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World of Warcraft gives behind-the-scenes tour of animated series
Blizzard has been paving the way for World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor with its recent animated miniseries, Lords of War. If you found that series particularly, erm, enThralling, then the devs have a treat for you. The team posted two behind-the-scenes videos talking about the story and art of the series, respectively, which you can watch after the jump!
A Behind the Scenes look at Lords of War with Senior Illustrator Laurel Austin
Earlier this month, Blizzard released a behind the scenes look at Lords of War, the latest short series from the team that brought us The Burdens of Shaohao. Although that behind the scenes glimpse was pretty good, it focused mainly on the story of the short films, the ideas behind the process. Yesterday, another Behind the Scenes featurette was added -- this time, featuring Senior Illustrator Laurel Austin, the artist behind all of those gorgeous moving frames. Austin goes through the process of character design for the shorts and the challenges of bringing the various warlords to life. This is frankly the kind of behind the scenes stuff I really like to see -- don't get me wrong, I love a story as much as the next person, but I like seeing how it's all put together from a technical standpoint. While the exact process of animating the still paintings is only brushed on, it's still incredibly cool to watch Austin work and explain why particular stylistic choices were put into play. I didn't expect a second installment to this series, so I'm almost hoping we might yet see a third installment that goes into the animation process itself and how all those stunning paintings are brought to life. Either way, the video is a fascinating watch for anyone who wants to see how Blizzard puts their art together. If you somehow missed Lords of War when it originally aired, you can catch the entire series on World of Warcraft's Youtube channel -- they've even put together a helpful playlist of all the episodes in order.
Blizzard presents Behind the Scenes on Lords of War
If you were wondering how they came up with the idea to do the Lords of War series, Blizzard has a pretty awesome video for you to watch, up on IGN now. This behind the scenes look into the development process of the Lords of War series is interesting for what you find out you didn't get as much as for what you did. I also loved finding out that Maraad is voiced by Crispin Freeman, aka Red Arrow from Young Justice. It's very cool to get to see him explaining what he's up to in the story, and in general I liked getting to see what went into the making of this video series. You should definitely check it out. It's up on IGN right now.
Characters of Warcraft updates with Lords of War cast
The short animated series Lords of War reached its conclusion earlier this week, wrapping things up with a short tale featuring Vindicator Maraad. If you haven't had quite enough of the characters featured in the series, Blizzard has also updated the Characters of Warcraft section of the official site with pages featuring all of the players in Lords of War. Kargath, Grommash, Durotan, Kilroggm and Maraad all have new pages with character history expanded a little beyond what we've seen in Lords of War. In addition to the background information and history, each page also includes a brand-new wallpaper with the featured character, and links to related content. Hopefully we'll see other entries added over time for the other orc warlords featured in the next expansion -- and more entries on the draenei residents of Draenor as well. I'd love to see pages for Akama, Nobundo, and Yrel, as well as this Draenor's version of Velen, and some of the other notable draenei we'll be adventuring alongside in the next expansion. If you liked Lords of War and you'd like to learn more, head to the official site and check out the new entries.
Lords of War focuses on Kilrogg Deadeye
In case you were wondering, Kilrogg Deadeye absolutely is possibly the most ruthless Warlord we've seen yet in these animated shorts. Without spoiling the above video (go ahead and watch it) it's got interesting bits in it - the arakkoa make an appearance, we get to see Kilrogg's father, and the actual ritual where the infamous Deadeye earns his name is shown. It's a fascinating glimpse into the culture of the Bleeding Hollow clan and Kilrogg's role in it. I think this might be my favorite of the four videos so far. It's plausible that Maraad might know this - there's no reason it should be unchanged between his Draenor and the one we're going to explore. But moreover, and suitably, it's the darkest of the four to date, which Kilrogg making a very difficult decision that costs him quite dearly... and more than an eye. I also like the rumination on the Alliance's faith in the Light at the opening. Varian's 'So I'm told' was a nice beat. Check out the video now.
