What’s so tragic about Shadowlands to me, is that it arguably had all the potential to have some of the most compelling storytelling the game has ever seen. If we take Zovaal, he remains one of my favorite characters …
… on paper.
The entire point of Zovaal’s character was that he was right for the wrong reasons.
And by the end of the expansion the Eternal Ones agreed. Where they once scorned Zovaal for his ideas [and potentially forced his hand], they were now in agreement.
That is still such a cool friggin’ idea. He was right [in so far as the story is concerned].
The role of the Arbiter and the Jailer should’ve been presented as being two sides of the same coin.
For aeons, Zovaal served with the rest of the Pantheon of Death and his fellow Eternal Ones as the Shadowlands’ Arbiter, judging wayward souls as they passed through the Veil. Over time, he began to question his charge; question the Grand Design of the First Ones itself. The pattern was flawed. Who was he to decide eternity for the souls that passed his keep? And why were they bereft of any agency or say in their fate?
Thus, the Maw should’ve been portrayed not as a single realm within the Shadowlands themselves akin to the others we saw and their Covenants but instead as a contained or mirrored dimension. The role of the Jailer should’ve been the antithesis of the Arbiter, instead deciding not which souls to let in but which souls to let out to join the other realms.
And narratively have him had less and less souls escape penance.
Add to this that Zovaal’s focus and understanding of free will, and write in that he allowed these souls the choice to join him as his Mawsworn. How did he amass so much Anima? How did he amass such a following?
… By offering free will. That’s compelling.
The details surrounding Zovaal’s betrayal and the actions of the Pantheon of Death that led to his exile in the Maw are played up in the campaign as being mysterious, until they’re revealed to be that he simply attacked them and that went against the design. So they locked him away. There’s no presented moral conflict, there’s no depth.
Instead, imagine a campaign in which we are presented with these seemingly honest Eternal Ones but confronted by a confident Zovaal not only predicting their every word but also their efforts to characterize the Jailer to us. A campaign which partially includes us returning time and time again to the Maw and unlocking tidbits of a conversation with Zovaal making us doubt these ‘perfect’ Eternal Ones and their every word.
Because in truth we should’ve from the very start.
We don’t, but we should’ve. And Zovaal should’ve been the one to tell us as much. Mind, everyone eventually agreed Zovaal was right. That is the ace up his sleeve that he could’ve used for us to finally confront the Eternal Ones.
In my opinion, this should’ve included the details of the Domination magic and its presence in Azeroth.
We should’ve slowly come to understand the hand that Zovaal potentially played in major events in our timeline and on our world. Possibly with Zovaal playing coy and neither confirming nor denying his hand in things as well, allowing us to fill in the blanks ourselves. We should’ve felt the implications of his eternity in the Maw and his countless attempts to break out and get a hold outside of the Plane of Death itself.
Similarly, this would’ve played into Sylvanas’ part and hand in this plot.
She should’ve been ‘redeemed’ by seeing the error of her ways due to the Jailer’s methods rather than his infringement upon her own principles. She was inconvenienced, that’s the only reason she turned on him. She didn’t do it for us. And in turn he turned on her for not being willing to ‘serve’. Another infuriating fumble in Zovaal’s presentation, as his whole schtick [as we’ve established] was … free will. Her not being willing to offer free will but instead subjugate should’ve been his reasons for turning on her and finding that a major betrayal.
I’d suggest the same would be true for a character like Uther [and the Forsworn] that should’ve seen a similar resolution. The Jailer wasn’t “deceptively cunning”, he should’ve been asking too much. A far too high price to pay.
It wasn’t justice for those needing a voice anymore, it was sheer vengeance.
Upon the pattern, upon the Grand Design. And that … was a few steps too far.
What this would’ve created is a narrative that not only stayed true to its themes and intentions, but also delivered a compelling villain worthy of the importance he still plays to this day. For better or for worse.
This is what I mean when I say that Zovaal was a character with an extreme amount of potential, and why this version of Zovaal that they technically had on paper but never executed upon remains and likely will remain one of my favorite characters [despite unfulfilled] in all of World of Warcraft . There might come a day when they retcon or change something that pulls us closer to this path, which I wouldn’t be opposed to.
But oh … what could’ve been.
That’s not to say Shadowlands as an expansion wouldn’t have had other issues as well.
Yet the Jailer might not had been the main one quite in the same way …
https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Zovaal
https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Eternal_Ones
https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Purpose
