WoW: Archive of the Ancients Bitching Continued
As I promised...my thoughts on yaoi Malfurion, Illidan, and Tyrande.
Here's the thing: for the most part, anybody even remotely familiar with the relevant Lore, or who has played Warcraft III, already knows about these three and their triangular relationship woes. As of Warcraft III, Illidan has been carrying the world's longest-burning torch for his childhood friend/love, Tyrande Whisperwind -- he has, in fact, been carrying it for ten freaking thousand years, at least, the majority of which time he has spent imprisoned away from her and from the world whose continuing safety he almost fatally compromised in a desperate effort to prove himself as a big a damn hero as his older brother/prove that he was as worthy of her love as that same older brother. For approximately the same length of time, Tyrande and Malfurion have been life-mated, even though Malfurion has spent the majority of that time in the Druid's Sleep the Emerald Dream and Tyrande has spent the majority of that time rebuilding and subsequently running Kaldorei civilization as its titular ruler. That's a whole lot of crazy-assed commitment and devotion right there, a gigantic walloping boatload of strong emotion, powerful feelings that ultimately drive a crapload of Warcraft III's plot as Illidan proves that he is, in fact, almost as a big a damn (anti)-hero as he thinks he is. (We will not discuss the egregious character defilement he suffers in Burning Crusade at this time.)
At the time the War of the Ancients series occurs, none of these things have yet happened, however. Tyrande, Malfurion, and Illidan are all callow young night elves still looking to find their ways in the world. Tyrande has recently become a novice in the temple of Elune where she has already begun showing flashes of the greatness that will one day be hers. Malfurion has entered into the study of druidic magic with the demigod Cenarius, a course of action that has caused his own very arcanely oriented people to look at him funny. Illidan is struggling to find his own way, burdened with the expectation that whatever he will do he will ultimately achieve greatness, due to the belief of his people that the golden-eyed are touched with a special destiny. Each of these characters have interesting plot threads of their own but they are also tied together by the bonds of what we are told is an old, old friendship originating in earliest childhood and the strong feelings they all share for one another, both positive and negative.
We're told these things because we are rarely, if ever, actually shown them, and this is a pretty fundamental flaw in a story that's supposed to be at least partially driven by the volatile emotional ties between three people whose actions, driven by their feelings, help shake and reshape the ancient world. Malfurion's social outcast status is told to us by his infodump internal narration, shown briefly, and then falls by the wayside because the Kaldorei authorities quickly recognize the worth of what he has to offer. Illidan's struggles to make his own way persist for approximately ten pages, after which his profound personal badassery is recognized by a noble patron and he turns enthusiastically to the practice of arcane magic under his mentor from the future, Rhonin. And Tyrande...?
Well. Part of the dramatic centerpiece of this whole situation is the will she/won't she/who will she choose in the resolution of the triangular relationship between herself, Illidan, and Malfurion. Lore tells us that she ultimately 'chose' Malfurion but...and here's the rub...there's no discernable choice involved. Tyrande, from the moment we first meet her and get her internal narration on the topic, is utterly, absolutely, and transparently in love with Malfurion and Malfurion alone. You can tell by the way they're continuously flushing darkly in one another's presence. Oh, she tells Illidan that he's wrong about that fact and that she hasn't made any choices about who her mate is going to be when he asks her about it, but the fix is in from the first pages of the first book. Tyrande has not a single strong feeling for Illidan beyond sisterly affection. Tyrande is entirely devoted to Malfurion even before they have declared themselves lifemates. Tyrande is not permitted a single conflicted feeling or to actually be even remotely in love with anyone but the man she ultimately marries -- because, one suspects, if she actually had conflicting feelings, or held in heart actual romantic love for both the men who love her so desperately, if would totally louse up the easy comparison virgin/whore Tyrande married the first man she kissed/Azshara dragged everyone in Zin-Azshari around by their nuts, up to and including Mannoroth thing. Tyrande suffers the damnable fate of being reduced to a Purity Sue.
