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

[Pheraz]

If they want to stick to the "war within (the planet)" the name is the game scheme it's going to be rootlands and not karesh.
On the other hand this etheral with the dark heart cliff hanger scene could be a cliff hanger for the saga or for the last patch but then it's either a double plot with rootlands and karesh or they skip rootlands which would be weird since they portrait all heroes of the zones before and that troll elf female didn't really had their time to shine yet despite a bunch of quests. So I think next and last patch is rootlands/zone with that love tree

[Cheezits]

If they want to stick to the "war within (the planet)" the name is the game scheme it's going to be rootlands and not karesh.

Yeah but the cinematic and S3 tabard definitely point towards them ditching the entire point of the expansion.

[Scyth]

I am curious if we fight Xal at all in TWW, if the final raid ends up being Ethereal-themed as most are expecting now.

Two patches of her losing in some way, she needs a win and there is no way she doesn't get one this xpac as it would make her feel like a pretty silly villain otherwise. But curious if she gets that win without fighting us.

[Nightshade711]

If they want to stick to the "war within (the planet)" the name is the game scheme it's going to be rootlands and not karesh.
On the other hand this etheral with the dark heart cliff hanger scene could be a cliff hanger for the saga or for the last patch but then it's either a double plot with rootlands and karesh or they skip rootlands which would be weird since they portrait all heroes of the zones before and that troll elf female didn't really had their time to shine yet despite a bunch of quests. So I think next and last patch is rootlands/zone with that love tree

I mean - we do know fairly certainly (per datamining) that Season 3 will be Ethereal related because of the PvP items. That tied with the “ethereal raid” icons.

I personally no longer think we’re gonna deal with the rootlands in a major patch this expansion, if at all.

[Sondrelk]

I am curious if we fight Xal at all in TWW, if the final raid ends up being Ethereal-themed as most are expecting now.

Two patches of her losing in some way, she needs a win and there is no way she doesn't get one this xpac as it would make her feel like a pretty silly villain otherwise. But curious if she gets that win without fighting us.

Ethereals in the final raid seems to be a definite at this point. I doubt Xal'atath will be fought this expansion. She gives off the same whiff of "future hook" that Gul'dan did in WoD leading into Legion.
My guess is that Xal'atath will be the final boss of the first raid in Midnight once she has finished starting the conflict that takes us there.

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I mean - we do know fairly certainly (per datamining) that Season 3 will be Ethereal related because of the PvP items. That tied with the “ethereal raid” icons.

I personally no longer think we’re gonna deal with the rootlands in a major patch this expansion, if at all.

The Rootlands were basically already made though, as we could see it on the datamined developers maps way back in Alpha and Beta. Not using them seems like a waste.

The final raid will almost certainly be Ethereals. But that doesnt mean we need to go to K'aresh. Especially when, as has been mentioned many times before, it would feel like a major left turn in the expansion. Not to mention kinda undermining the whole "invading Quel'thalas" theme that will kick off Midnight. Hard to take the void threat seriously if we just came back from a major stronghold where the void were at their strongest.

If the Rootlands as a raid have been cut, then I would think it more likely that the final raid is the Beledar infested by Ethereals. And even then. The entire expansion has been about the Black Blood. It's the glue that holds all the plot points together. Would be odd if we never got a payoff to what the Black Blood really is, and why it's in Khaz'Algar to begin with.

[Cheezits]

I am curious if we fight Xal at all in TWW, if the final raid ends up being Ethereal-themed as most are expecting now.

Two patches of her losing in some way, she needs a win and there is no way she doesn't get one this xpac as it would make her feel like a pretty silly villain otherwise. But curious if she gets that win without fighting us.

I think it makes the most sense for the end of the expansion to be Alleria vs Xal vs Azir (or his master) as they all fight for the Dark Heart. Either Xal gets it back as the win at the end, or it blows up and the reaction causes Midnight to kick off.

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The final raid will almost certainly be Ethereals. But that doesnt mean we need to go to K'aresh. Especially when, as has been mentioned many times before, it would feel like a major left turn in the expansion. Not to mention kinda undermining the whole "invading Quel'thalas" theme that will kick off Midnight. Hard to take the void threat seriously if we just came back from a major stronghold where the void were at their strongest

Karesh is only a pivot if you know about the Rootlands from datamining, otherwise Orweyna and her adventures are a sideplot from launch that continues in Undermine.

The block blood is the main plot thread of questing... but they don't highlight it in the main cinematic story, not really IMO. If you only watch the cinematics you would think we are going to Karesh.

I'm thinking that Rootlands, however it was constructed, will be shelved for a later expansion as Elunahir is still relevant to the saga theme (Titans). But based on the Ethereals with sand on their clothes we are probably going somewhere with sand, and Karesh fits the bill. As does the S3 tabard, cinematic tease, and datamined models in general (I don't count the raid icon as b raiderhereal still could've just been for the raid boss that was an ethereal. But... if it pops up again in the next raid I will eat my hat)

Either the next big patch is underwhelming so they shared Karesh early, or we are going to Karesh. Both are possible.

