You need to do "Arthas, my son" next. It ties into this song very well. Arthas story is a very tragic one. He was the crown prince of the kingdom of Lordaeron and a gifted Paladin. He was willing to give and sacrifice anything to protect his home and kingdom. Arthas people respected and liked him, and his childhood friend Jaina (to which he was betrothed) really did love him. But when a new plague started ravaging the land, he went out to search for answers. He found out that the popluation who got the disease turned into undead, and when the population of a great city turned out to be all sick from the plague Arthas commanded the city to be purged. Jaina could not stand to watch him do this so she left. Arthas during the purging figured out who was behind it all and chased them far to the north. During his journey he started to look for ways to gain more power, and in so doing, he gave his soul to the cursed blade Frostmourne, which corrupted his soul. He avenged the loss of his people and returned home, but he was a changed man. His father had arranged a great celebration for the return of his only son, but Arthas had other plans. During the celebrations, Arthas killed his own father and took the crown for himself, at the behest of the blade. The kingdom of Lordaeron fell into despair and darkness, and undead rose from the graves now at Arthas command. Skip forward some time, and Frostmourne beckons Arthas to travel north once again to find and protect the Lich King, from which the blade originally belonged to. Arthas complied, and at the end of his campaign he shattered the prison in which the Lich King was captive and claimed the crown for himself, thus making him the new Lich King. This is an extreme summary, but it gives some basic outline to his story.
@Antagonistes well, unless Marco is planning to go through WC3 or read some books, the story of Arthas isn't really told within WoW anyway, beyond him becoming the Lich King and the aftermath of his defeat.
@Antagonistes I mean, he also doesn't have to read the comment as from the start its obvious he's giving a summary if Arthas's story so at that point if he doesn't want to be spoiled, he can stop reading and if he doesn't care then he now has the skeleton of the story so that he can flesh it out if he does decide to see the stories or read the wiki.
@@nicholasjacobs6605 I kinda feel this, it’s there if he wants to know a quick summary because let’s face it, the “quick” summary videos I’ve seen of his storyline tend to be like 25+ mins long.
This and Arthas, My Son is among the most important pieces of music in gaming industry. It's just not a great music. It's a great music written for a great fricking character. Literally one of the best there ever was.
Coming in to echo what everyone else is saying: Please do "Arthas, My Son" with the father's monologue. These two songs ('Invincible' and 'Arthas, My Son') are directly tied to each other and combine into an epic piece.
@@DIEGhostfishOh, us too in France, our Terenas, and also Raynor and Chen (cinematic) voice actor Patrick Bethune died before the release of Mists of Pandaria. 😢 I see in English it's not better, Warcraft 3 Terenas Ted Whitney "passed away shortly after finishing his work". And now Earl Boen... Do one Terenas has to die each decade ?!
I'm glad you point out the starting areas, because we just recently lost Earl Boen, narrator for each racial introduction and a few other places/roles as well. A voice, maybe not as expectedly recognizable as Thrall, or Jaina, but instantly putting you back to that moment of first experiencing the beginning of a new adventure. And while I may never have known his name beforehand, he will for ever be missed.
Oh man he did?? That man is part of the reason I loved making characters. Sometimes I would make a new character just to hear the introduction narration.
Interestingly I don't remember how either Arthas or Jaina sounded, but starter zone intros have remained with me. Was he not also Arthas' father's voice in the ending of Icecrown or am I tripping?
Another great one from WoW would be "Lament of the highborne". I love the way you get to hear it, by finding a medallion in the ruins of an old elfic city destroyed long ago by an undead army and giving it back to the person it belonged to, turned undead as a result of the invasion. Instead of giving us a piece of armor or gold like usual quests, she just sings this very nostalgic song, once. It reminds me of the Devola/Popola version of Song of the Ancients you can get by doing an optional quest in Nier and it's the best kind of reward you can get in a game in my opinion !
Man... Arthas is honestly... One of the best fricking written character in gaming industry. There are a lot of good ones and Arthas is up there among the legends. His story is so... Heroic and tragic So cold and evil... I remember as a kid I used to learn the actual lyrics of the songs and sing them with the choir. *An Karanir Thanagor,* *Mor Ok Angalor* Warcraft and WoW have a giant place in my soul
I wouldnt say its something special. This theme of "holy warrior going rogue" is pretty common both in gamin and literature. Anakin Skywalker for example.
@@majitel_restaurace Well.... I agree with you This theme is not rare There are a lot of characters who end up evil It's just that every story hits different It depends on a lot of things It maybe nostalgia or maybe you can relate to something more. In case of Anakin... I love his character But I don't really love how he turned to the dark side He helped Palpatine kill Mace and then proceeded to kill children I mean.... Yeah he was manipulated He was emotionally wrecked from his mother dying and seeing all the nightmares. And he was used by the counsel and felt betrayed by them but... Killing children just to save your loved one from death That's.. Not my vibe.. I can't justify that. Love is important but... If you love someone so much that you're willing to kill children that's... A *wrong* love. Arthas on the other hand I can understand him and probably would do the same thing he did An entire city was corrupted by plague and the people in it were doomed *NO MATTER WHAT* and they would turn into the undead and bring more death upon the kingdom. Arthas decided to slaughter them. And it was the right choice even though it was horrible. I can understand why Uther and Jaina felt horrible when he decided to do that But I can understand that that was the right thing to do and they should've realized that too But they called him a monster for that. He was "betrayed" by his teacher and lover And then Of course he wanted revenge I would want to annihilate the person who forced me to kill innocent people to save more innocent people and who made me make a horrible choice that ended up ruining relationships with people that are very important to me. And so he did exactly that He was drunk with anger and he wanted justice (revenge) by any means necessary And so he picked up that sword and sealed his fate He murdered Malganis and took his revenge But the pain from all of this *PLUS* the cursed blade turned him on a path of evil I can justify his turn to evil And... I can imagine myself doing the exact same thing
There's a good quote "A hero will sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice the world for you" Anakin sacrificed the world for Padme and he became a villain But Arthas sacrificed a city for the world and he was a hero because of it *BUT* the consequences of that action led him to a path that made him a villain
That's why I think Arthas is "special" Well at least for me. I would do what he would've done Because it was right Even though he killed children and other innocent people It was a right decision To save many I would've sacrificed the few And probably would've gone on a same path of vengeance and became evil by picking that cursed sword and losing my mind to it
The steed is significant because the death of the steed is whats considered the moment Arthas fell to darkness. It's kind of like an Anakin Darth Vader situation. After that point he wanted to save everyone in his kingdom at any cost, even his own soul. Once he became a death knight he brought his steed back to life in undeath, hence all the lines about serving well in both life and death.
WoW music is generaly a treasure trove, primarily the Wrath of the Litch King tracks. I would reccomend the track "Arthas my son", its similar to "Invincible" but it was my favourite of the two.
This song is titled Invincible because when he was young, Arthas thought so highly of his steed that he thought it was invincible, yet his own arrogance lead to its demise. As the Lich King, he thought himself invincible, and just as with his steed, this time, his own arrogance lead to his own demise. The same lyrics are used in Arthas My Son and it's almost like it's his own army that is chanting 'may he reign forever', as if this is how he views himself, the invincible King whose strength must never fail. The difference is, Arthas My Son is played at the start of the expansion, while Invincible is played at the end, during Arthas Death. (Or, his real, final death) Seeing as how this song plays when he is dying, it could also be meant to be the last comparison of a dying character, the Prince who once mourned the death of his steed, to the King who has now taken countless innocent lives in the name of his ideals. That's my takeway anyway. Arthas is a great character, and a story about someone who is brash and arrogant, but is driven to madness by his love for his people and a need for vengeance no matter the cost. Whatever the meaning of the song, one thing is for certain. No King Rules Forever.
