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If there is a WoW storyline I think most would want to see turned into an actual film, it would be the rise and fall of Arthas Menethil. Such an iconic part of WoW's lore... the story, the music, the cinematic, the characters, all chef's kiss.

Arthas / Lich King at 5:05 sitting on the Frozen Throne is the same image how Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne end cinematic ended - his journey through that game is amazing. That's why people were beyond measureable hype when this trailer finally released back in 2007-8. Everybody was waiting for him - and boy...they delivered.

The motif as Arthas wipes the snow from the ice is from a song called 'Invincible', a song of mourning for Arthas's horse. Arthas had a very close bond with his horse (named Invincible) which died in a relatively mundane accident, and somewhat started his spiral into darkness. The tenderness that he wipes the ice away to raise himself a new mount really shows that he's still mourning Invincible and full of sadness, despite the atrocities he's done since then. I'd never really made that connection until you pointed it out. I love when stuff still just clicks after 15 years.

The reason Anduin did the same pose was indeed a throwback to Arthas. The reason being is both of them basically lived mirrored lives, both were the light against the dark, both with so much potential to be great kings, and both were dominated by the Jailer(WoW's Grim Reaper) The difference is Arthas never escaped until his final moments while Anduin did albeit it scarred him heavily. Edit: Arthas's soul was also used like a battery to dominate Anduin to the point his soul faded out of existence adding even more tragedy to Arthas's story.

Amazing reaction! Arthas was a powerful prince who showed incredible potential in righteousness, skill, talent, leadership, etc. A plague broke out in one of the towns in his homeland that turned all of the villagers into undead. Arthas became furious and filled with vengeance, ready to find whoever did this. As his journey progressed, he sacrificed more and more, ultimately his own soul and his own people on the journey with him, in order to find and destroy the one responsible for the plague. It turns out that demons were leading him on the whole time, knowing that he was the perfect candidate to be the Lich King. He was lead on by the Lich King Ner'Zhul's frozen remains within the Frozen Throne. Ner'Zhul lead him to pick up Frostmourne, the sword in this cinematic, which was a cursed blade. Arthas sacrificed his soul at this point in order to take the sword. Once Arthas had the sword, he worked his way to the top of the Frozen Throne, breaking the prison containing Ner'Zhul. Arthas then put on the Lich King's helm, and merged with Ner'Zhul to become the Lich King himself, with the fullest of power available to him. At the end of WarCraft 3 the Frozen Throne, Arthas has this union and sits atop the Frozen Throne as the new Lich King, just where this trailer begins. Outstanding job with this reaction, this will always give me chills every time I see or hear this trailer and music. This was the pinnacle of WoW for me and many other players.

-The dragon's name is Sindragosa. She was slain 10,000 years before Arthas raised her into undeath. She was killed by the black dragon, Deathwing, who will be the primary character in the Cataclysm cinematic. She was blasted with immense magical energy and was cast into the area that would become Icecrown (the name of the snowy region they're in). So the ice she was encased in did have magic infused it along with rage & sorrow, just not Arthas'. -The narrator is Terenas Menethil, Arthas' father and the former King of Lordaeron who is slain by Arthas in the Warcraft 3 game (also in an iconic cinematic of the series albeit one of early 2000s rendering). Arthas' story spans the entirety of Warcraft 3, there's so much to be said about him that a comment cannot do it justice. Yes, regret is entwined with it. He went down a path he thought was just and ultimately lost everything he cared about by the end.

The story of Prince Arthas Menethil is a tragic tale. Once a Paladin of the Holy Light, he loved his lands, he loved his family and above all else he loved his people and would do anything for their safety and prosperity. One fateful day their were talks of a plague sweeping his lands. He was sent by his father to investigate this plague. He was also accompanied by his previous love Jania Proudmoore. The tales about the plague were true and were created by the Cult of the Damed which was lead by the fallen mage now necromancer Kel'thuzud. Arthas slew Kel'thuzud but it was too late, the plague had already been disperse throughout the land via grain shipments. The plague turned his people into undead to serve as a way for the Burning Legion to take over Azeroth. The moment Arthas fell from grace was due to a momentous event in warcraft history called the Culling of Stratholme. The plagued grain was delivered to Stratholme and the citizens of the city consumed it and started to turn into the undead. Arthas made a choice to purge the city and by doing so he lost his mentor (Uther the Lightbringer) and the woman he loved (Jania Proudmoore) because of this action. The Dreadlord Mal'ganis (A top rank demon) tuanted Arthas and told him that this was all apart of a great scheme to take over the world, then Mal'ganis told Arthas to follow him to Northernd. There, Arthas's destiny would be revealed. Once there he met up with another mentor from his childhood, Muradin Bronzebeard (A dwarf, who is the brother to the king of Ironforge) and he was on an expedition to find a powerful sword named Frostmorne (the sword in the cinematic). The blade was cursed. They eventually found the sword. Arthas took up the blade thinking he would be able to stop those who threaten his home land and in the process "killed" Muradin. This however was all according to plan by the first Lich King, Ner'zhul. This was the start of his dark path on becoming the new Lich King.

