Ny'alotha's Missing End Cinematic: How NOT To End An Expansion & N'zoth's Trick | Cinematic Analysis

World of Warcraft Patch 8.3 Visions of N'zoth opened the doors on the Ny'alotha raid and revealed it's grand expansion-ending cinematic... and people don't like it. Aside from Wrathion exacting revenge on the Old God with Xalatath, the Blade of the Black Empire, the raid climaxes with an in-game cutscene depicting player-characters defeating N'zoth with the help of Magni, MOTHER and the Heart of Azeroth herself.
Is this a fitting end to Battle for Azeroth? Join us as we go over everything that happened in another deep-dive cinematic analysis and ask... did N'zoth just get done dirty?
Thanks to Squishei for the raid footage! Check out his stream here:
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[@IceCrystalWolf]

"You are a child of Azeroth" * confused draenei noises *

[@Emperor_Beardo]

And Orcs haha! From Dreanor!

[@IceCrystalWolf]

@@Emperor_Beardo And lightforged and mag'har and void elfs (do they count?). Was just too lazy :D

[@Fleato]

@@Emperor_Beardo orcs too.

[@Voidova]

@@IceCrystalWolf Void elves are from Azeroth. Lightforged and Mag'har are Draenei and Orcs so they're kind of included.

[@MorganRhysGibbons]

Azeroth adopts!

[@labrospanousis3739]

N'zoth : As long as I stay on Azeroth those mortals can't kill me. Also N'zoth : Let's go to Nyalotha then.

[@labrospanousis3739]

Agreed. N'zoth and the black empire should also have been the focus of the expansion instead of the faction war. Imagine if they pulled the same thing with the lich king back in the day. The entirety of wotlk focuses on alliance vs horde or some other filler storyline then in the last patch you enter Icecrown Cidatel through Pandaria and you fight Arthas. With zero setup other than a pre-expansion cinematic and a raid in a previous expansion.

[@Ghastly10]

@@labrospanousis3739 When you look at it though the faction war was just a way to weaken everyone, so that when N'Zoth was released there would be no one to challenge him.. At least that is how it seemed at the beginning..

[@ShadowTheHedgehogCZ]

@@Ghastly10 If that was the plan... where is the pay off? Doesn't seem like the sides being weakened ever amounted to anything. He was defeated nonetheless. Moments after he appeared. By mortals. When Titans in their time couldn't do it. And didn't do it for way more than 10000 years. If his plan took so long to take effect and the war of Alliance vs Horde was a crucial ingredient in it... how come it failed so utterly that it wasn't even addressed?

[@gianfri7640]

Just like in WoD. We: dammit, we can't kill him for real, demons only really die if killed in the Twisting Nether Archimonde: and for the last phase of the fight, let's all go in the Twisting Nether! (Then Blizz just teleported him back on Draenor at 0%HP to not be forced to have him dead for real)

[@Ghastly10]

@@ShadowTheHedgehogCZ I think that was the intent at least that is how it seemed at the start, unfortunately as we have seen the story pretty much seems to petered out by the end.. And that we will probably never get to see if there was ever a nice little ending to tidy everything up.. I have a sneaky suspicion that the now fabled patch 8.3.5, that seems to have been in production till it got canned, would of probably done all of what we were hoping for and given us the closure to BFA that we were hoping for but will never get..

[@jestbone89]

N'zoth deserved to get a trial in Pandaria! #PandariaTrialForNzoth

[@animelytical8354]

Yes. N'zoth was brutally murdered. All he wanted to do was exist

[@zimattack9994]

#oldgodlivematter

[@Voidova]

#HentaiLivesMatter

[@ValensBellator]

He treated both factions equally and was the only character who showed no more hate nor favor for one race than any other. He was also here first and merely fighting an occupying force that aimed to kill him. Truly, a terrible injustice was done this day.

[@Voidova]

@@ValensBellator Did the old gods predate the trolls though? I mean he was corrupting one of the titan eggs.

[@geminiblade]

The best part of the Wrathion cinematic is that he's fulfilling his bloodline's "true legacy" of being the protectors of Azeroth.

[@LuckySmurf]

Except the end of Warcraft 3, and again echoed at the end of Cataclysm, stated that "legacy" belonged to the mortals. Also, when did Wrathion suddenly start giving a damn about the Old Gods? Because prior to this expansion, his whole shtick was wanting to take down the Burning Legion. He never really showed any inclination of wanting to go after the Old God(s) or that he even cared about his bloodline.

[@Uploaded1995]

@@LuckySmurf As far as I've understood his motivations up until this point, they were less centered around besting the Burning Legion and more about protecting Azeroth as a whole; even sometimes through misguided or deceptive means. Which is very in tune with his legacy of his father/grand-father being "the Earth-Warder".

[@LuckySmurf]

@@Uploaded1995 Except all he talked about was the Burning Legion and their impending return. It's why WoD even happened. And when the Legion did return, he was nowhere to be found. In fact, for nearly three whole expansions he was M.I.A. Now suddenly he randomly, without warning, shows up during the final arc of the expansion and is all about wanting to destroy the last Old God because it's his destiny and blah blah blah blah. And then goes full anime on N'zoth.

[@Uploaded1995]

@@LuckySmurf For the Burning Legion side of things. Obviously he was concerned with that if he wanted Azeroth to survive. It was the most immediate threat to the planet that he knew about at the time; hence his determination to defeat it. As for the rest, that's a critique at Blizzard's writing and not so much questioning what Wrathion's motivations are. I think those things are silly too.

[@carrastealth]

We didn't need a "Velen sigh" we needed to not have an expansion's worth of The Black Empire wasted in a single patch. N'Zoth actually winning, killing us, and destroying where Magni was, and taking over Azeroth WAS the proper ending. And it would have made it actually matter that we'd wasted so much time on the faction war that N'Zoth was able to rise to power again, and would have been the reason we lost, and why we ultimately failed Azeroth. That would have held weight and had meaning and been something new as opposed to "last second mulligan" which is the trademark now... Then we would start the next expansion IN the Shadowlands, because of our failure, and it paints the Shadowlands Cinematic in a new light, as Sylvanas breaking the barrier is the only reason we actually have a chance at returning to Azeroth. Then after Shadowlands is over, and we return to Azeroth it's a completely corrupted and revamped Azeroth that has been taken over by The Black Empire, which would have been the next expansion. We didn't need to be gary stu/mary sue'd ith a "lazuh beam" and wasting N'Zoth. Blizzard has become the kings of doing something underwhelming, going "wait till you see what's coming next! It will make everything worth it" and then not actually doing that.

[@Fir3Fury88]

If that would've happened I would have kept my subscription for sure!

[@JBrandonMercer123]

@@sojh17 couldn't care less*. If you could care less, it means you do care (at least a little).

[@Voidova]

Exactly, all that hype and love for lovecraftian WoW old gods wasted because of a power of friendship lazah beam...

[@nervseeker]

Before I heard that 8.3.5 was canceled I thought we'd be going into fully corrupted zones (by way of minor visions entrances) and only because our cloak was upgraded, could we stay in there long enough to do anything. It's like so many mathematically gifted middle schoolers hear when pursuing a degree in the arts "so much potential wasted"

[@eren_ozel]

Spot on.

[@LowbrowDeluxe]

A storyline running since the first patch of WoW, with major interweaving through basically all of the last two expacs prior to this one, and it ends on N'zoth getting Twilight Sparkled through the power of jewelry and friendship.

