The Story of Taran Zhu [Lore] 

"In order to understand this story, we need to understand the beginning of the universe." -Every Nobbel video ever.

"You'r father had powers beyond reckoning... Where is he now?" I play horde but gotta love it

Mad respect for Taran Zhu telling it like it is. He sees the Horde vs Alliance war for what it really is and calls them out on it.

Taran Zhu is byfar one of the best Pandarens in World of Warcraft. The guy can get Theron and Jaina to get out of their tantrums and send them back to their rooms. Dude's got style. Also... Coolies + Masks + Masculine Voice = Total Badass.

The Pandaren had arguably suffered the most because Garrosh had no justification to call military action upon them... At least with Theramore or ashenvale he was somewhat justified because those two were actual threats to his people..... But with Pandaria, from the moment he showed up; he invaded, pillaged and plundered.... With absolutely no justification or pretense...

20:17 Taran Zhu: Where is he now? Garrosh: In the next expansion...

Nobbels voice for Taran Zhu... literally sounded like Kermit the Frog (No offence Nobbel... I thought it was hilarious)

dat taran zhu voice though

I think the fact he has such a bystanders viewpoint on the conflict from the horde and the alliance makes him a well written character. He hasn't experienced the things you mentioned so he became bitter over the conflict the horde and alliance had on pandaria. Same goes for him saying pandarians suffered the most. he's bitter, angry, and never experienced such a grand conflict. after everything he saw happen to his people how could he possibly imagine worse things happening to the rest of the world? also from the perspective of the pandarians, the conflict is much worse since it's their first time witnessing such atrocities. you can almost think of it as tainting their souls for the first time while the races of the alliance and horde were born with tainted souls from their eternal conflict.

Nobbel87 To add a Little to the premise of Taran Zhu saying "My people more than any other" The Vale of Eternal Blossoms is a holy area for The Pandaren, and it has been destroyed, both by the Horde's strip mining and by the Emergence of the Heart of the Old God. The Karsarang Wilds Deforested for Fortresses, The Temple in the Wilds lost to the Sha The Statue for Yu'lons Rebirth Destroyed The Return of the Sha and the Waking of the Mantid was triggered by the Aggressive way in which the Horde landed and fought the Alliance lead to Thousands of Pandaren supposedly dying defending the wall, If Garrosh was leading the horde then tensions would not have been so high between the Horde and Alliance, likely the Sha wouldn't have awoken. The Thunder King's return is the only thing in the entire Expansion that I can't be said in some way, Directly or indirectly was caused by Garrosh

Nobble i love you man. Your voice for Taran Zhu made him sound like a muppet. I needed that smile.

A bit of correction Nobble, Yaungol didn't exists before the Sundering. As Lorewalker Cho explains, a group of tauren were in Pandaria during that time and since they were cut off from the mainland, they were forced to adapt to the harsh environment and that's where the 10000 yrs of evolution comes in.

"You disappoint me, Garrosh. You are not worthy of your father's legacy!" I never played WoW during MoP but hearing that line for the first time years later when I joined WoW and learned about the lore, it still gave me chills.

Well.. Taran Zu thinks that his people suffered the most because they had nothing to do with the Alliance and Horde conflict. We came to their land and fucked everything up. The Pandaren were innocent so to speak. They were caught in the crossfire of a war AND were in the way of Garroshs crusade. That's why Pandaren suffered the most. They weren't willingly allies of anyone. Sure Alliance lost Theramore and Rhonin and Horde lost Cairne but still.. they fueled the conflict between each other.

"He killed a bunch of Pandaren, but he killed a bunch of everything." For some reason I found this hilarious

"He killed a bunch of Pandaren but... he killed a bunch of everything." Greatest line ever

Well that's the point, they keep having to unite against threats, yet are so childish that they immediately sink back into conflict again. He's right, the Alliance and the Horde constantly fight for no reason beyond revenge or retaliation, revenge being the number one motivator of evil in the world. Hell, revenge is so powerful a motivator of evil that it caused even him to turn into a Sha.

Nice kermit voice for Taran Zhu haha

Nice voice acting, Was funny how you voiced Taran Zhu.

