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There is an in game cinematic that takes place right after this that you have to watch. There is an Alliance version and a Horde version of the same even. Watch the Alliance version first but please we really want to see you react to them. You are really going to want to for the lore. Varian is absolutely epic in them.
Lots of great characters, but Anduin is probably my favorite because we've watched him grow up. He's not the most popular, because he's not all alpha-male, but I like that he's honestly doing his best to be a good person.
You should follow-up in short order with the first in-game cutscene after this, because it picks up where this leaves off, still in this same battle. For players, this cinematic was the expansion hype, and that cinematic was our first day of playing it.
You might already know this, but Varian is voiced by the same person that voices Thrall, Chris Metzen, which also happens to be one of the main people behind the creation of Warcraft.
It's easy to miss, but Varian's sword, Shalamayne, can be split into two blades, and does so in this cinematic. Won't be the last time either. The lore of it is that an evil dragon (Onyxia, Deathwing's daughter) once split the king's soul into two people, hoping to use the weaker half as a pawn. When they were re-fused at the end of that story, their blades became one.
did you catch, just before Varian shouts "for azeroth!" he puts his right handed sword parallel to his shoulder pointing it out. same way both Arthas and Anduin pose as well, the through line that connects human kings.
Two sets as well, most of the cinematics you have the Horde side ones and the Alliance side ones. Same with most of the game play, you are an alliance character doing a quest and bump into horde characters or even other horde players at some intersection it is all through alliance perspective as to why you as a player was sent there and if you are horde player, you end up same spot and there are alliance there, you have no idea why they are there and they same for you. lol. Storming the same beach as Horde players with other Aliance players was weird feeling, you could see each other but, were separated by landmarks.
It's been so great to watch you go from just analyzing the cinematic elements to getting hyped over the intricacies of the lore. Seeing your excitement over the Horde and Alliance uniting was really nostalgic for how many people felt at the time.
@@SirPunch2Faceas if legion wasn't world of friendship? There are like 3 cinematics in dragonflight that are badly done and people are acting like world of friendship hasn't been a thing since tbc. The overall plot of dragonflight falls very much in line with the same theme as basically every other expansion save bfa. Horde and alliance come together with new allies to fight off a threat to the world. The plot itself is even very good, despite the actual story telling in game being garbage. Calling it world of friendship is such a stupid jab at it. Like at least criticize it well and not just parrot what you've heard some dumbass steamers say
@@faizanahmad7730 It's not even just that the Horde and Alliance are working together. It's the entire narrative. As you mentioned, in every expansion since TBC it has been Horde and Alliance working together. That's not where the issue is. The issue is that even their portrayal of death, loss, sorrow, is just completely nonexistent anymore. Where are the tragic villains like Illidan or Arthas who were just trying to do what they thought was right, though through questionable means, and it ended up essentially costing them their "humanity"? Where are the characters that actually mean something being taken out like Tirion in Legion that make you want to fight back? They jebaited everyone with BfA by saying that they were returning to the roots of Warcraft and then "loljk actually we still friends Sylvanas just crazy". There is no good storytelling of what happened to Sylvanas and why she became what she did. It was all "well ACKSHUALLY it was the Jailer the whole time and not Arthas!" And then through the power of friendship you beat the Jailer. And then Dragonflight is a story about some pre dragons who are grumpy that the Titan's liked someone else more than them, and now they're out for vengeance. And through the power of friendship (it almost says those exact words in the final cinematic of the new raid) mother earth is happy now and we got our super saiyan powers back because we just needed to conquer hate with love. It's stupid. It's not about the Horde and the Alliance working together. It's that the whole story went from the tragic fall of Illidan, the tragic fall of Arthas, the existential threat of Deathwing literally destroying the world, a power hungry warlock making deals with a fallen Titan to bring destruction to the planet, to a boring and non-consequential story of friendship power rangers to save a tree from a grumpy proto drake throwing a temper tantrum because he wasn't picked for kickball.
@@Juhnoo I'm enjoying playing the game. But pretending that the story is anything more then little kids cartoons trash is maximum cope. Hell, Bambi has more mature elements to it than Dragonflight does. I'll go have a Snickers, you go huff copium, and we can both go on with our days
I love your love for Anduin's theme (the heroic/adventurous music)... it's one of my favorite pieces in the whole game. That motif is EXTREMELY versatile because it's got a sort of bittersweetness underlying it, and you'll hear it during adventurous & resolute moments like this, but also during sad and conflicted moments, and it's so powerful. It brings tears to my eyes in this cinematic because of the context surrounding it -- Varian is thinking about his son, and what he admires about his son, and trying to make the world better FOR his son in what may well be (and spoiler alert: it is) his last fight, his last opportunity to do so. The melody absolutely punches you in the heart, it's incredible. Also speaking of music, that hero shot of Sylvanas is what they used for the soundtrack art for this expansion. It was such a great shot, the subtle smile & nod at Varian was amazing. But also, imo, Legion has some of the best music in the entire game, but a lot of it didn't make it onto the official soundtrack. It's one of the only expacs where I wish the soundtrack had had two installments to cover all the amazing work. Also, just to add a little more feels regarding the War Within cinematic, Thrall and Varian are both voiced by Chris Metzen so Anduin getting "dad figure" vibes from Thrall is enough to make me absolutely weep. lol
Anduin's Theme (A World Divided) really is the best they have done, along with all the variations of it. As you say the versatility of it allows it to be done in ways that just work and always hit the right emotion. Even having a version of it used and work during Eternity's End in Shadowlands. It is a theme that I continually find myself listening to over and over, and still wanting to listen to it in all of its versions.
My hottake- Varian knew, in the end, that Sylvanas didn't betray him deliberately. The spill of demons visible over the ridge told him what he needed to know. She couldn't hold, and he wouldn't have expected her to let her people just die on that hill for his sake. And I believe Anduin didn't assume it either. (Because he's Anduin.)
Technically she wasn't in charge at the time, Vol'jin was still Warchief and Varian knew him to be honorable, and in command of his forces. Genn just has a VERY big and very understandable grudge against her for killing his son.
I feel like after going through all the expansion cinematics in order you have to watch The War Within one more time just to fully see how far we've all come with this series, could be a fun thing to do on stream!
The musical theme you admire as adventurous is Anduin's Theme, which can be heard in the War Within cinematic. It was also heard quite often in Shadowlands, but it usually in a minor key... Legion was, I believe, the first time Anduin's Theme appeared.
