HER PLAN | What Sylvanas Was REALLY Doing In BFA, Her 9.0 Future & Big SHOWDOWN

[@BellularGaming]

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[@bikeomatic8005]

Had it before with sennheiser headphones and will never buy it again the double wire is just sooo bulky, uncomfortable, annoying that it just kills its idea for me. Went for sennheiser gaming headphones and not looking back.

[@epiccthulu]

There is a hole in your theory. Sylvanas's plan can't be for us to get killed by Azshara, letting the Naga Queen kill N'zoth without her present. In order for Sylvanas to get N'zoth's soul, her only plan can be for us to defeat him on her behalf. That could mean it was her plan to unite everyone, against her, then against N'zoth.

[@random401]

stop being gay and put that your being sponsored on your video. Stacking youtube ads and then your shit is horrible.

[@DisappointedBuddha]

I gotta admit, it makes sense about her emotional/identity instability. She has always commentated about how she was an elf, but she was transformed into a "monstrosity" by Arthas. The Nathrezim mention that her heart is "still too elven" to side with them. Hell, she still displays her racism when selecting allied races (the HM Tauren and M Orcs being canon fodder, the Zandalari only useful for their Navy, but the Nightborne she is enthusiastic about). Her hatred for Saurfang stems from both an internalised racism that Orcs are inferior, but also an experienced and cultivated respect and admiration for his skills and strategy. So during his betrayal, on the surface she expressed it as racial disdain (Orcs are primitive beasts gloating about honour) when she said the words "I trusted you" with the animus she had, that was when she expressed her true feelings of betrayal. The betrayal not from an Orc, but from a leader and warrior she respected greatly. Also, it does make sense that she wanted to continue the rebellion going to root out all possible internal obstacles to her continuing the war. The actual issue was that Lor'themar was wrong, she had the majority of the people but it was a much more slim majority than he realised. The trust the public had for her was tentative at best, that's why when she noticed the forsaken question her statement "the horde is nothing" she knew she had even lost her own people. Remember, the forsaken faction began seeing the Horde as a means to their ends. If that same belief and conviction remained, they would still remain loyal to Sylvanas. But they didn't. Sylvanas rejecting the Horde allowed the Forsaken to cross the threshold that others did during the reunion event, and the Forsaken (as a majority) rejected Sylvanas. And if she lost her people then she lost the everything. Last point. Remember she left those in Nazjatar to be killed by Azshara OR the alliance. What she didn't anticipate was that the alliance and horde would work together to defeat Azshara. It wasn't just your raid overcoming Zaqual and Azshara, Thalyssra and Jaina played key roles in keeping you peeps alive.

[@DisappointedBuddha]

Also, people aren't computers (and even then computer logic is only the expression of the values coded into an algorithm by a human), and "logic" only makes sense depending on the individual in a set environment at a set time and during a set of circumstances. Sitting in an airconditioned room knowing the internal monologues of one character to infer their responses is different from being in like a wooden shack in Orgrimmar whilst a war is being conducted. Instead, you should use the term "rational" more. Because rational is able to cover both ideological perspective (and personality) in a situation under pressure, whereas logic is more a philosophical argument structure. It's rational for Sylvanas to act this way based on the situation, her ideological perspective, and her character. Whereas "logically" she should just use her new shadow powers and kill everyone in Orgrimmar considering she has that power... You see what I mean?

[@Paveway-chan]

Bellular: Let's solve Sylvanas Blizzard a day later when the trailer drops: lol

[@biglittleyeti8870]

How can you not laugh when you go into advertisement? I would not be able to keep a straight face if I was doing that lol.

[@biglittleyeti8870]

Scarloss Yeah I suppose but still it’s funny as hell.

[@jasantana]

Quite smooth...

[@BEPrimAnim]

Because you get paid for it.

[@mythsabout]

1 take, but sellout.

[@violet4239]

I can NOT help but crack up every time he pulls it. I’d need to do like 10 separate takes in order to get it right.

[@Emyroth]

I find it appalling how the elves in WoW, after tens of thousands of years of life experience and knowledge accumulated, are so frequently impulsive and borderline stupid. Tyrande has more than once been declared as a wise and competent leader only to burst into thoughtless actions, and the same happens with Malfurion and Sylvanas. I would expect them to make mistakes fueled by pride, envy, overconfidence, lack of confidence and even inexperience in a certain field of expertize, but not for impulsiveness.

[@frostycane5134]

Emyr Ferrario de Lima ikr everyone’s acting like crazy brats. But everyone keeps saying it’s in character so I guess it’s not flanderism?

[@stewgems4256]

Exactly. I would love to see Tolkiens' elves in this. They were truly wise and patient.

[@Walfswde]

Smooth transition, mate.

[@popopopoqwerty]

That ICC fall animation makes me crack every time.

