World of Warcraft: Midnight is a really purple enlargement, thanks to its main antagonist being the Void. There is a large purple beam taking pictures from the sky within the distance on a regular basis. Most of the enemies are purple. Two out of three of the main raids and a number of dungeons and delves are purple. And the primary villain, Xal’atath, could be very purple.
Given all of the purple going round, it isn’t an excessive amount of of a shock that Blizzard lastly introduced again one of its concurrently best-loved and most-hated purple characters for a plot twist on the finish of the latest raid. What’s surprising, although, is the information that character delivered: a touch that we may be careening towards a revisit to one of World of Warcraft’s most maligned (and solely sometimes purple) expansions: Shadowlands.
Warning: Spoilers comply with for World of Warcraft: Midnight’s story up to now, up to and together with the cinematic that performs after The March on Quel’Danas. Learn on at your individual threat.
WoW: Midnight opens with Void harbinger and baddie-of-the-decade Xal’atath unleashing the Voidstorm above the Isle of Quel’Danas in an effort to corrupt the Sunwell and flip it right into a void-powered Darkwell. For almost all of the enlargement’s questing, dungeons, and raids, we the adventurers try to discover a method to cease her from succeeding, whereas the Military of the Mild holds off the void’s affect so long as they’ll handle to shield the Sunwell.
Nevertheless, on the finish of The Voidspire raid, Xal’atath manages to launch the darkish Naaru L’ura from her jail inside Alleria Windrunner, and makes use of L’ura to end the corruption of the Sunwell, creating the Darkwell. In response, the varied armies hanging out round Silvermoon Metropolis unite to strive and retake the Darkwell from Xal’atath, with the hassle going down in probably the most recently-released raid, the March on Quel’Danas. The second and ultimate boss is none apart from the darkish Naaru herself, L’ura, and we handle to defeat her earlier than she will absolutely make use of the Darkwell’s energy to smash everybody’s day.
However that also leaves Xal’atath hovering round and making quips and threatening to destroy everybody. One more confrontation along with her performs out by which she has the higher hand (this occurs lots), however she’s interrupted by none apart from Sylvanas Windrunner, former Horde Warchief, former Ranger Normal, and evening elf genocider extraordinaire. Sylvanas manages to blast off one of Xal’atath’s funky void shoulder decorations with an arrow, just for Xal’atath to restore it simply and disappear. Sylvanas cryptically proclaims to her sister Vereesa and nephew Arathor: “The Shadowlands are by no means what they appear. I can not relaxation till I uncover the reality. Nonetheless, I hope to see you each once more, earlier than the top begins.”
Okay?!?!?!?!?
Sylvanas, Revisited
If this is not having the influence on you that it’s on me, let me recap a bit of what’s been occurring with Sylvanas these days. Sylvanas has an extended, lengthy historical past within the Warcraft universe that may take a complete Wiki article to cowl, however ample for that is to know that she was a beloved “antihero” character to the fanbase for a few years. She’s tortured and tragic, but additionally highly effective, noble, ruthless, and devoted to her individuals, the Forsaken. Via a sequence of advanced occasions, she grew to become Warchief of the Horde throughout a time of tense, tentative peace between her faction and the Alliance. Sylvanas, nevertheless, was satisfied that peace may by no means final, and that the Alliance would inevitably come again and strive to destroy the Horde. So in response to occasions that hadn’t even occurred, Sylvanas made the completely unbelievable resolution to commit genocide on the Night time Elves by burning down the world tree, Teldrassil.
This, understandably, pissed off lots of Sylvanas followers (and haters!). Sylvanas had all the time been ruthless, calculating, and cynical. However outright, remorseless genocide was by no means one thing that they had thought of to be inside her character description. Within the ensuing chapters of the story, each Alliance and pissed off Horde members chase her round for awhile, at one level laying siege to the Forsaken capital Lordaeron, the place Sylvanas makes one other unhinged resolution to drown the place in Blight relatively than permit it to be taken. All of the whereas, Sylvanas retains making cryptic feedback about Dying and her “grasp” and how someday everybody will perceive why she’s doing what she’s doing, and so forth.
After she demolishes two beloved capital cities, it’s ultimately revealed that Sylvanas has been working for some evil being referred to as the Jailer who guidelines the Shadowlands, the realm of dying and the titular setting of the Shadowlands enlargement. Her purpose, which she additionally thinks is the Jailer’s, is to subvert dying and restore true free will to everybody on the planet. Shock shock, the Jailer is evil and truly simply desires to subjugate everybody, an apparent incontrovertible fact that Sylvanas would not determine till she’s already achieved tons of warfare crimes. She ultimately agrees to assist the heroes defeat the Jailer and stands trial for her crimes, finally being sentenced to free the souls within the Shadowlands that she had condemned by her actions till each final one was at peace – a job that would simply take actually ceaselessly. She’s been down there ever since.
Again into Shadow
Sylvanas’ cryptic feedback earlier than heading again into the Shadowlands depart us with extra questions than solutions.
