Project Lore

Project Lore has been a bit hung up on the whole Arthas/Lich King tandem of late.  And why not.  Blizzard has been trickling information on patch 3.3 for over a week now.  Between the model updates - which elude to an awesome in-game Icecrown event - character bios refreshes and general patch updates, there's no better time to get excited. Earlier this week I posed the question, "How do you want Arthas to die?" Only one clear cut morsel of information came of that discussion; that the playerbase isn't in agreement that he should die.  Pixiestixy asked the perfect follow-up question, "Is Arthas capable of redemption?" Before you jump to your conclusion, here's all the well-known people he's screwed over the course of his life, including that as the Lich King: Jaina Proudmoore:  Jaina grew up with pretty boy Arthas, making her one of the few people, that still breaths, to know him through the course of his tumultuous life.  The leader ofTheramore loved the man, only to be pushed away by him during their formative years.  It's at this time that Arthas begins slipping, making ever worse decisions, and all Jaina was able to do was deny helping him.  The budding student of Dalaran witnessed his descent into obsession.  She was even party to some of his acts.  But she never once tried to stop his acts, not even in Stratholme, leaving the proud mage with an immense amount of guilt on her conscious. Even more soul crushing, Jaina knew him when he was good, a true bearer of the Light.  A believer.  That's something she is hell bent on returning, a good, true, loving Arthas.  Hopefully her emotions and feelings don't cloud her judgement if there's no alternative, or if her very life is on the line. Sylvanas Windrunner:  Jaina may agonize over Arthas for knowing him when he was good, but Sylvanas has only known the bad.  The two females have entirely different views of the man; Jaina reveres him as a man who lost his way, whileSylvanas despises him for destroying her home.  Ruining Sylvanas ' way of life wasn't enough.  Instead of turning her into one of the mindless undead, Arthas decided to teach her a lesson for standing up to his Scourge army.  Upon her death he allowed her to retain her memories as a banshee, but he remained able to bend her to his will when needed. That's until she broke free from his control, attempted to murder him (obviously failed), founded the Forsaken, and now continues to seek her revenge. It has already been confirmed that these two leading ladies will be partaking in the assault on Icecrown Citadel. Muradin Bronzebeard:  Muradin is in much the same position as Jaina, only without the sex (we hope).  The former Ambassador to Lordaeron helped train the young Arthas, enabling the prince to become a well-versed warrior in a variety of weapons.  Muradin was witness to some of the worst atrocities Arthas committed in his quest to rid the world of Mal'ganis, including stranding his men on Northrend, and murdering the very mercenaries who helped him get that far. If seeing your student go completely insane isn't enough to tear someone apart, how about a shard of ice through the chest?  That's exactly what Muradin was treated to when he tried to stop Arthas from retrieving Frostmourne and forever becoming bound to the Lich King.  Muradin has never been the same since. Muradin will be in attendance for the Icecrown Citadel festivities. Tirion Fordring: The next three people don't have much beef with Arthas directly.  They just happen to hate the Scourge with more venom than anyone else on Azeroth.  Fordring was one of the original members of the Knights of the Silver Hand before being exiled for saving a greenskin. During the Third War he routinely dispatched minions of the Scourge army to protect his small farmstead and trail his son.  Upon his son's death, Tirion set his mind to destroying the threat, the Lord of the Scourge.  To accomplish this goal he brought the old Knights of the Silver Hand and the Argent Dawn under a new banner, the Argent Crusade, that has been bolstered by the death knight faction, Knights of the Ebon Blade.  He continues to run the faction. Darion/Alexandros Mograine:  This father and son duo also lack a direct hatred of Arthas.  As both former Scourge minions, and wielders of Ashbringer, the pair still pose a threat.  Darion remains steadfast in his quest to eliminate the Lich King, while Alexandros' fate isn't known as of now.  It's suspected that Darion saved his father from the clutches of The Dark One when he impaled himself on Ashbringer, but it has not been confirmed. Their tales are told in-depth in the excellent one-shot comic by Wildstorm, World of Warcraft: Ashbringer.  Highlord Darion Mograine is another confirmed raiding member. Varok Saurfang: Saurfang is one of the more recent high profile characters to mix it up with the Dark Lord of the Dead.  He first got on the Lich King's tail when he was sent to lead the Horde warparty in Northrend.  Initially just a routine station, it became personal for Varok after his son, Saurfang the Younger, was killed by the Lich King during the battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate. The newcomer in the Lich King's matrix will be aboard Orgrim's Hammer for the horde encounter. Kil'jaeden:  The current leader of the Burning Legion isn't a nice guy.  He doesn't take failure very well, and he doesn't enjoy people turning against him.  Ner'zhul, whom was the original Lich King, and later one-half of the being, managed to fail and then betray his master.  That's two strikes when normally one is forty two too many.  Arthas himself was never a direct underling of The Beautiful One, but he was indirectly being controlled by manipulation through the nathrezim agents sent by Archimonde.  It's roundabout, but Kil'jaeden was ultimately the creator.  Like how Steve Jobs created the iPod. Kil'jaeden slips many people's minds when they think of the Lich King's enemies, but he'd love to possess the Lich King once more.  Or put him down for failing, and then betraying him.  Still, it's highly unlikely that the spotlight will return to the Burning Legion in this fashion, or any time soon. The list is in a specific order, my order of who deserves it the most.  I still believe that Jaina requires redemption more than anyone else.  You'll have to read the novel to understand all the intricacies, but she's been hurt by Arthas, when he was good and as he became bad, and then when he became the Lich King.  The triple threat.  She's also the only person on the list who isn't in it mainly for the revenge, but to try to save him.  She may gain something from saving his soul, but at least she'd be bringing a person back into the world, instead of dispatching one. I am fairly confident that that encompasses all of the major players.  If I've missed someone important, or overlooked a connection to another character, leave me a note in the comments or @iTZKooPA and I'll check it out.

