Summary
World of Warcraftfans are upset about some details fromThe Dragonflight Codex: A Definitive Guide to the Dragons of Azeroth, Blizzard’s latest lore book. Though the codex offers some interesting worldbuilding, certain parts of it rely on outdated racist tropes, and seem incongruent with things presented inWorld of Warcraftitself.
The Dragonflight Codexis the latestWorld of Warcraftlore book, which promised to delve into the history, culture, and physiology of the dragons of Azeroth from the perspective of Khadgar, apopularWoWcharacter that was erroneously identified as a dragonin the book’s original summary. After being announced over a year ago,World of Warcraftfinally releasedThe Dragonflight Codexon December 26.
However, now that the book is out, fans are not impressed by what they’ve read.World of Warcraftfan, critic, and inclusivity advocate BaalTheWarlock got a copy ofThe Dragonflight Codexshortly after its release and poured through its pages. As he shared his findings on Twitter, he was disappointed with what he found. Several parts of the book rely on problematic racist stereotypes towards the Trolls, such as one passage that callsWorld of WarcraftNight Elves“lithe and graceful beings of superior intellect” in comparison to the Dark Trolls they once were. What’s more, putting these words in Khadgar’s mouth makes the kind and compromising wizard seem ignorant, disappointing his fans.
There were some strange inconsistencies with recentWorld of Warcraftevents as well. Despite being the new Aspect of the Black Dragons, Ebyssian only gets one page to Sabellian and Wrathion’s two each, and is mentioned after both of them. Likewise, Merithra’s page doesn’t bring up that she is thenew Aspect of the Green Dragonflight inWorld of Warcraft, leading some fans to wonder if Blizzard changed its mind on some story details after this book was already written.
This isn’t the firstWorld of Warcraftbook to cause problems.The Grimoire of the Shadowlands and BeyondandExploring Azeroth: Kalimdoralso had clashing lore details and painted races like Tauren and Trolls – both of which take inspiration from actual marginalized cultures – as foolish. Of the two,Exploring Azeroth: Kalmidorwas especially egregious, as it threw several popularWorld of Warcraftcharacters under the bus while doing so. It seemsThe Dragonflight Codexhas followed its predecessors’ troubled footsteps.
That said,some recentWorld of Warcraftlore books, likeExploring Azeroth: Eastern Kingdoms, plus its Northrend and Pandaria counterparts, have all been well-received. Hopefully,World of Warcraftcan do better with its future books, avoid falling into racist stereotypes, and correct its course like it did with groups like the Ohn’ahran Plains centaur.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
WHERE TO PLAY
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight was developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the ninth expansion pack for the iconic massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft.Dragonflight features an overhauled user interface, raises the level cap to 70, and introduces a new race and class.
