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World of Warcraft Shadowlands Patch 9.2 cinematic Shattered Legacies -showing Uther help Sylvanas come to terms with her new situation after the Jailer returned her missing soul fragment – has been put on the PTR and WoW’s official Youtube Channel. A lot of people have misunderstood it. TIme for a deep dive into Blizzard’s answer to the playerbase on Sylvanas’s guilt.
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Arthas, Uther, Sylvanas, the Jailer, Patch 9.2, release date, new cinemtic, reaction, Sylvanas redemption, sylvanas death, taliesin and Evitel
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#keepthestoryofftheptr
So the frozen portion of your soul is like an old social media post that you're reminded of X years later. Causing you to wonder why anyone was friends with you…that's not bad. Should have called Zoval "Facebook."
I feel like Sylvanas has always been comparable to Kerrigan. Starting wuth WC3 to now. Sylvanas had her choices taken away just like Kerrigan being left and betrayed. Then The banshee queen and Queen of Blades do terrible unforgivable actions. But in the end they come to the realization that they can't be forgiven but can finally make the choice to sacrifice their selves. I feel no matter what Sylvanas is probably not going to return to Azeroth any tme soon.
Tali I was not expecting a deep self reflection of my life half an hour into a WoW video analysis…
I would argue that Patty is the BIGGEST reason why everyone feels so strongly about Sylvanas. And I absolutely do not mean this in any negative way. That woman is so good at what she does that she really did make so many people kind of act like this character was a real person they were having to deal with. It wasn't someone trying to force an attitude or cockiness. It deadass was a character that was so effortlessly smug like there was never a disconnect between a character and a voice actor.
Patty appreciate comment.
She's fucking amazing
Thank you, Tali. I liked the cinematic and figured Sylvie would be punished and accept a punishment, but everyone nay saying that she's going to be redeemed was so far off of what I thought the cinematic was telling us.
Okay, I never comment on videos, but I feel a strong need to here. I'll be the first to admit I've been a WoW doomsayer as of late, especially in regards to the story. Between breastmilk thievery, Brian's union busting, and Bobby Kotick becoming a literal Old God in terms of evil, it's been hard for me to even let myself give this game any of my time. However this cinematic has stirred quite a bit in me. When I was younger, I was an avid fan of Destiny, a game which is no stranger to convoluted storylines that don't always hit and the soul-sucking greed of Activision/Bungie. In Destiny 2, Uldren Sov kills arguably Destiny's best/fan-favorite character Cayde-6 (literally ending one of my favorite Nathan Fillion roles) and in doing so becomes a villain of extreme evil, more so than any galaxy-ending threat, as he takes away something the people loved. (Similarly to our gal Sylvanas) However, after a long tumultuous and morally grey campaign, Uldren meets a violent end at the hands of the protagonist and another character. It would've been so easy to just say F*** it that's where it ends, but somewhat controversially, they have him be resurrected as a guardian. This forced Uldren to undertake the new personality of The Crow, a guardian who has no memory of his past life who is chastised and threatened by all he meets. It doesn't absolve him of murder or his past completely, but it allows him to come into his own and reflect. Now, that's not the same as Sylvanas, as clearly she's not a completely new person, but likewise, each character is given a second chance that allows them to grapple with their crimes, and if that beat is compelling in that game, I see no reason why it can't be here as well.
