Being able to explore each of the covenants and see how each one differs in their approach to the grand scheme of the Shadowlands is going to be the most interesting aspect for me as a lore-nerd. So far the concepts are amazing, and I'm really glad it isn't just "souls go to eternal peace" but that there is still conflict even in the afterlife.Each of the covenants are unique in their own way on how they handle death and are going to bring tons of new lore that im excited to read up on
I'm interested to see if this vengeance that Uther seeks and seems to have received only tainted himself as well as the Kyrian and to see if this sets them on a righteous path or a destructive one.
Hello, This is my first comment on wow head. Please be nice, English is not my native language.I started playing to WoW in Draenor but I quickly become a big fan of this universe and specially about the lore. That's why I really want to know more about Shadowlands and more specifically about Arthas, the Lich King and his artefacts. In afterlife : Bastion, it was said that Frostmourn's runes were actually runes from The Maw. However, wowwiki said that : ''the runeblade, Frostmourne. Trapped within an icy tomb called the Frozen Throne, both the armor and the blade were crafted by the Nathrezim for the purpose of containing and controlling the Lich King.''If the Nathrezim craft the blade, how did they know how to craft the runes from the Maw?Did the Jailer and the Burning Legion made a deal? When? How? Why?Are demons a kind of damned souls who freed themself? How? I am so excited to learn more about that soon! Shadowlands seems more interesting about the origins of Azeroth's universe than any over expansion!
I want to see the afterlife! Being that us "champions" have immortal souls, we would never REALLY experience it.
What I am most actually excited for is how Blizzard is going to portay relantionship between Arthas and Uther , the latter that is regretting the decision to send the other one to the Maw. Another thing that Im excited for is the lore about covenants themselves , lore characters that we might see in shadowlands (Like Garrosh , Tirion , Anduin Lothar etc......) and what's after the expansion itself.
I am looking forward to found out what will happen to Gilneas, what will the night elfs do as people, will Calia and Derek lead the Forsaken, whats with Silithus and how will Azeroth change. Giving Uther multiple personalities and Draka multi-class skills doesnt sound exciting at all.
I'm so excited about shadowlands because I want to know how is cosmos of World of Warcraft works. Why draenais and orcs go to shadowlands if they've come from another planets? Are old gods and titans go to shadowlans?Is every announced covenant symbolizes a cosmos powers:Bastion and Revendreth as Order and Disorder;Ardenweald and Maldraxxus as Life and Death.What about alternative Draenor and killed there characters? Are they too goes to shadowlands? So what about Kil'Jaeden and Archimonde?And I'm so excited about Sylvanas story line.
What I really love about it is that it gives the possibility of an Arthas redemption quest chain.
I wonder if there will be a change in the Kyrian society after the events of the campaign - right now it seems very tyrannical and fixated on their Path. I find Bastion aesthetics and principles very similar compared to Azeroth paladins - they use justice and the Light as a justification for maintain order and wage war using questionable methods (ex: Wyrmbane, Turalyon, Liandrin).What i'm excited to see is if they will accept the fact that their Path is flawed and how they will move towards a more flexible society.And of course I would love to see a posible encounter between Uther and Arthas.
For shadowlands the players are told that cycle of death is broken the big question is, What broke the cycle and why are all the souls going to the maw. When The cinematic Afterlifes:Bastion was aired I assume that the actions of Uther and Devos caused the cycle to stop working when they took athas's soul to the maw without the arbiter judging it first. Also I feel that this is setting uther up to be a villain or at least make him a morally grey character since most of his actions are to get vengeance rather than justice.
I am excited about all things Arthas and Uther. Moreso, though, the development that will unfold after seeing this animated short. To me, at the end of WotLK it was basically a closure. We (well, I guess I'll speak for me specifically) traveled with Arthas from the time he started out as a paladin in Warcraft 3 under Uther's guidance, to claiming Frostmourne, to taking the Frozen Throne. Then, we come back years later, and we are part of the heroes who finally get to take him down. At the end of his reign, his father is there to welcome him into the afterlife. To help him accept that no king rules forever. We had closure. This was his end, and he was moving on to his afterlife. Was Arthas ever really evil? He was someone with strong dedication and intentions who stumbled down a corrupted path in pursuit of justice. Is that not what Uther is doing now? He's going down a path with Devos for "justice" but where will it lead? I don't know much about the storyline in Bastion, since I don't have beta, but I've heard it leads to a new faction development of the Foresworn (or something like that). It's kind of a parallel to Arthas' story. Except now we also know Arthas didn't get his redemption. He didn't get his chance. He was tossed straight into the Maw; robbed of any chance whatsoever to redeem. How would we have felt if right before Darth Vader got his redemption at the end, all the sudden yoda popped up and kicked him down the shaft with the emperor? So I am excited to see what happened to Arthas in the Maw. I am excited to see how far down the rabbit hole Uther has gone. Is a fragment of his soul still stuck in Frostmourne? Was it the side of him that was softer, nicer, more like a fatherly teacher? Because that's the side of him we saw in Halls of Reflection when he speaks to Jaina. That side of him wasn't full of vengeance. Arthas is my favorite fictional character in existence (even my Cat is named Arthas). So I am excited to have more information about him, and I can't wait to dive into the story of Shadowlands to see what has become of him and Uther. This entire animated short gave me chills, and my destkop background is the picture of Arthas standing over Uther with the entire army behind him from this short. When I heard we were going to Shadowlands my first thought was Arthas, and after this short, I'm practically giddy with excitement!