Well technically this variation is Varian's, until he passes the letter to Gen(when the theme plays for Varian one last time while jumping on the fel reaver, we could say Varian passes both letter and theme to Anduin)
ty for all the technical information you pass along with your reactions, I love learning new things and never knew anything about the mechanics of film making...Now I know the rule of thirds and more
Not sure if this was said, but Sylvannas has always been a fairly staunch enemy to the Alliance - she's not a night elf, but a high elf that Arthas killed and raised under his service. Eventually she, and a portion of Arthas's army of undead broke free of his control and established a faction she named "The Forsaken". Sylvannas has always been in a moral quandary with the forsaken, since they're all unnaturally living, and because they can't reproduce to keep their repurposed kingdom running, her solution was to resurrect corpses of Lordaeron. Most of the horde frowns on that, but doesn't shut her down from doing it, since her original deal was to give them a choice to work for her or to find their own life. As for the view from the Alliance, many of the humans had family in Lordaeron, and to see their dead relatives being manipulated into undeath and serving Sylvannas (from their point of view) was horrifying. Iirc the alliance pushed for Sylvannas to relinquish the remains of Lordaeron quite a number of times, with a resolute denial being the result. The alliance never fully mobilized to take it with force, since there has always been a threat more deserving of their time and forces. (This will be important later) Also, Sylvannas is... Partially responsible for the deaths of Bolvar and Dranosh Saurfang at the Wrathgate, since the person she appointed (but did not know his motives) as the highest rank of apothecary unleashed the blight at that location, and killed nearly everyone there. In short, it's a rare circumstance that these two aren't at each other's throat. Very much shows that it's a dire moment.
That was Grand Apothecary Putress, who was secretly working with Varimathras, Sylvanas' Dreadlord ally, to overthrow her, and they used the Blight throwers at the Wrathgate to foil the attack and distract her from the takeover of the Undercity. After the events of Legion, she did agree to a limited reunion of Alliance families with their now Forsaken loved ones, at the urging of both Anduin and Calia Menethil (Arthas' sister who had been killed and raised into undeath). When Sylvanas saw that some of her people wanted to leave and rejoin their living families in Stormwind, she had her Dark Rangers cut them down without mercy, calling them traitors, and ruining any chance for peace.
Man, the moments of heroics being underlined by Anduin's theme is such a fucking good musical touch. Anduin's ideals of peace bringing forth such unity and strength. Anduin might not be here with us during this cinematic, but he is in there in how he has helped bring the Horde and Alliance together during Legion. Fuck man, Legion was such a good expansion... I honestly miss the hype around it.
That's one of the best scenes showing Varian's use of his separable sword. Note that it's the same sword that Anduin has in the newest cinematic, even though he's a priest and, well, priests can wield 2Handed swords. X-D It used to be that when Anduin wielded it, the orb glowed. It never glowed in that recent cinematic, representative of what he says about having lost his Light. There are so many battle cinematics in Legion that I forgot about this one vis-à-vis the magnitude of some others (Varian and Vol'jin's moments).
This cinematic led up to the Legion intro quest where the Horde and Alliance together invade the Broken Shore. While it isn't done in the cinematic style like the expansion cinematics I think that the cutscene that plays at the end of that is way more engaging, memorable, and emotional. I highly recommend it. They did a really cool thing where each faction got a different cut scene, You really should watch them, specifically the "Alliance Broken Shore Cinematic" first, then you can watch the Horde one after (Only the first minute of the Horde one is different from the Alliance one, still it needs to be watched after to get the full effect). One cool thing in this cinematic is that Varian says "For Azeroth" whereas in the past he would be saying "For The Alliance" which players would recognize as the factions coming together.
Honestly, the best thing that blizzard learned to do with these cinematics was learning how to evoke an emotional response. They've used music, story boarding, and narration to pull the exact emotions they want out of the viewer.
the emotional response doesnt fully come from these scenes though. in the game, we've grown and become attached to these characters. We're connected to them. This expansion made so many of us, all of us, just cry. Like fully just break down and cry... We're attached to these fleshed out characters
@@hospitalcakewalkSo true.. I started in 2014 (at the end of MoP) but I remember so well that when Varian fell, I just wept and wept. It felt like a lost my king… a king that I had grown attached to and felt proud of serving.. it is just so incredible how Blizzard has pulled this game of. And I remember my anger towards the Horde during that time- even though I knew there was nothing they could have done differently.
I didn't realize until watching this now that Variant exits the water without the large lion head pauldrons that he was wearing at the start of the video. That makes sense as he needed to get lighter to swim, but I also wonder if it's somehow symbolic of him leaving behind part of his identity as King of Stormwind and taking on a connection to the coalition fighting against the legion. (The lion is an important symbol of Stormwind.) This is also interesting given the lion imagery we'll see in the start of the subsequent expansion, involving Anduin.
Hi Philip I don't know if you will see this but you have to watch the broken shore cinematics following this one, same Legion expansion it explains what happens immediately after this cinematic and is a must watch for you. You watched the new War Within cinematic where Anduin is holding that very sword Varian uses in this Legion cinematic and the following broken shore cinematics ties it all together as to why Anduin has that sword now.
You are definitely going to want to watch the broken shore cinematics both horde an alliance to get the full story of the battle. Also the Anduin broken shore one as well!
The lore in warcraft is so rich and dense, even the sword that Varian wields has its own backstory and worth looking up. It used to be 2 elven swords that were magically fused together by Onyxia the black dragon, and every so often, can be broken apart to duel wield, but its totally dependent on whoever wields it. The swords name is Shalamayne
Most of the characters have Indepth backstories. Before they even present themselves in the playable games that you get to learn a bit about while playing.
@vir9002 exactly why I love the lore and why we need a TV series 😩. A movie wouldn't cover it well enough. The spinoffs we would get too. So much potential.
@@asmrnicole2638 Yeah, they did that one movie and they stuffed way to much into the one movie that the movie was confusing and the flow was not there. A long running web/tv series could stretch out several years just to tell it properly while introducing factions side's characters and the progression throughout. More like how Game of Thrones did it, they did a good job of introducing many many characters and then keeping track of them along the way, sometimes not hearing from someone in an entire season but, popping in the next to give update..
It's so awesome seeing you getting hyped for a game you never played. It really shows both Blizzard's skill in crafting narratives in this format AND your own passion for the craft. The Warcraft ;)
This is one of the most beloved cinematics and itngoes with one of the most beloved expansions. Even to this day I get enotional at that theme you called heroic. It's Anduin's theme, and it plays a huge part in both this expansion and the primary cinematic for Battle for Azeroth. I'm really excited to see your reaction to that one.
I'd say definitely deserves to watch also the in-game cinematic from the patches with Illidan, like him and Velen talking or, "my destiny's my own" moment.
that motive tune that you love is actually Anduin's theme, which if you go back to the War within trailer, it is there! and you will be hearing it soon in other videos too :)
I know you've been doing main cinematics but I'll comment again about the next expansion battle for Azeroth. You HAVE to watch the side expansions as well. They are essentially a continuation of the main trailer and they're fully cgi. There are 3 but they made one video combining them called "Varok Suarfang's Mak'gora" it's about 20 minutes long. Like I said it's fully animated and it is a continuation of the expansion trailers story and it's beautifully done! Really hope you see this because I know you'd love it and it's excellent for lore! Just make sure the watch the expansion trailer first! Cya in the next video!!
The tune playing throughout the cinematic is titled "Anduin’s Theme". There are multiple variations of it, it was even used in The War Within Cinematic. Although the "official" version of it is the best, you should check it out.