I don't know if he was arrogant. If you read the books, he was a very kind and caring young man. It's just he was easy to get excited, he was impulsive and target-oriented. This is why the legion chose him as a target of corruption. He was baited into Northrend and corrupted by the agents of the legion. And it's not easy to resist when the legion itself is targeting you. But I think he was protected when he had his friends and his love. But they betrayed him. Uther was a holy fanatic with 0 logical sense, and everything he do was ligth light light, no personal credibility, no reasonable choices, just dogmatism. And Jaina just left him at the gates. The girl that he loved the most, just left him so easily. It's so tragical when we kill Arthas, we find Jaina's gift, not sure if it was a flower or something. Even in his wrath as a lich king, he had that part of his soul remain human. Again, if you check the lore, the lich king could have wiped everyone in a mere week if he wanted, but Arthas inside him was holding him back. He is a great man, I still love the young man Arthas, I feel his pain, and I always think that his corruption started from the Stratholm gates betrayal, not the Frostmorne. As of Shadowland, I am not taking anything of it seriously, it's just a failed fan fiction that nobody should ever mention, so it's forgotten and hopefully retckoned.
There's a lot of bitter irony in this piece, as it plays at the death of Lich King, who is Athas Menethil. A very tragic character, and one of the most iconic villains in video games. The non Latin bits are taken from Athas' theme from Warcraft 3 'O thanagor' if you ever want to listen to the original version. If I could make a recommendation for WoWs soundtrack, it'd be Eversong Woods or Grizzly Hills. Those are some of the best music tracks in WoW bar none.
Shalandis Isle/Temple of the Moon. The original digital Night Elf Darnasus Shadowglen, Enchanted forest tracks, and the fully orchestrated remake for Val'shara in Legion, plus the Nightelf Cataclysm track "Nightsong" since he's Opera, Nightsong has actual vocals and thus is probably the best of those to review.
WoW has such a great collections of music over the years. One of my absolute favorite tracks came from Warlords of Draenor, which sadly got abandoned by the devs halfway through. However, that doesn’t take away from the song, “Malach.” I think it almost sounds like an ode to Draenor itself, which hosts both the Draenei and Orcs.
@@airinyourtires2931 damn i had totally forgot about that in the past years, remembered the feeling first time hearing the crowd version with Malukah I think(?) forgot lel
Back in 2014, Invincible was featured in Classic FM Hall of Fame top 300. I don't know how great this is, but I think Russell Brower, the composer, was mighty proud of it. he also won 3 Emmy's for other work
3 other composers also worked on Invincible. Jason Hayes helped compose the music (he was the original composer of the melody back in Warcraft 3). Neal Acree, who composed Arthas, My Son, he wrote the lyrics for Invincible along with Derek Duke. So, it's not just Russell. It took 4 composers to make this masterpiece.
@@slinttu1378 There was also a stellar collab of composers/lyricists for the Pandaria soundtrack, two of whom I actually know in real life - one of them for decades now.. He never mentioned working on it, so when I saw his name in the credits I about plotzed on the spot.
Yes! The music and ambience after sailing to Northrend and venturing to Howling Fjord for the first timewas one of the most memorable gaming experiences for me in my 35 years of gaming. I would sit there listening even while doing other tasks.
Ain't no thang but eating ice cream and casually leveling my 17 trillionth alt on a private server in Barrens and the oasis song bathing my ears, as well as the kolkar pack runner dazing and butchering me while I am heading towards to find Mankrik's wife.
My son. The day you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name, Arthas. I agree you need to finish this by analyzing and combining "Arthas, My Son!" and "No king rules forever." Wrath and Catsclysm were two of the best expansions when it comes to WoW music. It's just so BEAUTIFUL.
I grew up on this stuff. This music never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The meaning and emotion it carries is so great and sad It's almost hard to handle.
Thank god you are finally doing WoW music ! There are so many amazing tracks. If you are interested in hearing, and seeing more I can only hope you would check the expansion cinematics, they are all beautiful and cool in their own right, and most of them have pretty memorable music, tho many amazing tracks can also be found simply in game.
_World of Warcraft_ (WoW) has a lot of good memorable music. I believe WoW was the first game where I noticed the beauty of music and how it fits the theme of the game, its environment and its vibe. Other classical tracks which are my favourites: _Hall of the Guardian_ from the Legion patch and _Azuremyst Isle_ from the TBC patch. For some reason these tracks I remember are clear as day. Very magical and emotion evoking.
If you want to know who Arthas was - Arthas was once a paladin (light warrior) of Lordaeron, a nation located in Eastern Kingdoms. He was the crown prince of Lordaeron. Later, his nation Lordaeron was infected with a mysterious plague and its people were died and turned into undead creatures (scourge forces). Before the plague, Arthas had a steed named Invincible. One day, Arthas had an accident when he was out riding his steed Invincible (I think they fell off the cliff). Arthas survived the fall but his steed invincible was not so lucky. Not being able to witness Invincible suffering, Arthas had to end Invincible's life and buried him. When the plague hit Lordaeron, Arthas attempted to find out the source of the plague. Then, he learned that it was nacromancer named Kel'thuzad doing. Kel'thuzad served the Lich King who was the lord of the scourge. The Lich King doesn't have a physical appearance and his spirit was trapped in the icy prison called "The Frozen Throne" in Northrend, a frozen continent located at the North of the world. So, Arthas hunted down Kel'thuzad and learned the leader of the scourge a dreadlord named Mal'Ganis. After killing Kel'thuzad, Arthas attempted to hunt down Mal'Ganis who escaped to the Northrend. Arthas followed him to Northrend to revenge his fallen people. At Northrend, Arthas met a group of dwarves who were seeking for a mysterious artifact called "Frostmourne" which was the cursed blade of the Lich King. They teamed up together to hunt down Mal'Ganis. A couple of days later, Arthas' base was surrounded by Mal'Ganis scourge forces. Not being able to escape, Arthas suggested the Dwarf leader Muradin to look for the Frostmourne. Believing that Frostmourne was powerful enough to hunt down Mal'Ganis, Arthas decided to take Frostmourne. Muradin noticed and read inscription on the blade dias and learned that the blade is actually cursed. Muradin warned Arthas not to take up Frostmourne since it was cursed but Arthas didn't listen. After taking up the cursed blade, Arthas heard the Lich King voice in his head. With the help of Frostmourne, Arthas accomplished his plan of defeating Mal'Ganis and his scrouge forces but for a price, he finally lost his every last scent of humanity. His physical body became a puppet to be used by the Lich King. He finally killed every last one of his Lordaeron soldiers and raised them into undead scourge to serve as minions for the Lich King. Arthas finally returned to his home Lordaeron and murdered his own father (King Terenas). He later raised his beloved steed Invincible as a undead to serve as his steed once again. (His story goes on and on........I am gonna skip to the end). Arthas finally made his way to the Frozen Throne, broke the icy prison, released the Lich King spirit and fused the spirit with his body and became the new Lich King. This opera is a tribute for the Lich King. If you plan to play WoW, start with an RTS game called Warcraft III. WoW happened after the events of Warcraft III.
I want to make a tiny little correction about how Invincible died, at least from what I remember of the book. A winter storm was coming through and Arthas was bored. He went against everyone's wishes to stay indoors and wait for the storm to pass as the roads were treacherous with ice. Arthas, believing it wouldn't affect him or his "invincible" steed, took Invincible out for a ride and was going exceedingly too fast. Invincible inevitably loses its footing and takes a nasty fall where he was injured to the point of bleeding out slowly and suffering. Arthas couldn't bear to watch his beloved steed suffer so he did end his life and buried him as you said. Which is why in WoW, Invincible's grave is on the side of the road near the farm he was born I think? Because their accident happened near there and it was the farmer who found Arthas passed out over Invincible's dead corpse.
It gets deep. For most people, killing the Lich King was the end of WoW. There are some fantastical narratives to backup the amazing music that comes with the game.
Yes, and the story of Arthas is told in Warcraft III, especially the expansion The Frozen Throne. His story continues in the World of Warcraft Expansion: Wrath of the Lich King. He is also referenced and mentioned many other times in WoW. Also, Arthas is a playable character in Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone.
