The Queue: Aggramarvating
@MatthewWRossi
Life is weird. Last week I was sitting in a chair having needles and lasers shot into my eyes, this week I’m writing the Queue. Every time I get the injections and lasers I’m reminded that my eyesight is a fleeting thing, that eventually I’ll be too blind to write and Queue’s like this (and all of my books) will be just memories of when I could still do it. So I’m a bit wistful today, sitting down to look over your questions, because I know I’ll eventually not be able to anymore.
Still, while I can still see well enough to do it, I might as well do the best I can at it. So here’s the Queue, written by me.
Literary Q4tQ: JRRTolkien vs GRRMartin?
Fritz Leiber. Or Mervyn Peake. Or Michael Moorcock. Or C.L. Moore. Or any of literally dozens of other fantasy writers superior to either. Robert E. Howard, or Ursula K. Le Guin, or Tim Powers… I could really keep going all day, but we have a column to write.
I like G.R.R.M quite a bit as a writer, but I don’t like his fantasy novels as much as I like his Wild Cards work. And I think Tolkien was an authentic genius as a critic and scholar, but I find his fiction writing less compelling. Sorry. If you like them, more power to you. Not my thing.
Thought on Khadgar, does anyone else hope that in whatever the next expansion is we have a bit of a break from him? He’s been one of the leading players in two expansions in a row now, I kind of hope that once Legion is done with he just takes a vacation and lets someone ELSE play Snarky Gandalf for an expansion.
I’d be cool with taking a break from Khadgar, and frankly, I think he’s done all we can expect him to do. He’s worked pretty hard to defend Azeroth these past two expansions, and while I love Tony Amendola and I think he’s doing a great job in the role, I could definitely do with some time away from him. If he is going to be around in the next expansion, let it be dramatically less than he has been in the past two.
Q4tQ: Xe’ra thinks that Illidan is the “Child of Light and Shadow,” but do you think she could have been wrong? The most obvious other candidate is Anduin, but I don’t see him diving into heated combat. I think there is another, better, option: Arator.
1) He is the son of Turyalion (Important Paladin guy, big on the whole “Light” thing), and Allieria (Miss, “Hey Shadow Magic looks kind of neat and could be useful, let me dive headfirst into that!”)
2) His title is “The Redeemer.” given the messianic overtones that Xe’ra placed on her golden child, this title fits like a glove.
3) He’s half-elf, but looks a whole lot like one. Maybe Xe’ra misunderstood her vision and it wasn’t Illidan she was seeing, but Arator. Alternatively maybe Arator was the universes backup-messiah; in case Illidan decided to act like Illidan.
I’ve been reading a lot of Usagi Yojimbo lately. Your name reminded me of that. Anyway, no, it’s Azshara.
- She was born with golden eyes, the same as Illidan.
- She’s incredibly magically powerful, so powerful that even Mannoroth feared to take her on one on one and wasn’t even sure that Archimonde could do it.
- The Night Elves were so devoted to her that they renamed Elune’dris (the Eye of Elune) to Zin-Ashari (the Glory of Azshara) in her honor.
- Despite her golden eyes and grand destiny, the Old Gods themselves (servants of the Void Lords and providers of Shadow magic used by Shadow Priests) touched her after the Well imploded and dragged her and her city beneath the waves.
Much like Illidan, Azshara was born with the golden eyes that implied a great destiny, and much like Illidan, she was naturally gifted with magic — and unlike Illidan she was encouraged in its use as the heir to the throne and chief among the Highborne. Azshara was so proficient a mage that she rivaled and perhaps even exceeded the greatest of the Eredar Warlocks in power despite using Arcane and not Fel magic, which is far easier to use even as it is more corrupting.
While she was obsessed with the Well and its power (literally the life-blood of the sleeping Titan at the heart of the world) she has also been touched by Shadow making her a perfect candidate for “Child of Light and Shadow”. If anyone had been able to hear Xe’ra before Illybeams blew her up, she would have been whispering there is another…
I was bored & a friend told me there was a “surprise” at the end of the Forsaken starting zones. I’d never played one so I fired up a warlock and off I went. Then I saw what happened at the end between Sylvanas & Godfrey. I’ve been playing for a few years but I never knew that happened.
Q4TQ: When we the last time you were surprised in WoW? When you learned something that you’d never known before?
The most recent time is a spoiler. So instead, I’ll talk about when one of my guildmates got the Corrupted Ashbringer back in vanilla WoW.
We all went to the Scarlet Monastery with him because apparently something happened if you had the Corrupted Ashbringer equipped. Sure enough, all the Scarlet Monastery dudes were friendly. They kept saluting and saying The Ashbringer as he walked by. So we headed up to the cathedral itself, and good ol’ Commander Renault Mograine was waiting there, and he started on a whole thing about how awesome it was that we’d reclaimed the sword.
And then his dad’s ghost appeared out of nowhere and we all freaked out. If you want to see the event as it currently unfolds in game if you have the sword, check it out here. Back then there weren’t any Forsaken there, but everything from Mograine’s greeting to Alexandros’ arrival and actions was what we saw, and man, none of us saw it coming.
What real world animals do not have a representative animal in WoW?
There are no ducks, and I don’t recall seeing anything like a wasp or a bee (with the battle pets, nothing bug-like with a stinger).
Enough people have already said that there are wasps, so I’ll spare you.
To my knowledge there are no hummingbirds in WoW. I have also never seen a tuatara in WoW, or a binturong.
Q4tQ: Since everyone has been sharing screenshots from that Aggramar cutscene I’ve been thinking.
Do you think WoW could benefit from having our characters speak in cutscenes?
Nothing as in-depth as SWtoR but the occasional one-liner here and there, and maybe some involvement in discussions (the Paladin campaign comes to mind).
I mean, they already have voice actors.
Honestly, I’m going to have to side with the people who said no. By now, my character has a personality I’ve crafted, and while various WoW VA’s are awesomesauce, having my character quip when I’ve decided he’s a taciturn loner, or vice versa, would really break my immersion. I’m fine with things as they stand, where I make up what my character says in my head.
Okay, that’s the Queue for this week. I’ll see y’all next week, hopefully. If not, well, it’s been nice seeing you up to now.
Please consider supporting our Patreon!
Join the Discussion
Blizzard Watch is a safe space for all readers. By leaving comments on this site you agree to follow our commenting and community guidelines.
