The Jailer in World of Warcraft is so unpopular that even the developers no longer mention him for his grand ‘masterstroke’.
The story of World of Warcraft had story ideas that were better received and some that were not. The Jailer belongs to the latter category. For many, he has retroactively ruined the stories of notable characters such as Sylvanas, Arthas, or Uther.
At least Blizzard seems to want to quietly correct this mistake now – because in new quests, he is no longer mentioned at all.
Why is the Jailer so unpopular? There are many reasons. The most important one is probably that an attempt was made with the Jailer to reinterpret many well-known stories from the Warcraft lore in a new light and create new context. Therefore, the Jailer was the ‘mastermind’ pulling the strings in the background – basically since the beginnings of Warcraft.
This also retroactively ruined the development of characters like Arthas or Sylvanas, as their actions were no longer independently motivated, but had long been planned by the Jailer.
Where is he now ignored? Anyone looking at the new feature of ‘lorewalking’ can replay the story of Arthas Menethil and his journey to the Lich King. In doing so, one experiences it not only in some new (and some old) quests but can also permanently pepper the storyteller Cho with questions if one wants more details.
The curious thing is: In all the many pages of text, the Jailer or the Shadowlands is not mentioned a single time. Although these connections should be clear to a lore seeker like Cho, the Jailer gets no mention at all.
Because in the ‘new’ story, the Lich King, the Helm of Domination, and also the blade Frostmourne actually only exist because the Jailer orchestrated it.
This is how the community reacts: If you look into the WoW subreddit or other social media, people seem to welcome the step of leaving the Jailer out of this narrative. If at all, there are mostly ironic posts mentioning that it is a ‘shame’ that ‘this great and brilliant character is not mentioned at all.’ After all, he is a villain that has been ‘carefully built up over 15 years.’
One concludes with the saying: ‘As a community, we need to ensure that such an iconic character is no longer ignored by Blizzard and that Blizzard gives him the love he deserves!’
What is your opinion on the Jailer from Shadowlands? Is it a good decision to mention him as little as possible in the current story? Or should we bite the sour apple and build upon him now that he has been created?
A bit different
behaves Xal’atath in the next patch …
