". . . Only darkness . . . for me . . . ."

The Fall of the Lich King. He is the common thread in the latest generation of Warcraft lore and its fanatics, the stitching that has bound us all together up to this point in the story – and I believe many have played Warcraft for this story. He may not be Vader, the Joker, or Lex Luther, but he’s no semi-evil doer like Bowser or Dr. Claw. He may not be the strongest, but he’s definitely one of the most popular villains in Warcraft. It could because he was the last point of the Warcraft III story and we want to know what happens next or maybe more importantly, we just want the story tidied up. I don’t know about you, but those open-ended stories where the author or director has you jump to your own conclusions irritates me – I’m reading your book, you tell me how it ends damnit!

But he’s Arthas, the fallen prince. We humans love dirty laundry, can’t help but to look at a car crash, at the macabre, to watch the biggest and the brightest of us fall: and fell he did. His grip on Azeroth reached into nearly every crevice and zone; levels 1-80 we were always battling some Cultist, a Burning Legion baddie, or just the creeping undead (even it’s not his work, you associate evil/demons/walking dead with the Lich King…). Even if you’re only playing the game because you like MMORPGS, all your friends play this game, you’re making cash because you’re a shameless Chinese Gold Farmer, or you like talking cows and gnomeregan-brothels, I’d wager you a round at the Shady Rest Inn that even the most disconnected from the story raised an eyebrow at Ice Crow Citadel and wondered what the encounter of Arthas is like, and how, or precisely what happens when his frozen heart is finally shattered into oblivion.
By now there probably aren’t many of us who haven’t fallen to temptation and haven’t watched his death. But if you haven’t, it’s probably a good idea to not read on. I haven’t slain him personally (one of these months) but I watched the video and gave it some serious thought. Here’s my take on the death of one of the most epic baddies in the Warcraft III lore. Definitely some spoilers ahead.


***SPOILERS*** DISCUSSING THE DEATH OF THE LICH KING


I thought the scene started favorably enough. Lich King’s down and out, Frostmourne is shattered, and the enchanted helm has rolled off of the King’s head and is comfortably out of reach. My thoughts are three: Blizzard had destroyed Frostmourne, the helmet is off and Arthas looks unharmed. First, I’m a little surprised Frostmourne was destroyed. I always assumed it was half of his power, the or rather the vessel that Ner’zhul was channeled through. Apparently it’s the armor, more importantly, the helm that gives the Lich King his presence and power (though the sources I checked still says Frostmourne should be a huge source of the power). Still, to see such a powerful artifact destroyed does wrap up the story nicely (so some rogue can’t claim the sword again) but it always brings a twang of regret to see a legacy die. Secondly and thirdly, how the helmet happened to fall of Arthas’ head I don’t know, but it just seems odd. It’s convenient it’s off his head so the little movie clip can continue seamlessly and it has some symbolism too it as well: the king has been dethroned, etc. Then I look at Arthas in this clip, and the next, and of course he looks perfectly unharmed. No broken armor, no blood and gore (I know it’s Warcraft), but logically I would of expected or at least appreciated some sort of fatal wound, rather than a few scratches – something like Tirion’s sword impaled through his side would have done nicely. But the general message is clear: Arthas lost; so I suppose he died from exhaustion, the battle, and the dethroning, all equating to his death.

Then we come to my favorite and best part of the clip (before we go any further, I have to say I love the voice acting of the father, Terenas, played by Earl Boen). Arthas meets his father one last time. Note the rather neat addition of the circling souls released from Frostmourne, floating above Arthas’ body, from which Terenas appears. He bends over Arthas to offer comfort, maybe a taunt, and to see him on his journey to what I speculate may be the twisting nether. “Father! Is it … over?”

This is my favorite part of the video. The every-present, swirling blue fire over Arthas’ eyes disappears. These are the coolest, nostalgic, and probably the most emotional pieces of the video. The power of the Lich King, the undead champion, has left Arthas and he is pulled back into reality, back into his own mind. This brings up several questions though. I was always led to believe that Arthas and the Ner’zhul became one being, incapable of being split. But here, to my delight and surprise, we see Arthas, the prince or Lordaeron once again; powerless and in his almost original form. Arthas never seemed to be phased by his father taunting him as the Lich King, but once the “presence of the Lich” left him, Arthas almost seemed to be surprised, or maybe confused or possibly relieved to see his father was there; was he seeing his father through new eyes, uncorrupted, or was he simply looking for the only bastion of resonance and identity he had left as the world slipped from his fingertips? I’m glad they included this side of Arthas. We can really see that in the end he’s still human; this is the human being, the monster, that while his powe rand motives may have become from Ner’zhul, it was not some deity from afar that destroyed kingdoms and slaughtered thousands: it was a righteous paladin, a human man and a prince, a leader of his beloved people.

