Echoes of Icecrown. 3.3 Soundclips (Spoilers)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 5:00AM | Richard 'Greyseer' Powell | in Speculation, Spoilers | 17 Comments | Share Article 
The following article contains major plot spoilers from PTR/datamined content.
Some big lore news was reported last night on MMO Champion with the posting of many of the sound files to be included in Patch 3.3. Not only do we have a smattering of the boss voices (truly, some are hilarious), but we also hear two important scenes that advance the plot and develop these characters a bit more—three scenes, actually, if you count the Horde and Alliance versions separately.
Don't worry, I won't spoil anything major on this front page. I've safely linked the YouTube uploads of the files below, so you'll have to go there to hear them specifically (all files present at the time of this writing). If you're curious about what's going to happen after the battle with the Deathbringer and also during the events of the 5-man dungeons, read on and click the links.
Varian Redeemed?
No, this doesn't have much of anything to directly do with the plot, but it does address some of the rampant Varian Wrynn hate that's been flowing around. Claims of his genocidal and racist nature have bubbled up venomously from those die hard Horde supporters who feel Wrynn is nothing more than a warmonger hell bent on the destruction of their way of life.
This is largely untrue. He is a man of honor, and this is proven by his words after the Deathbringer encounter (assumed):
Click here to listen to the partial audio of this event (there is some setup with Muradin and Saurfang in the beginning).
Spirits of Frostmourne
Here we hear two encounters, one Horde and one Alliance, that mirror each other depending on your faction. We can reasonably assume that this is what we'll encounter in the Halls of Reflection instance, at the end of the 5-man chain of dungeons.
Listen specifically for a revelation regarding the truth about the Lich King, his weakness, and the ultimate fate of the Scourge.
Perhaps I was wrong in my previous belief...
Click here to listen to the partial audio of the Alliance Halls of Reflection encounter.
Click here to listen to the partial audio of the Horde Halls of Reflection encounter.
MMO Champion's sound file transcript page.
Conclusion
It's good to see Blizzard further develop King Varian's character, proving him to be the good man that we knew he was prior to the events of the Wrathgate. Seeing them tear down the facade of the warmonger is refreshing in the midst of the oppressiveness that is Northrend.
Now let's see them do the same for Garrosh, eh?
Conversely, I'm a little disappointed at what the Lich King revelations hint towards, as I feel that the potential story arc is a little ... rehashed. Perhaps we'll get a big surprise and the obvious assumed conclusion won't be what we actually see. But as it stands, it's leaning heavily towards the possibility that our immolated friend may have a story yet to come...
icecrown, lich king, muradin, saurfang, varian wrynn 
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Reader Comments (17)
So the Lich King is Davy Jones?
Diablo, anyone?
I'm a little bit D: at the whole "Sorry to tell you this, but the Scourge can't run around without a Lich King, someone's gonna have to take that guy's place!" I know it'll play out so it's really cool, but it feels like a cheap ending considering what everyone will have gone through at that point to destroy the Lich King. It's like ... what the heck was the point?
Just ... blargh. Maybe they'll do something crazy with it - perhaps a personality other than the unfortunate "Ar'zhul" combination could lead the Scourge as something other than a force of evil? - but otherwise, gaaaah.
On the other hand, Varian? I always knew there was more to him than the warmongering idiot he's looked like in most of Wrath. Not everyone reads the comics, so I'm glad to see Blizzard finally showing a more compassionate, human side of him in game. He needed that, badly. =)
Something just struck me. If the Lich King entity is actually contained in the helm, provided there we don't destroy it, there should still technically be a "Lich King." I assume the helm would have the same power as the suit of armor in Warcraft III--or close to it. While the manpower needed to guard the helm from reeling in any new champions would be large, it's a risk Azeroth has to take. And I'm sure the Ebon Blade wouldn't mind a new, spiky football. :P
Yup sounds like my hunch is looking more and more correct. Blizz said that we are going to leave a part of behind in Norhtrend and having one of the most respected leaders, Bolvar, take over as LK does sound more and more believable, but part of me wishes that it was Jaina instead and we get a Lich Queen instead. That would really shake things up since Blizz is bringing a bit of Diablo into WoW.
@Hath the problem is twofold: 1 We don't know if Ner'Zhul's soul is still trapped inside the helm. If Arthas is the only one in control then we would need someone to take over since Arthas dies. 2 If Ner'Zhul's essense is still inside the helm then do we really want him back in total control of Scourge? History just repeating itself.
Just by the fact that Uther says that someone needs to be the LK, does suggest to me that Ner'Zhul's soul is gone and Arthas and only Arthas is the LK. Unless Arthas pulled his soul out of Frostmourne and placed it inside the armor.