I personally believe Uther and Devos may turn into the bad guys, while the Kyrian covenant acts as the zealous, blind-folded inquisition archetype of faction. I'm personally excited that we get to a point were Paladins and "Lawful Good" characters turn evil and/or unreasonable, much like what happened with X'era. I'm honestly tired of what has been done to Garrosh and Sylvanas, and what that means lore- and ethic-wise for the horde and the freedom ideal it holds (or should, at least).What I'm most expectant to though, is to see what paper good ol' Bwonsamdi ends up playing in all of this, what is the reach of his power, and hopefully he'll have some nice jokes waiting for us. On that line also I'm sure we'll get a stellar participation from Vol'jin, to which I'm looking forward to. On another hand, whether Thrall will come onboard too or not I can not say, but having him again would spark joy :)As for Arthas, he can keep being just another bad guy for all I care, but I'm sure he'll come as either a raid-end boss, just like Illidan in Legion.Lastly, I would love to have Nesingwary in here too, being hunted by all the beasts he killed while alive. Oh the karma haha!
For this expansion I am curious about 4 things: something new, something old, something borrowed, and something blue. New: as in current time, I want to see what Sylvanas will do. Will she be cured or let free from the death banshee queen powers and the influence of the shadowlands, so we get herself before the Lich King turned her? Or will she harness the powers of the Lich King herself? Old: Arthas. When he died, did his corrupted spirit go to the shadowlands, or was his soul wiped clean by death and will we find prince Arthas, the young prince who fought so hard to save his people? Borrowed: how will our new powers in this expansion be? And if we use these new powers (which will only be here for this expansion, so borrowed), how will it influence us and our allies? It does not sound totally safe to use shadowland powers, just look at Sylvanas, and her Valkyr. Blue: the class color of the mage. Will we find Aegwynn or Medivh? The mages and their mystic powers, partly weaved in demons and shadow(lands?) are really good subjects for stories with twists and mystic powers. So much to look forward too, and I can't wait to find out more!
Shadowlands opens up a whole new lore characters that must have been significant before the first war. Devos and Thenios for example must have led a life worthy of being chosen by bastion and i want to know what their story is. Similarly i am hoping that significant members of other covenants must have led lives which were significant in the history of Azeroth.Most of the lore we have is either from the time of War of the Ancients or after the first war, some random tidbits about the black empire. This will allow us to learn more about the heroes from other eras in Azeroth's history too.
The hint that a part of this expac might include putting both of Uther's souls back together. Even if its a minor quest. The closure for his character would be wonderful.
I have a feeling that this act of vengeance is what started the entire mess with the Shadowlands. Think about it, Arthas soul was the first to ever get sent into the maw without arbitration, and what a soul it is! With a link to the maw, and perhaps power stolen from the Shadowlands while he was the lich king, who knows what his soul is capable in there. And is it a coincidence that Sylvanas got recruited to work with the Jailor? She and Arthas... I'm not sure if she is chasing him to the Shadowlands because her vengence campeign is not complete, or once again he's manipulating her, but I am pretty sure we'll meet Arthas again in the next expansion.And speaking of "jailor", remember what Bolvar told Tirion? "Place the crown upon my head, forever more I will be the JAILOR of the damned"The crown, and the lich king position, are clearly linked to the Jailor and the maw, and Arthas not only was the lich king, he wasn't 100% Arthas anymore, he had his soul conquered (?) by Ner'zhul, who was bound to those items, the items that were stolen from the Shadowlands, with the maw runes on them.Anyway, that's my 10 cents on the subject :) I'm probably wrong (like always, doesn't matter though, I love being wrong!) , and perhaps we already know I'm wrong from what was released so far, but I actively avoid spoilers, I want to experience my wrongness (?) in game, not read about it on the internet :D
There is a lot about Shadowlands and the lore I am curious about. How did Sylvanus Windrunner meet the jailor? Is she being used by the jailor, simply cooperating with the jailor, or using the jailor herself? In BFA I sided with Sylvanus as a horde player on the quests, how is my loyalty going to be rewarded. Blizzard never really flushed that out, as if my choice didn't really matter. In the video the Kyrian are surprised that Frostmoure which Arthas wields has the power of the Maw. Where the legendary weapons crafted in the Shadowlands? How does it have the power of the Maw? It's also interesting that Devos uses the term vengeance and Uther uses the term justice. How the paragon have fallen. :) It would be awesome in Arthas came back in 9.1 or 9.2 as a raid boss perhaps you would fight alongside Arthus to fix the Shadowlands.
The thing that gets me more about Shadowlands, and about the Afterlives cutscene, is the fact that, as I see it, Arthas will become the new Jailer at the end of the expansion, and Anduin will become the new Lich King. I think that this xpac is going to blow our minds in terms of lore. Place your bets!
I would actually like to see or at least read some other importart short stories of important dead characters during the whole expansion, like Darkan Drathir, or from old NPC's that got some story related to undead, like Gunther Arcanus, who was considered a Lich, but after the Siege to Lordaeron, the npc can't be seen on Tirisfal Glades anymore.
I think Arthas was being controlled by the Jailer through the combination of Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination. Makes sense seeing how Icecrown Citadel was built in the image of Torghast, and at Arthas' death he asked, "Father, is it over?" like he was just being controlled himself. Seems like the Jailer could be the true Lich King. Even if this isn't the case, I hope they flesh out more of the Arthas story and his judgement.