[@l.christoffersen7502]

What time stamp is it at?

[@serbisthehero1987l]

@@l.christoffersen7502 13:35

[@petterituovinem8412]

why is she so flat xDDD

[@vox_borealis]

Thank you for everything you're doing, Bellular. These videos have really improved in quality over the years and they've really become a highlight of my days!

[@nastalgiclectue]

"Massive upgrade over whatever mic you're currently using." The mic sounds like a gramophone.

[@ChilliDogDave]

this. i was actually looking these up but thanks for demonstrating they are kinda sucky, saved me some cash.

[@xMistxArchangle]

Sylvanas being a cunning mastermind who can orchestrate all these different events to prolong the war and try to rack up a body count, WHILE ALSO being so emotionally vulnerable that she constantly makes mistakes is blizzard trying to have their cake and eat it too. Brilliant taticians can get overwhelmed, but the good ones are able to take a step back, control their emotions and try to reevaluate situations but Sylvanas just has a plan, follows through, and then mysteriously throws a hissy fit once things start to go any way other than the way she wants them too. We've known her for how long since WC3 where she was always a cunning plotter, but now all of a sudden she has detrimental emotion? It's a good video Bellular, and I know you're making the videos to rationalize Sylvanas because as a community we HAVE to since blizzard wrote it in, but it's still a tragedy this is the direction the writing took us.

[@BearPawSwipe]

agreed

[@Solomon7589]

I would much rather they focus on anyone else in the game. I'm so sick of her "e hehehe! I'm such a genius" schtick, it's boring and she's basically devolved from a character to a sack of tropes with her in game presentation. Any other character is more interesting to me at this point. Also, video games run on the same basic concept movies do. If you don't put it on the actual screen then it basically didn't happen. They can put all this story in other forms of media all they want, but if it's not in the game and presented as part of it, then it might as well never have happened for your average player. Just look at Destiny 1, there was a larger more interesting story and more world building, but it wasn't in the game itself so it was missed by the majority of players.

[@rcslyman8929]

That's exactly it. People take these books like they're part of the story. Unless they're put out by the actual writing team, or Blizzard comes out and directly says "Yeah, this happened", they're fanfic with the IP endorsement. Nothing more. Just look at what happened to the Star Wars EU...

[@MrVlad12340]

Same. She turned from actual character to "all according to plan" or even "according to keikaku" which is more contrived version of a meme. Basically she is both annoying and boring and only stays "afloat" due to an army of rabid fans who threaten writers with outrage and (i am not even making this up) suicide threats.

[@FancyTophatDude]

I don't fully agree. You can still tell stories you never tell in game in other media, but imo the game should still stand on its own. This is especially relevant for games like this where you're building a world rather than a singlr character story. You can tell extra stories that explore characters further, you can tell completely different stories, but the game should still feel like a coherent package by itself and i guess that's where a lot of problems emerge in wow's case. Tough i feel a lot of them are scheduling problems and problems of the format itself. They can write fulfilling character arcs and super cool lore concepts, but we rarely get interesting consequences and changes that truly last. Also payoffs are often way too rushed since stories have to conclude in a single patch.

[@dinoblast99]

@@rcslyman8929 What are you talking about? Most of the WoW books are written by Christie Golden, who is an official Blizzard employe/writer. Her books ARE treated as canon. If I remenber correctly, Calia's death and ressurection as a light undead are book only, for example.

[@rcslyman8929]

@@dinoblast99 Well, then, that would be "put out by the actual writing team", wouldn't it? I wasn't aware of that fact.

[@JermaineMorgan]

That ad transition decent very decent

[@PapiSalad]

It got me again...

[@davideaster6512]

The comedic zoom on the sponsor drop though.. Love it as always Michael, as I look forward to your videos on the daily!

[@GingerLampacher]

Sadly, no amount of context will change BfA and Sylvanas' arch from being a shameful re-tread of the Garrosh storyline. The character and the forsaken deserved better. And that's not even mentioning the Night Elves.

[@Orgrimmar21]

She will have a Kerrigan story arc. In the end she is gonna save everyone, maybe sacrificing herself and finding redemption. She is too beloved to be thrown into the kill-the-bad-guy theme.

[@blaabaaful]

@@Orgrimmar21 sad thing is that there shouldn't even be a need for redemption, they fcked her so hard over that it is truly saddening to see. They made an actually awesome character to rubbish and making her an Garroah 2.0 and then call her morally Grey my asss

[@frostycane5134]

blaabaaful at least garrosh cared for the horde.........

[@blaabaaful]

@@frostycane5134 well he didn't really cared for the HORDE but more like for the ORCS and the rest was just kinda accepted by him. It's true that Sylvanas never really cared for the Horde, she never did even while alive but when she took over she made sure that the horde stays still strong and was the same for the Forsaken, I dunno what Blizz tried to make her in BFA but sure as hell went wrong.