He might be a panda, but he is a badass panda

Kermit the Zhu Best lore character.

Lmfao at that Game of Thrones reference at 5:35 :') I love you Nobbel haha

I agree with your statement on Taran Zhu about him putting to much blame on Garrosh who only really acted in blowing up a small piece of land killing a few hundred in the process. Deathwing is really to blame; for he was what revealed there island in the first place.

"I have fought besides the Taurens, Trolls and others." ....gee thanks for including us Taran Zhu. Sincerely Orcs, Forsaken, Blood Elves, Kezan and Panderan.

i personally think Taran Zue was a badass, but thats just me. i mean, i gained a shit ton respect for the guy when he was bleeding from his belly and still was able to convince jaina and lor'themar to stop their fighting with some powerful words. and i still loved his one liner to garrosh

lol that taran zhu voice though

19:00 that was the best voicing of taran ever!

Taran Zhu was a whinny baby the entire expansion, glad he won't be coming with us to Draenor

It doesn't matter that Taran doesn't know exactly the reasons why these 2 factions are still in war, he's right when saying they are like children, all the time the war has been prolonged by individuals in serch of power (Gul'dan, Garrosh, etc...), people that seek vengance (Proudmore), armies that won't forgive not forget even if it would do for the greater good, even if most of the time the individuals that prolonged this conflict were just looking for their own personal benefit and most often than not are not supported by their own "Factions" later on, they are so blinded by this stupid war that they keep looking for culprits of the first war, when it is so clear that it was the Burning legion's fault, not orcs nor humans nor any other race of the 2 factions. I completely agree with his way of seeing this war, and the way this individuals react to each other faction's actions, it is been prolonged way too long without any good reason, its been a while since i myself started to think that this ridiculous war has come to a point that simply has to end if the races of Azeroth are to survive the real threat of the world, and stop playing their little war games in search for a solution to the greater problems of the world.

Nobbel, I had to stop the video I was laughing so hard when you voiced over Taran Zhu and Dezco. Awesome....

I like taran zhu, and i totally get him, these strangers come in and screwed up his home so i completely get why he's mad. And the fact that he is an outsider to the war is why i think hes perfect to get them to chill out, he gets to view the conflict from a 3rd party perspective and does not see simply 1 side or the other, and personally being the 3rd party and understand that feeling of responsibility to try and get everyone to just chill the fuck out when he had them walk away. Plus while only a small fraction of the continent was damaged that's only because the heroes where able to take control of the situation and contain it before it got out of hand. If it weren't for them all of Pandaria might have been destroyed. So what im saying is i get why he said "none so more then my people" or something like that. Plus with Pandaria being neutral from both the horde and alliance it makes them perfect for them to hold the trial. Plus not to mention there emotions where literally causing havoc due to the Sha so at that can be a pretty big motivator to get everyone to calm down and stop fighting.

18:26 wow so voice acting, such good :D

Nobbel's Taran Zhu voice sounds quite a bit like Kermit

I like this character a lot for what he is, and I like him even more for the flaws you explained at the end of the video. He is a wise man with good virtues, but he has not walked in the shoes of the horde or the alliance.

Nah, Nobbel you're absolutely right, Taran Zhu doesn't know anything, or has suffered more compared to everyone else.

I LOVED the Game of Thrones soundbite during the Shado Pan words thing. Genius, Nobbel!

Yeah he does sound like a mix between Kermit and the one main skinny henchman of the Monarch from Venture Bros.

I like how Nobbel always puts so much effort into making these storys! You really see and hear how much effort he layed into searching info, editing and making these videos! Great work Nobbel :)

I want an add on that changes the voice actor of Taran Zhu with Nobbel reading all his lines in the voice at 18:49

THANK YOU NOBBEL! Taran Zhu is one of my favorite WoW characters and his voice is just as amazing!

Nobbel you are completly right about Taran Zhu,he just seem arrogant and ungrateful and even a bit racist,that line where he said his people suffered the most was really stupid,Garrosh commited genocide on the trolls and after destroying Theramor he made the survivors fight or he will kill his chilldren,the pandarens just lost a vale that they didn't had before we came,they get saved from a the Thunderking and the mantid and we removed the Sha completly from Pandaria(not including the vale).Although I will admit your voice acting of him made him more likeable as a character.

