Faction leader short stories continue with Sylvanas Windrunner
by Mathew McCurley 
Sep 27th 2011 at 4:00PM
Personally, I think this is one of the strongest leader short stories, delving into answerable questions and giving us real, solid lore to fill in the holes in the story. Seeing Sylvanas' grief and lack of focus after Arthas' death was something I had hoped would be addressed, as well as the Val'kyr, both of which were discussed and explained. Check out the story, written by non other than Dave "Fargo" Kosak, and marvel at a new chapter in the Dark Lady's story.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ferato Sep 27th 2011 4:06PM
About time! I'v been waiting awhile for this one.
Love her or hate her Sylvannas is definitely one of the more interesting faction leaders around
jordanksimms Sep 28th 2011 2:50AM
Love her or hate her so sylvanas is the marmite of wow :D?
Hurbster Sep 27th 2011 4:17PM
So after Lord Godfrey we only need to kill her 7 more times ? Or is it 6 ?
Shinae Sep 27th 2011 4:27PM
What, is she a cat?
loop_not_defined Sep 27th 2011 5:23PM
She is! Spent one of the nine on the spikes below ICC, spent another with Lord Godfrey. So 7 lives left.
Blizzard really needs to work this into her encounter mechanics at Undercity. :P
loop_not_defined Sep 27th 2011 5:26PM
Nvm, just saw Sumadin's comment below. Haven't done the quest line in Silverpine yet, so don't know how many were used for the Lord Godfrey event.
It seems that only one was used for ICC, for sure, though.
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 6:00PM
Well, two things need to be considered. First, we've seen in the story that only one was needed to bring her back to life from the spikes- and that only because they let her fall into the oblivion. So it seems like bringing her back isn't that hard based on the story. But according to the game, when Godfrey killed her, three were required, and they couldn't just bring her back right away, which the story implied they could.
So either Godfrey is a better killer than Old God spikes, or something else is different. Perhaps the Val'kyr are weaker now? Possibly the loss of their circle makes retrieving her more difficult? Who knows.
But the second thing that must be considered: There is every chance she can create more Val'kyr. (Probably from the Dark Rangers.) The inconsistencies, like the number of Val'kyr killed, and possibly the strength of the Val'kyr (having created new Val'kyr without the aid of the Lich King), would be well explained by that.
One thing is certain- the timing of the release of this short story is no accident. We are being given just enough time for everyone to read it before the Halloween event. I think we can anticipate that we'll see a lot more development then.
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 6:05PM
Well, two things need to be considered. First, we've seen in the story that only one was needed to bring her back to life from the spikes- and that only because they let her fall into the oblivion. So it seems like bringing her back isn't that hard based on the story. But according to the game, when Godfrey killed her, three were required, and they couldn't just bring her back right away, which the story implied they could.
So either Godfrey is a better killer than Old God spikes, or something else is different. Perhaps the Val'kyr are weaker now? Possibly the loss of their circle makes retrieving her more difficult? Who knows.
But the second thing that must be considered: There is every chance she can create more Val'kyr. (Probably from the Dark Rangers.) The inconsistencies, like the number of Val'kyr killed, and possibly the strength of the Val'kyr (having created new Val'kyr without the aid of the Lich King), would be well explained by that.
One thing is certain- the timing of the release of this short story is no accident. We are being given just enough time for everyone to read it before the Halloween event. I think we can anticipate that we'll see a lot more development then.
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 6:05PM
Gah. Double post. Kill the spare!
trefpoid Sep 27th 2011 11:23PM
I guess she can create more, because when u go quest in Western Plaguelands, you get a pocket Val'kyr to go make new forsaken there too, and she doesn't even have a name. Either she is one of the 9 and they forgot to name her or she is just one of many Val'kyr that aren't part of the 9 circle. So I dunno, I really hope she can and will create more, I don't want my Dark Lady dead >:(
Bruti Sep 27th 2011 5:08PM
Love it one of the best short stories I've read in awhile.
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 4:28PM
Great, great story. I was kind of hoping it would play up the motherly aspect for the Forsaken, but this did just as good a job of humanizing her. On the one hand, she's just scared... And on the other, she's more frightening than ever.
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 5:03PM
And I think the big question now for everyone is: can they create more Val'kyr? With the rise of the Dark Rangers, we may even have the perfect candidates. For the Forsaken, it would mean the continued life of their race. For the Horde, it means greater military strength anywhere there are corpses. For the Alliance, it means an even bigger threat.
Sumadin Sep 27th 2011 4:30PM
====SPOILER ALERT=====
Certainly one of the better ones. It concluded a few things we didn't know.
For one no it is not the shards of frostmourne that hold the Valkyr bound to Sylvanas, it is her ability to resist the will of the Lich king that she has "burrowed" to them.
The story suggests that only 9 of them remains through records shows that at least 13 of the forsakens valkir has been slain.
Oh yea and she knows there is a new Lich king.
tabardsrock Sep 27th 2011 4:30PM
awesome read.
Sumadin Sep 27th 2011 4:32PM
3 of them is required each time she is to be ressed not just one.
Still considering that her sanity seems to take a turn down each time she die(Not too suprising TBH) i would suggest that killing her just 2 more times would lead her to be completely incapeable of leading.
Sumadin Sep 27th 2011 4:33PM
This was suposed to be a reply to Hurbster.
Shinae Sep 27th 2011 4:33PM
Woo! I've been looking forward to reading this. I can't wait to see what there's in store for us with Hallows' End.
Also, I expect to see a certain someone named after a federal judge to post a rant here about how much he wants this fictional character dead. *eyeroll*
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 4:35PM
Yup. That was my first thought when I saw this.
Bellajtok Sep 27th 2011 4:40PM
By which I mean your second statement. Unfortunately.