Why the Ghostlands are a PERFECT WoW Zone + Lore Theory! | World of Warcraft

[@brunopereira6789]

My headcanon/theory for the presence of the night elves in the Ghostlands is that this zone actually happens *after* the draenei starting zone. In Bloodmyst, the draenei and night elves encounter evil blood elves allied with the Legion and using dark magic. Thus, it would make sense for the night elves to think "what the hell is going on with the blood elves?" and send this expedition to the Ghostlands.

[@Jediwarlock]

I've never thought of that before but it makes sense! :D

[@_shannons]

I was always disappointed the blood elf/forsaken interaction seemed to end in the Ghostlands in quests.

[@Jediwarlock]

Me too! I can't think of any other examples in Classic which is a shame since I think that could have been a really interesting dynamic to explore.

[@mcsmash4905]

tbh once you leave the draenei and blood elf areas it all goes back to bussiness as usual with the only difference being that there are representatives of the two races present in various areas

[@stephanseidl7625]

Didnt think a vid about the ghostlands would pop up in 2022 nice job

[@stephanseidl7625]

@@Jediwarlock yeah, nostalgia hit like a truck

[@Machida209]

2024: hold my beer

[@killerwasp102]

Eversong Woods + Ghostlands is my #1 favorite place to quest. I have urges to specifically play through these zones when I get stressed

[@Jediwarlock]

It's such a well put-together combo of zones! :D

[@rosspritchett8423]

That's hilarious. I can totally relate. I'm positive that the most excited I've ever been in my life was the lead up and release of TBC

[@mcsmash4905]

man i told myself 20 times id stop playing wow and then i randomly find videos like this which take me back immediately

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, we can never truly escape can we XD

[@mcsmash4905]

@@Jediwarlock indeed we cannot

[@SnowRevol54]

the great thing about the blood elf starter zones is they are entirely Inside the free trial scaling level limit range. meaning you can go back but don't have to pay a sub again yet.

[@mr.whistler6114]

The healing land theory makes total sense, but I still think Night Elves went there also to spy on the Blood Elves. On all three outposts, there's only warrior types mobs you can find, all the druids are camping at the main base, and there's quite the army at each post. Maybe this is because they just arrived and were still scouting the Ghostlands before sending the druids, or maybe they were getting ready to take over the region. But thing is that in the Draenei starting zones, you have to deal with BE and NE are also there helping you. They know something is off with the Blood elves. If you see the narration of both starting zones in a chronological order, then it makes sense that the Night elves sended spies to Eversong woods and troops into the Ghostlands to clear things out.

[@Jediwarlock]

I like your thoughts a lot!! :) thank you for the thoughtful comment.

[@cole8834]

Night Elves basically see the High Elves as utterly debased, and the reason the Legion came into Azeroth in the first place. Pure pragmatism got the Night Elves to work with the Horde and Alliance in WC3. With Quel'thalas ceding from the Alliance inbetween WoW and WC3, and the Horde's encroachment into Ashenvale; The Night Elves had pretty good reason to then join the Alliance IMO. Doesn't mean that the NElves weren't originally peaceful in Ghostlands/Eversong, but they also DO really hate the now BLOOD Elves who started drinking straight demon juice.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good thoughts! After reading all your comments and considering new evidence, I think it's very likely that the Night Elves could have been there to both heal the land and put up a front against the Blood Elves after discovering they are dependent on fel energy. :)

[@slushg3326]

The Night Elves loathe both blood elves and Nightborne and would do anything to get rid of both. The personal hatred Tyrande has for The Nightborne in particular always really fascinated me considering how she was raised in Suramar something both she and Thalyssra comment on during the Legion storyline in different ways. I do not necessarily subscribe to the belief that the Night Elves came to Quel’Thalas to heal anything considering their hatred for what they see as magic crazed elves if Blood Elves did not fall to Fell maybe things would have been different however. The Night Elves are probably one of the least accepting races in WoW.

[@dreamermagister8561]

Yes but i think it was more about the fel than the horde as we know, belfa didnt join the horde untill after the campaign in the ghostlands ended.

[@_shannons]

As to the nightelves in Ghostlands being spies or land healers, I suspect the answer is both.

[@Jediwarlock]

That's a good way of looking at it! My theory is by no means perfect and it's been interesting to see people's reactions to it. :)

[@DaDunge]

Certainly but just spies because the night elves don't trust the high elves not to blow up the world again.

[@icyknightmare4592]

Something that always bugged me about the Ghostlands, and Quel'thalas in general, is how ALL of the architecture is stereotypically Blood Elf, with red everywhere from Sunstrider Isle down to the border of the Eastern Plaguelands. IMO it would have been much more fitting for many of the structures in Eversong, and all of the structures in Ghostlands to be in High Elf blue. After all, the vast majority of it would have been build by the High Elves prior to the Third War, before the idea of Blood Elves even existed, and it's not like the 6-7% of pre-war elven population remaining in the area would have prioritized rebranding over survival. Examples of what this would have looked like were shipped with Burning Crusade too; See the Allerian Stronghold in Terrokar. Red Blood Elf architecture feels more appropriate for areas newly built by Blood Elves in Outland, or the rebuilt half of Silvermoon. Having ruins in the Ghostlands in the same colors feels like a pretty big lore blunder on Blizzard's part.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree and appreciate the thoughts! Probably an oversight with the design team would be my guess. :)

[@DaDunge]

They also got Dath'remar and Anasterian sunstrider mixed up and Azuremyst and Bloodmyst feel half finished, my guess is the new started zones were made late in development and didn't get much time.

