As I opened my last loot sack from the Horseman, and watched tearfully as nothing came out but a flimsy orc mask and a couple dozen points, I began to ponder the holiday in a much grander scheme.  Hallow’s End is supposed to be the Azerothian equivalent of Halloween right? But it is a bit different now isn’t it – especially in its origins. While, yes, historically before the rise of the scourge and the Third War, Hallow’s End was a popular holiday in Lordaeron.  Typically used to celebrate the end of the harvest season, then when the Forsaken declared their independence from the greater whole of the Scourge, they used the holiday (as much of them I imagine were from Lordaeron) to celebrate that instead.  Sort of a Forsaken 4th of July or something.  So it makes sense for the Forsaken to observe the holiday every year.  However, I don’t understand why everyone else is Azeroth also celebrates it.

Did the Alliance decide to still celebrate it as a form of celebration of the harvest?  Then what exactly is the Harvest Festival that happens in September? Is that not there to celebrate the Harvest?  It’s not, you say? It’s for celebrating the fallen soldiers in battle?  Then why the heck is it called a “Harvest Festival” if it has absolutely nothing to do the actual harvest?  Well, what about Pilgrim’s Bounty?  Don’t try to explain to me that somehow it’s to celebrate the first Alliance to settle on Kalimdor and make peace with the natives by lying about how well it went to make it seem a bit more pleasant for the children.  If you’re shaking your head at this, and you should be, it’s because the official lore behind the Pilgrim’s Bounty is zilch. Nada. Non-existent. The only purpose of the holiday is to eat and eat all the lovely food and is roughly modeled around the United States holiday of Thanksgiving (and to level cooking.) Which surprisingly enough is celebrated in the fashion of, and partly is meant to be, A HARVEST FESTIVAL.

So the Alliance have a Harvest Festival that has nothing to do with the harvest, an actual harvest festival called ‘Pilgrim’s Bounty’ (Still waiting to figure out where and when the heck that either the Alliance OR Horde had pilgrims that just happened to wear puritan pilgrim clothing like in our world) and yet somehow we’re expected to believe that the humans, dwarves, night elves and even the otherworldly draenei have all taken up the tradition of celebrating the Lordaeron Harvest Festival at the same time as the Forsaken.  In order to “take it back” perhaps?  Because your people obviously are hurting for Holidays involving the harvest season.

The Horde celebrating it makes a bit more sense.  The Forsaken are all over the place, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the holiday had spread out a bit because of it.  Still, seems odd for the Tauren to get behind a Forsaken holiday, doesn’t it?  I would think they’d be the first to slap down a full out ban on Hallow’s End treats in their territories and rally protests and complaints (I always picture a Tauren sitting on a bench eyeing a Forsaken from afar and muttering to his friend, “Sometimes dead is better.”)  They are usually not very fond of the Forsaken and their “habits.”  Which brings to mind another question, do you think the Church of Light has an issue with Hallow’s End?  Would they still consider it a “devil holiday” like some denominations of the Christian faith do in our world?  Can’t see how they could really.  After all, the “devils” or demons of Azeroth are all very real, and people know what they look like, heck they’ve probably stabbed quite a few over the years.  It’s pretty obvious that the entire holiday is more of a “Scourge” thing than a “Burning Legion” thing (Loremasters: I am completely aware of how the two are related historically, but this a strictly post-Lich King quitting the Legion’s plan thing.)  Now that I think about it, that might explain why all the masks and costumes are just other races in Azeroth.  If I was constantly assaulted by demons and dragons all day, I’d dress up as something a bit more pleasant, like your neighbors.  It helps that your neighbors happen to be gnomes, aliens, and orcs as well I suppose.

Still I can’t imagine that the Church of the Light would be okay with the participation of a holiday which is mainly observed by the undead.  Even if they’re willing to over look it a little because it once was a holiday observed in old Lordaeron, it’s frickin Zombie 4th of July now!  I suppose it’s a bit odd that I actually want the Church of the Light to negatively respond to the holiday, but I think it would be so much fun.  They could create a Hell House for it and everything that shows Alliance children the horrible and frightening “truth” to being undead.  They could even hold in the abandoned Argent Dawn office across the plaza from the Cathedral! (What? It’s not like they’re using it. They formed the Argent Crusade now, and besides, those heathens even let undead into their organization!) Can’t you imagine the fun it would be as they explain how doing things like “hanging out with orcs” or “abusing Blood Elf magics” could be unwillingly steering them down the path to undeath?  Come on, we can all think of cheesy anti-Horde or anti-Alliance propaganda and Hallow’s End seems like a great time to express it since it’s our Azerothian flip side to the “Devil’s Holiday” here on Earth!

So those are just some of my thoughts on the past holiday we’ve had. I apologize for not being more frequent with my updates but October has been slamming me with a ton of extra things I’ve had to do in my personal life.  I’ve got myself on a bit more of a rigid guideline for November though: at least 1 post per week and a new Video Oddity.  So look forward to a bit less sparse posting here at OddCraft, and expect a lot more when Cataclysm comes in December. After all, the Tales of Vrykerion are about to begin…