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New Saurfang Cinematic: "Old Soldier"
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由
perculia
发表于
2018/08/04,15:33
In the
Collector's Edition novellas
, we learned that Saurfang was deeply shaken by the events of Teldrassil. Blizzard has released a new cinematic explaining what happens next, before the Battle for Lordaeron.
Cinematic Summary
Blizzard
The fires of war rage across Azeroth, but legendary Horde warrior Varok Saurfang wants no part in the fighting. After a lifetime spent on the front lines, he has outlived most of those closest to him, even his own son. On the eve of a battle that will determine the Horde’s fate, the old soldier must choose whether to finally lay down his axe for good.
On the eve of the Battle for Lordaeron, Saurfang reflects on the death of his son and the carnage of Teldrassil, with graphic flashbacks to the burning with screams of the Night Elves. We see Saurfang protesting Sylvanas, arguing there was no honor in burning Teldrassil--a welcome addition, as players worried that Saurfang was quite passive in Warbringers: Sylvanas.
A young orphaned troll, aka Zappyboi, comes up to Saurfang, glorifying the old Orc for his actions in the Third War. Saurfang, who started reflecting on the horrors of his past at the end of
A Good War
, starts stripping off his plate armor. He throws his Horde pendant into the flames, and then in flashback we see the death of his son in Wrath of the Lich King, as Saurfang' cradles his dead body and takes his pendant. He stalks away, perhaps to abandon the Horde, but the troll keeps following Saurfang, revealing he retrieved his son's pendant.
Saurfang decides to live another day.
While on one level this shows Saurfang touchingly inspired by an idealistic member of the Horde, remembering what is good and worth fighting for, on another level it shows the disconnect between the troll eager for war as Saurfang reflects on the horrors of Teldrassil. At the end of the Collector's Edition novella, all the Horde, save for Saurfang, fired at the tree and didn't verbally question Sylvanas' orders. Zappy boi may be endearing, but was he one of the ones rushing to burn the tree?
Saurfang and His Son
At the start of this cinematic as well as
A Good War
, Saurfang thinks about his dead son, killed during the Wrathgate and later turned into a Death Knight by Arthas.
He touched a burning torch to the pyre. Orange flames began to spread, first in the kindling, then in the chopped wooden logs. Shimmers of blue and white danced among the flames as the fire grew hotter. He made himself watch the flames consume his son. It was his boy's final honor--he would not turn away. He watched skin give away to muscle, to bone, and finally, to ash.
Varok Saurfang woke up. The silence of his quarters was undisturbed but for his breathing. His cheeks were wet again, he noticed.
At the end of
A Good War
, Saurfang forces himself to also watch the tree burn, paralleling his son's funeral pyre and the respect earned by the fallen:
Saurfang made himself watch the flames consume city and citizens alike. He would not dishonor himself further by turning away.
Saurfang at Lordaeron
As Saurfang grows emotional remembering the death of his son at the Wrathgate in this cinematic, perhaps Sylvanas' taunts to him during the Battle for Lordaeron about his son cause him to snap and abandon the Horde:
Saurfang: I had to see it for myself. Was this your plan all along? Is this how you meant to achieve victory? This...honorless travesty?
Sylvanas: Honor means nothing to a corpse, Saurfang. You have the luxury of underestimating death, but it is something with which I am intimately familiar. Maybe you don't care if your people die so long as it is honorable. But to me, this Horde is worth saving. Anyone who disagrees does not deserve to stand among us. So die your warrior's death, High Overlord Saurfang. It means little to me. Perhaps I will raise your broken body to serve me once more. Or perhaps you will have a chance to say hello to your son.
Saurfang in "A Good War"
Earlier today, we wrote about Saurfang's character development in the novella "A Good War." You can read our full thoughts
here
or the relevant part about Saurfang below.
Saurfang protests the burning of the tree, and when he is ignored, he forces himself to watch Teldrassil burn in shame, reflecting on his past and the concept of honor:
The screams continued. They reminded him of Shattrath. He had loved the sound, then.
Smoke filled the air, reminding him of Stormwind, of racing through the streets as buildings burned all around him, finding cowering humans and butchering them as they begged for their lives. He had loved the slaughter, then.
And he had loved this war too, hadn’t he?
Saurfang did not move for hours, not until the screams faded and the flames had burned themselves down to embers. Before him, stood a smoking husk that had once been a great civilization. Inside him was a feeling of despair, a feeling of shame. There was no haze of corruption now to soften the horror.
Saurfang would remember this moment in his dreams forever. He would relive his shame, and all the new ones to come, over and over again.
You have led your Horde in the service of death
, Malfurion had said.
How could Saurfang face the soldiers he had led into this war? How could he explain what they had done?
He couldn’t. He would never know how.
But the burden would be his, always, until his dying day.
As Saurfang turned away, he hoped that day would come soon…
Over the course of the novella, he grows a conscience. Saurfang’s entire persona is one of old-school Horde honor, and he starts to question what that really means. Is he truly honorable if he instinctively backstabs Malfurion? If he’s truly remorseful about Teldrassil burning, why was he so happy planning earlier parts of the war? He even questions his military history, remembering atrocities he committed under the corruption. When Sylvanas' praises him for defeating Malfurion, he feels numb.
"This was your victory. None of this--not this battle, not Malfurion's defeat--would have happened without you. You have earned this honor. Take a moment, if you'd like, and then take his head. I will meet you in Darkshore."
And with that, she disappeared over a rise to the north.
Saurfang felt numb.
You have earned this honor.
This character arc fits in with the Saurfang we see at Lordaeron. While he’s by Sylvanas’ side at the start of the battle, he starts to question her orders, eventually abandoning his post, losing to the Alliance, and taken to Stormwind prison. When the Horde go to rescue him, along with the Zandalari, he stays behind, refusing to join the Horde.
High Overlord Saurfang: You think you are here to take me back to Orgrimmar. Back to the Warchief. You are mistaken.
High Overlord Saurfang: I have stopped counting the days I have sat in this cell. But it matters not in the end.
High Overlord Saurfang: After all she has done, I will never return to the Horde.
High Overlord Saurfang: Make sure you know the difference between loyalty and honor.
High Overlord Saurfang: And pray you never have to choose.
High Overlord Saurfang: We both know you are not here for me. Those you seek are down the hall.
First Arcanist: I see... If you are certain, High Overlord.
High Overlord Saurfang: I am. Lok’tar.
Disturbingly, none of the other Horde members express guilt or seem struck by his words. However, a part from
A Good War
hints that Sylvanas will be very concerned about this:
Honor was all Saurfang had left. Honor and the Horde. She did not know what he would do if either were taken from him.
He would become my enemy, a terrible one.
At the start of Battle for Azeroth, Saurfang has renounced the current Horde, and at the end of
A Good War
, he’s rethinking his concept of honor. I can’t wait to see where this story goes as Battle for Azeroth progresses.
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