[@thesnep4757]

@@DaDunge I don't know how I've never realised that blunder with the shrine on Sunstrider Isle.

[@therealdoc]

It's also be entirely possible the forsaken deliberately misconstrued the intentions of the night elves in the ghostlands to forge a bond between them and the horde. Considering that the leader of the forsaken is also Sylvanas Windrunner, it probably wasn't too difficult to get the blood elves to hop on board with whatever they suggested.

[@Jediwarlock]

I love that thought! I can totally see that happening looking at the Forsaken's track record of doing sneaky stuff ;)

[@Anudorini-Talah]

Go play wc3… alliance abandoned the blood elves.

[@andrewellisonlee]

Garithos had a hand in the Blood Elves, not trusting the alliance.

[@flameknightdragon]

@@andrewellisonlee thing is though he was from lorderon aka the people that are now the forsaken

[@Jaquan018]

​@@flameknightdragon Where he was from doesn't matter. He still represents the Alliance and acted with their authority.

[@RadarFinsR]

Jedi the type of guy to take a screen shot of the first time his character met the warchief. AND I LOVE IT

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, thanks! Also, true! XD

[@GustavoNoronha]

Love the video, still remember fondly of the first time I found that necklace and saw Sylvanas singing, got goose bumps. I like the theory about the NElfs being there to heal the land. That song is one of many variations of the elven theme, though, you'll hear it in Suramar, for instance, and I'm pretty sure it is present somewhere in classic as well.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the comment! :) Yes, the song I believe is originally from the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus and has been used elsewhere but is probably most well-known on Shalandis Isle :)

[@BasketChase98]

I always really liked the presence of Nerubian scourge in the ghostlands, as geographically, it’s the same area as the level in the scourge campaign where they first become available as troops in Warcraft 3. Always thought that was a nice touch.

[@Jediwarlock]

Ooh that's great!! :)

[@CRBarchager]

Ironically my first experience with WoW as on Ghostlands EU server as a Night-Elf Warrior 14 days before TBC was released. With the release of TBC I re-rolled as a Blood-elf Mage and started my journey through Evversong Woods and Ghostlands. After playing through the zones I was guided to Tbe Barrens by a couple of IRL friends so I could "experience" the "best" vanilla zone for leveling my horde charecter. I've leveled over a dozen charecters since then and Eversong Woods + Ghostlands along side Mulgore are some of the best zones for me.

[@Jediwarlock]

Ah, good memories! :)

[@leonardceres9061]

These types of videos I enjoy actually watching on my television while relaxing. THIS is the type of content I enjoy related to WoW. neat little dives into lore or obscure corners of the game. Like a version of WoW Believe it Or Not!

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm glad you are enjoying my videos! :D

[@neeklahs]

yes, but Tyrande wanted to destroy the nightborne magic well just to do it even before the pillar thing. it's likely that they wanted to attack Quel'thalas for the simple fact that they hated the arcane before wotlk and tbc. In addition to being so they would be neutral, but they are totally hostile even before the Sin'dorei join the horde. There's even that book about Malfurion and the murderous Sin'dorei where he says his people have never invaded the home of the Sin'dorei yet all the Kaldorei present in Quel'thalas are sentinel combatants, they're not druids, they're not The Cenarion Circle, they are warriors, the spies carry shit about Silvermoon defences.

[@Jediwarlock]

You make some good points my friend! I haven’t read the other books on this lore but I definitely agree there is some enmity between the two groups. :)

[@renaultellis6188]

Night Elves can smell demon blood. After the events in Outland and the obvious fel taint evident in the Sin'dorei's eyes, it's understandable the Night Elves went hostile and started undermining their efforts to rebuild

[@neeklahs]

@@Jediwarlock yeah but Quel'thalas sin'dorei don't have demon blood, and the green eyes are coz blood elves have enslaved demons as magic batteries in the city, also Quel'thalas incursions were from earlier than the things in the Draenei starting zone, also Night elves build a entire garrison like thing in the area, few mon wells and they wanted to fuck the arcane sanctum, Not the batteries made of demons, after all the dwarven spy and the Kaldorei spies were only in the Sanctums, they even tried to use the lay lines. The eye thing is quite new, and in the starting zone by lore you you shouldn't have green eyes, after all you were using the arcane torrent to steal mana from other life forms, not even from demons, the only demonic influence was the use of demons as source of power for the city facilities.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Eh, they may be in Sentinel garb, but could be remnants of Maiev's salty wardens, trying to get back at the Illidari through the Bloodelves. Or Fandral false flagging. Tyrande left on good terms with *Kael* Legion wasn't written till much later and can't be taken of evidence for writer intent in BC, but even if it COULD she had a personal grudge with the Suramar Highborne for just fucking noping out of the fight. It was HER hometown, and the majority of its nobility refused to fight.

[@Sigxy]

The part about Malfurion saying the night elves never attacked Quel'Thalas was a mistake which the writer admitted on Twitter.

[@captaingunnstar]

Just started a blood elf character, and gotta say this video has been on my mind. As a brand new player to wow / wow classic, I gotta say the zone designs of eversong is so interesting. From the scar to the dead forests, it leaves me wondering what powerful magic that caused its destruction.

