I don't see it mentioned here yet, so I will be the first to say:
During the cinematic, I really loved the subtle symbolism of [npc=237510] having reforged his father's shield with gold (or painting the seams gold), instead of making it seem like the shield was perfectly remade.
This is a centuries-old practice done by Japanese artisans called "kintsugi" (literally, "gold joining"). While the practice began likely from an aesthetic point of view, it has evolved to become a philosophical practice, too. Basically, a broken thing is not ruined for being broken: it is simply in a different state than before. To make the thing useable again, it must be mended -- but the mending doesn't decrease its value. It is believed that mending with gold instead adds value (and beauty). That the thing has more value and beauty now, being mended with gold, than it did before it was broken at all. I think an equivalent idea in English is something like "we are more beautiful for our scars". Something like that. Because this mentality can be applied to us humans, too, kintsugi has even grown into a meditative practice, too! I'm not sure exactly what is meditated on aside from the aforementioned concepts. I presume that depends on the person.
There are plenty of videos about kintsugi online, if you're interested to learn more. :)
Anyway, it was nice to see this symbolism in the cinematic. It conveyed a lot without saying anything at all -- something I wish Blizzard did more of in WoW.
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On a wholly different note:
After the cinematic, hearing [npc=237511] run up to [npc=237510] and ask him, "Why do you still have the shield? Didn't you give it to your father?" was jarring in an amusing way (is there a word for that?). How surprisingly thoughtless of someone who previously seemed so emotionally intelligent. It's one of those things that you'd expect a child to blurt out at the worst possible time, lol!
TheWoWDB
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