Hi Marco! So happy you're listening to wow tracks, they have a lot to offer. If you want to keep doing wow videos, i think you might want to know that the different expansions login screen tracks are a collection of the main tracks you're going to listen to in that specific expansion, mixed together in one long track. So you might use those to get a general grasp of an expansion and then listen to the individual pieces. I can assure you that even the most simple questing area music in this game is great. For me, Battle for Azeroth login screen music would be a great place to start. The expansion was meh, but the music was incredible. Great job as always
I've quit WoW about 2 or 3 years ago. I cannot remember exactly when. But it's the MMO I played when it first came out. I've been faithful to the game and it's story for a very long time. Listening to an old track like this stirs memories of me and my friends sitting up late at night trying to get gear for the Naxxramas raid. These videos of yours, where you tap into your vast knowledge as a opera singer and you explain the exact emotions I felt back then I can't stop watching them! Recently I've watched your FFXIV videos and League videos and all I can say is im glad I found your channel. It feels very comforting that other people listen to an old track you've got history with and explains the very exact same feels I had. Amazing work and I hope you keep this up! I'm sure you've got ALOT to react or listen to but, would you care to check out Destiny 2 or Destiny 1's music? Or revisit it? These videos have been beyond entertaining and comforting!
I am so happy to see you react to WoW music! Wow has been such a big part of my life and seeing this made me so happy. Can't wait to see more of you! Also ps: I loved your role in Genshin. You did a great job !!
So glad you checked it out! I'm a huge WoW lore nerd, so I could type the entire history of Arthas without breaking a sweat. The piece is remembrance of times lost, Arthas was a hero of his people before his time ran out.
I always said that a big part of WOW's ridiculous success for all those years were thanks of the music in lore and just for the ambience it had character , impact and in a way was so integral to the plot. To this day after years of not playing the game I listen to the soundtracks on a daily basis.
There’s few songs in gaming history, if any that hit me as hard as this one. So many memories and nostalgia attached to it. The song reminds me of excellent memories and time with friends I made during a very sad time in my life and the way it lifted my spirits will not be forgotten. Epic hardly even meets the criteria for what this music means to me 15+ years later. I enjoyed your reaction to this and I’m glad I found your channel.
The art and music of this franchise is unbelievable. The game can hit or miss and I haven’t been serious about it for a long time. But I’m sure that those two things are still great to this day.
One of the few WoW tracks that can actually draw a tear for me. Not necessarily because it's sad, but this iteration of the game holds deep grip in my heart.
I love how you bring the music together with the text. It's so interessting, how composers can amplify words with their music, even though most ppl don't understand the text
Invincible is a song I have love since I was a little girl. The way the voices sounds, the boom of the instruments, the flow, it all made me tear up back then. In highschool I learned the lyrics were latin and I actually took classes in school just to learn the meaning of the song. It made me cry for real. I am so happy to see you do this song, to hear your feelings as a professional and a lover of music. This was a great video. Thank you.
I'm so happy you finally got to react to one of my all time favorites in the wow saga. Thank you so much for this breakdown and your reaction...there are so many wow themes I would love to see you react to I don't even know where to begin...I would probably say "Xaxas" from Cataclysm or "Malach" from Warlords of Draenor. Again, thank you so much for this video
Wow, nostalgia here for me! World of Warcraft is a treasure trove of fascinating lore. The story of King Arthas is one I would absolutely recommend look up when you get the chance.
Well, this song's meaning got many layers in fact and multiple meanings, out of which all could be somewhat true. Invincible, was one of the few beings in the world that the Lich King held dear. A steed that was fatally injured by his own stupidity when he was young, forcing him to end his mount's life to shorten its agony. It was one of the events that made him choose the path of a paladin - a holy warrior of virtue and light. Later, we - players - learn that as Arthas, turned into the incredibly powerful Lich King, ruling over the undead and posessing amazing necromantic powers, he reanimated his steed and probably held it dear unlike any other being in the world at that time. So yeah, part of the song could be the King himself, reminiscing his memories of the faithful steed that he considered special and unlike any other, but lost it due to his own actions. The other part could be meant for the all the crowned heads that this story had touched: Arthas' father, the king that he killed. Arthas, the king-to-be who everyone praised but he fell to damnation. Or both of them AND the Lich King, that fell by the hands of the players, whose death was a huge breaking point in the game's world lore.
@@DIEGhostfishInvincible was the name of the horse because it was how arthas felt ontop of them as they rode the world together. The irony clearly being that fate had grander tragedies in store.
Damn..WoW was the 1st game I played that the music has huge impact on the immersiveness and off-game, didn't found any until Arknights years later. WoW definitely is a treasure trove for musical analysis (mostly orchestra I believe). edit: Russell Brower the composer once said something like "there can only be loud only if there is silence" or "silence makes loudness more impactful" or something like that. Always thought that statement is deep for some reason, not just in the musical world.
I remember the Saturday morning when I was a noob wandering around in Ironforge, found a subway station, rode the train to the end. Came out of the station and the music started playing…
Several months late for a comment but you have to do some more warcraft stuff! So many good pieces of music. Even just tracks for beginning areas like Elwynn Forest. Hearing the music of the forest when you step into Goldshire is enough to bring me to tears these days. So many memories.
I'm so glad to see Invincible on this channel! Honestly, it's one of my favorite game songs of all time. It could be played at my funeral and I would feel honored.
I think the holiness and reverence that comes with the musicality really demonstrates the precious things that were lost and makes the tragedy hit that much harder in context to when this plays. It's like the same in paintings, you emphasize the strength of two emotions by creating a dichotomy between opposing or diametric pairings, which ends up enhancing the experience of the emotions. It's like when you find something that reminisce you of your childhood when you are sad kind of deal
Not that long ago, games (even online ones) were pure art that gripped at your feeling making you attach to the world, the lore, the characters. It stirred your emotions and gripped your soul. Alas no king rules forever. Gaming isn't as good as it used to be, but from time to time you get something special. The music in WoW - Wrath of the Lich King was exceptional to me. It was pretty good in "Mist of Pandaria" too, but WotLK ? wow. I hope in the future we start getting such amazing stories/music again. Thanks for for reacting on this one. Love your channel, +1 sub 🙂
Arthas Menethil is a crown prince of the kingdom of Lordaeron. He had practice in the ways of the Paladin during his early year. During that, it is tradition for the royal to have a royal steed. Invincible is Arthas's royal steed, although it is not of a warhorse breed. During his youth, while riding Invincible in one day, he accidentally fell into a pit (or ice? not sure on this part). While Arthas have just minor bruises, Invincible suffered heavily. His leg is broken, and some woods impale him. Arthas who is still new with the Paladin stuff can't use the Holy Light to heal him yet. And they are too far to call his Paladin master to help. Having no choice, he decided to end his steed's suffering. After that he vowed that he will save everyone he cared about. But fates has a different plans for him. Arthas was let down a dark path, acquiring the cursed runeblade Frostmourne and becoming the first of the Lich King's Death Knight. After that he returned to his kingdom, kill his own father, plunge his kingdom into chaos and starting the Undead Scourge's a invasion of Lordaeron. During that time, he returned to Invincible's grave, and with his necromantic magic, he raised Invincible and ride him to war once more. He would later become the Lich King, and Invincible became a sought after prize for players who tries to defeat him.
I started playing WoW in 2004 or 2005, and played it all the way through the end of Wrath of the Lick King. I still like to pull up the soundtracks and listen. Such great music and it really hits me in the feels.
Arthas is for me really interesting character, all he want to stop the Scrounge but end up being the one who bring it yo his hometown and the fallen of him really makes WOW storytelling me hook of the lore.
Super happy that you did this song and I look forward to more in the future. Maybe not the best song for you to recap, but my favorite is and always will be Totems of the Grizzlemaw (most people call it Grizzly Hills because the music is in that zone), from Wrath of the Lich King. Well done, sir!
Wrath of the Lich King has a lot of music that is charged with emotion. Tyrion's theme("A Call to Arms" in this case) is also awesome and more in the heroic side. Arthas' history is so damn charged with different emotions, and the cinematics(in wow in particular) tend to bring those emotions forward with great force. The intro cinematic of Wrath, where Arthas ressurects a Frost Wyrm has a ton of emotion in the background.
