#deckard cain

And appreciate that Tyrael himself is actual the biggest nerd. He actively helped create the horadric language. You know who else creates secret languages. NERDS!

I love Tyrael. I love all the lore about the original Horadrim and I desperately wish we could get a Diablo spinoff game where we get to as a Horadric mage and go through the events of the dark exile. Want that so bad. But mostly just want to point out how adorable Tyrael gathering a bunch of what are essentially bookworms to fight evil.

*deep sigh, ok lets unpack this disaster

WHEN YOUTUBERS TRY TO REWRITE STORIES AND FRAME THEM AS BETTER

'The real reason why D3 story sucked *and how to fix it by Dark LORE Dash, is a rewrite of the Diablo 3 story that despite having all the material on the table, still manages to miss the mark by a hundred miles.

So by now we all know the complaints people had of the D3 story; the players OPness, female Prime Evil Diablo, humanized Tyrael and Deckard Cain's death, of which are adressed on the video, so lets see how the creator tries to fix these:

The story is a mix of the Diablo Immortal campaign and some wild Deckard Cain fanfiction: At the end of D2 Tyrael shatters the World Stone, sacrificing himself in the process but trapping his essence into El-Druin and somehow fusing with a corrupted shard of the stone. The sword then falls into Sanctuary and is embedded into a stone, and very much like the Arthurian legend, attracts many travallers and to-be heroes into trying to pull it out of the stone, but none can lift it, none except elderly Deckard Cain. Reframing him from a lorekeeper into the main protagonist and burdenbearer of this task and pushing the main player into the role of an escort and a witness.

I understand where this idea was coming from, he is trying to change the idea of a chosen human/nephelem, by shoving it into...another chosen human. I understand it's not quite the same because Cain is still a frail old man and the player would still be doing most of the heavy lifting, but this still doesn't explain why a random human—who is not even 'chosen'—can still stand against the forces Hell just like the nephelem can. And you can't convince me that this wouldn't make the player, who's role would now by shoved into the sidelines, absolutely despise Cain.

The problem with his death was not that he died (the man was over a hundred years old, it was going to happen eventually), but the fact that is was very underwhelming and served very little to the plot. The answer should lie into making Cain's death feel memorable.

It's also never explained why Cain is able to lift it, other than "it responds to him", it could just be that Tyrael chose him because he was Horadrim, but why would he pick and old man to bear the burden of the world? (I'll go back to this)

And I'm not a fan of removing Leah entirely. That people found her annoying does not erase that her story was dark, and in my opinion fairly compelling. A child born just to serve as a vessel for her demonic father, it fits very well into Diablo's universe. And now that she hasn't been born at all, his plan completely fall short, which brings me to the next point:

What was the point of all of this?

The plot of the story is kinda muddy and it took me a few watches to get it properly, and correct me if I'm wrong because at times I still feel like I don't get it

The drive of the plot is that, the sword is a beacon that attracks demons and Cain must carry the El'druin back the the heavenly waters of Heaven to "purify" it. (very compelling I know). Basically shoving the sword into the role that the Soul Shards played in Diablo Immortal.

But a Soul Shard did not mean the end of Sanctuary and it would still be weird if this was changed to be the case. A more compelling argument would be that Tyrael's essence simply wants to be purified so he doesn't have to share a flat with Baal's influence. But this still does not explain why Cain decides to go on this pigrimage. His "drive is just that he is "chosen" or Tyrael compells him, but I still think both are very weak motivations to have for your hero character

The rewrite wants the sword to be a mythic burden, but also a swiss-army-knife plot device. The actual function of the sword isn’t consistent. Is it a key, a curse, Tyrael’s soul, or a superweapon? The story never decides, so Cain’s motivation for carrying it (and ours for following him) feels forced.

And this is where you, the player, walk beside Kane as he shoulders the fate of the world. Your party's strength matters, but the destiny lies ultimately with him. The stakes are now higher than ever as every battle is a risk. Cain's frailty makes his survival uncertain, and should he fall, Tyrael's essence will be reclaimed by hell.

So is it the fate of the world or the fate of Tyrael? I thought D3 was supposed to be the end of days, instead we are made to escort an old man so he can help his angel companion, this is what it is, and I don't think it makes for a compelling narrative.

It also changes what I consider to be one of D3 strongest plot points, and that is Tyrael's fall. You may not like that Tyrael ended up looking human, but his actions as the aspect of Justice—Sacrificing EVERYTHING to protect humanity, to protect the innocent—undoubtedly makes for a strong character. Completely removing this you are just making a hotpot of less interesting characters to give some spotlight to the old man, of which agency of his own, here he has little.

"Diablo's pre-act cinematics showcasing that Heaven's Angels must maintain unity for their powers to be effective."