[@us89na]

Syl has been nuts / evil for her whole story. There's more than a few forsaken you meet while leveling 1-110 who have left the forsaken and when you talk with them they all say "I can't stand behind that evil Sylvanas". They've been in game since Classic, but Syl fans ignore them.

[@Granhier]

Bellular title recipe: HER PLAN/THE TRUTH REVEALED/THE TRUE in all caps, plus whatever gibberish as secondary text God the clickbait is strong with this channel

[@wanderingtallguy6849]

He need clicks to make money....

[@kaleria608]

He straight up admitted his titles and picture choice are designed that way as they get more clicks and views then non clickbait titles and pictures. Not saying he's right about it, but at least he admits it.

[@Granhier]

@@wanderingtallguy6849 Problem is, the actual content hardly ever matches the title, or is elaborated on so little that it's barely part of the actual video If this is what you can expect then might aswell skip watching it altogether, cause it's a waste of time

[@Frexter]

@@kaleria608 Fun thing is, these kinds of titles make me NOT want to watch the video. But I guess I'm in the minority.

[@lolosh99]

Daddy needs a new pair of shoes

[@Kingtot]

Got my noodles ready and then this pops up. Perfection.

[@Raffalius]

A fellow student in financial trouble? :)

[@mst4705]

My noodle's always ready.

[@XalTheMagkas]

I wish I had some noodles too. I'm noodless :/

[@candiceperez8364]

same, but popcorn in my case lol

[@StarboyXL9]

You poor fool. You should have gone straight into the workforce. Then you could be enjoying chicken fingers, homemade pizza, and literal cake and ice cream in the comfort of your own bachelor apartment like me, while being well on your way to getting an apprenticeship in a union and a $90 grand salary in 5-10 years.

[@ArantyrDarkhand]

Once you read the novels you see Sylvannas today its just a scared girl, fearfull of her torment after death. Shes desperate to not die or somehow dont go to the void after die. She was never smart and have aways been emotional and impulsice,since the begning at WC3

[@MrVlad12340]

Yep. And they just trying to Mary Sue her with her "masterful plans" when she was always arrogant and selfish and just had some understanding of combat.

[@TheHeartlessFour]

I’m staring to believe Sylvanas overestimated her minions abilities to stop Baine’s jailbreak.

[@nm9506]

I'm still waiting for Tyrande to come to take a revenge on Sylvanas for Teldrassil. Blizzard hyped us with the battle for Darkshore and now Tyrande and Malfurion are no where to be found. Like cmon... Time will tell what will happen but I hope it involves a big part of Tyrande getting revenge on Sylvanas.

[@MrVlad12340]

@@szymonkalinski3014 your comment would have had more credibility to it if 1) You actually had working brain within your cranium. 2) Tried to be less obviously trollish.

[@ninaloveray]

Szymon Kaliński I have to say I agree with you. I do want Tyrande to die, she’s been a weak leader to the night elves and that goes the same for Malfurion. As much as evil Azshara is she was a good leader and thanks to her the kaldorei and quel’dorei prospered

[@maxmcintyre5068]

I want Sylvanas to kill tyrande and malfurion

[@konstantinoskinnas789]

@@ninaloveray by good leader you mean a leader that pretty much had the whole of azeroth under her thrall and then because of her narsisistic mindset she pretty much blew it? She was born on the throne the only thing she did was wreck azeroth and her people like never before. But if we forget about these things sure she is a good leader...

[@MrVlad12340]

@Konstantinos Kinnas plus she was so popular due to widespread use of low-key mind control thanks to her unlimited mana provided by the Well. Tyrande dont have such crutches so of course she faces much more struggle.

[@Ash-qd2ke]

You should keep in mind that upon giving the blade to Sylvanas, her eyes darkened (no, its not a trick of the lights). Implying that perhaps she was aware of the darker powers manipulating the blade, perhaps she knew Azshara would never be able to defeat us and she intends to play along, effectively killing 2 birds with 1 stone. I mean, Azshara did call her a “Treacherous Banshee” and implied she knew of Sylvanas’s greater plan. (10:14) Also, I would like to point out that Sylvanas was infact annoyed that the rebellion caught on QUICKLY that she would’ve liked, she just couldn’t end it yet. Maybe she was stalling but it was clear she had plans, what those plans are, who knows; she’s crazy she could’ve done anything in that massive time gap that we don’t see her, such as acquiring new powers.

