Nick and Katie are back after their brief hiatus this week with a look at two characters and redemption arcs. But first they get into talking about some quick initial thoughts on Grimoire of the Shadowlands (spoiler: Nick didn’t like it), which they’ll have more to talk about next time. Nick jumps into the main topic talking about how the community is split over the possibility of Sylvanas being redeemed. They talk briefly about the Fate of Sylvanas cinematic from the end of the Sanctum of Domination raid. Nick points out that the cinematic really didn’t show Sylvanas’ fate, and Nick and Katie speculate about what might be in Christie Golden’s Sylvanas novel coming out next year.

Nick then gets back on topic talking about how he thought of another character that committed genocide and did some bad things but was still able to be redeemed, and brings up Darth Vader. He talks about how Vader’s redemption is canonical by Luke’s action. They also talk about whether Leia or Tyrande was better at avenging the loss of their home and people. They discuss how Star Wars fans had little connection to Alderaan when it was destroyed, but WoW players had a strong connection to Teldrassil, making the destruction of the latter more unforgiveable. Nick then compares Sylvanas to Luke, as the characters age has set expectations that need to be met, while for characters like Vader, their story was over during the relatively short time of the original trilogy.

They also compare Anduin to Luke and evaluate Anduin’s relationship to Sylvanas. They talk about how Anduin seems to be the key to Sylvanas’ possible redemption. They talk about Anduin has evolved in their relationship and how the tables have turned somewhat. They also talk about how Anduin and Luke had to suffer while Sylvanas and Vader watched, hinting at their coming redemption.

Thank you for listening to The Tauren & the Goblin! Please send any comments or questions to taurengoblin@mash.gg or @taurengoblin on twitter. Our next live show is scheduled for 9/15 at 10:30 pm E at twitch.tv/mashthosebuttons. Come join us!

Hosts

Nick Zielenkievicz

Host of WoW! Talk! and The Tauren & The Goblin. Sometimes known as the Video Games Public Defender. Wants to play more Destiny and Marvel Heroes but WoW is all-consuming. Decent F2P Hearthstone player. Sad that he lost the Wii that had Wrecking Crew on it. Would be happy if the only game ever made was M.U.L.E. Gragtharr on Skywall-US. Garresque on Ravencrest-US.

Katie Grace

Katie is a long time gamer who has fallen in love with multiple genres. She started young by playing Nintendo 64, Spyro, and Blizzard games such as Warcraft II with family, then eventually moved into playing games in both my leisure time and as a occupation. She loves being immersed in different universes and exploring the characters that live in them, as well as just playing games for a good time.

The Latest from Mash

WoW! Talk! #: The Patch 12.1.5 Quiz!
October 13th, 2026

Pop Quiz, hotshot! Join the gang for the Patch 12.1.5 quiz to see what you know about all the content that is dropping in the 12.1.5 Update!

Double Tap #445: First Attack, Scott Summers, and 2XKO
October 9th, 2026

We’re back from First Attack 2027, the Scott Summers trailer rises from the ashes, and we talk about 2XKO’s player numbers versus actual engagement. We also explore Virtua Fighter’s approach to building a great fighting game rather than focusing on esports.

WoW! Talk! #328: Beta Thoughts
October 9th, 2026

The gang has been bouncing back and forth between beta and retail. Ula'tek is going down, which is where Forever human hunters already are!

WoW! Talk! #327: Embracing Forever
September 24th, 2026

The gang is back from Blizzcon with more thoughts on what was revealed, as well as their experiences in the WoW Forever beta!