You may have recorded the next one, but I hope you read this before you do. The next expansion is Battle for Azeroth and they released several high quality cinematics that tell a story, you should watch all of them in order: Old Soldier, Battle for Azeroth cinematic intro, Lost Honor, Safe Haven, Reckoning. Watch in that order and you'll get a great experience
Now you have to react to Varian’s death which follows this cinematic. It’s heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. RIP the true King of Stormwind
Great stuff as always. So fun to see someone with your expertise talk through these things we've loved for so long. Hope you'll do reactions for the full Saurfang story from the next expansion, Battle for Azeroth. The expansion trailer cinematic is actually the second in line, chronologically. BfA was the only expansion to have a bunch of pre-rendered cinematics used for some of the story-telling beats throughout the expansion and it was my favorite thing in the 17 years I've been playing this game: Varok Saurfang’s Mak’gora. In the two expansions since, they've moved entirely back to in-engine scenes for storytelling and while the engine has improved throughout the years, it isn't the same. BfA was peak WoW storytelling. Here's hoping The War Within and the rest of the World Soul Saga gets back to the good stuff.
It's so wholesome seeing you get as excited as you do, especially as you start to get to know these characters who long-time players of WoW already know so well.
The underlying leitmotif music in that part at ~3:11 is Anduin's Theme...it is a beautiful, melancholic score, woven in and amped up. It is a major hint that things are going to go badly
Sylvanas isn't actually a Night Elf, she was a Blood Elf who was killed and raised as a banshee who became the leader for the Undead race called the Forsaken
easily the best expansion in WoW, it was truly EPIC, ALL of Azeroth came together to fight this threat that we endured in WC3. well known characters along with some new ones filled our Class Order Halls. Legendary items thought lost to time were obtained to arm ourselves with their might. and some of our greatest heroes fell here, to forever be remembered and gave us the motivation to ultimately succeed.
I absolutely love seeing how excited and invested you get now that you know some of the characters and backstory 💖 I'm not sure how much you've covered on stream but if you haven't seen the rest of Varian's cinematics for Legion then they're a must watch!
Legion broke my heart...((( My king... I will mourn you forever... no one will replace Varian... And the death of Ysera... Here! That's right, look at the in-game cinematics Death of Ysera. God, how I cried, literally choked with tears.
Those two. I have a tattoo of Ysera because I love her so much. I first played Alliance (that's how i first met the emerald dream) so those deaths, omfg. I CRIED. Ysera's story line bothers me so bad. Just in general.
I’m a night elf Druid main from burning crusade and when legion came of course being a lore lover i went hard on questing through Val’sharah, but when I completed that questline with ysera… I left the zone without completing the others. It broke me so hard I couldn’t stand being in that zone for nearly two months and even visiting my class order hall left me in a somber mood.
as a paladin main I was so pissed off with the intro quest. First they killed off Tirion Fordring! Then five minutes later the King! I was fuming in that moment. My whole guild was.
I main horde and haven't even played that far into the game as I'm a classic player who stopped back after cata was released. When I first saw the cut scene to ysera's death on youtube, I had tears streaming down my face and lost it when Elune took her soul up into the stars. I always have an emotional reaction to wow cinematics but that one cut deep lol
The main theme used for our heroes is actually the Dirge that is used later, and it drove me nuts before the start be of the expansion, because I hadn’t seen this trailer yet, just the intro score. The music for this expansion impresses, and this is a very beloved expansion.
Please for the BfA cinematic watch the whole cinematic 5Part for the Story. Its Old Soldier BfA Cinematic Lost Honor Safe Haven The Reckoning in this order, all full cinematic
You are approaching the moment when Blizzard began to make cinematics not only for the announcement of the DLC, but also for the key moments of the plot. These cinematics are not inferior in quality to the numbered ones. Please don't miss it.
Sir, your reactions to these cinematics is the very reason I play WoW, I have played for 12yrs (half way through Cata)..some expansions better than others, but ALWAYS the characters, the artwork the music the WORLD is there ❤ Its an emotional roller coaster
I get more hyped watching your reaction than from rewatching these cinematics. I love it! Forgot! You go on a quest to find the pocket watch later on :)
watching your excitement at this trailer reminded me of something. back when varian was properly introduced into WoW and as the leader of stormwind and the alliance, many alliance players, including me, werent particularly fond of him, because he seemed like a warmonger and it felt like blizz just made him leader of the alliance to "artificially" create conflict between the factions and thus, the players, when lots of us do want (mostly) peace. but throughout his journey, culminating in this and the ingame cinematic, varian got changed by the love for his son and as he puts it, realized that peace is the noblest pursuit and is willing to fight and die for it. he is now among the favorite characters in WoW to many and i even saw many horde players say that they deeply respect him. im proud to have called him my king.
also to the cinematic itself: i feel like some transitions dont quite line up perfectly or are a little confusing, like when sylvanas jumps from her airship into launching attacks against the infernal mid-jump and the infernal getting hit by varian into falling onto the propeller... but as these are in a fight scene, its kinda okay, because fights are confusing and you might not notice every detail around you. also at 13:14 love how varians orange light overpowers the sick, green light of the infernal (it also doesnt show how sylvanas gets back to her ship or leaves the alliance ship unharmed, shes just suddenly there as varian springs back into action. but shes established to be magic, so its kinda okay)
In this expansion, alt-timeline Gul'dan has brought the Legion of our Universe back to Azeroth at the Broken Isles, the site of the Tomb of Sargeras and near to where the Legion was defeated in the War of the Ancients. Here we meet a lost Tauren tribe, the Highmountain Tauren, who have moose antlers, and the Nightborne, Night Elves from Suramar that have drawn upon the power of their own manafont, the Nightwell, giving them much darker skin and tattoos glowing with energy. The Legion's return also saw the return of many legendary weapon artifacts that players would acquire and would replace weapon drops for this whole expansion. Instead you would level up your weapon using Artifact Power gained from quests and such, and unlock new abilites and stats on a skill tree progression system. Paladins would get to wield the Ashbringer for the first time, while Shaman could wreak havoc with the Doomhammer, Death Knights would reforge the shards of Frostmourne into the Blades of the Fallen Prince, and hunters got to rain death with Thas'dorah, the Legacy bow of the Windrunner family (Sylvanas' older sister Alleria Windrunner last used it when she went to Draenor in WC2 to close the Dark Portal) It was one of the best systems they ever came up with and it brought SO MANY players back to the game. Later patches had Legion invasions in each zone to fight off for rewards, as well as in other areas of Azeroth. It truly felt like a world war against a demon invasion and only by powering up your powerful artifacts could you have a chance at defeating the Legion. Eventually it's revealed that Illidan really IS the savior of the world, but not in the way the Army of the Light expects (the cinematic Rejection of the Gift is VERY powerful), and he rouses his Demon Hunters to aid the factions against the demons (a new playable class). Illidan ends up using the Sargerite Keystone and opens a portal to Azeroth and ends up bringing the former Draenei homeworld of Argus through to Azeroth's orbit, and the Draenei build a new dimensional ship, the Vindicaar, to fly there to bring the fight to the Legion. There they find the remnants of the Army of the Light, and the presumed lost General Turalyon and Ranger-General Alleria Windrunner (from WC2). They join forces and fight Kil'jaeden, a demon lord like Archimonde, and free the Titans from their imprisonment. This allows them to stop Sargeras from destroying the world (but not before he plunges his sword Gorribal deep into the heart of Azeroth, wounding the world-soul and causing the planet to bleed Azerite, a powerful substance that creates an arms race in the next expansion. Illidan stays behind with the Titans to be Sargeras jailer, battling him eternally, just as he always wanted.
