Sawed Off

Do not read unless you have completed this storyline that begins in Dragonblight!

OK, now that's said, how cool is this quest? I love the Warcraft III-style long, lore-heavy cut scene.

As you probably gleaned, both the Horde and Alliance see things from their own point of view, but both sides are equally "real" -- i.e. they both happened, no matter which side you're on, and the consequences are the same.

http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Battle ... (Alliance)
http://www.wowwiki.com/Quest:The_Battle ... ty_(Horde)

While the Alliance, righteously, wants to take out Putress for unleashing the New Plague on them in Dragonblight, the Horde arguably have an even bigger problem: After years of working for Sylvannas -- yeah, right -- Varimathras the Dread Lord has finally stopped pretending and has launched a full-fledged coup of the Undercity. Without playing through the Horde side, it's hard for me to tell who Varimathras was working for -- probably Arthas, as the Apothecary Society's plans to wipe out all life sound awfully familiar.

Oh, and the orc leader who died at the Wrath Gate? He was Saurfang the Younger, son of the Horde's answer to Chuck Norris. (And the Horde's top general and all-around mega-badass.)

Now we're left with a world where the Horde and Alliance truce is explicitly over, and they're no longer fighting on the same side, even against the Scourge. Now, I have my doubts that this will last -- I bet the final patch that adds Icecrown Glacier creates a final alliance to take out Arthas once and for all.

And personally, I say good. The Forsaken have always been a problem, and always obviously so. The Horde pretending to not see what the Forsaken were up to was always insane and if any spies or traitors had passed that onto the Alliance -- and after five years, how could they have not? -- there would have been all-out war long ago.

I look forward to kicking in the teeth of undead rogues without any sort of guilt that I'm causing a diplomatic incident. And, frankly, nothing would be nicer than bombing the crap out of the Forsaken lands and taking it back for whatever Lordaeron humans still live.

Oh, and Arthas being the dick that he is, I bet that Saurfang the Younger shows up as a boss in Icecrown Glacier ...

Having literally just completed that questline, let me just say that I am truly awed. Epic in every sense of the word, and easily the most fun I've ever had from any MMO. From the beginning rescues in Winterguarde, riding in those steamtanks, to Wrynn's declaration of war in the Undercity's throne room, there was nothing about this questline that I didn't immensely enjoy. Wow. Hands off to Blizzard.

I also couldn't agree with you more. No more uneasy truce to hold us back. It's full on war (although like you said the truce will probably last through Icecrown and Arthas), and I for one couldn't be happier.

I remember when Putress first appeared in Shattrath after the zombie infestation, and you told me to keep an eye on him and that he'd be a major player. You sure weren't kidding. I think I'll be watching that cutscene anytime I'm in that area.

Ringo Flinthammer wrote: Without playing through the Horde side, it's hard for me to tell who Varimathras was working for -- probably Arthas, as the Apothecary Society's plans to wipe out all life sound awfully familiar.

Perhaps it was Kil'jaeden (assuming he was just banished and not killed at the Sunwell). I wouldn't be suprised if Varimathras never stopped working for the Burning Legion.

Kil'Jaedan, or another Burning Legion heavy, is definitely a good guess.

A distant voice yells: YOU HAVE FAILED ME, VARIMATHRAS!
Varimathras yells: A thousand-thousand pardons, Master! I will deal with these intruders myself!

I don't think that voice would be Kil'jaeden. The Battle of the Undercity takes place some time after the events at Sunwell Plateau.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0klcQoIZq0

(The Sunwell Eplilogue takes place after the music.)

Velen definitely seems to imply that the Burning Legion is going to be pretty out-of-commision for awhile following their defeat at the Sunwell. While it's possible, I don't think Blizzard would use KJ post-defeat as the mysterious voice behind Varimathras, since it seems a bit anticlimactic.

My guess is that it's either Sargeras himself, or our new friend Yogg-Saron for who is behind the actions of Varimathras.

So how much trouble is Jaina going to be in for spoiling the King's party?

If Varian Wrynn ends up leaving the stage -- and I haven't kept up with the comics, but apparently he's been split into multiple bodies, each with extreme personalities, which explains a bit, really -- I think they've pretty clearly set up Jaina to take a major role in what follows.

That said, though, I'm not sure she's right here.

Matthias wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0klcQoIZq0

I love that the guy making the video with the sarcastic kazoo music because it's post 3.0 Sunwell, and therefore soooo easy ... was dead for the end of the fight.

Matthias wrote:

A distant voice yells: YOU HAVE FAILED ME, VARIMATHRAS!
Varimathras yells: A thousand-thousand pardons, Master! I will deal with these intruders myself!

I don't think that voice would be Kil'jaeden. The Battle of the Undercity takes place some time after the events at Sunwell Plateau.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0klcQoIZq0

(The Sunwell Eplilogue takes place after the music.)

Velen definitely seems to imply that the Burning Legion is going to be pretty out-of-commision for awhile following their defeat at the Sunwell. While it's possible, I don't think Blizzard would use KJ post-defeat as the mysterious voice behind Varimathras, since it seems a bit anticlimactic.

My guess is that it's either Sargeras himself, or our new friend Yogg-Saron for who is behind the actions of Varimathras.

Interesting guesses. You could be on to something there.

Interesting article on Varian Wrynn. http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/11/25/va ... the-horde/

Spoilers if you haven't completed the Wrathgate quests though.

Sanlear wrote:Interesting article on Varian Wrynn. http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/11/25/va ... the-horde/

Spoilers if you haven't completed the Wrathgate quests though.

Yeah, I just read that this morning, myself. More than most articles on WI, I really enjoyed the Comments afterwards because it shows a broad range in player responses and how they feel about the Varian Wrynn.

I also agree with one commenter who felt that Blizzard should have had more of Wrynn's story in the game, rather than just pulling him out of the comic book and dropping him in Stormwind, all the while expecting players to have already estblished an opinion on him.

Ringo Flinthammer wrote:Oh, and Arthas being the dick that he is, I bet that Saurfang the Younger shows up as a boss in Icecrown Glacier ...

Oh yes, especially since they made a point of showing Frostmourne swallowing the poor bastard's soul. I'm trying to figure out if there's any way for Bolvar to reappear as some sort of reanimated monstrosity too. Since he was killed by the plague and not Frostmourne, and his corpse appears to have been incinerated by Alexstrasza and company, it seems doubtful, but you never know...

Maybe he can appear as a free-willed ghost trying to get Varian to chill out in the forthcoming war in Icecrown.

On a side note, I really wonder if we've seen the last of Anub'arak. I wouldn't be suprised to see him back. He did seem to go down a bit too easy in Azjol-Nerub for such a major TFT character.