It’s another one of these. Here’s my rant about Sylvanas as Warchief, and why it’s such a massive issue for Horde players and the Horde’s metaplot as a whole--to the point that it all but spells certain doom for the Horde’s chances at making any real headway this expansion. There are huge (yuuuuuuuge) spoilers here, so beware!
In the Battle for Lordaeron, Sylvanas reveals that she never intended to defend the Undercity. She wants to geographically isolate the factions (she claims because it’s the only way to establish lasting peace, but nothing she has done in her reign as Warchief suggests she wants peace so much as she wants an Azeroth populated by the undead, a goal I’m sure Arthas would find admirable were he still around) and thus, planned to use the Undercity to lure the Alliance’s leadership and best and brightest champions into a trap, kill them all, and leave the Alliance crippled beyond saving. In the doing, she has her Forsaken (and some goblin mercenaries) blight the battlefield, where Horde troops yet remain locked in battle, and whomever the champions of the Horde can’t reach in time are risen as mindless skeleton slaves alongside the Alliance corpses. In doing so, Sylvanas managed to completely betray every single value and virtue the Horde holds dearest, even proudly and openly acknowledging those values mean nothing to her when Saurfang calls her out on it.
A number of Horde players have promptly called foul, citing that chemical warfare, butchering their own, and desecrating the remains of Horde warriors who fought with honor and died betrayed by their Warchief are not the Horde they signed up for. More to the point, Warchief Sylvanas exhibits all the worst aspects of Arthas and Garrosh both, with none of the redeeming values despite what her silver tongue might claim. Actions speak louder than words, and her behavior drowns out her words the way one might try to whisper next to an active jet turbine.
Yes, surprisingly, Horde players who were sold the ideals of Thrall's Horde are calling foul on the fact that, once again, the Horde is led by a psychotic tyrant who kills and raises Horde troops in a battle that was meant to be 'lost' regardless. The Horde who died at Undercity died for nothing, and their bodies were desecrated in order to keep the meat-grinder going.
Veteran Horde players are tired of being the designated villains every time Afrasiabi runs out of ideas and needs a throwaway plotline, and they've been getting stuck with that schtick constantly since WotLK when Garrosh the tactical retard kept throwing Horde lives away on the Lich King's doorstep to have a pissing match with a human king.
If anything, I genuinely hope that the only reason the Horde player-character is bringing allied races into the Horde at a time when the current Warchief flagrantly violates everything that formed the core of the new Horde's soul at every turn is so that we'll have the numbers necessary to get through the Blight and the risen bodies of our brothers and sisters before we finally nail the Lich Queen's head to the front gates of Orgrimmar as a warning to any future would-be tyrants. Otherwise, just like when the Huojin pandaren joined the Horde, it feels like the Horde is being deliberately misrepresented to potential allies--only this time, we're doing the representing.
If the story dictates it, I can live with slugging it out with the Alliance, but not at the cost of what it means to be Horde--at least, what it means to be part of the Horde we were sold in Warcraft 3, Vanilla WoW, and on the character creation screen. Not when it means giving Sylvanas a pass on the very same thing we butchered Putress and Varimathras for and not when it means that we're making the True Horde under Garrosh (when it was executing civilians outside the front gates, and forcing captives into deathmatches for entertainment by threatening their children) look honorable by comparison.
And Sylvanas gets a pass because Alex Afrasiabi vigorously pleasures himself thinking of her cold, maggot-infested skin and shapely, rigor mortis-cracked bosom and pouty, cracked lips. Once again, Alex Afrasiabi proves himself the single greatest threat to, millstone around, and impediment to World of Warcraft’s story fulfilling its potential.
Sure, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that after her suicide, she’s been a pawn (knowing or not) of the Old Gods, what with impaling herself on a saronite spike, after spending quite some time surrounded by saronite, and years spent in Tirisfal with potent void corruption suffusing the land to the west all possibly adding to her madness, but if this is the case, then it’s even more urgent that the Horde put her down like the rabid dog she’s become.
I’m with Saurfang. I refuse to promote the agenda of this madwoman, and will do everything in my (limited, because MMO mechanics and plot railroading) power to ensure Sylvanas accomplishes as little as possible to prevent as much damage to the Horde as possible.
