Category: Cinematic Analysis

This is My Take on Afterlives: Bastion, the first animated short released in the lead up to Shadowlands. I wrote this up after writing up the one for Maldraxxus – which, in hindsight, may have led to some conclusions. I wonder how this would be different had I written it first.

There are so many parallels between this piece and Maldraxxus. And many similar indications.

• In contrast to Maldraxxus, we start in the living world with warm colors. The blue of Arthas’ eyes and Frostmourne’s runes are in stark contrast to the rest of the scene.
• Uther also has blue eyes, but they are in shadow so they aren’t emphasized. This differentiates his blue from Arthas and the power of the Lich King.
• That both Bastion and Maldraxxas contrast good/evil, us/them, within the same palette is fascinating. It’s a subtle difference, but it also tells us that there is a sameness.
• And here’s the thing about sameness, it’s easy to infiltrate, and infiltration leads to betrayal, and betrayal leads to the Burning Legion.

“Light, save my soul.”

• This line. It makes my heart break for Uther.
• The Light seems to have had nothing to do with where his soul went. It was claimed by Bastion for a truly selfless life lived.
• But, his soul is damaged and when he was judged and sent to Bastion, that wasn’t noticed…or was it? We don’t get to eavesdrop on his sorting hat scene, but is this something that the Arbiter knows? The Archon? And if not, the whole system suddenly seems fallible.
• Certainly Devos questions the choice. An error? Has that never happened before? Or is it something deliberate…wheels within wheels.

• So lives, souls, are judged and placed without their knowledge. They just wake up where they are placed.
• Uther wakes up with no idea of where he is and why. Like Draka, he just doesn’t seem to fit.
• Draka’s response is, “seems odd.” Uther’s is that he has business to finish. Draka looks forward, Uther looks back.
• Draka’s forward is to a warm pallet. Uther’s back is from a warm palette.

Welcome to Bastion:

• This castle in the sky needs no explanation, unlike Maldraxxus where we are told the lay of the land.
• Bastion is above it all – a castle in the sky.
• Bastion is just and good and selfless. Kinda like the Light? But Bastion is blue and the Light is yellow.
• Bastion is flawless.

Purpose:

• “Serving to ferry the souls of the dead unto the Shadowlands.”
• Ok, so here is how it works. Someone dies. They get grabbed by an Ascended and taken to Oribos where they are sorted by the Arbiter. The Arbiter plops them down in their assigned Covenant.
• The purpose of Maldraxxus is to protect the Shadowlands. The purpose of Bastion is to ferry these souls.
• Learning how to become an Ascended and earn one’s wings takes a great deal of work and training.
• There’s a parallel here to Draka again. They are both deposited in their assigned places and then trained.
• Draka’s purpose is “to protect what matters most,” she looks forward and finds that her purpose will still be satisfied.
• Uther’s purpose is to defeat evil. There is no evil in Bastion, he is told. No wonder he can’t see his purpose, no wonder he looks back.
• Uther is informed that, as a Aspirant, he now has a new purpose and that he has to accept that.
• Uther tries to tell Devos that the Evil is loose. She tells him it was sealed in the Maw long ago. “You’re wrong,” he tells the infallible, pure, selfless, above all being. Uther knows what he knows and he will challenge authority.
• As his mentor/student relationship develops with Devos (a similar relationship to that he had with Arthas, incidentally), a bit of Uther seems to rub off, and now Devos will become the one willing to challenge authority.

Devos, why are you training this soul? It’s beneath your station as a Paragon.

• Lets unpack that.
• The question implies that Devos has a choice. Did she pick Uther, or is the choice that she could fail him and kick him out?
• Could she have someone else do the job? Does she have a cohort of minion Aspirant trainers.
• And now we learn about ranks in Bastion: Ascended, Aspirant, Paragon. Aspirant is the lowest rank, straight out of the sorting hat. Ascended is what Aspirants would like to become, to do the work of soul ferrying. Paragons are above that. And then there is this helmeted chap. So there are other jobs too.
• Why was Uther picked to be a ferryman? If you score the greatest paladin of all time, what job would you pick for him? Ferryman? Seems unlikely.
• Something is going on here.

