Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Pride of Kul Tiras

At the level cap, Alliance players get a quest chain that largely involves going through several of Kul Tiras' dungeons, capping with Siege of Boralus, the mythic-only dungeon on the continent.

There was a bug in this chain that gave instant credit for beating the dungeon, meaning you got to see the epilogue before the climax. The story actually ties together just about the whole story of all three Kul Tiras zones and seemingly leaves the whole continent's stories - other than the war with the Horde - more or less resolved.

Given that we're only a few days into the expansion, this is all under big spoiler warnings, so here's a cut!

SPOILER AHOY


When you first arrive in Kul Tiras, Jaina is arrested and sentenced to die for her letting her father die at Theramore. We don't see any sign of her while leveling, but are instead trying to fix the various problems of the nation in an attempt to earn some credibility for the Alliance.

The three major plots, detailed in the three zones, are basically the following:

In Stormsong Valley, the Tidepriests are an ancient Kul Tiran tradition where people commune with the ocean and a god-like figure called the Tidemother to bless their ships, which is what makes the Kul Tiran navy so great. However, it's become clear that the Tidesages have been corrupted, including Lord Stormsong, the nobleman who is both the ruler of the Valley and the head of the Tidepriests. Their corruption, as it turns out, involves Azshara, and Lord Stormsong has aided Azshara in trapping the Kul Tiran navy in a magical storm to keep the country defenseless. We slay Stormsong and the N'raqi creature infesting the heart of his temple, but even after finishing the dungeon, we still don't know how to retrieve the fleet.

In Drustvar, there is a coven of witches who are taking over the land, which we eventually discover are being empowered by Gorak Tul, the brutal leader of the ancient Drust - a race that the Kul Tirans had nearly wiped out when they settled the land. We face Gorak Tul in Waycrest Manor, but he makes it very clear that as someone bound to Thros, the Blighted Lands (which is not confirmed to be, but I think is a part of the Shadowlands) he's still lurking as a threat.

Finally, in Tiragarde Sound, Lady Ashvane, previously Catherine Proudmoore's close advisor, whom she nearly gave her office to, proves to be plotting a coup with the aid of the pirates of Freehold and Azerite weaponry. Her duplicity is exposed, but she escapes.

When Genn convinces Catherine to rescue Jaina, they realize that they don't know where she is. First, you track her to Fate's End, a remote island off the coast of Stormsong Valley that requires a ship of the dead to reach - requiring Tidesage magic. However, upon reaching the island, you realize that she's not there, and instead there is some kind of Drust creature from Thros.

You journey to Drustvar and find a way to open a portal into the Blighted Lands, where Catherine aids you in tracking Jaina. Within this dreadful place, Jaina is assaulted by all her doubts and guilt. She thinks of how Arthas could have been stopped, or if she should have allowed Varian to end the Horde in the Battle of Undercity, and of course, if she should have helped her father at Theramore.

In the Blighted Lands, there's a final confrontation with Gorak Tul, but with Jaina's mind restored after confronting her past, you are able to defeat him (forever?) The three of you escape Thros and return to Boralus. Jaina is back, and she has reconciled with her mother, but there's a problem: Lady Ashvane's assault on Boralus has begun.

So, you next have the Siege of Boralus dungeon, which is pretty intense and the last boss is pretty ridiculous (I think we needed 8 attempts after 1-shotting all the other bosses?) In it, you fight the city's invaders, eventually clearing it out. Jaina then stands on the grand sea wall with her mother and her people, and Catherine gives her the necklace that she had taken when Jaina was arrested, giving it back to her daughter. The necklace appear to be magical - allowing the Lord Admiral to call the fleet home, and Jaina uses it to do just that.

So as Ashvane's forces sail toward the harbor, Jaina uses the necklace to find the fleet, and as the storm bursts behind Ashvane's ships, we see the whole Kul Tiran navy emerge from the storm.

Ashvane, showing pragmatism you don't often see with a Warcraft villain, raises her white flag.

But there's a blink-or-you'll-miss-it moment (though it's auditory,) which is that when the fleet emerges, a crewman calls out to his captain "Tandred, we're home!" or something of the sort.

Tandred. That's Tandred Proudmoore, the up-until-now apocryphal brother to Jaina (and their late, older brother Derek.)

So, Kul Tiras has its navy back, Ashvane's behind bars, and Gorak Tul might be dead-dead (though I suspect the Shadowlands don't entirely work the way that the Nether does for Demons or the Elemental Planes do for Elementals - there's apparently a quest item from Island Expeditions that implies a certain recently-slain raid boss and powerful Shadowlands entity is still around.)

Kul Tiras is basically ready for war now. And it's officially part of the Alliance again.

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