[@marcusc9931]

I love your comment

[@blairewhiteradicalextremis7765]

Isnt that what all of wow is anyways

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I thought that is what wow always have been? Through friendship and love we kill all the bigg badies

[@marcusc9931]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay I think style is what makes the difference. It was cool when Tassadar did it, because he died.

[@catxborsuq1]

Might I interest you in my WoW/MLP crossover fanficion, where Arthas gets brought back to life as a pony in the world of MLP (which is another planet in Warcraft's Universe), called "Rebirth of the Damned"? ;p 167 chapters and still going xD EDIT: Huh, I thought I added the link... oh well, here it is: www.fimfiction.net/story/55373/rebirth-of-the-damned

[@enfantterrible6011]

the best quote i read in comments on unlisted cinematic: "i am not angry, i am sad"

[@jefferickson5833]

"A little bit underwhelming" That is some major criticism from Taliesin.

[@hogger165]

@@ZXkhas If..keep up with videos everytime anything happens..He criticizes them as well as aiming to give like this valid points from either end.

[@a40989d1]

Some ppl can criticize without sounding like whiney babies. Tali has that skill.

[@EloquentTroll]

Gods forbid someone enjoy this expansion. I have had a ton of fun with this expac, it's not as good as Legion, I liked Legion more, but I still liked BFA.

[@gannonkendrick9343]

@@woodcchase There's some maturity, I think, in being able to criticize media while respecting the creative decisions of the people responsible for it, even if you don't like those decisions. He's not being very scrutinizing here though. I think he legitimately disliked the ending to this expansion. I know I didn't care for it. Blizzard has *never* been good at capturing the threat of the old gods. I think everybody kind of hoped we'd never be able to defeat the old gods. And I don't think there was a good way to have us win against a cosmic threat.

[@TaliesinEvitel]

@@gannonkendrick9343 I didn't like the ending. That's why I said I didn't like it. It's not cryptic.

[@WhiskeyBobb]

I have a feeling that Taliesin put more thought into... overthinking this cinematic than Blizzard into actually making it.

[@wolfenspeign]

Absolutely. Worse-Yet ~ Pyromancer's entire Career may have flopped at this Grande Eff-YOU too all fans & Lore Lovers alike. Sad .. Sad, Pathetic day for warcraftt fans.

[@crazykobold1644]

Bad guy was zapped by McGuffin lazorbeam. That's all. The video should have taken 20 seconds, not 20 minutes.

[@Geemo90]

When the Name "Shadowlands" made its round I was sure that at the end of Bfa we (the good Guys) would lose against N'Zoth just to find ourselfes dead in the Shadowlands where we would fight our way out, defeat death itself to make it back to Azeroth where in the meantime N'Zoth and his buddys rebuild the black Empire.... I was so excited, just to be disappointed by a poor mans Lotr ending :/

[@tzoanast1061]

First, even from the Alpha and the cinematic with Sylvanas it was obvious we wouldnt die, second while I agree with all the criticisms for the BFA ending, its not a LOTR ripoff, the bad guy citadel crumbling down while the epic music is peaking as he falls is nothing new in stories, especially fantasy.

[@makaramuss]

@@tzoanast1061 why? Actually makes sense it was even possibilty of making sylvanas good guy for moment there "this world is a prison, right now we are prisoners of n'zoth! And I will set us all free" ofcourse its not have to be like that it can be coincidance and sylvanas just doing her own thing... but would result us getting free too

[@Ellthom]

That sounds awesome :O

[@tzoanast1061]

@@makaramuss The main reason she cracks the sky open was so we can go there. If she knew we were going to die then why open it anyway? When she said "This world is a prison" I saw it as a nod to the Titans being the bad guys which I am still confident that is whats going to happen. The world being a prison for Azeroth, she is not meant to wake up.

[@eafesaf6934]

@@tzoanast1061 because u can't leave the shadow lands from it, but from out of it, can you only join in it.

[@vfaulkon]

While I mostly agree with Taliesin, I feel like being underwhelmed by this ending is, itself, an understatement. This was N'ZOTH, man! The last Old God alive, the great manipulator, the corruptor in the shadows! We've been hearing his name since freakin' Cataclysm, as the power behind Deathwing, and we know he's been making his presence known and making moves for his return in-game since Legion. We've been building up to this moment for two expansions... ...and that's how it ends? That's it? Really?! The plan just....works? We blast him with titanic energy and he's gone? No emotional closure, like Taliesin said, no hints as to what trouble is brewing around the corner, no void flower in a cave suggesting N'zoth didn't fully die...we just kick the Old God's ass in a raid, blast him with a big Azerite beam and we win. I'm sorry, but I feel like Y'shaarj had as big a presence and impact in his expansion as N'zoth did here. Which is a problem, since Y'shaarj was ALREADY DEAD. Ugh. I'm actually glad we have to wait several months for Shadowlands, 'cause if we were going into it now, I don't think my excitement could be any more dead. Maybe I'll write some fanfiction or something to make myself feel better.

[@hctim1]

vfaulkon maybe they’re saving the big cinematic for mythic clear

[@LuckyPed10]

But N'zoth was the weakest old god tho. All he was good at was scheming... he actually schemed his own defeat once and got defeated by another old god before, but that was actually his plan. He had another plan in the raid too to use us and corrupt the whole planet in the end but this time he failed ? Although it's not really clear if he did fail or not... We actually still have our Gift of N'zoth... its with us... and some NPC actually knowledge this. by saying people still have N'zoth's gift and it worry me or something. Also, more than "destroying Nzoth" it seems we "purify it". Maybe he can use this in someway. Maybe he can even ascend to another being... we still don't even know who Elune is... she seems to be some "upstart goddess" as called by another old god, Xal'atath, she seems to have dual nature and have power over both life and death, N'zoth might try to be something similar, earn another nature in this process by having part of him purified. HECK, we even have some hint that other old gods who die, usually go back to sleep in Ny'alotha ... "the waking city" coz everyone wake up from sleep in there ! We know N'zoth was bullied by all other old gods and defeated, Maybe he did all of this so we purify Ny'alotha and destroy the other old gods, while he had part of himself outside of Ny'alotha ! or maybe he wanted to die so he can go to Shadowland and we see more of him in Shadowland !!! There is so much more left to speculate, I honestly don't think this is the last of N'zoth, specially with his Gift of N'zoth still existing.

[@bunklypeppz]

I agree with your overall point but is it true that he is the last old god alive? I thought C'thun and Yogg-Saronn were still imprisoned, because we never actually destroyed them. Isn't it possible that we eventually end up facing their true forms in some way?

[@dakotarobinson5370]

bunklypeppz someone confirmed in a Q&A that the old gods we have fought are most certainly dead. Datwadit

[@ChrisWilson-bu5qm]

@@hctim1 they have never done a mythic only cinematic that is different from the normal one.

[@ReeceDK]

16:23 Killing an Old God by unloading in its face. Sounds like a twisted fanfic to me

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

I think I've seen that in a hentai

[@GenjiShimada.]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay Nani?

[@peagames2002]

This was my thought exactly....

[@Moranah]

Also, mostly unrelated, but I kind of hoped this patch would've done something about this huge dagger sticking out of the planet. I haven't checked it out recently, but I'm pretty sure it's still there.

[@Jureru]

You don't need to check it out. You kinda see it from Uldum.