• Devos questions Bastion. She is willing to have the heretical thought that maybe Uther’s worthiness was a mistake. Helmet cautions her about voicing such thoughts.
• Bastion thrives on forgetting, unquestioning loyalty, and trust in the ways and the path.
• Perhaps not so perfect after all…
• Or perhaps too perfect.

• Finally Devos notices that Uther clutches his chest. She pulls back his shirt to see the wound. This shot is great. The warm colors of the past rise up as the memory is viewed. Despite Bastion being all blue, the frost blue glows in contrast.

Uther’s purpose

• Uther’s soul is wounded. This is a surprise. She was not told, or this was not known.
• Once again, how could he have been weighed and judged without this being noticed?
• “He was my student” – as I am yours. “He betrayed us all” – as what I am showing you will betray your dedication to your cause.
• “He betrayed us all.” All. His friends and family, his people, his world, this world. What he did affects all of existence.
• And that word, betray. It rings throughout both Bastion and Maldraxxus. It gives us the Burning Legion in Maldraxxus, and now again in Bastion by way of Arthas.

• Uther’s soul, like so many others, was sucked up by Frostmourne with the frosty runes. And Devos knows those runes.
• Frostmourne was made by the Runecarver who is in The Maw. How could it have made its way to Arthas?
• Arthas, the Dark Agent, has the power of The Maw. Someone planned this. Maybe someone who bound the Runecarver and took his sword and his memories. And who is all about forgetting? Ah yes, that would be Bastion.
• So who is the Jailer? And who is the true adversary?

Chosen

• Both Uther and Draka are Chosen.
• Uther is Chosen to shed his “mortal burdens and join the ranks of the Ascended.”
• Draka is Baroness of the House of the Chosen
• Maybe Uther was also Chosen to disrupt things in the Covenant of perfect…
• Devos finally has the courage and the knowledge to confront the Archon with this truth. One does not question the Archon, one does not question the path. Devos is told to drop it. Ordered to drop it.
• But Devos truly believes that the realm, the Shadowlands is imperiled.
• The order of the Shadowlands depends on each Covenant doing its job. Without deviating. Devos-iating. Being Devos-iant.
• So, is the Archon oblivious? Or complicit? Or does the Archon know what’s what and gave Uther to Devos knowing that this betrayal was the only hope for the Shadowlands?

• A blue foot and a yellow foot, a cold foot and a warm foot.
• We read from left to right – cold to warm, her present to Uther’s past.
• She has a foot in two worlds, divided loyalty, questioning, doubt.

And that there is a screw you face if I’ve ever seen one.

• So Devos turns Uther into an angel. Look how warm her wings are now that his past is also her purpose.
• Also notice that she is blocking the light…or should I say, the Light. The light right behind her is yellow.

• And there he is, a nice, warm, dwelling in the past angel who is still in a predominately blue palette. Visually this shot is genius.

• But check this out. His eyes are white, almost like he is…blind?

• When you can’t see things, you get infiltrated, and when you get infiltrated, you get betrayed.
• Sometimes ideas are what infiltrate you. Like maybe when you desperately want Justice, not Vengeance, and then you are asked about Punishment.

• Ooh, look at her eyes. Blue and glowey. Huh.

And Devos and Uther make sure that they are the Ascended who pick up Arthas when we kill him.

• Arthas, my son. The sad, sad music, the sad, sad corpse. The poor kid who was manipulated and betrayed (!) into becoming the second greatest evil our world has ever known.
• Speaking of blind, Arthas couldn’t see the Lich King coming, couldn’t see the evil of the Burning Legion, never saw the evil that he became.
• The light on his face is blue/white, the colors of Bastion. We read left to right, there is a warm glow coming for him.
• He is reaped by a pro, Devos the Paragon takes him personally, no sorting hat for you, Arthas (is that Justice?). No doubt as to her purpose now.
• A cool palette for the sad corpse. Darkness for the hand that takes him. And then, in contrast, the Maw. Once again, the warm palette is the future, and danger.

