Sylvanas the Tragic

Hold on, hear me out. I know many of you are thinking, "THAT devious, cunning, scheming BANSHEE?" Yes I mean that fell, deadly banshee. Yes I am talking about the same woman who authorized the creation of the Blight that claimed Saurfang the Younger and Bolvar Fordragon. As someone who has played tabletop RPGs and all three Warcraft RTS games, I'm familiar with the lore behind the one and only Sylvanas Windrunner. I'm also well-versed in the lore that inspired Warcraft and its various character classes.

Sylvanas Windrunner is a tragic figure. She's a nihilistic, plotting, calculating woman, but still a tragic figure. She's the classic example of a high, noble figure brought low by a tragic flaw or error in judgement. While there is some debate about what hamartia is, there is no doubt that Sylvanas does suffer from a tragic flaw.

Think about this. She was the Ranger General of Silvermoon prior to the Scourge invasion. Anyone who played through the Nathanos Blightcaller quests in vanilla WoW will recall the reverence which people refer to him with. That awe is due to his status as the only human ever to become a ranger lord. Other ranger lords include the likes of Vereesa Windrunner, sister of our ill-fated Banshee Queen. All of this speaks to the drive and ambition it must take in order to achieve such heady heights.

Also, Sylvanas is a Windrunner, and as a ranger, is in tune with nature to a high degree. This is a woman who immersed herself in the forested lands surrounding Silvermoon. She was someone the animals called friend, and she in turn revered the natural world that she blended seamlessly with.

It's all ripped away in a heartbeat during a desperate last stand against Arthas' and the advancing Scourge. That connection to the woodlands she so loved is now a gaping black hole in her subconscious. No longer are the animals hers to call as friends and allies. Somehow the corrupted bats and plaguehounds of Lordaeron seem like they would be cold comforts in the face of that loss.

All of that drive and ambition I mentioned before? Yeah, where do you think she's going to direct it? She's going to bring everything she's got to bear against the ones she blames for her condition: Arthas and the Alliance.

"Now wait a minute, Grak, old buddy, I think your horns are dulling in your old age," you're saying now. "The Alliance? What do they have to do with it?" Well let's see ... it was the Alliance's golden boy who slaughtered many of her people and corrupted the Sunwell. The Gilneans hid behind their walls like hypocrites while the Scourge ran rampant over the Eastern Kingdoms. Ironforge and Stormwind were strangely mum while one of their "allies" was being systematically destroyed.

No, she doesn't have a grudge against the Alliance at all does she? Please. People like to argue that she created the Blight knowing damn well what she was doing. Of course she knew. She fully intended to avenge herself on her betrayers.

Now here's where there's room to debate. I don't think she intended to nail her Horde allies while she was at it. When she was usurped by Varimathras, it is clear she wasn't ready for it. She expected him to make a move, sure, but not when he did. Not only that but the Horde she's part of includes her very own people.

Also very revealing is the monologue she delivers to the player while riding to the Sepulcher with you. The Alliance, once again in all hypocrisy, is attempting to "reclaim" Undercity. Excuse me? Reclaim it from who? The original inhabitants? The Forsaken are mostly Arthas' own slaughtered and risen subjects, as Sylvanas points out. Where were these Alliance kingdoms when they were being killed by the thousands? Let's see ... one military power was hiding behind the Greymane Wall. One was busy screwing the people who rebuilt Stormwind. Ironforge? Not a peep. Proudmoore and Kul Tiras? Off on a pointless vendetta in Kalimdor.

Call her a conniving, scheming, clever, nihilistic plotter if you want, but she's justified. She's a woman who lost everything, and her drive and ambition have now been turned on people she once called friends. She lost her focus long enough to miss the brewing rebellion under her nose. And now she's reminded of the hypocrisy that may have cost her her home and life. Where was the 7th Legion when Silvermoon was overrun? The Ironforge mountaineers?

Sylvanas is a tragic figure whose story has yet to come to a close. Perhaps at some point her fatal flaw will be the ultimate cause of her demise. Until then, long live the Dark Lady!

It Seemed Appropriate At the Time ...

Well no, I'm not really a cow, but I do play two or three of them in World of Warcraft.  Taurens actually but when your four-year-old refers to it (and has been referring to it since he was two) as "the big giant cow," well the name kind of sticks.  Also, it helps that I just rolled a tauren pally and am taking him through the Forsaken zones.

I figured a Tauren pally would be leaving cow patties all over because of what he sees and does in the name of Sylvanas.  That's just how my mind works: poop jokes and outdated references to the fact that Tauren can be pallies now.

A little bit about this blog and who I am.  I'm not really a cow, but I am deaf.  More correct would be to call me hard-of-hearing since I technically have about 5%-ish normal hearing, which was corrected a few years ago thanks to the miracle of modern technology known as cochlear implants.

To say that raiding and playing a social MMO that depends a lot on VOIPs like Ventrilo has been interesting doesn't quite describe it.  While my hearing levels are now at normal for the ear with the implant, comprehension hasn't quite caught up.  Probably never will.  It's not something I dwell on unless someone asks about it.  I can hear my children calling me from the next room.  I can speak to my wife on the phone, albeit with some difficulty, and sometimes, just sometimes, I can understand someone without looking at them if it's a common phrase.  That is MILES better than what I had before, so no I don't dwell on it much anymore.

What does this have to do with MMOs you ask?  Well, I used to raid back in Vanilla and BC days, and let me tell you that raiding without the benefit of voice chat was about as much fun as shaving teeth.  Don't get me wrong.  My guildies have always been, and always will be, supportive.  I've never had a negative thing said to me about my disability.  Raiders actually went out of their way to accommodate me, explaining strats in gchat or tells for my benefit.

Nowadays, I've settled into a small guild with friends that do 5-mans for the most part when all of us are on.  But from time to time, I still try to group up with random people, and sometimes those random folks are using VOIP.  But again, even in the rare pug that uses it, no one has ever said a nasty thing or abused me for my disability.  In fact, I would say my pug experiences deviate from the norm in tone, if not competence.  Boy oh boy do they ever not deviate in terms of competence.

So, for an introductory blog post, I'd like to take a minute to just thank everyone who has shown this patience with me, from the days of 40-man wipefests to the modern day headaches of heroic pugs.  Random trade idiots and flaming forum trolls aside, it goes to show people are decent, no matter the pastime they pursue.  Hopefully you folks enjoy reading about the adventures of a deaf, holy meadow muffin-dropping, gamer.

I would also like to dedicate my blog to my ever-lovely wife and wonderful (if overly rambunctious) sons.  Mostly my wife as a thank you for putting up with this WoW habit of mine since December, 2004.  Then again, she did buy me the game so it's all her fault anyway.