[Theory] Retaking Gilneas will lead us into The Dark Below.

[Deleted]

Hey guys, me again with another theory on what the next expansion is but...

Come on, hear me out.

Retaking Gilneas
So, Varian said we will focus on keeping Sylvanas contained and retaking Gilneas, how does this link to The Dark Below?

Well...

Remember Yogg's Puzzle box? Remember how it said stuff about the bottom of the ocean? Yeah, my Azshara theory still holds to this, but now we can complete the picture with the following.

Remember it saying;
The silent, sleeping, staring houses in the backwoods always dream. It would be merciful to tear them down.
There is a little lamb lost in dark woods.
Look around. They will all betray you. Flee screaming into the black forest.
The giant rook watches from the dead trees. Nothing breathes beneath his shadow.

Just a bit south of Gilneas City and north of Stormglen Village lies The Blackwald.

"Blackwald" is a combination of the word "black" and the German word "wald", meaning forest - hence, "black forest". Thus, it is likely a reference to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald in German) in southern Germany.
The village of Stormglen might be referred to as the houses in the backwoods.

Now what else is important; The original worgen, the Druids of the Scythe, lived in the Blackwald.
In the center of the Blackwald is a big tree called Tal'Doren, which is identical to the tree Daral'nir where the Druids locked away the Druids of the Pack, which were the first Worgen, in The Emerald Dream.

Druids of the Pack/Scythe Lore Bit
The Druids of the Pack were druids who turned towards Goldrinn and shapeshifted into Pack Form, which originally were wolves. They were mindless and savage in that form, attacking Night Elves and demons alike, so Pack Form was forbidden by Malfurion, making for some very pissed Pack Druids. Eventually, the Scythe of Elune was created, hoping it would temper the mindless rage of the Pack Form Druids, but it also made Pack Form a humanoid form, creating the first Worgen. Their bite also became infectuous (for some reason), and eventually the Scythe was used to seal them away under Daral'Nir.

Closing


So, the next expansion will feature The Blackwald, Maybe corrupted Worgen, Naga's, Emerald Dream and such.
The Blackwald holds strong connections to The Emerald Dream, and is a black forest with lots of dead trees.

EDIT: We also know Tirisfall Glades is around the corner, and we know there's something buried below it.

Blackwald and Tirisfall might be in connection to eachother underground or in the Emerald Dream or something.

Here's a picture of the Blackwald for anyone not convinced this is a very black forest with dead trees.

[Deleted]

The stuff in the yogg-saron puzzle box doesn't have anything to do with Gilneas. Gilneas doesn't need to be retaken. It just needs to be made habitable, which requires neutralising Forsaken Blight. Because it's a BG, it's map location offering no gameplay value, it's safe to say Gilneas will only be "inhabited" once more in a novel or short story, unless they decide to overhaul the world again.

Varian said we will cleanse it so they can rebuild.

Still, I do believe everything correlates to The Blackwald, and us cleansing Gilneas will mean we're near The Blackwald, someone gets lost there [Possible Anduin, Little lost lamb and all] and shit starts stirring.

We're going there possibly in 5.5.

[Deleted]

That's an interesting connection. I've also heard people suggest that with the Gilneas conflict, Tirisfal is just around the corner, and we all know there is something down there. It could serve as an entry point into the Dark Below. It's definitely interesting speculation.

[Deleted]

That's an interesting connection. I've also heard people suggest that with the Gilneas conflict, Tirisfal is just around the corner, and we all know there is something down there. It could serve as an entry point into the Dark Below. It's definitely interesting speculation.

I was thinking on noting it down in the post, but I forgot about it being around the corner, thanks for notifying me, will edit!

[CosmicGuitars]

1. Nobody owns the trademark to 'The Dark Below'. It appeared a couple of times on different databases, but each time has been removed. It has largely been dismissed as a hoax. While it may still be a Naga/N'zoth expansion, it is not called 'The Dark Below'.

2. Dave Kosak in a recent interview has stated there isn't really anything beneath Tirisfal. It was just a 'hook' to get people interested and speculating which they could potentially tie in for a plot in the future. With that said, I think it's safe to say they have nothing planned, or he would've deflected the question.

[Deleted]

1. Nobody owns the trademark to 'The Dark Below'. It appeared a couple of times on different databases, but each time has been removed. It has largely been dismissed as a hoax. While it may still be a Naga/N'zoth expansion, it is not called 'The Dark Below'.

2. Dave Kosak in a recent interview has stated there isn't really anything beneath Tirisfal. It was just a 'hook' to get people interested and speculating which they could potentially tie in for a plot in the future. With that said, I think it's safe to say they have nothing planned, or he would've deflected the question.

1. We have nothing else to go by so we're sticking with it for now.

2. Well that's just stupid. But can you link us the interview please?

[CosmicGuitars]

1. We have nothing else to go by so we're sticking with it for now.

2. Well that's just stupid. But can you link us the interview please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osB0_0G5N8g

This is the interview with Jesse Cox. 21:10 is the question.

[Deleted]

1. Nobody owns the trademark to 'The Dark Below'. It appeared a couple of times on different databases, but each time has been removed. It has largely been dismissed as a hoax. While it may still be a Naga/N'zoth expansion, it is not called 'The Dark Below'.

