Eurogamer BlizzCon 2018 Interview - Sylvanas' Story and the Wrath Gate

Blizzard Posted 2018/11/12 at 8:55 AM by Squishei

Eurogamer

Click here to see Eurogamer's full Interview!

Highlights from the interview with Alex Afrasiabi

When Blizzard gets a player base that's divided in their support for a character, they feel like they're doing their job. If it's one sided, it's not as interesting.

The goal with Sylvanas was to have players that would still support her, despite the actions she has committed.

The Wrath Gate, the Blight and the Forsaken were all under Sylvanas' orders as well. Sylvanas' plans have escalated right now.

Here is the direct quote:

"I've heard these discussions on the internet about 'she's going off the rails', but is she? I've been writing Sylvanas personally since 2006, and this is pretty much - the Wrathgate and the Blight and the Forsaken - in character. Those were all under Sylvanas' orders. What we're seeing now is an escalation of the plans Sylvanas has, clearly, and we're in the middle of that."

Chronicle

Like most good lies, Sylvanas Windrunner's account of the rebellion in the Undercity contained some truth. Grand Apothecary Putress truly had attempted to overthrow her, and Varimathras truly was trying to claim the Forsaken in the name of the Burning Legion.

But the plague had been created at her direction. Sylvanas was willing to take vengeance against the Lich King at any cost, even by making a weapon as deadly as the plague. Whether she was aware that Putress and Varimathras were planning to use the concoction remained a mystery. Rumors persisted that she knew about the attack at the Wrath Gate beforehand, and her denials did not assuage the doubts of her detractors.

Player Choice:

The choice to side or betray Sylvanas is important as some of the player base is still excited about following her.

In Tides of Vengeance, quest lines will offer this choice to players.

Quests after the choice will follow the side you pick.

Sylvanas' Future:

"Sylvanas' destiny is to be found out and discussed by the player base, but it would be dismissive to think she'll just go down as another raid boss, because she's a little bit more than that.

"Does that mean you will not fight her?" he added. "Not necessarily true either. The reality is you can fight her every day of the week in Grommash Hold, in a raid, right now. But I do think there's a lot more to Sylvanas' story that hasn't been told yet."

Click here to see the Original Storyline.

Click here to see details on the Player Choice during the Questline.

123 4 5

Comment by MoburonUgh people, is using your brain so hard? The creation of the plague was done under Sylvanas' orders, but no, Sylvanas did not randomly decide to...
...randomly make an enemy out of both factions,
...make the rest of the Horde suspicious of the Forsaken forever,
...lose her own capital,
...etc.
To everyone who follows the lore it's obvious Sylvanas did not actually order the attack on the Wrathgate. Even if she did, she would have ordered it to only be used on the Lich King and not the Horde and Alliance, for extremely obvious reasons I just listed.

Afrasiabi is not new to tongue slips. Some may recall him calling explicitly calling Outland a titan, a "death titan" even. If you want to believe this confirms Sylvanas was behind the Wrathgate, I'm damn interested in how you rationalize Outland being a titan.Comment by Nickname404I always knew that this Angrathar story is rotten under the surface, so it isn`t new for me. I wonder why Blizzard tell us it when they don`t want some justice for Sylvanas. To make kerrigan story much more mawkish and illogical?Comment by frickedHow convenient, isn't it?
"Hey Afrasiabi, go retcon Wrath Gate so we can finally kill Sylvanas without upsetting Horde players"Comment by Saferi4It was very clear that Anduin is the light and Sylvanas the darkness. In this expansion she has been very villainous in her ways and thats the way they are writing her, while Anduin is a man/boy king that is conflicted in his decisions because of his low experience , which is costing the Alliance lives and great overall loss. The fact that some people say that she is a Garrosh 2.0 whilst arguing that "Garrosh did nothing wrong" is maddening.Comment by frickedUgh people, is using your brain so hard? The creation of the plague was done under Sylvanas' orders, but no, Sylvanas did not randomly decide to...
...randomly make an enemy out of both factions,
...make the rest of the Horde suspicious of the Forsaken forever,
...lose her own capital,
...etc.
To everyone who follows the lore it's obvious Sylvanas did not actually order the attack on the Wrathgate. Even if she did, she would have ordered it to only be used on the Lich King and not the Horde and Alliance, for extremely obvious reasons I just listed.

Afrasiabi is not new to tongue slips. Some may recall him calling explicitly calling Outland a titan, a "death titan" even. If you want to believe this confirms Sylvanas was behind the Wrathgate, I'm damn interested in how you rationalize Outland being a titan.Comment by EmeraldBlueThere is one rule Storytellers are supposed to follow;

"Show, don't tell."

All the 'greyness' of Sylvanas so far is purely 'tell'.

We get told that she won't be Garrosh², we are told there will be shades of grey (...and probably undead sex), and so far they delivered on none of it.

They just keep repeating "oh, there is more to it."

Well, so far that is all to it.

The "Telling us."Comment by Zombby"I've heard these discussions on the internet about 'she's going off the rails', but is she?.... What we're seeing now is an escalation of the plans Sylvanas has, clearly, and we're in the middle of that."

"When Blizzard gets a player base that's divided in their support for a character, they feel like they're doing their job. If it's one sided, it's not as interesting."

