Minipost: Oops, I broke Wrathion


I finally got 20 Secrets of the Empire this week, and set about finishing up the latest step of Wrathion's Legendary questline. However, there were some small snags along the way - after I handed in the Secrets, I received the followup quest, but then abandoned it to get more screenshots of Wrathion turning into whelp form and flying away. The only problem was...he didn't come back after I abandoned the quest.

Welp.

So it was off to the Isle. I headed to the area outside the Thunder Forge, where I would have handed in the quest, hoping to find him there with the quest for me again. Sadly he was nowhere to be found. I was about to open a ticket when I saw a Wowhead comment saying that he didn't show up if you hadn't completed the final Thunder Isle solo scenario, where Lor'themar and Jaina clash. Which, well, I hadn't done, because I'd been putting it off because that's serious screenshot potential!

Long story short, I spent a good hour in that scenario redoing it over and over again and selectively killing Zandalari so that Lor'themar would end up fighting in certain places for great screenshots, and then, FINALLY, I finished it up and...well, I quit for the night, because it was late.

The next day, I ran over to the Thunder Forge and...no Wrathion. But fortunately, I decided to check back at the Tavern in the Mists just in case, and lo and behold, he was there! With the quest for me again! This time I decided to not screw around and just head right back to the Isle to advance the questline.

The scenario itself was quite challenging, but nothing too bad. After knocking it out, I got some help from Stop to complete the Nalak step (which was painful), and then returned to Wrathion's tavern to receive my shiny new orange meta.

Or rather, watch the little in-game event where he gives a little speech about lightning, fire and destiny. And then take screenshots of the event for two hours, accepting the quest, watching the scene, abandoning the quest, and repeating the process all over again.

In my defense, I wanted to make sure I got every conceivable screenshot I might ever want in the future, since I strongly suspect I'll not see this event again.

And second, I really wanted a rad shot of him blasting the tree with lightning.


However, during my screenshot adventures, something...weird happened.

A second Wrathion showed up.


Um, yeah, you can say that again Wrathion!

As bizarre as it looks, this actually wasn't a total shock - one of my favorite things to do is completely mess around with quests that spawn an NPC, and repeatedly accept the quest, spawning a legion of clone NPCs. For example, the quest in Twilight Highlands where you free the shackled red dragon can be manipulated in this way, for hilarious results.


So I laughed and took a bunch of double-Wrathion screenshots, enjoying the spectacle.


I laughed even harder when it got EVEN WORSE, and a THIRD Wrathion showed up and joined in.


(There's two Anduins there too, if you look closely. Or maybe three. I don't even know.)

After a while, and after trying a few different scene-manipulation tricks, I realized the setting and dialogue of this double-Wrathion event actually had a lot of dramatic potential! Imagine a storyline where an imitation, imposter Wrathion secretly takes the place of the original, to manipulate Anduin, the Horde/Alliance, or perhaps even us as characters. Meanwhile, the real Black Prince has been locked away or imprisoned, just like how Varian Wrynn was lost while his...clone or soul double or simulacrum or whatever was running things in Stormwind.

And then, right at the crucial moment as the doppelganger black dragon and Anduin are talking about something important - DRAMATIC ENTRANCE by the real Wrathion! Much to the fake's shock and surprise! Maybe he's stunned that Wrathion escaped. Maybe he's astonished that he's even still alive! And consider the dialogue in this new context, and look at how badass / menacing Wrathion's lines are! It's basically "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" laced with a very dangerous-sounding threat. Shit is about to go DOWN.


Or, maybe the fake is still keeping up the bluff, acting unconcerned and unafraid, to try to convince Anduin that it is the newcomer that is the fake, not himself.


Or perhaps he adopts a scornful, disdainful attitude (appropriate for Wrathion), where he seems simply annoyed that someone would have the nerve to interrupt him during his important speech.


He's like "...seriously? I was talking, you know. Rude." And then he's just completely unimpressed. The poses and body language are SO JUICY for story purposes!

Anyway, this was an awesome accidental find. Not only did it make for some great screenshots, but re-imagining game lore from this weird glitch would actually make for a pretty cool story! A little cloak-and-dagger, a little infiltration and espionage...just the sort of thing Wrathion encouraged during the Fangs of the Father quests.

Ah well, we can dream, can't we?

1 Response Subscribe to comments

  1. gravatar
    Balkoth

    That's pretty hilarious - especially with the different body language "poses" you captured.

    May 14, 2013 at 7:23 AM