1. #1

    Xal'atath absorbing Gorribal, the plan of the Old Gods, and other speculation

    OKAY, so this is a LOOOONG one, so bear with me! If you like putting your tinfoil hat on and enjoy going through some in-depth theory-crafting and lore speculation, this is your kind of thread! Haha.

    There are so many questions that have been raised with the Legion's final assault on Azeroth, but it feels like all of our enemies are feeding each other's agendas and we're being simply manipulated. Many forum-goers will simply claim laziness on Blizzard's story department for how confusing things are getting, but I feel it's all intentional.

    Let's work backwards for the moment and deconstruct this:



    1) Xal'atath absorbs the energy of Sargeras's blade. The energy coming from the blade is red/black. We're not sure if this holds ANY significance or not, but if it does, let's list other beings/forces that have similar looking magic...



    -- Argus in mythic-mode -- In the cinematic when his soul gets transformed by Sargeras into an avatar, Argus is shown to have this red/black color scheme at first. The red quickly transitions to blue, but reverts back to red in mythic. Argus has several abilities and statements revolving around "death" and has an appropriate scythe to further that deathly-reaper vibe. This leads me to the next point...



    -- Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester (default appearance) -- Maybe Sargeras's encounter with Ulthalesh not only struck fear in him, but also inspired him to continue wielding the power of Death. Affliction warlocks are the closest thing to a playable necromancer as we can get in-game. Obviously they still use fel and shadow, but necromancy falls between those cosmic forces and Death isn't the sole cosmic force to control undeath (as we've seen from multiple sources both in-game and out).



    -- The eyes of Sylvanas, Nathanos, and the dark rangers -- All are undead. Sylvanas and the Dark Rangers can raise undead and use shadow magic.



    -- Blood magic -- This is normally tied to the voodoo of Troll witch doctors and the blood magic of death knights.



    --Wrathion-- Both his eyes and the energy he manipulates and projects is a deep red.



    -- The Emerald Nightmare -- The Nightmare corrupts life because in originates from the decaying energy of the Old God's void/shadow magic. This lead me to my second event...



    2) Il'gynoth revealed the king of diamonds has been made a pawn. Magni pushes for us to use our artifacts (including Xal'atath) to absorb the energies of Gorribal. Sargeras didn't immediately try to cleave Azeroth when he surrounded the planet in cloud-form. At that point, he might have been trying to convert Azeroth into a member of his Dark Pantheon, realized he wouldnt' have enough time, and then ultimately stabbed the planet deep enough to reach its core. Whether this was done to continue corrupting the planet or kill it isn't clear. However... If the Void Lords wanted Xal'atath to absorb Gorribal's energies, it's likely to keep the planet alive (and corruptible), so I would guess that Sargeras was trying to kill Azeroth in the event that he didn't have enough time to convert her into a Dark Pantheon member. Even though Sargeras opposes the void, it doesn't deter him and his fellow demons and warlocks from using its energies for their crusade, which leads me to my next point...



    3) Archimonde had been in communication with Xavius, the Nightmare Lord. We found a fragment of the Rift of Aln on Archimonde's body in WoD. Later, the Legion purposefully used Xavius to spread the Nightmare again so we are distracted and weakened while they carried out their final assault on our world. Archimonde and the other demons (including Sargeras) had to know the origins of the Nightmare, but figured its corruption would be controlled by Sargeras when he fully assembled his Dark Pantheon (including Azeroth). If he couldn't control the Nightmare-corrupted Azeroth, then Sargeras could simply destroy the planet before the Titan finally hatched. Since Xavius is not only a minion of the Old Gods as the Nightmare Lord, but also a a Satyr demon, his spirit would have gone back to the Twisting Nether after he was killed by Malfurion the first time (before Cata). We don't exactly know what the regeneration rate is of demons reconstituting in the Twisting Nether after being killed in our reality, but we can surmise that Sargeras probably used Argus to speed up Xavius's regeneration. Xavius manipulated and controlled the Nightmare, but he didn't create it, which leads me to my next point...



    4) Even though Yogg-Saron planted the Nightmare's seed a little over 4,500 years ago using his connection with Andrassil, we know that N'Zoth spread the Nightmare the most out of all the Old Gods. The Rift of Aln is seemingly connected to the Twisting Nether, which is subsequently tied to the Void that feeds one half of the chaotic realm. Xal'atath mentions that the Rift is deep and vast. When Malfurion gazed into the Rift he "sensed that the ancient evil, though it fought to keep its grip there, did so from somewhere deep in the depths of Azeroth's own seas."