Incredible reaction and analysis as usual! BFA cinematic and Old Soldier next up! I'm excited to see you react to Saurfangs journey. Safe travels homie!
Random thing, in WarCradt a "Loremaster" would be called a "Lorewalker" like Lorewalker Cho.
Рік тому+1
Great video, as always ;) If you enjoy audiobooks, I recommend checking out the audiodrama "The Tomb of Sargeras" and "A Thousand Years of War" which have been released just before Legion. Absolutely incredible stuff and a great window into the Legion story. It's also quite short as it is not an actual book but rather a dramatized version of a short story, so you don't need to commit too much time to it.
I jsut want to say that I like that you watch it first, then go back to break it down. I like to see reactions of people who first watch to enjoy, and then listen to their analysis of it.
the defeat of the Infernal also calls back to the first Warcraft III video that introduces them. The human and the orc fight each other and so they're no match for it. that's the dream that Medivh shows Thrall. but now, working together, and after all their fights against the Burning Legion, they can work together to overcome the Infernal. but it's not enough.
Green Glowing in Warcraft usually means Fel Energy, Demon corrupted energy. Fel Fire. The sindori (blood elves) you can play as with the green eyes, fel green from a corrupted source, fel magic, fel demons.
you're getting caught up in the cinimatics to a point that you'll begin needing to watch some of the others that Blizzard made, Warbringers and Harbingers offer a unique look at some more story telling and artwork, hope you check them out. Also Illidan is > all, guy has a background story that's rivaled only by Arthas from old lore.
So sad I missed this reaction. But happy to support and watch! Varian never had a moment to just be a man, ever. From the moment as a boy, he lost his father, a Kingdom forever at WAR was thrust on him. He married his wife Tiffin because his father wanted it. He fell in love with her and had Anduin, and then he lost her suddenly. He clung to his son and his people with everything he had and everything he was. The only selfish thing about him was wanting the love of his son. He would do anything for that. He will forever, be my on true KING.
Highly recommend you watch the Broken Shore cinematic before the next one. Which is the follow up to this cinematic. There's one alliance version and one horde version with a difference in the first minute.
Legion was my FAVOURITE expansion in WoW....mostly due to the hype from seeing this cinematic at Blizzcon. Love your reactions and breaking down the scenes with no real context, it shows how good the cinematic team at Blizzard are at telling a story in such a short time frame. You gotta react to the Battle for Azeroth cinematic where we see the results of the Legion invasion...no spoilers :P
The in game cinematic for the Battle for the Broken Shore, though not of the same quality, really adds to the story if you're invested in the lore now. I'm a Lore whore for life lol
I don't know if you only watch cinematic from expansions. But you may like the "Rejection of the Gift" from Legion's story it's near the end of the expansion. Not a cinematic, just a video from the game.. yeah.. just a video.
A World Divided - aka Anduin’s theme - is the WoW leitmotif. It also appears in Invincible, Arthas’ theme, with the sung line: an karanhir thanagor (long live the king). Whereas it was ironic in the Arthas cinematic, and poignant for Anduin, it’s reminding us here that these are heroes and they will never truly die. EDIT: Legion was awesome. Just, let’s not talk about the legendary weapon grind, ‘k?
The War Within cinematic I think hits much closer to home for players that have stuck around from the beginning. If you consider Chris Metzen returning (ex CEO and the guy who invented WoW lore, also VA for Thrall, Varian, etc) after many years (as well as Thrall) and Anduin as a manifestation of ourselves, it just goes beyond story board man. It is quite emotional and difficult to watch any of these. The art and cinematic team just carries the game on their shoulders for so long, they have players absolute and unquestionable faith and respect.
This expansion was the last one i played, couse for me it felt like it should have been the game's final one with the last battle against the legion and all. What i like about this expansion and its trailer that it shows both the Horde and Alliance working together, even if that falls apart in the game when the leaders of both factions get killed by the Legion and the factions blame each other for it forcing u the player to gather a faction based on your class to keep the legion at bay using a legendary weapon u have to find thats unique to your build and class to rally them. Btw, there is a quest where u have go and dive up the bag Varian dropped in the cinematic and then deliver it to Anduin, quite a heart stirring moment.
As said in the comments, you should watch the ingame cinematic that happens after that shows the final battle in that area. Also, you should react to StarCraft 2 and Diablo (3 and 4) cinematics. They´re also great. And the Overwatch Cinematics are amaizing too. I am enjoying your "WoW Cinematic Trip"
I greatly hope you watch the Broken Shore cutscene and Anduin visiting the Broken Shore. Those will be great context for what's to come in BFA cinematics.
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There is an in game cinematic that takes place right after this that you have to watch. There is an Alliance version and a Horde version of the same even. Watch the Alliance version first but please we really want to see you react to them. You are really going to want to for the lore. Varian is absolutely epic in them.
Lots of great characters, but Anduin is probably my favorite because we've watched him grow up. He's not the most popular, because he's not all alpha-male, but I like that he's honestly doing his best to be a good person.
You should follow-up in short order with the first in-game cutscene after this, because it picks up where this leaves off, still in this same battle. For players, this cinematic was the expansion hype, and that cinematic was our first day of playing it.
@@joveonlightbringer9684 Anduin is the MAN💪 Varian, would be proud❤️🔥
Illidan
You might already know this, but Varian is voiced by the same person that voices Thrall, Chris Metzen, which also happens to be one of the main people behind the creation of Warcraft.
And he's back at the helm.
It's always been his brain child.@@anniew.4467
It's easy to miss, but Varian's sword, Shalamayne, can be split into two blades, and does so in this cinematic. Won't be the last time either. The lore of it is that an evil dragon (Onyxia, Deathwing's daughter) once split the king's soul into two people, hoping to use the weaker half as a pawn. When they were re-fused at the end of that story, their blades became one.
did you catch, just before Varian shouts "for azeroth!" he puts his right handed sword parallel to his shoulder pointing it out. same way both Arthas and Anduin pose as well, the through line that connects human kings.
nice catch!
You’ve got to follow it up with the in game cinematics man. You get SO much more story and emotion
Agreed, The follow up cutscene is important to complete this cinematic especially.
He usually does it on the stream. He has done it with Draenor.
Yeah Legion cutscenes are fire.
Two sets as well, most of the cinematics you have the Horde side ones and the Alliance side ones. Same with most of the game play, you are an alliance character doing a quest and bump into horde characters or even other horde players at some intersection it is all through alliance perspective as to why you as a player was sent there and if you are horde player, you end up same spot and there are alliance there, you have no idea why they are there and they same for you. lol. Storming the same beach as Horde players with other Aliance players was weird feeling, you could see each other but, were separated by landmarks.
It's been so great to watch you go from just analyzing the cinematic elements to getting hyped over the intricacies of the lore. Seeing your excitement over the Horde and Alliance uniting was really nostalgic for how many people felt at the time.