[@Jediwarlock]

Some of my favorite zones!! Thanks for the comment :)

[@Rasmus0909]

If you play the campaign in Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne you will actually be the main character in causing the destruction :-)

[@PiotrekNineT]

The theory about the night elfs makes so much more sense then what is presented in the game and it even makes for a more compelling and fleshed out lore background to round up why the blood elfs turned on the Alliance. No matter if this was intended or not, thats definitely head canon for me from this point onward

[@Jediwarlock]

Agreed :)

[@-XStream237-]

My first character was a BE Paladin mostly because back then I still loved Paladins as a concept, Warrior Healers sort of thing and combined with my love of Star Wars as a Lore it made sense (as it does to yourself based on the channel username). "Jedi". I fell in love with the Warcraft lore back in Warcraft 3, the whole Arthas story being quite similar to Anakin's fall, and when we met Sylvanas & Quelthalas as a region I just knew that they will be my favorite playable race in the future if a mmo were to happen (that was before WoW came out). Ghostlands will always be one of my favorite places because you can see so much history and pain in it but the resilience of the elves coming through. I also remember exploring and somehow ended up venturing so far ahead that I ended up taking the portal towards the Plaguelands and obviously getting obliterated immediately. Garithos really ruined the diplomatic relations between the elves and the rest of the Alliance.. I can't say that I am a big fan of the Alliance either (I did enjoy playing as a Draenai though) but it was tragic to lose the blood elves just like that.

[@Jediwarlock]

My favorite comment I've read this month!! I appreciate the thoughts and you sharing your story. :) My very first character was a human mage named "Jediknight" and was likewise named because of my childhood Star Wars phase (which I suppose I never grew out of, haha). Moved on to "Jediwarlock" and that's the one who has stuck with me the longest. :) I actually made a video awhile back comparing Arthas and Anakin so it's funny you pointed that out! Always good to meet a fellow Ghostlands enjoyer... have a great day! :D

[@-XStream237-]

True, I'm still a SW fanboy that kinda hates what they're doing to the franchise but that's a whole different story haha, at least the Mandalorian is good. Will have to check that comparison video of yours as I'm quite curious :D "The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural" Man I miss my childhood sometimes when life was simpler. Just hardcore grinding BC & WotLK. (still my favorite expansions) the music in Storm Peak was so hauntingly good. Anyway, sorry for the long comments, I tend to get carried away sometimes about the things that I enjoy.

[@SonGoku5363]

im an alliance player but i have so many fond memories of levelling my blood elf alt in this zone towards the end of TBC

[@Jediwarlock]

Blood Elf zones are SO GOOD! :)

[@jay18001]

These videos are amazing dude. Discovered your channel today and I've been bingeing when I can! The Ghostlands are my favourite region in the entire game (partly because I spent far too long levelling there as a 10 year old back in the day) and you've managed to put my feelings about the place into words. Keep doing what you're doing, and I hope your channel keeps growing

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much for the thoughtful comment! :) Ghostlands are probably in my Top 5 zones of all time... I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@avagardra]

This is definitely my favorite starting experience, across both versions of the game. I think the whole area is so immersive and beautiful. As a kid who didn’t understand how to level i spent dozens of hours here.

[@Jediwarlock]

Agreed! Couldn't have said it better myself! :)

[@Commander_Pandashan]

I highly agree about the night Elf theory which is true the same way malfurion went to lorderon to heal their lands... its the same approach to ghost land... i always thought about it that way, its very unique Discovery ❤ thank you for bringing it up after so many years ❤ rip night elves expedition 🌑🍀

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! I do like that comparison to Malfurion in Lordaeron. :)

[@jg_jgjg]

This is amazing. I’ve played through this zone for over 10 years, but I’ve never considered why the Night Elves were there

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much! I've had some mixed feedback on my Night Elf theory but I think it's interesting to introduce some more nuance rather than just "the Night Elves are bad" kind of story :)

[@stevenstone307]

I always thought this was by far, the best 2nd levelling zone for any race. I absolutely love it, one of the best designed zones ever.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yeah! :D

[@Blobby90]

it's so good that after 20 years people still speculate about older zones :)

[@Jediwarlock]

Yeah :) They are timeless!

[@lief3414]

Thanks for this suggestion. Never really bothered with the Ghostlands given how tedious and monotonous Eversoong woods were and how they compete with the home that is Crossroads. I've recently ventured to Dustwallow March just so I try new zones while lvling and I was blown away by how dense and atmospheric it was. So naturally I've started looking for other zones that are arguably better than the golden standarts such as The Barrens, Westfall or STV yet often ignored. I'll make sure my next char goes through the Ghostlands no matter what.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the thoughtful comment! :) Dustwallow in my opinion is a great zone, at least for Alliance, and there are so many awesome quest lines there!

[@GriffinMuffin]

Just wanted to say I really enjoy your videos. I'm very busy with full time work, family and my other hobbies to consider playing WoW again. And besides, even I played again, I don't think I'd enjoy it as much as I think. But this game was apart of my formative years and remembering these quests is heart-warming. So thanks a bunch.

[@Jediwarlock]

I'm so glad to hear that! If I'm helping recapture those memories and unlock some new mysteries then I am accomplishing my job here on YT :)

[@LackingASoul]

As an alliance andy myself, whenever i'm bored with the game, i play through the ghostlands questlline, i adore the scourge, the belfs and the forsaken so much.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good choice! :D Couldn't have said it better myself!

