Filmmaker Reacts: World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
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When he was a Paladin, Arthas was an annoying brat, his Death Knight version was very one note - it was all about destroying his enemies. Now, Arthas as the Lich King? Now, that's a badass. In part because he's not entirely one person, Arthas and Nerzhul (the previous Lich King) became one at the end of Warcraft 3, and now Arthas has the knowledge of an ancient Orc necromancer that lost everything in life, from his family to his planet, and it weighs on him. The Lich King is a tormented soul, ruling over undeath unable to regain what he lost.
Anduin still needs a lot of character development to even get in the same page.
So glad you enjoyed this one, mate. It's his fathers voice that is speaking to him, his father who he murdered. Short version : Arthas was a human Prince of Lordaeron (separate to Stormwind, where Anduin's father ruled) who in a desperate attempt to save his people from the Burning Legion took possession of the sword "Frostmourne", which was cursed by Ner'zhul, the Lich King (an Orc Shaman, tortured and imprisoned by Kil'Jaeden, a lord of the Burning Legion). Over time Frostmourne corrupted his soul, causing him to murder his father and ultimately lead him to the roof of the world, where he found the crown of Ner'Zhul encased in ice. He broke it free and upon donning the crown his spirit merged with Ner'zhul and they became one.
Arthas would then go on to rule over the "scourge" (the undead hordes), resurrect the dragon Sindragosa and attempt to destroy the peoples of Azeroth (the world in which WoW takes place).
After the Warcraft journey, you absolute NEED to do Starcraft 2. They have some of the best cinematics in the business. Especially the Zeratul VS Artanis one, but bookmark that for later.
You gotta watch the cinematics for Warcraft 3 which takes place before World of Warcraft.
Arthas was righteous and noble but young and arrogant prince. When his kingdom is attacked by the undead his father sends him to counter this enemy. This leads Arthas to Northrend (the place in this cinematic) where he finds the sword he’s holding. The sword steals his soul, basically turning him evil (the opposite of his heroic Paladin nature). Later on in the story he gains the Helm of Domination that he’s wearing which contains the soul of the first evil Lich King which seals Arthas’ fate, making him the second Lich King and giving him full control over the undead army he went to destroy in the first place.
I still wish that Jaina hadn't dumped Arthas.
If there is a WoW storyline I think most would want to see turned into an actual film, it would be the rise and fall of Arthas Menethil. Such an iconic part of WoW's lore... the story, the music, the cinematic, the characters, all chef's kiss.
I agree, and it is pretty easy to do as well. They already have the novel, just need to adapt it.
They could easily get 2 movies out of his full story if they go through to his final fall as well. (Just don't bring any of the jailer bullshit into it)
That's what they shoulda done originally if they actually wanted a sequel, now though I think it would only work as a series. Either way I completely agree.
They should make a movie for wc2 and beyond the dark portal first- then reign of chaos and then the frozen throne.
When they made the Warcraft movie (which I actually enjoy quite a bit) I was really hoping they would get to tell the story of Arthas eventually.
The reason Anduin did the same pose was indeed a throwback to Arthas. The reason being is both of them basically lived mirrored lives, both were the light against the dark, both with so much potential to be great kings, and both were dominated by the Jailer(WoW's Grim Reaper) The difference is Arthas never escaped until his final moments while Anduin did albeit it scarred him heavily. Edit: Arthas's soul was also used like a battery to dominate Anduin to the point his soul faded out of existence adding even more tragedy to Arthas's story.
yeah but we don't talk about what Shadowlands did to Arthas because it was kinda bs lol
What he said!
We don't speak of these things. It happened, however, it never happened.
I guess the similarity in the "sword out" pose could be indicative that Anduin is still affected by the domination to some degree, and has inherited some of Arthas's subtle mannerisms without realising as a result
Similar pose can be seen in the Diablo 3 reaper of souls trailer
Amazing reaction! Arthas was a powerful prince who showed incredible potential in righteousness, skill, talent, leadership, etc. A plague broke out in one of the towns in his homeland that turned all of the villagers into undead.
Arthas became furious and filled with vengeance, ready to find whoever did this. As his journey progressed, he sacrificed more and more, ultimately his own soul and his own people on the journey with him, in order to find and destroy the one responsible for the plague.
It turns out that demons were leading him on the whole time, knowing that he was the perfect candidate to be the Lich King. He was lead on by the Lich King Ner'Zhul's frozen remains within the Frozen Throne. Ner'Zhul lead him to pick up Frostmourne, the sword in this cinematic, which was a cursed blade. Arthas sacrificed his soul at this point in order to take the sword. Once Arthas had the sword, he worked his way to the top of the Frozen Throne, breaking the prison containing Ner'Zhul. Arthas then put on the Lich King's helm, and merged with Ner'Zhul to become the Lich King himself, with the fullest of power available to him.
At the end of WarCraft 3 the Frozen Throne, Arthas has this union and sits atop the Frozen Throne as the new Lich King, just where this trailer begins.
Outstanding job with this reaction, this will always give me chills every time I see or hear this trailer and music. This was the pinnacle of WoW for me and many other players.
well said
Aye!
Just to add to this, there is a pivotal point during Arthas journey before he pics up Frostmourne, when he is faced with a terrible choice, a town (Stratholme) has crates of grain infected by the plague that the citizens are already consuming. So, most of the population is turning into undead, the only the choice he feels he has is culling the city to stop the plague spreading to more towns. This is where his is abandoned by everyone he holds dear, his long time friend Jaina, his Paladin mentor Uther.
The pose that is very similar to Anduin is really interesting because later down the road we discover that there is someone puppeteering the Lich King and that is the same one that ended up subduing and mind controlling Anduin in the Shadowlands forcing him to terrible deeds.
Btw, once you get to Legion, before you move to Battle for Azeroth cinematic, you should totally watch the Legion - Alliance Broken Shore Cinematic its ingame cinematic but it's as powerful as some of these ones.
Both Anduin and Arthas were strong in the Light, one was a priest (Anduin) the other a paladin (Arthas).
Arthas holding Frostmourne is ice cold still and steady malice, Anduin was shaking with the sword because he's not comfortable with it - they highlight the difference between them deliberately imo
Arthas / Lich King at 5:05 sitting on the Frozen Throne is the same image how Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne end cinematic ended - his journey through that game is amazing. That's why people were beyond measureable hype when this trailer finally released back in 2007-8. Everybody was waiting for him - and boy...they delivered.