Yeah the TL;DR on Arthas is he is a fallen prince who became so obsessed with vengeance, he became the very monster he hunted. After sacrificing his very soul to slay a demon in a far off land, he returned to his homeland, overthrew his father, and buried his kingdom under the march of his undead army. Developers and players often referred to him as a "reverse King Arthur", starting his journey as heroic figure before falling from grace over the course of his story, and one of the best villains in the Warcraft universe.

I don't remember the last time I clicked on a video so fast lol

Dude I am DIGGING this journey you’re on! Really cool as a WoW vet to see someone new have the same excitement we had when these came out 🤓🤙

You picked up on the story quite well, Philip! Your technical knowledge and your actual interest in the cinematics are just such a blast to watch. Again thank you so much for your content it makes me so happy!

about the shot at 8:24: it's just ice, he was pushing the snow atop a glacier - the "Lich King power" comes a few seconds later when he starts pulling snowflakes into the blade of Frostmourne with that eerily blue glow it's also worth noting: while Anduin and Arthas did the exact same pose, Anduin was actively quaking he trembled so much while Arthas was as still as the dead, denoting how one was troubled by his past while the other had completely succumbed to who he became

I personally cannot wait until he gets to Old Soldier. Possibly one of their very best cinematics.

I think this is the best review for Wrath of the lich king cinematic, I really like how you explain all the concepts about the filmography parts of this cinematic, even if you didn't heard before about Arthas or even if u didn't played the video game. This video highlights your experience in filmography 100% in front of us, and it is an outstanding one.

Referring this cinematic to the new one for The War Within is spot on. I was most struck by the symbolism of the cold evening snow and blueness of Northrend vs the warm morning sky over the sands of redly- lit Silithus. Two similar yet very different young men - opposed in temperament, one proud, the other humble - taking one hero’s journey.

You're only the second person I've seen switched-on enough to properly understand the message they're delivering here, and I've watched a lot of reactions to this one over the years. I'm glad you liked it. Arthas' turn is one of the most pivitol and tragic moments in Warcraft lore.

I would also like to say that, the WoW player base have always known how EPIC these cinematics were. But to see them being recognized and appreciated by filmakers now, warms my heart so much. WoW has THE BEST teams at their disposal and it has always shown with how much love and hard work they put into their craft. Thank you for the respect you have given to them. I look forward to more of your WoW videos as you embark on this journey.

Yeah the Anduin /Arthas pose was interesting in the new cinematic. Anduin does the same pose as well in the Battle for Azeroth cinematic, which was when he was technically the first time king. So now people are wondering, will Anduin fall to the void since he lost his light? Will he recover and become as powerful as Arthas but through the light? Very exciting to see this and the new one side by side

One cool thing I would note about the parallel between the two scenes drawing the sword. When Arthas does it he is standing slouched a bit and then almost seems to recall his immense power and resolve, and when he looks down the blade he stands statuesque, completely still. When Anduin does it, he wavers and almost recoils from the realization of what he is capable of. For Arthas you would need to watch the WC3 cinematics to see what happened with Stratholme and Terenas

I would highly recommend watching the 2 really good cinematics from Warcraft 3 that show more about Arthas and him becoming the Lich King.

You are my favorite Filmmaker Reactor, the way you analyze the movements, the animation, the colors, the feeling, they are exactly what we feel as the audience especially for us lore nerds. I found you with the War Within cinematic and I am very much looking forward to see you journey into the subsequent expansions. Keep it up man!