The “unity” line from Wrath isn’t meant like a shonen anime rule (“their magic is only strong when their friendship meter is full”). It’s thematic. Unity embodies what angels stand for: order, harmony, and collective purpose. When they fracture, they fail not because their lasers stop working, but because chaos and dissonance contradict their very essence.

So next: Zoltun Kulle

At the close of act one, Cain reveals the only hope of reaching heaven, according to Tyrael, lies in a horadric vault buried deep in the Caldium desert. The path is suprisingly clear and they find Ashira from D2 (INTRODUCE NEW GUYS MY DUDE) guarding the gate, claiming her band of warriors had struck down Belial. Cain, weary, senses a deception beneath the pageantry. When the heroes reveal their quest for the Horadric vault (why did they reaveal their plans if they didn't trust her?), Ashira directs them towards a rumored sanctum buried in the desert. There, Cain uses El-Druin as a key, unsealing the ancient locks. The vault is unguarded, and inside is no treasure horde, but instead horror balls slick with preserved gore of long dead Horadrum, frozen between rot and freshness. that the vault's heart lies an ancient Zultun Kulle bound in place by runes of binding much like Tal-rasha (but why would we want to repeat what happened to Tal-rasha?) Zoltun Kulle tells them he wanted to improve on Tal-Rasha's work and learned how to do the ritual from Tyrael, though he rebukes this (it's implied Belial was behind this). To make the soulstone, he sacrificed his fellow Horadrim, believing it was necessary for perfection, but it left him cursed and trapped. The twist: when the Prime Evils’ soulstones were shattered in Diablo II, their essence didn’t vanish, it was sucked into this black soulstone instead. Before dying, Kulle gives the heroes a Herodric scroll that reveals the path to Heaven, saying only the waters of Heaven can purify the stone. So Cain then takes on an even greater burden: not just El’druin, but also the black soulstone

So we just get Tal-Rasha 2.0

In Diablo 3, Kulle is arrogant, cunning, and egotistical, he loved his own brilliance and was convinced the Horadrim were fools for rejecting him. Making him a tragic prisoner who regrets what he did and just passes on wisdom makes him feel generic. It strips away his signature charismatic menace, turning him into yet another “fallen sage.”

In canon, Kulle’s Black Soulstone is his crowning achievement, created deliberately to bind the Prime Evils, not some cursed accident he regretted.

Here it’s reframed as an incomplete, corrupted project that backfired, which undermines his pride and brilliance.

It also misrepresents soulstone mechanics: the Prime Evils didn’t just “flow” into Kulle’s stone when the old ones were shattered. that contradicts the established function of their containment (what does he have against Adria?)

In D3, Kulle wants resurrection, power, and vindication; he manipulates the Nephalem to get his body back. In this rewrite, he’s just a living vault, sealed, passive, and waiting for the heroes to stumble upon him. That’s far less engaging than an active schemer with ambitions and it undermines his conflict with the horadrim.

He wanted to use the soulstones differently, saw further than them, and was condemned for it, so what happened to that conflict? Why is he suddenly everyone a goodie two shoes? Is this the Diablo you envision?.

This version makes Cain carry both El’druin and the black soulstone.

That muddies Cain’s symbolic role, he’s meant to be the keeper of knowledgebut now he is a vessel overloaded with artifacts.

Second; what is up with the holy waters of Heaven? The black stone was never an artifact to be "purified", it was a universal prison. No angelic water ritual could “fix” it. The whole point is: it’s a doomsday artifact that no one should be using, but everyone tries to anyway.

Zoltun Kulle Soul stone here is a magic syphon that somehow manages to draw all of the prime evils essence after being destroyed in D2, instead of what it is, which is a vessel to be housed.

(Also it's never adressed how the soul stone affects him? How he didn't turn into the Dark Wanderer 2.0 or at the very least had major problems like Neyrelle did, the old man is just that OP)

Then theres some journey shenanigans through Caldeum (it's not actually relevant) and go to mount Arreat where a huge crater has been formed out of the World Stone's destruction, that houses an outpost for Azmodan's domain, they kill him and trap him the soul stone.

Act IV: THE MALTHAEL PROBLEM

Ok buckle up for this one.

The heroes, guided by Tyrael’s spirit within El’druin, enter the High Heavens. Imperius and the Angiris Council confront them, enraged that Cain bears both El’druin and the Black Soulstone. Imperius, provoked by Diablo’s laughter within the stone, strikes at Cain, but Maltheal sacrifices himself and is slain instead (His last words are;" Trust in wisdom" *THROWS COMPUTER OUT THE WINDOW) The soulstone cracks, releasing Diablo as the Prime Evil. Diablo mortally wounds Imperius, shatters Heaven’s gates, and unleashes a tide of demons. The heroes drag a dying Cain toward the Heaven’s Spire, where he throws himself with El’druin into the holy waters. Though impaled by Diablo, because the old man tried to charge at Diablo with his century old legs. Cain’s sacrifice restores Tyrael, who rallies the angels. The Angiris Council unites, but even their combined might falters against Diablo’s overwhelming power. Just as all seems lost, a new, unknown angel descends in radiant blue light and joins the council. To everyone’s shock, it is Cain reborn as the Archangel of Wisdom. The Prime Evil is defeated, Heaven endures, and Cain now sits among the Angiris Council. In the epilogue, Imperius broods over his unhealed wound from Diablo, which begins to corrupt him into a demonic form, a final cliffhanger that closes the story.