[@SuzakuX]

@Davy Jones It is. Literally the "Sword of Sargeras." And technically we "fixed" it at the end of _Legion_ when sacrificed our Artifacts to seal its corruption. Some day the Titan Azeroth is going to be born and will wield it, purifying it into the blue and gold Azerite colorscheme. Calling it now.

[@RainPotion]

I on the other hand...like that it's still there. Think of it as a memento from a specific period in Azeroth history. That something actually happened - that left a permanent mark on the world. I think removing it wuld be a bad decision - something in the lines of "OK. Legion's done - time to reset everything back to normal".

[@Luthies]

So you haven't been to the Chamber of the Heart recently? You know...the thing that is right next to the sword? :D

[@Fearienify]

@@SuzakuX we absorbed its negative energy we didnt "fix it" theres still a weapon of war stabbed into a being thats bleeding out

[@RotalHenricsson]

My boy N'Zoth got shafted hard with his content. A smol human's lifetime of teasing and he's done and dusted in one mediochre patch and doesn't even get a nice cutscene.

[@Hi-fd4cw]

It’s “small”. Not “smol”. If you said that out loud people would think you have a speech impediment.

[@TheRealGigachad1848]

I would be ok with the patch if it wasn't for the ending.

[@tamealion]

Grinning Libertarian That would be too intricate and hopeful of an idea, just like when people thought it wouldn’t be Sylvanas burning Darnassus to the ground. I don’t think their storytelling is on that level right now.

[@Hi-fd4cw]

@PumkinPieCrust Literally has nothing to do with my comment. I just think people who unironically use baby-talk in their day to day vocabulary are cringy.

[@tamealion]

Grinning Libertarian I’m totally fine with Old God content, personally! I was really hoping that the stuff with N’Zoth would be it’s own expansion, just because of how long he’s been hyped up, you know? They really do need to throw more twists into the game to keep up interest. If they did what you’re suggesting, it would be so badass! But I really don’t think the writing team gets that at the moment. 😞

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

I really really love defeating the most dangerous villain of all time with a giant McGuffin blast, topped off with a copy paste of the Return of the King ending and music thrown in there. The only thing that could've made this ending better is if Sylvanas showed up out of nowhere to ninja all the loot and say "Azeroth is NOTHING! REEEEEEEEEEEE!" and then wipe the entire raid AND kill Wrathion with one single arrow and banshee teleport into the next expansion, forcing Diamond Dude and Mommy to resurrect us and have a really sad funeral for Wrathion with some copy pasted sad music.

[@ShadowTheHedgehogCZ]

Or even better, Sylvanas showing up screaming "Azeroth is FREEEEEEEEEE!" And she would get back to being Warchief of the Horde and being forgiven for everything she did, after she explained how all of this was her virtuous plan all along.

[@BialyK1el]

Nah, we need one more cinematic where Anduin asks Wrathion what he will do right now and he says that he wants to sail west of Westeros, tfu, i mean Azeroth

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

@@BialyK1el And then they slowly lean in to give each other one big, sloppy and wet 40-60 second long mega kiss.

[@Bumbum_Inspector]

@@ShadowTheHedgehogCZ "I wasn't playing 4D chess, I was playing 6D chess." -Sylvanas Windrunner.

[@imaran1303]

So much salt, I did not like BfA for many reasons, but shut the fuck up, this is the ONE good thing that came out of this shitty expansion.

[@gianfri7640]

Argus and the other Legion's steongholds. The Emerald Dream and the Nightmare. Nazjatar and the Naga's empire. Mechagon. Ny'alotha and The Black Empire. All expansion worthy locations, and all of them wasted.

[@yazeedal-yahya2383]

I agree man especially Nazjatar and The Emerald Dream :(

[@Fr33mx]

Not sure about the mechagon part though, it's just an island with a bunch of mechanisms on it, it's worth a big patch at max, not an xpac Others though, yeah, completely wasted

[@Voidova]

I agree with everything except Mechagon. I would've thrown up if an entire expansion was centered around cyborg gnomes, ugh.

[@BlackTigerAP]

Blizzard is getting too old. Time for retirement.

[@Ballagorn_Ironblood]

Mechagon is NOT worthy even a one boss dungeon, but blizz give it us as Kharazan level dungeno and zone, also mechaparasites should not exist

[@SonicAF]

24 minutes of analyzing 27 seconds of a nothingburger. I appreciate the effort.

[@michaelkpate]

"Much like the final fight from Wrath of the Lich King." That is being generous.

[@gishathosaurus6828]

Very generous

[@Mictla155]

I hated the end of Wrath. I would have loved to seen Icecrown Citadel and all of Icecrown crumble like Mordor. Maybe has the helm of domination buried under the ice.

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

It is like wrath tho. We lose but then through the power of motivation we win. Arthas freezes the paladin until our deaths motivate him to break free cus he got some random magical powers from it, just as magni says "nu dont die" and were like "aight fam". Same thing

[@michaelkpate]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay Arthas - "You trained them well, Fordring. You delivered the greatest fighting force this world has ever known... right into my hands - exactly as I intended!" N'zoth - "Through your flesh, my Black Empire is Reborn." What I meant was it was exactly like Wrath, copy-pasted.

[@paintbrushjr.8312]

@@AliciaOnlineGameplay The difference with Wrath was that this was done through gameplay rather than a cutscene. During the N'Zoth fight, you're winning, and once you get him down close enough, you get pulled into a cinematic saying "You were corrupted, ono." But then you hear some dumb inspirational stuff and you break free while still in the cinematic, then fire your friendship beam. Meanwhile, with the fight against the Lich King, he uses an attack that one-shots the ENTIRE raid, and you're unable to resurrect, with the prompt you're given outright refusing to let you. When Tirion breaks free, he lets you resurrect yourself, and you deal the final blow not in a cinematic with a sudden laser beam, but through playing the game and using the abilities we've already had. The premises are similar, but the way they were presented. And that makes a huge difference in their reception.

[@valdios493]

So, WoW was created when I was about 4 years old. And I've played and known and cared for it since. But the Old Gods have always been my favorite bit of lore from the game. I've been hyped beyond belief for N'Zoth, the weakest and yet the smartest of them all. Defeats for him always meant a victory. No matter what you did, he always was a step ahead, plotting, scheming. Ten thousand years of planning, perhaps even more, gone. A character hyped to be a brilliant mastermind is dealt with in such an easy manner that it's honestly infuriating. I've read the comments of this video, and the ideas people give (Such as us LOSING FOR FUCKING ONCE) are way better and would've been possible to make in the time they had, I'm sure of it. Honestly? My entire life I grew basically at the same rate as WoW. Seeing one of the best villains fall by "The power of Friendship" instead of making him some justice was painful. Also no. We didn't need a "Velen Sigh". We needed WAY more than that. If they don't make the Old Gods come back by some incredible plan that's hinted at by Yogg-Saron's Puzzle Box OR in Shadowlands? Then I can say for certain that Blizzard is gone, and only Activision remains.

[@monkeybuizznes1]

Im really subscribing to the idea that N'zoth being blown up by our lightball was just another one of his tricks

[@zackr.7628]

You have played when you were 4? What?

[@valdios493]

I DID play when I was 4. Been playing games my entire life xD

[@valdios493]

I mean, it's better that way. Perhaps he had a plan to go to the Shadowlands and thus he let us beam him to death or something xDD

[@тоска-р1о]

@@zackr.7628 I've been playing wow since I was 6 like this dude, a terrible idea on my parents behalf, but eh, not much to do now. I even learned to read on a higher level due to the quests and lore.

