Notable NPC Returns in Patch 10.2.5 - Spoilers Inside

Live Posted 2024/01/16 at 11:59 AM by Anshlun

Tyrande & Malfurion

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Comment by HaestysYsera came back like a year ago to hang out with Merithra off-screen and then pat everyone on the back, lol. This was entirely an excuse to keep Malfurion out of the Emerald Dream storyline which is insane writing tbhComment by Deathlord423I assume most of the ppl here commenting about Malfurion being weak and useless didn't play warcraft 3 lol, This is the same Malfurion that gathered Druids to defend Azeroth in the third war when Kelthuzad summoned Archimonde, This is the same Malfurion that saved the world by tricking Archimonde to fall into a trap, This is the same Malfurion that accepted an alliance with the Horde and remnants of the lordaeron to defend the world tree in the battle of mount hyjal although both factions hurted them before significantly(Grom Killed Cenarius,etc); Even in the war of the ancients he wasn't useless and weak at all, So don't judge him because of bad writing :)))), By the way in legion all heroes and leaders were struggling against burning legion so that doesn't mean he was weak there.Comment by Deathlord423Hmm is it strange, I'd rather have Ysera stay, and Malfurion not back with Tyrande?Comment by Deathlord423I think we’re overthinking this.

The expansion is called “Dragonflight.” The story is predominantly about dragons, and more specifically, how to create a narratively satisfying (YMMV) story on how the Aspects regain their powers, and how to effectively recontextualize the dragons going forward on WoW.

Ysera was brought back temporarily to provide the narrative lift to install Merithra as the new Aspect of the Dream. Now, what would have been clutch (pun intended) was if Ysera was swept into the Aspectral Empowerment as the “Aspect of the Cycle” but for some reason (likely player hostility to anything Shadowlands), Blizzard seems timid about embracing the Great Cycle (one of the only narrative beats I find has significance in WoW’s lore, and should not be ignored by the narrative team).

But Blizzard locked Ysera away, so they came up with the “hostage swap” and frankly, Malfurion does make sense (and we’ll ignore the rather tepid response from Blizzard that Malfurion and Tyrande “share a common narrative space” because that’s a very weak excuse). Malfurion, Tyrande and Ysera are dear friends, and yes I see them willing to make the sacrifice to allow Ysera a temporary stay. There has to be some consequence for Ysera’s death and her saving by the Winter Queen, and the swap gives Blizzard a thread to maybe pick up any a later point.

Malfurion basically experienced a similar cycle as the Wild Gods themselves, and I find that fairly profound. Remember, time works wonky in the Shadowlands. We do not know how long Malfurion’s time in the Shadowlands was for him. And you have the leader of the Centurion Circle, and of the Night Elf druids, getting close and personal with the counterpart of their charge: the Emerald Dream, and experiencing what his Wild God allies go through when they die. Blizzard has set things up to establish the Great Cycle as part of any druid’s repertoire -- especially given the connections to the afterlife with some druidic cultures (Trolls with Bwomsamdi, Kul’Tirans with the Drust). I see this more like setting up breadcrumbs for future stories, and advancing/expanding druidic lore.

That said, my belief is that for every story there needs to be development to get that story in game, and whatever the narrative team wants to do is bottlenecked by how development hours are allocated to story. And there wasn’t the development support to have Malfurion and Tyrande and Merithra and Ysera running about. With Dragonflight being about dragons, the easiest solution is to use Malfurion to explain why Ysera was allowed to return to “life” for a while. Was this the right call? Maybe yes, maybe no. But I understand the reasoning.

It wasn’t about getting rid of Malfurion. It was about how to get Ysera involved in a way that didn’t requires a ton of in-game focus (which would require development effort). It’s the same reason why Amirdrassil is located in the Dragon Isles - because it’s the easiest development effort: repurposing the Emerald Dream zone and not having to re-develop another zone. ESPECIALLY given that players are pretty much exhausted on Night Elf trauma p***. Blizzard just wants to wrap this up and do so quickly and cost effectively. Which means a limited cast of characters for the Emerald Dream chapter of the story, and putting the Night Elves in a zone that has nothing to do with them instead of re-developing a zone that actually has narrative resonance, These were the narrative decisions that were made to keep within what was budgeted for the narrative team’s use, which at this point is probably fairly meager, as Blizzard is likely all thrusters on developing three expansions in parallel and really just wants Dragonflight’s development to be light.