[@Ash-qd2ke]

I also just realized how much she hated being Warchief and that her statements in the Windrunner Reunion comic were all lies (no surprise there). She always did excel when the spotlight wasn’t on her, she is cunning, manipulative and smart when she was in the shadows, silently ruling Undercity and simply complying to the Horde’s whims. Then there’s her Val’kyrs, who most are now “dead”, but are they really gone? Annhylde the Caller was pretty powerful, resurrecting Sylvanas and creating an unbreakable pact, what if they’re still around and reported back to their mistress from the other side.

[@Dev_Six]

Saurfang admitted his failure, which was great character development.

[@Sol-mr1lv]

And it was great to see someone admit that the Horde has a very tainted history, que Path of Glory. That doesn't mean it's all bad, under Thrall and Vol'jin the Horde was very good. But the legacy is still there.

[@Dev_Six]

@@Sol-mr1lv I think he represented that legacy, or what remained of it, but now the darkness has passed.

[@Sol-mr1lv]

What I also really liked about that scene was that Saurfang used all the arguments the Alliance would use to point out the Horde has a tainted past, while Anduin then replied with how the Horde would argue that the Alliance has a similarly tainted history.

[@MrVlad12340]

@@rocket_hops Arthas cant be pinned on Alliance because when he took Frostmourne he was basically under command of Ner'Zhul who is an orc. And he was an enemy of Alliance and Horde and Life basically.

[@CazaliEiben]

@@Sol-mr1lv Yet the Alliance has an equally bad legacy. And its High King still serves the greatest evil, the Light.

[@ryanparth]

When she yells "Horde is nothing" in the cinematic, I quickly remembered the short comic "Three sisters" in which they play the game of 2 truths and 1 lie. In the comic she says 1. “There are times I wish I were still alive.” 2. “I am proud to be the Warchief of the Horde” and 3. “I will never betray you, my sisters.” . So this would mean that she did wish that she was alive and also that she would never betray her sisters which makes me wonder how blizz intends to deal with this.

[@charlylmaoo5953]

Sylvanas planned to kill Vereesa and raise her to lead the Forsaken alongside her, didn't she?

[@ryanparth]

Lyoko yes she did. But she didn’t just want to kill them both. She also wanted to raise them in undeath so they can be a family again. She wanted the same thing during garrosh trail after MOP and she was angry and felt betrayed when varessa decided against it. I think she really meant is when she said to at she will never betray her sisters. She wants them to live together with them in undeath. Atleast that’s how it seems after reading the comic and watching the cinematic.

[@MrVlad12340]

Parth Shah undeath is worst harm you can do to someone. Yes they will last longer but when they die they will go to some kind of ultimate hell forever.

[@aarononeil9832]

This man may be one of the funniest and most creative with his sponsor transitions. Seriously, he doesn't break his stride at all at this point.

[@ChichiNaka]

They need to make a Warcraft 4 rts every 4-5 years to catch up on a few lore figures. Kael Thas, Arthas Illidan and jaina were all made up in wc3 how do they not see the benefit of using it as a story progresser compared to one book that has nothing to do with the game every expansion

[@scarloss474]

It's tradition. It started for Warcraft 3.

[@baamnight6878]

Would definitely pay for a Warcraft 4 with new scenarios. Maybe joke units as "unnamed heroes" for the players

[@kohno9647]

“ Nothing like a heated Gamer Moment to end your reign “

[@xxtraregular7903]

great transition into the ad, you are a credit to the industry

[@violetbliss4399]

The people being behind Sylvanas makes about as much sense as the Anduin "alliance being a monarchy suddenly" situation, from what you see ingame and even in most of the external writing. The way she is is just not going to be inspiring to the common folk. By the way, I think Saurfang just knew that even if she would instantly end him, it would do more harm than good for her. He basically couldn't lose anything but his life in that circumstance, which was the one thing he always held on to while everything else was lost. I think that part of the story is quite nice. He set out to weaken her for the battle, but in abandoning his personal honour concept he used it to even greater effect because she thought he was predictable. My favourite moments in that cinematic are the facial expressions of him and Sylvanas, and it's awesome when you see his crooked smirk when he knows he's got her.

[@Ower8x]

But Anduins Alliance is not a monarchy ... if t was he could just order Tyrande ... but he cant ... that its true that you would not have Anduin be the High King of the Alliance after his father ... but with Stormwind being the most powerful force in the Alliance it is also not surprising that he would be given especially since he is someone who most would consider as someone they can work with...

[@MrVlad12340]

@@Ower8x technically since SW now "super drained on power" Irongofrge supposed to be most powerful, because they havent being hit in any war recently and united with DarkIronforge and Wildhammer Clan.

[@Ower8x]

@@MrVlad12340 That is debatable ... while SW took the brunt of the losses, its not like the other members did not suffer, and since their numbers are much lover than SW its more than likely that they are also drained ... for Example since the Alliance as a whole was at war if IF had an untouched army Anduin would not say to Tirande before Darkshore that he can not send anyone .... its more then likely that as we saw the Dwarfs significantly involved in the battle at Lorderon they continued this tred through out the war so they must have suffered quite some losses as well.