I do not assume anybody was stunned to see Sylvanas herself once more – she’s one of WoW’s most recognizable and beloved (at the least at one time) characters. However her insinuation that there may be unresolved plot within the Shadowlands is genuinely a shock, and one which’s being met with blended reactions.
Shadowlands was…not a well-liked enlargement. Lots of that genuinely had to do with the aforementioned Sylvanas story, and the methods by which a quantity of different previously-beloved characters acted in ways in which didn’t make sense with previous lore. The reveal of what occurs after “dying” in Azeroth ended up bizarre, complicated, and inconsistent plot-wise with lots of different established information concerning the world, whereas concurrently trivializing dying within the universe totally. There was additionally lots of “all will make sense when the true plan is absolutely revealed” going round throughout that point and not using a satisfying payoff. Many gamers had been additionally aggravated that an expansion-long journey to the literal realm of dying did not provide extra alternatives to meet extra beloved deceased characters and see how they had been doing within the afterlife. Sure, we did actually meet some, however lots of others had been conspicuously lacking.
On high of that, Shadowlands had lengthy stretches of time between patches the place there simply wasn’t a lot to do, and when actions had been launched to hold individuals busy, they had been fairly grindy, boring, and gradual, so lots of individuals fell off. There was additionally the Covenant system, which many felt compelled them to select between committing to a narrative and aesthetic they loved for lots of the endgame content material, or enjoying one thing much less enjoyable, however extra optimum for raids.
Some of us have come round on Shadowlands a bit within the years since, as WoW does have a tendency to have cycles of gamers disliking an enlargement when it is present, then praising it years down the road (see: Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor). However Shadowlands continues to be broadly spoken of with a bitter style within the mouth. Many gamers have been completely happy sufficient to merely transfer onto totally different storylines unconnected from the Jailer or no matter’s occurring within the land of the lifeless. It is achieved, it wasn’t nice, why trouble occupied with it anymore? However with Sylvanas coming again and suggesting one thing else is flawed down there, gamers are actually speculating that Blizzard is getting ready to embark on a journey to salvage these plot threads through a retcon, or at the least a recontextualization.
It is unclear what kind this might take. On one hand, it may very well be so simple as doing a Shadowlands Remix in between the following two expansions, ala Mists of Pandaria or Legion Remix. On the acute finish, we may very properly find yourself again within the Shadowlands for a complete enlargement or at the least a serious patch, both in a well-known zone or an unfamiliar one, choosing aside what precisely the “reality” is of the Shadowlands that Sylvanas is speaking about.
Revisiting Shadowlands, in no matter capability, would additionally give Blizzard the chance to revisit Sylvanas. She’s been out of the image for a number of expansions, with Blizzard rightly recognizing the character wanted a lore break. However bringing her again in any context, even after a hiatus, is full of challenges. Her persona, motivations, needs, and fears aren’t actually clear anymore after the plot pulled her in so many various instructions for a number of expansions, and bringing her again would require selecting some type of agency define of who Sylvanas is, now, after every thing. It will additionally require mainly each character excusing the Night time Elf genocide sufficient to permit her to be round in a extra everlasting method, and an terrible lot of gamers would seemingly really feel a bit uncomfortable with that state of affairs. Most likely the Night time Elves, first of all.
Additionally, not for nothing, however Sylvanas supposedly was being guarded by an enormous owl. How is she even leaving the Shadowlands with out moving into owl bother? Why did she present up, shoot off one of Xal’atath’s decorations, and then disappear? Heck, why did Xal’atath depart when Sylvanas appeared, aside for the truth that she emerges victorious and then vanishes mysteriously on the finish of each large encounter we’ve along with her?
In the long run, we do not know what Blizzard is planning. Perhaps this was all simply an excuse to tie Sylvanas again into the Windrunner-heavy plot and provide some path to reconciliation along with her nephew Arator (who appears stoked to see her), and sisters Vereesa (who offers her an enormous hug within the cinematic) and Alleria (who fell into an enormous void fountain on the finish of Voidspire and whose present standing is unknown). For all we all know, we by no means see Sylvanas once more! Or, as others are speculating, it is all related, Pepe Silvia-style, and Blizzard is concocting some ridiculous plan that can make all of the Shadowlands points make sense, tie within the present plot stuff with Xal’atath and the World Soul and the Titans and all, and redeem Sylvanas in some way multi functional fell swoop. That looks like a tall order to me, however what do I do know? I can barely hold all of the Dragon Points straight.
We’re simply going to have to sit tight. March on Quel’Danas actually simply got here out, and upcoming patch 12.0.5’s most enjoyable introduction is a prop hunt mode (although that’s admittedly fairly thrilling). We have months of raiding forward of us earlier than something Sylvanas- or Shadowlands-related may even start to present itself. We’re additionally, dare I say it, within the center of a reasonably enjoyable enlargement typically so far as questing, raids, dungeons, delves, and world actions go. I am personally effective with letting Blizzard cook dinner on this one… even when I did roll my eyes into the following county once I noticed two of Blizzard’s quite a few tragically conflicted purple ladies have a short, inconsequential staredown.
We’ll get Xal’atath subsequent time, I hope.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Bought a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.