[Spoilers] Shadowlands: Afterlives Cinematic Discussion

[TigTone]

At least we still have Ursoc brother to live in his memory.

[Magnagarde]

Much, much better than Maldraxxus. It also helps us pinpoint the timeframe within which the Shadowlands stopped working properly considering Ursoc went to Ardenweald after being taken down in the Emerald Nightmare during Legion. They managed to take what most know only as a raidboss and completely new characters and still present a story that has emotional weight.

[Sughs]

So normally you can't die again in Shadowlands but if you don't feed on anima, you can die and it's definitive?

[tommyhil622]

Idk, i liked this one. I Feel bad for Ursoc, seems like his soul was completed turned into anima. I wonder if there's a way to bring him back from that once everything gets fixed, seems doubtful. In the cinematic we got a snippet of how things used to be, and how it was after the drought and what they felt they had to do to stop it. You also see some compassion from the Winter Queen who has decided to expend some souls to save the rest but i can't help but wonder, how do they decide which souls can be saved and which souls can be expended? seems like something the arbiter should be do but alas it's in sleep mode. Something is definitely off there aside from the obvious drought.

[Elbob]

So... what about the berries that got fed to Ursoc prior to the drought? Whose souls were those?

they were fruit grown with anima I believe not actual souls. Anima is a resource that comes naturally with souls(they talk about this in bastion a lot), new souls bring with them new anima to the shadowlands. With no new incoming souls there is no new anima to fuel the plants that grow those fruit.

[Combatbutler]

Dying in the shadowlands reincarnates you in it. They said as much.

Man... Poor Ursoc, this was so sad... He could not catch a break...

No, if you die there you are gone

So normally you can't die again in Shadowlands but if you don't feed on anima, you can die and it's definitive?

Not of old age no, but if you are killed you cease to be.

[Aucald]

So normally you can't die again in Shadowlands but if you don't feed on anima, you can die and it's definitive?

In the Shadowlands, your anima reserve kind of is you, so to speak. For a Wild God, they need a lot of anima to both exist and even more to eventually be reborn. Really sad to see Ursoc go out like that, though.

[Coconut]

None. I think they're just anima, so energy. It's also what they're drawing out with those staves. Ursoc perma-dies because of a lack of anima, like malnutrition of the soul.

Doesn't all anima come from souls, though? I suppose it could be anima siphoned from destroyed souls in other parts of the Shadowlands, though, through the ground and into the trees. If the Maw tapped into that, then the drought would make sense.

[NED funded]

Oh man this was much better than the Maldraxxus one

I kinda feel bad for Ursoc, the poor bear never caught a break. From his corruption in Wrath to when we slay him in Legion and now this

[Combatbutler]

Doesn't all anima come from souls, though? I suppose it could be anima siphoned from destroyed souls in other parts of the Shadowlands, though, through the ground and into the trees. If the Maw tapped into that, then the drought would make sense.

That anima comes from mortal souls send to Ardenweald, they constantly give up anima into the groves.

[Ashiraya]

Great cinematic. Not quite as amazing as Bastion but better for sure than Maldraxxus.

If you can just straight up destroy a soul and turn it into anima, though, can someone explain to me why there's anything left to save from the Maw? Why wouldn't the Jailer just turn them all to soul juice, to both permanently obliterate his enemies and boost his own power?

[Trollokdamus]

Can anyone explain to me why the loa/Ancient spirits of Ardenweald have to be fed anima in order not to die completely while all the other souls are stripped of their anima and still function just fine without any outside support?

So... what about the berries that got fed to Ursoc prior to the drought? Whose souls were those?

That was pure anima collected from lesser spirits that had ended up in Ardenweald. Animals, hunters, druids, etc.

[Super Dickmann]

Doesn't all anima come from souls, though? I suppose it could be anima siphoned from destroyed souls in other parts of the Shadowlands, though, through the ground and into the trees. If the Maw tapped into that, then the drought would make sense.

They mentioned somewhere that anima is like air in the Shadowlands. So presumably for Ardenweald since you need more anima to get people to revive you're getting it from somewhere else, but if that somewhere else is also rigged to the Maw you've got a drought and they have to decide who lives and who dies.

So normally you can't die again in Shadowlands but if you don't feed on anima, you can die and it's definitive?

If you die in the Shadowlands you cease to exist. There's a Bastion quest about it, but fuck if I can find it.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Loa damn it. I'm a troll person (and Loa lover) but this....makes me feel. Damn I really want to see Ursoc again. but I guess that's not happening

[Izzyfurious]

Noticed that Mark Messenger Directed the Ardenweald one. Where as the god awful Maldraxxus one was made by some nobody i hadn't heard of since the post about that animated short came up on wh.

Maybe thats why the maldraxxus one was awful.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Noticed that Mark Messenger Directed the Ardenweald one. Where as the god awful Maldraxxus one was made by some nobody i hadn't heard of since the post about that animated short came up on wh.

Maybe thats why the maldraxxus one was awful.

I think it was made by Christie Golden

[Aucald]

Can anyone explain to me why the loa/Ancient spirits of Ardenweald have to be fed anima there in order not to die completely while all the other souls are stripped of their anima and still function just fine without any outside support?

Wild Gods and Ancients aren't just present in Ardenweald, they're actively fed anima so that they can be reborn back in the living world after a time. They *can* be brought to a state where they can exist in Ardenweald without being reborn, though; with the Winter Queen allowing it - but that's not the purpose of Ardenweald or the function of the lifeseeds, though.

[Sluvs]

No, if you die there you are gone



Not of old age no, but if you are killed you cease to be.

Well, that is not what they said in a interview. That might have changed, but the idea was that when you die there, your energy is repurposed and reborn.

- - - Updated - - -

I think it was made by Christie Golden

* Written by her

[Combatbutler]

Well, that is not what they said in a interview. That might have changed, but the idea was that when you die there, your energy is repurposed and reborn.

Yeah you become one with the land so to speak as your anima disperses, but you yourself are gone and cannot return.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Anyone noticed the Winter Queen started to tear up when she was telling him it's his choice?