Honestly most wow cinematics are so much better if you've seen the warcraft 3 cinematics, some add great context, some have amazing references/callbacks (think WoD trailer)
Oh my god yeah... I was insanely hyped when I first saw the WoD one... felt like going back to warcraft 1-2 and even before! The potential...it is sad that it was wasted... but at least we've got Legion - which was by far my favourite xpac in terms of content/story so far.@@ganondorf66
hands down Arthas's / Lich king's story is one of the best storys ever developed in gaming history, i just hate how they killed him off in shadowlands 😒
True, they murdered so many solid story foundations when they retconned a ton of things in SL - that place should not have been visited by us ingame...@@Makaveli13Xroy
Except at that time, Arthas was NOT the Lich King. Ner'zhul wanted a new body, and Arthas died as a martyr to bring him back.
WotLK made him a cartoon bad guy spitting on everything, inclusing all Ner'zhul plans carefully crafter for years. Kingdoms conquered by the power of his mind... wasted for Gary Sue fan service.
Cataclysm prepared already it, starting the new arc of Sylvanas, but Shadowlands truly did the most genius things that was left to do with that poor character. Make him actually disappear, not as an asshole, but as a martyr. At least.
I don't remember the last time I clicked on a video so fast lol
Same 😂
Agreed lol, I was in the middle of a loki review and immediately hopped over
Agreed lol, I was in the middle of a loki review and immediately hopped over
Same
Fr
-The dragon's name is Sindragosa. She was slain 10,000 years before Arthas raised her into undeath. She was killed by the black dragon, Deathwing, who will be the primary character in the Cataclysm cinematic. She was blasted with immense magical energy and was cast into the area that would become Icecrown (the name of the snowy region they're in). So the ice she was encased in did have magic infused it along with rage & sorrow, just not Arthas'.
-The narrator is Terenas Menethil, Arthas' father and the former King of Lordaeron who is slain by Arthas in the Warcraft 3 game (also in an iconic cinematic of the series albeit one of early 2000s rendering). Arthas' story spans the entirety of Warcraft 3, there's so much to be said about him that a comment cannot do it justice. Yes, regret is entwined with it. He went down a path he thought was just and ultimately lost everything he cared about by the end.
Honestly, I'd love to see him react to the "Scourge of Lordaeron" ending cinematic ("Succeeding you... father!") Not nearly as refined, and kinda janky CG like you said, but still a powerful cinematic.
In the current expansion of WoW, you actually do an entire quest chain to bring peace and rest to Sindragosa's soul. It is really cool to close a loop you might no have expected them to pursue.
Sindragosa was the main consort(mate) of the leader of her dragon flight Malygos.
That the Lich King used Mournblade to animate Sindragosa was heinous and terrible.
Pretty sure the dragon is the original frostwyrm - sapphiron.
Because I believe sindragosa was revived after arthas left northend.
The motif as Arthas wipes the snow from the ice is from a song called 'Invincible', a song of mourning for Arthas's horse.
Arthas had a very close bond with his horse (named Invincible) which died in a relatively mundane accident, and somewhat started his spiral into darkness. The tenderness that he wipes the ice away to raise himself a new mount really shows that he's still mourning Invincible and full of sadness, despite the atrocities he's done since then.
I'd never really made that connection until you pointed it out. I love when stuff still just clicks after 15 years.
its from a song called "O Thanagor" or in english "O King" and the lyrics translate to being about Arthas and his father and was first introduced in warcraft 3. invincible sounds similar but is quite different. the lyrics when wiping away the snow are as follows:
O King.....
Long live the king,
May he reign...forever.
May his strength
fail him never.
In fact, you're both right. While Invincible is it's own song, "O Thanagor" is also present in it, sort of as a stand-in for arthas' theme, basically to represent the connection he had to his steed. In Arthas, my Son we hear the same melody again to represent arthas just like in Invincible
Years later, and I'm still waiting for that freaking horse to drop
Dude I am DIGGING this journey you’re on! Really cool as a WoW vet to see someone new have the same excitement we had when these came out 🤓🤙
The story of Prince Arthas Menethil is a tragic tale. Once a Paladin of the Holy Light, he loved his lands, he loved his family and above all else he loved his people and would do anything for their safety and prosperity. One fateful day their were talks of a plague sweeping his lands. He was sent by his father to investigate this plague. He was also accompanied by his previous love Jania Proudmoore. The tales about the plague were true and were created by the Cult of the Damed which was lead by the fallen mage now necromancer Kel'thuzud. Arthas slew Kel'thuzud but it was too late, the plague had already been disperse throughout the land via grain shipments. The plague turned his people into undead to serve as a way for the Burning Legion to take over Azeroth. The moment Arthas fell from grace was due to a momentous event in warcraft history called the Culling of Stratholme. The plagued grain was delivered to Stratholme and the citizens of the city consumed it and started to turn into the undead. Arthas made a choice to purge the city and by doing so he lost his mentor (Uther the Lightbringer) and the woman he loved (Jania Proudmoore) because of this action. The Dreadlord Mal'ganis (A top rank demon) tuanted Arthas and told him that this was all apart of a great scheme to take over the world, then Mal'ganis told Arthas to follow him to Northernd. There, Arthas's destiny would be revealed. Once there he met up with another mentor from his childhood, Muradin Bronzebeard (A dwarf, who is the brother to the king of Ironforge) and he was on an expedition to find a powerful sword named Frostmorne (the sword in the cinematic). The blade was cursed. They eventually found the sword. Arthas took up the blade thinking he would be able to stop those who threaten his home land and in the process "killed" Muradin. This however was all according to plan by the first Lich King, Ner'zhul. This was the start of his dark path on becoming the new Lich King.
very nicely explained.amazing comment
In that moment when he touched the sword, it consumed his soul and later when he reached the frozen throne and took Ner'zhul crown he changed again became the lich king as Ner'zhul taking control of his body and later he regained it.
in fact they just merged, but later on Arthas will purged Ner'zhul, cut out the last remains of his humanity (his heart) and cast aside @@sergiomedina1099
This is copied, word for word, from Nobel87's video covering this lore. At least give credit to the source.
@@Drewsterman777 well at least you did mention it.thanks for info
You picked up on the story quite well, Philip! Your technical knowledge and your actual interest in the cinematics are just such a blast to watch. Again thank you so much for your content it makes me so happy!
Honestly I am actually very impressed at how quickly he figured out exactly what the cinematic was about with just one frame and one sentence. Holy moly!
I was so thrilled watching this. He made my day.
Yeah the TL;DR on Arthas is he is a fallen prince who became so obsessed with vengeance, he became the very monster he hunted. After sacrificing his very soul to slay a demon in a far off land, he returned to his homeland, overthrew his father, and buried his kingdom under the march of his undead army. Developers and players often referred to him as a "reverse King Arthur", starting his journey as heroic figure before falling from grace over the course of his story, and one of the best villains in the Warcraft universe.