[@drkA666]

Firstly: I love your videos that I binge watch since I found your channel a few days ago. But I must say that the theory that implies Night Elves are there to heal the land is absurd because this land has no more value to their "protect the nature" mindset than any other land around, but they decide to intervene rather than in the Plague lands or the Forsaken zones nearby which are ecologically literally dying.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you are enjoying them :) You make good points XD ... the theory part of this vid is not the most solid but I felt like introducing the concept and see what people thought of it... the feedback is appreciated and I agree to a certain extent. Something I had thought of is if there is a difference between Fel and Scourge corruption such that the Night Elves are able to cleanse demonic taint but have not yet found reliable cures for the undead areas. Could explain why in Felwood, Darkshore, elsewhere the Elf storylines revolve heavily around corruption and cleansing it, but there is substantially less of that in the places you had mentioned. Just an idea ;)

[@theoutlander1411]

In Warcraft 3, Malfurion did take some time out of hunting Illidan to cleanse the land. It wouldn't be too out of character for them to go there. As for the Forsaken, that area is Horde territory and thus dangerous.

[@majmop]

love hearing the appreciation for 350 subs and here we sit at almost 16.5k

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! We've come a long way :)

[@Dingdongfuggas]

Your content about wow really reminds me of how old wow content felt to watch, very comfy. hope you do more exploration content regarding WoW and maybe delve into the expansions.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! I definitely plan on doing more WoW exploration and theory videos... I'm glad the old-school WoW vibe is showing in these videos! :)

[@BrawlUniversity]

Some of your best work yet, keep it up!

[@count_of_monte_cristo]

I started to play World of Warcraft around 2008. My first character was an undead, but after the cruelty, the hatred and mindless followin of Sylvanas Windrunner - I had to delete that 4 level character. After that moment, I felt a passion to start a blood elf. And I did. This was my journey with blood elves. I loved this race, because of they are in the horde, but never felt the tipical horde feeling like "lok tar ogar" or something like that. I never liked the horde, even if I had to help them, the elves never been accepted by other horde races, Even the forseakens just saw an ally whose can use against the Lich King. So I played lot of characters, magis, paladins, priests, locks, death knights, warriors, hunters in the past, tasted the demon hunter and got new vision from the outlandic times - when we had to kill as blood elves another blood elves - and the demon hunter story caused a little confusion about the quel thalan passion. I felt I misjudge the followers of Kael'Thas and Illidan and the history shows the real indicatioin of those doings. So it caused... when the void elf were added as playable races on th Alliance, I left all of my old characters in horde side. With years and lot of work on those characters, I loved the blood elves and its not changed, but after years of "victory or death" and "lok tar ogar" I changed side. So now, I feel a tlittle home myself again, because the Alliance much better side (the harmony, the policy, the goals) without bloodthirst, and they have got the high elf and void elf hatred too, but they could much better handle this. I am feeling now, something should happen around Quel Thalas, they should reunite the elves of Silvermoon, even if they swore to other fractions. After the blizzcon, I fear a little about the elven future. After the years of pain and sacrafice, they should reunite and rebuilt the glory of Dath'Remas's legay - and the World Soul saga 2. part will take place on here. This tells me, lot of sacrafice, pain and blood will come with this new expansion - to the elves. But thank you for this video, I really liked it! A feel a great loss about the night elves there, but probably it was the forsakens conspiracy to keep the elves on the horde's way, their way to against the Lich King to fulfill their vengeance.

[@Jediwarlock]

Love your thoughts on this! Thank you for those details :) I agree!

[@learningagain4094]

Honestly, the only time I've ever played Horde in a classic/vanilla private server was a Blood Elf Paladin and those first two zones were some of the best I've ever played. The downside of course being you go straight to the barrens after those two masterpieces -_-

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes, Blizzard really hit a home run with the Quel'thalas zones! :) The Barrens is just such a big zone it has a lot going on and can be very tedious to travel around especially without a mount! T_T

[@DIEGhostfish]

I rather liked the Barrens, but not sure I did much Horde till fairlt late BC or even Wrath.

[@lilfur]

I have nothing but fond memories of Ghostlands, as every hordie I've ever rolled, eventually made it to ghostlands cause the zone is so great.

[@Jediwarlock]

I am glad you see its greatness too! ;) One of the best

[@Nexiusify]

I love how the ghost lands is established, the plots given fit the blood elf lore and established it at the same time before defeating the traitor Darkhan. The build up and establishment of zul Amans existence and the enmity of the Forrest trolls and the pulling of the elves into the horde and the slight it is to the trolls. And the spying of the night elves instead of trying to bring the sindorei into the alliance they try to harm their expansion and friendship with the forsaken.

[@Jediwarlock]

YES! :) Great thoughts!

[@simonhendrickx6884]

Defenately my favourite WoW channel, keep up the good work!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! More on the way :)

[@1997Gorko]

My first character was a Blood Elf, and I finished in Ghostlands. This was my first zone, and as a kid, I went to the Eastern Plaguelands afterward. I couldn’t figure out why the high-level zombies with the 'skull' symbol were one-shotting me. I didn’t really know where to go

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, yeah, if you didn't do the main story with the teleporter in Silvermoon you really were out of luck! :o

[@senbonzakurakageyoshi662]

Bro, don't stop making videos! I love this kind of WoW content!

[@Jediwarlock]

More on the way! :)

[@onethreeify]

I never paid much attention to Ghostlands, even though I've been through it many times. Thank you for giving me a completely new perspective on it!

[@Jediwarlock]

You are very welcome! :)

[@nickykasan]

I absolutely love these lore videos. I enjoy the dives you do into the lesser known side of wow while also giving your own 2 cents on some topics and what you think may be happening. Keep it up. You'll be huge one day.

