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 