#even if he didn't become another Arthas entirely

[druidonity2]

2021 Shadowlands fanart.

[diaryofomellas]

Sorry for hijacking your post like this but I have some words.

I stopped watching Taliesin's videos a long time ago because I didn't like the way he talked about and analyzed Sylvanas in a very negative (and often misogynistic way, if I remember correctly), while glorifying Arthas at the same time.

I clicked on this video with legit fear that he would end up saying all the wrongs things once again to his very biased audience.

But you know what? The video is actually not bad at all.

Pros:

He acknowledges her trauma and how it played a huge role in the decision to partner up with the Jailer. That's refreshing to see because most people absolutely downplay this factor and the impact her trauma has in all of the decisions she makes. And he doesn't do it in a negative way. Kudos for that.

He explains how this does not take away all her agency since... forever, really.

He explains how the soul fracture thing works as it was shows to us in the game.

He explains how this is not a way to excuse her actions, but instead it's an acknowledgement of all the bad, bad things she's done (read that in Nathanos voice, please and thank you, love my grumpy man). This is showing us how the part of her soul that was "frozen in time" in the Jailer's possession is coming to terms with the things that the rest of her soul has done and understanding that the RG Sylvanas is not a separate entity to the Banshee Sylvanas -- they're the same person.

He talks a lot about her character development and growth, which some people seem to have missed completely.

He also talks about Uther's character development and growth which, honestly, is something I've missed completely.

He mentions it's very nice that they meet in a field of wheat but totally missed the fact that this is a human farm and who do we know that was a human who was important to her? *wink wink* I'm not saying this is Nathanos' farm but it's totally Nathanos' farm. I mean, the entirety of this scene in her mindscape plays out in what look like important locations for her, like the place where she dies in the scar with Silvermoon's spires in the distance...

Cons:

He calls Baine badass for saying she shouldn't wake up.

I totally get why Baine said it, but I think it's the opposite of badass. It's not just cowardly, it's also shameful. If this line belonged to any of the others, I wouldn't even bat an eye. But Baine is a Tauren. They are supposed to be one of the most peaceful races in Azeroth. And that line sounds extremely violent to me in his lips. It sounds like something he should definitely feel bad about later, when he gets some time to chill and to truly think about what he said. (Fingers crossed for some character development here)

He says it wouldn't be a bad decision for Blizzard to change the placement of her Frostmourne's scar from her abdomen to her collarbone. He mentions that it would quietly unwrite all the sexual undertones of her murder and that wouldn't be a bad thing considering everything that's happening with Blizzard lately.

I have to disagree here. The sexual abuse metaphor that has been woven into her death and the way Arthas acted towards her was a massive source of empowerment for women. To see someone they related to on such a deep, personal level being able to survive and become more than just her trauma, to lead her people, to get back the power that was taken from her... It was inspiring. To take that away would not just downplay the very dark and terrible nature of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Arthas, it would also remove yet another reason for all of us to relate to her (like they did with the Val'kyr and yes, I am still absolutely pissed for that).

He does mention that there's a possibility that it's an entirely new scar created when she got her soul back, so there's that. We simply don't know.

Anyway, I never thought I would say this but yeah. I recommend this video. Go take a look.

https://youtu.be/EQ5Nr4x2OLc

This analysis is great if you are confused or have a feeling you (or the bulk of the fandom) are misinterpreting this cinematic/story. Sometimes the fandom gets so fussy so quickly with knee jerk reactions before we have the whole story. It can be hard to see through all the negativity out there or even not get caught up in it. 😖💕 For me personally, this was so helpful to watch as I was confused on some things.