[@Jediwarlock]

Hey, thank you so much! :) I appreciate the kind words.

[@brandenlikesbeer]

The ghostlands really is amazing and one of my favorite zones.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yesss! I'm glad we are in agreement on this. :)

[@Verilee1970]

This zone was noteworthy at the time for promising blue items at the end of the zone's rep story; this was huge because you'd only be in the low 20s and no one in vanilla ever dreamed of having blue items in the low 20s. The worst part about Ghostlands back then was that you had to look forward to 40 long levels of old content before you'd reach Outland, where all the zones were as expertly crafted as this one was. Of course, Outland is no longer considered expertly crafted by many, but it sure was back in 2007.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the info! You make some very good points... after levelling in Vanilla I'm sure it was disappointing to many blood elf players that you couldn't jump straight to Outland! XD

[@samwise1790]

To say people in vanilla couldnt dream of blue items in the low 20s is not quite correct. Both factions are guaranteed a blue item, at least one, if they do the first dungeon (RFC excluded) of their faction, wailing caverns or the deadmines. It was not uncommon to see even characters in the mid high teens with these, I know on my first ever play through I had the blue quest reward staff from deadmines at about level 17. It was however new to have a blue non dungeon quest reward that early, doubly so that it was also faction rep based.

[@jacobbkgaard6735]

Great video! :D Your content is without question S-tier! :) The title kinda bugs me though .. Wouldn't the correct grammar either be: 1) "Why the Ghostlands are PERFECT WoW Zones" (plural) or 2) "Why the Ghostlands is a PERFECT WoW Zone" (singular)..? Since Ghostlands is a single zone 2) is probably the correct option. On a side note, I believe it's just called "Ghostlands" (not 'the' Ghostlands). Had the video been on EPL the title would probably have been "Why Eastern Plaguelands is a PERFECT WoW Zone" (leaving out 'the' entirely). Which means the hidden 3rd option ("Why Ghostlands is a PERFECT WoW Zone") is probably the actual answer. But heck, english isn't my first language and I genuinely suck at grammar. So if any grammar-loving person reads this, please don't hesitate writing a comment with the correct answer :) ... On another side note ... leave the title as is. It forces mindless zombies and ghouls from Ghostlands (like me) to comment silly stuff like this xD Feed the algorithm! And keep up the great content :)

[@Jediwarlock]

I appreciate your feedback haha I will look into this XD

[@Yhdyssanakoe]

My favourite zone! 💕 Really good analysis of Ghostlands :) also you have a nice voice, subscribed!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks so much! :) I'm glad you enjoyed this!

[@BewitchCraft]

I've always loved the aesthetic of the Ghostlands and am sad they never really revisited that style. The green notches against the grey trees are my favorite. The blue grass, idk its just nice. I'm also sad we never got another area that looks like the Worgen starting zone really.

[@Jediwarlock]

Agreed! I wonder if they will revisit the Ghostlands after War Within... and very true with Gilneas!

[@shaharluxenburg4640]

My first character was a blood elf paladin. It took me over a month to complete those two zones. After that, I was directed to the barrens where I encountered savanna wildlife - and was in total shock. After battling elves, undead, and other typical rpg enemies for so long, it downed on me how huge and diverse the world of warcraft actually is. It was then and there I fell in love with the game.

[@Jediwarlock]

The game does a great job of feeling like it contains a whole world... and then even more! :D

[@tsulong]

I love the questing experience in the ghostlands, it's definitely one of my favorites in the whole game. When some friends and I were leveling there in wrath classic, they didn't even look at wowhead or questy to see where to go for quests, they just asked me bc I know them all by heart 🤣 Very interesting theory about the night elf presence! I might have to go replay the zone yet again to look for clues that would support the theory further.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the comment! Definitely one of the best zones in my opinion! :D

[@erischaos]

The first time I ventured to Ghostlands was on my nelf hunter - one of the things I love about hunters is the ability to track hidden, beasts, humanoids, etc., on the minimap and know what sort of interaction to expect from the color grading. I had been surprised to find the spies near Quel'thalas after having accidentally run through one of the Kal'dorei camps set up and hearing the familiar music there. The music was one that I had already associated with healing... and made me wonder even back then if the spies were there to report to Fandral, who I never trusted. (While I love grumpy characters usually, his overall attitude was highly sus to me, and made me roll my eyes when he did his villain reveal spiel in Firelands. Like, duh, obviously.) So, were they there to heal the land? I think the answer is actually yes... but their mission was hampered by outside forces, namely Fandral Staghelm. Fandral would've interfered by sending some troops to help secure base camps for the druids safety - after all, the druids need to concentrate on the land and that's hard to do if they are constantly having to protect themselves from mindless scourge. Fandral, having selected the troops, would then have been easily been able to place some of his own to act as spies without ^Tyrande knowing about it. I think the fact that there were spies which the blood elves noticed meant that the healing of the land would never have worked because the blood elves reasonably assumed (due to noticing the spies) this was the precursor to an attack. ^Not that I think it would've been hard to do so without alerting Tyrande since she's always been too far up her own butt, but that's just my opinion...... but seriously, she didn't notice Malfurion growing weaker and weaker despite her claims in Legion that she would sit beside him to watch him sleep? ...meanwhile various lower lvl npcs all over the place in the previous expansions were talking about how the druids in the Emerald Dream were in danger, or dying, or dead... oh, but we can't tell her about the druids who had been killed in the barrows because _she's busy..._ which apparently means standing around doing nothing in the Temple of the Moon?😒 Yeah, I'm still a little salty.

