And so the final Arfterlives cinematic went live: Revendreth.

Tale as old as time, insolent aristocracy VS poor commons. Some might (and did) already say that Revendreth copies Suramar in theme, but it’s actually not.

First of all, Suramar had a very political baseline. The line of division was not aristocracy VS common, but in terms of whether you support Elisande in her accepting Gul’dan’s offer, or not. Second, the story of lovable rebel community against corrupt, arrogant and cruel authorities lives through generations of media, books, folk tales, TV shows, movies, games and what not.

This point aside, there is not much to be said about the cinematic itself :) Due to an absolute canonical story, its classic plot unveils without surprises, but in a good way. There were three things though that caught my attention:

Garrosh. It’s been my extreme sinful pleasure to observe Azeroth’s most racist character in his torture.

Sire Denathrius. Almost a copy of Lee Pace’s portrayal of Thranduil from the Hobbit trilogy, he’s an eye delight (albeit an obvious antagonist and an asshole).

The overall sneering tone of the cinematic and a light hearted soundtrack solution. It perfectly fits and shapes the zone masterfully – talking of introduction, also it’s a breath of fresh air after solemn three predecessors.

What is left to say? My final rating of Afterlives shorts, now with marks:

1. Ardenweald (A+). Not a single drawback, everything clicked in its place, introduced the zone and characters perfectly, left a deep emotional scar and a strongest motivation to walk in and help.

2. Revendreth (A). All same, all same – but played with laughs rather than anger and sorrow.

3. Bastion (B-). A nice introduction of characters and conflict. I’m taking points away for making us feel for villains rather than good guys (so I’m not sure whom I wanna help), and yet another Arthas’ corpse fucking which left me in the dread of Blizzard bringing Arthas-centered storylines in-game.

4. Maldraxxus (F). F as in “what in the fucking fuck’s sake is even happening here”? Despite a lovable Draka character, this video explained literally nothing about threats, zone characters and factions, how the zone ticks and in general, “Why do we fight?”

And now we’re waiting for the pre-patch announcement :)