Thank you for sharing those clips. I have to admit that I have not been happy with Varian's attitude. It is nice to hear the change.
My latest post had a small part about how I feel about Varian now. I had just finished the Wrathgate with my namesake warrior, and not too long before this had seen it on an Alliance character I had been working on. It did not matter which point of view I was playing from, Varian was a jerk from both sides of the fence.
Was it just me or did Jaina sound like she had a new voice?
My guess is that in order to explain new forsaken in the horde that they will make Slyvanas(sp) the new Lich King. Just a thought.
and by King I mean Queen
..."Now let's see them do the same for Garrosh, eh?"...
Not gonna happen, because Blizz hates the Horde and loves the Alliance.
This has been proven several times in WoW. Sorry if it sounds like unfunded QQ but it's true.
And no, having a stupid Horde band doesn't prove anything.
@Sid: Naah, that's technically incorrect. Blizzard, as a company, has no preference one way or the other. Each developer has his/her favored faction, though.
It should be noted that Metzen, Samwise, and other Sons of the Storm as well as Blizzard leadership heavily prefer Horde. They like the underdog story, the honorable characters, and the general "big badassery" that the Horde provides. This doesn't mean they hate the Alliance in turn, mind you, but they most certainly don't hate the Horde. That's pretty much what I got when speaking to Metzen and Samwise themselves at BlizzCon.
Thanks for the response, Greyseer!
However, I don't see how the corrupt Forsaken and Blood Elves, and that idiot of Garrosh fit into that "Honorable, Big Badass, Underdog" style.
The Forsaken and Blood Elves just love to torture (and kill) innocent people, and Garrosh is a reckless warmonger emo prick with a fart instead of a brain. At least the evil orcs of Lord of the Rings had a brain.
I'm tired of this "two hordes" stuff. Either Blizz redeems the Forsaken and Blood Elves once and for all; or they corrupt the rest of the Horde races into evil brainless savagery like the Warcraft 1 and 2 Horde. I wish they took the first path, however everything seems to indicate that Blizz is gonna do the second thing.
P.S: Who are this "Sons of the Storm" you talk about?
@Duceman, Sylvanas will not be the new Lich Queen. She is confirmed in Cataclysm that she is in the "dog house" over the Wrathgate incident and is invading Gilneas under the orders of the Horde in order to establish a port in the Easter Kingdoms.
@Sid- The Belfs have been redemed, depending on your point of view. Now that the Sunwell has been restored with Holy/Light magic, the belfs no longer need to use fel magic to feed their addiction. Since Fel magic corrupts, if you remove that corruption then the belfs have been redeemed.
As for the Forsaken, they have a much longer road to redemption since the basis of their whole society, according to their leadership, is to wipe out all living things, establish a undead paradise and kill the LK. Since the LK will be taken care of in ICC, and the Horde have finally woken up to the fact that the Forsaken aren't looking for a cure for undeath, this could be the start of their redemption and they actually start looking for a cure for their undeath and relaize that they need the Horde more than the Horde needs them. SHould be interesting to watch in the nest xpac.
@KLRMNKY: You sir, make good points!
I forgot about the UC change in patch 3.3
@Sid: The Sons of the Storm are a group of artists that make up a large part of the "soul" of Blizzard's artistic leadership. Metzen, Samwise, Glenn Rane, and a few others are a part of this group. Head on over to their site at http://www.sonsofthestorm.com to see their works.
Thanks Greyseer!
P.S: I don't want to go off-topic but.. how's the RP on your realm? (Earthen Ring right?)
The new story about the Lich King is a bit odd, but it does go a long way towards explaining a few things. The fact that the fragment of Arthas himself that's left over is trying to hold back almost seems designed to explain why the Scourge haven't just curbstomped us all.
Jaina's dialogue with Uther already seems to confirm what the encounter in the Cathedral of Darkness indicated. Arthas isn't even really there anymore, and presumably neither is Ner'zhul; it feels almost as though both of them have been replaced by a kind of third, hybrid consciousness. Uther himself claims that even Arthas is only a fragment of the Lich King's being.
I'm rather disappointed by what's been found so far. The Book indicates strongly that Arthas had taken full control, destroying Nerzhul and even that boyish fragment of himself, and then we get all this 'fading presence' business. How do you reconcile the conflicts? Now we have the Lich King as its own entity, made from Nerzhul originally, then added Arthas in. Nerzhul is gone now, and Arthas is fading.... so what is in there, exactly? Is it only the 'brain' of the Scourge, so to speak, the guiding force of it all? That at least explains why there must be a Lich King. It should be interesting to see, but I'm still kinda let down by the apparent turn-about on what's been said already. I hope the reconciliation is a good one!