[@Jediwarlock]

EXCELLENT comment! :D ...I've been thinking about this theory a lot lately and I totally agree! With Fandral and Tyrande arguing about the military, night elf society, etc. it makes sense this expedition could have included agents of Fandral along with a more peaceful group of elves. Thank you for your thoughts!

[@mickharper4995]

Ghostlands are an awesome playthrough, I generally play alliance but created a BE Pala to have a look, really enjoyed the whole area.

[@Jediwarlock]

BElf Paladin is such an iconic time :)

[@ArdropMusic]

Very interesting video! Really had me calm down after a long day of work. Thanks and keep it up :)

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

[@SvenS2]

The whole Blood Elf starting zone experience is AMAZING! I used to always level up my characters there if trainers for the class were present

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes! :D

[@pjtorresjr]

Great lore vid breakdown of the Ghostlands..... nicely done!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much! :)

[@prophecyking3448]

Tranquillen rep was added without a Draenei counterpart because Horde was one faction short because they had no equivalent of Winterspring Frostsaber Trainers

[@Jediwarlock]

True! I had forgotten that XD

[@DaDunge]

20:00 Well Night elves and High Elves have a problematic past.

[@Myrdden71]

Very nice! Fills me with nostalgia from when I made my first paladin in WoW, a Bloodelf paladin!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! Blood Elf paladins are super interesting from a lore perspective! Great choice :)

[@longdrinkmcg]

i can't remember the last time i actually continued leveling a blood elf beyond ghostlands, but i can say for certain that, as an alliance player, i feel a strong need to go back through eversong and ghostlands at least once a year or so. it really is a great pairing of zones that has aged very well. i think maybe it's about time for another spin :)

[@Jediwarlock]

True!! I feel the same :) I might even make a remastered video on this afterward!

[@arcadeprip7961]

First of, great video! (It has been a while since I have played WoW so forgive me if I misremember) But in relation to the Alliance/Bloodmyst Isle rewards, I distinctly remember there being a tabard as a reward - I don't think it was part of a reputation, but instead a reward at the end of a long quest chain. Furthermore, I am almost certain it was Draenei only? Again, probably not as cool as the outfits for blood elves in Ghostlands but still wanted to mention it for those who like to collect stuff :p

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! Yes, the Bloodmyst questline does have the tabard as a reward I believe (not sure if it's Draenai only or all Alliance if they do the Bloodmyst main questline). They were SO close to adding the Hand of Argus as a faction (like Tranquillien) and I'm a little bummed they missed the opportunity!

[@sordschie3944]

Its one of my favourite zones ever, nice Video!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! :)

[@MrBlancify]

You forget that we literally can find night elf spies in Eversong Woods. Around one of the sanctums, they are invisible until you're near then. They drop a letter that starts a quest.

[@Jediwarlock]

This is true! The night elves are up to no good :o

[@jzayas5698]

I always loved Westfall and Duskwood ambience and questlines.

[@Jediwarlock]

Some of the best :)

[@Zapper1993]

And conveniently, the Forsaken don't have too much problem with undead corruption. Suspicious.

[@Jediwarlock]

Hmm... indeed XD

[@randymarshislorde]

Wow really lol, me and you both went Belf priest. 2 healer specs, one being Disc, and Shadow just looked fun to level as, I enjoyed ghostlands pretty much myself tbh. All things considered though, I don't have heirlooms as it was my first char since starting back, first time on classic, so it was admittedly kinda slow going. I gave up at around 26 and swapped over to a hunter, went from dying twice at level 23 on the 2 patchwerks walking around the zone, and eventually needing a group of 3 to beat them; to soling both while half asleep at level 18

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha thank you for the comment! I really like hearing about people's WoW stories... sounds like you've made quite the improvement lol

[@yaloops5349]

the main reason why the elves dont take aid from the alliance is because of the racism they faced from a general in warcraft three. Or rather why they would rather not take aid from them. Without the general in the story we might have seen the elves attacking the forsaken and allying with the night elves in the zone

[@Jediwarlock]

You make a good point! Garithos did a lot of damage in terms of elf-human relations and we definitely see those effects in TBC. :)

[@robinvandenakker9937]

Great video love the content. Always really enjoy the ghostlands and this video just adds to that enjoyment i love it

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much! One of my personal favorite videos I have ever made ;)

[@soulsharts]

The undead starting zone will always be my favorite, but the blood elf questlines are probably my 2nd favored. I've only played through dranaei, human and worgen on alliance, but I just didn't like them as much; though I can admit a heavy bias playing as horde 99% of my time played.

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, thank you for sharing! I appreciate it :)

[@MumboJ]

Didn't Draenei have a small faction of Furbolgs to befriend and uncorrupt? And wasn't there some draenei guardian faction trying to clear out Bloodmyst? I distinctly remember them getting a whole questline each. I'm honestly shocked that neither of them got a reputation bar.

[@Jediwarlock]

Yes! The Stillpine are one of the only uncorrupted tribes still on Azeroth... The Hand of Argus is what you are referring to and yes, it probably should have been a new reputation but for one reason or another Blizz decided not to finish it :(

[@jasonleader9248]

Love your content. Don’t let the algorithm get to you

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much! I'll try not to, haha

[@ludwigvannormayenn8657]

very cool video and awesome zone I see it with different eyes, but I already liked it before because of Warcraft 3 and the way it is shown in WoW Thanks a lot for your work :D

[@Jediwarlock]

Of course! Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@CruzellaDeParks]

Ghostlands is one of my fave zones to go through!