I personally cannot wait until he gets to Old Soldier. Possibly one of their very best cinematics.
Yeah the Anduin /Arthas pose was interesting in the new cinematic. Anduin does the same pose as well in the Battle for Azeroth cinematic, which was when he was technically the first time king. So now people are wondering, will Anduin fall to the void since he lost his light? Will he recover and become as powerful as Arthas but through the light? Very exciting to see this and the new one side by side
Battle of Azeroth pose is not the same. First it's not shown in the same way, second it is just the "ONWARDS!" pose of a leader telling his army to charge. While alike from how the sword is hold, the meaning is very different.
We still dont know why the pose is so similar, what we know is that he was merged with arthas soul in the shadowlands expansion under the jailor grip
@rambilo6236 the cinematic team said they made the poses the same on purpose, Preach was talking about it.. They also said Andiun's hand shaking was on purpose to be the opposite of Arthas in this cinematic. Both characters went down the same path and were watching to see if Andiun succeeds where Arthas failed
thought about the same tho. i actually stopped playing on wotlk back in the day but sticked to the storyline. imagine andiun having a battle within himself over the next few expansions. im already stoked.
@@rambilo6236Merged, no. The sword was forged with Arthus’s soul. The *sword* has the spirit of him. We may still have a touch of Stormbringer style possession still lingering here.
You're only the second person I've seen switched-on enough to properly understand the message they're delivering here, and I've watched a lot of reactions to this one over the years. I'm glad you liked it. Arthas' turn is one of the most pivitol and tragic moments in Warcraft lore.
I would highly recommend watching the 2 really good cinematics from Warcraft 3 that show more about Arthas and him becoming the Lich King.
If you want the backstory of arthas you can watch the cutscenes from Warcraft 3
I think this is the best review for Wrath of the lich king cinematic, I really like how you explain all the concepts about the filmography parts of this cinematic, even if you didn't heard before about Arthas or even if u didn't played the video game.
This video highlights your experience in filmography 100% in front of us, and it is an outstanding one.
You should definitely watch the Lich King Death Cinematic. It's a tear jerker 🥲
I love your analysis of these cinematics. You pick up on some of the small, intricate details that most people miss. :)
about the shot at 8:24: it's just ice, he was pushing the snow atop a glacier - the "Lich King power" comes a few seconds later when he starts pulling snowflakes into the blade of Frostmourne with that eerily blue glow
it's also worth noting: while Anduin and Arthas did the exact same pose, Anduin was actively quaking he trembled so much while Arthas was as still as the dead, denoting how one was troubled by his past while the other had completely succumbed to who he became
I always thought blizzard keeps making those Arthas/ Anduin connections was not to show what Anduin might become, but more to show who Arthas could have been. Arthas fell easily and quickly while Anduin endorses, he’s mentally stronger than Arthas.
This cinematic narrator is King Terenas Menetil, Arthas's father. You need to check Warcraft 3 cinematic where Arthas becomes the king.
I haven't watched the video yet but I'm super excited to see you continue this series! While I love the original WoW and Burning Crusade Cinematics, this one really marks when they start going from good to truly great. I really hope that when you reach Battle For Azeroth, you also take a look at Old Soldier, Lost Honor, Safe Haven and finally Reckoning as well! There is also a large official video called 'Saurfang's Mak'gora' which contains all of them if perhaps you wanted to do a mega video or a series.
I can only second that with the BfA Cinematics!
Referring this cinematic to the new one for The War Within is spot on. I was most struck by the symbolism of the cold evening snow and blueness of Northrend vs the warm morning sky over the sands of redly- lit Silithus.
Two similar yet very different young men - opposed in temperament, one proud, the other humble - taking one hero’s journey.
I'm so glad he caught it without even knowing the far more direct connection between the two, he's clearly paying close attention. I hope he goes over all the shadowlands cinematics now, not just the launch one.
My commendations for picking up on subtle details other reactors have missed, or at least haven't worded them on the spot as you did. Most people watching this cinematic without the context of the story miss on the most important thing: You can't connect the narration with the scenes unless you understand King Therenas is not talking about this being, he is talking about someone who is lost now and the person you see on screen is a shadow, a mockery of the ideals the narrator is trying to evoke. Amazing interpretation on your part, keep up the good work.
if you would like a full breakdown on the lore of Arthas, Nobbel87 has a great 3 and a bit hour video covering the life of Arthas. it's a really good summary of his lore.
It's really cool how you mentioned his body language of regret there, as there was a lot of it deep under there where Arthas's humanity was still just a tiny bit there..But it was overpowered by the Litch King's Soul.
I think you already know this, but Anduin too was touched (on his case, controlled) by the same power as Arthas: Dominion magic. There were three lich kings and none of them served it's master The Jailer. So after doing some shits he managed to kidnap Anduin, and forcefully made him a Death Knight just like all three before him. And made him do terrible things, Anduin is the wielder of the light. Probably the strongest wielder in whole warcraft universe. Light embodies the holiness, it's opposite of Darkness and Anduin was subdued to it. He feels he's no longer worthy of the Light. Light answer to the devoted, the more conviction the stronger it's answer is. Anduin believes if he calls the light it won't answer. And from a religious POV, it shatters him everyday. As well as his guilt.
I'm loving these videos man! Can't wait to see the rest! Hope you follow through with my comment about the extra "Battle for Azeroth" cinematics! Really look forward to you take on those, they really tell a full story.
bro make an arthas movie. WoW fans are dying to see Arthas's story on the big screen.
I would also like to say that, the WoW player base have always known how EPIC these cinematics were. But to see them being recognized and appreciated by filmakers now, warms my heart so much. WoW has THE BEST teams at their disposal and it has always shown with how much love and hard work they put into their craft. Thank you for the respect you have given to them. I look forward to more of your WoW videos as you embark on this journey.
Bro! You need to do a star wars the old republic reaction, please! Love your point of view! Also, keep up the good work oon the WoW vids. Looking forward to the next one!
That would be awesome after he finished Warcraft
To add onto the lore that the others have provided, the entire speech from Terenas was a mirror of what we were seeing in the trailer. When he said "You grew into a weapon of righteousness", Arthas is drawing a weapon of undeniable evil. When he says "use your great power with restraint", Arthas is fully unleashing his power to summon one of the most powerful undead servants he ever obtains. Finally, Arthas does have a people and he is king... but he is king of a people who he helped slaughter and resurrect into undeath. Everything that his father wanted for him has happened... but perverted and turned into something that was never intended.
Arthas and Anduin have a lot of similarities, which is why they did the callback to the pose. But where Arthas fell to his grief and rage, eventually becoming the Lich King, Anduin is (presumably) going to overcome it and grow back into a leader of the light.