[@Excellerator420]

Wrathion going all Aria Stark is about par for this expansion. BfA is the season 8 of GoT.

[@Excellerator420]

@Brant Hall The comparison is for humor. Its called a joke not a dick dont take it so hard

[@Excellerator420]

Apparently its time for the autistic hive mind to nitpick humor

[@Pelagion98]

@Brant Hall Oh sorry, my bad. You are not wrong. You just have standards so low that piss must taste like fine wine to you.

[@luksp96]

People keep saying it reminded them of the GoT moment but to me it looks like a reference to the WoD cinematic with Grom killing Mannoroth. Almost the exact same.

[@Pelagion98]

@@luksp96 There is a lot of movie/game/anime moments where someone makes a heroic jump at enemy like that.

[@drallagon]

Having Wrathion at the end of the cutscene remark something like "well, that was clearly an overkill/disappointment" (or anything along those lines, making it like a player reacting) would've been gold lol

[@gishathosaurus6828]

Indeed, and it would fit with his personality too

[@OneNvrKnoz]

And then fade to black and have a Xalatath whisper

[@Quindaddy]

This cinematic ending is a great example of why so many passionate people seem so angry. It's such a waste of potential. Before every expansion reveal we all get so excited discussing the possibilities and what our favourite story hooks could lead to in terms of a wow expansion with new zones, mechanics, characters, music etc. South Seas, Nazjatar/Azshara, Old God/Black Empire were all concepts that could have made incredible expansions that were all mooshed together and trivialised. Imagine Northrend being a patch zone in BC instead of fleshed out and expanded into the beautiful continent and story that it was. As a big "BFA Hater" and a Classic convert I still have to say, once I learnt to just accept all the bugs, I've been having an absolute blast with this patch. My new Mechagnome DK looks adorably terrible and the Horrific Vision system is really really fun to progress through and push myself. Worst expansion ever? I think so yes, but with a change in how I approach the game I can still have a lot of fun. I hope they really nail Shadowlands so that everyone can come back and have fun with their squads. The death of so many guilds has been very sad.

[@kyvanrae]

You are a BfA-Hater? Then keep your mouth shut, you have no say here. Keep playing your boring classic content.

[@lolour4571]

I agree with most of what you say here but "worst expansion ever"? Really? Have you ever played Warlords of Draenor?

[@nakenmil]

Worse than WoD?

[@cci9459]

Taliesin: "N'Zoth is no longer underground" Then why was there no cataclysm level event because Old Gods are supposed to be as big as Northrend according to different sources. What happened to the hollow ground left behind by him going away from Azeroth? Lets just be honest here and realize that this was a move made in the biggest of haste and with no regards to logic in the context of the wow universe. A simple scape goat patch to leave BFA behind. Best case scenario we are getting a good expansion in Shadowlands as it was with WoD and Legion after. Fingers crossed for the future. Happy 9 months of nothing boys!

[@chaoslance4959]

Cataclysm level event was caused by a World pillar in deepholme collapsing when DW left it. I think its all fine now, so now Cataclysm 2.0. To the giant hole in the ground, we can go to route of teleportation and we could tie in the fact Nazmir was sinking into the sea since Cata. I too am in the camp of "fire whoever came up with this shit and whoever said it's a good idea". There definetly is a way to explain this, but I doubt they will bother. Just leave the cursed Old god who got cut from Cata behind, left him dead-dead and move elsewhere.

[@kutyamen]

The very idea of the Old Gods being sealed when their tentacles span miles is ludicrous. The titans would have to literally construct around them, without damaging the world soul, which makes no sense when they already had their grabby tentacles on the world soul(without that there'd be no Well of Eternity after all). Either they literally cut into the world soul surgically and choose to contain rather than remove the old gods for some reason or, you know, it's magical mumbo jumbo that doesn't make sense and we are not meant to think about. The very concept of Maelstorm doesn't make sense, neither does the fact Deepholm can get to exist. The very concept of how a planet can function with a planet sized living being under it whose blood is yellow blue stuff but you still have lava and magma. How even did the Sword reach her when we have been way deeper into the planet and have seen nothing. Any of the previous old gods could have destroyed an entire continent just by scooting 5 feet to the left with how much they are meant to span. Trying to explain why there isn't a giant Nzoth sized hole in Nazjatar will be left to the lore people to answer in a QnA session, you will NEVER see destruction on that level in the game solely because it'd jsut ruin the gameplay. The Sword should have devastated most of southern Kalimdor, but for obvious gameplay reason they kept the impact to just Silithus without even damaging the raid entrance. Basically, it's not a question of haste in trying to finish N'zoth, it is the fact that the impact you are asking for is essentially impossible to pull off in game.

[@TheMacC117]

This

[@Tigrion]

you are right this felt as much rushed as s7 and 8 from GOT was poorly though out lore and story wise the effects and idea is fine but so rushed executed that is simply disappointing right now im fine with Nzoth being killed but not in this expansion ffs they can somewhat salvage it if we get and mythic cinematic this win being an vision while we are kind being consumed and our sols being send to the shadowlands and having to fight in that realm and come back to Azaroth before Nzoth fully corrupts her and save her in the end in an expansion after shadowlands but i highly doubt they will go that rout or do something with that blade that went missing but yea im not holding my breath for that one either

[@Mictla155]

Well N'zoth was in his own little pocket dimension of sorts and was trying to manifest it in Azeroth.

[@illusion-]

You are really good at this Taliesin. Thank you !

[@goosebums1698]

"Blizzard are nailing it" - the nail in the coffin?

[@MrMuttly55]

Wrathion took on his "fathers'' original personality in this xpac. Before he was corrupted Deathwing was the swaggering happy go lucky leader that all the aspects accepted as their leader

[@Windpupper]

I was waiting for Taran Zhu to come put N'zoth in chains and say "He will stand trial in Pandaria".

[@guardianfluffy5905]

Wrathian leaping out of the smoke reminds me of Grom in the WoD cinematic plunging Gorehowl into Manneroths head, triumphantly going full circle with Warcraft 3, but leading to Groms triumph instead of downfall. In a way, overcoming destiny, similar to how Warthion is triumphing over his entire flights legacy of corruption

[@orange-micro-fiber9740]

21:18 "There wasn't enough" - Amen. There's no setup for what's next. Sargeras stabbed a planet after we beat Argus. This doesn't compare, plotwise.

[@SophiaAstatine]

Past cinematics don't exactly setup the what's next either, so thats an odd criteria. The only one that -truly- did so is the Sargeras one.

[@cavazzinia]

Feel the same, at the end or legion we were "we won, but at what cost". There is no plot here sadly. It's cool but could have been better

[@ValensBellator]

That ending gave off “Hey Steve, that climactic scene we were gonna release with 8.3.5 a few months from now? We need it tomorrow for 8.3” vibes heh The previous cutscenes and cinematics throughout this trailer had been so impressive that I can’t believe this is what they had planned for a finale.

[@SophiaAstatine]

Experimenting with how to deliver the story is good. Just like the Lich King cinematic set the preceedent for ending cinematics, they are still prodding around with creative and engaging ways to deliver that. And not every attempt can be a perfect hit.

