Blizzard respond to WoW fan concerns over Sylvanas story in Shadowlands 9.2
Blizzard EntertainmentFollowing Blizzard’s controversial narrative surrounding World of Warcraft’s timeless villainess, Sylvanas Windrunner, the devs have assured fans that WoW Shadowlands patch 9.2 won’t be the end of the Banshee Queen.
If there’s one character that has split the World of Warcraft universe in two (literally) it’s Sylvanas Windrunner, former Horde Warchief turned exiled pariah.
In the Shadowlands story, players heavily criticized Blizzard’s narrative for the Dark Lady, with some even demanding they kill off the character to save her from confusing writing. The patch 9.2 announcement only added fuel to the fire, as the now-infamous Shattered Legacies cinematic revealed that some form of redemption awaits the Forsaken warrior in Eternity’s End.
During a Q&A session with WoW’s Narrative Lead, Steve Danuser, he revealed that players can rest easy, as the Banshee Queen’s razor-sharp wit and abrasive personality won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
WoW Shadowlands 9.2 explores Sylvanas’ internal struggle
As we come into 9.2 and finally get our reckoning with The Jailer, Sylvanas’ ongoing struggle to reconcile with the sins of her past self will form an overarching part of the patch’s narrative.
“Throughout Eternity’s End we will see much more of that [Shattered Legacies] story, and we will work towards a resolution of the Sylvanas arc – that’s been something that’s been building for a very long time,” Danuser told Dexerto.
“Sylvanas is obviously pivotal in the events that led us to the Shadowlands… so now that those two pieces of her soul are back together, it doesn’t mean that one of them is gone. The Banshee Queen is not gone, the Ranger General hasn’t taken over; it’s that those two pieces are having to find a path forward and they have to become one entity and one soul, not this fractured thing.
“But that’s not an easy road to walk,” he continues, “and whether she can do that and what form that takes is what you’ll see as you play through that content. We’re very excited about how that story culminates. It will play out in a chapter of the Covenant campaign that we didn’t put out on the test realm for a specific reason: because we wanted to hold back that final piece to the story for players to discover as they play through the content.”
Blizzard EntertainmentReiterating that “it’s not that one of those personalities is gone,” he notes “if you watch the subtle things as you play through the questline, or see what Sylvanas says and does, you’ll see that she still has the quick wit and the snarkiness. That has not just disappeared – she’s still got that attitude.”
As our heroes venture forth into the bowels of Zerith Mortis and into The Jailer’s waiting hands, Sylvanas Windrunner’s fate remains unclear.
What we can’t wait for, however, is to fight alongside our former enemy for the future of Azeroth.