WoW fans devastated as Shadowlands “robbed” them of Sylvanas

Lauren Bergin
wow shadowlands sylvanas

Sylvanas Windrunner’s World of Warcraft story is a long and arduous one, but some fans have hit out at WoW Shadowlands’ poor characterization of the Banshee Queen. 

Sylvanas Windrunner’s WoW tale is full of twists and turns, but for every strive the Forsaken warrior makes, some players believe Blizzard are taking one step back.

Her lackluster appearance in the recent Chains of Domination cinematic, which introduced the new Sanctum of Domination raid, had fans reeling, with many even claiming it would be better to kill off the Dark Lady than let her continue to be the victim of poor writing.

This sentiment is echoed by a host of avid WoW fans, who have turned to Reddit and social media to express their disapproval over the current state of Sylvanas.

WoW Legion Sylvanas
Despite being one of WoW’s most popular characters, Sylvanas has slipped down the list.

Did Shadowlands ruin Sylvanas?

As players continue to debate the future of WoW, especially after some particularly harrowing stats from a Blizzard earnings call revealed the game’s decline, there’s more concern over Sylvanas.

In a post titled after the iconic quote “‘Vol’jin is dead. Who amongst you will help me avenge him?'” the commenter writes “that scene was awesome. She was better back then. I feel robbed by the Shadowlands.”

This is echoed by others, as fans have come together to lament the powerful banshee that we were promised, but never quite received.

“Everything that Sylvanas ever stood for has been retroactively ruined by the fact that she was acting and insincere all along,” notes one commenter, who subsequently adds that Shadowlands “is literally a story tailored around Sylvanas in a nonsensical way. And the more we think about it, the worse it gets.”

“I feel robbed by the Battle for Azeroth,” writes one respondent “and Shadowlands is failing to save it…”

Wow BfA Sylvanas
For many fans, the Battle for Azeroth expansion was the first step in Sylvanas’ road to ruin.

A final comment discusses how Horde Warchief Sylvanas could have been and how, in turn, that would have made her character must stronger. “When Sylvanas became Warchief and Vol’jin’s funeral was held, when we had that incredible ‘FOR THE HOOORDE!’ scream from Sylvanas, I had so much hope.

“I looked forward to her being a badass leader and for the Fourth War to be epic. I’d played essentially Alliance-only since 2005 and I seriously went full-on Horde because of these moments. It truly hurts to be let down so badly.”

While Sylvanas’ fate still hangs in the balance, it seems like most players would rather see the return of their fallen leader or her timely demise. Either way, Sylvanas needs a significant rework if she’s going to steal the hearts of players all over again.

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About The Author

Lauren was formerly Dexerto's Features Editor and resident Diablo Sorceress. With two Master's degrees under her belt and a lot more Steam achievements, she specializes in all things Blizzard and Riot Games, with some Lost Ark and FFXIV on the side.