“ | It was my honor to command the battalion. We executed Neltharion's will precisely. Our discipline and devotion were unmatched. | „ |
~ Emberthal explaining her and the Dracthyr's past loyalty towards Neltharion. |
“ | So he...locked us away, forgot we even existed. It would have been kind to simply destroy us. | „ |
~ Emberthal sadly coming to the realization on why she and the Dracthyr were locked away by Neltharion. |
“ | My story will be my own. | „ |
~ Emberthal choosing to forge and follow her own path. |
Scalecommander Emberthal is a major NPC character in the World of Warcraft expansion pack Dragonflight. A member of a race of humanoid-dragon soldiers known as the Dracthyr, Emberthal was the leader/commander of the weyrn known as the Adamant Vigil, who served as the eye and ears of the Black Dragonflight. However, she and her people were then sealed away for thousands of years by their creator, Neltharion, as he deemed the Dracthyr a risk.
Due to her imprisonment while under magical stasis, Emberthal lost track of time and didn't know of what became of her creator and master. She and her kind would eventually be freed from their prison when the Primalists attacked their home island, the Forbidden Reach. Following the freeing of Raszageth, this forced the Dracthyr to leave their home and seek their own path and future, though Emberthal stayed behind to search for answers. During that time, she would meet the Dragon Aspect Nozdormu, who revealed to Emberthal that Neltharion became corrupted by the whispers of the Old Gods, which lead him to betray his fellow Dragon Aspects, becoming Deathwing in the process, though Emberthal refused to believe it at first, since she believed that it is not the creator she knows.
She eventually learned of Neltharion's reason on why he sealed away the Dracthyr in the first place prior to his corruption. Following Raszageth's death, she seeks to reclaim the Forbidden Reach. During that time she would meet and form a partnership with Ebyssian, a son of Deathwing, though it proved to not be smooth. During the events of Embers of Neltharion, Emberthal seeks to stop her fellow (but rogue) Scalecommander Sarkareth from seeking to control Neltharion's laboratory Abberus. She eventually discovered that Sarkareth had claimed the titan-forged gauntlet known as Oathbinder, which he attempts to use to enslave the Dracthyr in order to achieve "unity". His goal was thwarted, however, and this allowed an enraged Emberthal to destroy Oathbinder, forcing Sarkareth to retreat.
During her second encounter with the latter, she, while aided by adventurers, was able to beat Sarkareth in battle, forcing him to retreat once again. When Wrathion and Sabellion, two other sons of Deathwing, goes to stop Sarkareth from taking control of their father's lab, Emberthal decided to stay behind as she had become weary of fighting against her own kind, and she decided to find other Dracthyr who also seek Neltharion's legacy. Following Sarkareth's death, Emberthal treats his corpse with respect and she hopes that his memory will serve as a lesson for those who seek power.
Knowing that its time for Dracthyr to forge their own path, Emberthal hoped that it will be far from the past that has haunted them for long. Despite Sarkareth's death, she learns that the Sundered Flame, formerly called the Ebon Scales, continued their fallen commander's cause. When the Sundered Flame were convinced to become the Ebon Scales once more, Emberthal agrees to become their new Scalecommander before pledging to bring all the Dracthyr together, thus uniting them as one.
In World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Emberthal is voiced by Laila Berzins.
Personality[]
In the past, Emberthal was an proficient army commander who possessed a strong loyalty and devotion towards her creator Neltharion, whom she sees as her general. Due to her strong discipline, she executed her master's will with absolute obedience and even a mere moment of defiance is far from her personality. However, her loyalty is the result of being bonded to Neltharion's will, due to the ancient magic of the Oathbinder, which Neltharion used to have complete control over the Dracthyr, who were created only to serve as ideal soldiers to counter threats in Azeroth. When the Dracthyr were unexpectedly ambushed by the Primalists during the Primalist Rebellion, which resulted in the deaths of many Dracthyr, Emberthal was left pained and traumatized, as many of them were her friends.
When Neltharion, with the aid of Malygos, places all the Dracthyr in a magical and slumbering imprisonment, she reacted in complete shock upon seeing her kind becoming magically frozen in place. Prior to being fully put in magic stasis, she tried to reach a hand towards her master in an act of desperation.
When Emberthal finally awoken from her slumber, she was left mostly amnesiac, as due to being imprisoned for years, her memories became a blur, causing her to not recall a lot. However, she still remembers Neltharion as her creator and master as well as her fellow scalecommanders. Due to her blurred out memories, this caused Emberthal to seek out answers of her past.
She appears to have a sense of caution and distrust towards strangers or anybody she doesn't know. This is evident during her first encounter with Nozdormu, one of the Dragon Aspects. In addition, since she still possessed loyalty towards her creator, she refuses to follow or obey commands from others. However, because of her long confinement and having lost track of time, she never knew of Neltharion's transformation into Deathwing and his death.
When Nozdormu showed her the past and of Neltharion's descent into villainy, which led to him turning on the other Dragon Aspects and dragon flights, Emberthal at first was disbelieving of the truth but soon grew to accept the fate that befell Neltharion. After learning that her master had sealed her and her kind away and had forgotten about them, Emberthal, now fully regaining her memories, was left shocked and devastated by his reason and she believed that Neltharion could have just simply destroyed them, since she sees it as more merciful.
Because of the past, that has now haunted her, Emberthal decided to follow her own path and seek out her own future. In addition, she seeks to let the other Dracthyr follow in her footsteps so that they could have bright and better lives, one that is far from the past. This extended to the point where she believed that the Dracthyr should not no longer be enslaved against their will and should deserve the freedom to create their own paths.
Because of the Dracthyr's current state following their awakening, Emberthal developed a strong loyalty and compassion towards her people. Due to strongly caring for her kind, she sees them as her family. She is also known to be a tragic individual; the loss of the Adamant Vigil had a negative impact on her, where she developed a sense of loliness after she emerged alone from her creche while all the Adamant Vigil had perished, which became one of the greatest pains in her life. Despite this, she held a strong resentment for her former comrade Sarkareth, who killed several Dracthyr in his selfish quest to seek his legacy. However, despite her anger, she still possesses a strong sense of justice and is still shown to be merciful as she is willing to give him a second chance and even attempted to convince him to abandon his goal but for naught.
Though she willingly fought Sarkareth to prevent him from achieving what he seeks, Emberthal (because of her loyalty towards the Dracthyr), in the end, chose not to fight him anymore, despite her sense of justice. This is evident as when Sabellion and Wrathion seeks to stop Scalecommander Sarkareth from taking control of Abberus, Emberthal willingly chose to stay behind, due to having grow weary of fighting her own kind and having known that Sarkareth is lost within his own rage and ambition. In addition, in Fury Incarnate, she is shown to have become a pacifist of sorts, as she tried to stop a conflict with the Sundered Flame through words and reasons rather than through brute force, much like Alexstrasza, the Dragon Queen.
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