MAIEV SHADOWSONG

Warden Maiev Shadowsong, along with her younger brother Jarod Shadowsong, played a key role in the battle against the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients. In the aftermath, Maiev asked to be and was appointed the jailor of Illidan Stormrage and took on the mantle of leader of the Watchers. After Illidan rose to power in Outland, Maiev was imprisoned at the Warden's Cage in Shadowmoon Valley, where Akama and his Ashtongue Deathsworn served as her jailors.

Maiev allied with Akama and snuck into to the Black Temple during a Sha'tari attack, where she joined Akama and the adventurers he had rallied in the final battle against Illidan. Fuelled by the desire for vengeance, Maiev struck the final blow that ended the Betrayer's life...but instead of relishing in her victory, she became a shell of her former self, admitting that with Illidan now dead, she was nothing.

Maiev is voiced by the actress Debi Mae West in both Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. She appears to be alive in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and is under the service of Akama. On the other hand, the loading screen image might only reference tribute to her achievements alongside Akama in the Black Temple, and does not insinuate her being alive or dead.

Maiev is a driven, austere individual. She both fears and despises arcane magic, and shows her derision openly to its practitioners. Aloof and silent, Maiev is always concerned with her duties or latest assignment. She does not care for the company of others; she refuses to let interpersonal relationships interfere with her cause. Maiev moves with fluid, deadly grace. Her voice is velvet-covered steel. Maiev is cold; her only warmth comes from her rage when she thinks of the Legion’s destruction and Illidan’s horrible treason. Hers is an achingly lonely existence.^[2]

Maiev sees things very much in black and white, and in recent years, lost belief in the concepts of rehabilitation or redemption that she was trained to uphold in Elune's name. She is unwilling to forgive any association that is tied to the Legion or brings harm to others, whether a large one such as Illidan's ultimately siding with Azshara and causing the deaths of millions of life-forms or a comparatively small one such as Drak'Thul's presence during the raising of the Tomb of Sargeras, leading to the deaths of many orcs.

Maiev is loyal to her comrades and determined to ensure they come to no harm. Her fury at Illidan was originally motivated by her disapproval of his actions with Azshara and the fact that he nearly killed Jarod. Later, she is driven to blind hatred after his murder of Naisha and the other Watchers.

By tracing her personality first as a priestess, then as a warden, and finally as vengeance, we can see how she came to hate Illidan in particular. Her election as Illidan's jailor really meant that she became as much a prisoner as he; they merely occupied opposite sides of the bars. Given that, her resentment and rage towards Illidan is easy to understand.

Her first motivation was to punish Illidan for his transgression (which a Kaldorei tribunal sentenced him to, not she), then to stop him from killing anyone else, and finally, pure vengeance.