Summary
2016’sWarcraftmovie has a complicated ending that can be challenging to understand for someone not familiar with the games. It’sbased on the 1990s real-time strategy game series by Blizzard Entertainment, which was expanded into the MMORPG World of Warcraft in the 2000s and remains one of the most popular game franchises of all time. With decades of lore and world-building to go off,Warcraftseemed ripe to be the next big multimedia franchise, but the 2016 film underperformed critically and commercially,grossing just $439 million at the box officeand scoring 29% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warcraft sees the orc leader Gul’dan lead his people out of their dying world, entering Azeroth to conquer and taking prisoners to harvest dark magic from. The human leaders of Azeroth rally to fight back, with King Llane and Anduin Lothar planning to retrieve the prisoners. An orc chief, Durotan, struggles under Gul’dan’s vile rule, eventually challenging him to a duel, though he loses due to Gul’dan cheating and using fel magic. In the final battle,King Llane tells the orc, Garona, to kill him, and Lothar just barely escapes with Llane’s body.
Why King Llane Has Garona Kill Him
King Llane Sacrifices Himself So Garona Can Gain Respect Among The Orcs
On the battlefield, King Llane commands Garona to kill him, with his intent being to see her placed in a position of honor and power among the orcs. The orcs value strength, but Gul’dan’s leadership is dark and corrupt, misrepresenting the peaceful race they can be.Llane believes that peace between humans and orcs can be achieved if the right leaders are present on both sides and in sacrificing himself, Garona can gain the respect of her peopleand lead them in the right direction.
At Llane’s funeral, Lothar and Khadgar discuss what happened, with the latter in disbelief that Garona would kill Llane. Despite Garona allowing Lothar to leave the battle with Llane’s body, he feels that she’s made her choice to side with the orcs after spending much of the film caught in between. King Llane makes his sacrifice in the hope that peace will eventually be reached between the two factions.
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Gul’dan’s Fel Magic & Plan Explained
Gul’dan Drains Fel Magic From Living Beings
In theWarcraftuniverse, there are several schools of magic used for different purposes.Fel magic is one of the darkest schools, as it’s fueled by draining life from other beings, and Gul’dan is notorious for using it. In the film, he only brings his most elite warriors to Azeroth to begin their campaign, with the goal of eventually re-opening the portal to bring the rest of their race through.
To open the portal, Gul’dan corrupts the Guardian, Medivh, using his magical strength. Gul’dan also uses his captured human prisoners to drain them for fel magic fuel, bringing more of his people through from Draenor. Gul’dan is also seen using other species to drain magic from them, including captured Draenei and even an innocent deer in Azeroth.
What Is Mak’gora? Warcraft’s Dueling Tradition & How Lothar Escapes
Mak’gora Is The Orc Dueling Ritual
TheWarcraftmovie opens with a flash-forward duel between a human warrior and an orc, setting up the two duels of the film’s ending. Durotan challenges Gul’dan to Mak’gora, in which Gul’dan cheats by using his fel magic, killing the noble Durotan to the dismay of the many spectating orcs.Mak’gora is a tradition of the orcs of Draenor, used as a ritualistic duel to death, often to gain the leadershipof a clan. Durotan was the leader of the Frostwolf Clan, but he hoped to become the leader of the orcs by defeating Gul’dan.
Gul’dan’s dishonor of the Mak’gora doesn’t immediately cause his people to turn on him, as they continue to fight in the battle with him. However, when Lothar attempts to gather King Llane’s body, he’s confronted by the corrupted Blackhand, who challenges him to Mak’gora. Lothar defeats Blackhand, and Gul’dan calls for the orcs to kill Lothar regardless. Garona steps in and says no, and the orcs listen to her, as she’d been the one who killed Llane and earned their respect and admiration.
The Significance Of Durotan’s Son Go’El
Go’El Becomes The Horde Warchief, Thrall
Warcraft’sclosing sequence shows baby Go’El floating down a river, with Durotan’s voiceover speaking to him.Go’El, more commonly known as Thrall in theWarcraftworld, is one of the franchise’s most iconic characters, known as one of the Warchiefs of the Horde. In the gameWarcraft III, Thrall is one of the main playable protagonists and is responsible for founding the nation of Durotar and establishing the Horde that gamers know and love fromWorld of Warcraft. The movie’s ending foreshadows the great orc hero.
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How The Warcraft Director Explains The Ending
Director Duncan Jones Explains Some Of The Movie’s Biggest Changes To The Game Story
The 2016Warcraftfilm makes some notable changes to the world and story of the original game, which Duncan Jones discussed withCollidersurrounding the movie’s initial release. He explains leaving out the Fall of Stormwind, a key event, saying the adjustment was made for the film’s pacing.The deaths of Durotan and King Llane, in particular, are very different from what fans knew from the game, which Jones explained, saying:
In the games, those characters and their storylines are painted with pretty broad brush strokes. And I think when you’re making a movie, you have to work at a different level of fidelity. And you have to add a little more definition and three-dimensionality to who these characters are, why they do what they do, and what they’re thinking about when they’re not yet doing what they are going to do! And so I think films are different in that respect.
What Happens After Warcraft’s Ending In The Games?
Wars Continue To Occur Between The Alliance & Horde
A Warcraft sequel movie never happened, so despite the differences in narrative, video games, comics, and novels are the best options to learn about what happens next.As for Lothar, the orcs sack the city of Stormwind following the movie’s events, and he leads the humans north to form the Alliance of Lordaeronin response to the orc threat. Lothar dies in battle to the Horde Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, who himself is killed shortly after. This leads many of the orcs to be captured and placed in human internment camps for years.
These events establish the foundation forWorld of Warcraft, which has continuously expanded with a plethora of wild stories and events.
Go’el goes by the name Thrall and is raised as a gladiator, eventually earning his freedom and freeing many of the orcs trapped in camps. He leads them to begin their new civilization years later. As for Garona, she’s mostly written out of the subsequent games, so the movies would’ve been creating almost entirely fresh stories for her. These events establish the foundation forWorld of Warcraft, which has continuously expanded with a plethora of wild stories and events.
The Full Meaning Of Warcraft’s Ending
Warcraft Offers An Allegory For Cultural Clash & War
TheWarcraftuniverse takes archetypal fantasy elements and expands upon them, exploring themes of race, culture collision, and colonialism. While Tolkien’s orcs inThe Lord of the Ringsare essentially evil brutes,Warcrafttreats the orc as a typically noble race. This is explored in the film, asthe mutual core of both the orc and humans is the desire to live and thrive in peace. Both sides have their heroes, but they also come with those who feel themselves superior to other races, such as Gul’dan.
Despite the efforts of heroes, as long as characters like Gul’dan are able to wield power, this cycle will perpetuate
The tragic aspect of theWarcraftuniverse is that, because of extremists like Gul’dan, it’s nearly impossible for the orcs and humans to occupy the same space at the same time.One act of violence leads to another, and it turns into an endless cycle of conflictthat no one benefits from. Despite the efforts of heroes, as long as characters like Gul’dan are able to wield power, this cycle will perpetuate; hence the title,Warcraft.