Now they just need to get it back to World of Warcraft and not World of Friendship like it is now lol
@@SirPunch2Faceas if legion wasn't world of friendship? There are like 3 cinematics in dragonflight that are badly done and people are acting like world of friendship hasn't been a thing since tbc. The overall plot of dragonflight falls very much in line with the same theme as basically every other expansion save bfa. Horde and alliance come together with new allies to fight off a threat to the world. The plot itself is even very good, despite the actual story telling in game being garbage. Calling it world of friendship is such a stupid jab at it. Like at least criticize it well and not just parrot what you've heard some dumbass steamers say
@@faizanahmad7730 It's not even just that the Horde and Alliance are working together. It's the entire narrative. As you mentioned, in every expansion since TBC it has been Horde and Alliance working together. That's not where the issue is. The issue is that even their portrayal of death, loss, sorrow, is just completely nonexistent anymore. Where are the tragic villains like Illidan or Arthas who were just trying to do what they thought was right, though through questionable means, and it ended up essentially costing them their "humanity"? Where are the characters that actually mean something being taken out like Tirion in Legion that make you want to fight back? They jebaited everyone with BfA by saying that they were returning to the roots of Warcraft and then "loljk actually we still friends Sylvanas just crazy". There is no good storytelling of what happened to Sylvanas and why she became what she did. It was all "well ACKSHUALLY it was the Jailer the whole time and not Arthas!" And then through the power of friendship you beat the Jailer. And then Dragonflight is a story about some pre dragons who are grumpy that the Titan's liked someone else more than them, and now they're out for vengeance. And through the power of friendship (it almost says those exact words in the final cinematic of the new raid) mother earth is happy now and we got our super saiyan powers back because we just needed to conquer hate with love. It's stupid. It's not about the Horde and the Alliance working together. It's that the whole story went from the tragic fall of Illidan, the tragic fall of Arthas, the existential threat of Deathwing literally destroying the world, a power hungry warlock making deals with a fallen Titan to bring destruction to the planet, to a boring and non-consequential story of friendship power rangers to save a tree from a grumpy proto drake throwing a temper tantrum because he wasn't picked for kickball.
@@SirPunch2Facebro eat a snickers. You really sound like you need one.
@@Juhnoo I'm enjoying playing the game. But pretending that the story is anything more then little kids cartoons trash is maximum cope. Hell, Bambi has more mature elements to it than Dragonflight does.
I'll go have a Snickers, you go huff copium, and we can both go on with our days
I love your love for Anduin's theme (the heroic/adventurous music)... it's one of my favorite pieces in the whole game. That motif is EXTREMELY versatile because it's got a sort of bittersweetness underlying it, and you'll hear it during adventurous & resolute moments like this, but also during sad and conflicted moments, and it's so powerful. It brings tears to my eyes in this cinematic because of the context surrounding it -- Varian is thinking about his son, and what he admires about his son, and trying to make the world better FOR his son in what may well be (and spoiler alert: it is) his last fight, his last opportunity to do so. The melody absolutely punches you in the heart, it's incredible.
Also speaking of music, that hero shot of Sylvanas is what they used for the soundtrack art for this expansion. It was such a great shot, the subtle smile & nod at Varian was amazing. But also, imo, Legion has some of the best music in the entire game, but a lot of it didn't make it onto the official soundtrack. It's one of the only expacs where I wish the soundtrack had had two installments to cover all the amazing work.
Also, just to add a little more feels regarding the War Within cinematic, Thrall and Varian are both voiced by Chris Metzen so Anduin getting "dad figure" vibes from Thrall is enough to make me absolutely weep. lol
Anduin's Theme (A World Divided) really is the best they have done, along with all the variations of it. As you say the versatility of it allows it to be done in ways that just work and always hit the right emotion. Even having a version of it used and work during Eternity's End in Shadowlands.
It is a theme that I continually find myself listening to over and over, and still wanting to listen to it in all of its versions.
I love that piece too. I have it as my phone ringtone. It's just got some depth to it that so many other songs don't.
Well said.
Anduin's theme is EASILY one of my favorite themes in video games. So masterful and the range of emotions that it evokes is really everything.
My hottake- Varian knew, in the end, that Sylvanas didn't betray him deliberately. The spill of demons visible over the ridge told him what he needed to know. She couldn't hold, and he wouldn't have expected her to let her people just die on that hill for his sake. And I believe Anduin didn't assume it either. (Because he's Anduin.)
Technically she wasn't in charge at the time, Vol'jin was still Warchief and Varian knew him to be honorable, and in command of his forces. Genn just has a VERY big and very understandable grudge against her for killing his son.
I feel like after going through all the expansion cinematics in order you have to watch The War Within one more time just to fully see how far we've all come with this series, could be a fun thing to do on stream!
The musical theme you admire as adventurous is Anduin's Theme, which can be heard in the War Within cinematic. It was also heard quite often in Shadowlands, but it usually in a minor key... Legion was, I believe, the first time Anduin's Theme appeared.
yes this in the next cinematic, the one after the start scenario (dont wanna spoiler) is also great to hear
Well technically this variation is Varian's, until he passes the letter to Gen(when the theme plays for Varian one last time while jumping on the fel reaver, we could say Varian passes both letter and theme to Anduin)
ty for all the technical information you pass along with your reactions, I love learning new things and never knew anything about the mechanics of film making...Now I know the rule of thirds and more
Just an off hand comment, I love that Sylvanas' bow is made out of a spine.
Not sure if this was said, but Sylvannas has always been a fairly staunch enemy to the Alliance - she's not a night elf, but a high elf that Arthas killed and raised under his service. Eventually she, and a portion of Arthas's army of undead broke free of his control and established a faction she named "The Forsaken". Sylvannas has always been in a moral quandary with the forsaken, since they're all unnaturally living, and because they can't reproduce to keep their repurposed kingdom running, her solution was to resurrect corpses of Lordaeron. Most of the horde frowns on that, but doesn't shut her down from doing it, since her original deal was to give them a choice to work for her or to find their own life. As for the view from the Alliance, many of the humans had family in Lordaeron, and to see their dead relatives being manipulated into undeath and serving Sylvannas (from their point of view) was horrifying.
Iirc the alliance pushed for Sylvannas to relinquish the remains of Lordaeron quite a number of times, with a resolute denial being the result. The alliance never fully mobilized to take it with force, since there has always been a threat more deserving of their time and forces. (This will be important later)
Also, Sylvannas is... Partially responsible for the deaths of Bolvar and Dranosh Saurfang at the Wrathgate, since the person she appointed (but did not know his motives) as the highest rank of apothecary unleashed the blight at that location, and killed nearly everyone there.
In short, it's a rare circumstance that these two aren't at each other's throat. Very much shows that it's a dire moment.
That was Grand Apothecary Putress, who was secretly working with Varimathras, Sylvanas' Dreadlord ally, to overthrow her, and they used the Blight throwers at the Wrathgate to foil the attack and distract her from the takeover of the Undercity.
After the events of Legion, she did agree to a limited reunion of Alliance families with their now Forsaken loved ones, at the urging of both Anduin and Calia Menethil (Arthas' sister who had been killed and raised into undeath). When Sylvanas saw that some of her people wanted to leave and rejoin their living families in Stormwind, she had her Dark Rangers cut them down without mercy, calling them traitors, and ruining any chance for peace.
Man, the moments of heroics being underlined by Anduin's theme is such a fucking good musical touch.
