Who IS Alleria Windrunner anyway?
The surprise WoW content just keeps coming! After I published my Xal’atath biography last week, Blizzard released an Alleria animated short. Please go check it out, it’s awesome. What better sign that it’s time to do an Alleria biography?
While Xal’atath is undeniably our antagonist for TWW, Alleria has been billed as equally crucial to how the story unfolds. We’ll have multiple protagonists in TWW I think, what with Anduin and Thrall also on the cover art, but it seems like they’d like us to view Alleria in her own light. Today, we’ll learn more about the oldest Windrunner sister, the one who chose her current circumstances. For Alleria, I focused mostly on her major story beats and added a few of the minor ones. For a character who’s been around this long, there’s more minor stuff than I can feasibly address.
But most importantly, I still can’t come up with a good couple name for Alleria and Turalyon. Alleryon? Turalia? Like they don’t click or have a good mouth feel.
a timeline of Alleria’s major life events
Alleria is born to Lireesa and Verath Windrunner in Quel’Thalas
No year specified, Alleria was born to the Ranger General and her husband who was a top advisor to King Anasterian. As if being born to two extremely important parents wasn’t enough, all of her future younger siblings would also become important. Yeesh. I recommend the Sylvanas book for many reasons, but the highest honor I can bestow to it is how well it writes the Windrunner family. This is a family of extremely strong personalities with ironclad goals and traits, except Little Lord Sun, Lirath Windrunner. As was tradition, Lireesa’s oldest child would automatically be the heir to the title of Ranger General. Alleria was an excellent ranger in her own right, but she did not feel that she fit as well into the mold of being the next leader of the Farstriders. She and her mother famously butt heads on many topics, most intensely on Quel’Thalas’ policy of isolationism. The Elves long held to the ideal that they needed to remain in seclusion and preserve their high art, traditions, and defenses. Alleria rejected this belief: there was an entire world out there that needed defenders and she was determined to see it.
As for how she got along with her siblings, Alleria and Sylvanas respected each other but also clashed. Little Vereesa was too young to cause much friction, and Lirath was everyone’s favorite person in the family. Alleria held both of her younger siblings close to her heart. While she was, and remains, a child of Quel’Thalas, she has always held fast to her belonging to a larger world.
ah, siblings <3
Alleria leaves Quel’Thalas and gives up the title of Ranger General
In a shocking twist decision, Alleria declared her intent to leave Quel’Thalas and reject her inheritance of the mantle of Ranger General, offering Sylvanas as both a more capable and more interested Farstrider. The deeper betrayal lay in Alleria’s decision to bring her rangers with her, as many of her colleagues shared in her beliefs and were past Lireesa’s. Thankfully, though Alleria and her mother never truly saw eye to eye, her departure was marked with a rare night of Windrunner family harmony. Deservedly so, it would be the last night the family was ever together. ☹
Alleria fights in the Second War in Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas
Free to wander the Eastern Kingdoms with her rangers, Alleria eventually joined the fight in Lordaeron. King Terenas Menethil (that name should sound familiar) buzzed in more Elves to fight the Horde, so Alleria did what she does best and shows up when no one summoned her, but everyone needed her. Here, she met Turalyon, her future husband, and Khadgar, her lifelong friend. She returned to defend her homeland from Orcs and briefly quelled some unrest over the matter of Sylvanas’ leadership, as well as dealing with the fallout from her parents’ deaths (y’all, the Windrunners were seriously cursed with main character circumstances). Victorious, she fought on and began courting a certain Human Paladin.
