rewrite the dictionary.