    5) Continuing this line of logic, the Rift of Aln could potentially be related to the "rift" that is beneath the Tomb of Sargeras, which happened to be the site where the Battle for K'tanth took place between Y'Shaarj and N'Zoth. Apparently the Black Empire built a huge edifice over this place of power, and it seems the two Old Gods fought over it. We know N'Zoth "lost" this battle, but it ended up being a victory for the Old God in the long run for some unknown reason not elaborated on by Xal'atath. We also know from Chronicle's maps that N'Zoth's prison is likely somewhere beneath the Great Sea, close to current day Kul Tiras and the Broken Isles. Even though his physical form is confined there, N'Zoth's connection to the Rift of Aln and this "rift" underneath the Great Sea has enabled him to be the last Old God standing that can corrupt Azeroth into a Titan of the void, bringing about the TRUE End Time, which leads me to my next point...




    6) The Hour of Twilight is "the fulfillment of a chain of events instigated by the Old Gods many eons ago" that prophesied the moment when the Old Gods will finally be freed from their ancient prisons, and will return to end all life on Azeroth. This subsequently would lead to Azeroth's complete corruption, resulting in the birth of a Dark Titan that would spread a shadow that would envelop the universe and snuff out all life in existence. This is the TRUE End Time that Murozond saw when he allowed the Hour of Twilight to happen in his timeline and avoid his own demise. He saw all known reality twisted into a realm of eternal torment until ultimately all matter and energy in the universe was completely devoured. This is the same future that the Pale Orcs/Twilight's Hammer of Draenor saw when they heard the whispers of the Void Lords. The Infinite Dragonflight had been trying to change the prime timeline (ours) to lead to the Hour of Twilight. But after we put down their leader, they put their support behind a Bronze Dragon, Kairozdormu, which brings me to my next point...



    7) Kairoz was well intentioned. The Bronze Dragonflight lost the majority of their power over Time magic when they fulfilled their purpose of protecting Azeroth up until the aversion of the Hour of Twilight. Because of this, finding the Timeless Isle and discovering its mysteries was the only way the Timewalkers would be able to resume the mantle of stewardship over the timeways that was lost when the Bronze Dragonflight became mortals. Kairoz and Wrathion agreed that the future should not be left to chance when so much was at stake. They felt that if they were capable of doing so, they should do anything they could to protect Azeroth, including bending time and space to "force the hand of fate" as Illidan might say. Even though the Hour of Twilight was averted, the Legion was still poised to eventually start their third and final full-scale invasion of Azeroth to corrupt the nascent Titan to be a part of Sargeras's Dark Pantheon or destroy the planet. An infinite Orcish Horde army could match the infinite might of the Burning Legion, so the logic was sound. By providing a means for AU Gul'dan to cross over from his false timeway on Draenor to the prime timeway on Azeroth by linking the two planets with the Dark Portal (later on, the Black Gate) and the shard of the Vision of Time. This kick-started the Legion's invasion to happen sooner rather than later, which brings me to my next point...



    8) Since the Legion invasion started at this juncture, we had a few things work in our favor that wouldn't have happened otherwise. One, we gained the support of the Highmountain Tauren, Nightborne, Valarjar, Elemental Lords, Lightforged Draenei, etc... Two, we saved the Army of the Light from getting annihilated by the Legion on Argus. Three, we stopped the creation of the Dark Pantheon and got the help of the souls of the Pantheon to seal away Sargeras using the soul of Argus. The events of Legion was an alignment of a lot of circumstances that prevented yet another impending apocalypse. Of course this works in the Old God's favor, because it gives them more time to corrupt Azeroth's world-soul and takes out the biggest threat to their plans, Sargeras. The Old Gods command the power of the void, which means they could see a multitude of possible futures (unlike the light, which sees only one "true" path). This means they could predict a future where the Hour of Twilight, heralded by Deathwing, would not come to pass. That is why they made sure they had contingency plans should the Black Dragon Aspect fail in bringing the final cataclysm. This brings me to my next point...