I love your analysis of these cinematics. You pick up on some of the small, intricate details that most people miss. :)

When Arthas became the Lich King, he sat upon the Frozen Throne and started gaining power, being able to control his armies and interact with others from a distance so he eventually froze over on the throne until he awoke and raised Sindragosa, the dragon.

It's so cool that even as someone who never played WoW you caught the pose, and yes it does tie in...sort of. If you look back during that scene you also get the "My Son" reference which gave me chills when I first saw it.

It's really cool how you mentioned his body language of regret there, as there was a lot of it deep under there where Arthas's humanity was still just a tiny bit there..But it was overpowered by the Litch King's Soul.

The voice of the narrator is enough to invoke so much nostalgia that it nearly brings me to tears, I love seeing your reaction to a part of my life that I cherish so much. Thanks for the enthusiastic analysis of the cinematics that I think is the best in the buisness.

To add onto the lore that the others have provided, the entire speech from Terenas was a mirror of what we were seeing in the trailer. When he said "You grew into a weapon of righteousness", Arthas is drawing a weapon of undeniable evil. When he says "use your great power with restraint", Arthas is fully unleashing his power to summon one of the most powerful undead servants he ever obtains. Finally, Arthas does have a people and he is king... but he is king of a people who he helped slaughter and resurrect into undeath. Everything that his father wanted for him has happened... but perverted and turned into something that was never intended. Arthas and Anduin have a lot of similarities, which is why they did the callback to the pose. But where Arthas fell to his grief and rage, eventually becoming the Lich King, Anduin is (presumably) going to overcome it and grow back into a leader of the light. Watching you react to this trailer was an absolute delight, glad you liked it!

After the Legion expansion, Warcraft’s story took a huge dive. The Lich King was retconned in the Shadowlands expansion. The helm of domination (The Lich King’s helmet) and part of his armor were crafted from Ner’zhul (an Orc Shaman) by Kil’Jaeden. Ner’zhul’s soul was still present within the helmet. Frostmourne (The Lich King’s sword) was made by either Ner’zhul or Kil’Jaeden, and when Arthas picked it up, he was under Ner’zhul’s influence to become The Lich King. In Shadowlands they changed the origins of both, so that it was now the Jailer’s influence, which Anduin was also under. In truth it’s Blizzard’s way of associating Anduin with Arthas, so people would stick around

The Fathers voice actor is Earl Boen who sadly died this year. You might remember his acting in Terminator franchise as Dr.Silberman.

Back when I was teaching English in middle school I wanted (but never got the chance) to use this clip in an exercise to teach the concept of characterization. The idea was to pair the kids off, give one member of each pairing a blindfold, and the other member of each pairing a set of earplugs or headphones, so that one of them would only learn about the character from what they SEE, while the other would only learn about the character from what they HEAR. They'd get about five to ten minutes to write down what kind of person they think the character is, and then compare notes. Then we'd be looking at class discussion about how their impressions differed, and how those impressions weave together to give a sense of the character's history even while NOT giving full context or much in the way of specific fact.

I think it's so awesome how you can get a really good general understanding of the story just from analysis of these trailers. Arthas has a lot of Warcraft cinematics from the old game if you want his story. Anduins "Arthas" pose is why we all lost it seeing it. Seeing the differences in two princes who deal with darkness I am so excited to see what happens!

I've been playing WoW since the beginning, and I can't tell you how enjoyable these videos are to watch as someone that's experienced the expansions as they released I think this is the closest I can get to recapturing some of the emotions and amazement from experiencing these for the first time, really excited for you to see the rest, the cinematic team has always been second to none

I love that you’re doing this journey. I don’t know how many hundreds of times I’ve seen all these cinematics over the last 20 years, but they still give me chills and welled-up eyes. This one though, is special. Because we went through a lot of it in Warcraft III. The RTS strategy game that precedes WOW. They too have incredible cinematics, and highlight the Arthas turn. And it will makes the King’s speech throughout it make more sense.

Man as someone who is new to the World of Warcraft, you are able to break down and feel what the cinematics are shooting for so well for the characters. I'm really enjoying your breakdowns and getting to relive these incredible moments in wow history with you.

If you want the backstory of arthas you can watch the cutscenes from Warcraft 3

"He's not gonna show restraint is he?" Me, laughing: "Not even a little bit.."

