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Hello everyone, this is Alie, and this video is the fifth episode of WoW Versus, my Youtube
channel where I analyse the lore of characters from the Warcraft and World of Warcraft series
of games, and oppose them to decide who would win in a dual to the death.
The point is to know who’s the best of course, but the main purpose is to share my view of
interesting what ifs.
I’m from France and english is not my native language, please tell me if you hear any mistake
and tell me in the comments. Liadrin and Nobundo appeared at the same time, with the release
of World of Warcraft’s first expansion, the Burning Crusade.
At the time, Shamans could only be played by rolling as a Horde race, and Paladin by
rolling as an Alliance race, and the inclusion of Blood Elves and Draeneis into the game
changed that.
The lore of the Blood Knights was added to allow Blood Elves to roll as Paladins, and
that of the Broken Shamans to allow the Draenei to play as Shamans.
The stories of Liadrin and Nobundo were meant to reflect this, as they were both the first
to offer these opportunities to their races.
As such, their stories are quite similar and they were directly opposed by the war between
the Blood Elves and Draenei, until the defeat of Kil’jaeden and the resurrection of the
Sunwell.
Since then, they were often paralleled as the leaders of their respective class orders
in their respective factions, and their stories of lost faiths and renewed hopes are very
similar.
Which is why I want to make them fight to the death.
Yup.
For Liadrin, I’d assume that her current peak is right now, during the course of the
sixth expansion of World of Warcraft, Legion, having acquired a great deal of battle experience
and the legendary sword Quel’delar.
It’s a bit more complicated to determine the part of his life when Nobundo was at his
best, but since we’re definitely taking his Broken version into account, it appears
clear that his peak is at the same time, during the Legion expansion, so that he may have
as much battle experience as possible.
Liadrin and Nobundo both symbolize the heavy struggles endured by their people, and the
drastic changes of paths that it took from them to find an impossible way to renew hope.
They both followed different paths and tirelessly sought redemption for their failures, and
their relationships to members of the other faction make them an important factor.
for the peace between the Alliance and the Horde.
They’re mirror images of what the Alliance and the Horde found to save themselves in
the culture of their usual enemy.
And that’s why I’m making them fight to the death.
Because, well, you know, fun.
And to know who’s the strongest between Paladins and Shamans.
Not gonna pick a side here.
The fight would occur in the Eye of the Storm, the chaotic battleground of Outland near Netherstorm
where Draenei and Blood Elves were often opposed for the control of the raw energy just lying
there.
It’s hard to imagine what could draw Liadrin and Nobundo to oppose in a death match, but
I think one possibility could be their refusal to see anymore lives from the Alliance and
the Horde lost for control of the Eye.
They would have agreed on a one on one, definitive dual by Orcish traditions so that the matter
could be settled with only one last death.
Always ready to sacrifice themselves for others, Liadrin and Nobundo would have agreed to put
their lives at stake.
The winner will have gained control of the entire place for their faction.
Liadrin would enter the field with the Redemption armor, her Blood Knight tabard and mounted
on her Thalassian Warhorse, Quel’delar in hand.
Nobundo would have come with the Cyclone armor and a heavy Hammer of the Naaru he wields
slowly.
Both would slowly walk up to the center of the battleground, at the edges of the central
rock bridge, and then at each other without saying a word for a while, unwilling to kill
someone they know is honorable, but ready to go all the way through if necessary.
Liadrin would clearly be the first to attack, charging on her horse to hit Nobundo in full
force and end it quickly.
Before the Broken would make a move, she would strike his head through the Light and hold
from a distance, in order to force him to stay in place and be struck down.
This was exactly what the Broken would have anticipated however, since this is obvious
Paladin strategy, and would wait for the last moment to use the power of the Wind to free
himself from the Light’s hold and propel himself forward, slightly to the side, while
setting the head of his Hammer on the path of the horse’s legs.
Liadrin would understand the trap, but too late.
Redemption’s legs would be shattered by the hammer strike, breaking under his own
force and that of the Wind.
The horse would collapse and slip into the Nether with a horrible cry of pain, her mistress
landing brutally on the ground, on the other side of the bridge.
Liadrin would be dismounted but safe, and extremely angry.
Nobundo would turn around, Liadrin would rise up, and the opponents would face one another
again for a second, before moving again.
The Draenei knows that Liadrin completely dominates him physically, and now she knows
that the spells she can use to hold him in place won’t work.
This means she’ll try to get to him as fast as she can.
This means fleeing.
When the Blood Elf starts gleaming and walking ominously toward her enemy, a threatening
shine in her golden eyes, the only thing Nobundo can do is turn around again and dash away
thanks to the power of the Wind, his feet barely touching the ground.
His plan is to stay at a distance and attack from afar with spells, but Liadrin, as a former
Warrior and a prominent physical combattant, is much faster than the Broken would expect.
She would dash across the bridge like a lightning and reach the other side in no time : not
faster than Nobundo, but too fast for him to quickly get away.
The Broken would find himself confronted with a pissed off Blood Knight and would owe his
life only to the sturdiness of his Hammer, able to parry and deflect a violent strike
from Quel’delar.
The crystal would hold, but not the shaft, and under Liadrin’s sheer holy strength,
the Hammer of the Naaru would break, leaving Nobundo with only a staff to defend himself.
Ready to strike down judgement upon her enemy, Liadrin would raise her sword and aim for
the head, screaming.
Her hand, however, would be pulled back at the last moment by a strong gust of wind.
Nobundo, in an effort to save his life, would have unleashed the wind against her to loosen
her grip on Quel’delar and disarm her, in order to even the fight.