On a more personal level, both this cinematic and this analysis have allowed me to grapple with quite a bit as well. I played wow when I was a kid from cata to MoP, and I never got into it in a way where I was fully engaged. When I got back into the game, it was the legion prepatch in 2016, the beginning of the Sylvanas arc. So much has changed since then, and defining moments for this character can sync up to defining moments of my past. I've gone from a freshman in high-school to a college student with adult responsibilities, and during the video I genuinely had to consider how that version of myself would view me as a person now. Major kudos for that segment of self-reflection with younger soldier Tali. I don't think I'd be 100% proud of myself, nor the state of this game that I love, but my god if I didn't feel something towards this story when that vol'jin score played. I don't think I'm at the point where I can justify coming back for 9.2, but at least just a little bit, I feel like I can be cautiously optimistic that one day will be the right time. One of the best analysis videos on this channel to date. #KeepStoryOffPTR #ThoseEyesAreKindaFuckingJarringButLikeIGetThatItIsANiceJuxtapositionWithTheBlueGlowRevealAtTheEnd
Can I just note that Ranger General Sylvanas' eyes seem to be more of a blueish grey rather than just straight up blue
Sylvanas has had such an interesting afterlife that I wonder how Ranger Sylvanas assesses her life outside of the burning of Teldrassil. She was instrumental in keeping the horde afloat at a number of key moments. At what moment did she feel like she started to go astray?
Thank you for pointing out that Uther dialog. So many people saying she was split into a good an devil version was driving me nuts. #KeepStoryOffThePTR
The problem is that, people have stop playing the game at full, the quests, the history ; stop playing the MMoRPG and just playing the Esport Race for better loot. Boosting or just logging for 3 things Raid Race, M+ leader board and PVP title.
The just making excuses that blizzard and wow are ruining the game but is the community that push the developers so maybe blizzard never change, We did!. if sylvanas is facing the consequences ,we have to!.
"It's not trying to sweep under the rug or excuse anything the banshee has done"
Except for everything to the Horde anyway.
"It's not trying to sweep under the rug or excuse anything the banshee has done."
LOL okay.
#keepstoryoffthePTR sounds good! Also kudos on sharing that old photo of you, you look great!
Everyone has inside of them the capacity to do horrible things, but a whole array of counterbalancing qualities prevents most of us from doing those things. Banshee Sylvanas would not have – could not have – acted on those worst qualities if a magic sword hadn't stolen away or 'frozen' all of those positive counterbalances in her persona. Better Call Saul is a character study of a person who has all those positive counterbalances chipped away one by one, over years of his life, until only the unmitigated bad impulses remain, totally unencumbered. But Arthas didn't stab Jimmy McGill with an ice sword, he arrived at that place organically, through his choices. A person can't be judged by the worst part of themselves that would normally always remain submerged and invisible, suppressed by the many other dimensions of their psyche, just because those dimensions were forcibly removed by magic. Yes, Sylvanas could have had the capacity for these atrocities inside her, as we all do, but the soul shattering angle still makes her an absolute victim in all this – both things are true at the same time
#keepstoryofftheptr
Tali, I agree with your interpretation here of what Blizzard are TRYING to communicate with this cinematic…
And I agree that the comments you've quoted are misguided in their interpretation of the scene…
But that does NOT mean the cinematic is good storytelling. That does not mean that Blizzard succeeded in what they're trying to do.
There is a very big problem with the take this video gives us: it gives us the experience from the WRONG PERSPECTIVE.
What we are given is an innocent perspective—a Sylvanas of the past, who truly doesn't know it's THEM who does such horrible things in their future, because they lack the experience of doing those bad things. Thus, an innocent perspective is made to suffer for crimes they do not have any experience of committing. The idea that this is "the same Sylvanas" is something the innocent perspective is forced to accept… but we don't get to see this acceptance happy from the GUILTY perspective. Seeing the innocent/past Sylvanas realize what future/present Sylvanas has done does not have sort of impact needed for this scene, because we don't actually see someone who is conscious of their guilt try to come to terms with what they have done.
Instead, the perspective that WOULD have made this cinematic a success would have been that of the GUILTY Sylvanas having to go through the process of educating the innocent Sylvanas, and coming to terms with she's done FROM THE GUILTY PERSPECTIVE. We need to see someone who KNOWS what they've done, and KNOWS that THEY were the one to do it, breaking down and realizing they were wrong—realizing that they BETRAYED their past self… not that they were on the receiving end of a betrayal from their future self.