Safe to say I was stunned, I usually approve of any fanfiction of any kind but trying to frame this as actually BETTER than D3... I think I'm just going to have to call the police.

There is one very easy solution to the player's OPness and that is by making the people who have been fighting demons for literal EONS, ACTUALLY competent. They where not competend in D3 but I'll have that any time.

Again we are making the characters more flat than what they were in D3, and that's already a low bar.

Malthael is a somewhat complicated character in canon, why are we throwing away his entire character for him to become a throwaway meat shield for Cain who dies instantly, no arc, no menace, just a sacrifice for Deckard; MIND YOU a man he does not even know, and a human at that! Why are we COMPLETELY changing all of his character so he can become...that.

His departure meant instability in Heaven, it has to be worth noting that if he hadn't left, HE was the leader of the Angiris council, not Imperius. So the leader of the angiris council just threw himself infront of a random mortal, because "trust in wisdom" (wouldn't Itherael be better here? He literally sees the future, or Auriel who championed for humanity even before Tyrael did, At least I'm glad they were spared from this atrocity), jeopardizing his kin and the war they have been fighting millenia, does this sound wise to you?

I'm not the most versed person in Malthael, but this really is throwing away someone who had a pretty decent arc about how wisdom leads to dispair, how he was so desperate to win this fight he'd been involved in for eons, he was willing to wipe the life out of an entire planet to achieve it.

It also makes the angels look childishly incompetent (remember how I said the solution to the main character's OPness is to balance the scales of the people who had been fighting with demons since the dawn of Time? And also so they don't have to spend the whole game sucking up the player? Yea that), Imperius kills his brother and leader by accident because Diablo laughs at him. How valorous of him

The Angiris Council is portrayed as dithering or useless, while the mortals once again have to solve everything. Their supposed unity means nothing; they’re always one step behind, always being tricked, always falling apart. It turns them into props instead of cosmic powers (WHICH IS WHAT THEY ARE)

And as a tangent this also makes Diablo's plan almost look almost coincidental, like that was barely any schemeing, this was all luck. (no Adria, no Leah)

Here, the plan is… wait for Cain to drag a rock into Heaven and then bust out of it by accident. That’s cartoon-villain dumb, not cunning demon lord smart.

Worse, Diablo’s actual presence is shallow. He just pops out, flexes, almost kills Imperius, and then gets punked by Cain’s sacrifice + Tyrael’s rebirth. That’s not mythic evil, that’s generic final boss energy.

And now for my biggest gripe:

DECKARD CAIN ASCENDS TO ARCHANGEL

Idk even what to say. It´s just why.

Cain, a mortal old man, gets plucked up into their ranks into archangel and it completely obliterates the metaphysics of what angels are supposed to be. Angels aren’t just “powerful beings”; they are the literal predecessors to humanity, born of Anu himself, cosmic entities with fixed roles and essence. Their hierarchy isn’t some flexible club you can randomly join. Specially not an ARCHANGEL, of which out of hundreds of thousands there is only five.

So to wrap it up:

The best Diablo beats are messy choices:, Adria betraying, Kulle tempting the Nephalem, even Tyrael wrestling with disobedience. In this rewrite, everything is simplified to “good guys must stop evil artifact with predictable steps.” That drains away the delicious ambiguity and suspicion that gives Diablo its flavor..

It’s a straight line of “find stone → purify stone → use stone → final battle.”

Diablo is supposed to be about corruption, temptation, and the fragility of humanity in a cosmic war.

Favorite NPC of all time?

Feed your dashboard by answering my question, blogger.

Still find it hilarious that I got this, considering I haven’t even posted anything gaming-related yet. But okay, challenge accepted.

First pick: Travis Hackett from The Quarry. Permanently exhausted sheriff, completely done with his family’s nonsense, and morally all over the place. Naturally, that just makes him more interesting.

Deckard Cain from Diablo, obviously. Because staying a while and listening is a classic for a reason.

And Dr. Hill from Until Dawn, for that deeply unsettling psychological energy.

Travis: Love the look of him here 🖤

Deckard Cain: Stay a while and listen....

Dr. Hill: Everything you do, everything you say, has an effect…

Stay a while and listen

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