• So, Devos knew that the Maw was compromised, yet she still thought it would be a great idea to send Arthas there? Hmm.
• “I see only darkness before me.” “Return him to the Darkness he served.” Eep!
• But also, he sees only darkness, Devos is that darkness, Devos covers his eyes, makes him blind.

• Well hello, green. Her hand blocks out the blue, and what is left in the depths? The Burning Legion, that’s what.

• “His eternal suffering awaits,” says Devos. Uther looks at Arthas. Just a boy, really. Someone who was dear to him. Someone who is at rest in a completely cool blue palette. No sword, no helm. No corruption.
• The warmest colors in the shot are Uther’s arm and the light where Devos hovers. Even the light on Arthas’ face is again blue/white.
• Uther falters, but Devos plays on Uther’s anger, and demands he takes Vengeance.
• And the die, or rather Arthas, is cast from the cool blue into the orange and red of an ominous future in the name of Justice.

• And it ends with an act, an act of Vengeance or Justice? Either way, I predict this is going to come back and bite us.
• Uther is above us, a warm palette against the cold blue of Bastion. In this shot, we are Arthas, and were he conscious to see it, this would be his last sight.
• Devos’ wings now have green in them.
• And ooh, Uther has glowey blue eyes! Y’know who else has glowey blue eyes? Yeah ya do, just sayin’

This piece is beautiful but in the end it asks more questions than it answers. And that is ok.

• Uther’s soul was wounded by Frostmourne. What does this mean for Sylvanas? She was also killed with Frostmourne.
• Sylvanas has been to the land of the dead before, as have we. We both met Helya there. Sylvanas worked a deal with Helya and we still don’t know what that was.
• Could Sylvanas be searching for the origin, the mind that gave Arthas Frostmourne, the mind that is behind all of this?
• Will this lead her to the Burning Legion by way of the Jailer?
• The Burning Legion doesn’t seem ultimately competent enough for this long a game (so to speak). Is someone behind them? Who do they truly serve.
• And then there is the Light, and the Void, how do they fit in?
• And what about the Valkyr? And, and… So many questions….

TL;DR: With apologies to Mr Shakespeare, something is rotten in this state of Bastion.

This is My Take on Afterlives: Maldraxxus, the second animated short released in the lead up to Shadowlands.

Afterlives: Maldraxxus tells us two stories – one is of Draka, and the other is of Maldraxxus .

Draka’s story: She was a warrior who, as we know, died trying to protect her son, Thrall, from assassins who were working for the Burning Legion by way of Gul’dan and that whole story arc. She faces defeat…literally…

…and then death. But she’s “not done fighting…”

Afterlives: Maldraxxus hearkens back to the fight against the Burning Legion in so many ways:

• The look and feel, the design, the art, the color palette, all remind us of Harbingers: Illidan.
• The opening line, “In life I was Draka of the Frostwolf Clan, a warrior who gave everything…” parallels the Demon Hunter catch-phrase, “… I’ve sacrificed everything…”
• As Draka learns the ways of Maldraxxus, she participates in a mission to a Legion world to steal a map. The use of a shot of the Legion stronghold from the Illidan short suggests that this may be the very same world, perhaps even at the very same time, that Illidan took his Demon Hunters to on their inaugural mission, the mission that birthed the catch-phrase: …they will stop at nothing to destroy our world… …and we will sacrifice everything to save it.
• Someone or something threatens Maldraxxus, and by proxy all of the Shadowlands. The Houses of Maldraxxus are the protectors of the Shadowlands, the armies that ensure that the lands of our afterlives are kept intact. The Legion had their greedy paws in everyone’s pie on the living side, why not the dead side too.
• The color of the Legion is green. The two undead that block Draka’s way as she leaves on her mission to deliver a letter from the House of Eyes to the House of the Chosen have green glowy eyes and the crystal in the staff of one was green. In contrast, her pale green eyes look almost blue. Of course the whole color palette is green so that could be coincidence, and of course Draka wouldn’t suspect them because everything is green. But the explosion that felled the House of Eyes was a very pretty very fel green.