Watching you react to this trailer was an absolute delight, glad you liked it!
Dragon's name is Sindragosa the former queen of the blue dragon flight which are the most powerful in wielding magic. Arthas went to her and imbued his weapon with ruminant of her magic, then he awakened her dead body with his cursed blade and she made his army stronger
When Arthas became the Lich King, he sat upon the Frozen Throne and started gaining power, being able to control his armies and interact with others from a distance so he eventually froze over on the throne until he awoke and raised Sindragosa, the dragon.
LORE TIME!
The Lich King: Prince Arthas Menethil was heir to the human kingdom of Lorderon, and eventual paladin, studying under Uther, the Lightbringer. After a few adventures of his own (some with Jaina Proudmoore, remember that name for future expansions), an undead plague started to ravage his land, and he intended, once more with Jaina, to stop it. When he made it to the city Stratholme, which had just been infected by plagued grain, he decided he had to cull the city, his own people, to stop them from turning into undead monsters and harming others. Both Jaina and Uther were there, and they turned their back on him, unable to watch this unfold. While Arthas was successful, a Dreadlord (they're a whole thing, basically really smart and tricky kind-of-demons) taunted him, saying the only was he could save his people and kill him was by travelling to the icy wastes of Northrend and find a powerful weapon. He did so with allies, including his own men, high elves, and a dwarven prince. The weapon that he claimed, however, was a cursed runeblade that sought to corrupt him, and corrupt him it did. He killed everyone (the dwarf lived... barely) that came with him eventually. Shortly after he returned home, where he killed his father, as well as Uther who was going to bury the ashes of Arthas' father, as well as many, many more high elves, including Sylvanas Windrunner (remember her as well), raising everyone that fell into his undead Scourge. To wrap this up, he then went back to Northrend in order to claim a set of armor that his blade, Frostmourne, drawing him towards (the essence of the Lich King, bound within the armor, spoke to him) a set of armor that he needed to ascend to be the Lich King, and not just the Lich King's champion. To get it, he had to fight Illidan, barely winning and making it to where he needed to be, where he then broke the ice around it, and put it on, nearly killing what little of Arthas was left and cementing him as the Lich King. A cool little nod: even after all of that, we learn in game that he still wore a locket Jaina gave to him when they were young and in love.
Yes! Anduin and the Lich King made the same pose! In the books especially, they have many parallels. They were said to look very similar to each other (Anduin's father and Jaina both knew Arthas well), they were both princes, and they both used the light. Where Arthas killed his father, Anduin lost his. When the world seemed as if it were ending, Arthas picked up a blade that meant death and destruction, Anduin picked up one that was used to keep hope alive. And later in Anduin's life when he was dominated by the Jailer, it not only used the same domination magic that bound Arthas to Frostmourne and the Lich King armor, but it was Arthas' very soul that was used by the Jailer to perform this domination. The difference, is where Arthas died, his soul finally released, asking "Father! Is it... over?", Anduin lived, equally as guilty but alive to feel it every moment of every day.
One cool thing I would note about the parallel between the two scenes drawing the sword. When Arthas does it he is standing slouched a bit and then almost seems to recall his immense power and resolve, and when he looks down the blade he stands statuesque, completely still. When Anduin does it, he wavers and almost recoils from the realization of what he is capable of.
For Arthas you would need to watch the WC3 cinematics to see what happened with Stratholme and Terenas
The reason for Anduin showing a similar pose is, that the soul of the defeated Arhas was used to create another cursed "mournblade" (as Arthas is also using here, which is called Frostmourne, that can rip the soul out of its victims and imprison them in itself, empowering the wielder) to dominate his will.
Anduin manages to break free after long struggle, but is haunted by selfdoubt since then, as he revealed when talking to Sylvanas (who once had been a high elf, but was killed, then raised as a Banshee by Arthas), that a part of him had enjoyed that power.
They used the same pose to show this fear of Anduin, that he could be and end like Arthas, but instead of a pose of power as in this cinematic, Anduin shivers and trembles.
Blizzard is very good in telling a lot by pictures alone. Sad enough, many people don't get it, it's not obvious enough for them, because not directly explained.
Such things lead to quite some bad story telling in modern movies and games, where the makers avoid this by just plane exposition.
Agreed, they're contrasting Arthas's confidence with Anduin's pain, fear, and anger.
I think it's so awesome how you can get a really good general understanding of the story just from analysis of these trailers. Arthas has a lot of Warcraft cinematics from the old game if you want his story. Anduins "Arthas" pose is why we all lost it seeing it. Seeing the differences in two princes who deal with darkness I am so excited to see what happens!
I always saw Anduin as a "What if" version of Arthat that made the right choices. :D
"He's not gonna show restraint is he?"
Me, laughing: "Not even a little bit.."
More context about the sword scene you liked to much:
Arthas at that point has no feelings, no remorse. An ability he uses during the ingame fight is literally called "remorseless winter". When he became the Lich King he gave up his humanity and merged with Ner'zhul, the spirit of an orc shaman bound inside the runeblade by the Dreadlords and became a cold killing machine. In another video, the spirits of the fallen trapped inside the blade surround him and his father warns him about the players gathered outside the citadel. He then drops the iconic line "Let them come, Frostmourne hungers".
Unlike Anduin, Arthas for the better part of 5 years trapped inside his body, witnessed every cruel thing he has done, until he was freed mere moments before his death by our hands. 😢
You are my favorite Filmmaker Reactor, the way you analyze the movements, the animation, the colors, the feeling, they are exactly what we feel as the audience especially for us lore nerds. I found you with the War Within cinematic and I am very much looking forward to see you journey into the subsequent expansions. Keep it up man!
Thank you so much!!! More to come 🙏🏻
One of my favorite parts of this cinematic are how Arthas' father, terenas, the narrartor, talks about how he stirs the hearts of his people. His people were always his subjects but since his downfall his subjects are now the undead and he is still stirring their heart just this time its against their will
It's so cool that even as someone who never played WoW you caught the pose, and yes it does tie in...sort of. If you look back during that scene you also get the "My Son" reference which gave me chills when I first saw it.
You picked up on a lot of things pretty damn well. Arthas here doesn't look undead because "The Lich King" here was originally just the helm sitting on the Frozen Throne that you saw at the start that has since fused with Prince Arthas. After he fell to the corruption of the sword you see, which is called Frostmourne, he raced Illidan to the top and put the helm on becoming one entity. The blue spectral energy is a representation of the Lich King's control being exerted over him, raising the dragon Sindragosa, and over his undead legions.
