The Machine of Death

[Gstheone]

I've seen all the theories about how it was broken but since the new shadowlands Afterlives cinematic, I'm thinking that Arthas being unjudged by the arbiter is what caused the machine to break. Time is chaotic in the shadowlands, even though it said the machine broke in sometime around Legion(which would be the time we're going off) doesn't mean it that would of been the timing in the shadowlands. The Kyrian are responsible for ferrying the souls of the shadowlands to arbiter and to their destination. Devos and Uther skipped the judging of arthas and sent him into the maw. Now I think the true significance of doing this lies in that this most likely has never been done before. Devos most likely is the first fallen Kyrian( her seeing uther's wounded soul, due to powers of the maw) caused doubt of the kyrian path. I would like to hear other thoughts on this.

[LemonDemonGirl]

I think Ion said it broke during Legion?

[MrLachyG]

it was broken during Legion but after Ysera's death. possible theories are when Genn smashed that cage thing that Helya gave Sylvanas, or when we defeated Helya in ToV and Odyn was freed. who knows really.

[Traveler Voltin]

it broke in legion

[Gstheone]

I think Ion said it broke during Legion?

That is correct, but I think not necessarily by an event on "azeroth"

[Aucald]

It's been confirmed that the machinery of Death broke in Legion, shortly after the death of Ysera. But I do think there's more to it than just that one inciting incident - a theory I outlined as follows.

1.) The Jailer arranges for the demons to acquire Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination, putting a portion of the Maw's power (the Jailer's power) into the physical universe beyond his cage. This is the first attack on the machinery, which shudders but keeps going.

2.) The Scourge ramps up its actions, with each soul claimed another strike against the machine - a flurry of blows that individually can be shrugged off, but collectively start to cause gears to slip and cogs to jam.

3.) Uther and Devos toss Arthas into the Maw, completing the circuit and opening or widening a fissure between the Maw and the physical universe. The Arbiter cries out in pain and the metacosm spasms in agony.

4.) Sylvanas shatters the Soulcage, delivering a final and lasting blow to the Shadowlands (perhaps unbeknownst to her at the time) and causing the machine to finally seize up and stop working completely, the Maw opens and starts hoovering in souls with lusty abandon.

Basically put, I think the events of Shadowlands weren't precipitated by a single, sole event but rather a sequence. The event in Legion was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, but it was only possible after prior damage had been done.

[TheFirstOnes]

The Void Lords: *Slowly sets up sign for 10.0*

[Seasz]

Why do people keep mentioning Ysera's death as a reference? She was directly sent to Ardenweald by Elune herself.

As for when it broke I think it happened around the time of the first Broken Shore assault, when Mueh'zala whispered to Vol'jin to make Sylv warchief.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

I think we have thrown a lot of wrenches into the gears and it's more of "a straw that broke the camel's back" than just one incident. Arguably, a lot of things have been part of the dismantling of the machine of death, but it might be Arthas damnation was a a very important one.

[deenman]

it was broken during Legion but after Ysera's death. possible theories are when Genn smashed that cage thing that Helya gave Sylvanas, or when we defeated Helya in ToV and Odyn was freed. who knows really.

makes zero sense that the cage smashing would have caused it,also helya is working with jailer if im not mistaken,so again,no sense there either,it has to be something we dont know about yett,blizz never rly pre plans these things,they just make it up as they go along and retcon the past

[MrLachyG]

makes zero sense that the cage smashing would have caused it,also helya is working with jailer if im not mistaken,so again,no sense there either,it has to be something we dont know about yett,blizz never rly pre plans these things,they just make it up as they go along and retcon the past

why does it make zero sense about the cage? also it could well be Helya - maybe when we "killed" her and freed Odyn we also freed Helya. She was trapped as well, so that could've done it. also, Blizz plan their expansions a few ahead so yeah they knew where they were going story-wise

[Aucald]

Why do people keep mentioning Ysera's death as a reference? She was directly sent to Ardenweald by Elune herself.