[@Jediwarlock]

Awesome! It’s definitely one of the greats :)

[@thorfinnius]

The blood elves are rightly pissed at all alliance Remember the high elves called for aid when Arthas came, no help was sent Doesn't matter if they are horde yet And now the alliance sends expeditions to 'heal' the land, more like build a colony on land they let become empty

[@Jediwarlock]

Good points!

[@scottbyers9258]

Ghostlands is hands down the best questing zone in WOW.

[@Jediwarlock]

It's so good! :D

[@fritzschnitzmueller3768]

Awesome video!

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you! One of my personal fave projects ;)

[@tylerbenjamin328]

Bro the fact that Draenai didn't have a faction thing like Tranquillen messed me up so bad. I kept looking online for thr quartermaster and it's like wow... you leave horde side decked in blues and alliance you have greens and maybe 1 blue item lol!

[@Jediwarlock]

You make good points! The counterargument to that is that the Alliance has the Wintersaber Trainer faction in Classic so technically the reputations are "balanced" but I definitely feel the annoyance of the Blood Elf/Draenai zones seeming unbalanced XD

[@talwal1400]

The night elf part is weird. I don't think they put too much thought into it. If you were to set up base in Horde claimed territory, in between Silvermoon and Undercity, even knowing you had a truce going you would most definitely send an official envoy first, ask for permission and clarify your intent. Going about it all sneakily is only bound to cause issues, not to mention war.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good points! :) I think there was that dwarf official envoy sent to Silvermoon but it didn’t really work out too well XD

[@DIEGhostfish]

Fandral or some of Maiev's followers probably behind it.

[@DIEGhostfish]

I love the Ghostlands, i do wish you could get to the top of that starter zone type towe easier and hang out there.

[@Jediwarlock]

That would be very cool! :)

[@DaDunge]

11:30 Well it sure as hell beats Bloodmyst Isle. Beats silverpine, the Barrens, Westfall, and Darkshore too. Loch Modan is basically the only challenger.

[@Jediwarlock]

You make a good point! :)

[@lucasgough288]

Loved the little Pint reference

[@Jediwarlock]

Haha, thank you! :D

[@lucasgough288]

@@Jediwarlock great video by the way. I absolutely love your video ideas. Every one is a fresh topic or unexplored mystery. Keep up the great work Jedi!

[@noahgorsuch]

Clear Alliance bias aside, good video

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks XD

[@mephistopheles4269]

Hello, I saw your swimming videos and liked them a lot. Maybe you can also try to swim around the ghostlands + eversong woods (or even Quel'Danas), because those zones are seperated from the Eastern kingdoms.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you very much for the comment! These "real" Quel'thalas zones are on my list for a future swimming episode! ;)

[@sampfrost]

on the no reason bit at the end, the blood elves are the high elves which if i remember were on on very close to the wrong side in the war of the ancients and pissed off from the night elves around the end of that war, don’t think they parted on good terms and the high elves save for the few in the alliance forces didn’t interact much with the night elves since most of them were putting out fires in the wake arenas invading them

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good points! I appreciate the feedback :) They were definitely not on friendly terms after the High Elves were exiled!

[@ez6791]

If there was a season of tbc. What are your thoughts on making ghostlands a high level zone (lvls 68-70). Both factions could have a hub there easily.. I think expansions suffer by focusing all the new level stuff onto the new continent. I wonder if TBC would feel better if some zones in outlands were levels 1-60 as well maybe in the 40+ range and some zones on azeroth being 60-70 to feel like a more complete and cohesive mmorpg like vanilla feels. I was thinking draenei starting quests could be like a scenario of playing in netherstorm (1-10) before they get on the ship and land in azuremyst (10-20). Maybe bloodmyst could be a higher level zone too. I do think its a shame this undead scar are just level 20 mobs especially when there's a lvl 70 raid in the same zone. Its just a bit anticlimactic to the forsaken army arthas sent. Deadwind pass could be a higher level zone too, so 3 higher level zones in azeroth and maybe make zangarmarsh terrokar or nagrand some lower level zones. Hellfire, blades edge, netherstorm and shadowmoon already feel high level

[@Jediwarlock]

I like that idea! :D It could almost be a mix of TBC and MoP Remix where they've played around with the level brackets a bit... I could very much see that! I think even adding a little instance/scenario for both the Draenei and Blood Elves could be very neat to explain some of that lore. Making Hellfire 50+ instead of 58+ could help alleviate some of that 50-60 grind and give players something new to look forward to. :)

[@DisastrousIntentionally]

I think the only problem with that Night Elf theory is that they are openly hostile towards the Blood Elf players. There is no attempt at communication, they attack on sight. Doesn't seem like the actions or behavior of a peaceful group simply on an expedition to restore the land.

[@Jediwarlock]

That's fair! I definitely have more mixed feelings about it now with all these great comments clarifying pieces of the story. :)

[@Faude18]

A counter point to your nightelf theory is the Kal'dorei spies close by Silvermoon.

[@Jediwarlock]

Good point! ;) I forgot about those sneaky guys!

[@torsteinlb]

I would love to see more of these zone specific videos, especially the Night elf ones 😻🤭

[@torsteinlb]

Felwood, Ashenvale, Darnassus, Moonglade and Feralas 👁️👄👁️ Imagineeeeeeee.

