The Queue: By the time you read this I will have endured the eye lasers

So how’s your Friday going? Mine is likely to be very uncomfortable. I will be recuperating from having various blood vessels on my retinas burned out with lasers. It’s not actually painful, but it is really disturbing to feel your eyeballs get hot.

This is the Queue. Let’s talk about something else.

Anything else.

I mean, there should be some fallout from all this, but remember, only a few people have actually been bodily to the Shadowlands and it’s quite likely that they either won’t feel like it’s something that should be widely spread around, or that they might not be believed even if they did.

I don’t work for Blizzard, but if I were given the opportunity to write something for WoW, I would very much want to touch upon the potential for serious changes in the world stemming from the giant hole in the sky over Northrend that lead to the land of the dead. We know that there are people living in Northrend — in the Grizzly Hills, Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, even in the Dragonblight and Storm Peaks there are towns and villages and settlements. People will have seen that.

Then again, in the past few years people have seen a gigantic lava dragon exploding through Stormwind’s park, waves of invading demons attacking various towns and regions, and before that the walking dead invaded major cities, so perhaps this would just be another huge ridiculous crazy thing that most people on Azeroth just take in stride.

I will be answering it.

I am extremely anxious about going in to get my retina laserblasted, upset that my cat will likely cost another couple of thousand dollars in vet bills I simply cannot afford and have no idea how we’re gonna pay for it, and generally just freaking exhausted by life right now.

I love my cats and I hate to see them suffering. It makes for sleepless nights.

My Thursday was basically just me trying to sleep as much as possible. So it was actually the best day I’ve had in weeks. Sadly, Friday will likely not be as good.

I had some pasta for breakfast/lunch and sandwiches for dinner.

Nope. Was a reference to a really weird ad circular we got from Canadian Tire. Sorry. I get punchy when I’m tired and I’ve been tired for the past two years.

The one who fought the Reapers.

I don’t feel like the Humbaba is particularly mysterious. Utu created him and raised him, Enlil commanded him to guard the Cedars where the gods lived. Gilgamesh and Enkidu slew him to tick off a box on their proof we’re awesome list, ultimately. The Cedar raid and the death of Humbaba is basically just establishing Gilgamesh’s hunger for lasting fame as a kind of immortality, and it is brought up again at the end of the epic as Gilgamesh is oppressed by the knowledge of his own eventual death, but it’s more of an episode than anything else. The Bull of Heaven is more important than Humbaba is, because Gilgamesh and Enkidu are at best scolded for killing Humbaba, but Enkidu dies for his role in striking down the Bull of Heaven.

Seriously, never mock a goddess by throwing the leg of the sacred animal you just killed at her while she’s lamenting its death. It’s just a bad idea.

I feel like a lot of WoW bosses have been comparable to Humbaba’s role in the Epic of Gilgamesh, from the Lurker Below on. It’s a monster that existed entirely to be killed to set up the real story, it’s Gruul, it’s Doomwalker. It’s an opening act.

I kind of wanted to talk about games on sale, but I’m too broke to buy any and I’m likely to need all the money I can spare to pay for my cat’s vet bills, so… yeah. Ruined King looks pretty cool. Shame I won’t get to play it.

Cory will likely be back on Monday so remember to ask him some questions.