    9) Between Azshara and her Naga, G'huun (even if he was artificially created) and his Blood Trolls, Xavius and the Emerald Nightmare, Deathwing and the Twilight's Hammer/Elementals, Hakkar (if only in proxy) and his Wind Serpents/Troll followers, as well as Kairoz and the Infinite Dragonflight... The Old Gods have clearly shown they will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to ensure Azeroth becomes an avatar for the Void Lords. We're still unclear about the history/logistics of the eternal conflict that Xal'atath mentions when referencing the Naaru. Does this conflict predate the creation of THIS universe? Why does Xe'ra hide this information from the Army of the Light as well as the nature of all Naaru turning into a void-state? The Naaru of the Sha'tar have no issue revealing this to players, and they also didn't have a problem sending us to attack Illidan and ultimately kill him, even though he was the "child of Light and Shadow" prophesied from the beginning of creation. Is there a massive schism between the Sha'tar and other Naaru? It's obvious that there is a LOT of truth being kept from us by the Naaru, Old God minions, Demons, and even the Titans! We still don't know the origins and goals of the mysterious Goddess, Elune, which brings me to my final point...




    10) Elune has ties to both the Titans and the Naaru, and this is evidenced in multiple areas within the game and in literature. Xal'atath mentions she's an upstart Goddess, which implies Elune wasn't always in the position of power that she's in now. She is shown to oppose both the Old Gods/Void Lords as well as the Burning Legion, but we don't know what her end goal is, if any. Perhaps that will be revealed in the near future. Coming full circle back to Xal'atath... She has shown that she wants what the Void Lords want. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that she's an ally of N'Zoth or is privy to his plans, judging from her confusion over N'Zoth's use of Xavius and her willingness to kill his minions. Of course this could all be a major misdirection on her part, but we can only take the lore tidbits we're given at face value. It seems that the only way we can understand ALL of machinations of the Old Gods and their Void Lord masters is by using their own power against them. We've seen this done successfully with the Ebon Blade and the Illidari against the Scourge and the Burning Legion, so it only makes sense that it will prove beneficial against our final foe... if handled with a strong will (Hello Void Elves!). This leads me to my LAST point...

    11) I'm pretty sure we'll face either N'Zoth or ultimately the Void Lords in Ny'alotha, depending on what Ny'alotha ends up being. I don't think it's the actual name of the Titan prison complex that's currently housing N'Zoth and there are several reasons why:

    -The fact that Ny'alotha is mentioned by several Old God-related entities that aren't directly tied to N'Zoth (Xal'atoh, the Puzzlebox of Yogg-saron, and Xal'atath).
    -Xal'atath compares the Titan-forged structures in Stormheim to the towers of sacrifice in Ny'alotha. If the Titan-forged prison for N'Zoth is simply Ny'alotha, then she wouldn't compare structure size since they're made by the Titans and not the Black Empire/Old Gods/Void Lords.
    -Il'gynoth says as he's dying "N'Zoth... I journey... to Ny'alotha..." implying that it's some hellish afterlife realm possibly connected to the Shadowlands and/or the Void of the Twisting Nether.



    To me, it seems that any Void/Old God-related entity recycles back to Ny'alotha to "sleep" until they are brought back into our reality by using the "rift" underneath the Great Sea. This is the same rift that's connected to the Rift of Aln in the Emerald Nightmare. This is why N'Zoth has been the most successful Old God to spread his influence from his prison. He is in closest proximity to this rift, which gives him better access to influence our world from the shadows. As for what Xal'atath will do with the energy of Gorribal... I'll leave that last question to you guys. Personally, I think she absorbed Death energy, and that gets recycled back to Ny'alotha, which in turn strengthens the Old Gods. This is why the Battle for Azeroth is integral to N'Zoth's plans. The more violence and death that feeds the God of the Deep, the closer he gets to transcending his Titan prison's seals. The Void Lords have been playing the long game. They know -almost- every possible future outcome, and planned accordingly to prepare for the Hour of Twilight NOT coming to pass, as well as preventing Sargeras from destroying Azeroth by kickstarting the third Burning Legion invasion prematurely. I think this is why Medivh has been MIA until just recently. He's been LITERALLY living as an Eternal, existing as multiple versions of himself in the infinite timeways he can access from the Twisting Nether. He's trying to play the Void Lords' game against them and find a path that will avert the universal annihilation sought by both them AND Sargeras (in their own respective ways, of course). Medivh might also be their unknowing pawn, influencing Khadgar to tell Magni to use the artifacts to absorb Gorribal's energies. However, this might be the best path for Azeroth that just happens to -currently- align with the desires of the Void Lords, but we'll be given an opportunity to divert destiny at a certain juncture later (as did happen in the Hour of Twilight in the Dragon Soul raid).

    What do you think about these recent developments as well as the other points mentioned above?
    Last edited by RedFenix; 2018-01-31 at 08:28 PM.
    "Pulsars are the bulimic cosmic anomalies..."

