The Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic

Im going to talk for a bit about World of Warcraft. Now dont switch off, I know the game is brutally
immoral and addictive, but its not the game I want to discuss. About five years ago, Warcrafts
developers; Blizzard Entertainment, had a genuine passion for delivering good and effective fantasy
stories. They particularly loved their downfall stories; tales in which the hero became the villain. In
2002, a game called Warcraft three was released. The game followed the journey of multiple heroes,
the most notable of which was a human prince, named Arthas Menethil. Arthass story was one of
corruption and descent. His desire to protect his people from villainy, and his lust for revenge
against those who opposed him drew him into a downward spiral. Eventually he slipped into a
susceptible state in which an evil entity could control him with a cursed sword, named Frostmourne.
This evil was known as The Lich King. Arthas disappears for years, eventually returning to his home
city as a different man. Using his status as prince, he approaches his father, the king, and slays him.
The game follows Arthas as he travels to the northern pole of the planet after being branded a
traitor to the kingdom. He locates the castle of the Lich King and scales it, only to discover the Lich
King is just a spectral presence with no physical host. Driven by the whispers in his head, he sits upon
the Lich Kings throne and adorns his armour. The last you see of Arthas is him being encased in ice,
ready to awake when his terrible reign is destined to begin.
Now this all seems very simple and cheesy, but the way they delivered the next instalment was, to
be frank, beautiful. Please watch this video before continuing, as it is this tiny scrap of narrative that
I want to discuss. Try to imagine youre a fan on Warcraft 3. You havent seen Arthas for years. In
2007, this occurs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCr7y4SLhck (Best watch this in HD with the sound up)
Since were focusing on writing, Im going to not mention the visuals and audio throughout this
(although they are brilliant). So what happens there is Arthas is now fused with the Lich King. He is
the Lich King. What youre hearing is his fathers voice speaking in his head; memories from the past.
His father was always grooming him to be a king, and Arthas has ironically fulfilled all of his wishes,
whilst still betraying him in every way.
Typically what games like this will do is introduce the villain in some over-the-top, destructive way to
show how powerful he is, whilst the villain in question pointlessly monologues about how
great/angry he is, and how hes going to do really bad things. What I love about this cinematic is how
its both subtle and extreme at the same time. Were not told Arthas is a threat, were shown, but
were also let in on what he was meant to be, and what he turned out to be.
My son. The day you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name; Arthas Whilst
this line serves as an introduction, it also suggests that Arthas could have always been a figure of
great power, but it remains non-specific about his alignment. Arthas opens his eyes as this line
echoes in his mind, signalling a second birth. He is the Lich King now, but he is still Arthas.
The next few shots show Arthas walking alone, seemingly forlorn as this sad lonely music plays. For a
moment, it seems like hes lost, as he may well be, metaphorically speaking. He kneels down and
brushes aside snow, revealing a frozen lake. He recoils and closes his hand in thought. Has he seen
his reflection, or has he located his prey?