[@MrAries-zs8fn]

You’re definitely the best at segwaying into a sell out and I love it AHA

[@theodorsik]

Best? I realy can't Stand it XD

[@TheHeartlessFour]

Do you know what selling out means?

[@frostycane5134]

TheHeartlessFour he is selling out. He’s shilling for a product. Trust me he doesn’t use the mike he’s advertising. Nothing wrong with making money though

[@redstripedsocks5245]

@@frostycane5134 He may be a sell out but I still watch him because i enjoy his content.

[@frostycane5134]

Red Striped Socks yeah and that’s totally fine

[@antonfagerstrom9400]

I don’t even play retail wow anymore, but I still love your content because I love the lore!

[@sockmonkey3393]

Exactly same here.

[@rock28408]

My favorite part of the day is listening to Michael’s voice slowly get more and more hype as he gets more and more into the video topic.

[@peiyuanlai70]

We will know her plans two days later gentlemen，no rush

[@TheToneBender]

Winnie the Pooh is Blizzard's most controversial character

[@aggieking87]

24 hrs until blizzcon!! Super hyped

[@DagothDaddy]

Bellular and my morning coffee go great together

[@FratinandMadrik]

13:20 Isn't it called "Shalamayne"? Not "Shamalyn"?

[@Everflamen]

shamalamadingdong

[@luckyhands4995]

@@Everflamen lol beat me to it XD

[@Ezudane]

That sponsored headset doesn't sound too good. Like it's muffled?

[@mst4705]

Yeah it definitely sounds worse than mic he usually uses but I'm sure the one he uses for recording is ludicrously expensive,

[@diegogordiano9818]

Have you noticed that Sylvanas flew away moving her hands exactly like Xal'atath does when she opened the portal in Crucible of Storms?

[@BenderWaffles]

That was by far the best sponsor spot transition ever. Well done.

[@mk81ting2]

Bell every single one of your videos is better than the last. All the best to you and your crew and thanks to all.

[@Sol-mr1lv]

I hate making a nazi-analogy, but in ww2 when the germans realized that they were losing, they went full on, no retreat, fight to the last man, and desperately ramped up the holocaust. Sylvanas really did ramp up likewise when she saw she could lose the war.

[@Kunori]

I admired that ad transition so much, I actually sat through the ad.

[@maxmcintyre5068]

I’ve never been this excited for blizzcon can’t wait for tomorrow! Awesome video

[@ChichiNaka]

This whole video is the most complicated way to get to something resembling lore that makes sense, when are we shown most of this? Where is this in game?

[@CazaliEiben]

Don't we all read books?

[@ChichiNaka]

@@CazaliEiben I'm 99% sure I've never seen a WoW book promoted on the launcher let alone anywhere else, I doubt most of the playerbase know they exist

[@CazaliEiben]

@@ChichiNaka It was a derivate of the 2018 Blizzcon phone meme. It wasn't meant to be taken serious. I'm as disappointed as everyone else that Blizzard doesn't put all lore into the game.

[@frostycane5134]

Chiyori Nakanishi it’s like when a movie heavily relies on a book for it to make sense.

[@rwaffen]

where are the other two videos? cannot find them in all this stuff here. and why is it not numbered in the title? :(

[@ZeroToNowhere]

I totally understood her "the Horde is nothing" outburst to be a moment of emotional weakness and I STILL had her back. I didn't lose faith until she was all like "Oh, yeah, I'm doing death now. Death to all things is my thing now." It felt stupid and edgy. Where does she even get her idea to serve death anyway? Did they ever explain?

[@MrVlad12340]

Because when she dies she goes to some kind of Superhell and her ONLY ambition now is to avoid that by becoming immortal and un-killable which is why she works for Death.

[@ZeroToNowhere]

@@MrVlad12340 That's incredibly silly.

[@MrVlad12340]

Archetypal Other but thats how it is. She just has a goal “never to die” because her afterlife is pure ocean of endless torment.

[@ZeroToNowhere]

@@MrVlad12340 I totally get that. I actually like her motivation. However, serving death to avoid dying doesn't make any sense. Do we have her talking to something at some point that set a deal of some sort? Is she getting immortality through a deal with Hela? If so, why haven't we heard anything specific about any of it? Why don't her actions early in the war reflect such a goal?

[@pouriaabadsafian]

I’m not even mad at the ads, if anyone deserves all the moneys it’s you and your awesome team!

[@dscruiter]

hahaha, u got me again with the smooth transition into your sponsor :)

[@adamal-husseiny9800]

She was just living her truth and finding herself. You go gurl!

