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!