Watching Blizzcon 2019 John Hight & Johnny Cash interview, they mentioned at 6:55 that the "Machine of Death" broke sometime around the Legion time-frame:
The official notes do fall in line with this statement:
Anyways, we can surmise that Azeroth is VERY important on a cosmic scale, not only because of it's world-soul being the most powerful, but because of a couple other factors I'll explain (the Maw and the Rift of Aln). If the Maw's cosmic location is in close proximity to Azeroth (more specifically mirrored from Northrend), it's safe to say that Azeroth's close link to the central hub of the universal afterlife realm of the Great Dark Beyond has made our world the nexus of the universal cycle. If a force wants to unravel all of reality (such as the Burning Legion), the place to go do it is OUR neck of the woods. Following this line of reasoning, I have come up with a few major events that could have done this act.The Broken Machine
"The machine of death is broken, and players entering the Shadowlands will find the realm of the dead in disarray. In the natural order of things, souls are sorted and sent on to an afterlife realm appropriate to the lives they lived, but now, but over the past few years, all souls who have perished—including the innocents slain at Teldrassil—are being funneled directly into the Maw. The Shadowlands are starving for anima even as the Maw continues to grow from the glut of fresh souls.
Sylvanas has been seemingly perpetrating acts to bring about great amounts of death and destruction. In partnership with the Jailer, they have been working toward a common end for some time."
What broke the Machine of Death?
- 1) Connecting the Alternate Timeline to the Prime Timeline with the Dark Portal and Vision of Time. - While this is ~technically~ before Legion, this event directly led to the events of Legion and keeps within the timeline of a "few years" that they mentioned. Any Azerothian souls that died during the events of WoD might have screwed up the cosmic "sorting" of souls. Would they go to the Arbiter of the Prime Timeline or the Alternate Timeline? This seems like the least likely of the crop, but it was worth mentioning.
- 2) The Felstorm at the Broken Shore being powered and maintained by the rift of magical power beneath the Tomb of Sargeras. - This "rift" is likely the same anomaly as the Rift of Aln, which connects to both the Twisting Nether AND the Great Dark Beyond (includes the physical plane, Emerald Dream, and the Shadowlands). Gul'dan was using the rift in the physical realm while Xavius was using it in the Emerald Dream. The rift being used in tandem might have strained the fabric of reality and broke the Machine of Death. This rift predated the arrival of the titans to Azeroth, as evidenced by Xal'atath mentioning at the Broken Shore that it was always a place of power that attracted many groups, including her own brethren before trolls settled in that area. She also mentions that the Battle FOR K'tanth that happened there between N'Zoth and Y'Shaarj. It's clear that they were fighting over this location for a reason.
Xal'atath whispers: This was always a place of power. Aegwynn was drawn here, and before her, the elves, and before them, the trolls. And before them...
Xal'atath whispers: I don't believe these lands have seen such carnage since the Battle for K'tanth. Such a long time ago...
- 3) The power of Death siphoned from Argus, the Unmaker (the Death Titan) and inflicted into the world-soul of Azeroth by Sargeras' sword Gorribal (which is still currently in Silithus). - To me, this seems like the MOST likely scenario, especially taking into account: Argus' abilities/internal "death titan" title from datamining, Blizzard's reluctance to answer questions about him at Blizzcon, and his Mythic red color-scheme (which is canon due to the in-game cinematic of Sargeras turning Argus' soul into an avatar like the other member of the Pantheon and his colors being red at first before transistioning to pale blue, both of which are known "death" colors). Gorribal radiated red energy before we neutralized it with our artifacts. Since Azeroth seems to be in close proximity to the Maw, the huge influx of Death energy might have affected the Rift of Aln connected to Azeroth's world-soul that subsequently connects all realms of existence, including the Shadowlands.
- 4) A combination of two or all three of these events ...might have compounded each other to cause the eventual breaking of the Machine of Death.
- 5) Other (tell me your reasoning in the comments below)
Tell me what you think!