[@xMACHOxMANx]

Lol I like on the ad he says this mic will be an upgrade from the mic I have now. Well ..actually it wouldn’t be.

[@stray6770]

whoa damn you showed him xMACHOxMANx

[@xMACHOxMANx]

Daijin thanks son

[@Kiraleen22]

Sylvanas has always underestimated her opponents and overestimating herself. As for her emotional stability...Saurfang knew he had her when she accepted after he said "You want to see me suffer." Sylvanas loses because of her flaws.

[@picklechin3061]

Sylvanas is just Azulah when she becomes mad

[@Tsuna_SoulSilver]

That add transition was so smooth it was almost criminal.

[@SidheKnight]

I see what you did there..

[@nexorabolis]

Your advert transitions are gold haha

[@nickwilson589]

Bro that sponsor transition was more slick than a banana peel on ice.

[@marciusnhasty]

Your mastery of "plug the sponsors" has leveled up! Best so far probably.

[@Yaroshi86]

Wow. That Segway was just brilliant.

[@justinkroboth360]

Wow, that segue into ad-mode. Flawless.

[@TheLantoniou]

I'll buy her fatal flaw being becoming impulsive at moment of extreme emotion, even though that goes against the previous game-lore depiction of her as a calculating, long-game strategist with endless contingency plans and plots in motion at once. It feels like it can fit with the existential fear of damnation she got post-Icecrown. But there's impulsive and there's stupid, or to be kinder, short-sighted. WHY would she turn her back on a wounded Malfurian and a dithering Saurfang? She lost the chance to kill Arthas because she wanted to stop and gloat. She wanted Malfurian dead - if Saurfang was going on about honor, she should have walked over and grabbed his axe herself. And WHY let Saurfang go, again and again? She has the best hunter-trackers in the world, and they only found him once? (AND she underestimated his battle prowess as well?) Speaking of THAT, why on earth would she send the two most ineffectual rogues on any planet after one of the world's most powerful shaman, and presumably putting him in a place where he might think he has to defend his children and mate just to make sure he will be using his full power to counter attack? TWO rogues. Against THRALL. So bad, they allowed a well-known orc to *follow them* as they moved in broad daylight to attack two powerful targets at once. Everyone playing a rogue probably looked at that cinematic and thought, "CC, n00bs! Lern2play!" Sylvanas would have, MUST have known she would need a much more powerful task force to take Thrall down. Why did it seem to Horde players that she deliberately allowed Baine to be *rescued?* Yes, she should have executed him at once, but sure, no cartoon villain ever reads the Evil Overlord guide. But fine, she knows there are teams coming in to rescue him and once again, outsources the job to some rather incompetent people with a grudge instead of, I dunno, blighting the entire room again, because there are just so many times Jaina can mass-teleport people per expansion. And then finally, blowing the Mak'gora by allowing Saurfang to trigger her instead of cutting back her mustache twirling to just execute him while he was down, and saying, "I won. That means I'm still Warchief and I'm in the right. Horde, you have three minutes to join us behind the walls, or stay out here and die as traitors." I will grudgingly accept the poor-impulse-control-because-you-pissed-me-off. It's a cliche'd weakness, but fine. But seeing the former Ranger General, who united the Forsaken and wrestled with demons and demigods and distrust and betrayal for ages make plans like the ones I listed was really bad writing. Hiding her motivations and information is a poor substitute for narrative, especially when so many people start looking like conspiracy theorists with their "she's playing x-dimensional chess!" and coming up with entertaining but unlikely reasons for whatever she's doing. Some Horde players actually felt shitty in this war campaign - I know I still do as I am playing catch-up with some alts and run across quests I just don't wanna do again. I hope whatever they do in Shadowlands at least gives her a better destiny than either being killed by the NEWER Lich King, or just becoming a Lich Queen. Even though I'd roll a Dark Ranger in a hot minute.

[@royavalentine6719]

I just wanna say I like your new video editor Bellular

Villains that are trying to see "the bigger picture" but can't for the love of any Titan just tell ANYONE about it to me are just plot devices. Not characters.

[@rd9102]

Great video and great series. Would be nice to see you give all of the leaders this type of a series, of course you probably couldn't do much for the Alliance Leaderships since they don't really do much but move the Horde story forward but still you could do the Horde leaders well.

[@StarboyXL9]

That SEAMLESS advert transition. My god I think every marketer in the audience must be standing for that one.

[@Soprie]

Honestly, when he does these ad inserts, I cringe so hard I need to pause the video, and sometimes I turn it off entirely. It's not good. I hope no marketer is jerking off to it. Its embarrassing and cringe.

[@randalftheblack2572]

That advert transition made me chuckle..

