Then final battle against the Lich King in what was considered the best expansion for World of Warcraft to date is actually rather bittersweet.
You spend an entire game, nearly two years hunting and gathering the skill, powerful armor and weapons, and numbers to take down the Lich King. Then, he takes away all the triumph in the final cutscene with one sentence.
“Father… is it… over?”
It’s as if Arthas was as miserable being the Lich King as we were to suffer at his hands. It’s a Darth Vader style tragedy. Arthas is seduced by the Lich King’s power to merge with him to protect those he holds dear, and destroys it all in the end. So it’s almost as if once we’ve struck him down, he’s almost grateful.
In the actual boss fight, right before his health drops to zero, he says this phrase:
“Here I stand. The Lion before the Lambs. And they do not fear. They cannot fear…”
I’ll tell you. The writers at Blizzard know how to create a lasting game.