[@Jediwarlock]

I would love to cover more of those! :D Perhaps more are in order for the future ;)

[@torsteinlb]

@@Jediwarlock 😻😻😻

[@DIEGhostfish]

I started in BC, but the Horde were my sideshow, i had I think a troll amd a blood elf, I KNOW I did Ghostlands, but I forget on what class. Rogue maybe. But it game be a fairly rosy view of Sylvanus which made me unhappy with Cata Onward.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for sharing! Her character did start to change quite a bit after that point. :)

[@officialrobertcenox]

ghostlands ashenvale and helfire peninsula are pure nostalgia

[@Jediwarlock]

I have not fully played through Ashenvale before but I agree with those other two 100%! :)

[@RazziusMephisto]

It was the first zone I ever completed fully. And after all these years playing wow I did this zone like 15+ times more, but never realized those Nelfs actually may not be our enemies. Oh well Shorel'aran.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank you for the comment! There's been some debate in the comments as to my theory (it is by no means perfect!), but I wanted to encourage some discussion since it seems kind of out-of-character for the Night Elves :)

[@jameschristophercirujano6650]

Blood elves and Night elves are pompous AF. It's probably a deliberate misunderstanding coz they refuse to understand either side.

[@Jediwarlock]

You make a good point XD

[@Krastinos]

Well, alliance has the White Tigers in Winterspring

[@Jediwarlock]

Good point!! I think I may have forgotten about that when filming this vid ;) ...Winterspring tigers take so long to level to exalted :')

[@yokaidokena3659]

See, i tend to think that the night elves WERE up to something. Why didn't they send a diplomatic contingent? I think they are seeing IF the land could be healed and if it could, they would claim it as their own and expand their territory. Tricksey night elves.

[@Jediwarlock]

I agree! In the years since making this video I have definitely changed my mind slightly on this. :)

[@wilwailes1834]

Just so you know you said I the video that the Blood elves and Night Elves worked together in warcraft 3 as part of the Alliance. The Night Elves were never once part of the original Alliance of Lordearon. The High Elves were and the Blood Elves worked under Garithos and the remnants of the alliance for a short time. But the Night Elves never did.

[@Jediwarlock]

Good point!

[@pokeylope6108]

Stop complaining about Horde having one extra faction through Tranquilen, Alliance have the Winterspring Faction that Horde cannot do, and it rewards a unique mount only Alliance can get. So it's balanced out.

[@Jediwarlock]

Very good point! Maybe that's why they never ended up adding one for the Bloodmyst Draenai :D

[@pokeylope6108]

@@Jediwarlock Nah, real talk Blizz at that time put way more love/Dev time into Belfs. They did Draeneis last and on a time constraint. Which is sad because I loved the Draenei starting zone and the two.isles. especially the Bloodmyste. The dragon quest was cool. But it was easy to tell Belfs got more love. And part of that I think is because they had a lot more lore connection to warcraft than the draenei did as a whole race.

[@pokeylope6108]

@@Jediwarlock also I like you videos so far keep up the good work. I've been playin wow since its release, and seeing someones first exposure to Azeroth is interesting and nostalgic.

[@mariomarques775]

Blood elves: are we the baddies?

[@Jediwarlock]

XD

[@liamparkos7830]

Good video keep it up

[@Jediwarlock]

Thanks Liam! :)

[@Silly_Illidan]

It's a lot of elements working in conjunction. - in frozen throne, even though the blood elves and night elves had worked together on multiple occasions, the last encounter was hostile. With blood elves attacking the wardens and freeing illidan. - in vanilla wow, the sentinels officially ally with the alliance and thus starts the eternal ashenvale conflict. Through their new relationships they come to know of Kaelthas' alliance with the naga and their departure to outland. - in the opening of burning crusade, kazzak reopens the dark portal and the elves recieve word of what is going on with the wardens who chased after illidan and how kaelthas threw away the goodwill of tyrande by attacking the wardens. Eventually illidan becomes the tyrannical ruler of outland with night elf hating naga and treacherous Kaelthas as lietenants. Later in TBC, The draenei crash land on azeroth and through plot progression the night elves come to find out about the blood elf attack on tempest keep. Later they and the draenai encounter legion alligned blood elves on bloodmyst isle. This made them extremely suspicious of any blood elf since now they were willing to serve the legion too just for a taste of magic. This makes the night elves send a contingent to quel thalas with 2 pronged purpose: heal the land and secure it for the alliance. The elves of quel thalas are mostly unaware of kael's treachery and are also suspicious of the night elves(since the sindorei that were rescued by tyrande back in wc3 departed t outland). The forsaken might have taken advantage of this gap in communication to vilify the sentinels. This all leads to this escalation. Hence the sad music. So far i think the blood elves have been the most miscommunicated ppl. Could have joined the alliance but got triggered into attacking the helping hand. Wanted to leave the horde but jaina got triggered into attacking the sunreavers. Again wanted to leave the horde but lorthemar fell in love with thalyssra. Wanted to impress her, he mocked anduin and coldly rebuked Alleria. Especially after playing the nightborne intro quest, i feel like the blood elves no longer deserve more chances to change factions. They are vain, arrogant and never learn from their mistakes. Atleast with the sentinels, the prejudice is understandable. Ripping the super continent apart, stealing the waters of the well of eternity to make another font of power, attacking the draenei and other magic addict behaviours and more.

[@Jediwarlock]

Thank You for all those details! Great points :)

[@Pappagar]

Best zone in WoW

[@Jediwarlock]

It's so good! :D

[@Heavnelydemon]

was my very first wow character blood elf

[@Jediwarlock]

Ah, Blood Elves are awesome! :D