This does make one wonder if Draka will finally get a chance to fight the Burning Legion. The irony may be that they took her down through subterfuge, and now that may just be her best weapon to fight them back.

And speaking of that…Class issues. Draka was a Warrior. Now she’s a Rogue. A Warrior-Rogue. Dual class? Or switching Class?

• Draka is a Warrior. She says so, “…I was Draka of the Frostwolf Clan, a Warrior…” But really, in a way we are all warriors, even those of us who aren’t Warriors. That said, in the story “A Warrior Made,” (incidentally, like this short, by Christie Golden) Draka grows from a sickly child into a Warrior. She is made a Warrior.
• She describes herself as a Warrior again, once she reaches the Shadowlands, “it was here I served the House of Eyes, a strange fit for a Warrior’s soul.” Might she have been delivered to the wrong place? Hmm. Now there’s a nod back to Afterlives: Bastion.
• “Their ways were not mine…” she learns Stealth and how to fight with double daggers. “Faster!” She switches from using strength to using Agility.
• The House of Eyes seems to be Maldraxxus: Covert Ops, so that they are Rogue oriented makes sense.
• “Eventually this life after life began to feel right…” So now Draka is made a Rogue.
• Later, in the letter to Margrave Krexus , the Lord of the House of Eyes describes her as “an unyielding Warrior with the skills of a Master Spy.” Or is it “an unyielding warrior with the skills of a Master Spy?”

However you take it, Draka was a warrior made and then a rogue made. This leads one to think that while our life may determine where we are placed in the Afterlife, it has little bearing on what we become. Or who we become.

Maldraxxus’ story: Maldraxxus is made up of five houses. We are introduced to the House of Eyes and the House of the Chosen. We learn of the fall of the House of Plagues. The five Houses “once stood side by side to protect the realm of death,” the Shadowlands, but the House of Plagues has fallen due to carelessness…or something more sinister.

• Carelessness….or betrayal. Betrayal is a major theme for the Burning Legion. Betrayal is the tool by which they get the jump on peoples they conquer. That the House of Plagues may have fallen due to betrayal is another indication of the possible presence of the Legion.
• The House of Eyes (which blows up in a gout of green fire) is a floaty place which reminds us immediately of Naxxramas and its fellow floaty places.
• The House of Plagues hearkens to the Scourge. If the Legion has Plagues, might we be in for another scourge?
• “I believe the House of the Chosen still stands with us…” says the Lord of the House of Eyes. Is he implying that there is a possibility that the other two don’t?
• “Maldraxxus must stay true to its duty, for if we fail, the Shadowlands will fall…” sounds like the perfect spot for a little fel influence, no?

Colors:

• We’ve already talked about green. The whole piece is green, except when it isn’t. The five houses are distinguished by color somewhat: greens and blues for the three Houses we don’t meet, the House of Plagues and two others; purple for the House of Eyes, and Red for the House of the Chosen.
• Purple is a royal color. Purple is power. Perhaps in this case, purple is the moral high ground. The just, the righteous.
• Red is very much in contrast to blue, green and purple. Red is danger.
• Check out this shot: Draka and her Lord stand in the House of Eyes, looking at the war table that represents Maldraxxus (green), her shoulders are purple (the House of Eyes rests on her shoulders), both of them are dressed in purpley grey brown. But what is that behind them? The light that falls behind their backs is the orange/red light of the House of the Chosen. This foreshadows the path she must take.

So she makes it to the the House of the Chosen where she passes the missive from the Lord of the House of Eyes to Margrave Krexus (who has green glowy eyes and demony horns, just saying).

• The move from the cool green, black, purple, blue palette is quite a jolt. That doesn’t seem at all ominous….

• Are there heads in that bag? Who’s facing defeat now…?

