On Blizzard Cinematics and Who is Kel'Thuzad

This week we take a bit of a detour from World of Warcraft as we react to the cinematics Blizzard shared at Gamescom. First, Katie talks about farming for transmog and running the Trial of Style, which she and Nick enjoyed. Nick mentions his progress getting his artifact weapons, and they discuss how aspects of the artifacts such as the warlock skull or druid appearances will carry on if the weapons will only be used for transmog after Legion.

Then, the duo discuss the Blizzard cinematics. The Overwatch Mei cinematic “Rise and Shine” brought a heavy dose of the feels. Katie gushes over the Hearthstone cinematic “Home” that managed to feature three singing goblins. She also enjoyed the Junkrat cinematic, since he is like a human goblin. Nick comments that Blizzard’s heavy focus on cinematics at Gamescom felt a bit off, but its hard to complain because they were all so good. Nick wonders if Blizzard could be preparing to launch their own streaming animation service. Finally, they start discussing the Kel’thuzad cartoon from Monday’s preview. They mention that Dreadlord Jaina is a skin for Heroes of the Storm, and Nick talks about how Lich Queen Jaina from Hearthstone and Dreadlord Jaina make it less likely that Jaina is evil in WoW.

Going off the cinematic, they start reviewing Kel’thuzad’s past. He was a member of the Kirin Tor with an interest in necromancy and other forbidden magics. He heard the Call of the Lich King and went to Northrend, and when he returned he did so as Ner’zhul’s agent and was responsible for setting up the Plague Cauldrons. He founded the Cult of the Damned, and first encountered Arthas and Jaina in Brill. Arthas chased him through the Plaguelands and killed him, only to resurrect him as a Lich using the Sunwell. Kel’thuzad summoned Archimonde, and then battled Sylvanas before disappearing. He re-emerged as the final boss in Naxxramas, but survived when his phylactery was given to one of his minions. This allowed Kel’thuzad to be resurrected for Naxxramas in Wrath of the Lich King, which was the last we’ve seen of him.

Thank you for listening to The Tauren & the Goblin! Please email us at taurengoblin@mashthosebuttons.com with any feedback or topic requests.

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.

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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.

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