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

[Worldshaper]

This is the most likely outcome.

There is a set of plot elements that Blizzard likes to reiterate in every expansion.

Five Pillars of Creation, Five Covenant Sigils, Five Oathstones, and now Five World Trees with Amirdrassil. It is not a coincidence that theories for years have tried to link these together through Il'gynoth's whispers, but the point is that Blizzard has a set of plot elements that they like to use as basis for their storylines, and this is factual.

Five Old Gods. The essence of the Five that will unlock the One World-Soul.

Xal'atath is basically trying to collect the essence of all the Five Old Gods. She has possibly already collected the essences of N'Zoth and Yogg-Saron during the 3-years interim, and she will try to collect the essences of C'Thun and Y'Shaarj in TWW.

It is not a coincidence that Khaz Algar is located between Silithus and Pandaria, it is not a surprise that Blizzard has stated that the Black Blood of the Old Gods will play a major role as the Nerubian under Xal'atath are mining it, and it is expected that Patch 10.2.7 "The Dark Heart" will revolve around the Dark Heart of Pandaria, Y'Shaarj.

The Old Gods are the key.

Yogg-Saron - the essence of Galakrond.
Y'Shaarj - remnants of his heart.
N'Zoth - Black Blade of the Empire.
C'thun - Blood harvested by Nerubians.

???

Profit.

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I will say this: it would be super cool if the Gilneas storyline also included something about the Darkmoon Faire, and by extension C'thun. Perhaps ill omens about the future.

[Vakir]

...?

Are people seriously making this more complicated than the open and shut telegraphed plot it is?

He was aiming for Azeroth.

Equal parts trying to assist her from corruption and "if I can't have her, nobody can." It's not C'Thun not only because C'Thun is dead, but because the entire plot they're establishing per BlizzCon is that Xal'atath is approaching the Nerubians as a new plan in absence of the other options that there once were for a Void foothold.

Just like with every other Occam's Razor Blizzard does, people are trying to make it way more detailed than it is.

The voice? Also Azeroth. They think their players are goldfish. The simplest outcomes are gonna be the answer.

[Woggmer]

...?

Are people seriously making this more complicated than the open and shut telegraphed plot it is?

He was aiming for Azeroth.

Equal parts trying to assist her from corruption and "if I can't have her, nobody can." It's not C'Thun not only because C'Thun is dead, but because the entire plot they're establishing per BlizzCon is that Xal'atath is approaching the Nerubians as a new plan in absence of the other options that there once were for a Void foothold.

Just like with every other Occam's Razor Blizzard does, people are trying to make it way more detailed than it is.

The voice? Also Azeroth. They think their players are goldfish. The simplest outcomes are gonna be the answer.

I don't think it's much about who/what the Sword is aiming towards, more like why Silithus? If Sargeras wanted to stab Azeroth or cleave her like the other World Soul that was almost corrupted, why aim it in Silithus?

As for the whole C'thun thing, there's no way they'd bring him back to make him a big time threat again (plus not a lot of people actually like his boss fight in AQ40). If anything, they'll just have Xal'atath consume what's left of him to make herself stronger (if her backstory about how Y'shaarj ate her and lived on as one of his claws would suggest anything).

[username993720]

Five Pillars of Creation, Five Covenant Sigils, Five Oathstones, and now Five World Trees with Amirdrassil. It is not a coincidence that theories for years have tried to link these together through Il'gynoth's whispers, but the point is that Blizzard has a set of plot elements that they like to use as basis for their storylines, and this is factual.

Five Old Gods. The essence of the Five that will unlock the One World-Soul.

Yes, that's kind of getting old. They use this every expansion. They thought we wouldn't notice.

[Lady Atia]

I wouldn't give myself hope about the Gilneas story, especially since this questline allows both Alliance and Horde to do it. Meaning the Forsaken are probably there just to ask for forgiveness over the stuff Sylvanas made them do in Gilneas.