My child, I watched with pride as you grew into a weapon of righteousness. Arthas was once a holy
knight, known as a paladin. He fought for all that is good in this world before his downfall. As we
hear this line, we cut to a shot of Frostmourne, the weapon Arthas took up so he could strike down
the evil that plagued him, unknowingly descending into the Lich Kings grasp as he did so.
Frostmourne consumed him, and he in turn became one with it. The weapon of righteousness is no
longer Arthas, it is Frostmourne, but through warped perspective.
Remember, our line has always ruled with wisdom and strength. Frostmourne begins to gather the
lost souls from the ambient environment itself as this line is spoken. Arthas is ruling, but not over
the living. He is commanding the dead.
And I know you will show restraint when exercising your great power... Frostmourne glows, before
Arthas thrusts it into the ice at his feet. The mood instantly changes as the snow and uncertainty is
banished. This is his restraint, and yet he is still conjuring forth this monster from beneath the ice. At
this moment, you grasp an understanding of just how powerful Arthas can be. He is the antagonist,
and without him saying a word, he is letting you know hes a threat. Sindragosa (The massive undead
dragon) stomps by Arthas and oversees an endless stretch of undead soldiers. Arthas is commanding
her without moving an inch. He is in total control. She takes flight, and surveys the army. Every single
minion turns to watch her, waiting, anticipating.
But the truest victory, my son, is stirring the hearts of your people. Sindragosa lets out a rattling
roar, and in mere seconds, every single soldier joins in. Their rotting, withered hearts are notably
stirred, and Arthas hasnt raised a finger. If this is the truest victory, then Arthas has already won.
Hes seemingly unstoppable at this point. The camera pans around, placing us below Arthas, almost
like were kneeling before him.
I tell you this, for when my days come to an end... You shall be king. One of the last acts Arthas
performed in his home land before he departed to the frozen wastes was murdering his own father.
When his days came to an end, it was Arthas who became King, but not the king of Lordaeron. He
became the Lich King. The last thing we see before the title is presented is a close up of Arthass face
within the darkness of his crown. Were shown that hes still human, somewhere within that armour,
but we dont see any emotion on his face. He doesnt look at us. He starts off looking at the army
before him, and then he looks up and stares into the distance. Hes staring towards his objective; the
lands to the south. He doesnt bring us (the players) into it, because were not a threat. He does not
even acknowledge the player.
I think the use of theatrical irony in this piece makes it something special. It wasnt necessarily a hard
idea to come up with; to have Arthass fathers lectures echo in the villains mind, but its so
alternative to what Blizzard usually do. Even to this day, this three minute long story gives me goose
bumps.
Now, Id like to compare this to what Blizzard usually do so you really understand what I mean.
Three years after this game was done, and Arthas had been slain by the masses, a new threat
emerged. Well talk about that next, and why it is so fucking stupid that my anger still boils today.

The Cataclysm Cinematic

So three years later, Azeroth is once again in danger, but from a new threat this time: Deathwing.
Deathwing is another hero who was corrupted by a powerful evil entity (As I said before, Blizzard
love their downfall stories) and hes... really angry. He also hates things a lot, but most of all hes just
angry. Please watch this, just so you understand how angry he is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq4Y7ztznKc (I dont care how you watch this garbage.)
I dont want to embarrass poor Cataclysm too much, so lets get the good points out of the way first.
Like the Lich King cinematic, its gorgeous to look at. The sounds are good too, and the music...
serves a purpose. When this was first released, and the very first line was spoken, I already knew
something was horribly wrong.
Pain. Agony. My hatred burns through the cavernous deeps. So lets assume for a moment that
people actually speak like this. Its clear Deathwing is talking to us; the players. Already hes ignoring
Arthass approach to ignore us as were no threat. Deathwing is evidently trying to chat to us, so
well let him. Hes in pain, clearly, agonising pain. Good to know. Apparently he hates things a lot
too. He hates things so much, in fact, that his hatred helpfully indicates to us where he currently
lives. Thanks Deathwing, thats useful.
We see molten plates being applied to Deathwings scales. Theres a little bit of lore behind that;
essentially Deathwing is so powerful that his body literally cant contain it. He falls apart unless hes
held together by metal. Thats quite a cool concept, Ill admit, but it doesnt make this forgivable. He
has lots of little minions who are helping to put him together, for some unknown reason. He treats
them like shit, evidently.
Deathwing bangs his tail against the wall and an earthquake is foreshadowed on the surface. We see
more shots of him being constructed, and nothing interesting occurs. He then flaps his wing and a
tidal wave appears. Ok. Fine. Lets throw subtly out of the window here. So the tidal wave destroys a
goblin settlement, and thats when Deathwing bangs his head against the wall and the ground above
him collapses. Wait. What? Oh so hes destroying the world with his face? Fair enough. I suppose I
should be worried. I guess hell just stay down there and do that repeatedly until theres literally
nothing left to destroy.
The world heaves with my torment. Its wretched kingdoms quake beneath my rage. As in, the
torment youre feeling, or the torment youre inflicting? Either way works, I suppose. I should
mention that as Deathwing mentions kingdoms, it shows Orgrimmar and Thousand Needles being
destroyed, neither of which are part of a kingdom. Once again, he is telling us what he is doing, like
its a fucking demonstration for his class of students. Hes very communicative for a monster who
wants to kill us all. I wouldnt mind if he wasnt basically just repeating the words Im angry. Im
breaking shit.
More shots of Deathwing being hammered by large dragon-shaped battering rams follow. Did they
really have to make dragon-shaped battering rams just to hit the dragon nails with? I mean, didnt
that just waste precious time which could have been used to, I dont know, repair Deathwing? Did he
specifically ask for dragon-shaped ones? What would he have done if he wasnt being hammered by
massive dragons? Thrown a tantrum? Oh wait, hes doing that already. I guess it looks pretty.