Arthas was the darth vader of warcraft 3. A prince and paladin that gave his very soul and was duped in hopes to save his kingdom from the undead scourge, the device he took up was frostmourne, it takes souls and it even takes the wielders. From this point forward arthas descends into a death knight and destroys his own kingdom as well as his father, his mentor and peers then summons a demon lord to conquer azeroth that his master serves at the time. He goes through a lot of mental struggles of betrayal by his family, lover and teacher. Bids his time then gets recalled to the frozen throne to ascend as the lich kings vessel, destroying his rival a half elven demon hunter who is half demon at the gates to the throne. He ascends and becomes one with the lich king merging into one being that holds guilt and fights itself somewhat, fighting a losing battle to resist the lich king in order to give the heroes time to stop him. He cut out his own heart to be less alive (nerzhul did this i believe as he keeps a pendent of his ex in a strongbox you can loot from him). The devs diverted this and tried to make him look like a power hungry typical villain but missed the mark so hard on his complexity. Invincible is a mix of his forced view on things, sorrow, sacrifice and heroism as well as the ability to rule forever is a piece of nerzhul's personality mixed with his own nobility. It was the horse he resurrected, realizing when dominated by the lich kings will that his subjects deaths no longer mattered- he could save them forever, perserve them and protect them no matter what with his power.
2:47min. = Goosebumps. The story of Arthas is and remains for me the highlight of World of Warcraft. And yes, Blizzard was always great at 3 things. 1.) Music, just WoW! 2.) Telling a great Story. 3.) Senselessly destroying classes or making others too powerful, I never understood that. Oh yes and 3b.) not knowing when to stop milking a Dead Cow. Thanks for the great video, I haven't heard the music for long time.🫶
I believe you would love reacting to "Canticle of sacrifice", "Lament of the Highborne" and "Nightsong" from Cataclysm as well as "Twilight's hammer". All in all I really enjoyed your reaction and your ability to pick up on things others might not be able to, very interesting !
Oooh Lament is great. Just listening to Lament reminds me why so many people wanted Sylvanus to gett a better shake... And how badly they fumbled trying to give her that.
You picked up on the underlying themes very well. Arthas was a great hero who fell into darkness and evil, and the "what-ifs" he left in his wake still reverberate in the game all these years later.
The amount of lore I could tell you is off the charts, Arthas was there in Warcraft 3, you go through his journey of trying to defend his kingdom and take revenge on the enemy that cursed his people to undeath, he was forced to slaughter innocents of an entire city because they were all infected and there was no cure. His fueled thirst for revenge eventually drove him to Northrend where his blind revenge leads him to secretly destroy the ships so no one could go home before the mission was done, and then blamed the mercenaries that helped him do it. Eventually he picked up Frostmourne and while he had his revenge, he was corrupted. The prince that loved his people so much and did everything for them, had now turned into the very doom of his entire kingdom of Lordaeran, he killed his own father and launched a campaign of undeath across his own land and the neighboring lands. His story is tragic, his fate was monsterous, and it is said that if it wasn't for the sliver of good in Arthas that held back the scourge, the Lich King would have launched a full scale onslaught of the world.
Arthas, my son PLEASE I BEG OF YOU!!! Also he whole of Lion's Rest OST and especially Nightsong along with a specific cinematic that i'm not naming here because it's quite a lore spoiler if you care about a specific dragon aspect :'D
I am so glad you are covering WoW music now! God I love it so much, and have played the game for more than half my life. The music is something special, and encapsulates the zones and themes they try and display really REALLY well and I would LOVE to hear your analysis of other well known songs such as "Arthas, my son" ,"Lament of the Highborne", and "Daughter of the Sea" as they have some vocals, and some atmospheric music too, like Grizzly Hills or the new Azure Span music. But I can't wait and enjoyed your interpretation of this.
I will say that the lyrics are a mix of latin and some made up words, but it does have an official translation. It's uh, very, very cool. Edit: Ah, I see you found it in the video! I jumped the gun a little! Regardless though, this is one of the best tracks in WoW but I would also encourage you to give Anduin's theme a listen from the Legion expansion. Some context; Legion is when Anduin's father dies and he has to step up to be King. EDIT 2: You have picked the RIGHT TIME to start playing WoW by the way. You can level characters through any expansion now through the Chromie Time mechanic, so uh, literally go ahead and make multiple characters.
Invincible is one of the best music of Wow ever! And WoW has even more master piece music. I want never to forget them. I am a wow veteran (even that i stoped playing it after Shadowlands) but wow will always be special for me. I hope you will react for more wow music later ! Great video!
Amazing stuff Marco! To get more out of this story, I can recommend you to play some Warcraft 3, In the Human campaign you follow Arthas into this mysterious plague that has spread across his people, all the way til he ends up on the frozen throne. The Story of Arthas Menethil is the absolute most exciting and fascinating story I've ever been so much into, this story always gives me the reason to go back to WoW, start a character and get to cold lands of Northrend.
"I don't know who Arthas Menethil is" My friend. It sounds like you need to do an extensive deep dive into his entire story. He's easily one of my most favorite characters out of every story I've ever had the chance to read, watch, or play. He's amazing.
I've been waiting for this. 'Arthas My Son' is basically continuation of this song, in what Arthas slowly became after the death of his steed, you should listen that.
Suprise you didn't know Arthas even though you know WoW. I still remember when I was playing WC3 the first time, he's the coolest character I've seen until today, and the music was giving me extreme chill.
The first version of this song was played in the very last last moments of the last cinematic of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. It leaves you on such a tragic end with no real resolution to Arthas' story until World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King. I highly recommend watching the cinematic.
You need to do "Arthas, my son" next. It ties into this song very well. Arthas story is a very tragic one. He was the crown prince of the kingdom of Lordaeron and a gifted Paladin. He was willing to give and sacrifice anything to protect his home and kingdom. Arthas people respected and liked him, and his childhood friend Jaina (to which he was betrothed) really did love him. But when a new plague started ravaging the land, he went out to search for answers. He found out that the popluation who got the disease turned into undead, and when the population of a great city turned out to be all sick from the plague Arthas commanded the city to be purged. Jaina could not stand to watch him do this so she left.
Arthas during the purging figured out who was behind it all and chased them far to the north. During his journey he started to look for ways to gain more power, and in so doing, he gave his soul to the cursed blade Frostmourne, which corrupted his soul. He avenged the loss of his people and returned home, but he was a changed man. His father had arranged a great celebration for the return of his only son, but Arthas had other plans. During the celebrations, Arthas killed his own father and took the crown for himself, at the behest of the blade.
The kingdom of Lordaeron fell into despair and darkness, and undead rose from the graves now at Arthas command.
Skip forward some time, and Frostmourne beckons Arthas to travel north once again to find and protect the Lich King, from which the blade originally belonged to. Arthas complied, and at the end of his campaign he shattered the prison in which the Lich King was captive and claimed the crown for himself, thus making him the new Lich King.
This is an extreme summary, but it gives some basic outline to his story.
"No king rules forever" this song to me is more of a farewell to the prince arthas , and the great king he woul've become.
Yes!!!!
@Antagonistes well, unless Marco is planning to go through WC3 or read some books, the story of Arthas isn't really told within WoW anyway, beyond him becoming the Lich King and the aftermath of his defeat.
@Antagonistes I mean, he also doesn't have to read the comment as from the start its obvious he's giving a summary if Arthas's story so at that point if he doesn't want to be spoiled, he can stop reading and if he doesn't care then he now has the skeleton of the story so that he can flesh it out if he does decide to see the stories or read the wiki.
@@nicholasjacobs6605 I kinda feel this, it’s there if he wants to know a quick summary because let’s face it, the “quick” summary videos I’ve seen of his storyline tend to be like 25+ mins long.
This and Arthas, My Son is among the most important pieces of music in gaming industry. It's just not a great music. It's a great music written for a great fricking character. Literally one of the best there ever was.
Gaming industry? That stretches it veery far.... dont talk farther than ur own knowledge letd you ._.
@@Foatizenknechtl He's not wrong. It's definitely up there.
@@Foatizenknechtlbeans
@@Foatizenknechtl Yeah its definitely a pivotal character and turning stone in gaming history here to be fair.
@@Foatizenknechtl Does not make it any less true. Dont talk farthrr than your own knowledge lets you.
Coming in to echo what everyone else is saying:
Please do "Arthas, My Son" with the father's monologue. These two songs ('Invincible' and 'Arthas, My Son') are directly tied to each other and combine into an epic piece.
And the Father's voice actor sadly died last month. He also did the racial intros up to Cata and a few other characters like Magtheridon in BC.