  2. #2
    I'm still reading through it a bit, but...

    Unless I'm not remembering right, it seems like it's Khadgar who actually suggested using the artifacts. You bring a letter from him to Magni, and Magni dismisses it at first saying it's too large of a sacrifice, but not what it was yet.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Jester Joe View Post
    I'm still reading through it a bit, but...

    Unless I'm not remembering right, it seems like it's Khadgar who actually suggested using the artifacts. You bring a letter from him to Magni, and Magni dismisses it at first saying it's too large of a sacrifice, but not what it was yet.
    And Khadgar is being driven by Medivh, who told us
    "Enough sentiment! Hear these words before I depart. It may be simpler to shut a door than to pass through it. But sometimes a step into the unknown is required to break the bonds of fate. There is much that lies ahead for all of us. Farewell."
    Medivh has been probably been active LITERALLY as an Eternal existing within the infinite timeways, all of which are connected to the Twisting Nether, which transcends all time, fueled by the clash of the Light and the VOID! Medivh might be playing the long game, but the Old Gods/Void Lords are definitely playing to the end.
    Last edited by RedFenix; 2018-01-31 at 05:31 PM.
    "Pulsars are the bulimic cosmic anomalies..."

  4. #4
    Deleted
    I'm sorry but I can't find a final point of this theory.

    As to the dagger - I wouldn't hold my breath for return of it or any other artifact.

  5. #5
    I am on to you, PYROMANCER! You cannot hide your true identity! No, but seriously, if you have not checked out Pyromancer yet (you probably have) you should. He even literally wears a tinfoil hat. I wonder if Blizz ever just goes through all the wild player theories and goes like "Yeah, that is cool and makes sense. Let's use this."

  6. #6
    The Lightbringer Highlord Hanibuhl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roudene View Post
    I'm sorry but I can't find a final point of this theory.
    I'm stumped too... What is your point OP?

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Roudene View Post
    I'm sorry but I can't find a final point of this theory.

    As to the dagger - I wouldn't hold my breath for return of it or any other artifact.
    We ARE going to Zandalar, where Xal'atath was used to resurrect Kith'ix, which started the ancient Troll and Aqir war. With us going into a Titan facility in that region to deal with ANOTHER Old God threat, you think she wont pop up somewhere in any fashion?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by MickM View Post
    I'm stumped too... What is your point OP?
    I edited the original post and added a final 11th discussion point involving Xal'atath, the Void Lords, and Medivh to wrap up my thoughts. I can see how it could be a bit nebulous, so I hope it makes it more clear. :/
    "Pulsars are the bulimic cosmic anomalies..."

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by RedFenix View Post
    And Khadgar is being driven by Medivh, who told us

    Medivh has been probably been active LITERALLY as an Eternal existing within the infinite timeways, all of which are connected to the Twisting Nether, which transcends all time, fueled by the clash of the Light and the VOID! Medivh might be playing the long game, but the Old Gods/Void Lords are definitely playing to the end.
    Medivh's words were about Illidan opening Argus portal after KJ was defeated.
    They always told me I would miss my family... but I never miss from close range.

  9. #9
    The Lightbringer Littleraven's Avatar
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    Not going to read the whole thing but Bellular has a really good video about this same topic. I don't know if you are on the same page as that video or not but taking a quick glance at this gave me the same sort of vibes.

  10. #10
    TBH i would love for them add a voice clip of Xalatath having a voidgasm after feasting on so much of that power.

  11. #11
    I can't see the artifact dagger continuing to exist but ideally I would LOVE if that after being with us for the duration of Legion, Xal'atath more of less becomes a part of shadow priests. She gains so much power throughout our campaign that she becomes the whispers in our heads and is able to stay with us. Blizzard Plz

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Crudence View Post
    I am on to you, PYROMANCER! You cannot hide your true identity! No, but seriously, if you have not checked out Pyromancer yet (you probably have) you should. He even literally wears a tinfoil hat. I wonder if Blizz ever just goes through all the wild player theories and goes like "Yeah, that is cool and makes sense. Let's use this."
    I promise I'm not him, haha, but I've seen his videos before and we often vibe on the same wavelength when it comes to Warcraft speculation.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Littleraven View Post
    Not going to read the whole thing but Bellular has a really good video about this same topic. I don't know if you are on the same page as that video or not but taking a quick glance at this gave me the same sort of vibes.
    I've seen his videos before, so it's likely that I've watched the video you might be referencing. Watching vids is always easier than reading :P
    "Pulsars are the bulimic cosmic anomalies..."

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