Man, seems they are determined to double down on this crap. I'm in a Horde guild and not one person is happy about the direction we are headed in or the things we are expected to hold our nose at. A 12 year old should have no trouble seeing how wrong it is. And they think they are going all Game of Thrones and producing compelling character dilemmas and really feel they are "doing their job" with this! They're failing hard.....Comment by JacevandeverThe Wrath Gate, the Blight and the Forsaken were all under Sylvanas' orders as well. Sylvanas' plans have escalated right now."I've heard these discussions on the internet about 'she's going off the rails', but is she? I've been writing Sylvanas personally since 2006, and this is pretty much - the Wrathgate and the Blight and the Forsaken - in character. Those were all under Sylvanas' orders. What we're seeing now is an escalation of the plans Sylvanas has, clearly, and we're in the middle of that."Comment by zombiemallWhat kind of twist would it be to discover that there are some Alliance supporters of Sylvanas?Comment by Esker006Might've been a slip of the tongue. Might've been just in reference to the (still reprehensible) decision to develop the plague in the first place.

But to be honest plenty of people have always suspected that she was, at the very least, aware of the plot and did nothing about it. The Forsaken are a fanatical cult devoted to her service, and it has always struck an odd chord that such an elaborate plot involving so many could develop RIGHT UNDER HER NOSE, in "her" city, without her knowledge. It wouldn't even be that much of a retcon to say that she was always aware, frankly, because the original story seemed even more silly (and hard to swallow) under the circumstances.

What kind of twist would it be to discover that there are some Alliance supporters of Sylvanas?Comment by ZombbyUgh people, is using your brain so hard? The creation of the plague was done under Sylvanas' orders, but no, Sylvanas did not randomly decide to...
...randomly make an enemy out of both factions,
...make the rest of the Horde suspicious of the Forsaken forever,
...lose her own capital,
...etc.
To everyone who follows the lore it's obvious Sylvanas did not actually order the attack on the Wrathgate. Even if she did, she would have ordered it to only be used on the Lich King and not the Horde and Alliance, for extremely obvious reasons I just listed.

Afrasiabi is not new to tongue slips. Some may recall him calling explicitly calling Outland a titan, a "death titan" even. If you want to believe this confirms Sylvanas was behind the Wrathgate, I'm damn interested in how you rationalize Outland being a titan.Comment by rhostamWow. Contrary to all of the feigned surprise, this seems completely in character and in line with what we've seen (or at least read) about Sylvanas. As for the Wrathgate controversy, there is none. She ordered the plague as many, many people, including the writers have said. Whether she knew of a conspiracy against her... that is another thing. Based on recent writing and they way she treated the Desolate Council, I would be surprised if she *did not* know and wanted to let things play out in order to expose the plot against her. Just look at the battle for Lordaeron. She used the plague against the mild objection of Saurfang. She sacrificed Horde just to make retreat possible. Horde friends, open your eyes. Sylvanas may be a complicated character, but ultimately the only way she is going to achieve her goals is to do evil stuff. How else does one grow and extend the forsaken "race?" Finally, given all of that, I still firmly believe she is also under the influence. The Old Gods wouldn't surprise me, but I am eager to find out. Sorry world, "nuance" isn't all its hyped up to be. Sometimes asholes and evil people are exactly as they appear - it takes just a glimpse of modern politics to see that.Comment by PhilosophercatChronicles makes it clear her actual role was deliberately made ambiguous. To those saying "lore" has always said she was 100% not behind it, I present this, from the short story 'Glory' re: the Wrathgate. It's told from the pov of an Orc warrior:

We cheered, and the wind shifted, bringing with it the stench of decay. As if the Forsaken here weren't bad enough. I'd never understand why they'd been allowed to join the Horde. They might hate the Scourge, but they were still undead. Worse, they were traitors: they'd served the Alliance in life. If the Forsaken could change allegiance once, they could do it again.

Catapults rolled into position on either side of him. "Behold now the terrible vengeance of the Forsaken! Death to the Scourge! And death to the living!"

They had betrayed us. Curse them and their monstrous queen.

After the Third War, we could have defeated the humans once and for all. Instead, Thrall spoke of mercy. As if the humans had ever shown us mercy. I was born in their internment camps; they were pits of filth and despair. We were meant to die there. What would the warchief know of our suffering, the famous gladiator, the human pet? Nothing. He talked us into this. Allying with humans time and again. Bowing to their demands. Starving to death in nearly barren lands, surrounded by plenty. It was the internment camps all over again. Humans were too cowardly to exterminate us outright, but they intended to wipe us out all the same.

With this deadly mist, it seemed they might finally succeed. My eyes burned, and my throat was closing up. Suddenly my legs failed me, and I found myself on my knees. This was no heroic end, no glorious destiny. I'd known all along that humans, alive or undead, couldn't be trusted. I didn't deserve this.

I could taste my own blood. Then there was only darkness and the sound of my heart as it beat its last.

Where are all your words now, Warchief?Comment by LireesHaha, I told you all she is not gonna die this xpac. Eat this pill , losersComment by Zombby The Forsaken are a fanatical cult devoted to her serviceComment by OrferVan"When Blizzard gets a player base that's divided in their support for a character, they feel like they're doing their job. If it's one sided, it's not as interesting.
The goal with Sylvanas was to have players that would still support her, despite the actions she has committed."

Those two points are contradictory and idiotic, because by the end of her storyline NOBODY will be happy, it will just be a race of who is less unhappy by what happensComment by EruanneThat she did wrathgate was established in the Chronicles Book, wasn't it?Comment by omedon666

Also if part of the Horde will follow her and the other part won't, how are they going to make it so both sides are happy in the end?Comment by GhoulsSo basically they plan to pull a bull#$%^ twist at the last minute and begin patting themselves on the back for being so clever not realizing that there is a huge difference between being subversive and being misleading.Comment by johnnybgood89No way that they planed this since WOTLK.

Now they just come up with a random story for a wrathgate

123 4 5