Alright, What’s Up With the High Elves? 😶‍🌫️

Alright, What’s Up With the High Elves?

Blood Elves? No, you’re not listening. They’re High Elves. HIGH ELVES. Wha—

Okay, look. You’re confused. I’m tired. Let’s just start from the beginning and talk about real fast WHO the High Elves are, where they went, where they are, and why they suck and what they’re doing now.

You may be asking yourself: “Hey, isn’t there an episode about this stuff?”

And you’d be right. Kinda. Also, that story STARTS WITH….

The Titans.

I mean, it sort of does. We’ve talked about before how the elf races are, essentially, spun off from the Trolls in the evolutionary chain. Some trolls were super into the moon for a long time and then, BOOM, elves.

Or something like that. Regardless, there was suddenly a race of pretty tree people in the north of Kalimdor. A splinter between this group quickly forms: Druidism versus Arcane Magic. In many ways you can also view this split in a socioeconomic sense: Highborne magic users versus lowborne naturalists.

The law of the land post-Sundering was that the Druids had won out, taking power and outlawing the use of arcane magic that had brought so much misery and woe to the night elves. However, these magic wielders—the highborn that didn’t turn against the elves or follow Azshara into the sea—weren’t willing to roll over and suddenly go hug a tree.

And in a very funny moment where Malfurion banned magic use by the threat of death, Dath/Remar Sunstrider just rolls up into Ashenvale and summons a magic storm. I’d like to think he was locked into eye contact like a bad house cat while he did it.

Regardless, Malfurion couldn’t follow through on these threats and opted just to banish these High Elves. Not to say, once again, that Malfurion’s soft-on-crime stances continue to bite him in the butt…. But…. You know.

From here, the High Elves change. Exposure to the normal sun of the Eastern Kingdoms changes the race over time, and they eventually settle on the former holy Amani troll land—Quel’Thalas is born.

And while the sun changed the High Elves physically, the creation of the Sunwell with a stolen Vial of Eternity by Dath’Mar would change them internally, spiritually, and culturally. The High Elves became reliant over centuries on the Sunwell, its power tied to their very cells.

Hrm. Sounds like the perfect opportunity for something to go very wrong.

Large swaths of time pass for the High Elves in relative calm. They do end up having those pesky troll wars, but, the process gains valuable allies in the Humans and the Alliance. As we talk about in the Burning Crusade season, Humans learned their magic from the High Elves, and in turn, the two races formed a relationship of shared experiences.

The Splintering?

From here, the High Elves as a people start suffering losses to their numbers, both culturally and literally. The Second War and the Orc Horde roll around, with the Elves suddenly not feeling too much brotherly love for the Alliance. Dath’Mar gives a paltry force of mages to the cause but largely doesn’t see the Horde as a threat.

That said, even more High Elves ignored this statement of neutrality and joined Lothar’s forces, including one Alleria Windrunner. This contingent of High Elves would go on to join the Alliance proper and, eventually, be the ones who get stranded in Outland.

It wouldn’t be until an attack on elf borders by the trolls that the High Elves would finally join the fight in full, but not for long. Eventually, the humans and elves got tired of one another. In the great social battle of magic addicts versus internment camp creators, nobody wins.

And so, High Elves led by Alleria head into the Dark Portal, and the Third War would eventually come to the doors of the Sunwell. There’s an episode on that of the show if you want the full poop.

But, the final splintering finally happens as all but ten percent of all High/Blood Elves are killed in the attack on their homes by the Scourge. In the defeat, some High Elves opted to join the Alliance but were never seen with anything but suspicion, both from humans and night elves.

The humans still distrusted elves for their abandonment during the second war and the night elves had a bug up their butt about some stolen water, among other things.

There’s more here, but if we’re being honest it’s a lot of small appearances across the entirety of WoW. High Elves pop up here and there, especially in human cities. However, their numbers get splintered even further as the void elf race appears, made up of former High Elf Alliance members.

In many ways, the usage of the High Elves in World of Warcraft is a lot of can-kicking down the road and not knowing what to do with them as a faction or race until it could be used as content. There was a moment during Wrath where it looked like the Silver Covenant would get a large role, but the scrapped plans for Crystalsong Forest saw an end to that line of thought.

Do they deserve better? I’ve seen some people make the argument for High Elves being an allied race for the Alliance, but…. Like…. We already have Void Elves at home. I’m fine with the High Elves being the somewhat sad, maligned story of what happens when culture and race fall apart. it feels very real.

As does the racism. There, Orion, are you happy?

Mrgle.