@@DIEGhostfishOh, us too in France, our Terenas, and also Raynor and Chen (cinematic) voice actor Patrick Bethune died before the release of Mists of Pandaria. 😢
I see in English it's not better, Warcraft 3 Terenas Ted Whitney "passed away shortly after finishing his work". And now Earl Boen... Do one Terenas has to die each decade ?!
@@Aztonio Oh wow, that's utterly rotten./.
I'm glad you point out the starting areas, because we just recently lost Earl Boen, narrator for each racial introduction and a few other places/roles as well. A voice, maybe not as expectedly recognizable as Thrall, or Jaina, but instantly putting you back to that moment of first experiencing the beginning of a new adventure. And while I may never have known his name beforehand, he will for ever be missed.
Oh man he did?? That man is part of the reason I loved making characters. Sometimes I would make a new character just to hear the introduction narration.
Interestingly I don't remember how either Arthas or Jaina sounded, but starter zone intros have remained with me. Was he not also Arthas' father's voice in the ending of Icecrown or am I tripping?
@@loofy530 I believe yes, King Terenas Menethil II, and Magtheridon, the pit lord captured in dungeon/raid of hellsfire peninsula
A voice that was a major part of my teenage years, he will be missed indeed
Heaven needed a new intro cutscene.
Another great one from WoW would be "Lament of the highborne". I love the way you get to hear it, by finding a medallion in the ruins of an old elfic city destroyed long ago by an undead army and giving it back to the person it belonged to, turned undead as a result of the invasion. Instead of giving us a piece of armor or gold like usual quests, she just sings this very nostalgic song, once. It reminds me of the Devola/Popola version of Song of the Ancients you can get by doing an optional quest in Nier and it's the best kind of reward you can get in a game in my opinion !
UP
Man...
Arthas is honestly... One of the best fricking written character in gaming industry. There are a lot of good ones and Arthas is up there among the legends.
His story is so...
Heroic and tragic
So cold and evil...
I remember as a kid I used to learn the actual lyrics of the songs and sing them with the choir.
*An Karanir Thanagor,*
*Mor Ok Angalor*
Warcraft and WoW have a giant place in my soul
He is no heroic character. And tragic? Where? He is an arrogance, stupid little boy.
I wouldnt say its something special. This theme of "holy warrior going rogue" is pretty common both in gamin and literature. Anakin Skywalker for example.
@@majitel_restaurace Well....
I agree with you
This theme is not rare
There are a lot of characters who end up evil
It's just that every story hits different
It depends on a lot of things
It maybe nostalgia or maybe you can relate to something more.
In case of Anakin...
I love his character
But I don't really love how he turned to the dark side
He helped Palpatine kill Mace and then proceeded to kill children
I mean....
Yeah he was manipulated
He was emotionally wrecked from his mother dying and seeing all the nightmares.
And he was used by the counsel and felt betrayed by them but...
Killing children just to save your loved one from death
That's..
Not my vibe..
I can't justify that.
Love is important but... If you love someone so much that you're willing to kill children that's... A *wrong* love.
Arthas on the other hand
I can understand him and probably would do the same thing he did
An entire city was corrupted by plague and the people in it were doomed *NO MATTER WHAT* and they would turn into the undead and bring more death upon the kingdom.
Arthas decided to slaughter them. And it was the right choice even though it was horrible.
I can understand why Uther and Jaina felt horrible when he decided to do that
But I can understand that that was the right thing to do and they should've realized that too
But they called him a monster for that. He was "betrayed" by his teacher and lover
And then
Of course he wanted revenge
I would want to annihilate the person who forced me to kill innocent people to save more innocent people and who made me make a horrible choice that ended up ruining relationships with people that are very important to me.
And so he did exactly that
He was drunk with anger and he wanted justice (revenge) by any means necessary
And so he picked up that sword and sealed his fate
He murdered Malganis and took his revenge
But the pain from all of this *PLUS* the cursed blade turned him on a path of evil
I can justify his turn to evil
And...
I can imagine myself doing the exact same thing
There's a good quote
"A hero will sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice the world for you"
Anakin sacrificed the world for Padme and he became a villain
But Arthas sacrificed a city for the world and he was a hero because of it *BUT* the consequences of that action led him to a path that made him a villain
That's why I think Arthas is "special"
Well at least for me.
I would do what he would've done
Because it was right
Even though he killed children and other innocent people
It was a right decision
To save many I would've sacrificed the few
And probably would've gone on a same path of vengeance and became evil by picking that cursed sword and losing my mind to it
The amount of accurate lore he was able to decipher from this music is simply astonishing!
The steed is significant because the death of the steed is whats considered the moment Arthas fell to darkness. It's kind of like an Anakin Darth Vader situation. After that point he wanted to save everyone in his kingdom at any cost, even his own soul.
Once he became a death knight he brought his steed back to life in undeath, hence all the lines about serving well in both life and death.
"Rise old friend. I need your strength once again."
WoW music is generaly a treasure trove, primarily the Wrath of the Litch King tracks.
I would reccomend the track "Arthas my son", its similar to "Invincible" but it was my favourite of the two.
This song is titled Invincible because when he was young, Arthas thought so highly of his steed that he thought it was invincible, yet his own arrogance lead to its demise. As the Lich King, he thought himself invincible, and just as with his steed, this time, his own arrogance lead to his own demise. The same lyrics are used in Arthas My Son and it's almost like it's his own army that is chanting 'may he reign forever', as if this is how he views himself, the invincible King whose strength must never fail. The difference is, Arthas My Son is played at the start of the expansion, while Invincible is played at the end, during Arthas Death. (Or, his real, final death)
Seeing as how this song plays when he is dying, it could also be meant to be the last comparison of a dying character, the Prince who once mourned the death of his steed, to the King who has now taken countless innocent lives in the name of his ideals.
That's my takeway anyway.
Arthas is a great character, and a story about someone who is brash and arrogant, but is driven to madness by his love for his people and a need for vengeance no matter the cost.
Whatever the meaning of the song, one thing is for certain. No King Rules Forever.
Definitely his real final death with no poorly written indignities to follow. Yep.
@@DIEGhostfish shush you, the end of Shadowlands doesn't exist xD
I don't know if he was arrogant. If you read the books, he was a very kind and caring young man. It's just he was easy to get excited, he was impulsive and target-oriented. This is why the legion chose him as a target of corruption. He was baited into Northrend and corrupted by the agents of the legion. And it's not easy to resist when the legion itself is targeting you. But I think he was protected when he had his friends and his love. But they betrayed him. Uther was a holy fanatic with 0 logical sense, and everything he do was ligth light light, no personal credibility, no reasonable choices, just dogmatism. And Jaina just left him at the gates. The girl that he loved the most, just left him so easily. It's so tragical when we kill Arthas, we find Jaina's gift, not sure if it was a flower or something. Even in his wrath as a lich king, he had that part of his soul remain human. Again, if you check the lore, the lich king could have wiped everyone in a mere week if he wanted, but Arthas inside him was holding him back. He is a great man, I still love the young man Arthas, I feel his pain, and I always think that his corruption started from the Stratholm gates betrayal, not the Frostmorne.
As of Shadowland, I am not taking anything of it seriously, it's just a failed fan fiction that nobody should ever mention, so it's forgotten and hopefully retckoned.
I can totally imagine MrMeatball reading that shit, not understanding shit, still like it because you look passionated while talking about it
Thanks for the comments guys. Really interesting stuff
SO much music to be enjoyed from WoW, glad you enjoyed and greatly looking forward to more!
More to come!
There's a lot of bitter irony in this piece, as it plays at the death of Lich King, who is Athas Menethil. A very tragic character, and one of the most iconic villains in video games. The non Latin bits are taken from Athas' theme from Warcraft 3 'O thanagor' if you ever want to listen to the original version. If I could make a recommendation for WoWs soundtrack, it'd be Eversong Woods or Grizzly Hills. Those are some of the best music tracks in WoW bar none.
Shalandis Isle/Temple of the Moon. The original digital Night Elf Darnasus Shadowglen, Enchanted forest tracks, and the fully orchestrated remake for Val'shara in Legion, plus the Nightelf Cataclysm track "Nightsong" since he's Opera, Nightsong has actual vocals and thus is probably the best of those to review.