It's really up to Genn Greymane to decide if he wants to forgive them or not. Personally, I don't think he should because it'll kill any potential plot developments between the Alliance and Horde, not just on the factions as a whole but even the individual races. Plus, it will probably upset some of the Forsaken and Worgen players depending on how things are handled.

Lol, Sylvanas never really made them "do stuff in Gilneas", it was Garrosh who commanded her to do so.

[huth]

I don't think it's much about who/what the Sword is aiming towards, more like why Silithus? If Sargeras wanted to stab Azeroth or cleave her like the other World Soul that was almost corrupted, why aim it in Silithus?

Because Silithus was expendable.

[Varodoc]

Except Azeroth's prison/stasis chamber is more likely than C'thun.

You're wrong. Blizzard has already stated that the Black Blood of the Old Gods will feature prominently in the expansion.

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Lol, Sylvanas never really made them "do stuff in Gilneas", it was Garrosh who commanded her to do so.

Did Garrosh also command Sylvanas to launch the forbidden and outlawed blight on Gilneas City?

[huth]

You're wrong. Blizzard has already stated that the Black Blood of the Old Gods will feature prominently in the expansion.

Which is completely independent of Sargeras sword. The expansion doesn't even happen anywhere near the sword.

[Lady Atia]

Which is completely independent of Sargeras sword. The expansion doesn't even happen anywhere near the sword.

Tbf, it's quite possible we will get a revamped Silithus Underground as patch zone for TWW. It's featured in the Cinematic Trailer, they used the "what sword?" meme for the promotional material, and the three blizzcon trading post weapons can be read as each representing one Expansion - Xal's staff for Midnight, the titan dagger for TLT and than you have the sword, which could actually represent TWW if it all ends there.

[Cherry123]

I hope for a good cinematic for Gilneas

[mrspidey]

The Titan, Sargeras, and Void weapon transmogs that were awarded in November have an easter egg in Silithus.

If you talk to the Twilight Hermit there with the weapons transmogged, he says new things depending on what you have transmogged.

If you have the Sargeras sword(s):



Titan weapons:



And the void staff:



Definitely neat and again points to the Titans as not likely to be allies in the long run.

Eh, the guy is a follower of Xalatath. Of course he talks shit about the Titans.

[Lady Atia]

Eh, the guy is a follower of Xalatath. Of course he talks shit about the Titans.

It's not shit if it's true though.

[Raetary]

I don't think it's much about who/what the Sword is aiming towards, more like why Silithus? If Sargeras wanted to stab Azeroth or cleave her like the other World Soul that was almost corrupted, why aim it in Silithus?

The Heart chamber is beneath Silithus.

Sargeras was aiming to kill.

[Nathanyel]

It's not shit if it's true though.

The best lies are based on the truth.

The titans care only about their precious Order. They would sacrifice anything to achieve it--including their own followers.

Of course the Titans would ultimately choose their goals over our survival, but we know the Old Gods and their followers are even worse in that regard, sacrificing mortals without a second thought.

[mrspidey]

Of course the Titans would ultimately choose their goals over our survival, but we know the Old Gods and their followers are even worse in that regard, sacrificing mortals without a second thought.

Yep. The Titans aren't super rigid on their stance. They allowed dwarves, vrykul and gnomes to exist, despite them being a result of OG meddling.
And they set up their reorigination system with an element of oversight that was able to be reasoned with.

On Draenor, Aggramar felt empathy for its denizens suffering from the Overgrowth and created beings to destroy it.

[Nathanyel]

They allowed dwarves, vrykul and gnomes to exist, despite them being a result of OG meddling.

tbh I still prefer when the lore was that the "Curse of Flesh" was an intended "devolution" to create the "seed races" as more flexible defenders, more resistant to corruption, with the innate motivation of mortals to defend their world, and the Old Gods just took credit for it.

[Auxis]

I don't think it's much about who/what the Sword is aiming towards, more like why Silithus? If Sargeras wanted to stab Azeroth or cleave her like the other World Soul that was almost corrupted, why aim it in Silithus?