We experience this cinematic from the perspective of an innocent who was betrayed by a "future self" and is then forced to accept the guilt of crimes they do not have a conscious experience of committing. This makes us sympathetic for a victim… but NOT for a guilty party who has realized their crimes!
Imagine Uther showing up in Sylvanas's mind, not as past-Uther, but as present, Forsworn Uther. Imagine he visits present-day Sylvanas—resentful, full of pride and anger. She thinks nobody can understand HER torment. And then Uther introduces her to HIS past self: the innocent part of his soul from the past. He explains how he, too, was manipulated by the Jailer—something that would actually resonate much more than the comment in the cinematic we got, since past-Sylvanas has no idea who or what the Jailer even is—and so he can relate some small amount with what she's going through. He explains that it was difficult for him to face what he'd done, but facing this past element of his soul helped him with that process. And then future-Uther guides Sylvanas to HER past soul. We would see the guilty Sylvanas, who knows what she has done, have to apologize and atone to her younger, innocent self, for betraying her ideals. And, by proxy, she would accept that she was wrong, and she would accept the guilt for her actions at Teldrassil and elsewhere. That would have been a VERY powerful moment.
The fact that they're "actually the same" in the end? Sure, from a detached viewpoint that might SEEM like it's the same as guilty Sylvanas accepting her errors… but WE NEVER GET TO EXPERIENCE THAT PERSPECTIVE! It's so so so frustrating because Blizz came SO CLOSE to a truly great cinematic here, where the guilty Sylvanas IS shown to experience regret over her crimes… instead, we have an innocent past-self who is forced to view the crimes from an outside perspective.
Uther also draws a strange equivalency between "acknowledging what 'she's' done" and waking up to help the rest. Those are NOT the same thing.
I know this is a bit of a ramble, but it's a very subtle point and it's hard to communicate it in a comment on YouTube alone. I think this might reflect what a lot of the people who are disappointed with this cinematic are FEELING, even if they're not articulating it very well or if they're not parsing the video's intent as clearly as you have with this video. Still, I think from an emotional perspective, the dissatisfaction is justified, because the video never allows us to see the guilty Sylvanas forced to come to terms with the wrong things she's done.
#keepthestoryofftheptr
A brilliant cinematic and fantastic analysis mate!
#KeepStoryOffThePTR
regarding art style choice, my first impression that this Sylvanas artsy-model is based on the Sylvanas from (as you said) is in the Warcraft 3 models. ref: https://youtu.be/fYENAI2BuqU?t=466
As to why people can watch a video and reach the exact opposite conclusion of what the reality is, that is because facts no longer matter to a disturbing number of people these days. They lie to everyone, including themselves.
So they have built up this big mad-on to throw when the theory they have been holding on to for months finally proves true so they can rant and bellow about how bad _____ (fill in the blank) is. It doesn't matter what happens, they have crafted a perfectly good fit, and dammit, they are gonna THROW it regardless!
Also, I have seen this plenty in real life, a lot of people are only happy when they are hateful, mad, angry or unhappy.
Is it any wonder how conspiracy theories are so popular with the stoopids at this point? They will latch onto any absurd disinformation if it fits the need for negativity, hate, fear and anger, no matter how obviously preposterous. ("JFK Jr will come back from the dead and smite the evildoers that put tracking chips in our underwear!")
This cinematic and reactions to it are a perfect example of that mechanic in action.
Ask The Gods.
"Wow, Tali that's so brilliant and you're so spot-on and—-Baby Tali! squeeee!!!!…..what were we talking about?"
Seriously though, the thought of going back to younger me and explaining the choices I've made with no chance of changing them…yikes.
Thanks Tali for shedding most positive analysis into this cinematic when everyone else is just complaining
YOU GET A HALFSOUL YOU GET A HALF SOUL AND YOUUU GET A HALF SOUL! bruh
#keepthestoryoffthePTR