New quest and in-game cinematic reveal Night Elf victory at Darkshore

As victories go, it’s definitely one of those wins that doesn’t feel super victorious, but nonetheless what we were told at BlizzCon 2019 is now established in-game: the Kaldorei under Tyrande Whisperwind and her Army of the Black Moon have officially won the Battle for Darkshore. Thanks to the folks at Wowhead, we not only have the text of the cinematic, but the cinematic itself. Note — it’s not very long, but it’s still pretty important in terms of setting up the lore going into the next expansion. The Night Elves have reclaimed their territory from the Horde, at great cost in lives.

The Night Warrior’s New Hope

I should point out that there are reports that people haven’t gotten the quest A New Hope to start and I didn’t get it when I zoned to Darkshore just now either. I did do the most recent Darkshore Warfront, so I’m not sure what it requires to trigger the quest. So we’ll look at the text from Wowhead for now and hope to get to see it in person ourselves soon.

The quest A New Hope is given by Maiev Shadowsong, and she’s not entirely enthused with Tyrande’s leadership. This is probably not a surprise for anyone who has ever met Maiev.

Darkshore belongs to our people once more, in no small part due to your efforts. And, while I disagree with her methods, we would not have succeeded without Tyrande as well. Differences aside, she is our leader–and an incarnation of the Night Warrior herself. She is about to begin. You may stand here beside me.

I really love that the recent detente between Maiev and Tyrande hasn’t softened their age-old resentment of each other. Maiev accepts that Tyrande is their leader and the avatar of the Night Warrior, but she’s never been a blind follower and she’s not going to start now. Still, you stand next to her as Tyrande takes center stage and delivers her address to the assembled Night Elves and of course those of you who helped win the battle for the Kaldorei.

Victory is ours this night!
Elune has given us the power to save ourselves!
The Horde burned our forests thinking to kill our hope.
They died for that folly. For our hope resides not in the trees, but in our bonds to each other!
We…are…Kaldorei!

Of course, Malfurion is there supporting Tyrande, as are other notable Night Elves, such as Maiev herself and Shandris Feathermoon. Notably Archmage Mordent Evenshade is there, the same Archmage who petitioned Tyrande for the Shen’dralar to rejoin Night Elf society back in Cataclysm. This could definitely signal a return to using Arcane Magic for the Night Elves, as the Shen’dralar are one of the few groups on Azeroth whose arcane tradition stretches back as far or further than the Nightborne or Blood Elves. Does this mean Tyrande is willing to embrace any means for revenge for her people? Time will tell, but seeing him there definitely makes it a possibility.

Heading into Shadowlands

Also present are the three surviving Greymanes — Genn, his wife Mia who nearly died when Darnassus was destroyed, and Tess. Also present are Druid trainer Celestine of the Harvest and Lorna Crowley herself. While Tyrande’s tone is far from conciliatory, she does make the point that the attempt to kill her people’s hope by destroying Teldrassil ultimately failed — that the Night Elves stand together, and that their hope comes from each other. She also seems to credit Elune with their victory. It’s kind of interesting that she says that Elune gave them the power to save themselves, and it leads into that idea about her wanting answers from her Goddess as to why she let this happen in the first place. This theme is definitely something I think we’ll see in Shadowlands.

But what we know for sure is that, despite the casualties from the attack on Teldrassil, the Night Elves have pushed the Horde out of their lands. Darkshore is theirs again. I had said, back during patch 8.2.5, that I wanted to see more focus on the Night Elves and this is a nice first step in that direction.