As for the whole C'thun thing, there's no way they'd bring him back to make him a big time threat again (plus not a lot of people actually like his boss fight in AQ40). If anything, they'll just have Xal'atath consume what's left of him to make herself stronger (if her backstory about how Y'shaarj ate her and lived on as one of his claws would suggest anything).

I thought the implication was that she was consumed by the Big 4 and the dagger was the only remaining part of her?

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There's discussion in-lore about how the Black Empire may not have been as bad as the titan edicts made it out to be, but I'm struggling to see how anything could have lived freely on the supercontinent with the mountainous old gods looming over everything.

I think its safe to say that what we've been told about the Empire was a lie or at least not entirely true, given the Edicts of Odyn and Chekhov's gun.
But then what IS the truth? Did the old gods just leave the lesser races alone and only warred amongst themselves? But then there's the trolls vs. Aqir so that can't be right, unless the trolls instigated it?

[Lady Atia]

I thought the implication was that she was consumed by the Big 4 and the dagger was the only remaining part of her?

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There's discussion in-lore about how the Black Empire may not have been as bad as the titan edicts made it out to be, but I'm struggling to see how anything could have lived freely on the supercontinent with the mountainous old gods looming over everything.

I think its safe to say that what we've been told about the Empire was a lie or at least not entirely true, given the Edicts of Odyn and Chekhov's gun.
But then what IS the truth? Did the old gods just leave the lesser races alone and only warred amongst themselves? But then there's the trolls vs. Aqir so that can't be right, unless the trolls instigated it?

The void actually gives you free will since they think every future, and every timeline is valid. Not like the titans with their whole "one timeline" bullshit.

[Varodoc]

I thought the implication was that she was consumed by the Big 4 and the dagger was the only remaining part of her?

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There's discussion in-lore about how the Black Empire may not have been as bad as the titan edicts made it out to be, but I'm struggling to see how anything could have lived freely on the supercontinent with the mountainous old gods looming over everything.

I think its safe to say that what we've been told about the Empire was a lie or at least not entirely true, given the Edicts of Odyn and Chekhov's gun.
But then what IS the truth? Did the old gods just leave the lesser races alone and only warred amongst themselves? But then there's the trolls vs. Aqir so that can't be right, unless the trolls instigated it?

Yes... the Trolls instigated that war, that's exactly what they did, as detailed in the Chronicles. Even the Chronicles, which were retconned into Titan propaganda instead of an Omniscient source, were clear on the subject.

The Trolls were warned by the Loa not to approach a black mass near the Zandalar Mountain, which was the carapace of a C'Thrax general. The Trolls ignored the Loa and did so anyway, thus they inadvertently stirred the C'Thrax from his slumber.

The C'Thrax then rallied the Aqir minions and launched a war against the Trolls, but it doesn't change the fact that it was the Trolls who instigated that conflict by resurrecting the C'Thrax in the first place.

Secondly, the Old Gods don't want to kill everything, they are not Demons. The Old Gods want to rule, they established an Empire. Why would they mindlessly kill mortal races? That is easily disproven by the source material.

You have the Twilight's Hammer, a cult worshipping the Old Gods, recruiting members from all mortal races. You got N'Zoth in BfA who wanted to control the player. The Old Gods are not murder machines, that's the Demons, the Scourge, and, to a certain extent, the Titans. The Old Gods want to rule over mortals, not massacre them.

[Murlocos]

Unreliable narration really does not work in a game where the player is a direct observer of the overwhelmingly majority of the plot. It also really does not work when you try to rely on it after decades of not invoking it.

We've been to the Black Empire twice this expansion. It's an apocalyptic hellhole. I'm not saying you can't have cultists or whatever bad guys genuinely believing in the goodness of their cause, but there's nothing profound about someone going "what if it wasn't that bad?" when the player has directly seen how bad it was over and over again. It's pointless meandering, and that's harmless here and there, but there's no reason to ruminate over it when you can just trust your eyes.