Once we look at a lot of these narrative decisions in the light of “how do we do this without invoking a ton of developer time?” it starts to make sense.Comment by HerrMorgardInstead of adding more buildings and NPCs to Bel'Ameth, they should add the same buildings and NPCs to actual Night Elf zones like Ashenvale or Darkshore (which according to ingame events were retaken and reinforced since the middle of BfA), and the World Tree already existing in Mount Hyjal (which is where a large number of Kaldorei refugees resettled according to canon book lore). Just as we saw the Forsaken starting to rebuild their lands and just as the Worgen will go and re-settle in their own home next patch rather than moving to Bradensbrook in Legion (despite not having controlled it since Cata and Gilneas having nothing to do with the Dragon Isles, the game can clearly go back to places when the story and lore warrants).
...Comment by DekkysaurusAfter Legion I have an undying hatred for Malfurion. Blizz could write him out of the story and I'd be ok with it.Comment by ValkyrstudiosWeak superheroes came back!

Malfurion says :"Oohh mighty champion! Pleaseee.. Help me!"
As always he is useless and we don't need him in lore.

Still waiting for Illidan, Sylvannas bla bla. Nathanos is better than Malfuion.Comment by FlanellLol I'm so far behind with questing that I just did the whole Ysera/Malfurion exchange story today and was mad about it because its pointless with Merithra becoming the new aspect so or so. Glad I will get Malfurion back so soon XD.Comment by SchattensangYsera came back like a year ago to hang out with Merithra off-screen and then pat everyone on the back, lol. This was entirely an excuse to keep Malfurion out of the Emerald Dream storyline which is insane writing tbhComment by SchattensangAfter Legion I have an undying hatred for Malfurion. Blizz could write him out of the story and I'd be ok with it.Comment by UnowhatIf Malfurion was there, Fyrakk wouldn't have stood a chance. It would have been bad writing if he was there because of how powerful he is. Either way, it was poor writing.Comment by OrtokoloFolks sayin Malfurion was a whiny bit in Legion and saying Ysera was a better call forgot that; Malfurion in Legion Questline was 90% Xavius, Ysera got one shot by Xavius and even Cenarius got Twisted in the nightmare (and got saved by Malfurion) xD

Ysera was the laughingstock of dragonflights so anything about her "coming back" wasn't needed at all even if the expansion was named "WoW: Ysera" :PComment by frost425If Malfurion was there, Fyrakk wouldn't have stood a chance. It would have been bad writing if he was there because of how powerful he is. Either way, it was poor writing.Comment by IllanyssI liked how the title of the article was 100% spoilers free. Great job on that.
Sad that no one commented on it. If it had been screwed up there would be some 10 comments about it.
Keep it up, Wowhead peeps (^.^)Comment by BlackDragonAJ89I mean, if my understanding of lore is correct, Malfurion is ridiculously powerful to the point of absurdity in most cases, then having him lead the assault against Fyrakk's forces would be the equivalent of Gandalf sitting Frodo onto the back of a great eagle to drop the ring off in Modor situation.

Logical, to the point, and efficient? Yes.

Any real story potential or ability to leave a meaningful impact on the audience, on top of such a situation allowing for game play opportunities in WoW's case? Not really.

Because if all we had to do was go into the Dream, watch Malfurion curb-stop things and punch Matt Mercer's dragon character in the face, well, we the players wouldn't really fell like we did anything and we are probably just wasting our time hanging out in the Emerald Dream if Malf and his friends got it all under control.Comment by bluebird91If Malfurion was there, Fyrakk wouldn't have stood a chance. It would have been bad writing if he was there because of how powerful he is. Either way, it was poor writing.Comment by tupolew519Welcome back our shan'do

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