A good comparison to the time where Arthus is holding up frostmourne vs Andiuan, its a show of taking a breath vs releasing a breath. Arthus is using that pose to breath in as much power as he can to complete his task, while Anduian is breathing out with that pose in relief that he doesnt have to fight more of what he is fearing/pointing his blade at. A very good call back to this cinematic.

I love watching your takes on these cinematics with your filmmaking perspective. It's awesome how you are just picking up on the story by just looking how the cinematic looks and plays out.

The reason for Anduin showing a similar pose is, that the soul of the defeated Arhas was used to create another cursed "mournblade" (as Arthas is also using here, which is called Frostmourne, that can rip the soul out of its victims and imprison them in itself, empowering the wielder) to dominate his will. Anduin manages to break free after long struggle, but is haunted by selfdoubt since then, as he revealed when talking to Sylvanas (who once had been a high elf, but was killed, then raised as a Banshee by Arthas), that a part of him had enjoyed that power. They used the same pose to show this fear of Anduin, that he could be and end like Arthas, but instead of a pose of power as in this cinematic, Anduin shivers and trembles. Blizzard is very good in telling a lot by pictures alone. Sad enough, many people don't get it, it's not obvious enough for them, because not directly explained. Such things lead to quite some bad story telling in modern movies and games, where the makers avoid this by just plane exposition.

It's been a real treat seeing you watch these with new eyes. This one has always been my favorite. And as good as it is on that first viewing, it hits even harder once you know the story behind Arthas' fall from grace, and the rise of the Lich King. I'm really happy you noticed the parallels with Anduin in the War Within cinematic. "My son..."

I am absolutely loving watching your reactions. You are giving me an incredible respect for the professional expertise of the art of film making - the story beats you're able to read from details I would never have been able to articulate is blowing me away.

Prince Arthas went on a journey of sacrifice turned revenge. Beginning his journey in an attempt to save his citizens against a scourge of undead that was spreading via a food source. The infection was 100% mortality spread quickly and converted its victims into the scourge. He fought many enemies and traveled across the world in order to get revenge against the cause. Giving up his humanity and morals, losing his friends and loved ones in the process, all in order to see what he thought was justice. Ultimately he sacrificed himself completely and becoming a pawn, then master, of those he once fought against.

I have a few video game trailers in my memory that are so good I don’t think I’ll ever forget them. This is definitely one of them

Loving these! Been looking forward to each and every one and they're always a pleasure to watch.

You Sir, have gained another sub! Spot on! And to be frank, best analysis along with pointers for film-making that I've seen so far, you own your craft and is visible and appreciated. Keep it up, can't wait to see your next vids!

Man, you are so good at reacting to those cinematics! How you read them is just perfect. Love it!

Im loving your take on these, they really did a fantastic job visually illustrating the connection between Arthas and Anduin. If nobody has told you yet, Anduin was essentially possessed by the same evil force as Arthas, used as a weapon to hurt his friends. This was portrayed through in-game cinematics, quests and ultimately a raid where the players defeat him and help him break free.

This cinematic narrator is King Terenas Menetil, Arthas's father. You need to check Warcraft 3 cinematic where Arthas becomes the king.

This cinematic is so iconic and so epic that my class and I literally studied it frame by frame as part of our curriculum in film class. Ever since I went through that cinematic scene by scene, frame by frame to read into every little piece of it there is I have grown such a love for this cinematic, it is such an amazing piece of cinema with such powerful use of suspense and epic musical scoring.

