Will the players wake N'zoth from his sleep? (Emerald Nightmare Raid)

[Archibalde]

That said, my hopes for the storyline are that N'Zoth and his followers actually strike a bargain with us - with the Legion invading in force, the defenders of Azeroth need allies badly. And N'Zoth too needs allies, since he and his forces aren't powerful enough to fight the Legion alone - N'Zoth doesn't want Azeroth destroyed either, since he's hoping to corrupt the nascent Titan within Azeroth.

Ultimately, maybe helped along by some desperate and crazy NPCs, N'Zoth is spared destruction and his bindings are broken, unleashing the full might of the Old God against the Legion. We've fought the Old Gods many times over the years, so this would be the first time we'd actually get to fight alongside them. Both sides would be fully aware that as soon as the Legion is dealt with, they'll be back to trying to kill each other. But N'Zoth's release would set him up to be a major threat in a follow-up expansion, maybe one dealing with Azshara or Azeroth's underworld.

I think the other way around is the more likely scenario. While Sargeras is trying to destroy us, his goal is ultimately to protect the universe. He wants Azeroth's titan soul because he believes she's the only titan strong enough to defeat the Void Lords. The Void Lords, on the other hand, only seek to consume all the energy in the universe. They want to corrupt Azeroth's titan soul while it's at its weakest form (as in, the form she's currently in), which is why they sent the Old Gods there.

Sargeras is the lesser of two evils. Striking a deal with the Void Lords' minions would not really make sense. We'd be royally screwed in the end, our forces would be no match against them and they wouldn't have any opposition to corrupt the titan soul. We either need Sargeras on our side somehow, or to find a way to awaken the titan soul without destroying the world itself. Nothing good could come out of a deal with N'zoth.

[Golden Yak]

I think the other way around is the more likely scenario. While Sargeras is trying to destroy us, his goal is ultimately to protect the universe. He wants Azeroth's titan soul because he believes she's the only titan strong enough to defeat the Void Lords. The Void Lords, on the other hand, only seek to consume all the energy in the universe. They want to corrupt Azeroth's titan soul while it's at its weakest form (as in, the form she's currently in), which is why they sent the Old Gods there.

Sargeras is the lesser of two evils. Striking a deal with the Void Lords' minions would not really make sense. We'd be royally screwed in the end, our forces would be no match against them and they wouldn't have any opposition to corrupt the titan soul. We either need Sargeras on our side somehow, or to find a way to awaken the titan soul without destroying the world itself. Nothing good could come out of a deal with N'zoth.

That would be a shift from Sargeras' motivations thus far - the Pantheon were the ones who believed that Azeroth could be their salvation against the Void, but Sargeras doesn't have any faith in saving the universe, he wants to re-make it. His goal is to eliminate everything in the universe and start over without the Void somehow, and this includes destroying any Titans that are still in nascency to avoid them being corrupted by the Void. He especially wants to eliminate Azeroth since she's more powerful than Sargeras, and if she awakens he won't be able to defeat her. Plus if she's corrupted by the Void Lords, the universe is doomed.

All indications are that Sargeras is coming hard to eliminate Azeroth altogether - the Legion is too strong for either the mortals or N'Zoth's forces to stop alone, so their only hope to survive is to team up. Both sides would be well aware that after the Legion invasion is halted they'll be back to trying to wipe out each other, but until then then enemy of my enemy etc.

Basically, freeing N'Zoth is a big gamble, and we'd be banking on being able to take him out before he takes us out once the Legion is taken care of. N'Zoth's release would also set up a sweet follow-up expansion that would involve us trying to take him out before he corrupts Azeroth.