Wasn't Arthas still alive until after WC3? I dont think he actually became undead until after he became the Lich King, and for 10 years was frozen so was basically preserved and didn't decompose at all. He does have a big hole in his chest where he cut out his own heart though, so I guess there's that
@@georgercopif I remember correctly he isn't undead but the helm of domination(damnation??) Keeps him "alive" and that's why he dies after the helm falls after we beat him
If you want the stories for each of these expansions they did a couple in game cinematics in wrath, and a couple in cataclysm, and mists of pandaria. With an increase in legion and beyond. Some of the most impactful cutscenes in battle for Azeroth. Then anduin has his arc in shadowlands.
Or if you want a person to explain it you have nobbel87. Or hell, I could give you a synopsis. I am one of those lore masters. And use that title on every character proudly.
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned yet, but during Wrath blizzard started doing In-game cinematic’s. Although they are made with in game graphics they are epic still nonetheless. They also have main story plot points. So I hope you start watching all the short movies not just the launch cinematic’s. Either way though I’m here for it!!!
Upon reflection here's the updated list of cinematics and cutscenes to watch in this order. The ones that i marked with the same number at the end, you can do them in one video because they are in the same narrative sub-thread :
- The Burning Crusade Cinematic Trailer
- Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic Trailer
- Fall of the Lich King Ending Remastered (World of Warcraft Cinematic)
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Cinematic Trailer
- World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Cinematic Trailer
- Mists of Pandaria Siege of Orgrimmar Ending Cinematic! (Alliance + Horde)
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Cinematic
- Legion Cinematic Trailer
- Legion - Alliance Broken Shore Cinematic (1)
- Legion - Horde Broken Shore Cinematic (1)
- Legion - Sylvanas and Vol'jin Cinematic
- Patch 7.2 In-game Cinematic - A Found Memento: Raising a King
- Val'sharah Epilogue In-game Cinematic
- Rejection of the Gift
- Sargeras Impales Azeroth Sword Cinematic/Illidan’s Sacrifice
- Defeat of the Burning Legion: Horde Epilogue (2)
- Defeat of the Burning Legion: Alliance Epilogue (2)
- Warbringers: Sylvanas
- Cinematic: “Old Soldier”
- World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Cinematic Trailer
- The Siege of Lordaeron: Turn The Tide (3)
- Lordaeron Throne Room Confrontation - Horde (3)
- Jaina's Nightmare (4)
- Arrival to Kul Tiras - Alliance (4)
- Realm Of Torment (4)
- The Return of Hope: Kul Tiras (4)
- Cinematic: "Lost Honor"
- Cinematic: "Safe Haven"
- Crossroads - Cinematic
- The Negotiation - Cinematic
- Cinematic: “Reckoning”
- World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Cinematic Trailer
- Shadowlands Afterlives: Bastion
- Shadowlands Afterlives: Ardenweald
- Shadowlands: Dark Abduction
- Watch the Shadowlands Launch Cinematic: “Beyond the Veil”
- Winter Queen Awakes Ysera Cutscene WoW Shadowlands
- Shadowlands: Chains of Domination - “Kingsmourne”
- Tyrande vs Sylvanas Cinematic Patch 9.1 - Chains of Domination
- Sylvanas' Choice Cinematic - Shadowlands
- Anduin Finale Cinematic | Shadowlands Patch 9.2 Eternity's End
- Sylvanas Windrunner & Anduin Wrynn Epilogue Cutscene | World of Warcraft Patch 9.2.5
Before sitting on the throne frozen for 5 years, the Warcraft 3 games happened. It's the continuation of the classic orcs vs humans game i believe you mentioned you played in the past. There is actually a great cinematic leading to the beginning of the events of that expansion. I guess other people must have mentioned it by now.
What I want to emphasize yet again are the animated shorts which you should absolutely react to. A lot of character development there.
For reference:
Lords of War before the Warlords of Draenor cinematic.
Harbingers before the Legion cinematic.
Warbringers before Battle for Azeroth.
Afterlives before Shadowlands.
Finally Legacies before Dragonflight.
@PhilipHarts
After the Legion expansion, Warcraft’s story took a huge dive.
The Lich King was retconned in the Shadowlands expansion.
The helm of domination (The Lich King’s helmet) and part of his armor were crafted from Ner’zhul (an Orc Shaman) by Kil’Jaeden.
Ner’zhul’s soul was still present within the helmet.
Frostmourne (The Lich King’s sword) was made by either Ner’zhul or Kil’Jaeden, and when Arthas picked it up, he was under Ner’zhul’s influence to become The Lich King.
In Shadowlands they changed the origins of both, so that it was now the Jailer’s influence, which Anduin was also under.
In truth it’s Blizzard’s way of associating Anduin with Arthas, so people would stick around
The Fathers voice actor is Earl Boen who sadly died this year. You might remember his acting in Terminator franchise as Dr.Silberman.
This cinematic proves that Blizzard has ALWAYS been there when it comes to cutscenes, at least the ones they give a shit about.
There's a lot to say here but first I'll tell you that this cinematic uses excellent dramatic irony, with Arthas' father talking about him being a great king, and a WEAPON for the Light, but instead the words have a twisted meaning here. He's not exercising restraint, he is fully embracing the power of shadow, and domination.
Now for the major point that is BRAND SPANKIN NEW: Anduin does the same exact pose Arthas does, when threatening Thrall!
Arthas' was a paladin of great power, a weapon of The Light, and Anduin was a powerful Priest! Often in cinematics, Anduin is shown rejecting the ways of a warrior and choosing instead to embrace The Light. It was a HUGE part of his character.
So Anduin, abandoning the Light, and assuming the same pose Arthas did? It's gotta mean something. It doesn't necessarily mean that Anduin embraces shadow magic (or even possibly, VOID magic like Shadow Priests can do! The Void is gonna have a huge impact on War Within.) but it does mean he's sorta lost his way and will either find it again or forge a new path!
Philip you are great! It's many joy and satisfaction - you dissection and exploring of Blizzad cinematics and your motivation to know WoW lore.
I think, i I'm saying what many people have already told you: you must see cinematics from WarCraft III.
Many things took its places then.
And then many thing from another WoW cinematics will be more understandable for you when you see them
Believe it or not, I never intend to actually write so much when I leave comments. I just lose track of myself. Buuut the TL;DR is there's a lot of similarities between Arthas and Anduin because they were both Princes who fell to corruption and became Death Knights. Arthas' fall was gradual, and Anduin was kinda forced into his corruption.