Anduin's ideals of peace bringing forth such unity and strength. Anduin might not be here with us during this cinematic, but he is in there in how he has helped bring the Horde and Alliance together during Legion.
Fuck man, Legion was such a good expansion... I honestly miss the hype around it.
That's one of the best scenes showing Varian's use of his separable sword. Note that it's the same sword that Anduin has in the newest cinematic, even though he's a priest and, well, priests can wield 2Handed swords. X-D It used to be that when Anduin wielded it, the orb glowed. It never glowed in that recent cinematic, representative of what he says about having lost his Light.
There are so many battle cinematics in Legion that I forgot about this one vis-à-vis the magnitude of some others (Varian and Vol'jin's moments).
Knowing what we know now, the picture of Anduin and the spinning compass shows how his fate is in turmoil.
Legion was such an amazing expansion.
This cinematic led up to the Legion intro quest where the Horde and Alliance together invade the Broken Shore. While it isn't done in the cinematic style like the expansion cinematics I think that the cutscene that plays at the end of that is way more engaging, memorable, and emotional. I highly recommend it.
They did a really cool thing where each faction got a different cut scene, You really should watch them, specifically the "Alliance Broken Shore Cinematic" first, then you can watch the Horde one after (Only the first minute of the Horde one is different from the Alliance one, still it needs to be watched after to get the full effect).
One cool thing in this cinematic is that Varian says "For Azeroth" whereas in the past he would be saying "For The Alliance" which players would recognize as the factions coming together.
Honestly, the best thing that blizzard learned to do with these cinematics was learning how to evoke an emotional response. They've used music, story boarding, and narration to pull the exact emotions they want out of the viewer.
the emotional response doesnt fully come from these scenes though. in the game, we've grown and become attached to these characters. We're connected to them. This expansion made so many of us, all of us, just cry. Like fully just break down and cry... We're attached to these fleshed out characters
@@hospitalcakewalkSo true.. I started in 2014 (at the end of MoP) but I remember so well that when Varian fell, I just wept and wept. It felt like a lost my king… a king that I had grown attached to and felt proud of serving.. it is just so incredible how Blizzard has pulled this game of. And I remember my anger towards the Horde during that time- even though I knew there was nothing they could have done differently.
@hennibsdp9528 Mathias even showed us they couldn't do anything but I was so mad at them too :(
@@hospitalcakewalk yeah.. well ForTheAlliance sis❤️🔥
@hennibsdp9528 Safe travels friend :)
I didn't realize until watching this now that Variant exits the water without the large lion head pauldrons that he was wearing at the start of the video. That makes sense as he needed to get lighter to swim, but I also wonder if it's somehow symbolic of him leaving behind part of his identity as King of Stormwind and taking on a connection to the coalition fighting against the legion. (The lion is an important symbol of Stormwind.)
This is also interesting given the lion imagery we'll see in the start of the subsequent expansion, involving Anduin.
Hi Philip I don't know if you will see this but you have to watch the broken shore cinematics following this one, same Legion expansion it explains what happens immediately after this cinematic and is a must watch for you. You watched the new War Within cinematic where Anduin is holding that very sword Varian uses in this Legion cinematic and the following broken shore cinematics ties it all together as to why Anduin has that sword now.
Man, Philip. I know others have already said it but your energy towards this stuff is amazing
You are definitely going to want to watch the broken shore cinematics both horde an alliance to get the full story of the battle. Also the Anduin broken shore one as well!
The Alliance Broken Shore cinematic still makes me cry every time I see it.
_FOR THE ALLIANCE_
The lore in warcraft is so rich and dense, even the sword that Varian wields has its own backstory and worth looking up. It used to be 2 elven swords that were magically fused together by Onyxia the black dragon, and every so often, can be broken apart to duel wield, but its totally dependent on whoever wields it. The swords name is Shalamayne
Most of the characters have Indepth backstories. Before they even present themselves in the playable games that you get to learn a bit about while playing.
@vir9002 exactly why I love the lore and why we need a TV series 😩. A movie wouldn't cover it well enough. The spinoffs we would get too. So much potential.
@@asmrnicole2638 Yeah, they did that one movie and they stuffed way to much into the one movie that the movie was confusing and the flow was not there. A long running web/tv series could stretch out several years just to tell it properly while introducing factions side's characters and the progression throughout. More like how Game of Thrones did it, they did a good job of introducing many many characters and then keeping track of them along the way, sometimes not hearing from someone in an entire season but, popping in the next to give update..
It's so awesome seeing you getting hyped for a game you never played. It really shows both Blizzard's skill in crafting narratives in this format AND your own passion for the craft.
The Warcraft ;)
This is one of the most beloved cinematics and itngoes with one of the most beloved expansions. Even to this day I get enotional at that theme you called heroic. It's Anduin's theme, and it plays a huge part in both this expansion and the primary cinematic for Battle for Azeroth. I'm really excited to see your reaction to that one.
I'd say definitely deserves to watch also the in-game cinematic from the patches with Illidan, like him and Velen talking or, "my destiny's my own" moment.
that motive tune that you love is actually Anduin's theme, which if you go back to the War within trailer, it is there! and you will be hearing it soon in other videos too :)
I know you've been doing main cinematics but I'll comment again about the next expansion battle for Azeroth. You HAVE to watch the side expansions as well. They are essentially a continuation of the main trailer and they're fully cgi. There are 3 but they made one video combining them called "Varok Suarfang's Mak'gora" it's about 20 minutes long. Like I said it's fully animated and it is a continuation of the expansion trailers story and it's beautifully done! Really hope you see this because I know you'd love it and it's excellent for lore! Just make sure the watch the expansion trailer first!
Cya in the next video!!
Remember that ''heroic theme'' that was playing. From now on, it is Anduin's theme.
Both the Wrath cinematic and this one start with a father saying “my son”. And the rest is if they are writing a letter to them.
The tune playing throughout the cinematic is titled "Anduin’s Theme".
There are multiple variations of it, it was even used in The War Within Cinematic. Although the "official" version of it is the best, you should check it out.
not just a war, but a struggle for sheer survival. a counter-invasion ...
You may have recorded the next one, but I hope you read this before you do. The next expansion is Battle for Azeroth and they released several high quality cinematics that tell a story, you should watch all of them in order: Old Soldier, Battle for Azeroth cinematic intro, Lost Honor, Safe Haven, Reckoning. Watch in that order and you'll get a great experience
Now you have to react to Varian’s death which follows this cinematic. It’s heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. RIP the true King of Stormwind
Was there a need to blatantly spoil this for him? You just tainted the possible reaction.
Great stuff as always. So fun to see someone with your expertise talk through these things we've loved for so long. Hope you'll do reactions for the full Saurfang story from the next expansion, Battle for Azeroth. The expansion trailer cinematic is actually the second in line, chronologically. BfA was the only expansion to have a bunch of pre-rendered cinematics used for some of the story-telling beats throughout the expansion and it was my favorite thing in the 17 years I've been playing this game: Varok Saurfang’s Mak’gora. In the two expansions since, they've moved entirely back to in-engine scenes for storytelling and while the engine has improved throughout the years, it isn't the same. BfA was peak WoW storytelling. Here's hoping The War Within and the rest of the World Soul Saga gets back to the good stuff.
