“I’ll get you next time, Gadget! NEXT TIME!”
At least here we can safely assume it´s really Khadgar because of narrative reasons. Repeating the plot point with inside man two times within span of two weeks would be cheap and it would also invalidate Alleria´s journey throughout the expansion so far. Similarly, Anduin´s big moment of healing Khadgar with Light would be invalidated (and create possible plot hole, how would you heal Xal´atath with Light + why would she pretend to be dying in situation with possible 0 healers, due to Anduin´s performance issues?).
Also, unlike Drenden, Khadgar isn´t that good of an inside man given that Dalaran is gone. Sure, he´s one of world leaders and could be invited to many meetings and important locations, but I´d say that to (for example) corrupt the Sunwell, Xal´atath could achieve the result way better with random blood elf guard than with Khadgar.
2 Likes
I don’t know a dang thing about the War Within, but this is a delightful cutscene. Gets those DnD vibes just right, like classic WoW.
You’re gonna love Hallowfall as a priest or paladin 
1 Like
Wow, a purple lady villain was mildly inconvenienced so she immediately lost all her smugness and instead launched into screaming rage in a way which ended up undermining her plans? Where have I seen that plotbeat before?
That’s how we know it’s actually Xal’atath. “There’s no way she’d pull the same trick twice so closely together!” Double bluff.
3 Likes
Also, while I am not deeply christian ( even if I was raised catholic) I do love the reference to it during the cinematic.
One idea that is often told by christianity is that , as long as you are willing to let God back in, you will have his forgiveness because he will always love you.
Seeing as the Light ( especially in warcraft 1 and 2) was heavily derived from christianity, the same idea clearly applies here. Anduin, for a long time, felt unworthy of wielding the Light again due to what he felt during his time controlled by the Jailer. It seems that in that moment where Khadgar returns, he finally let go of those feelings of guilt and regret, and so, the Light returned to him.
6 Likes
I really enjoy how the Hallowfall are portrayed actually. I like that their faith focuses not on hatred or more darker zealousness(The dungeon woman is very clearly painted as being in the wrong).
Instead it shows that the faith of the Arathi is very interconnected with having a sense of community and kinship. Their faith forms communal bonds, everyone looks out for eachother. You have a communal kitchen, orphanage, friends and neighbors.
I do also like how hope is a major aspects. That even in the darkest moments, the light will return.
They are also clearly open to outsiders despite how rough they actually have it even while at constant war. The quest chain with the Arathi and the druidic troll-people showcases this perfectly, as they desperately want to avoid miscommunication and look for ways to solve any potential problems rather than being aggressive.
But my favorite group so far is absolutely the Nerubians.
5 Likes
i didnt mind the cutscene and thats about as much as im brave enough to say anymore
2 Likes
Cutscene’s fine, Khadgar yippee
I’m a little surprised he got back so soon but that’s fine. I don’t think it’s a particularly surprising cinematic, otherwise. Villain’s lieutenant is beaten and villain suffers setback, villain gets mad and retreats, this is like every storyline about beating a big bad bit by bit really
2 Likes
In a way the cinematic also feels a bit like a do-over from Genn vs Sylvanas in Stormheim.
Evil elf-lady up to no good, Genn/Alleria goes for the magical thingamajig instead and screws up their plan like that.
I will admit though, Im a bit sad the Dark Heart has been put out of comission so early, and where the hell is Iridikron hiding?
The Last Titan cinematic probably.
2 Likes
It harkens back to what Uther told Arthas 20 years ago as well:
“Lad, no one feels ready. No one feels he deserves it. And you know why? Because no one does. It’s grace, pure and simple. We are inherently unworthy, simply because we’re human, and all human beings–aye, and elves, and dwarves, and all the other races–are flawed. But the Light loves us anyway. It loves us for what we sometimes can rise to in rare moments. It loves us for what we can do to help others. And it loves us because we can help it share its message by striving daily to be worthy, even though we understand that we can’t ever truly become so. So stand there today, as I did, feeling that you can’t possibly deserve it or ever be worthy, and know that you’re in the same place every single paladin has ever stood.”
It’s such a good way to refer back to that concept with the Light of its Undeserved Grace that is always open-ended and awaiting the salvation of the person willing to accept it. Introspection and self-betterment always push one closer to the Light, even if they don’t necessarily feel it.
The Dungeon also very importantly details they have lost the natural connection to the Light and now have to forcefully bend it to their will like Blood Knights, whilst the Prioress has to use the actual font of the Sacred Flame inside the priory to do her holy fire magics!
6 Likes
im glad he is. they aint keeping me from dadgar…
When they first called those holy undead inside the Priory “the risen” again, my initial thought was “Oh god, Balnazzar’s at it again.”
2 Likes
It wraps up the 11.0 story well enough. Alleria sees past her desire for vengeance and saves the day, Anduin overcomes his internal doubt and is able to muster the inner strength required to save someone and the villain’s scheme is thwarted.
I’m not a fan of the “I wasn’t aiming at you” quip, nor do I like how easy it was. In fact, a lot of conflicts in this expansion seem to boil down to “X defeats Y, please make it as quick as possible and don’t linger it.” To compare it to the Genn vs. Sylvanas cinematic, they at least fight a little bit before Genn’s gambit is revealed. Same deal with Saurfang vs. Sylvanas, there was some preamble before the big plot point. In the War Within, these battles seem to be reduced to “Xal’atath beats Khadgar” and “Alleria beats Xal’atath,” all within the shortest space of time possible.
I’m also not a fan of how strongly Alliance-themed everything is, but I’ve beaten that horse to death and it’s more of a personal bugbear than a serious complaint.
So all in all, the storytelling of 11.0 has been adequate if a little rushed. Not my cup of tea but I can see why other people would like it. 5/10 on a personal level, 7/10 if I’m trying to be more objective about it.
5 Likes
I can definitely agree this has felt incredibly rushed story-wise (perhaps as a consequence of it changing from 1 narrative director’s hands to another halfway into development?) and from the .1 patch datamines it seems like the story will be moving on entirely unless they somehow wrap the Undermine into a plot about Old God Blood and Universal destruction which…I doubt is going to happen, admittedly.
But part of me also thinks its at least better for these things to be wrapped up (even if very quickly for my taste) than them being lingered on for over a decade of storytelling. I think they’re very wary of repeating the mistakes of Gilneas, the Forsaken, Undercity, Teldrassil, Night Elves and the Shadowlands. Especially given how supposedly disastrous it was for the company during that period of time according to Holly Longdale herself.
1 Like
It’s a nice retread of Of Blood and Honor, where Tirion manages to call on the Light even after being supposedly stripped of it by Uther, this giving us an early clue that it’s tied to one’s devotion to the Light and cannot be taken away by force.
https://lintian.eu/2024/02/04/warcraft-retrospective-13/
7 Likes
I was thinking of that scene aswell, even if I didn’t include it in my initial post. Overall it shows that the Light only abandons you, if you abandon -it-, like we’ve seen with Arthas and the blood knights pre-Sunwell, who had to bend it to their will.
2 Likes
I do have to agree here as much as I like the trio of Alleria, Khadgar and Anduin.
The quest at the start of the campaign (after doing the zone quests) makes a very deliberate show that the Alliance and Horde are here together and working as a team. But aside from Gey’rah and Thrall, the Horde in terms of story just kind of vanish afterwards?
3 Likes
That one I agree on, it would be nice to see the Horde having their own stuff there aswell. Their own reasons for coming to the Isle of Dorn, their own stuff going on.