In WC3, Arthas started off as this noble Paladin, beloved by his friends and subjects. The then Lich King releases a plague of undeath across his lands, and in response Arthas, his mentor Uther, and his close friend/possible girlfriend Jaina learn that a plagued shipment of grain was shipped out to a city called Stratholm. Once they arrive they realize they were too late and the entire city had become infected, but the infected hadn't started to turn undead yet. Arthas, knowing there's no way to cure those who become infected, realizes the only way to save his land and his people is to purge the city in an event that'd come to be known as "The Culling of Stratholm". Uther, his Paladin mentor and borderline second father, and his childhood mage friend/girlfriend Jaina don't agree with him and refuse to watch him kill all those innocent people, so they leave him. Afterwords Arthas marches his army into Stratholm and kills everybody, infected or not, to contain the outbreak and prevent it's spreading. Doing so broke him though, and so he swore that he'd chase the demon Mal'Ganis who was responsible to the ends of the earth. He follows Mal'Ganis to the frozen continent of Northrend and learns of a cursed sword powerful enough to slay Mal'Ganis, and so he sets out to retrieve it, yet unknown to him he's been in the Lich Kings trap since before the Culling of Stratholm. He eventually finds Mal'Ganis, and with the cursed sword Frostmourne in hand, kills him.
Throughout the entire journey with Frostmourne Arthas had been losing his soul piece by piece, as the reason why the sword is cursed is because it consumes the souls of its victims and corrupts the wielder. Arthas, realizing there's no going back after what he's done, pledges himself to the Lich King, but only so that one day he can get close enough to him to kill him himself. Even longer story short(yeah yeah I know), he ends up at the base of Icecrown where the Lich King is entombed in ice. Here he whoops the shit out of Illidan who tries to stop him and then ascends to the peak. At the top he finds a suit of armor bound in ice, the Lich King(the Lich King was an Orc named Ner'zul who's soul was imprisoned in a suit of armor by the Burning Legion). At the Lich King's command, Arthas breaks him free of the ice, but in an act of betrayal, Arthas grabs the Helmet of Domination, the particular piece the Lich King's soul is bound to, and puts it on, fusing Ner'zul's soul with his own. It is here when Arthas goes from being a Death Kinght to the Lich King. Arthas then takes a seat atop his new throne and closes his eyes as ice begins to grow all over his armor. This is where he stays for the next like 6-8 years or however long it is until the start of the Wrath of the Lich King WoW expansion, when he opens his eyes back up in the cinematic.
Prince Anduin was hailed as the boy king for quite a while as during a particular battle when Anduin was just a small child his father Varian lost his memories and was taken as a slave, forced to fight in the gladiatorial slave arenas. While Varian was going through that however his son Anduin, with the help of what's basically his uncle Bolvar Fordragon and an advisor Lady Prestor he lead Stormwind for many years. Unbeknownst to them though Lady Prestor was actually the Black Dragon Onyxia who had been deliberately causing unrest between the Defias Brotherhood, a group of former contractors and masons and stuff like that who didn't like being screwed over constantly and formed a union under Edwin VanCleef which would ultimately end up becoming a gang organization, and the government of Stormwind itself. The Black Dragonflight was lead by Neltharion The Earth-Warder, who's job it was originally was to be the protector of earth, but fell to the corrupting whispers of the Old Gods and eventually became Deathwing The Destroyer, who'll be the main character in the Cataclysm trailer. Deathwing would go to corrupt his entire brood, save for one who was stolen away in secret in the hopes that it could be raised to fill it's true purpose. This lone broodling would eventually become Anduins best frienemy Wrathion. Fast forward a bit and Varian Wrynn regains his memories and comes back home and assumes the role of King of Stormwind back from Anduin, freeing Anduin up to pursue his own passions. Anduin decides to become a servant of the Light, similar to Arthas, but instead of becoming a Paladin he becomes a Priest. He eventually has some wacky adventures in panda land(not a joke) and eventually the Burning Legion comes once again to attempt to destroy Azeroth(The corrupted Titan Sargeras, corrupted by the same Old Gods that turned Deathwing hates the people of Azeroth being as how in all of the Burning Legions eons of conquest, Azeroth has routinely been the one planet he and his armies have failed time and time again to conquer). At the initial battle of the Legion expansion King Varian dies, leaving Anduin behind to once again lead his people, despite him having never really wanted to, and even attempted to dump the job on Gen Greymane at one point. But he leads his people none-the-less to another victory against the Burning Legion. Fast forward a bit to the start of the Shadowlands expansion Anduin Wrynn is abducted by Valkyries serving under Sylvannas Windrunner(A former Ranger General of the High Elves who died at the hands of Arthas when he marches his armies through her lands and became the first servant of the Lich King to break free of her masters will and founded the faction of free undead known as the Forsaken who have taken the ruins of Lordareon, Arthas' old kingdom, as their home) and drag him to the Shadowlands(basically the afterlife). The citizens of Azeroth then find a way to assault the Shadowlands and do so to rescue Anduin and the others who were all taken prisoner. Fast forward to the midway-ish point of the Shadowlands expansion and The Jailer, the expansions big baddy and the one responsible for imprisoning the souls of the damned, corrupts Anduin and turns him into a Death Knight just like Arthas. Anduin eventually breaks free of The Jailers control and becomes mortal again, but his time spent as a Death Knight and the things he did during haunt him, which is why he says the things he says and acts the way he acts in The War Within trailer.
Back when I was teaching English in middle school I wanted (but never got the chance) to use this clip in an exercise to teach the concept of characterization.
The idea was to pair the kids off, give one member of each pairing a blindfold, and the other member of each pairing a set of earplugs or headphones, so that one of them would only learn about the character from what they SEE, while the other would only learn about the character from what they HEAR. They'd get about five to ten minutes to write down what kind of person they think the character is, and then compare notes.
Then we'd be looking at class discussion about how their impressions differed, and how those impressions weave together to give a sense of the character's history even while NOT giving full context or much in the way of specific fact.
At the end of this expansion the players defeat the Lich King and Arthas dies. There's an ingame cinematic showing this, it's pretty cool. If you want to watch it it's called "Fall of the Lich King Ending Remastered (World of Warcraft Cinematic)"
If you are familiar with Star Wars, Arthas' story very much mirrors Anakin's. In the simplest terms: Arthas was the prince and pride of his nation, a powerful holy warrior, and apprentice to a respected paladin. Through a number of hard decisions and sacrifices made in an attempt to save his people, he eventually betrayed everything he loved and became the dark lord we see here.
Regarding the pose he shares with Anduin, that story is quite a bit more complicated and convoluted, but I'll attempt to sum it up. We as players follow Anduin from his childhood through his mid-twenties in the War Within cinematic. In many ways he reflects Prince Arthas in his youth and has had to make many of his own hard decisions though the years. Recently he was captured and had both his mind and body dominated by a powerful dark being called the Jailer. This Jailer actually used what was left of Arthas' broken and corrupted soul to force Anduin to commit atrocities and betray his closest friends and allies. This has clearly taken a toll on him and having Anduin strike the same iconic pose as the Lich King himself seems to be a sign that those scars may run deeper than we thought.