[@Freddusya]

there are at least 10 videos from bellular about what sylvannas is REALLY doing

[@Dularr]

So Sylvanas became Warchief because of .... Elune decided to pacify Saurfang because of ... Elune decided to not save the world tree because of ... Elune decided to remove the pain from the burning Night Elves because of... Undead Night Elves decided to join Sylvanas because of ... Saurfang went the dishonorable path when he failed to defend the Warchief. Saurfang failed to kill Anduin when he had the chance. Sylvanas knew about all the traitors but decided to do nothing? Sylvanas for reasons didn't execute Baine? and so on, and so on.

[@andrewlyon4495]

Biggest question in WoW now is why N'zoth seems to be the only character to appreciate how much danger the 'adventurers" pose (and even he may be losing that ability next patch).

[@HavocHounds1988]

I think Sylvanas knew that Saurfang wouldn't die to the troops she sent to kill him. She knew it would push him further toward a rebellion when he seen how much far she would go to eliminate him. She wants as much death as possible to feed the Hundering Darkness. Ending Saurfang early would have made that a little harder to accomplish because she wouldn't have his rebellion to fuel tensions as much.

[@Tigerblade11238]

That sponsor segue was so smooth, I clicked on the site and may make a purchase.

[@iRoppa]

Segue! Smooth, man. Real smooth!

[@OpticalArxenal]

No amount of sympathetic/redeeming writing will ever make me like Sylvanas again. Her arc has been a dumpsterfire for a long time now, and that she 'has the people' is a load of bollocks. Just want this chapter to be over with. I am glad that you're still a rather positive reporter on things. Keep that up.

[@frostycane5134]

OpticalArxenal it’s kinda predictable which is why I disliked it

[@OpticalArxenal]

@@frostycane5134 Predictable, yes, but so *so* very badly done.

[@Scruffed]

She legitimately 'had' the people up until the moment she said the Horde is nothing.

[@Alexander-gq4lz]

Of course this was gonna get released the day before Blizzcon haha, nice timing!

[@Dev_Six]

Jaina could destroy Orgrimmar alone, but it would go against her morals.

[@sadeghover3932]

:DDDD :))))))))))))

[@MrVlad12340]

@John Arch not really. I dont think Alliance would have problems with that.

[@hquest]

Sylvanas the Banshee Queen was always pissed with the Lich King and seeking revenge of him. Likely she made a pact with Death to gain back her life by feeding him souls and break the spell she’s under for so long.

[@scarhead4376]

Sponsors must love you because you do them right.

[@modernkennnern]

Less than 24 hours left until announcement now

[@frostycane5134]

Kenny let’s see if we’re all right

[@TheToneBender]

I will never get over those segue's... You think you're just watching a nice warcraft video and suddenly you're listening to an ad.

[@frostycane5134]

Ricky like a jump scare

[@PercNP]

That was one hell of a segue to the advertisement.

[@dornfist3913]

Great vid @Bellular! BFA has made me struggle in what to make of Sylvanas. Thank goodness for "A Good War" though. It makes 10 times more sense because I so do not want Sylvanas to turn out to be just a crazed out baddy. That trick has already been pulled on Daenerys... I love Sylvanas' character and I hope Shadowlands giver her arc a good pay-off.

[@dotdot7270]

It is kind of weird how a female character would be so emotional, im not saying thats wrong or bad inherently, it just dosent make much sense to me given blizzards own sensibilities, so alot of people would hope there is more to her than just an emotional character who does immoral actions out of those emotions. But that does seem like the case, and blizzard had failed to do a female character in the past (yrel) proper justice as well.

[@gnaryanus113001]

I'd like to think, since you once mentioned (or was it Taliensin...) that the undeath realm doesn't have a proper representative, and because of that she's trying to become that balancing force so the void lords can't take control of everything.

[@rockymountain2704]

I think she changed her plans for SW when she said "this changes everything..."

[@DanielAllan]

I think two things you said stood out.. the assassins after thrall, I don't believe for a second she thought they would be able to kill thrall The other is when rescuing Baine, she is quite clear if you were on her side that you would escape and you are giving healing potions to make sure survive. taking that into account its hard to say what her plans have failed or designed to fool allies as much as enemies.. be curious what is learnt at blizzcon.

[@jnxius]

Sylvanas has the Blade of the Black Empire which was a vessel that could imprison an Old God. It's empty now and was last seen with Nathanos as noted in the video. Just food for thought.