It's so wholesome seeing you get as excited as you do, especially as you start to get to know these characters who long-time players of WoW already know so well.
The underlying leitmotif music in that part at ~3:11 is Anduin's Theme...it is a beautiful, melancholic score, woven in and amped up. It is a major hint that things are going to go badly
The original soundtrack is called "Azeroth's Last Hope."
Sylvanas isn't actually a Night Elf, she was a Blood Elf who was killed and raised as a banshee who became the leader for the Undead race called the Forsaken
Great reaction !
I hope you'll watch the Legion in game cutscenes in a livestream before the Battle for Azeroth cinematic
easily the best expansion in WoW, it was truly EPIC, ALL of Azeroth came together to fight this threat that we endured in WC3. well known characters along with some new ones filled our Class Order Halls. Legendary items thought lost to time were obtained to arm ourselves with their might. and some of our greatest heroes fell here, to forever be remembered and gave us the motivation to ultimately succeed.
You need to watch all the realistic cinematics for BfA. There are more than just the trailer that was released in that expansion. They're really good.
I absolutely love seeing how excited and invested you get now that you know some of the characters and backstory 💖 I'm not sure how much you've covered on stream but if you haven't seen the rest of Varian's cinematics for Legion then they're a must watch!
Phillip you need to watch the cinematic of varians death in legion(spoiler) but you won't see if you only watch the expansion cinematics
Legion broke my heart...((( My king... I will mourn you forever... no one will replace Varian... And the death of Ysera... Here! That's right, look at the in-game cinematics Death of Ysera. God, how I cried, literally choked with tears.
Those two. I have a tattoo of Ysera because I love her so much. I first played Alliance (that's how i first met the emerald dream) so those deaths, omfg. I CRIED.
Ysera's story line bothers me so bad. Just in general.
I’m a night elf Druid main from burning crusade and when legion came of course being a lore lover i went hard on questing through Val’sharah, but when I completed that questline with ysera… I left the zone without completing the others. It broke me so hard I couldn’t stand being in that zone for nearly two months and even visiting my class order hall left me in a somber mood.
as a paladin main I was so pissed off with the intro quest. First they killed off Tirion Fordring! Then five minutes later the King! I was fuming in that moment. My whole guild was.
@@howlingzangetsu As I understand you... I just couldn't believe what was happening at the time. And it was also hard for me to return to Val’sharah.
I main horde and haven't even played that far into the game as I'm a classic player who stopped back after cata was released. When I first saw the cut scene to ysera's death on youtube, I had tears streaming down my face and lost it when Elune took her soul up into the stars. I always have an emotional reaction to wow cinematics but that one cut deep lol
The main theme used for our heroes is actually the Dirge that is used later, and it drove me nuts before the start be of the expansion, because I hadn’t seen this trailer yet, just the intro score.
The music for this expansion impresses, and this is a very beloved expansion.
Please for the BfA cinematic watch the whole cinematic 5Part for the Story.
Its
Old Soldier
BfA Cinematic
Lost Honor
Safe Haven
The Reckoning
in this order, all full cinematic
That would be so great. Hope he does it! 🤩
Amazing Cinematic. But i wish you saw the last battle of Varian.
You are approaching the moment when Blizzard began to make cinematics not only for the announcement of the DLC, but also for the key moments of the plot. These cinematics are not inferior in quality to the numbered ones. Please don't miss it.
Sir, your reactions to these cinematics is the very reason I play WoW, I have played for 12yrs (half way through Cata)..some expansions better than others, but ALWAYS the characters, the artwork the music the WORLD is there ❤
Its an emotional roller coaster
I get more hyped watching your reaction than from rewatching these cinematics. I love it!
Forgot! You go on a quest to find the pocket watch later on :)
i love your energy man and your reactions
i watched you from the beginning of your league of legends reactions
one of my fav wow cinematic alongside lich king , rip to both kings , especially Varian , he was literally charisma incarnate haha....
i love it how you get emotional with this cinematic as we do back in the time
watching your excitement at this trailer reminded me of something.
back when varian was properly introduced into WoW and as the leader of stormwind and the alliance, many alliance players, including me, werent particularly fond of him, because he seemed like a warmonger and it felt like blizz just made him leader of the alliance to "artificially" create conflict between the factions and thus, the players, when lots of us do want (mostly) peace.
but throughout his journey, culminating in this and the ingame cinematic, varian got changed by the love for his son and as he puts it, realized that peace is the noblest pursuit and is willing to fight and die for it.
he is now among the favorite characters in WoW to many and i even saw many horde players say that they deeply respect him.
im proud to have called him my king.
also to the cinematic itself: i feel like some transitions dont quite line up perfectly or are a little confusing, like when sylvanas jumps from her airship into launching attacks against the infernal mid-jump and the infernal getting hit by varian into falling onto the propeller...
but as these are in a fight scene, its kinda okay, because fights are confusing and you might not notice every detail around you.
also at 13:14 love how varians orange light overpowers the sick, green light of the infernal
(it also doesnt show how sylvanas gets back to her ship or leaves the alliance ship unharmed, shes just suddenly there as varian springs back into action. but shes established to be magic, so its kinda okay)
next one's gonna blow all of the other ones out of the water.
God damn your enthusiasm is infectious lol
Make sure to check all raid ending cinematics for Legion.
Man there are SO many good, story-relevant cinematics in Legion you kinda have to watch all of em. Genn Greymane ftw
You have got to see the Alliance Broken Shore Cinematic
and the Horde right after for context.
In this expansion, alt-timeline Gul'dan has brought the Legion of our Universe back to Azeroth at the Broken Isles, the site of the Tomb of Sargeras and near to where the Legion was defeated in the War of the Ancients. Here we meet a lost Tauren tribe, the Highmountain Tauren, who have moose antlers, and the Nightborne, Night Elves from Suramar that have drawn upon the power of their own manafont, the Nightwell, giving them much darker skin and tattoos glowing with energy.
The Legion's return also saw the return of many legendary weapon artifacts that players would acquire and would replace weapon drops for this whole expansion. Instead you would level up your weapon using Artifact Power gained from quests and such, and unlock new abilites and stats on a skill tree progression system. Paladins would get to wield the Ashbringer for the first time, while Shaman could wreak havoc with the Doomhammer, Death Knights would reforge the shards of Frostmourne into the Blades of the Fallen Prince, and hunters got to rain death with Thas'dorah, the Legacy bow of the Windrunner family (Sylvanas' older sister Alleria Windrunner last used it when she went to Draenor in WC2 to close the Dark Portal)
It was one of the best systems they ever came up with and it brought SO MANY players back to the game. Later patches had Legion invasions in each zone to fight off for rewards, as well as in other areas of Azeroth. It truly felt like a world war against a demon invasion and only by powering up your powerful artifacts could you have a chance at defeating the Legion. Eventually it's revealed that Illidan really IS the savior of the world, but not in the way the Army of the Light expects (the cinematic Rejection of the Gift is VERY powerful), and he rouses his Demon Hunters to aid the factions against the demons (a new playable class).