Liadrin would hold on to the sword with all her strength, an unnatural wind trying to
pull it away from her, and Nobundo would land heavy thrusts of his staff in her face and
gut in order to make her drop the sword.
He could be way more offensive if he wanted too, but this is not his specialty, and the
Shaman still has the hope of subduing his enemy to end the fight without bloodshed.
His blows are heavy, but Liadrin can take it with only her patience being damaged, and
would end up grabbing Nobundo’s staff with her other hand.
Both held up against each other, Liadrin would use her superior agility to kick Nobundo to
the gut and face while holding onto the weapons, and while this would hurt, he can take much
more than that.
This would be a battle of patience, obviously lost by Liadrin, who would, well… let go
of her sword, and bury her heavy-armored fist in the Broken’s face, who would be thankful,
for once, that he doesn’t have a nose.
Dismayed, Nobundo would be held to the ground and viciously beaten by Liadrin, with only
his swollen arms to defend himself.
A broken bone later, he would do the only thing he can still do.
Thinking she has proved herself superior with nothing but her physical strength, Liadrin
would be rather overconfident.
She would not raise her defenses, and be surprised when Wind suddenly come hurling from all sides
and shake her violently, while entering Nobundo’s flesh and briefly making him into an Air Ascendant.
The twirling silhouette of the Draenei would rise up in the air, lifted by pure elemental
power.
Liadrin would refuse to let him go, but would hardly do more than holding on without being
hurled away into the Nether.
While Nobundo is healing himself, in a half state of meditation, she would rely on her
last and greatest weapon : the Light.
Illuminating her entire body, her renewed strength would allow her to oppose the power
of the Elements and grab onto the enemy, screaming and making holy fire rain upon the both of
them.
They would turn for a second under their own combined powers, and then the explosion of
their spells would propel the both of them away from the other.
Nobundo would be thrown away onto the edge of the Eye, risking a fall, while Liadrin’s
armor and greater resistance would leave her falling at the entrance of the bridge.
Both would be heavily wounded, maybe a broken limb or two, with scars on Liadrin’s face
and burns all over Nobundo’s body.
He would barely be able to move, and would not attempt so, his focus would be to heal
himself rapidly, fix his limbs and mend his flesh.
Liadrin, still bathed in a sacred halo, would be rapidly regenerating herself and would
not fail to seize the occasion while her opponent is weak.
Her hair detached and her tabard gone, the Blood Elf would run to Nobundo and use her
full knowledge of the Light against him, transferring her own pain onto him.
This would be enough to make anyone howl in pain, but Nobundo has seen worse.
Without fear, he would remain close to the edge, chanting to the Elements to mend his
body and slow Liadrin’s advance with Wind.
The angry Blood Knight would get closer and closer nonetheless, showering Nobundo with
holy judgement.
The Broken however, is completely used to the pain, and the horrific burning and regrowth
of his flesh would only leave him in a worryless state of trance.
Since he’s not moving, Liadrin is trying to reach him and push him off, but once close
to the Draenei, she would find herself unable to move further.
Normally, she would just keep burning him with the Light, but Nobundo seems to feel
almost no pain, to be immune to the suffering brought by her judgement.
Frustrated and impressed, Liadrin would consecrate the ground and make the rock itself burn in
holy fire, doing anything she can to attack.
At this moment, Nobundo would heavily stomp the ground with his foot, then seem to lose
all his focus and crumble, exhausted by his efforts.
Liadrin would feel the resistance of the wind vanish, and would dash to finish her opponent
immediately.
Nobundo counted on this however.
As the Light closes in to burn him, the Farseer would shift to the astral plane and basically
phase through Liadrin with no harm, becoming physical again behind her.
Turning around, Liadrin would understand the trap.
The cracks on the ground are already visible.
The very earth Liadrin is standing on is aiding her enemy and crumbling under her feet to
drop her into the Twisting Nether.
Running like hell to try and survive, she would end up falling among the debris and
grabbing onto the remaining edge by one hand, with Nobundo standing over her.
The hooded and disfigured silhouette of the Broken would loom over for a minute, silent,
while she frantically tries to climb up and find a way to survive.
He would then kneel down and offer his helping hand, while stating « Now, Lady Liadrin,
you have lost. ». Being faced with the choice of taking his hand and risking betrayal, or
slowly slipping to death, Liadrin would actually hesitate.
In the end, she would take the Broken’s hand, guided by what she recognizes as faith.
The Shaman would help her, saving her life, and once on her feet, she would understand
that now, she simply couldn’t attack again.
All that would be left to do would be to concede defeat, meaning that she had indeed lost.
Both wounded and heavy with thoughts for the future, Liadrin and Nobundo would help each
other limp back to their respective encampments.
Both would stand by their decision.
Nobundo would think of the Blood Knight who had faith in him, when they were trying to
kill each other the second before.
Liadrin would think of the wretched shamanic creature who had risked the possession of
the Eye of the Storm rather than kill in cold blood.
This dual has probably not settled that issue, but it certainly has ensured renewed trust
between Blood Elves and Draenei for the future.
Thanks for watching this video ! I was interested in making something about characters who are
not necessarily on the forefront of the main lore, they’re sometimes more interesting
than bigger figures, and since these two never met, I wanted to do exactly that.
Next time, I’ll take the opposite direction and show a fight between none other than the
two most powerful creatures of the entire Warcraft lore.
Azeroth might get destroyed a bit.
Oh well.
Subscribe and like if you wanna see that happen, and until next time !