You have officially made me get A LOT more involved in WoW / warcraft lore, thanks man you are awesome at what you do!!

18:37 dat voice acting man it tooo good

I love the 5.4 patch cinematic, it's so badass, and seeing it within the context of Zhu's whole story makes it even more awesome. God, seeing Garrosh's arrogance in plunging the Heart into the waters of the Vale, destroying it's beauty and power, almost is enough to make me tear up.

Pandaria was actually better than dreanor..

I'm thinking I should watch your lore videos before I do the events ... suddenly what I was doing in this expansion make so much more sense!

I liked Taran Zhu and the entire MOP expansion for me history of the land and their way of life I found interesting.

I love your videos. I also love the lore of Warcraft, played all the games and read most of the books, among a lot of the wiki. Playing WoW for 11 years now, the game leaves a lot of gaps and holes, and you fill in these. I'm sure its a lot of work and prep trying to get all this info together, so thanks for your work, it is enjoyed by myself and many others.

Lord Commander Taran Zhu of the Nights Watch~

Best lore and story videos on the internet. Keep it up Nobbel, love your vids man.

I agree w the narrator. Pandaren, so quick to judge us. Maybe not so wise.

Wow, I didn't realise that Nobbel was secretly Kermit all along! XD Joking, voices are really hard to do.

Dat Taran Zhu voice tho.

Oh my gosh. I really guessed the next lore video during that twitch stream Nobbel! :D

Huh, the Thunder King's Pandaren name is "Lei Shen", which in Chinese means Thunder God...

Heel knap erg knap alle losse feitjes en stukjes verzameld en aan elkaar vastgeknoopt in deze video!

Cermit-Zhu, of the Shadow Muppets

I love how Taran Zhu tells Garrosh: your father dabbled in powers beyond reckoning where is he Now? LOL... I love Taran Zhu.

Taran Zhu is my favourite Character in wow. He is so Badass and Shady. I also love the Shado-Pan, I RP a Shado-Pan, TEHY ARE SO AWESOME ^^

Oh my god, Nobbel's voice for Taran Zhu is fucking AMAZING

lol when garrosh is slow walking all that went thru my head is Cool guys don't look at explosions.

There's very few channels on youtube that I enjoy as much as this one. Thank you Nobble :D and that Kermit impression made my day ^^

Plz make a lore video about The Celestials i really want to know more about them like where did they came from . Are they like the pets from the titans who needed to watch over pandaria ?? If the Mogu were soldiers of the titans what were the Celestials then ?

The reason why Tarren said that the pandas suffered more is because he has a daughter. She was like "Daddy I want you to meet Garrosh" and he was all"No daughter of mine is gonna screw an Orc." Then Garrosh wanted to give her the heart but Tarren said "aw hell naw" and pushed Garrosh into the chest which tipped it over into the pools Garrish then said "Goddamit" and went home. Tarren was found and said it was Garrosh's fault. We then went and Garrosh said "Hey guys I found it" but we kicked the crap out of him. Pissed he went to spend the weekend at his dad's house and we come and kick his ass again. Opps running out of charrac

That voice over Nobbel was amazing and as always an amazing video on an awesome character.

WHAT?THE OATH THAT THE SHADO-PAN SAY IS THE OATH OF THE NIGHTS WATCH

Nice video. That voice acting of Dezco and Taran Zhu though... I literally laughed out loud hehe.

Lol. Kermit Zhu.

Well. For Taran Zhu to look at Mists as a single item makes sense for the exact reason you mentioned, he was only here for that part. He didn't experience what the rest of the world gone thru and also he mostly see us as trouble makers, cause of that he is biased towards only looking at his own people.

We are the sword in the shadow We are the watchers on the wall We are the shields that guard the realm of men Dude this is the a part of game of thrones nightwatch oath

Taran Zhu was never my favourite character but I think he did his part to drive the story forward. Can't wait for War Crimes! I think we want hear from him or Pandarians till the next expansion now.