LORE TIME! The Lich King: Prince Arthas Menethil was heir to the human kingdom of Lorderon, and eventual paladin, studying under Uther, the Lightbringer. After a few adventures of his own (some with Jaina Proudmoore, remember that name for future expansions), an undead plague started to ravage his land, and he intended, once more with Jaina, to stop it. When he made it to the city Stratholme, which had just been infected by plagued grain, he decided he had to cull the city, his own people, to stop them from turning into undead monsters and harming others. Both Jaina and Uther were there, and they turned their back on him, unable to watch this unfold. While Arthas was successful, a Dreadlord (they're a whole thing, basically really smart and tricky kind-of-demons) taunted him, saying the only was he could save his people and kill him was by travelling to the icy wastes of Northrend and find a powerful weapon. He did so with allies, including his own men, high elves, and a dwarven prince. The weapon that he claimed, however, was a cursed runeblade that sought to corrupt him, and corrupt him it did. He killed everyone (the dwarf lived... barely) that came with him eventually. Shortly after he returned home, where he killed his father, as well as Uther who was going to bury the ashes of Arthas' father, as well as many, many more high elves, including Sylvanas Windrunner (remember her as well), raising everyone that fell into his undead Scourge. To wrap this up, he then went back to Northrend in order to claim a set of armor that his blade, Frostmourne, drawing him towards (the essence of the Lich King, bound within the armor, spoke to him) a set of armor that he needed to ascend to be the Lich King, and not just the Lich King's champion. To get it, he had to fight Illidan, barely winning and making it to where he needed to be, where he then broke the ice around it, and put it on, nearly killing what little of Arthas was left and cementing him as the Lich King. A cool little nod: even after all of that, we learn in game that he still wore a locket Jaina gave to him when they were young and in love. Yes! Anduin and the Lich King made the same pose! In the books especially, they have many parallels. They were said to look very similar to each other (Anduin's father and Jaina both knew Arthas well), they were both princes, and they both used the light. Where Arthas killed his father, Anduin lost his. When the world seemed as if it were ending, Arthas picked up a blade that meant death and destruction, Anduin picked up one that was used to keep hope alive. And later in Anduin's life when he was dominated by the Jailer, it not only used the same domination magic that bound Arthas to Frostmourne and the Lich King armor, but it was Arthas' very soul that was used by the Jailer to perform this domination. The difference, is where Arthas died, his soul finally released, asking "Father! Is it... over?", Anduin lived, equally as guilty but alive to feel it every moment of every day.

I love your reaction. This is my all time favourite cinematic. Thanks for this! Seeing you get hyped about all that I loved about it, without knowing anything about it! So awesome, I just love it. 😊

This is my Warcraft. I played Warcraft the RTS back in the day, following the life of Arthas and his tragic story. From losing his personal horse as a child, growing to try to stop the scourge by becoming the scourge by a tragic lie. I came in at the end of Burning Crusade and played every minute of Wrath. #letthemcome #frostmournehungers

I'm so psyched for this. Keep showing up in my feed. You're a pro.

Love the channel man. Your reactions are so insightful and thoughtful. Keep it up!

My commendations for picking up on subtle details other reactors have missed, or at least haven't worded them on the spot as you did. Most people watching this cinematic without the context of the story miss on the most important thing: You can't connect the narration with the scenes unless you understand King Therenas is not talking about this being, he is talking about someone who is lost now and the person you see on screen is a shadow, a mockery of the ideals the narrator is trying to evoke. Amazing interpretation on your part, keep up the good work.

just found this series and was disapointed you just had two parts out. but right as i finish the second one this is posted, good vid my guy, keep em coming

Your hype and smile is so contagious, thanks for the awesome reaction!

At the end of this expansion the players defeat the Lich King and Arthas dies. There's an ingame cinematic showing this, it's pretty cool. If you want to watch it it's called "Fall of the Lich King Ending Remastered (World of Warcraft Cinematic)"

You were right to draw the parallel to Anduin, notice how in the War Within cinematic he has a trauma flashback when Thrall touches his shoulder, and it cuts to the same eerie blue color that you described in that trailer as taking his soul. That's exactly what happened to Arthas, the same death magic, the same evil behind it, and Anduin almost shared Arthas' fate but was freed from it last moment. He's struggling with what he did while under the control of that magic and that part of him even enjoyed the destruction, and it made him question everything he thought he was.

The narrator you hear in the background at the start of the cinematic is King Terenas Menethil, Arthas' father. The voice actor for Terenas is (surprise, surprise) Earl Boen, the legendary actor who sadly left us in 2023, also Dr. Silberman in Terminator 1 and 2.

Wow. You are a master. I’ve seen you unravel and experience this world that I’ve enjoyed for a decades through just 3 minute trailers. Bravo 👏🏼

mate your videos are awesome! cant wait to see you watching the next cinematics!

when he break the sword into the ice you can feel the weight of the sword. absolute impressiv.

It is so cool how you noticed the pose that Anduin and Arthas did. Without playing the game and knowing the lore the cinematography spoke to you that much. So so cool

I always thought blizzard keeps making those Arthas/ Anduin connections was not to show what Anduin might become, but more to show who Arthas could have been. Arthas fell easily and quickly while Anduin endorses, he’s mentally stronger than Arthas.