So then, Deathwing climbs out of his pool of lava which he was sat in and... wait, youre leaving?
Why not just pound the wall with your face a few more times until theres literally no more
resistance on the surface? Flap your other wing, Deathwing, maybe youll drown another few
thousand people. No? Well ok then. He takes a moment to stare right at us with his beady little eyes,
which has absolutely no effect, and then proceeds to fly off into the air, exploding out of a mountain
and setting the skies alight.
But at last, the whole of Azeroth will break. Ok. Why? Just because youre angry? Admittedly
theres a few nice shots of Deathwing breaking some rather iconic areas in the game, but hes just
breaking them. Theres so little substance to his actions. Once again, why is he telling us this? There
could have been a much more narrative driven cinematic which tackled the issue of Deathwings
cataclysm in a more subtle way. What if it was told from the perspective of his victims? Wed
suddenly feel so much more powerless. Theres not a single person in this entire cinematic with the
exception of Deathwing. Its like hes the only one there, and that mutes his presence because
theres no comparison. The fact hes talking to us, as the players, just paints a target on his face. Its
almost like Blizzard is just saying Look. Hes a bad guy. Kill him. That is so boring.
And all will burn beneath the shadow of my wings. Not a great thing to say when youre fucking
landing, Deathwing. Seriously, he chooses this line to land on. There is now nothing under his wings
except a house or two. I suppose you can burn those if you want to, Deathwing, but... nope, ok,
youre going to knock over a statue. Thats fine. Also, youve just said youre burning things again.
Stop saying burn. Buy a fucking thesaurus. Or did you burn that too? You prick. Also wasnt the
whole of Azeroth already breaking? So the whole of Azeroth is breaking, but things are burning
beneath your wings? So only a select portion of the world will burn, but all of it will break? But only
the kingdoms will quake, but the whole world will heave? Also the cavernous deeps are burning with
your hatred? What are you actually trying to achieve here other than making things bad? What an
asshole.
And thats really all Deathwing is. Hes an angry monster who may or may not be in a lot of pain. The
game itself never expands upon his motives or his character. Its suggested that the moment the
world is in ruin, hell kill himself, which I suppose is interesting, but it could be delivered in a much
more interesting way. You cant just have the villain monologue to the people hes trying to kill
unless youre going for the melodrama route. Dont bring us into it at all, to be honest. You could try
and bring our characters in and make the narrative a bit more personal to them, but this isnt reality.
Deathwing is breaking something were not emotionally attached to. To be honest, his intervention
actually improved the game and made the lands more interesting to roam around. He doesnt break
Azeroth, and very little burns beneath his wings. The world might heave a little, but its really not
that noticeable.
I think its rather charming that in Blizzards love for downfall stories, theyve unintentionally written
one for themselves. They used to be rather talented writers until they sunk into the sprawling,
mindless mass that is the corporate world. Im pretty sure theyre more evil now, as well. Perhaps
these cinematics are themselves a massive metaphor for what happened to the once humble
Blizzard Entertainment. Its poetic, in a way. Perhaps this is their experimental way of telling their
greatest story yet. At least they didnt make another game about karate pandas...
Oh....