[@peterbc6129]

I would of much preferred if Sylvanas, in game, had slowly cracked. Before WotLK, she was vengeance incarnate, but lost that after Arthas died, becoming colder and less outwardly emotional. I would of much preferred if, as the Horde particularly, you saw the 'stress' and weight of what awaits her start to break her facade, but her trying to bottle it up and hide it. It would make her outbursts more rational and reasonable, because people can't seal emotions and fears away forever, it's just basic psychology. We know she's manipulative and cunning, but I think Blizzard went into the "Heheheh, I'm the Lich Queen, evil evil" way too quickly. This is an issue I've seen with Blizzard ingame writing outside of Wrathion and Anduin, they rush things into one expansion, or a pre-expansion, then expansion. Instead of doing what they've done with Wrathion, Anduin and Jaina, which is draw out their stories visibly through the games. Sylvanas is bar none one of the most shafted characters ingame, storywise, because her best writing is in books, as you said. Now, I love extra lore outside game in the form of movies and books, the Kalecgos storyline was a good way to see the aftermath of Deathwing without clogging up the game (although ONE MAJOR THING STILL TRIGGERS ME OF THAT SERIES....Dragon sterility.....). But when you keep ALL of it to books, you have the divide that you have now. I have people who played the Horde who now play Classic or Alliance, because they go "They just made her the villain of the week and just evil. Another evil Horde Story, blah, blah, blah, how boring." They see it only as Sylvanas going evil. Another Garrosh. But Garrosh had the advantage of THREE expansions to build up his character and eventual encounter, four to bring him to an end. Cataclysm Garrosh was great, because of the character development present in Stonetalon (I think) and Silverpine alone for him. Sylvanas? One expansion really.

[@vstylex]

That intro music sounds like the song The Lost Codex lore channel uses 🤔

[@PapiSalad]

Why are you up so early.... Thank you for the new video

[@pouriaabadsafian]

Papi Salad I was super interested and BAM! Super interested and impressed

[@ds222]

its almost like one writer is writing the cinematic storylines and the other writers are just catching up trying to fill in the gaps

[@matthewolson2386]

Sylvanas is after something there is no doubt, immortality, who knows. I think we all can agree she has gained a power she didn't have before, but is that enough to defeat N'zoth, I don't think so. It was a great deep dive into her story, well done.

[@Yuehan1990]

Bellular, I was excepting a video 20 minutes after the opening Ceremony, slacking🤪😉

[@YUhave2Bawsome]

Ad transition is an art

[@DV-cn7vb]

Everytime Your pluggins always catch me off guard I don't know why I know they're coming, but they actually catch me off guard

[@HavocHounds1988]

Speaking of the cannon, it was stated that it would fire this expansion. So I'm wondering if they are going to actually have that happen or if they just scrapped it.

[@The500k]

Finally a video that doesn't start with the damn legion music

[@FutureOverYou]

What is that ending music? It's so good...

[@FutureWarCultist]

Female antagonist getting emotional and irrational. Imagine the shock.

[@PerceptionOverload]

For anyone who wants those mics, the mic doesn't stay in its magnetised holder. Falls off after a few months of irregular use.

[@PerceptionOverload]

@O i'm not ising my mic all the time, it being removable is a selling point.

[@warhammerguy]

The ingame explanations of Sylvanas motivations are not optimal but atleast it is nowhere as bad as the start of WoD. I still remember how I had to explain to people how Garrosh went from capture in pandaria to suddenly finding himself 30 years in the past. Speaking of Garrosh, it seems the Garrosh 2.0 is continuing. Instead of taking us to Orcland we are going to Deathland.

[@jamesnicolson866]

As if ur adverts weren't bad enough, the audio quality diminishes somewhat while ur using them!

[@freefrag1910]

I am actually using a modmic because good audio quality is something not found with "gaming headsets".

[@dvklaveren]

For me, the added context actually makes it even harder to take her seriously, for me at least. Because I bought in based in Sylvanas' rational actions. I get that she can be impulsive, but they did it in the worst way possible, stacking the deck as it were. Take Warbringers; it would have been child's play to have some extra screens to emphasize her shift towards impulsivity or write the lines just a little different to make characters around her seem even slightly more aware of her rationale. Imagine if Delaryn had said that the only reason Sylvanas went after the night elves was because Sylvanas wanted to best someone who was her before death. That she wanted to prove to the Horde that she wouldn't lose like she lost Quel'thalas. But most of all, that she wanted to prove the ghosts of the past have no grip on Sylvanas. And then have Sylvanas set out to prove Delaryn right, furious that someone would try and leverage Sylvanas' past for victory, not because Sylvanas treasures it, but because Sylvanas rationalizes that assumption of weakness is insulting her. There are so many ways they could have resolved how Sylvanas rolls with the punches, even those self-inflicted. But they didn't, because Blizzard writers assume their audience where cowtows to Blizzard's writers or are toxic. No in-between.

[@nickhuffman3177]

She knew the rebellion would inevitably happen and therefore she set traps to allow it to continue (she did wipe out the Sunreavers along the way). Her plan was for the remainder of the Alliance and the Rebellion to fight the Horde at Ogrimmar and finish each other there. Maximum death. Whatever her Hungry Darkness is. I think he plan has advanced while maybe not maximized..