I LOVE so much that you immediately recognized the humanity the regret... that is EXACTLY what is happening. And Anduin's pose in War Within is a call out to this. You learn of what happens to Anduin in the Shadowlands expansion cutscenes in game.

I haven't watched the video yet but I'm super excited to see you continue this series! While I love the original WoW and Burning Crusade Cinematics, this one really marks when they start going from good to truly great. I really hope that when you reach Battle For Azeroth, you also take a look at Old Soldier, Lost Honor, Safe Haven and finally Reckoning as well! There is also a large official video called 'Saurfang's Mak'gora' which contains all of them if perhaps you wanted to do a mega video or a series.

I'm going through and watching these after seeing you react to the War Within one. Your analysis is really on point and insightful, really interesting to see, evocative of a passionate teacher.

He was a human, paladin, who got into a trouble, manipulated to take a cursed sword Frostmourne to avenge for his people and kingdom. This sword consumed his soul and he became a death knight. Living yet undead, his Light left and necrotic ice magic came in its place. He became a servant of a Lich King, Ner'Zhul - old orc shaman soul trapped inside an underworld armor pieces. Then he freed him from Ice prison and equipped the armor (specifically helmet) and froze on his throne to merge into the one entity - Lich King. Later in the game we seen a last bits of his soul wandering across the lands in the shape of a small boy - last pieces of humanity Lich King expelled from himself with his own heart (literally cut his heart and thrown away to get rid of human bits)

Going back and watching the warcraft 3 story would actually give this cinematic even more weight. You are great at reading into, keep it up please.

I think you already know this, but Anduin too was touched (on his case, controlled) by the same power as Arthas: Dominion magic. There were three lich kings and none of them served it's master The Jailer. So after doing some shits he managed to kidnap Anduin, and forcefully made him a Death Knight just like all three before him. And made him do terrible things, Anduin is the wielder of the light. Probably the strongest wielder in whole warcraft universe. Light embodies the holiness, it's opposite of Darkness and Anduin was subdued to it. He feels he's no longer worthy of the Light. Light answer to the devoted, the more conviction the stronger it's answer is. Anduin believes if he calls the light it won't answer. And from a religious POV, it shatters him everyday. As well as his guilt.

I always loved the blue light as the undead are shouting as its right after his dad talking about rallying the hearts of your people.

More context about the sword scene you liked to much: Arthas at that point has no feelings, no remorse. An ability he uses during the ingame fight is literally called "remorseless winter". When he became the Lich King he gave up his humanity and merged with Ner'zhul, the spirit of an orc shaman bound inside the runeblade by the Dreadlords and became a cold killing machine. In another video, the spirits of the fallen trapped inside the blade surround him and his father warns him about the players gathered outside the citadel. He then drops the iconic line "Let them come, Frostmourne hungers". Unlike Anduin, Arthas for the better part of 5 years trapped inside his body, witnessed every cruel thing he has done, until he was freed mere moments before his death by our hands. 😢

I've been playing WoW off and on for nearly 20 years and I can still safely say that the WotLK expansion and storyline is still the greatest WoW experience I've had. They did such a good job of creating a complex villian and weaving a sense of morality not just into the cinematic but the entire expansion campaign. I remember the tragedy between Arthas and Jaina and wanting so badly to see him redeem himself.

Some short lore. Terenas Menethil II was Arthas father. The one who speaks to him in the cinematic. He was the King of Lordaeron, a city in the north of the Eastern Kingdoms. Studying under Terenas was Varyan Wrynn with his Regent, Anduin Lothar, who had escaped from Stormwind earlier with him and the survivers after the Horde had attacked Stormwind and killed the current King Llane Wrynn. Lordaeron later fell to Arthas after the alliance had become fractured because of the "Second War" and Terenas had become old and unable to keep the alliance together. Varyan had however left back to Stormwind when it was rebuilt and became King. He later had a son who he named after his Regent Anduin Lothar, the man who saved him as a child. So while they are not related. Their fathers both did the same thing, trying to keep the Alliance together in the fight against the Horde. And they both had the same destiny, to become Kings. However, Arthas while still King, did not become the King of Lordaeron but the king of the Undead. Anduin Llane Wrynn is now the current High King and leader of the Alliance and King of Stormwind. The pose I think is to show the similarities between the characters as you said, since after what happened to Anduin during the Shadowlands expansion.