[@Boris8930]

Activision Blizzard have stated that the dont have plans for making 8.3.5. Activision Blizzard thinks they want My money, but they dont. No King rules forever. Free hongkong.

[@ValensBellator]

Boris christensen Yes, but data mining made it clear that they originally did have plans for that patch and scrapped the idea to focus on shadowlands.

[@Boris8930]

@@ValensBellator Well i am done with wow and Activision Blizzard they have clearly shown that they dont listen to the players, and will not make some content other than AP grinding (which is not fun at all), and they have shown that they only care abourt the players money via putting alot of MTXs, into the shop, instead of putting them in to the game for players to earn. Until Activision Blizzard prove that they will listen to the players and make a great and fun game without MTXs i am done with Them.

[@remmikins4130]

I'll say this here, and I'll say this as many times as it needs to be said. N'zoth was vastly missused. He's been built up by blizzard as the one in the shadows. Always watching, even when it was from behind the bars of his prison. Always a hand steering the game. And now, when all his schemes come to fruition and hes at the cusp of claiming his prize? It requires an Unreasonably hot, a jolly diamond man, the missing link between a computer and a living being and the champion. A couple of weeks, to deal with him? That's it? That's all it took? Despite all the cunning schemes, all the lies, the tricks. The whispers. Every character thats turned against us, is only in visions of N'zoth. Nothing further? And the only real setback ever delivered by N'zoth when hes fully out there, is to yoink Ra-den?

[@geewiz70]

"Unreasonably hot _dragon_" You're absolutely right. We spent months on a war between factions but mere days on a war with a freed Old God that since Cataclysm caused us headaches all over the world from his prison. Does not compute.

[@remmikins4130]

Precisely.

[@PoldaranOfDalaran]

@@geewiz70 At least they could have thrown in the line, "He's still a bit weak from escaping his prison. Now is our only chance to stop him!" to lend a little credence to our ability to defeat him.

[@sador42]

I never liked that in an MMO that our character is the center of the main quests, I prefer that we are all working together for a specific goal and these fights are not fully about our character. I hear a lot that a positive is that our character was in the end game cinematic, but it makes no sense cause then all 25 people in the raid are the center of their own cinematic. In a single player game this would be 100% acceptable, but in an MMO, I just don't like it.

[@Wyrmshield]

Plus the machinima-level quality is so janky at times, I really wish it wasn't used for major story moments. One of the reasons I love Classic so much more is because I feel like an adventurer working alongside everyone else and not this epic chosen one hero.

[@Snagprophet]

Yeah Blizzard keeps forgetting their game is an mmo not a single player game.

[@Snagprophet]

@@Wyrmshield the in game cutscenes should be done where it happens as we walk around or move the camera, like when you see people talk in the game. Sure, we could've been frozen in place, but forcing a fixed perspective on the player while using in game footage is not appealing and has looked like shit since the Battle for Lorderon scenario

[@wolfenspeign]

Blizzard just doesn't know how to do it. And you are absolutely right about your feelings. Furthermore, our GODLIKE characters add to the boredom, and take away the excitement of being in a Big Bold & Powerful world, when our god-like characters are beyond nearly every other NPC by lightyears

[@Myst9066]

Blame society. Our society has become all about ourselves look at selfies for example. Everything is very much me, myself and I oriented.

[@aaronwilson301]

Probably the most dissapointing cinematic Blizzard have ever put out. Ashzara, N'zoth and Nylotha wasted all down the cess whole that is BFA.

[@Olvedn]

Understaffing and crushing deadlines makes stuff... yeah, bad sadly. It isn't Blizzard, this is Activision. Remember the layoffs, most competence is gone and whats left is understaffed and doesn't get enough time to make a good story.

[@nervseeker]

Not the worst, but far from what theyve put out in the past few years. The whole thing rang a bit hollow.

[@ABCD-eg5ky]

@@Olvedn also loss of subs results in death spiral of game. Things only get worse from here out

[@whenyoucoolasacucumber]

@@ABCD-eg5ky everyone since wotlk being like

[@Skund79]

It feels like "all I got was this lousy T-Shirt" I want to go out and feel like I changed the world. Their were so many interactions, you got close too so many characters in BfA and it feels like that didn't matter

[@CazaliEiben]

"Yer a child o' Azeroth" What about Mag'har Orcs and Draenei?

[@ironic4910]

Adopted

[@TheSattocs]

You don’t need to specify Mag’har Orcs, regular Orcs aren’t a child of Azeroth either.

[@TheLantoniou]

Now now, adopted children count.

[@omarsameh5007]

incase you didn't know everything is children of azeroth even titans , since it was big 1 thing and it explode to smaller ones but ofc titans wake up first

[@TheSattocs]

omar sameh that is... incorrect on so many levels. Azeroth is just the world soul in the centre of the planet Azeroth and isn’t some sort of progenitor God. The Pantheon was a thing before they discovered that world soul.

[@hicksnumber89]

This expansion is like my sex life. Great expectations, mediocre performance, extremely anticlimactic

[@crazykobold1644]

Not to mention you have to pay for it.

[@truefalcon6884]

@@crazykobold1644 Damn son... you didn't need to murder him

[@ragerblade82]

Blizzard you know you messed up when Taliesin can't really defend this. I'm as negative as they come, and I don't mind both of your views..because as negative as I am. I love to get other people perspectives. Out of all the patches we gone through, as a healer main. This patch has punished me. I wanted tougher content, but being punished for getting into a bad group is not what I wanted. I'm behind from my guild who sadly I've been unlucky to catch a group on before they get done. I am offended by this patch. You might think that is silly, but this is Blizzard. I respect what they can do, and BFA has been one let down after another. Crafting is at a all time low, Chasing the carrot is so boring. Look, we should have had a whole expansion of this old god. The old god is a big deal, and now I don't even feel it. We could have had the whole world changed and warped by this old god, and we had to go to zones to cleanse. The black city, just this has the wod feeling of wasted story, wasted chances, wasted gameplay ideas. I can't do this for another expansion. If the towers is a 3 thing a week punish you for failing system. I think I will have to move on, and that hurts.

[@kaizoulol]

ragerblade82 should’ve been like this: N’zoth kills us all in nyalotha We go to the shadowlands and fight our way out (9.0) We return to Azeroth turned into the black empire and that will be 10.0

[@dah9760]

Damn after watching the video and seen this comment. My. Old. God. I feel like the city alone could have been a huuuge zone. And we sure as hell needed more.

[@kutyamen]

Yeah because it is the HEIGHT of gameplay design to make you go through multitude of zones in the old world just to daily quest. You ain't writing a book, you are making a game and gameplay takes priority over story always. Vale and Uldum is as far as they could reasonably push it, two zones your attention is split between. In your idea you are literally draining the fun out of people as they visit the corrupted zones or you literally relegate them to a questchain then the cleansing is done and Nzoth never bothers with that zone again, which would get extremely old and predictable after like 3rd zones to be cleansed. Even in writing a story the only way such a story could even function is if there was buttloads of character development as you jumped from one cleansing zone to another, between your merry band of adventurers, except this is an MMO and you have no character and you just watch important NPCs get uncorrupted and forgettable vendors die. Worse yet the more zones they have to design the worse it'd spread them thin. Not just gameplay wise, but art wise, as MANY old zones look like ass, there is no way to utilize an old zone without a decent sized touch up done to it to make it look presentable. New Cata(not the rework cata) zones and up would probably suffice, but anything not cata on main land azeroth or northrend just would look like crap. It is also ironic to complain about lack of world wide effects in the one expansion where we had the most old world activity. Darkshore and Arathi both received touch ups, while Vale and Uldum are now our major endgame zones while having two extra new endgame zones from 8.2. That is the most we EVER got as far as multitude of zones go, and that is somehow not enough. You are literally asking for a cata style rework of the whole world that is only gonna exist for a single expansion and even within the expansion your stupidly boring main quest would be to undo the development time spent on those zones. We didn't get an Old God expansion due to the same reason we never got the Emerald Dream one, it is too one note. Cata is the closest you'd ever get and even then that was a dragon and elements focused to give it as much variety as possible. Old god is one thing, big tentacles that come in dark red and purple with eyes.