As for when it broke I think it happened around the time of the first Broken Shore assault, when Mueh'zala whispered to Vol'jin to make Sylv warchief.

No, she was not. The Ardenweald questlines confirms the rough timeline of Ysera's arrival *before* the Drought began - the Drought specifically being because all souls were now going to the Maw:

Dreamweaver: Come everyone. This newcomer will feed a wildseed and we will peer into its spirit's dreams!
Dreamweaver: This spirit was within the last group to arrive before the drought began.
Dreamweaver: The younger wildseeds require a more hands-on approach to grow into the ones you saw in the Tranquil Pools.

This spirit in the wildseed is confirmed to be Ysera. This is also confirmed in the Q&A panel at BlizzCon 2019.

[Evaddon]

That is correct, but I think not necessarily by an event on "azeroth"

MAYBE, but generally the Machine of Death being broken NOW...doesn't make sense unless it was connected to an event on Azeroth or something regarding the events that have played out on Azeroth, because The Burning Legion destroyed whole worlds and ended billions if not trillions of lives...If you overload any machine, which that many souls coming all at once would overload it (in my mind), if that alone didn't break it, another component had to break and the mystery is figuring out what that is....

But saying that, also, Fel destroys the soul denying the Shadowlands of the very thing it needs to exist, so as I said above...if that denial didn't break it, than something else had too

[Maljinwo]

Whenever Blizzard pleases before claiming otherwise on another quest or something

[Evaddon]

makes zero sense that the cage smashing would have caused it,also helya is working with jailer if im not mistaken,so again,no sense there either,it has to be something we dont know about yett,blizz never rly pre plans these things,they just make it up as they go along and retcon the past

Why wouldn't it make sense? If the Jailer wanted the soul cage to be broken? We already know Helya has to play by some set of rules, and maybe these other entities do as well, so whose to say they couldn't break it themselves but needed to mettle in the events of mortals to break it...I mean its iffy at best, and convoluted but it makes some sense

[deenman]

Why wouldn't it make sense? If the Jailer wanted the soul cage to be broken? We already know Helya has to play by some set of rules, and maybe these other entities do as well, so whose to say they couldn't break it themselves but needed to mettle in the events of mortals to break it...I mean its iffy at best, and convoluted but it makes some sense

sylvanas would have broken it herself,its 100% not the danged cage

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why does it make zero sense about the cage? also it could well be Helya - maybe when we "killed" her and freed Odyn we also freed Helya. She was trapped as well, so that could've done it. also, Blizz plan their expansions a few ahead so yeah they knew where they were going story-wise

sylvanas would have broken it herself...its not the danged cage,also helya if im not mistaken is working with jailer and will be in shadowlands

[Seratox]

I think Ion said it broke during Legion?

But "TiMe FuNcTiOnS diFFerEnTLy iN tHE sHAdoWlAnDs"

[Nathreim]

Its been broken longer than we think. Sylvanas should not have gone to the Maw after her suicide at Icecrown she was no wear near the level Kael'thas at that point.

I think that problems have been around for a lot longer getting worse and worse until it finally completely broke down.

[MrLachyG]

sylvanas would have broken it herself,its 100% not the danged cage

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sylvanas would have broken it herself...its not the danged cage,also helya if im not mistaken is working with jailer and will be in shadowlands

Yes Helya is working with the Jailer. No shit. What I’m saying is maybe her death allowed her spirit to break free from where Odyn trapped her and then she broke the Machine of Death. Hell the soul cage could’ve been a taunt to Odyn to send people after her, because she knew her defeat would enable her escape

[LemonDemonGirl]

Yes Helya is working with the Jailer. No shit. What I’m saying is maybe her death allowed her spirit to break free from where Odyn trapped her and then she broke the Machine of Death. Hell the soul cage could’ve been a taunt to Odyn to send people after her, because she knew her defeat would enable her escape

Apparently Mueh'zala is the one who brought her to him, he says it in a datamined voiceline