It is the same pose/composition as Anduin yeah! Very intentionally. There have been a lot of lore parallels between Arthas and Anduin over the years, this being one of the more overt ones. Not in a "Anduin is like Arthas" way, but that Anduin is the person that Arthas was meant to be. Both were great princes and warriors of the light in their own way. But Arthas was arrogant while Anduin was self-conscious (significantly simplifying some of their character traits), and they made very different choices in critical moments, and the events of their lives pushed them in very different directions. In Anduin's recent story, as he "fell", the fact that they parallel him to Arthas while Anduin would fundamentally never act the way Arthas did is meant to subvert that comparison I think.
For a very quick explanation of what Arthas did: he spiraled out of control starting at a point where he discovered the food supply of a major city had been contaminated by "the plague", which would turn people into undead, and he decided that the only thing to do was to wipe out the city before they had started turning to contain the threat. The people around him very, very strongly disagreed, and he left them and spiraled on his own dark path (partially because he was tricked, though he ends up pretty into it), that eventually led to him murdering his father, and becoming the undead commanding Lich King you see in this cinematic. All of that happened before this expansion, in the warcraft RTS games. This expansion is about returning to his story and the threat to the world he poses, and ending it.
At the end of this expansion he is killed, but someone else has to take the helm and the mantle of the Lich King to control the undead, otherwise they would swarm randomly. A heroic character makes the sacrifice to do that. Keep that in mind for the future :)
Arthas was once crown prince of Lordaeron, and a paladin of the light. He'd always been a bit arrogant and hot-headed, but he tried to temper that and had good in his heart. When the plague of undeath came to Lordaeron and started turning people into undead Arthas chased down the cause the it, eventually leading him to the large city of Stratholme. Here he saw the entire city had been infected with the plague, and all the citizens would turn to undead soon. He made the decision to purge the entire city of life, to kill everyone by his hands, rather then let them serve the Scourge in death. A lot of his soldiers, including his lover and his mentor turned away from him, not agreeing with this decision of killing all the people in the city. Arthas did so and discovered a demon named Mal'ganis who supposedly orchestrated these events.
Mal'ganis retreated, taunting Arthas and drawing him to the frozen lands of Northrend, and eventually spread rumors of a powerful artifact, a weapon called Frostmourne. As Arthas was already feeling weakened by the powers of light leaving him (the light left him over the doubt and regret of his decision at Stratholme), he decided this weapon would help him kill Mal'ganis. He found the sword and discovered it was cursed from a warning on the dias it rested on. "I would gladly bear any curse to save my homeland." as he picked up the sword, it killed his allies around him, and claimed his soul. He killed Mal'ganis with the sword, but the sword enslaved his will to the Lich King. Arthas turned his men into an undead army by slaughtering then and raising them in undeath.
He then traveled back home, where he killed his own father, and used his army to destroy the rest of his land, turning it into a wasteland of the undead. Arthas then traveled to the Frozen Throne (as seen at the beginning of this cinematic), to the Lich King Ner'zhul's icy prison. He used Frostmourne to shatter the ice, letting the remains of Ner'zhul and his helmet collapse onto the floor. Arthas took up the helmet and dawned it himself, merging the remnants of Arthas' soul with that of Ner'zhul, making them the new Lich King.
Please make sure that Philip sees the WC3 cinematic where Thrall and Grommash face off Mannoroth, before he sees the WoD cinematic. The visual references are essential for getting the whole experience. If possible, even watch some cut scenes from WC3 leading up to the confrontation: ruclips.net/video/F9nZPh9omlc/видео.html&ab_channel=Athelarius
To give some thorough insight into Arthas, here's a little Lore dump and some things that are never stated but can be implied that make the character more interesting.
Arthas was the prince of a human kingdom known as Lordaeron, but as others already stated, he had to make a difficult choice of purging the citizen of one of his Kingdom's cities when they became infected with a plague that would kill them and turn them into undead. He did go through with it, but regrettably, an emotional side that is never portrayed but is factual.
Arthas was a paladin who served the light, and the power of the light isn't granted to someone because they do good with it, it is instead granted to those who have passion and conviction. It's given to those that truly believe they are using it to do good. There are many people in World of Warcraft that can wield the power of the light and they do despicable deeds with it. So given this info, as Arthas was slaughtering his own people, the light began to fade. He started to doubt that his "solution" was indeed just. He didn't wholly believe he was doing the right thing. By the time he purged the whole city, the light had almost entirely left him, but some power still remained. He was filled with vengeance against those that did this to his people, but also with doubt toward himself.
The shot where he's sitting on the throne, he's contemplating his life's choices and when he awakes, he understands that the world cannot stand against the great threats to come if people have free will. In World of Warcraft, people used free will to wage wars instead of unifying. So Arthas wanted to kill everyone and raise them as undead so they could stand a chance against a demonic invasion he knew would happen.
In the end, Arthas still believed he wasn't doing anything evil. He has always been portrayed as a morally-gray character and this is why he is so beloved.
To touch on the connection between Arthas and Anduin, they were both corrupted by the same evil magic (Death magic, aka Necromancy), but Arthas embraced that power while still doubting the actions he did, even though he deemed them necessary, while Anduin had this magic power forced onto him and he began doubting himself because he felt as if when he was being controlled by this power, a part of him was enjoying the pain he caused others. They both lost the ability to wield the light because they doubt themselves.
Im late to the party but, 2:18 Arthas and Anduin are foils. Anduin's choreography is supposed to echo and mirrior Arthas.
I've been playing WoW off and on for nearly 20 years and I can still safely say that the WotLK expansion and storyline is still the greatest WoW experience I've had. They did such a good job of creating a complex villian and weaving a sense of morality not just into the cinematic but the entire expansion campaign. I remember the tragedy between Arthas and Jaina and wanting so badly to see him redeem himself.
Anduin was bound with Arthas's soul and forced to fight against his friends. With is why he is so done in war within cinematic.
I can't wait when there is a lich king movie
Holy shit! The "join me" at @0:46 sounded exactly like witcher games' Geralt (Doug Cockle)
Are you sure you didn't play wow before this? You pretty much nailed Arthas based on one cinematic.