[@ragerblade82]

@@kutyamen You are wrong in that. Wow needs to think big of go home. A reason why people are upset with the game, and it is getting worse. Even WOD was not this bad, and wod was pretty bad. So are you saying beings that are suppose to be as strong if not stronger than titans, can only do two zones? The whole WORLD should have felt it. The dailies are so lazy, and you know it. They could have made world quests in all the old content, and each zone you done cleanses, and you get rewards. Revisiting the old world to see what the old god done to it would have been much better for two zones and laughable dailies. This old god was a joke. We deathwing him, Like really? This is acceptable for one of the biggest threats?

[@AliciaOnlineGameplay]

@@ragerblade82 why on earth would you want world quests? They are just as bad, if not worse than daily quests. You literally have no interaction with the NPCs or the story with world quests besides a talking head telling you: you need to kill stuff. Personally hearing that voice line over and over and over again makes me mad, hence why I always instantly mute it losing even more connection to the storyline. I agree with you that Nzoth is more powerful than what is portrayed in the game but I also agree with kutyamen that giving him the power in the story but ingame just doesn't work logistically it be too big and too uniform. In theory it sounds cool but for me even just wod followed by the 2 patches in in legion with orcs and green fire I was so fucking done with that whole shit. Looking at the same stuff fighting the same stuff for years is tiring.

[@Agallx]

I'm calling the mythic only phase shows all of the ending we saw as a dream and we've been consumed by nzoth

[@patrickmccurry1563]

Everyone making My Little Pony, "Friendship" references while what I see is the Care Bear Stare.

[@Puddingskin01]

Well, they are both all rainbows and sparkles, so.

[@MelindaBane]

Thank goodness I am not alone in that assessment...

[@brandiolipants6596]

N'zoth is a total darkheart isn't he.

[@PoldaranOfDalaran]

That's probably because you're old, fam. :P

[@charlespickering2726]

Zappy boi got a number of super high quality cinematics and the death of n'zoth gets a 30 second lord of the rings homage.

[@kaizoulol]

Just a theory: What if N’zoths death is just a trick so that we leave him alone and we go to the shadowlands yadayada only to return to Azeroth being the black empire

[@pupsgersky4935]

Writers aren't that smart to pull this off.

[@dabbie2700]

could be. i have a feeling blizzard isn't done with the old gods, but for now, we take a break to something new just to have new experiences. Honestly, taking a break from old gods, legion and titans feels great. I cannot wait to adventure into the shadowlands as it is a realm we've never been to before, apart of the small glance into it when you die.

[@ironic4910]

I think I read somewhere something about n'zoth that once he lost but worked out in his favor Sorry my memories are shit

[@cheergiver]

That’s what I hope. I’m pretty sure N’zoth used that line “her strength is our strength.” He released Xalatath. Unless it’s all just a bunch of bullshit, and Blizzard abandoned half their story lines this expansion so they could separate themselves from this dumpster fire.

[@andrewpowers2249]

Back in Cata, when we killed Vanessa Van Cleef in DM, I said, "She's not dead, we were trippin on hallucinogens, and then she just keeled over like nothing. She drugged us and faked her death." Then three xpacs later I was proven right. One of the very few times I was proven right in lore guesses. This time, we're corrupted and insane. And his death seemed too easy...an attack from the Chamber of Hearts...which he opened a door to...I'm hoping it was all a ploy, part of his plan, we didn't destroy all of Nyalotha so easily, we only think it went down that way, because our insanity is so high, and we just saw what we wanted to see. And in two or three xpacs, Revenge of the Old Gods, we'll see that was all part of his plan to bring the other OGs back.

[@chrisxiao2824]

Love that Wranduin “I shall, if asked politely.”

[@danielg2294]

I really wish we could go back to the days when we werent heroes. Instead just warriors helping named characters.

[@ctonellopedro]

I miss this too.

[@PWNalityTV]

Theres always classic, 😁

[@michaelkpate]

Definitely don't play FFXIV then.

[@dscarmo]

Anakin Skywalker champions in wotlk > bfa champion

[@kaiseravm]

it would have been interesting to see wrathion smiling seeing the collapse of nyalotha as you mentioned and at least a scene where the leaders of the factions are feeling the pressences of nzoth dissapearing. The groundwork for a good ending is there but you dont feel the weight on it as it did on other expansion endings.

[@OneNvrKnoz]

then fade to black and have a xalatath whisper...

[@ad3pt_01]

I would have liked an ending where N'Zoth actually wins. It's kinda naive and a big fantasy... but Old Gods are here since Vanilla and the riddle they left behind them is a thing, I suppose, community love. I didn't want to see Ny'alotha to fall, I wanted to discover all its secrets. This was probably the last solid lore stuff that falling down (so fast) and I feel sorry it falls like this with a "yay, you did it, that doesn't mean anything! thx for playing see you in shadowlands bye!" Hopefully. the fire we seek have light the masters' way... so I don't think that is over.

[@ShadiestAce]

Boy do I love the humour of both of you. I always chuckle every episode. Really appreciate the videos you two do.

[@clouds1701]

I love all your cinematic analyses as I get far more out of the actual cinematics. When you are bored and have nothing to do could you just nip back and do them for the old ones too please? :D

[@dreadbull5039]

This feels just like Arya flying out of the shadows and killing the Night King with a single dagger stab

[@notpc3070]

A disappointing ending for a disappointing expansion.

[@kungfuvoodoo9889]

@Zerebrat Eightyseven That's how they keep tricking you guys, we had hype for BfA only for disappointment and shills saying "don't worry it'll get good next patch!" only for more disappointment, repeat ad infinitum. Blizzard isn't run by the people who built Warcraft from the ground up out of passion anymore, it's run by corporate hacks who only want your money for as little effort as possible.

[@deathdealer13cat]

@@kungfuvoodoo9889 that's not entirely accurate. It seems like every other expansion is the good one WoD was shit then Legion came back and revitalized the game only for bfa to kill it again

[@simest45]

The "Velen sigh" could be a very easy 1 voice acted whisper for 8.3.5 (9.0 pre patch): N'zoth's whispers to all players: Did you enjoy your dream?

[@chondala8599]

I have a feeling N'Zoth tricked us. That whole cinematic was a vision forced upon us by N'Zoth making us thing he is dead and thus giving him free reign to do what ever he pleases. He could then fully rebuild the black empire and become much stronger then we can imagine. he would be fully unleashed and has time to build up and we would not stop him because we think he is dead. Although I realize this is probably more wishful thinking then anything else Nyalotha should have been much more then just a raid.