• Check out these two shots: she leaves the green sun (or maybe it isn’t a sun….) behind her and looks to the red sun, her future.

• Remember this shot? This is the Legion world in Harbingers: Illidan. A similar shift from cool palette to warm. A similar warm sun. Is she looking towards the Legion?

• “Come, our enemies will strike openly soon. We must prepare.” We must be prepared? And exactly who is it for whom we must be prepared? Yup, that Burning Legion.
• So do the Necrolords know Illidan? Might they have been working together?

Final shots:

• So the end mirrors the beginning, I am Draka… who she was is past but not forgotten. Who she is is what is important, what this four and a half minute film has made her.
• The shift from the warm palette to the cool one as she names herself of the House of the Chosen is striking. She has brought Honor and Righteousness to the House of the Chosen.
• There is also a familiarity: the orc Clan is paralleled to the Maldraxxan House, this speaks of Honor, of Family, of Victory.
• But never forget: the warm glow of the future caresses her cheek…

The Map:

• So, the map. Draka was taken to a Legion world to steal a map. If we read right, it’s the same world that Illidan went to. Could they have been after the same thing?
• Illidan’s army went through a portal to get to this world. We don’t know how the House of Eyes moves. But they end up in the same place, in what we have until now assumed was the dimension of the living. Is it? Is it part of the Afterlife? Is it another dimension altogether?
• We know that there are other dimensions: the Emerald Dream, and Thros for example. Is the Shadowlands for real the land of the dead, or is it just another dimension that happens to be able to harvest our dead spirits….?

The Key:

• Draka is the key, she delivered herself. Obviously.
• “The key to saving Maldraxxus.” When he says this, the Margrave sounds surprised, like maybe he thought Maldraxxus was already lost.
• “A key to many things.” What things? Hope? Infiltration? Kicking enemy butt? Dual classing? All of these, and more.

This piece is masterfully written and presented. There is so much story packed into a few short minutes, so much depth, so much food for thought. Before this, I had no interest in the Netherlords, but now, this may well become my Covenant.

TL;DR: With apologies to Mr. Martin, I am the sword in the darkness, the shield that guards the realms of the dead.

Resources:

• Warcraft: Legends Vol. 4
• Warcraft: Legends Vol. 5

My take on the Warbringers: Azshara cinematic in which Queen Azshara makes a deal which changes the course of Azeroth.

• Remember I said I was expecting to see purple in Azshara? Boom. Red and blue. N’zoth and Azshara. When N’zoth and Azshara are seperate but coming together we get purple. We see purple when the fish is reflected in her eye, and when she is waiting for N’zoth to make his decision. Purple becomes uncertainty, neither red nor blue. It is also N’zoth and Azshara together
• The fish gasping for air – the great empire brought down by the most insignificant of beings – the fish becomes N’zoth, a god. Never underestimate an advisary. This idea comes back when N’zoth underestimates her.
• This is not quite the same story as Jaina and Sylvanas, but it has a similarity. Azshara does a thing. She makes a couple of deals. One with Sargeras – the one she refers to when she says “This is not the deal I made,” and another with N’zoth in the cinematic. Like Jaina and Sylvanas, she makes a decision that affects her people. How do her people feel about this? How does she feel about it now? Could this be a set up for a potential redemption storyline? To be clear, I don’t expect her to get a redemption storyline, but her story can be held up in contrast to Jaina and Sylvanas’, will she gain the realization that they do, that she needs to do something?
• A parallel is drawn with Prince Farondis in Azuna – her dead people blaming her for what has happened to them
• N’zoth is like a fish out of water, helpless, only she can save him. At the same time, she is an elf in water and would need to become a fish to survive.
• Let’s go back to blue and red making uncertain purple. Blue is the Alliance, red is the Horde. Purple would be those great factions coming together. In war: Who will win? Who can win? In peace: What would that even look like? Even in this look at our joint (together, purple!) adversaries our conflict is reflected.

TL;DR: the themes continue, the storytelling is lovely.