I'm excited to see what implications the splintering of Uther's soul has.Will we re-unite the two halves? What does this mean for other souls taken by Frostmourne? Did they fragment as well or was Uther a special case?I'm so pumped to find out!
I really want to find out how the Naaru are going to tie into the story seeing as there is one in Maldraxxus and one in the Revendrath dungeon. Maybe some tie in with the Night Warrior, or maybe some future patch forshadowing.
I like how the short hinted at the possible reason as to why the system of death is broken, and I love that it goes all the way back to Uther dying in warcraft III, then to Arthas' death. I'm really curious about what Sylvanas saw after she threw herself from the ICC, even if people are kind of sick of her story arch (and I can't blame them). They seem to tie these things together and I'm carefully excited to see how it turns out. Also wondering what they're going to do with Bwonsamdi, after reading the Shadows Rising novel (been able to avoid most spoilers so far).Also, how did the Burning Legion get their hands on the Lich King armor set + Frostmourne?
The point you make about Devos and Uther deciding Arthas fate, bypassing the Arbiter is so interesting! One might wonder how it was so easy for them to do so, wouldn't there be stopping them from just throwing souls into the Maw without judgement? It would not surprise me if the covenants caused the Arbiter to become dormant to prevent "evil" and "darkness" from entering their realm, like they turned on the Arbiter for some reason?
The short made me think about differences and similarities between Arthas and Sylvanas, as neither of them received proper judgment from the Arbiter. I think that in the Edge of the Night she was supposed to be judged, but she was denied that chance.Kel'thuzad said that she reminded him of Arthas back in Warcraft 3. I can see why - they both were ambitious and relentless, they both had immense responsibility to protect their people and they just "kept failing". Arthas wasn't fast or strong enough in Strahnbrad, Andorhal and Stratholme, and Sylvanas couldn't hold back the undead in Quel'thalas.The big difference here is when Arthas had sacrificed everything to defeat the darkness and, as he thought, the cause of his failures, he succeeded; but when Sylvanas tried to do the same, she failed. She gave her life in so-called "powerslide" hoping that a mother with a child would survive, but instead she was forced to see that it was for nothing. Then, enslaved and tortured in undeath by him - and later denied any kind of peace in death after Icecrown. After this torment and injustice, hope truly fails, and I'd like to see how this plot culminates in the expansion.
Uther's further character development.
I think lore-wise, Shadowlands is going to be amazing and i cant wait. What im most excited about is actually the possibility to learn a little more of wows cosmology. Everything is created equal, as it is in everything, and so i believe we will find that not all is as it seems in the Shadowlands. the new loading screen gives an interesting look, and some think that it is showing evil vs good, with the Jailer and the Arbiter on their separate sides, but i feel that it is more than it seem. We see a lot of the way something evil can destroy that with which we love, but not as much about the way their opposite can do the same, each believing that they are doing what they do for the greater good, both can do as much harm as they can do good. Some wonder why the arcane and order is on the side of the chart with shadow, but to me it makes perfect sense, death is a finality, and just as the Shadowlands is set to send souls to their proper place, life is chaos, but in death, there certainly a sense of closure, and order. I think that, if they choose too, this expac could finally answer some of the questions we have been asking since the beginning.Not having read or worked through the expac thus far,I tend to avoid some things so it can all still be a surprise when i can actually experience it myself, i think that our journey into the Shadowlands will change the way we look at things, and shape the way we see the waking world.
What I find most interesting is that the Shadowlands seems to have been in turmoil since before the machine of death was broken. There are great implications for the quote "The Path is flawed!". Bastion was already putting itself in danger by being inflexible in its code and traditions, and this will be, I imagine, similar for the other areas as well. Perhaps this even speaks to The Jailor's motivations. We know nothing about him or what he wants, but whatever he's planning has been in motion since before Arthas was made the Lich King.
