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Sylvanas and the Burning of Teldrassil: Why Did She Do It?
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Опубликовано
01.04.2022 в 22:41
Paryah
In the lead-up to
Battle for Azeroth
the unthinkable happened and the image of Sylvanas Windrunner standing silhouetted before a tree engulfed in flames was burned onto the retinas of every World of Warcraft player. How could this happen? A Horde Warchief had destroyed an Alliance city in the worst possible way, a city crammed with people and with limited egresses. It was shocking, and to many players, devastating. Perhaps more devastating than Blizzard could have imagined to many who considered Darnassus their online home and the Night Elves their fictional family.
There has been a great deal of speculation about why Sylvanas ordered the burning of the World Tree. Was it planned or impulsive? Was it calculated, reactionary, or spiteful. Was it a personal triumph, or an action regretted? Was it just? In
Warbringers: Sylvanas
we see the events as they happen, as a third person watching it all unfold. Now, with the release of Sylvanas, the new novel by Christie Golden, we finally get an insight into the Dark Lady's thoughts and motivations.
Sylvanas' Initial Plan for Teldrassil...
Sylvanas and Saurfang had initially planned to attack Stormwind to start a war that, for Saurfang, would finally end the conflict between Horde and Alliance, and for Sylvanas, unbeknownst to him, would begin the process of sending souls to the Maw as she had promised Zovaal. Sylvanas was impatient though, and Darnassus was closer than Stormwind. Taking it hostage would most certainly achieve the same goal of starting the war, and on a timetable that suited her better.
Sylvanas knew her goals were far different from the story she wove for Saurfang, yet the strategy — shifting from a direct attack on Stormwind to taking Darnassus and holding it hostage — satisfied the orc's martial plan and her own far more complex one. —
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
But no plan survives contact with the enemy.
Lor'danel had been taken. and it was time to take the fight to the tree itself. And then Sylvanas came across Delaryn Summermoon, the dying Night Elf. Many parallels have been drawn between Delaryn and young Sylvanas, Sylvanas "showing" Delaryn what happened to her by repeating the tragedy, Sylvanas becoming Arthas as abused in turn becomes abuser. But while that is all valid, that's not what interests us here.
Sylvanas is down on two things that she feels were taken from her by force: Life and Hope.
Life is Pain. Hope fails. —
Warbringers: Sylvanas
This is the core of Sylvanas, her true belief. In the book we see the thoughts behind these words.
"Life is Pain," Sylvanas told the elf. Bleak, purposeless, useless pain, the worst kind — without meaning or sense. "Hope fails." It did. It needed to. Hope clouded the judgement, the comprehension. —
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
Sylvanas, for all of her lack of self awareness, and her tendency to wallow in pain, does believe this. As the Ranger-General she had hope. It was hope that she could stop Arthas, kill him, save her people, that led to her first death. And it was because of that direct attack that Arthas was able to kill her personally and turn her into a weapon that he would use to destroy her people. Her next line is key.
Only an uncaring heart will turn away from the trap baited with hope, for hope is the worst illusion of them all.
—
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
She is ultimately, despite all of her rage and scorn, doing this for the benefit of all life. The Maw needs souls to give Zovaal the power to break free so that together they can remake existence, life, death, and what comes after, so that every soul can exist in peace, free from unwanted influence, and together with their loved ones. She cares, so very deeply.
... And Where it All Went Wrong
But Delaryn Summermoon doesn't understand, how could she? Even knowing what Sylvanas knows, the plan rides the razor edge between sense and madness, and Delaryn has no idea about the epic scope of what she has become a part of. Sylvanas is surprised to see Delaryn's eyes well up with tears. Had she not just explained what was going on?
"Don't grieve," she said. And then she revealed a promise; a secret that the night elf would not understand, not now, but would, one day. "You'll soon be with your loved ones." —
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
Sylvanas is not above sharp wit and banter. She and Nathanos quip back and forth perpetually. But although this seems like a taunt, mean hearted and cruel, it is not. She truly means this. Faced with an afterlife that dictates perpetual separation from loved ones — as she believes to be the case — her promise to Delaryn is compassionate and heartfelt. Misguided, arrogant, and wrong, but intended genuinely. She is going to fix everything.
All lives ended, eventually. All souls must go to some afterlife, unless something untoward happened to chain them to a mortal plain. And in a way, the lives the Jailer had asked Sylvanas to deliver were ending a threat. Righting the grievous wrong the makers had done to all that existed.
Wars were always fought for ideals, after all. No one fought a war to simply kill, and neither did Sylvanas. —
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
Naturally, Delaryn doesn't see that. Who would?
You've made life your enemy. And that is a war you'll never win. You can kill us... but you cannot kill hope. —
Warbringers: Sylvanas
Delaryn nails it, finally. But she still isn't thinking big enough. Sylvanas has indeed made life her enemy. But she's also made death her enemy. And existence as we know it. "Where there is life there is hope," the adage goes, so what is the kindest thing that Sylvanas can do? Kill hope. Remove the bait from the trap of life. And so she does.
"You cannot kill hope." The voice was fading now.
But Sylvanas could. It was better, and kinder, in a way, that she did. Better that she move boldly.
Arthas's voice floated back to her, still sharp and cruel as the sword with which he took her life.
Kill the innocent first.
For the first time Sylvanas did not balk at the recollection. It did not matter where a useful thing came from, only that it was useful. Arthas had been right. But he had also failed. He was a weak vessel in the end, but Sylvanas and Zovaal would succeed where he and the Lich King had not.
And so, certain in her knowledge that the suffering was finite and the joy that awaited them was infinite, Sylvanas Windrunner ordered the World Tree set aflame, and countless numbers of souls surged forward to the Maw, the Jailer, and true freedom. —
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
Love her or hate her, agree with her or disagree with her, Sylvanas burned Teldrassil for an age old reason, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. And now, out of misguided caring, she has become what she hates most, Arthas.
In the end, as she had told Vol'jin, death would claim them all.
And it would be she and Zovaal who would remake them. —
Sylvanas, Chapter 28
You can read more of Sylvanas' story from her perspective in
Sylvanas
by Christie Golden
.
You can also check out our review:
World of Warcraft: Sylvanas Review
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