I love your videos. Im realy into Warcraft lore and through your videos I can see many things which I was blind before. Keep the good work up! Its such a pleasure watching this esspecially from someone who doesnt know the lore yet!

8:25 - The Lich king's power is always within him, but this is where the Dragon Sindragosa fell and has been buried in ice for a long time. He's not looking for the Power to summon a dragon, he's looking for where the remains are so he can infuse it with magic and raise it. When you go there in the game, the area is called "Sindragosa's Fall", named after the dragon Sindragosa that died there, and you will see a huge hole in the glacier that's left when she rose up from the ice.

If I am correct this dragon is Sindragossa. She sacrificed herself to not be forced in service but after all was resurrected to service as undead.

I'm glad someone mentioned the awesome voice acting in this. It's almost like music in itself and a big contributor to why this cinematic is so great

I'm so impressed with how spot on you are about the lore with the limited information shown in these videos! I've played warcraft games ever since the original warcraft game and I play WoW all the time, and gosh to tell you everything that has happened to Arthas and Anduin to lead them up to the war within and this arthas trailer would take an hour! Love watching your video :)

Great points Phil! The intentional color scheme was really cool and something I didn't notice

There’s an aspect I would like to share about. We have the voice of Artha’s father that he can’t hear and us that he can’t see. The character feels not present but somewhere else. When come the scene with the sword pointing at us there’s of course the double meaning with his father words, but also an other one, he threaten us but doesn’t even realise it, he doesn’t realise anymore the threat he is. Just after we come to know he did that to get the power on his sword, showing ones more that his mind is somewhere else (litteraly), that’s how i interpret also the fact that he doesn’s look to the dragon, he do what he have to do and his mind is busy to listen something or someone else, at least somewhere else, that’t why he look at the sky at the end, at this moment we wander if he can hear his father last word or if once again he’s somewhere else with someone else. I greatly appreciated your vidéo !

Omg, you are absolutely correct, I didn’t even notice. That is the exact same pose Anduin made. What a great thing to point out!

I think you did a truly beautiful job breaking down this timeless cinematic. It has always been the best of theirs. Only rivaled now by the War Within. As someone who is very intimate, and has bee n following this story my entire life. You have only confirmed the feelings and emotions evoked in this, I never p ut them into words as you have. But I have to say thank you. You have been spot on. The entire thing is a juxtaposition to his father's words. Every step of the way. But hearing your reaction as someone who isn't overly familiar with the Warcraft Lore, its very rewarding to know that they did an amazing job bringing this, VERY impactful character to life. Through sound, through animation, the body language. Even the colour schemes, things I never thought of. I'm no cinematography expert, but I have taken a deep interest in its history, and execution. If its not been mentioned to you before.. Arthas is the most tragic character Warcraft has to offer. You can hear it, you can see it. His father's words keep his past life clashing with his current actions in the cinematic. He was a Paladin, destined for greatness. The most passionate and powerful of his order at the time. With a lot placed on his shoulders. You could almost compare him to Anakin Skywalker and his fall to becoming Darth Vader. He still retains his power, he still rules on top. But in the wrong way, misguided and led astray by his emotions. I think its worth mentioning, this was CGI animation at its finest back in 2007/2008. It was still a relatively new artistic toool, and yet they delivered this masterpiece.

Seeing someone derive so much joy and appreciation for something that was part of my childhood is heartwarming.

This is a Hall of Fame cinematic for all of gaming imo. Never gets old. They even remade it in higher fidelity 10 years after its original release if I recall correctly. My short lore input; Arthas soul was intertwined with Anduin in the Shadowlands expansion. Thats where the ghost-flashback in WW trailer came from. Arthas eventually fizzled out into nothingness, but Anduin was under mindcontrol by the big bad of that expansion. We fought Anduin as a raidboss, and obviously he remembers everyone he killed in the story before that.