My favorite thing about the lore, which a lot of other people tend not to like, is that we are able to revisit old lore, and with minor tweaks, add a whole new meaning to it.In the Bastion cinematic we find out that Uther's last words aren't his last words. He sends one last prayer to the light in hopes that it will save him. While the light does the best it can, it can't save all of him, and we are now left with two different stories from that death. One has already happened, we commune with Uther's spirit that was trapped in Frostmourne. The other adventure is yet to come. I also like the new take can add new excitement and speculation into to the game on "I see only darkness." A new shadowy version of Uther comes to take him away to the Maw, and there is nothing left for him. That opens up so much potential of Arthas' new story. What will he be in Shadowlands? Will he be at the jailer's side? Is this what the jailer wanted all along? I think it will be great to see Arthas in the new expansion. If he has joined the Jailer we could even be looking at a new Arthas boss fight.
Oh I am still shook after that Arthas reveal, seeing him return at the forefront was quite the surprise! Blizzard had teased about Arthas in Shadowlands in early interviews but really downplayed his return, almost making him feel distant. As if he was to return, it be some far off patch like 8.3. While that maybe the case, This series held nothing back as we see just how the power of the Lich King had and its relation to the Maw and Jailer, yet it also now unfurls more questions than it answers. Further now I am hooked and very much looking forward to the ascended Uther's story and the greater picture Blizzard is painting for us in this expansion's story and beyond. Its exciting and new lore for sure, but I love that still looks back and shines a new light at the lore that was long established back in Warcraft 3.
Most exciting thing about the Afterlife:bastion is there will be more of these animations soon...Btw the maw to shadowlands ppl is like a black hole to us. No one believes that there can be an escape from it until they see it. And while we are going out from maw, we might have Arthas with us.
What I'm looking forward to most in Shadowlands is the chance that we might learn more about the "immortal" souls, like demons. As we learned in the Demon Hunter intro, they have an immortal demon soul, and so cannot truly die. And since Demon Hunters will be going to the Shadowlands like the rest of us, even if the beings that are in-power there didn't know that there was an entire class of soul that could evade them, they could very well learn about these immortal souls from the Demon Hunter - either directly, or through observation.And of course we know/assume that Sylvanas has a main goal of escaping death permanently, so it's possible that such a thing could end up being tied in to her as well. Maybe in uncovering her plans, we will inadvertently reveal the existence of immortal souls to the residents of the Shadowlands and cause all sorts of turmoil. After all, why should *THEY* (the demons) be allowed to escape judgment? Or at least, that's what many of the beings in the Shadowlands might be thinking.
I love seeing the small details that change the perspective in cinematics like the bastion one. When most people saw uthers wound as a soul they all had this intrigued gasp and so did I. It led me on a path of speculation and I love lore that allows me to theorize
Taking us back into Arthas was awesome brings back memories of Wrath
I enjoy the reintroduction of characters we thought were gone forever when really they were all teaming up in the shadowlands.
I screamed when i saw Arthas fell in Maw. All i want is to see a fight between them again Uther VS Arthas. Uther must be corrupted, vengeance runs through his veins.
My favourite part was when "I see only darkness before me" got a full new meaning... I wonder if this decision that was made by Uther could break the machine of death...? Or does it matter at all ?
I'm thrilled to see Uther's soul being split into two. We only saw the light soul in Bastion and I wonder how does the dark side will react to Arthas' justice being served here. I think in the story, we will help Uther see the truth and come to reason, and somehow find redemption for his actions and save Arthas' soul, which I think is the reason why this whole expansion is about. The Maw was contained and in giving a powerful soul to the jailer, it enabled his power to grow and become stronger. I hope to see Arthas in 9.3 patch or Maw raid.
I want to know the path that Uther's spirit is headed, and how this affects the Arbiter's plan.Also, Devos had already made a bigger impact than N'Zoth. I hope they don't kill her off.
I find it extremely interesting how there's a quest for vengeance masking itself as "Justice", whilst the truth is that Arthas was not all bad...after all, even though he did seek out the blade (Frostmourne) to help his people, the blade itself affected him, influenced him and changed him in more ways than one...but what is really interesting is that Devos, with all of her knowledge and experience in how things work in the Shadowlands, could've probably guessed that Arthas might not have been doomed to the Maw - yet she believed "the path" is flawed and so, in search for an ally (in the pursuit of her own agenda), gave Uther what he wanted...revenge.