alleria and turalyon welcome arator, as seen in the animated short
Alleria has a son, Arator, with Turalyon, and reconvenes with Khadgar to fight through the Dark Portal
Arator the Redeemer was born to Alleria and Turalyon between 6 and 7 ADP. Knowing more would be asked of her, Alleria left her son with her youngest sister (as recently seen in the Alleria short!). As the Dark Portal churned again, the Alliance decided to go through the portal on the offensive this time, rather than just defending their lands from Horde invaders. Eventually, through the actions of Ner’Zhul, it became clear that Draenor was doomed to shatter. The other Sons of Lothar took refuge in various rifts that opened across the continent. Alleria and Turalyon would share a different fate…
Alleria and Turalyon get sucked into the Twisting Nether
Oops! All Nether! While the other Sons of Lothar popped back out of their hiding rifts successfully, Alleria and Turalyon were nowhere to be found. We the players eventually found Khadgar here in Shattrath years later, but still couldn’t find Ms. Windrunner and her man. They met the Army of the Light during their travels, led by Xe’ra, who you will remember from Legion, and decided to join their forces.
art of Alleria and Turalyon fighting the Legion, by 02L201
Alleria fights the Legion across the cosmos, sometimes with the Army of the Light, sometimes alone, sometimes with Locus Walker
The Army of the Light welcomed Alleria and Turalyon on the Xenedar where the two heroes trained. On a mission, Alleria discovered remnants of the Void and became fascinated by it. In classic Xe’ra fashion, when Alleria expressed her desire to meet with Locus Walker and learn of the Void, Alleria was told to fall in line or get the fuck out. Later on, Alleria called on the Void in a seemingly-lost battle and prevailed. As depicted in the new short, she sadly couldn’t make physical contact with Turalyon after invoking shadows. She left to pursue her next goal: meeting Locus Walker.
We saw a bit of their mentor-mentee relationship in Legion but for those who didn’t play, Locus Walker is an Ethereal who knows A Lot about the Void. He took Alleria on as a student and, though they had some initial disagreements, have come to respect each other as colleagues. Locus Walker will continue to provide valuable insight into the Void for Alleria as our story continues.
alleria on argus
Alleria joins the Azerothian attack on Argus
In patch 7.3, we would find Turalyon and Alleria at last, after the Xenedar crashed in Krokuun. Alleria rushed to Turalyon’s aid, as usual, and met with her sister and son. She encountered Locus Walker again in Eredath and resumed working with him to learn of the Void, as it had a particularly strong presence in the abandoned Draenei capital. She eventually absorbed the fallen Naaru L’ura, taking on a voidform and receiving a significant power increase. She expressed her mild approval of Xe’ra’s demise, as we learned that Xe’ra previously had Alleria locked up for exploring new powers. After the Legion’s defeat at Antorus, she returned to Azeroth to see what had become of the home she left so many years ago.
Alleria is banished from Quel’Thalas, meets Umbric, Void Elves brought into Alliance
One of the first trips Alleria made once she touched down on Azeroth was back to Quel’Thalas. While she was on an official errand from King Anduin, she also did genuinely just want to see the Sunwell again. Lor’themar allowed her to make the trip to the isle, but after arriving, Void energies began erupting into the chamber (Midnight foreshadowing? LMFAO). She would then be banished from Quel’Thalas.
*Ily’s note* yeah it’s always going to be weird to me that a sizable moment in Alleria’s story is in the NIGHTBORNE RECRUITMENT QUESTLINE? WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?*
Before she left Quel’Thalas, she learned of other Elves who had investigated the Void. She would eventually find Umbric and his outcasts in Telogrus Rift, becoming the faction leader of the Void Elves and bringing them into the Alliance.
the ren’dorei gathering in Telogrus
While in Quel’Thalas, the Windrunner sisters briefly met at their old family home. The sisters exchanged words, caught up, and eventually came to terms with their impasses. While Sylvanas thought about killing both of her sisters and raising them into undeath then and there, she held off. Notably, the Void was quite concerned with Sylvanas and her magic during this time.
*This meeting happens off screen in a comic.
