The Draenei left their home planet twenty-five thousand years ago to flee the Burning Legion. Throughout this time, they have ostensibly been preparing to return, hoping to destroy the Legion and prevent it from eradicating more worlds. It was the Prophet Velen who warned them of the threat of Sargeras, and for all this time, the Draenei have been guided by his leadership.
But is Velen the right leader for the Draenei?
First of all, I'm not sure how our Draenei - the ragged refugees who survived a crash-landing into Azeroth (NOT their fault - it was Blood Elf saboteurs, ahem,) will compare and contrast with the Draenei of the alternate Draenor we're heading to. I hope the game's writers will make a distinction (they didn't do such a good job distinguishing Wandering Isle Pandaren from Pandaria Pandaren,) even if they don't want to get into the sci-fi tropes about alternate realities and doppelgängers.
We know of two key Draenei figures that will play a role in Warlords of Draenor. One is Maraad, the Draenei Vindicator who proved his worth to the Alliance in Northrend. The other is the mysterious Yrel, apparently a young priestess in Draenor-B who will find herself rising through the ranks to be essentially the Draenei Joan of Arc (hopefully less of the stake-burning, more the righteous crusader on the battlefield.)
The Draenei of both universes follow the Prophet Velen. But is he much of a political leader? Velen spends most of his time in seclusion, constantly watching the visions the Naaru grant him of the works of the Burning Legion. Velen cannot help but take the long view, to look at the big picture. He is looking for a way to win a war that has lasted longer than most civilizations - that predates many of Azeroth's races many times over.
It's an important job - maybe the most important of all the mortals of Azeroth - yet can someone who is concerned with such enormous responsibilities really be expected to also lead a nation?
We don't really know how Draenei society works. All we've seen of it is a kind of thrown-together set of refugee camps and outposts. The Shattrath City where we spend our time in Outland is a ruin, and the Exodar is literally a wrecked ship that's thankfully still intact enough to serve as a shelter.
Now, granted, the Draenei live for a very long time, and over that time they may have established enough basic conventions to keep their society running without a strict regimented structure. But whatever system they were using in our timeline did not quite work out to keep them safe.
The Draenei jumped from world to world, spending a little time here and there until the Burning Legion inevitably tracked them down. On Draenor, they spent a thousand years thinking they had finally lost their pursuers, but when Kil'jaeden did track them down, he unleashed the might of the Horde upon them. To paraphrase Illidan, they were not prepared.
Warlords of Draenor gives a most rare thing: a second chance at a war that had been lost. With Garrosh having hit the big reset button, the Draenei of that timeline have a chance to survive the Horde where the Draenei of our timeline did not.
We are hearing about two new figures in Draenei lore (well, ok, technically Maraad's not new. He was the Draenei in the Burning Crusade cinematic, in fact,) and both appear to be fighters. And both seem to balance each other out. Maraad has spent a lot of time among other peoples. He fought the Scourge. His family history is more complicated, given his half-Orc niece, Garona, who murdered King Llane during the First War. Maraad is still a Paladin, and still filled with faith in the Light, but he forgoes forgiveness in favor of retribution. You can bet that this guy is going to be slaughtering Orcs left and right.
On the other hand, we have Yrel. We have really not heard much about her at all, but I imagine she will serve to balance Maraad. She is from the alternate Draenor, and thus she has not seen her people massacred (for all we know, our timeline's Yrel was among those killed) nor has she experienced all the tumultuous wars of Azeroth. Yet she will rise to fight for her people.
The tradition, it seems, among the Eredar, is to govern by triumvirate. Velen, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden did so before Sargeras came. For all this time, the Draenei have had but one leader, and they have suffered, despite Velen's benevolence.
Might we be seeing the birth of a new triumvirate? Could the trio of Velen, Maraad, and Yrel finally restore balance to the Draenei, provide them with a firm foundation for their society, and give them the strength they need to become more than exiles?
No comments:
Post a Comment