World of Warcraft's next Lord of War is Kilrogg Deadeye
Were you tired of the parade of Orcs in World of Warcraft's Lords of War video series? We're sorry to disappoint you once again. Today's Warlords of OrcnorDraenor lore video features Kilrogg Deadeye, the one-eyed chieftan of the Bleeding Hollow clan. This guy is so brutal that he tore out his own eye and ran headlong into his foretold doom. OK, maybe he's worthy of a video after all. Enjoy it below!
Lords of War part 3: Durotan
Hot on the heels of Lords of War: Grommash Hellscream, comes the story of Thrall's father, Durotan of the Frostwolves, along with somewhat of a change of pace. As with the previous two installments of the series, part three begins with Maraad and Varian conversing over a tactical map, deliberating on how to handle the Iron Horde threat. Maraad assures Varian that not all orcs are monsters, and tells the tale of Durotan, who braved the harsh winter of Frostfire Ridge alone, without his clan, in an attempt to save his mother. His efforts exacted a harsh toll, a lesson Durotan has never forgotten. Check out Lords of War Part One: Kargath, and Lords of War Part Two: Grommash Hellscream. The series still has one more episode remaining, and we look forward to its completion!
Lords of War Part Two: Grommash Hellscream
The second installment of Blizzards animated short series Lords of War debuted today, shedding more background on the leader of the Iron Horde: Grommash Hellscream. There's not doubt that Grommash is a pivotal figure in the upcoming expansion, with his son, Garrosh, having been a central figure in the Mists of Pandaria. Like the previous installment of Lords of War, the new episode opens with Maraad urging Varian to take the offensive and march through the new Dark Portal to face the Iron Horde head on. He then goes on to tell the tale of the events that earned Grommash the undying loyalty of his Warsong clan and how he, against incredible odds, bested the ogre nations united against him. We also get a glimpse of Grommash's mate, Golka, and her fate at the hands of the retaliating ogres. Check out Lords of War Part Two: Grommash, and learn more about the senior Hellscream, and what makes him who he is.
Animated miniseries Lords of War makes its debut
In addition to the cinematic and a bunch of previews, the Community Event also handed us a sneak preview of Lords of War, the new animated series covering the history and backstory for each of the warlords we're going to meet when we step through the Dark Portal and confront them on Draenor. The first is the Shattered Hand. The series has an interesting premise -- King Varian is faced with the same force that destroyed Stormwind under his father's rule and he's desperately trying to figure out how he can beat what his father couldn't. Vindicator Maraad faced them on his Draenor, so he has the dirt on each of the warlords. We get the story from him. I'm not sure how well that works when we're dealing with an alternate Draenor, but it makes for some well-animated storytelling, I'll tell you that much. So head on over and watch episode one of Lords of War and get ready for the remaining episodes.
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor releasing November 13th
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor will be coming to players this November 13th. "The age of the whimsical panda is over!" Chris Metzen proclaimed to a crowd of cheering fans at the Ace Theatre in Los Angeles. During the street date announcement, Blizzard talked about the lore of the expansion and showed the first episode of a new five-part animated lore mini-series called Lords of War. The studio also showed the opening cinematic for Warlords of Draenor, after which the release date was mentioned for the first time. We've got the first episode of Lords of War, the animated series teaser, and the cinematic for you after the break!
Warlords of Draenor Cinematic Premiere liveblog
Today's Warlords of Draenor Cinematic Premiere event will begin at 9:30 a.m. PDT. In addition to the reveal of the cinematic, we are expecting the announcement of the Warlords of Draenor release date and the debut of the new Lords of War animated miniseries. We will be covering the event live. In the meantime, get hyped while you watch that countdown tick away. Liveblog timestamps are in Central time. Update: The livestream has concluded. You can still find all of our updates, as well as the cinematic and the first episode of Lords of War, in the post below.
