An exchange between him and Greymane just before his encounter (alliance side) gives us more depth regarding how both characters interacted with each other just before the boss fight:
Otoye: Like hungry predators, de Alliance monsters closed in on their prey. Otoye: De heartless Alliance stormed de throne room. Our noble king defied them to de very end!
Genn Greymane: King Rastakhan of Zandalar…I order you to submit! You will bow before your new master, King Anduin Wrynn, and you will deliver your daughter to us as a hostage! King Rastakhan: You…an exile without a homeland…you dare invade dese sacred halls and demand dat I turn my kingdom over to you? King Rastakhan: De Zandalari built an empire dat would endure for over ten-thousand years…while your barbaric ancestors scuffled in de dirt. King Rastakhan: WE conquered this world. WE brought it glory. You…you are nothing. Merely de latest in a long line of savages seeking to undermine our greatness. King Rastakhan: No, I will not surrender. Because no matter what happens here today…Zandalar will stand long after your Alliance has crumbled to dust. King Rastakhan: But if you are so eager to meet Bwonsamdi…den step forward. De Loa of Death awaits! King Rastakhan: Zandalar forever! Genn Greymane: So be it. Heroes of the Alliance…strike him down! No mercy for this savage!
Rastakhan the Man. His dissing befits the one of a God King.
Went out like a champ.
Shame the Horde couldn’t keep him instead of Troll Jaina (I’m being a bit unfair with Talanji here, but yeah, her dad was 10 times more awesome).
Also, apparently the Alliance wanted to capture Talanji again and take her as a hostage.
THIS is a plausible and honest reason for at least the Zandalari to hate the Alliance. Love how both sides are portrayed here.
EDIT: Source.
EDIT 2: This also throws a new light regarding the Alliance plans in Zuldazar.
The worm rejected to bow before the one true God-King, Anduin Wrynn, the master of all, as such he was killed as the barbarian scum that he is.
Perhaps now the dissidents have learned their lesson. Against the might of King Anduin, there will be no victory.
If I may, far from me to bash our revered and beautiful High King, but perhaps his one mistake was sending the rabid dog Greymane to negotiate with the stubborn Rastakhan. He should have sent a more polite and elegant underling.
That his motives we know now, were driven by his worry regarding his daughter and the well-being of his kingdom?
That he is displaying the attitude a leader of his calibre should have in this story?
That the Alliance came in making demands regarding turning his kingdom into a vassal state and their princess prisoner, and that is a plausible reasoning that gives a lot of logic to both sides reaction?
I dunno, i think the dialogue was interesting to have.
I find it really weird how Genn wants to subjugate the Zandalari and imprison her daughter again, that really makes no sense.
So where does this line come into it then (coming from the comments of WoWhead)
If you are playing Alliance when you get done with the trash and the RP start s Genn begins with “King Rastakhan of Zandalar… On behalf of the Alliance, and in the name of King Anduin Wyrnn, I hereby request your surrender”. King Rastakhan’s dialogue is the same on both sides but at the end Genn concludes with, “So be it. Heroes… you know what must be done”.
So, how does this fit with the above or visa-versa?
Without wishing to stomp on anyone’s party here, the article was edited.
This week, players encountered a new RP dialogue before starting the King Rastakhan encounter in Battle of Dazar’alor. The dialogue provides more insights into the interactions between the Zandalari and the Alliance during the battle. It also introduces the concept of an unreliable narrator as the dialogue varies between Alliance and Horde players.
The Alliance has a different version:
King Rastakhan of Zandalar… On behalf of the Alliance, and in the name of King Anduin Wrynn, I hereby request your surrender.
Genn Greymane: King Rastakhan: You…an exile without a homeland…you dare invade dese sacred halls and demand dat I turn my kingdom over to you?
King Rastakhan: De Zandalari built an empire dat would endure for over ten-thousand years…while your barbaric ancestors scuffled in de dirt.
King Rastakhan: WE conquered this world. WE brought it glory. You…you are nothing. Merely de latest in a long line of savages seeking to undermine our greatness.
King Rastakhan: No, I will not surrender. Because no matter what happens here today…Zandalar will stand long after your Alliance has crumbled to dust.
King Rastakhan: But if you are so eager to meet Bwonsamdi…den step forward. De Loa of Death awaits!
King Rastakhan: Zandalar forever!
Genn Greymane: So be it. Heroes… you know what must be done.
I am not fan of 2 versions, they should keep one for the sake of consistency. There will be likely months of fans arguing over it before Blizzard would finally make a clarification.
I’m just fine regarding not having a clarification. I don’t need to have a canonical clarification regarding what happened as in both cases it serves as a catalyst to drive the factions forward in a logical and plausible way.
If you feel the need to, then sure.
I just agreed with Zakkaru that this was instantly about “No, my side is canonical”.
No, it was not. The article is literally named “unreliable narrator”. The Alliance does not have a narrator, we are there. The Horde gets the story, not us.
So is there any reason you think what actually happened is not canon instead of what someone said happened?
The whole dialogue Horde side is intentionally over the top.
I also think that this is the most likely case, simply because Alliance can hear what Greymane said in person and it could be very possible that Zandalari witness was so bitter and vindictive that she “spiced out” the report.
But you never know with Blizzard.
Zarao search your feelings, do you truly believe Blizzard could make narration where Alliance is shown as evil and bloodthirsty?
If they failed with Tyranda then … I dunno.
Also, now when someone mentioned “little worm” - I also highly doubt Alliance would ever find out/ confront Anduin about Saurfang release.
Its about as off-putting as having Genn be all reasonable when a few quests later he is eager to push the attack even further and strike hard against the Zandalari while they mourn for their king.
As i said, i’m fine with not knowing who “scored”. I’m just glad that from both sides point of view, they are feeling vindicated to continue their animosity.
EDIT: And quite pleased regarding the portrayal Rastakhan had (the shared bits of dialogue). Fitting for his character.
EDIT 2: Also, we lack clarification regarding “unreliable narrators”. For all we know, they could be pushing this concept far into even throwing different portrayals even from a player perspective. And have Alliance players see events through a different lens than Horde ones, thus marking their bias even from a meta level. The possibilities used to reconcile both views are rather infinite.
Thats why i’m rather happy with having a story that at least from an ingame perspective, gives validity to both sides. And yes, in this case, i’m pumped regarding the zandalari motivation.
Which is a shame, since the only rout the story can go to become engaging is the comedic one. The idea of Anduin as a spiritual liege is a hilarious one.