Alleria fights with the Alliance during the Fourth War
With her new comrades, the full might of the Alliance, and her Void powers, Alleria crashed into the Battle for Lordaeron at the beginning of BFA. She mentioned to Sylvanas how she should’ve killed her last time they met at Windrunner Spire. Sylv does Sylv things and blows up Lordaeron, again. Alleria would then fight alongside the Alliance for the duration of the Fourth War, with honestly no major developments during that time-BFA is as BFA does.
the windrunner sisters part ways once more
Alleria attends Sylvanas’ judgment in the Shadowlands
The Windrunner sisters took the portal to the Shadowlands (I HATE THAT WE COULD DO THIS) to attend their sister’s judgment after hearing of her supposed change of heart and surrender to the allied forces of Azeroth. They briefly conversed with her before she jumped into the Maw to carry out her penance, expressing that their sister may one day return to them after she completes her task (we all want this btw). While not Alleria’s direct story, it is relevant to note that Turalyon is currently sitting on the Stormwind throne as regent protector during this time and until present day.
Alleria is called to Dalaran by Khadgar, begins hunting Xal’atath
Enter patch 10.2.7. Alleria arrives at Dalaran, tasked with finding the Dark Heart and learning more about “the Harbinger.” During this conversation with Khadgar, Alleria mentions that she has been keeping her distance from her family and focusing on her missions. As we saw in the animated short, her presence can have shocking consequences for Turalyon. Alleria tracked Xal down until she realized there would be an attack on Telogrus Rift. Her fight with Xal was rather…personalized, facing down an aggressive vision of Turalyon. She vowed to continue on her hunt, leading us to the events before 11.0.
I have seen some people complaining that Alleria has the exact same story as Sylvanas but with the Void instead of Death. I really don’t think this is the case, and if you feel this way, hear me out. There’s a few key differences between their circumstances, as well as their own dynamic with each other, that makes the story better than just “the same, but different.”
· Sylvanas did not choose undeath, Alleria looked into the Void of her own volition. I will say this as many times as I need to y’all. Sylv made a lot of her choices in recent years, but the reason why so many of us empathize with her in the first place is because she was forcibly raised into undeath by Arthas. Her circumstances leading into WoW from WC3 are a story about making what she can out of an absolute shit event that someone else did to her. Alleria looked into the Void by her own choice-nobody made her do it. So yes, they both have powers from one of the cosmic forces, but let’s not twist how they started on these paths.
· Sylv works behind everyone’s backs, Alleria asks for permission and gets in trouble. Where current Sylvanas does what she wants and tells other people to deal with it, current Alleria attempts to follow her orders and make choices that only affect her, not the people around her. The best example of this quality is her literally asking permission to learn about the Void. Like girl. I love you. But that’s hilarious. Imagine Sylvanas asking the Horde leaders for permission to explore Death magic at the cost of their own soldiers. How would that go? It’s an interesting inversion of how they acted when they were younger: a young Alleria left home and told everyone else to deal with it, a young Sylvanas took up the mantle of tradition. An older Alleria has a newfound understanding of trying to make everyone safe and heard, an older Sylvanas has nothing left to give. In a very general sense, not entirely accurate, Alleria is more lawful, Sylvanas is more chaotic.
· Alleria pauses before seeking further power due to concerns about harming people, Sylvanas says fuck it we ball. Another key difference between the two Oldest Windrunners’ explorations of magic is that Alleria has paused her search for power multiple times due to its potential consequences, whereas Sylvanas learns about a new tool and uses it all she wants (another reason I love both of them). Whether it was the Val’kyr, the Blight, or the Death magic she received from the Jailer, Sylvanas would always deploy whatever means necessary to accomplish her goal, even when she hadn’t been pushed into a corner yet. Alleria has paused her training when she’s felt it getting out of control and only looked to the Void when she had exhausted her other options (or was literally about to die).
I really enjoy how the two eldest Windrunners’ stories have become mirrors to each other, especially within their own family, as Vereesa does what she did as a kid and looks to both of them saying “CAN WE PLEASE JUST HUG?”
And that’s Alleria Windrunner! I’m looking forward to seeing her and Xal’atath have a Mother-off for an entire expansion. Alleria is a great example of how an extremely old character can still be relevant and interesting, it just takes a little bit of writing.
“We each walk a line. Choose yours.” -Alleria Windrunner
-Ily