Just fyi, it's not real latin. It's made to sound like latin but is just labeled as "common" ie. the alliance language.
WoW has such a great collections of music over the years. One of my absolute favorite tracks came from Warlords of Draenor, which sadly got abandoned by the devs halfway through. However, that doesn’t take away from the song, “Malach.” I think it almost sounds like an ode to Draenor itself, which hosts both the Draenei and Orcs.
Malach is great - I personally really like the crowd created version
@@airinyourtires2931 damn i had totally forgot about that in the past years, remembered the feeling first time hearing the crowd version with Malukah I think(?) forgot lel
malach is super cool I recomend reacting to it
Back in 2014, Invincible was featured in Classic FM Hall of Fame top 300. I don't know how great this is, but I think Russell Brower, the composer, was mighty proud of it.
he also won 3 Emmy's for other work
3 other composers also worked on Invincible. Jason Hayes helped compose the music (he was the original composer of the melody back in Warcraft 3). Neal Acree, who composed Arthas, My Son, he wrote the lyrics for Invincible along with Derek Duke. So, it's not just Russell. It took 4 composers to make this masterpiece.
@@slinttu1378 There was also a stellar collab of composers/lyricists for the Pandaria soundtrack, two of whom I actually know in real life - one of them for decades now.. He never mentioned working on it, so when I saw his name in the credits I about plotzed on the spot.
WoW always killed it with their music. I could sit and listen in Howling Fjord for hours.
Yes! The music and ambience after sailing to Northrend and venturing to Howling Fjord for the first timewas one of the most memorable gaming experiences for me in my 35 years of gaming. I would sit there listening even while doing other tasks.
Ain't no thang but eating ice cream and casually leveling my 17 trillionth alt on a private server in Barrens and the oasis song bathing my ears, as well as the kolkar pack runner dazing and butchering me while I am heading towards to find Mankrik's wife.
@@abrahamovicovski Ha! This is all bringing such good memories. So many alts and so many online friends I never would have known otherwise.
@@Modioman69 being noob at wow in 2005 was one of the best high school memories I had. Time flies eh?..
My son. The day you were born, the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name, Arthas.
I agree you need to finish this by analyzing and combining "Arthas, My Son!" and "No king rules forever." Wrath and Catsclysm were two of the best expansions when it comes to WoW music. It's just so BEAUTIFUL.
I grew up on this stuff. This music never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The meaning and emotion it carries is so great and sad It's almost hard to handle.
Thank god you are finally doing WoW music ! There are so many amazing tracks. If you are interested in hearing, and seeing more I can only hope you would check the expansion cinematics, they are all beautiful and cool in their own right, and most of them have pretty memorable music, tho many amazing tracks can also be found simply in game.
_World of Warcraft_ (WoW) has a lot of good memorable music. I believe WoW was the first game where I noticed the beauty of music and how it fits the theme of the game, its environment and its vibe.
Other classical tracks which are my favourites: _Hall of the Guardian_ from the Legion patch and _Azuremyst Isle_ from the TBC patch. For some reason these tracks I remember are clear as day. Very magical and emotion evoking.
This song can bring you to tears. This is an epic piece of music. 😥
Thank you for World of Warcraft. I hope we see more.
If you want to know who Arthas was -
Arthas was once a paladin (light warrior) of Lordaeron, a nation located in Eastern Kingdoms. He was the crown prince of Lordaeron. Later, his nation Lordaeron was infected with a mysterious plague and its people were died and turned into undead creatures (scourge forces). Before the plague, Arthas had a steed named Invincible. One day, Arthas had an accident when he was out riding his steed Invincible (I think they fell off the cliff). Arthas survived the fall but his steed invincible was not so lucky. Not being able to witness Invincible suffering, Arthas had to end Invincible's life and buried him. When the plague hit Lordaeron, Arthas attempted to find out the source of the plague. Then, he learned that it was nacromancer named Kel'thuzad doing. Kel'thuzad served the Lich King who was the lord of the scourge. The Lich King doesn't have a physical appearance and his spirit was trapped in the icy prison called "The Frozen Throne" in Northrend, a frozen continent located at the North of the world. So, Arthas hunted down Kel'thuzad and learned the leader of the scourge a dreadlord named Mal'Ganis. After killing Kel'thuzad, Arthas attempted to hunt down Mal'Ganis who escaped to the Northrend. Arthas followed him to Northrend to revenge his fallen people. At Northrend, Arthas met a group of dwarves who were seeking for a mysterious artifact called "Frostmourne" which was the cursed blade of the Lich King. They teamed up together to hunt down Mal'Ganis. A couple of days later, Arthas' base was surrounded by Mal'Ganis scourge forces. Not being able to escape, Arthas suggested the Dwarf leader Muradin to look for the Frostmourne. Believing that Frostmourne was powerful enough to hunt down Mal'Ganis, Arthas decided to take Frostmourne. Muradin noticed and read inscription on the blade dias and learned that the blade is actually cursed. Muradin warned Arthas not to take up Frostmourne since it was cursed but Arthas didn't listen. After taking up the cursed blade, Arthas heard the Lich King voice in his head. With the help of Frostmourne, Arthas accomplished his plan of defeating Mal'Ganis and his scrouge forces but for a price, he finally lost his every last scent of humanity. His physical body became a puppet to be used by the Lich King. He finally killed every last one of his Lordaeron soldiers and raised them into undead scourge to serve as minions for the Lich King. Arthas finally returned to his home Lordaeron and murdered his own father (King Terenas). He later raised his beloved steed Invincible as a undead to serve as his steed once again. (His story goes on and on........I am gonna skip to the end). Arthas finally made his way to the Frozen Throne, broke the icy prison, released the Lich King spirit and fused the spirit with his body and became the new Lich King.
This opera is a tribute for the Lich King.
If you plan to play WoW, start with an RTS game called Warcraft III. WoW happened after the events of Warcraft III.
Holy shit!!!!!
I want to make a tiny little correction about how Invincible died, at least from what I remember of the book. A winter storm was coming through and Arthas was bored. He went against everyone's wishes to stay indoors and wait for the storm to pass as the roads were treacherous with ice. Arthas, believing it wouldn't affect him or his "invincible" steed, took Invincible out for a ride and was going exceedingly too fast. Invincible inevitably loses its footing and takes a nasty fall where he was injured to the point of bleeding out slowly and suffering. Arthas couldn't bear to watch his beloved steed suffer so he did end his life and buried him as you said. Which is why in WoW, Invincible's grave is on the side of the road near the farm he was born I think? Because their accident happened near there and it was the farmer who found Arthas passed out over Invincible's dead corpse.
that or this:
th-cam.com/video/HmaNJLb7UDE/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/foVP16AgDFU/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/c75pb6fDSDk/w-d-xo.html
It gets deep. For most people, killing the Lich King was the end of WoW. There are some fantastical narratives to backup the amazing music that comes with the game.
Yes, and the story of Arthas is told in Warcraft III, especially the expansion The Frozen Throne. His story continues in the World of Warcraft Expansion: Wrath of the Lich King. He is also referenced and mentioned many other times in WoW. Also, Arthas is a playable character in Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone.
I’d say it was his steed that gave Arthas the idea of what a “King” is meant to be, i.e. someone that will make difficult choices for the greater good
No matter what expansion, the WoW art and music dept. always blow it out of the water.
No opera singer reaction lasts forever my son.
I love this song, it’s heart wrenching when you realize that everything in it is what Arthas was supposed to be, what he failed to be.
Hi Marco! So happy you're listening to wow tracks, they have a lot to offer. If you want to keep doing wow videos, i think you might want to know that the different expansions login screen tracks are a collection of the main tracks you're going to listen to in that specific expansion, mixed together in one long track. So you might use those to get a general grasp of an expansion and then listen to the individual pieces. I can assure you that even the most simple questing area music in this game is great. For me, Battle for Azeroth login screen music would be a great place to start. The expansion was meh, but the music was incredible.
Great job as always
Good idea!
I've quit WoW about 2 or 3 years ago. I cannot remember exactly when. But it's the MMO I played when it first came out. I've been faithful to the game and it's story for a very long time. Listening to an old track like this stirs memories of me and my friends sitting up late at night trying to get gear for the Naxxramas raid.