I like when cinematics tell a story, and this one tells two! Perfectly overlaid each other so that it makes you wonder: what the hell happened for things to take such a bad turn. Good video

So glad you enjoyed this one, mate. It's his fathers voice that is speaking to him, his father who he murdered. Short version : Arthas was a human Prince of Lordaeron (separate to Stormwind, where Anduin's father ruled) who in a desperate attempt to save his people from the Burning Legion took possession of the sword "Frostmourne", which was cursed by Ner'zhul, the Lich King (an Orc Shaman, tortured and imprisoned by Kil'Jaeden, a lord of the Burning Legion). Over time Frostmourne corrupted his soul, causing him to murder his father and ultimately lead him to the roof of the world, where he found the crown of Ner'Zhul encased in ice. He broke it free and upon donning the crown his spirit merged with Ner'zhul and they became one. Arthas would then go on to rule over the "scourge" (the undead hordes), resurrect the dragon Sindragosa and attempt to destroy the peoples of Azeroth (the world in which WoW takes place). After the Warcraft journey, you absolute NEED to do Starcraft 2. They have some of the best cinematics in the business. Especially the Zeratul VS Artanis one, but bookmark that for later.

Can't wait for you to get to Warlords of Dranor and Legion's cinematics. Theres so much story in those cinenatics.

I know I'm a bit late to the party but have been watching your WoW journey and it's been awesome watching you experience it and as a long time WoW player, it's been a good walk down memory lane. I wanted to say that after your WoW journey gets to an end, you may want to go back and watch all of Warcraft 3 cinematics. They will give you more of a look into Arthus, Thrall, Grom, Illidan, and a few others and since you started on WoW's cinematics, I think you'll appreciate them more in a way. Keep up the great work man! Loving the content!

The amazing thing about the Arthas/Anduin Scene that i have not seen many people pick up on is the difference in how they wield their respective weapons. Anduin is conflicted, he is unstable and his weapon wobbles around like crazy, there is no confiction until thrall pressed his chest against it, which finally calms the unstead blade/hand of anduin, which is the moment at which he stops circling down and finds his conviction again. In this cinematic with Arthas, Frostmourne (the name of the Sword) is the anchor, the focus and it is unmoving, it does not move a single pixel whenever it is in focus, because the weapon is in control here and has full control over arthas.

While there's a much longer story; the parallels between Anduin and Arthas is that they were both essentially dominated (will overridden/controlled) by another powerful force. In Arthas' case his will become one with the Lich King and Anduin was directly dominated by the Jailer in shadowlands (who it turned out kinda sorta created the lich king indirectly; 4d chess). Arthas did not survive domination. Anduin survived domination but is haunted by it and by the things he did whilst dominated.

You picked up on a lot of things pretty damn well. Arthas here doesn't look undead because "The Lich King" here was originally just the helm sitting on the Frozen Throne that you saw at the start that has since fused with Prince Arthas. After he fell to the corruption of the sword you see, which is called Frostmourne, he raced Illidan to the top and put the helm on becoming one entity. The blue spectral energy is a representation of the Lich King's control being exerted over him, raising the dragon Sindragosa, and over his undead legions.

I'm really enjoying this series! I love watching people who aren't familiar with the mmorpg react to the wow cinematics and I think it's amazing how much you're managing to pick up purely from your skills in film (which speaks to the quality of storytelling in these cinematics as well) and getting a filmmakers perspective on this type of stuff is always unique and fun. I know I saw people asking on your previous burning crusade video but I think it would be super cool if you watched the 2d animated lore series that they do as well! I believe there's one for every expansion starting from Mists of Pandaria and they give you a little bite of lore for characters that feature in that expansion. I feel like you'd enjoy them! They are series though (around 3 to 6 episodes depending on the series) and I'm forgetting how long they are so they might be too much to fit in one video for each expansion Can't wait to see the next ones! Especially Mists (biased, it's my favorite expansion) and the ones in Battle for Azeroth (you'll learn a little more about anduin)

what makes the voiceover more chilling is that not only is it his father but arthas is the one who killed him in cold blood

Since you mentioned it before - especially in the original (Vanilla) first cinematic: They used to show the (potential) player characters in these cinematics to lure people in. But: With this cinematic and expansions they started to focus more and more on the main lore/story characters (that you don't get to control) and it became a bit of a spectacle over the years. I hope they return to the concept of the early cinematics once again to push the sense of adventure and exploring.

His sword is Frostmourn. It steals souls of those who it slays and it's wielder at the end.

more than a decade... I still get goosebumps with that "you shall be king" ... what a damn good cinematic.

Can't wait to hear you talk about the Starcraft ones if it's in the plans. I just love your breakdowns and how easily you make your filmmaker point of view accessible to us.