I think they did Arthas dirty after it all, but I don't want to give out any spoilers. He was the main enemy of Warcraft 3, so for a lot of us, this was the culmination of the whole series. It really felt like the end when it launched, and for many it was truly. You have to first learn more about the Lich King lore to understand what is happening here. Originally an Orc named Ner'Zhul, the Lich King was created by the demon lord Kil'jaeden to rule over the undead Scourge. He did so telepathically using the "Helm of Domination" until Ner'Zhul eventually betrayed the demons of the Burning Legion but was still trapped and frozen in Northrend. The dragon in this video actually has nothing to do with the Lich King, but had died in the "Dragon Wars" millennia ago. She was raised to serve, but really its just flaunting the power of the Helm of Domination. Many years after Ner'Zhul, prince Arthas of Lordaeron became so caught up on vengeance that he led his people right into the hands of the Scourge and delivered his kingdom to the undead. After traveling to Northrend in search of a way to destroy the undead armies, he instead merged with the Lich King and became a tool of the Burning Legion briefly. When the demon lords were defeated, the merged Arthas and Ner'Zhul as the Lich King, was freed from their grasp and able to plot for themselves. Illidan was even tasked with killing the Lich King by Kil'jaeden, but the Night Elves intervened thinking it was Illidan attempting to do harm. At the time of this launch, the players still knew the character of Arthas was still biding his time in Northrend and so this felt like the true ending to WC3.
I know I'm a bit late to the party but have been watching your WoW journey and it's been awesome watching you experience it and as a long time WoW player, it's been a good walk down memory lane. I wanted to say that after your WoW journey gets to an end, you may want to go back and watch all of Warcraft 3 cinematics. They will give you more of a look into Arthus, Thrall, Grom, Illidan, and a few others and since you started on WoW's cinematics, I think you'll appreciate them more in a way. Keep up the great work man! Loving the content!
arthas is the darth vader of wow. his relation to anduin is that they both fell under the control of the jailer. Arthas during warcraft 3 and anduin during the shadowlands expansion.
While there's a much longer story; the parallels between Anduin and Arthas is that they were both essentially dominated (will overridden/controlled) by another powerful force. In Arthas' case his will become one with the Lich King and Anduin was directly dominated by the Jailer in shadowlands (who it turned out kinda sorta created the lich king indirectly; 4d chess).
Arthas did not survive domination. Anduin survived domination but is haunted by it and by the things he did whilst dominated.
You should take a look at this exact same cinematic but the 4k remastered they released a couple years ago and compare both. It's crazy.
Nice, I haven't seen a react from you for Battle For Azeroth (BFA) that Cinematic is awesome!
A good comparison to the time where Arthus is holding up frostmourne vs Andiuan, its a show of taking a breath vs releasing a breath. Arthus is using that pose to breath in as much power as he can to complete his task, while Anduian is breathing out with that pose in relief that he doesnt have to fight more of what he is fearing/pointing his blade at. A very good call back to this cinematic.
My man realizing levels of anduin/ arthas was just like leo on the. Couch meme. Love it!
Can't wait for you to get to Warlords of Dranor and Legion's cinematics. Theres so much story in those cinenatics.
I highly recommend you watch Diablo 4s cinematics on top of the Warcraft ones because the same cinematic team creates them and they are some of the best in the business as you can see.
"who could've Arthas been if he followed a different path."
Anduin, thats who he would be.
Iam really amazed on how much u got from just seeing it the first time! U seem to be really good at your craft!
Im loving your take on these, they really did a fantastic job visually illustrating the connection between Arthas and Anduin. If nobody has told you yet, Anduin was essentially possessed by the same evil force as Arthas, used as a weapon to hurt his friends. This was portrayed through in-game cinematics, quests and ultimately a raid where the players defeat him and help him break free.
He was a human, paladin, who got into a trouble, manipulated to take a cursed sword Frostmourne to avenge for his people and kingdom. This sword consumed his soul and he became a death knight. Living yet undead, his Light left and necrotic ice magic came in its place. He became a servant of a Lich King, Ner'Zhul - old orc shaman soul trapped inside an underworld armor pieces. Then he freed him from Ice prison and equipped the armor (specifically helmet) and froze on his throne to merge into the one entity - Lich King. Later in the game we seen a last bits of his soul wandering across the lands in the shape of a small boy - last pieces of humanity Lich King expelled from himself with his own heart (literally cut his heart and thrown away to get rid of human bits)
For the anduin/arthas sword stance, anduin basically gets possessed by arthas' spirit forced to commit atrocities
But Anduin does the same stance in Battle for Azeroth
The voice of the narrator is enough to invoke so much nostalgia that it nearly brings me to tears, I love seeing your reaction to a part of my life that I cherish so much. Thanks for the enthusiastic analysis of the cinematics that I think is the best in the buisness.
I love that you’re doing this journey. I don’t know how many hundreds of times I’ve seen all these cinematics over the last 20 years, but they still give me chills and welled-up eyes. This one though, is special. Because we went through a lot of it in Warcraft III. The RTS strategy game that precedes WOW. They too have incredible cinematics, and highlight the Arthas turn. And it will makes the King’s speech throughout it make more sense.
The pose: both Arthus and Anduin were under the same influence. Anduin resisted it better, though
I've been playing WoW since the beginning, and I can't tell you how enjoyable these videos are to watch as someone that's experienced the expansions as they released
I think this is the closest I can get to recapturing some of the emotions and amazement from experiencing these for the first time, really excited for you to see the rest, the cinematic team has always been second to none
Your hype and smile is so contagious, thanks for the awesome reaction!
"What happened to Arthas?" Ooooooh boy. You're gonna wanna take a seat for that story!
You were right to draw the parallel to Anduin, notice how in the War Within cinematic he has a trauma flashback when Thrall touches his shoulder, and it cuts to the same eerie blue color that you described in that trailer as taking his soul. That's exactly what happened to Arthas, the same death magic, the same evil behind it, and Anduin almost shared Arthas' fate but was freed from it last moment. He's struggling with what he did while under the control of that magic and that part of him even enjoyed the destruction, and it made him question everything he thought he was.
I never picked up on the meaning of the body language. Nice call.
If I am correct this dragon is Sindragossa. She sacrificed herself to not be forced in service but after all was resurrected to service as undead.
Yes, this is Sindragosa. There's more about her in Dragonflight.
mate your videos are awesome! cant wait to see you watching the next cinematics!
when he break the sword into the ice you can feel the weight of the sword. absolute impressiv.
It is important to know that Arthas murdered his father years before.
Once you're caught up with WoW, do the full OverWatch
His sword is Frostmourn. It steals souls of those who it slays and it's wielder at the end.
I love your reactions, greetings from Argentina!🌎
I can’t wait for him to see the battle for Azeroth cinematic.
It's a sin to mention anduin in the same breath as Arthas Menethil.
It's been a real treat seeing you watch these with new eyes. This one has always been my favorite. And as good as it is on that first viewing, it hits even harder once you know the story behind Arthas' fall from grace, and the rise of the Lich King. I'm really happy you noticed the parallels with Anduin in the War Within cinematic. "My son..."