These videos of yours, where you tap into your vast knowledge as a opera singer and you explain the exact emotions I felt back then I can't stop watching them!
Recently I've watched your FFXIV videos and League videos and all I can say is im glad I found your channel. It feels very comforting that other people listen to an old track you've got history with and explains the very exact same feels I had. Amazing work and I hope you keep this up! I'm sure you've got ALOT to react or listen to but, would you care to check out Destiny 2 or Destiny 1's music? Or revisit it?
These videos have been beyond entertaining and comforting!
I am so happy to see you react to WoW music! Wow has been such a big part of my life and seeing this made me so happy. Can't wait to see more of you! Also ps: I loved your role in Genshin. You did a great job !!
So glad you checked it out! I'm a huge WoW lore nerd, so I could type the entire history of Arthas without breaking a sweat. The piece is remembrance of times lost, Arthas was a hero of his people before his time ran out.
World of warcraft got some great pieces. Love the video and would love to hear your take on more of them!
I always said that a big part of WOW's ridiculous success for all those years were thanks of the music in lore and just for the ambience it had character , impact and in a way was so integral to the plot. To this day after years of not playing the game I listen to the soundtracks on a daily basis.
There’s few songs in gaming history, if any that hit me as hard as this one. So many memories and nostalgia attached to it. The song reminds me of excellent memories and time with friends I made during a very sad time in my life and the way it lifted my spirits will not be forgotten. Epic hardly even meets the criteria for what this music means to me 15+ years later. I enjoyed your reaction to this and I’m glad I found your channel.
Marco! Been following you since you started tiktok and just found this video, it was amazing, keep it up
The art and music of this franchise is unbelievable. The game can hit or miss and I haven’t been serious about it for a long time. But I’m sure that those two things are still great to this day.
How the… I MISSED THIS?!
One of the few WoW tracks that can actually draw a tear for me.
Not necessarily because it's sad, but this iteration of the game holds deep grip in my heart.
I love how you bring the music together with the text. It's so interessting, how composers can amplify words with their music, even though most ppl don't understand the text
:)
i dont know how but this song sends chills down my spine every time i hear it even after 10 fucking years
Invincible is a song I have love since I was a little girl. The way the voices sounds, the boom of the instruments, the flow, it all made me tear up back then. In highschool I learned the lyrics were latin and I actually took classes in school just to learn the meaning of the song. It made me cry for real. I am so happy to see you do this song, to hear your feelings as a professional and a lover of music. This was a great video. Thank you.
I'm so happy you finally got to react to one of my all time favorites in the wow saga. Thank you so much for this breakdown and your reaction...there are so many wow themes I would love to see you react to I don't even know where to begin...I would probably say "Xaxas" from Cataclysm or "Malach" from Warlords of Draenor. Again, thank you so much for this video
Finaly some WoW. One of my personal favorit songs is "Way of the monk"
Wow, nostalgia here for me!
World of Warcraft is a treasure trove of fascinating lore. The story of King Arthas is one I would absolutely recommend look up when you get the chance.
Well, this song's meaning got many layers in fact and multiple meanings, out of which all could be somewhat true.
Invincible, was one of the few beings in the world that the Lich King held dear. A steed that was fatally injured by his own stupidity when he was young, forcing him to end his mount's life to shorten its agony. It was one of the events that made him choose the path of a paladin - a holy warrior of virtue and light. Later, we - players - learn that as Arthas, turned into the incredibly powerful Lich King, ruling over the undead and posessing amazing necromantic powers, he reanimated his steed and probably held it dear unlike any other being in the world at that time.
So yeah, part of the song could be the King himself, reminiscing his memories of the faithful steed that he considered special and unlike any other, but lost it due to his own actions. The other part could be meant for the all the crowned heads that this story had touched: Arthas' father, the king that he killed. Arthas, the king-to-be who everyone praised but he fell to damnation. Or both of them AND the Lich King, that fell by the hands of the players, whose death was a huge breaking point in the game's world lore.
Yeah but the song doesn't answer the most important question about Invincible. Why is he called that if we can still see him?
@@DIEGhostfish Meme aside, it's because we the players aren't real beings in that universe. So we just see things the others don't.
@@DIEGhostfishInvincible was the name of the horse because it was how arthas felt ontop of them as they rode the world together. The irony clearly being that fate had grander tragedies in store.
Damn..WoW was the 1st game I played that the music has huge impact on the immersiveness and off-game, didn't found any until Arknights years later. WoW definitely is a treasure trove for musical analysis (mostly orchestra I believe).
edit: Russell Brower the composer once said something like "there can only be loud only if there is silence" or "silence makes loudness more impactful" or something like that. Always thought that statement is deep for some reason, not just in the musical world.
I remember the Saturday morning when I was a noob wandering around in Ironforge, found a subway station, rode the train to the end. Came out of the station and the music started playing…
I brace myself and still get goosebumps and tear up when I hear this music. Damnit man.
Several months late for a comment but you have to do some more warcraft stuff! So many good pieces of music. Even just tracks for beginning areas like Elwynn Forest. Hearing the music of the forest when you step into Goldshire is enough to bring me to tears these days. So many memories.
I'm so glad to see Invincible on this channel! Honestly, it's one of my favorite game songs of all time. It could be played at my funeral and I would feel honored.
Coming in late, but another stunning WoW piece is Canticle of Sacrifice. It's another Lyrics piece that's just absolutely gorgeous.
I'll check it out!
I think the holiness and reverence that comes with the musicality really demonstrates the precious things that were lost and makes the tragedy hit that much harder in context to when this plays. It's like the same in paintings, you emphasize the strength of two emotions by creating a dichotomy between opposing or diametric pairings, which ends up enhancing the experience of the emotions.
It's like when you find something that reminisce you of your childhood when you are sad kind of deal
I never knew what the words were. Now this piece is even more meaningful.
Thank you for reacting to this. I'd love to see more World of Warcraft reactions. Keep it dude ur awesome
Not that long ago, games (even online ones) were pure art that gripped at your feeling making you attach to the world, the lore, the characters. It stirred your emotions and gripped your soul.
Alas no king rules forever. Gaming isn't as good as it used to be, but from time to time you get something special. The music in WoW - Wrath of the Lich King was exceptional to me. It was pretty good in "Mist of Pandaria" too, but WotLK ? wow.
I hope in the future we start getting such amazing stories/music again.
Thanks for for reacting on this one. Love your channel, +1 sub 🙂
🥰🥰❤️
Hearing this as a 12 year old really sold the game for me when wrath came out. such a amazing story and music to go with it.
Arthas Menethil is a crown prince of the kingdom of Lordaeron. He had practice in the ways of the Paladin during his early year. During that, it is tradition for the royal to have a royal steed. Invincible is Arthas's royal steed, although it is not of a warhorse breed.
During his youth, while riding Invincible in one day, he accidentally fell into a pit (or ice? not sure on this part). While Arthas have just minor bruises, Invincible suffered heavily. His leg is broken, and some woods impale him. Arthas who is still new with the Paladin stuff can't use the Holy Light to heal him yet. And they are too far to call his Paladin master to help. Having no choice, he decided to end his steed's suffering. After that he vowed that he will save everyone he cared about.
But fates has a different plans for him. Arthas was let down a dark path, acquiring the cursed runeblade Frostmourne and becoming the first of the Lich King's Death Knight. After that he returned to his kingdom, kill his own father, plunge his kingdom into chaos and starting the Undead Scourge's a invasion of Lordaeron. During that time, he returned to Invincible's grave, and with his necromantic magic, he raised Invincible and ride him to war once more. He would later become the Lich King, and Invincible became a sought after prize for players who tries to defeat him.
1:46 that's what make this piece so magical the high note of the singer with the oboe
I started playing WoW in 2004 or 2005, and played it all the way through the end of Wrath of the Lick King. I still like to pull up the soundtracks and listen. Such great music and it really hits me in the feels.
lovely, I expected this piece to make it here sooner or later, I still listen to it sometimes, along lament of the highbourne.
WoW has a lot of amazing music, really cool to see you reacting and commenting on it. I like seeing your insights on the music as a professional.
Arthas is for me really interesting character, all he want to stop the Scrounge but end up being the one who bring it yo his hometown and the fallen of him really makes WOW storytelling me hook of the lore.