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The Man Himself, Alexandros Mograine The Novel Post is ProjectLore's review column for materials - books, manga, comics, card games, etc - of World of Warcraft's Extended Universe.  As such the column's posts are likely to have plot, character or other spoilers. The fabled Ashbringer sword may be new to some of you, but the sword has been known to World of Warcrafter's, in some way, since the title was released so long ago.  Those who are new to the MMORPG likely focus their lust upon Frostmourne, but Ashbringer was the first weapon with a detailed story inside WoW (not Warcraft III, WoW).  After realizing that one of the title's most epic stories may have been missed by the majority of players, Blizzard recanted the tale as part of the Death Knight starting area.  Those of us who couldn't wait for Wrath's to release, or simply had no intention of playing a Death Knight, had another route, the World of Warcraft: Ashbringer mini-series from Wildstorm. It's unknown who designed and wrote the Death Knight quests that involve the Mograine and Fordring storylines, but Micky Neilson's (Senior Writer & Voice Director for Blizzard) vision of them are absolutely superb.  Neilson doesn't simply touch upon the Ashbringer's power.  He begins his story well before that, before the weapon was even forged by Dwarven hands.  Political shenanigans, character development, backdrop and backstory are the main plot devices in the incredibly busy introduction.  It isn't until the second half of the first installment that Alexandros gets to lay his hands on the socketed item, and not a moment too soon. Looks Like He Dropped The Poison In The Middle Of The Room... Ashes to Ashes, the appropriately named second issue, continues all of the previous material including the ultimate separation of the rich Scarlet Crusade and the Argent Dawn as we know them today.  The final betrayal of Alexandros by his elder son Renault is the obvious climax here, and a thing of beauty.  Not only does Neilson describe the dastardly deed in great detail, with the help of the superb art, but he continues the confrontation through flashbacks that Alexandros has while being placed under the control of Kel'Thuzad.  The added scenes complete the betrayal, making it far more painful than a simple death.  A fact that causes the fall of Ashbringer to Corrupted Ashbringer. The third chapter revolves around the Darion-led Argent Dawn excursion into the intimidating Naxxramas.  Its entirely dedication to action till the last few pages, causing the story to progress very little.  However the confrontation between the Scarlet Highlord's two sons is nothing short of showstopping.  A defining moment in the comic, and the Ashbringer storyline, for me.  And it even explains why Alexandros Mograine is no longer present in today's incarnation of Naxxramas. The token instancing (and wiping) distraction was followed up with the another round of back story and character development for a name many of us know well, Tirion Fordring.  As the current owner of Ashbringer he's a character I expected to see some focus on, but that didn't truly come to pass.  Instead Tirion snatches the fabled sword away from the Scourge only after Darion made the ultimate sacrifice for his father.  One that may or may not have been successful at releasing the trapped soul of Alexandros, as far as the comic is concerned. Ashbringer's pacing is truly the only complaint I can levy upon the comic from a Warcraft players standpoint.  Although the Ashbringer is a relatively new tale in the Warcraft canon, meaning far younger than Frostmourne, we've been introduced to a lot of the specifics.  Nielson's story, while incredibly strong and highly emotional, is weighed down by the bumpy pacing.  Ashbringer starts off incredibly busy, then hits a lull for nearly two issues, ramp up for a few pages before more yawn and then the final culmination. Positive On Which Side? If I was to try to review Ashbringer without previous knowledge of the back lore, as a normal comic reader would, then the highlight would likely have been on the art, and not the story.  Ludo Lullabi and Tony Washington perform beautifully together, and their skills highlight much of Nielson's story.  However, a non-Warcraft player would miss out on tons of cameos, nods to different storylines and the high arc tri-faction war (mortals vs Scourge vs Burning Legion) would go right over their head. Nevertheless, if you are into comics and Warcraft then Ashbringer is a must have, especially now that it's in a mass market paperback edition.  If you fancy yourself a lore nerd then you also need to pick up this masterful mini-series. That's how Varimathras got a hold of the plague.  That willy bastard.

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