Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Hidden Threat Among the Draenei

The Draenei are good guys. In fact, they are arguably one of the most explicitly good groups within the Warcraft Universe. They are, arguably, defined by their rejection of evil, as they turned away from their brethren after the arrival of Sargeras on Argus.

The Draenei bring baggage, though, and one could argue that if it hadn't been for the Draenei, the Orcs would never have been corrupted by the Burning Legion, and never have formed the murderous Horde. On the other hand, the premise of Warlords of Draenor calls that hypothetical into question. The Orcs did not need that initial demonic corruption to massacre their neighbors - a demon-blood-less Kargath, for example, still seems plenty brutal.

But even if you believe that the Draenei were responsible for leading the Burning Legion to Draenor, one could hardly blame them. The Draenei have been seeking refuge for twenty-five thousand years, hopping from planet to planet, hoping that this time, they will be able to stay in peace. It's all they wanted, really - just to stay in peace.

Or at least most of them.

The thing is, when you spend the lifespan of multiple civilizations on the run, you probably have a lot of time for doubt to creep in. Obviously, the Eredar who stayed behind with Archimonde and Kil'jaeden were transformed and twisted into demons. Argus itself is probably a hellish nightmare of flame and corruption. The Eredar demons are known as "Man'ari," which means twisted and broken.

But after thousands of years of flight, perhaps some of the Draenei wonder if they made the right choice.

After all, the Man'ari Eredar they have encountered as they have fled have all seemed to be happy to serve the Burning Legion. They are powerful, and frankly, probably safe, in a sense. Sargeras wants to destroy the universe, but if he wants to build up a new one to follow, who is most likely to be at the top of that new society if not the Eredar?

Which then raises an interesting and terrifying question: Why does the Burning Legion always find the Draenei?

Ok, granted, the Legion has got to have soldiers and spies numbering in the billions, and they also have a direct tie to the Twisting Nether, which makes transportation a relatively simple matter. But if the Warcraft Universe is anything like our own, it's a really, really, really big place. And while the time scale we're talking about dwarfs a human conception of time, in all honesty, twenty-five thousand years is probably not enough to do a really thorough search of the entire universe.

The Draenei we meet tend to appear extremely faithful and loyal to their cause and the Prophet. But just because someone says they are good, or that they believe something, does not mean that they do.

The Burning Legion finds the Draenei everywhere they go. What is the simplest explanation?

Not all the Draenei are, strictly speaking, draenei. Draenei means "exiled ones," and it's pretty clear that some among their number are not so much exiles as undercover agents.

Ok, spoiler time!




Much of Shadowmoon Valley's plot revolves around Ner'zhul and the Shadowmoon Clan's attempt to harness the power of a dark-cycle Naaru to take Karabor for the Iron Horde. However, in the midst of this, there is a murder mystery going on.

The Exarchs are the five highest-ranking leaders of the Draenei, just below Velen himself. They're a bit like the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, each presiding over a different facet of society. For instance, Exarch Maladaar (who you might remember as the final boss of Auchenai Crypts) is Speaker for the Dead, and presides over funeral rites and honoring the fallen. Exarch Akama is essentially the leader of the Draenei Paladins (which may differ from our universe, as I believe he was a priest in ours.)

While adventuring through Shadowmoon Valley, you find that one of the exarchs has been murdered using a Fel-forged weapon that strikes at the victim's very soul. The Draenei are well-acquainted with demonic magic, but the investigation is clearly being interfered with. Eventually, Maladaar sends you to conduct a ritual to seek out the truth, and you are confronted by Exarch Othaar. Othaar argues that he is not traitor, but that Velen is - and that the destiny of their people was to be part of the Burning Legion. Othaar, revealed as the killer, sheds any pretense and transforms into the demon Socrethar. You are able to defeat him, if only temporarily, but this raises a frightening question:

If one of the Exarchs can be a Burning Legion agent, who else among them might be?

And that doesn't even just apply to the Alternate-Universe Draenei. We could have Burning Legion agents throughout the Alliance. Archbishop Benedictus fooled us for years before revealing he was a member of Twilight's Hammer, but the Legion's agents among the Draenei have been undercover for thousands upon thousands of years.

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