But it does make you wonder, how much was Arthas in control, how much was Ner’zhul? It's like Arthas was aware but trapped, or under the zeal of power. He clearly did some highly questionable acts before unearthing Frostmourne, but if all it takes is for the helm to be removed the “presence of the Lich,” the blue flame to vanish, how separate were these two entities in the end? Was there a battle for control of Arthas’ humanity inside of his fleshy vessel? — I believe Arthas was pretty much going along for the ride … but I still question how much influence he had in his actions. He was clearly manipulated helped along his path of darkness, but perhaps we can feel some pity for the once-mighty paladin.

As the video progresses, Terenas bends down to his son, and we see a heartfelt reach from Arthas to his father; Terenas physically is shaken when Arthas grabs his shoulder. Two things come to mind: Arthas is still a beloved son; and what sorts of energies do the dead radiate if he can affect his father that way?

Arthas asks, “Father! Is it … over?” Terenas looks upon the hand of his son, clasps it in his own, and replies, “At long last. No king rules forever my son;” it makes me believe Terenas forgives his son, on this final hour of his judgment. Terenas was, as he says, one of the first to fall to the swipe of Frostmourne. This statement from Terenas sends a message to me that both know that rather Arthas’ fall was a curse or a nightmare, they both are relieved to some degree that it’s over.. Arthas utters his last words to his father, the late King of Lordearon, “I see … only darkness … for me….” Arthas Menethil, Prince of Lordearon and heir to the throne, collapses in his father’s arms and breathes his last.

A sentimental effect: Terenas clothes the eyelids of his fallen son.

On a side note, I’m not entirely convinced that Arthas wasn’t answering his father with “I see…” and then the rest of Arthas’ comment wasn’t just a little drabble as the light (or darkness if you will) leaves his eyes.

I’m… not upset how his end came. I think Terenas part was good and I enjoyed the choir-singing/spirtually-themed music they’ve used in past clips. I don’t suppose they could of have done much better. It’s one of those moments, like Star Wars Episode I, where no matter how you do it, there’s going to be at least one fanboy pissed (or 50 million). It just seemed so… curt and to the point. A few lines and Arthas is gone. Years of story, destruction, and momentum, and THIS is how he dies? Seems a little empty. No theatrics, just simple death. Maybe that was all they meant for Arthas: simple death. Again, I enjoyed the ending, but I just thought it could have been different, more pomp and circumstance for Blizzard’s love-child-villain, the Lich King (like having a real cinematic and not a cheap, low-resource in-game cinematic). I mean, this was the guy we all came to Warcraft to see dethroned, wasn’t it?

And what of Bolvar? I didn’t really expect it nor gave it much though. Though apparently if you read any online postings everyone knew it was going to happen, of course. I thought that part of the video was kind of cheesy, especially the voice of Bolvar. I was getting bad vibes and I wanted to warn Tirion: a hairless man, engulfed in flames, sitting upon a throne, demanding that Tiiron, a holy paladin of the highest order, place a throne upon his head to give him ultimate power so that he can “control” the Scourge. I don’t know about the rest of you, but it seemed equivalent to leaving Sylvia Plath alone with a sharp knife, or a child molester in a room full of first-graders; he might be alright for a little bit, but sooner or later temptation is going to him get mighty hungry for some uh… Scourgeness.

Did you think the Lich King was a conscious killer, did Arthas know that he was losing his humanity the farther along the path of darkness he traveled? Was he a rampaging vessel of evil, or simply cold, apathetic monster, just a tool honing for a purpose? I always thought that WoW portrayed him differently than Warcraft III. Despite some recent quests I have done, I’ve always considered Arthas to be just as the former described: cold; apathetic; and without feelings. Despite some fits of anger, he never seems to get stirred up and is always just bent on the destruction of all living kind, aka another day at the office. Maybe this is just his style, or maybe he truly has a frozen heart. Itt just seemed that in Warcraft III, Arthas was more engaging and had some sort of quasi-vendetta/servants obligations to fulfill.

But now the King has fallen and the righteous have triumphant – barely. I think time will definitely prove that while he’s not the only popular enemy the Warcraft series will see, I think he’s still a one-time story-arch. Once you climax in the story with a villain like Arthas, you never quite reach that height again.

He was the Lich King, after all.