Here's the thing: for the most part, anybody even remotely familiar with the relevant Lore, or who has played Warcraft III, already knows about these three and their triangular relationship woes. As of Warcraft III, Illidan has been carrying the world's longest-burning torch for his childhood friend/love, Tyrande Whisperwind -- he has, in fact, been carrying it for ten freaking thousand years, at least, the majority of which time he has spent imprisoned away from her and from the world whose continuing safety he almost fatally compromised in a desperate effort to prove himself as a big a damn hero as his older brother/prove that he was as worthy of her love as that same older brother. For approximately the same length of time, Tyrande and Malfurion have been life-mated, even though Malfurion has spent the majority of that time in the Druid's Sleep the Emerald Dream and Tyrande has spent the majority of that time rebuilding and subsequently running Kaldorei civilization as its titular ruler. That's a whole lot of crazy-assed commitment and devotion right there, a gigantic walloping boatload of strong emotion, powerful feelings that ultimately drive a crapload of Warcraft III's plot as Illidan proves that he is, in fact, almost as a big a damn (anti)-hero as he thinks he is. (We will not discuss the egregious character defilement he suffers in Burning Crusade at this time.)
At the time the War of the Ancients series occurs, none of these things have yet happened, however. Tyrande, Malfurion, and Illidan are all callow young night elves still looking to find their ways in the world. Tyrande has recently become a novice in the temple of Elune where she has already begun showing flashes of the greatness that will one day be hers. Malfurion has entered into the study of druidic magic with the demigod Cenarius, a course of action that has caused his own very arcanely oriented people to look at him funny. Illidan is struggling to find his own way, burdened with the expectation that whatever he will do he will ultimately achieve greatness, due to the belief of his people that the golden-eyed are touched with a special destiny. Each of these characters have interesting plot threads of their own but they are also tied together by the bonds of what we are told is an old, old friendship originating in earliest childhood and the strong feelings they all share for one another, both positive and negative.
We're told these things because we are rarely, if ever, actually shown them, and this is a pretty fundamental flaw in a story that's supposed to be at least partially driven by the volatile emotional ties between three people whose actions, driven by their feelings, help shake and reshape the ancient world. Malfurion's social outcast status is told to us by his infodump internal narration, shown briefly, and then falls by the wayside because the Kaldorei authorities quickly recognize the worth of what he has to offer. Illidan's struggles to make his own way persist for approximately ten pages, after which his profound personal badassery is recognized by a noble patron and he turns enthusiastically to the practice of arcane magic under his mentor from the future, Rhonin. And Tyrande...?
Well. Part of the dramatic centerpiece of this whole situation is the will she/won't she/who will she choose in the resolution of the triangular relationship between herself, Illidan, and Malfurion. Lore tells us that she ultimately 'chose' Malfurion but...and here's the rub...there's no discernable choice involved. Tyrande, from the moment we first meet her and get her internal narration on the topic, is utterly, absolutely, and transparently in love with Malfurion and Malfurion alone. You can tell by the way they're continuously flushing darkly in one another's presence. Oh, she tells Illidan that he's wrong about that fact and that she hasn't made any choices about who her mate is going to be when he asks her about it, but the fix is in from the first pages of the first book. Tyrande has not a single strong feeling for Illidan beyond sisterly affection. Tyrande is entirely devoted to Malfurion even before they have declared themselves lifemates. Tyrande is not permitted a single conflicted feeling or to actually be even remotely in love with anyone but the man she ultimately marries -- because, one suspects, if she actually had conflicting feelings, or held in heart actual romantic love for both the men who love her so desperately, if would totally louse up the easy comparison virgin/whore Tyrande married the first man she kissed/Azshara dragged everyone in Zin-Azshari around by their nuts, up to and including Mannoroth thing. Tyrande suffers the damnable fate of being reduced to a Purity Sue.