[@amouramarie]

I don't know why more people don't think this. I'm convinced this is true. We've been told more than once, I believe, that N'Zoth specifically wins WHEN YOU THINK HE HAS LOST. That he is the master manipulator. That he makes you see things. Even IN THE RAID we are fooled by his visions, as if to tell us our cloak, no matter how we upgrade it, can never protect us from his deceit. Add to that how unfulfilling this ending is, and perhaps especially, how GOOD the rest of BFA's cinematics have generally been, and there's no way this is it. There's either a surprise ending on mythic, or if not, the pre-patch to Shadowlands will reveal that everything after our zombie walk into N'Zoth's clutches was a vision.

[@vindurza]

You mentioning that his eyes look like the heart of azeroth is making me think of two quotes from Il'gynoth "Her heart is a crater, and we have filled it." and "Its surface blazes bright, masking shadows below." Maybe the fact we just used the heart as the last anchor for the beam to "kill" N'zoth wasn't a mistake from him but exactly what he wanted maybe he is somehow inside the heart now, I used to think the latter quote "Its surface blazes bright, masking shadows below." meant the sunwell since velen kinda used a Naaru corpse to reignite the thing and void creatures actually attacked from the well but now maybe it really is referring to the heart itself and we haven't noticed the shadows with in it. but that one is just grasping at straws especially since the sunwell may still be the real trouble source that quote is talking about since Il'gynoth did return in this patch with a new prophecy on quote being "The vassal of life disguises treachery. Beware the eyes of green." hmm the sunwell is a source of new life and the bloodelves do have green eyes so we just need to wait and see.

[@-Miasimon]

I think Taliesin has voided all credibility, imo. He said that we're "good for tentacles". There is one truth in this life: You can *never* have enough tentacles. If you think you have enough, you need more.

[@hyperfilm5274]

It's like when your boss pitches a terrible idea but everyone just goes along with it and nobody wants to say anything critical because you know... they pay you.

[@StarGazerTom1991]

Where was she Aszhara hiding the blade? Let me answer that question with another question: You ever hear of a tail hook?

[@JoonazZ10]

A man of culture right here

[@geewiz70]

"And then I, the champion of Azeroth, delivered the final blow to the Old God himself." "Wow, grandpa, what did you do to him?" "Well, I carried the necklace MOTHER needed to put things right once more." "You what?"

[@Ghoffman91]

I did appreciate them making our characters land the killing blow, there just needed to be more than that. Doing all that work to kill the main baddie only for the major lore character of that expansion to step in and land the killing blow makes you feel insignificant.

[@TrueMorbid]

Black blade of the empire shoud be at the end of that cinematic, abandoned somewhere, with and eye of nzoth on it, hinting that right now he is imprisoned in it just like Xal'atath before.

[@arthurtrebuchet8732]

so a old god imprisoned for thousands years gets beam out like deathwing, and only did some domage to 2 zones, pitiful! deathwind did more domage to azeroth than a old god, make bliz pay their arrogance

[@MacGregor3]

maybe the mythic kill will provide us with the ending we're looking for

[@orange-micro-fiber9740]

10:15 "The blade has disintegrated" - Has it? Maybe it's still stuck there, or lying on the ground. It's not broken until I see fragments.

[@OneNvrKnoz]

Or in a different plane of existence... I don't think it's gone either.

[@bsmarsch]

There's the Mythic cinematic we haven't seen yet, and that may provide the closure this is lacking.

[@MimiVonVignol]

I was just thirsty for an high resolution wrathion ending cinematic, the same quality they did for the arc of saurfang. They never show us a dragon, even in human form, with that graphic.

[@DReavers]

"or, at least, not in public"... I'm dead!

[@monkeybuizznes1]

Though I'm also disappointed in N'zoth's defeat, I'd have liked to have just shoved him back into prison so that he can be an expansion boss later.... it is common for the fantasy genre to have the good guys win and the bad guys lose. Not every fantasy story's gotta be Game of Thrones. But also, I'm feeding into the idea that his whole explosion was a trick, mans messes with our minds all the time.

[@gorepic83]

The shot of Wrathion jumping in with the dagger after he got small to avoid the tentacles reminds me A LOT of the shot from the movie 300 when Fassbenders character leaps through the air with his sword to cut off the Persian guy with the whip's arm.

[@Emperor_Beardo]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I really didn't like that my character was the one that took it out. I would have rather had a proper pre-rendered cinematic rather than in game cinematic, it was cringe, didn't feel right, felt weird to me.

[@tallyna]

I like that Taliesin gives a disclaimer, after showing parts of the cinematic already, at least he didnt actually spoil the ending in his title like Bellular

[@mybelovedchaos]

After getting my cloak on 13 toons I don't know if Magni's pleas to resist would work. I am still mad at him for how many times he's said 'I'll meet you there hero.'

[@here_bedragons]

mybelovedchaos maybe it’s that anger that triggered it? A “THAT GIT! IMA PUNCH HIM! ...hold on old god to fry first”

[@dontcallmebaby6927]

Happy birthday Taliesin! Well made analysis video. Totally agree with ya. Now go and have some beers and cake! 🍻🍰

[@zimattack9994]

Hay this was on point thus was a great ending to bfa It drove every one to madness so it works Also he kept the knifefu between his but check

[@WarchiefPeebs]

I'm going to admit... there was NOTHING wrong with the Wrathion cinematic. And yes. It's why I called this cinematic a non-story cinematic. Just like this expansion, it was cut obviously short. Even draenor who was admittingly cut short had more closure. I dislike this because it felt like bfa led to very little.

[@nobledonkey17]

Agreed Wrathion was the beat part of the ending lol

[@WarchiefPeebs]

@Tad Cooper I ain't fussy enough to care about that. I want good old fashion nerdy lore give me story. This didnt do that.

[@Sargaxiist2022]

Part of me wonders if... *tinfoil hat time* This shit ending is a fake. Part of me wants to believe that there will be a mythic only phase, and cinematic. I can hope cant i?

[@ivresse6199]

Then people would start complaining that only mythic players get to view the true ending. Everyone just wants to complain about something.

[@Sargaxiist2022]

@@ivresse6199 you have a point but they could use the reasoning that its behind mythic difficulty because it's the last and most powerful old god.

[@Djynni]

I can always count on Taliesin to give us a 360 degree perspective. Thanks!

[@IceCrystalWolf]

"I'd do anything for my glorious tentacly daddy" - Taliesin, 2020

[@Maliwaan]

When I tune in and have tali sitting there in a jumper and the intro music I feel truly at peace for a second. Like I’m sitting in doors on a cold Sunday with the heating up and have a nice brew. Then the shit show...obviously.

[@SmugHomura]

Remember when Wow felt like an epic D&D adventure instead of a fucking Marvel movie? I absolutely detest this 'special snowflake' story telling my character has been subjected to.

[@kaizoulol]

Zivon K?

[@SmugHomura]

@@kaizoulol What are you even trying to say?

[@KheiaMedcherKhaine]

The ending convergence of beams reminds me of the ending of Cataclysm, where the 4 aspects channel into the Dragon/Demon Soul to destroy Deathwing, another "Blizzard poetic irony" that sees Wrathion take full revenge.

[@thatonegeeksite5251]

I like the direction they’re taking with your character being noticed. FFXIV has been doing it for years, with major cutscenes always taking place with in-game graphics. I always loved the interaction between your hero and the characters in that game. Hopefully Shadowlands will have your hero play an even bigger role. - NVJ

[@SoulOfFenrir]

Except the animation makes it look like a bad cartoon from the 80s with stiff movement and weird contorted mouths. At least 14 keeps it minimum but epic. WoW ones just look bad and wrong.