Yeah, Arthas was Peak warcraft. They have never done a story even close to his arc.
Super happy that you did this song and I look forward to more in the future. Maybe not the best song for you to recap, but my favorite is and always will be Totems of the Grizzlemaw (most people call it Grizzly Hills because the music is in that zone), from Wrath of the Lich King. Well done, sir!
Wrath of the Lich King has a lot of music that is charged with emotion. Tyrion's theme("A Call to Arms" in this case) is also awesome and more in the heroic side. Arthas' history is so damn charged with different emotions, and the cinematics(in wow in particular) tend to bring those emotions forward with great force. The intro cinematic of Wrath, where Arthas ressurects a Frost Wyrm has a ton of emotion in the background.
Arthas was the darth vader of warcraft 3. A prince and paladin that gave his very soul and was duped in hopes to save his kingdom from the undead scourge, the device he took up was frostmourne, it takes souls and it even takes the wielders. From this point forward arthas descends into a death knight and destroys his own kingdom as well as his father, his mentor and peers then summons a demon lord to conquer azeroth that his master serves at the time. He goes through a lot of mental struggles of betrayal by his family, lover and teacher. Bids his time then gets recalled to the frozen throne to ascend as the lich kings vessel, destroying his rival a half elven demon hunter who is half demon at the gates to the throne. He ascends and becomes one with the lich king merging into one being that holds guilt and fights itself somewhat, fighting a losing battle to resist the lich king in order to give the heroes time to stop him. He cut out his own heart to be less alive (nerzhul did this i believe as he keeps a pendent of his ex in a strongbox you can loot from him). The devs diverted this and tried to make him look like a power hungry typical villain but missed the mark so hard on his complexity. Invincible is a mix of his forced view on things, sorrow, sacrifice and heroism as well as the ability to rule forever is a piece of nerzhul's personality mixed with his own nobility. It was the horse he resurrected, realizing when dominated by the lich kings will that his subjects deaths no longer mattered- he could save them forever, perserve them and protect them no matter what with his power.
World of Warcraft has such an unique magical music...
2:47min. = Goosebumps.
The story of Arthas is and remains for me the highlight of World of Warcraft.
And yes, Blizzard was always great at 3 things.
1.) Music, just WoW!
2.) Telling a great Story.
3.) Senselessly destroying classes or making others too powerful, I never understood that. Oh yes and
3b.) not knowing when to stop milking a Dead Cow.
Thanks for the great video, I haven't heard the music for long time.🫶
I remember i recommended this a while back, happy you enjoyed it!
There's videogames with great music and there's World of Warcraft with music that makes me cry
Absolutely loved it, we need more wow music please Marco ! Keep doing great content
Yes! Warcraft is my favorite franchise ever and can't wait to hear more wow stuff from you! Thank you so much
the music in wow is and was just simply amazing, cause the music also shiftes when you enter a new zone or you engage an enemy.
Song gets me every time I watch the cinematic during ICC mog runs. "Father? Is it over?" 😭
I just switched from playing Elden ring back to Wow ( didnt played it for 10 years). You’re following my interests, i love it
I believe you would love reacting to "Canticle of sacrifice", "Lament of the Highborne" and "Nightsong" from Cataclysm as well as "Twilight's hammer". All in all I really enjoyed your reaction and your ability to pick up on things others might not be able to, very interesting !
Oooh Lament is great. Just listening to Lament reminds me why so many people wanted Sylvanus to gett a better shake... And how badly they fumbled trying to give her that.
I wondered will you ever react to WoW music and Im happy you did. There're so many great OSTs in this game!
You picked up on the underlying themes very well. Arthas was a great hero who fell into darkness and evil, and the "what-ifs" he left in his wake still reverberate in the game all these years later.
You made me appreciate this song much more, love the channel!
"Do you feel how this is heroic and mighty?" Mate, if you only knew.. :D
The amount of lore I could tell you is off the charts, Arthas was there in Warcraft 3, you go through his journey of trying to defend his kingdom and take revenge on the enemy that cursed his people to undeath, he was forced to slaughter innocents of an entire city because they were all infected and there was no cure. His fueled thirst for revenge eventually drove him to Northrend where his blind revenge leads him to secretly destroy the ships so no one could go home before the mission was done, and then blamed the mercenaries that helped him do it. Eventually he picked up Frostmourne and while he had his revenge, he was corrupted. The prince that loved his people so much and did everything for them, had now turned into the very doom of his entire kingdom of Lordaeran, he killed his own father and launched a campaign of undeath across his own land and the neighboring lands. His story is tragic, his fate was monsterous, and it is said that if it wasn't for the sliver of good in Arthas that held back the scourge, the Lich King would have launched a full scale onslaught of the world.
Arthas, my son PLEASE I BEG OF YOU!!! Also he whole of Lion's Rest OST and especially Nightsong along with a specific cinematic that i'm not naming here because it's quite a lore spoiler if you care about a specific dragon aspect :'D
This Song was something Else when you first hearing it in Wotlk just gives me flashbacks an Pure Chills hearing even now So many years later
2:47 almost cry... All I see are rose petals thrown to welcome the prince Arthas...
I am so glad you are covering WoW music now! God I love it so much, and have played the game for more than half my life. The music is something special, and encapsulates the zones and themes they try and display really REALLY well and I would LOVE to hear your analysis of other well known songs such as "Arthas, my son" ,"Lament of the Highborne", and "Daughter of the Sea" as they have some vocals, and some atmospheric music too, like Grizzly Hills or the new Azure Span music. But I can't wait and enjoyed your interpretation of this.
Now i know why this makes me produce tears
Would love more wow reactions
This and Anduins theme - A world divided - are in my opinion the best pieces in wow
I will say that the lyrics are a mix of latin and some made up words, but it does have an official translation. It's uh, very, very cool.
Edit: Ah, I see you found it in the video! I jumped the gun a little! Regardless though, this is one of the best tracks in WoW but I would also encourage you to give Anduin's theme a listen from the Legion expansion. Some context; Legion is when Anduin's father dies and he has to step up to be King.
EDIT 2: You have picked the RIGHT TIME to start playing WoW by the way. You can level characters through any expansion now through the Chromie Time mechanic, so uh, literally go ahead and make multiple characters.
Any expansion, but classic you still have to load up classic for. So many items I'll never get in lovr and vice versa
I'd say that you'd probably love Anduin's theme, the first time hearing it is something that I'll never forget
Invincible is one of the best music of Wow ever! And WoW has even more master piece music. I want never to forget them. I am a wow veteran (even that i stoped playing it after Shadowlands) but wow will always be special for me. I hope you will react for more wow music later ! Great video!
With this piece of music being as popular as it is, I'm astounded that we don't have more videos like yours that analyse it 🤔
Amazing stuff Marco!
To get more out of this story, I can recommend you to play some Warcraft 3, In the Human campaign you follow Arthas into this mysterious plague that has spread across his people, all the way til he ends up on the frozen throne.
The Story of Arthas Menethil is the absolute most exciting and fascinating story I've ever been so much into, this story always gives me the reason to go back to WoW, start a character and get to cold lands of Northrend.
Man, just finished reading the Arthas book. This vídeo was a perfect follow up.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Little nudge to do "Arthas, my son" since you said "Super soon" 2 weeks ago :P I'm excited to see it!
"I don't know who Arthas Menethil is" My friend. It sounds like you need to do an extensive deep dive into his entire story. He's easily one of my most favorite characters out of every story I've ever had the chance to read, watch, or play. He's amazing.
I've been waiting for this. 'Arthas My Son' is basically continuation of this song, in what Arthas slowly became after the death of his steed, you should listen that.
Suprise you didn't know Arthas even though you know WoW. I still remember when I was playing WC3 the first time, he's the coolest character I've seen until today, and the music was giving me extreme chill.
Oh man finally a video about my favourite song from WoW.
The first version of this song was played in the very last last moments of the last cinematic of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. It leaves you on such a tragic end with no real resolution to Arthas' story until World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King. I highly recommend watching the cinematic.
I was literally thinking "Man it'd be cool if he did some wow music." And was shocked to find you hadn't done ANY
I would love to see "Call to arms". Such an amazing song.