3 Amazing Moments from the Mercy Short Story

Blizzard followed up on all the Overwatch hype from Blizzcon by dropping a releasing Valkyrie, a short story based on popular hero Mercy.

The story, which serves as a first-person tour through Mercy's maudlin endeavors after Overwatch's fall, is packed with incredible moments that gave a raw look at the way the world came undone without Overwatch, and how the usually-smiling medic holds a great deal of pain behind that soft look. It's undoubtedly a recommended read for any Overwatch fan, so I thought I'd take a moment to highlight 3 such moments that really stuck out.

1. I didn't become a doctor to get thanked

Valkyrie opens on a somber note, picking up with Mercy reminiscing on Overwatch's, and by proxy her own, fall from favor. Recalling the "less than warm" welcome she receives from the people, Mercy somberly notes that people still expect her to save them, even as they curse her. In response to this grim resolution, she says a single, incredible line. "I didn't become a doctor to get thanked" is a great summation of how the story paints her character, and is presented very well.

2. Angela Joins Overwatch

A few scenes in, we get a great snap-flashback into the moment Mercy becomes a member of Overwatch. Known just as Angela Ziegler then, her and Jack Morrison share some witty banter, and ultimately she believes he is a man capable of doing good for the world. Thus she resolves to do the same herself. The scene is warm and light-hearted, and brings the reader a nostalgic sense of what things were like before, especially since it comes just after a tense scene of Soldier 76 and Mercy in a quip-laden argument.

3. Mercy In Action

The most enjoyable part of the entire story for me was getting to get a first person look at Mercy in her element. She flies around a tense battle between Helix and Talon, dodges an encounter with Reaper; who she'd thought to be dead, and ultimately risks her life to rescue a young girl named Hanan and her brother. The scene lets us see how Mercy's Valkyrie suit works, stitching up wounds with biotics and scanning Hanan and her brother's vitals, culminating in a climactic moment where Mercy shelters the two from a collapsing building to save them.

Valkyrie was a refreshing read, and Blizzard has proven to lend itself well to mixed media storytelling. With Overwatch 2 on the horizon, there's sure to be a host of new heroes and adventures waiting for us, and we hope more stories like this will come along with them.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard