The War Within 11.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Dragonborn]

It also seems to me like they're doing a two-parter with Dragonflight and 11.0(similar to WoD and Legion, but reckon they'll lean into it this time to get away with repeating some themes from DF), with the former being focused on the skies and the latter on deep places. Dragonflight will probably conclude the story of the dragons, Amirdrassil, and most of the primalists(though we'll definitely see more in the future when they need goons for elemental aligned enemies).

That leaves us with Iridikron and the Harbinger going for the World Soul, and the Titans still being a large presence in the story. Iridikron's mastery over the earth will probably come into play, maybe the void portal in Aberrus will too, idk. The fissure in Khaz Algar probably leads to the World Soul, and the dwarves living there could be exposed to it and become storm dwarves, having lightning powers similar to Odyn. All the recent explorer/secrets themes could be hinting archaeologist stuff like in Uldum but with less Harrison Jones. Maybe even reintroduce the profession while we're at it.

[Worldshaper]

The Harbinger is related to the Void though. That's not a pattern, its just very standard narrative flow. Are you thinking Void is a kind of Elemental? It's a cosmic force. Fire/Ice are not cosmic forces.

The Void is the main antagonist from the POV of the Titans and the Dragons. They corrupted Deathwing, who was called The Harbinger at the time, in an attempt to being bring about the Hour of Twilight.

Everything we're seeing now is just carrying on that story.

The reason they chose to involve the elements back in Cataclysm probably has to do with two things. First because the Old Gods enslaved them back in the day, so they're already connected narratively. That's when the Titans created the Elemental Planes to contain them. Second because Deathwing was the Earth-warder. He broke the elements free when he caused the Shattering and destabilised the Elemental Planes.

[Samin]

Just look at the story from 6.0 until today.

WoD reintroduces Gul'dan who sets the Legion invasion in motion.

BfA introduces Sylvanas' war which sets Shadowlands in motion.

Dragonflight introduces Iridikron and the Harbinger who set 11.0 in motion.

I'm not inventing this stuff, it's all there. So clearly they decided that was what they wanted to do.

WoD definitely did not introduce Gul'dan.

Both Gul'dan and Sylvanas were already established characters by the time they set things in motion.

While the lead-in to Legion was somewhat written on the wall, during BfA that conclusion was far from obvious. I mean just as many people claimed Azshara was being set up - you know as the antagonist in the upcoming void (or underwater /s) expansion.

The problem isn't that Iridikron isn't being set up as a future antagonist and agent of the void (he clearly is) - but that doesn't mean the next expansion is definitely a void expansion.

I mean he could be Garrosh in MoP setting up WoD which would then set up Legion through Gul'dan.

[Ferlion]

The revamp dream lives on!

Maybe an entrance to Khaz Algar is beneath Bael Modan?

It's possible. It would certainly fit the idea of "far away" from a lore standpoint and "What's underneath Bael Modan" has been a thread since the very beginning. The fissure may just be a physical incarnation of the Rift of Aln. The only real thing that makes me doubt this is the Earthen were around in ancient Kalimdor and helped in the War of the Ancients.

But there weren't really any Khazs and such. The Earthen lived in Titan facilities like Uldamon.

[Worldshaper]

"The Void" in Cataclysm was Old God influence, not Void Lords invading the planet. I already said there will likely be old god stuff in the next expansion, maybe even an appearance by Azshara. However, the notion that this is some entry point to being ported to K'aresh is a nonsensical pipe dream.

They're effectively the same. The Hour of Twilight prophecy says that the Old Gods will consume Azeroth. That's what Aman'Thul saw, and inspired him to allow the creation of the Dragon Aspects. But there's an alternate, perhaps more legit version from Draenor that says Void Lords will do it. So essentially, the Old Gods are tools on Azeroth to carry out the prophecy. But if they fail, the Void Lords will just find another way. They did fail in Cata, but there might now be one final Old God to succeed (Xal'atath).

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WoD definitely did not introduce Gul'dan.

Both Gul'dan and Sylvanas were already established characters by the time they set things in motion.

While the lead-in to Legion was somewhat written on the wall, during BfA that conclusion was far from obvious. I mean just as many people claimed Azshara was being set up - you know as the antagonist in the upcoming void (or underwater /s) expansion.

The problem isn't that Iridikron isn't being set up as a future antagonist and agent of the void (he clearly is) - but that doesn't mean the next expansion is definitely a void expansion.

I mean he could be Garrosh in MoP setting up WoD which would then set up Legion through Gul'dan.

The Gul'dan who summoned the Legion in... Legion... was AU Gul'dan. So WoD had to happen for Legion to happen. That's what I'm saying. It's a 2 part story.

[Nightshade711]

I do also wonder if they’ll pay off the Son of the Wolf comic next expansion, if it is void (or light vs void) related after all.

[Sondrelk]

Why are the Blood elves bananas?
Smolderon in the trash

They are the Tel'Dorei, the children of the Banana from the ancient High Elven society on Tel'abim.

[Ersula]

The Void is the main antagonist from the POV of the Titans and the Dragons. They corrupted Deathwing, who was called The Harbinger at the time, in an attempt to being bring about the Hour of Twilight.

I do see that in that sense, The Hour of Twilight being when the Void finally wrestles Azeroth away from the protections of the Titans, it seems like the plot of 11.0 will be about. (Just as long as its not elementals. We're all tired of elementals. Dragonflight has been all elements all the time.)

But I would say I would be very disappointed if Xal'atath & Azshara's goals are to deliver Azeroth to the void. That feels extremely reductive to their character & a complete backward direction for their story. Azshara was only working for N'zoth for pragmatic reasons & Xal'atath was just as sick & tired of working for the Old Gods as Azshara is.

[Makorus]

I do also wonder if they’ll pay off the Son of the Wolf comic next expansion, if it is void (or light vs void) related after all.

Welllll

“The Son of the Wolf comic is a possible future. There is a storyline that ends with that particular future. However, it is not necessarily the one that will come to fruition, as there are many other possibilities. Always ask Alex Afrasiabi that question when you can in a Q&A.”

Plus, with the way Velen has been written I dont think it's gonna happen that exact way.

This quote from that interview is interesting though!

The Son of the Wolf comic, together with many other pieces of content throughout Legion, hinted at this ultimate goal in the Warcraft Universe being the War between Light and Shadow.

[Teriz]

Old Gods are from the void. Azshara, Iridikron, “the harbinger”/Xal’atath are all currently in the void.

Which more than likely leads to a climax here on Azeroth, not in the cosmos. None of the characters you mentioned have cosmic goals. Azshara just wants to rule Azeroth. Irodikron wants to remove the Titan influence from the world. Xal’atath has her own schemes, but I doubt it’s away from Azeroth.

Going to K’aresh is a very real possibility as patch content. Especially with the datamined eco-dome stuff. (And the other Ethereal hints sprinkled in DF like the shadowscrawled coin)

Could be a starter zone for playable Ethereals that we return to like the forbidden reach.

Yeah, no it’s not. You don’t start in K’aresh and end up in Khaz Algar. If you’re starting in K’aresh you’re staying in the void for the entire expansion, just like Shadowlands. Further it’s doubtful Blizzard is going to introduce another neutral race right after Dracthyr.

Meanwhile, we got Thrall, we got underground, we got Earthen, we got a mount named after a mountain location, and we got elemental pets.

We even got Iridikron who is an earth/underground based primalist, and Xal’atath, an old god of some type who tends to like to be underground themselves.

Seems pretty obvious where we’re going next.

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It also seems to me like they're doing a two-parter with Dragonflight and 11.0(similar to WoD and Legion, but reckon they'll lean into it this time to get away with repeating some themes from DF), with the former being focused on the skies and the latter on deep places. Dragonflight will probably conclude the story of the dragons, Amirdrassil, and most of the primalists(though we'll definitely see more in the future when they need goons for elemental aligned enemies).

That leaves us with Iridikron and the Harbinger going for the World Soul, and the Titans still being a large presence in the story. Iridikron's mastery over the earth will probably come into play, maybe the void portal in Aberrus will too, idk. The fissure in Khaz Algar probably leads to the World Soul, and the dwarves living there could be exposed to it and become storm dwarves, having lightning powers similar to Odyn. All the recent explorer/secrets themes could be hinting archaeologist stuff like in Uldum but with less Harrison Jones. Maybe even reintroduce the profession while we're at it.

Yes, this is my general feeling as well.

[Nightshade711]

Which more than likely leads to a climax here on Azeroth, not in the cosmos. None of the characters you mentioned have cosmic goals. Azshara just wants to rule Azeroth. Irodikron wants to remove the Titan influence from the world. Xal’atath has her own schemes, but I doubt it’s away from Azeroth.

Removing Titan influence & Xal’atath’s schemes are both cosmic.
K’aresh could be an Argus like zone on an otherwise Azeroth based xpac.

Yeah, no it’s not. You don’t start in K’aresh and end up in Khaz Algar. If you’re starting in K’aresh you’re staying in the void for the entire expansion, just like Shadowlands.

Weird. We didn’t stay on The Wandering Isle in MoP. We didn’t stay in Kezan or Gilneas during Cata.
We didn’t stay on Mardum or a shattered Fel planet in space during Legion.
The list goes on and on.

Your speculation still doesn’t answer why there have been Ethereal hints since Legion, or why there were eco-dome (aka Ethereal) related things datamined recently.

[Teriz]

They're effectively the same. The Hour of Twilight prophecy says that the Old Gods will consume Azeroth. That's what Aman'Thul saw, and inspired him to allow the creation of the Dragon Aspects. But there's an alternate, perhaps more legit version from Draenor that says Void Lords will do it. So essentially, the Old Gods are tools on Azeroth to carry out the prophecy. But if they fail, the Void Lords will just find another way. They did fail in Cata, but there might now be one final Old God to succeed (Xal'atath).

Yeah, you’re skipping a few steps. We don’t know what Xal’atath’s goals are, and we don’t even know if they’re an old god. Heck, we don’t even know what Iridikron’s ultimate goal is beyond the fact that he hates the titans. How we jump from that to us fighting Void Lords on K’aresh is beyond me, considering that neither Iridikron or Xal’atath have made any moves towards the world soul or come close to threatening it. Maybe it’s something that happens in 11.0, but as of now that’s a pretty goofy conclusion to make. It’s like you’re jumping from point A to point Y and missing several steps in between.

[Dismayxz]

I’m expecting the Algarian Dwarves to be the cut Skardyn from Cataclysm that were supposed to be in Grim Batol.



It would make sense from what we know about them so far, especially if the rift the Earthen were sent to investigate turns out to be the remains of the 5th old god after all.

It looks so much like these dwarves are either turning into Naga or dwarf-sized Sea Giants. The visual resemblance to Sea Giant features is.. interesting.

[Worldshaper]

I do see that in that sense, The Hour of Twilight being when the Void finally wrestles Azeroth away from the protections of the Titans, it seems like the plot of 11.0 will be about. (Just as long as its not elementals. We're all tired of elementals. Dragonflight has been all elements all the time.)

But I would say I would be very disappointed if Xal'atath & Azshara's goals are to deliver Azeroth to the void. That feels extremely reductive to their character & a complete backward direction for their story. Azshara was only working for N'zoth for pragmatic reasons & Xal'atath was just as sick & tired of working for the Old Gods as Azshara is.

I'm not entirely sure yet where Azshara's and Xal'atath's goals align. The text says Azshara returns to rule, which fits her character I think. She wants power and adoration.

But that's seems incompatible with the Hour of Twilight, which is more or less about destroying Azeroth.

I guess a cool twist would be if they're both sort of rebelling against the Void Lords. Maybe they want to save Azeroth, but also rule it.

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Yeah, you’re skipping a few steps. We don’t know what Xal’atath’s goals are, and we don’t even know if they’re an old god. Heck, we don’t even know what Iridikron’s ultimate goal is beyond the fact that he hates the titans. How we jump from that to us fighting Void Lords on K’aresh is beyond me, considering that neither Iridikron or Xal’atath have made any moves towards the world soul or come close to threatening it. Maybe it’s something that happens in 11.0, but as of now that’s a pretty goofy conclusion to make. It’s like you’re jumping from point A to point Y and missing several steps in between.

We know she wants to carry out an awakening, but yeah it's still up for debate what her final goal it. The Hour of Twilight makes the most sense, but I wouldn't rule out something else.

[Makorus]

We don't know what the Hour of Twilight is.

[Worldshaper]

We don't know what the Hour of Twilight is.

We kind of do. According to the vision Aman'Thul saw, and Nozdormu, it's about the Old Gods consuming Azeroth. According to the pale orcs on Draenor, it's about the Void Lords consuming the universe. It should be noted that when we prevented it in Cataclysm, Nozdormu doubted it was the real one we had seen.

[Teriz]

Removing Titan influence & Xal’atath’s schemes are both cosmic.
K’aresh could be an Argus like zone on an otherwise Azeroth based xpac.

Removing Titan influence from Azeroth is Azeroth, not cosmic. Cosmic is removing Titan influence throughout the cosmos. Iridikron (thus far) only cares about Azeroth.

As for Xal’atath, we don’t know what their schemes are. However, even the old gods schemes were restricted to Azeroth, where their goals were to take over the world (soul) and create the black empire. That’s it and that’s all.

Weird. We didn’t stay on The Wandering Isle in MoP. We didn’t stay in Kezan or Gilneas during Cata.

Those are all on Azeroth dude.

We didn’t stay on Mardum or a shattered Fel planet in space during Legion.

Are we talking about Demon Hunters here?

Your speculation still doesn’t answer why there have been Ethereal hints since Legion, or why there were eco-dome (aka Ethereal) related things datamined recently.

There’s plenty of assets that are created and never used. It happens all the time.

[Ersula]

It looks so much like these dwarves are either turning into Naga or dwarf-sized Sea Giants. The visual resemblance to Sea Giant features is.. interesting.

That would be cool, but the idea here is that the Skardyn turned into the C'Thrax we see in Grim Batol. They have scales/fins.

[Dismayxz]

I'm still impressed that if Khaz Algar is legit, then the true teasing for 11.0 happened waaaay back in the Uldum pre-patch. Pretty straightforward

The time definitely differed. But the seeding/basic setup for a lot of recent expansions has happened either in a very straightforward and obvious way or has just been straight told to us in small details.

[Cheezits]

Unless they were scrapped or are 12.0 bait, I do think "Player Jin'yu" should be considered for the next expansion and how they would fit in Avaloren/Khaz Algar.