Illidan ends up using the Sargerite Keystone and opens a portal to Azeroth and ends up bringing the former Draenei homeworld of Argus through to Azeroth's orbit, and the Draenei build a new dimensional ship, the Vindicaar, to fly there to bring the fight to the Legion. There they find the remnants of the Army of the Light, and the presumed lost General Turalyon and Ranger-General Alleria Windrunner (from WC2). They join forces and fight Kil'jaeden, a demon lord like Archimonde, and free the Titans from their imprisonment. This allows them to stop Sargeras from destroying the world (but not before he plunges his sword Gorribal deep into the heart of Azeroth, wounding the world-soul and causing the planet to bleed Azerite, a powerful substance that creates an arms race in the next expansion. Illidan stays behind with the Titans to be Sargeras jailer, battling him eternally, just as he always wanted.
Incredible reaction and analysis as usual! BFA cinematic and Old Soldier next up! I'm excited to see you react to Saurfangs journey.
Safe travels homie!
Random thing, in WarCradt a "Loremaster" would be called a "Lorewalker" like Lorewalker Cho.
Great video, as always ;) If you enjoy audiobooks, I recommend checking out the audiodrama "The Tomb of Sargeras" and "A Thousand Years of War" which have been released just before Legion. Absolutely incredible stuff and a great window into the Legion story. It's also quite short as it is not an actual book but rather a dramatized version of a short story, so you don't need to commit too much time to it.
I jsut want to say that I like that you watch it first, then go back to break it down. I like to see reactions of people who first watch to enjoy, and then listen to their analysis of it.
Don't forget to watch the pre-videos of this trailer/expasion - Legion's Harbingers. ;) - After your trip next week, have an epic and good time!
It's a small thing, but you can find that compass where the ship sinks, and return it to Anduin..
FINALLY the one I was hoping for
the defeat of the Infernal also calls back to the first Warcraft III video that introduces them. The human and the orc fight each other and so they're no match for it. that's the dream that Medivh shows Thrall. but now, working together, and after all their fights against the Burning Legion, they can work together to overcome the Infernal. but it's not enough.
Green Glowing in Warcraft usually means Fel Energy, Demon corrupted energy. Fel Fire. The sindori (blood elves) you can play as with the green eyes, fel green from a corrupted source, fel magic, fel demons.
you're getting caught up in the cinimatics to a point that you'll begin needing to watch some of the others that Blizzard made, Warbringers and Harbingers offer a unique look at some more story telling and artwork, hope you check them out. Also Illidan is > all, guy has a background story that's rivaled only by Arthas from old lore.
man these cinematics always hit me right in the feels!
So sad I missed this reaction. But happy to support and watch! Varian never had a moment to just be a man, ever. From the moment as a boy, he lost his father, a Kingdom forever at WAR was thrust on him. He married his wife Tiffin because his father wanted it. He fell in love with her and had Anduin, and then he lost her suddenly. He clung to his son and his people with everything he had and everything he was. The only selfish thing about him was wanting the love of his son. He would do anything for that. He will forever, be my on true KING.
He needs to watch the broken shore cinematic after this
Not gonna lie, from this point forward, it hits me very hard... I'll have to man up through the tears.
So hype! Makes me want to play Legion again lol
Highly recommend you watch the Broken Shore cinematic before the next one. Which is the follow up to this cinematic. There's one alliance version and one horde version with a difference in the first minute.
Legion was my FAVOURITE expansion in WoW....mostly due to the hype from seeing this cinematic at Blizzcon. Love your reactions and breaking down the scenes with no real context, it shows how good the cinematic team at Blizzard are at telling a story in such a short time frame. You gotta react to the Battle for Azeroth cinematic where we see the results of the Legion invasion...no spoilers :P
The in game cinematic for the Battle for the Broken Shore, though not of the same quality, really adds to the story if you're invested in the lore now. I'm a Lore whore for life lol
Yeah, that cut scene is top notch. Still makes me emotional.
will there be a stream again today to watch the ingame cutscenes etc?
No stream today, I’m traveling for a couple days but I’ve got videos prepared and I can’t wait to react to those on stream!
@@PhilipHarts ah, sad but fair enough, enjoy your travels, and if you travel out of the country: enjoy some nice local food for me too :P
Harbingers too? I know you didn't get to those on stream was hoping to see them here tho.
I've been loving these. Varian doesn't die here, but he does die at the end of the expansion
Illidan's redemption arc in Legion is amazing
I don't know if you only watch cinematic from expansions. But you may like the "Rejection of the Gift" from Legion's story it's near the end of the expansion. Not a cinematic, just a video from the game.. yeah.. just a video.
Wonder if you’re gonna do the series for battle for Azeroth, if all expansions it had the most tied in cinematic apart from the release cinematic
A World Divided - aka Anduin’s theme - is the WoW leitmotif. It also appears in Invincible, Arthas’ theme, with the sung line: an karanhir thanagor (long live the king). Whereas it was ironic in the Arthas cinematic, and poignant for Anduin, it’s reminding us here that these are heroes and they will never truly die.
EDIT: Legion was awesome. Just, let’s not talk about the legendary weapon grind, ‘k?
And not talk about the shitty PvP with fixed stats template :/
The War Within cinematic I think hits much closer to home for players that have stuck around from the beginning. If you consider Chris Metzen returning (ex CEO and the guy who invented WoW lore, also VA for Thrall, Varian, etc) after many years (as well as Thrall) and Anduin as a manifestation of ourselves, it just goes beyond story board man. It is quite emotional and difficult to watch any of these. The art and cinematic team just carries the game on their shoulders for so long, they have players absolute and unquestionable faith and respect.
This expansion was the last one i played, couse for me it felt like it should have been the game's final one with the last battle against the legion and all.
What i like about this expansion and its trailer that it shows both the Horde and Alliance working together, even if that falls apart in the game when the leaders of both factions get killed by the Legion and the factions blame each other for it forcing u the player to gather a faction based on your class to keep the legion at bay using a legendary weapon u have to find thats unique to your build and class to rally them.
Btw, there is a quest where u have go and dive up the bag Varian dropped in the cinematic and then deliver it to Anduin, quite a heart stirring moment.
Are you gonna stream all the in between cutscenes for the rest of the expacs? 😮
Awesome content, brother!
looking forward to the next one!
Wait until he sees the final confrontation between Gul'dan and Varian on the Broken Shore... Hardest moment to watch in all of WoW cinematic history.
**calls Sylvanas a Night Elf**
**Remembers Teldrassil**
REEEEEEE
can't wait to see your reaction to the next one :) Battle for Azeroth cinematic is my favorite
As said in the comments, you should watch the ingame cinematic that happens after that shows the final battle in that area. Also, you should react to StarCraft 2 and Diablo (3 and 4) cinematics. They´re also great. And the Overwatch Cinematics are amaizing too.
I am enjoying your "WoW Cinematic Trip"
i hope you do another live stream before the next one because there are a ton of in game cut scenes between legion and bfa
I greatly hope you watch the Broken Shore cutscene and Anduin visiting the Broken Shore. Those will be great context for what's to come in BFA cinematics.
Fun fact, you can find that compass with anduinn in game.
There are several in game cutscenes that should be watched related to legion and also in the further expansions that have production value imo.
I love Anduin, but damn do I miss Varian.