''There can be no peace while hellscream is warchief of the horde'' if you read war crimes you can see or .. read that she wanted the whole horde DEAD even her friends. still didnt finish the book btw gonna read it tonight again :D

Taran Zhu was sort of a bitch at first, I always felt like he was just looking for any excuse to call out the Horde & Alliance, but the burn he gives Garrosh about his father messing with dark forces and the fight afterwards made me respect him so much more. Taran Zhu was kind of annoying, but he was a badass.

Had been hoping for a video on him , sooo good

That voice acting xD

Always fun to watch, thank you for your time spent Nobbel.

I had those same thoughts when Zhu said Garrosh hurt the Pandaren worse than anyone. I mean its not like Garrosh was just introduced this expansion to fuck over Pandaria you know? We have been dealing with his shit for years, not only his hatred for the Alliance but the internal conflict we of the Horde had to deal with the second he took over as Warchief. So Im gonna call Zhu on his bullshit there and have Cho read the laundry list of things he's done to us.

reasons why i sub to nobbel. 99% reason = awesome videos 1% reason = when he says "udders"

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was bothered by Taran Zhu's statement of how the Pandarian suffered the most.

Another wonderfully told story. I think I know why Taran Zhu said his people suffered more than any. I think he was referring to the complete and manageable peace that his people experienced BEFORE we got to Pandaria and how if it wasn't for Hellscream and his "honor" bound path of violence the land may have stayed hidden and peaceful forever. That and the destruction of the Vale.... yeah even I think the Pandaren got the short end of the stick there. Their entire way of life got screwed up ;)

Taran Zhu is lucky Gorehowl's Decapitate didn't proc!!!

My favourite character in WoW. What happened to Pandaria reflects perfectly on the human world

Lawl, Nobbel's Taran Zhu voice... XD

Thanks for the lore vids Nobbel...even if you play the dirty horde

Shado-Pan: best faction in Pandaria.

i cracked up at the voice acting skills of you, this is the reason why i subbed you ps i am dutch too. kaaskop!

dat taran zhu voice

I hope Taran goes to Draenor to get Garrosh and then he'll be all like IMMM GONNA GET THIS BITCHH

I still find if funny that Garrosh was all "Wah I hate my dad for using demon blood" and then he goes and uses the old god powers and thats ok? meh either way nice video, cool to see the full story, or the story we know at the moment, on one of the most bad ass pandarens. :)

"we have to go way back to the time of the titans..." sounds like sheldon explaining physics to penny on TBBT xD

"The shield that guards the realms of men"

Nobble should totally do the voice acting for a character in WoD!!

You'd think that after all these expansions where the Horde and Alliance must join forces to fight against a threat to the world, they'd learn to stay friends for longer than 5 minutes. It would be cool if the adversity between the two factions was turned into more of a competitive game to ensure they're ready for whatever reckoning Wrathion was referring to: keep fighting in arenas and PvP areas but make it, in terms of story, so that it's just a way to train adventurers and keep our fighting skills sharp, rather than an actual hatred between factions. It's World of Warcraft, not World of Mexican Soap Operas!

Best voice actor I've ever heard - Nobbel.

Silly Pandaren, for all his prowess and skill, gets his foot stuck in a bridge and beaten up by a filthy Orc. I would have just burned it all to the ground instead. Muh ha hah hahah!

26:40 ) This video really helps to put everything in one piece, basically the whole MoP storyline. Thanks

Taran zhu is cool but Garrosh well and truly kicked his arse

omg your Taran zhu impression is perfect

Honestly I think the only thing that was wrong with the entire MoP expansion was the fact that they chose to make Pandas the inhabitants of the land PANDAria. I know Chen Stormstout was an established character from the Warcraft game but I think the Pandas were just too much of a stretch. I think their tone was way too inconsistent. I would think Taran Zhu was a really badass character if it wasn't for the fact he was a Panda Bear. They want this comedic relief race to play everything straight faced which makes them really hard to take seriously. Honestly I think it would have been better if Pandaria was just populated by Chinese people if they couldn't think of anything else.