2. Dave Kosak in a recent interview has stated there isn't really anything beneath Tirisfal. It was just a 'hook' to get people interested and speculating which they could potentially tie in for a plot in the future. With that said, I think it's safe to say they have nothing planned, or he would've deflected the question.

When asked whether there is an old god underneath Tirisfal, Blizzard said, no, but something unsettling. We know Blizzard lies sometimes, so pick which one you think was a lie.

Q: Is there truly an Old God underneath the Tirisfal Glade?
A: Nope! There’s something incredibly unsettling there, but it’s not an Old God. It isn’t recommended to go digging through the Glades, though.

[Deleted]

1. Nobody owns the trademark to 'The Dark Below'. It appeared a couple of times on different databases, but each time has been removed. It has largely been dismissed as a hoax. While it may still be a Naga/N'zoth expansion, it is not called 'The Dark Below'.

2. Dave Kosak in a recent interview has stated there isn't really anything beneath Tirisfal. It was just a 'hook' to get people interested and speculating which they could potentially tie in for a plot in the future. With that said, I think it's safe to say they have nothing planned, or he would've deflected the question.

Then why dod the Sin'dorei/ High elfs fled Tirisfal then cause they get all vrazy and messed up?

[CosmicGuitars]

When asked whether there is an old god beneath Tirisfal, Blizzard said, no, something even more horrible. We know Blizzard lies sometimes, so pick which one you think was a lie.

Dave Kosak's recent admission of their use of 'hooks' sounds much more honest than simply perpetuating the speculation.

- - - Updated - - -

Then why dod the Sin'dorei/ High elfs fled Tirisfal then cause they get all vrazy and messed up?

I can't tell you. Nobody can. It's very likely Blizzard themselves do not have an answer.

[Deleted]

I listened to the interview again and I think you misunderstood him. He doesn't say there is nothing under Tirisfal, just that it's something they haven't made an official statement on, so that later, if they want to use it for something cool, they don't have to scrap that, because they already said it was this or that.

[Deleted]

I'm going out on a limb and keep the theory of Tirisfall having something underneath is, definitely not an old god, that's what I do know.

Can't watch the video, at work at the moment.

Then why dod the Sin'dorei/ High elfs fled Tirisfal then cause they get all vrazy and messed up?

Maybe the Worgen came over there, or the unsettling thing drove 'em off.

[Eorayn]

When asked whether there is an old god underneath Tirisfal, Blizzard said, no, but something unsettling. We know Blizzard lies sometimes, so pick which one you think was a lie.

We now know that there is something. Let the speculation commence! Or continue.

[Deleted]

We now know that there is something. Let the speculation commence! Or continue.

Now now, don't derail this thread completely into a Tirisfall thread, we've had those, this one's about Blackwald. :P

[CosmicGuitars]

I listened to the interview again and I think you misunderstood him. He doesn't say there is nothing under Tirisfal, just that it's something they haven't made an official statement on, so that later, if they want to use it for something cool, they don't have to scrap that, because they already said it was this or that.

I think you're the one who misunderstood him. His entire point is that he doesn't really have an answer, because one of the 'dirty secrets' they hold is that they put little 'hooks' around the zones which could lead in to future story lines if they need them... or they can be ignored entirely and never touched upon again, if they never get used. I think it's safe to say Tirisfal is one of the latter.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the entire Gilneas thing will just be Blizzard pandering to the Alliance playerbase to try to give them a 'fist pump' moment and give the Gilneas story arc some sort of conclusion.

[Numbars]

Can old gods see into the future?

[Deleted]

I think you're the one who misunderstood him. His entire point is that he doesn't really have an answer, because one of the 'dirty secrets' they hold is that they put little 'hooks' around the zones which could lead in to future story lines if they need them... or they can be ignored entirely and never touched upon again, if they never get used. I think it's safe to say Tirisfal is one of the latter.

I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the entire Gilneas thing will just be Blizzard pandering to the Alliance playerbase to try to give them a 'fist pump' moment and give the Gilneas story arc some sort of conclusion.

How is it safe to say the Tirisfal hook will not be used? What argument do you have to say that?

[Celista]

The stuff in the yogg-saron puzzle box doesn't have anything to do with Gilneas. Gilneas doesn't need to be retaken. It just needs to be made habitable, which requires neutralising Forsaken Blight. Because it's a BG, it's map location offering no gameplay value, it's safe to say Gilneas will only be "inhabited" once more in a novel or short story, unless they decide to overhaul the world again.

There's the Battle for Gilneas, the battleground zone, and then there is Gilneas, the zone. If you look at your map, you'll see that it is the peninsula south of Silverpine Forest. Gilneas the zone is almost completely finished, minus NPCs.

I see no reason why Gilneas the zone shouldn't be usable in game. The starting area for Worgen is phased, it should be simple enough to put NPCs in the unphased area for everyone else who is not a lowbie Worgen that hasn't played through the starting quest chain.

[Numbars]

Thats pointless Ally will never be happy with anything.

[Deleted]

Can old gods see into the future?

I've been asking that myself, too. Because whether or not they can determines how we can interpret certain lines of the puzzle. Some lines do sound like predictions.