[@thatonegeeksite5251]

SoulOfFenrir yeah they definitely need to give more time to the animations. I can’t stand the way they talk and none of their movements look natural. I hope it’s something they’re working at improving.

[@Skollshorties]

Heroes of Azeroth: "N'zoth we're here to end you!" N'zoth: "A'right I'm gonna head out."

[@Blodyqueef]

As usual Tali you bring light to my darkened impression of WoW, and for that I thank you. However, as much as I agree With you, and you’re right we needed more closure, to me it seems like blizz writers and devs just gave up. All that awesome build up and they just shit all over it. But again your video shed light on my loathing for the cinematic, but I still believe they just gave up and, for me, ruined such a great villain. Only shadowlands will tell.

[@Grauhuf88]

What my thoughts were when N'zoth was defeated there, or what I have been asking myself generally since I started the quests in 8.3: How exactly do we know what is vision and what is not?

[@MriInterocitor]

I like what’s there. But ending without anything about that zone-sized sword is a weird misstep.

[@ArmedPotat0]

I guess Blizzard kinda forgot about big ass sword that was killing the planet.

[@archdruidbookwalter951]

I had an idea that Wrathion would trap the remains of N'zoth in the blade of the black empire, then Sylvanas would show up and kidnap him to the shadowlands, giving a character ending AND connecting it to the next expansion.

[@Shikaschima]

Regarding where Xalatath went: In his scales. If I remember correctly, their clothes and weapons turn into their scales when they change into their true form.

[@brunom7162]

Where did you get that information from?

[@Shikaschima]

@@brunom7162 The novels. Specifically Proudmoore, when Kalec describes it.

[@saltygrump]

Man you're accuracy on guessing upcoming stuff is incredible haha

[@sardonicspartan9343]

Ny'alotha should have been a zone. In general 8.3 is low effort.

[@PoldaranOfDalaran]

The Visions portion being 8.3 and the new zone/raid being in 8.3.5? That would have been cool.

[@MegaChickenfish]

I really like your theorycrafting on how adding to the scene would have helped immensely. I can just picture the shot of Wrathion watching the black empire dissolve with a beaming grin on his face, only to appear with the raid in Uldum, *and the dagger crackling wildly in front of him.* His eyes dart around before quickly pocketing it. One last pan of the camera over towards Silithus's sword. End scene, transition to some final questline in Silithus where we deal with the sword once and for all.

[@fsgajdfgasdfasdf230]

To be honest I usually side with Taliesin and really appreciate his positive outlook on the game, BUT this review was pretty disheartening for me and I’m sure it will be for a lot of others. Without going into all of the things I did not like (player power at extreme levels, very poor quality, unoriginal ending, etc.) I honestly thought taliesin would be the first to be upset by something like this. After all WOW is his livelihood. He literally makes a living off of this game and therefore it’s success is his success. Nothing could have been worse for the end of BFA than what this cinematic has done. The subs will flock away, no one cares to fight Nzoth (he was built up so much but what a lame ending). I honestly lost a tiny bit of respect for you because if there was ever a time to be critical (and I mean more critical) now is that time. Even if it was for your sake. All the best tali, you always keep me entertained, but unfortunately this game does not anymore....

[@TaliesinEvitel]

But... you seem to be agreeing with a lot of our criticisms... are you sure you disagree with us?

[@fsgajdfgasdfasdf230]

Taliesin & Evitel First off - greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond. I cannot stress that enough. Unfortunately though, I do still stick with my original stance. It seems to me that your criticisms were that Blizzard set the bar too high and that was their downfall (kind of a sad thought in itself). You seemed to enjoy the fact that your player was the center of attention for the expansion finale, something that I think is a serious problem. The game has made us feel too powerful, too invincible. Think of the importance to the story that having a final expansion cinematic has (I realize you said this should have happened so we definitely agree there). There is a reason that the lore characters need to kill lore characters. Because that is how the story has to be told. Imagine if the players had killed the LK or the players had killed Guldan (Legion) how much that would take away from Bolvar or Tirion as characters. I know that there might still be a cinematic coming with the mythic raid (I am holding on hope here) but if this is left as is I truly believe this expansion will end with a thud and be largely looked back on as the worst expansion to date. Which is sad because the raids were great and story showed so much promise. Sorry for rambling and again thanks for showing that you read my comment, means a lot.

[@fsgajdfgasdfasdf230]

Taliesin & Evitel Thanks again to you and Evitel for all the work you do to entertain and inform us. I know a lot of people will trash this video and even thought I don’t 100% agree with it I can absolutely respect that you made it knowing full well the responses probably wouldn’t be very good. You showed the grit to stick by your work when even blizzard would not keep it uploaded. Cheers and don’t let these people get to you.

[@Ajan-X]

I am amazed by how much you got out these short cutscenes. I wonder if you'd manage to make 20 minutes worth of content if they'd release a 5 seconds long cinematic.

[@Complication84]

there was nothing "cool" about this ending cinematic...

[@Akylos09]

Just you wait for Mythic... I am convinced that something else eill happen

[@captainglutenfree]

I must ask with the upcoming addition to the family, will the shit show “take” change? On other notes the lack of creativity on Blizzards part from this point on seems to be just a cash grab because they know the end of WOW is near.

[@insanemang9983]

One of the biggest enemies that was built up for over 10 years gets destroyed by words of encouragement and the beam of friendship. This some game of thrones finale type shit right here.

[@TheBystander3]

Yo! New T&E video! ....posted 24 seconds ago. Wow.

[@stormstrider1990]

This ending would have been more fitting if the expansion focused entirely on Queen Azshara and N'zoth, with Zandalar and Kul Tiras as the staging grounds for the naga invasion. The faction war was completely pointless, and succeeded only in dividing the player base, mainly Horde players. At least there were some good things that came out of it, like allied races and a decent raid.

[@jaysonseppala354]

Feels like a GoT ending.

[@ElexysVi]

Nice vid and also happy birthday Tali :D

[@FiabaVade]

You expect Ny'alotha greatness, exploring it and be part of it. Revealing a potential for a whole expansion. And that expansion could be dedicated just to N'zoth and that place and so many people would love it. But then you get a death star beam and vulpera. God King Skovald have more story then N'zoth. Blizz really needs to improve narrative, in my opinion that is the biggest flaw. And by the way Magni... what about to remove that giant sword from the ground and actually heal Azeroth?

[@heyitschrislol]

I think you hit the nail on the head with what the cinematic was lacking. But I think more important than Wrathion’s “sigh”, is the “sigh” from the regular citizens to add to the theme of us all being a child of Azeroth and to further emphasize how this wasn’t just an attack on the Horde or Alliance. It needed, something like: - A pan to Pandaria and a scared Lin Lin cowering behind her uncle (or was it father?) as he protects her when suddenly the Mogu stop attacking in confusion. - Cut to a grieving quest NPC who lost someone to N’zoth’s corruption, and have her eyes dancing as they reflect the scene she is fixed upon: the crumbling towers of N’zoth. -Cut to another quest NPC (I don’t know ) -THEN cut to Wrathion overlooking his life’s work; -Bonus, throw in a quick scene somewhere that gets everyone riled up with speculation (aka the N’zoth stabber clearly being seen tucked away in Wrathion’s belt)