[Viridiel]

I feel like there's something really cool brewing regarding Xal'atath and Azshara, and it might involve the Amani. The giant snake creature skeletons in Desolace, the Ancient One, Y'shaarj's snake body, Hakkar (the Faceless One), Azshara and the Highborne being turned into snakes, Xal'atath being suggested to be created from Y'shaarj's claw, Ula-Tek, perhaps even Sethe and the wind serpents of Draenor. I think they're all connected and there's a major piece missing that will bring it all together. Perhaps Dimensius is a giant cosmic Void wind serpent and Y'shaarj was his favourite pet, with Azshara as Y'shaarj's true successor.

Alternatively, putting my tinfoil hat on, Elune could be the cosmic serpent with influence all over the place.

[Joshuaj]

three things from that overpriced experience
1. the staff in the convention center suck diiiiick
2. metzen has/had anxiety about returning because he didnt think he could put on a show for the ppl like he did before
3. lower devs talk mad shit about the other teams

Sure...

Metzen had anxiety due to a lot of things. Age, stress while working on WoD, Activision's BS, etc.

He likely knew very little of SL, much less BFA, especially when you consider the fact the last thing he worked on was the BFA cinematic.

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I am curious if we fight Xal at all in TWW, if the final raid ends up being Ethereal-themed as most are expecting now.

Two patches of her losing in some way, she needs a win and there is no way she doesn't get one this xpac as it would make her feel like a pretty silly villain otherwise. But curious if she gets that win without fighting us.

If we do fight her, we're not killing her. At best, we knock her down or foil her plans in some way.

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I feel like there's something really cool brewing regarding Xal'atath and Azshara, and it might involve the Amani. The giant snake creature skeletons in Desolace, the Ancient One, Y'shaarj's snake body, Hakkar (the Faceless One), Azshara and the Highborne being turned into snakes, Xal'atath being suggested to be created from Y'shaarj's claw, Ula-Tek, perhaps even Sethe and the wind serpents of Draenor. I think they're all connected and there's a major piece missing that will bring it all together. Perhaps Dimensius is a giant cosmic Void wind serpent and Y'shaarj was his favourite pet, with Azshara as Y'shaarj's true successor.

Alternatively, putting my tinfoil hat on, Elune could be the cosmic serpent with influence all over the place.

Elune is not that. Need people to stop the overcomplicated tinfoil hat speculation regarding her. She is a Life goddess, and that is okay.

As for Xal and Azshara? They might be working together, and Azshara probably thinks she can double cross Dimensius, which is...hehe...silly to say the least.

[Cheezits]

Also the snake patterns and ouroborus in Oribos, as well as its name.

There are enough mysterious snakes in WoW for the devs to make them some kind of conspiracy.

[Eldryth]

TWW's main story has been, first and foremost, about chasing the Dark Heart. I expected Rootlands for a long time myself, but given that the Dark Heart is now on K'aresh (in the hands of Ethereals obsessed with killing Dimensius), and we got that really blatant teaser at the end of Undermined, I'd be shocked if it's not our next step.


Also, I've just noticed what should have been a really obvious connection that made me think TWW might end very differently than the guesses I've seen.

I never really thought about it since a couple characters compared it to the Dragon Soul back in Dragonflight, but the Dark Heart looks far more like a Void equivalent to the Heart of Azeroth:


And it's not just visual similarities and a similar name, either- we used the Heart of Azeroth to gather up an immense amount of magical power- mostly from Azerite, the literal blood of Azeroth- to return it to the Worldsoul. The Dark Heart does the same- even down to primarily using blood, in this case that of the Old Gods)- but converts it all to Void.

So, if the Dark Heart is a Void counterpart to the Heart of Azeroth, what could Xal'atath's plans for it be? One possibility stands out- sever the Heart of Azeroth from the Worldsoul, replace it with the Dark Heart, and awaken Azeroth as the Void Titan they've been seeking for so long.


But now the Ethereum, not Xal'atath, has the Dark Heart. So, given their mission to kill Dimensius, what would they do with it? Perhaps they could use it as a weapon, but given that they have a seemingly dead Worldsoul of their own, perhaps they could have a more similar goal- use the Dark Heart to replace the heart and power of K'aresh, which was devoured by Dimensius, thus resurrecting a god that can kill Dimensius for them. And maybe, they will succeed, even as we kill their leader- and TWW will end with K'aresh, not Azeroth, awakening as the Void Titan that Sargeras feared so much.

I don't know where Dimensius would fit in if they go that route. He certainly wouldn't be the Void Lord taking over K'aresh in this scenario, after all- the Ethereum wants him dead, not fully manifested. Maybe K'aresh will even kill him like the Ethereum wants, so that Blizzard can show us just how much more dangerous a Void Titan is.


Further speculation as to where things could go from there:

In Midnight, we seek help from the only ally powerful enough to fight against K'aresh- our own Worldsoul. We work to awaken her using the Light of the Sunwell, with K'aresh's forces attacking to destroy it first to get rid of the only thing that can stop their final victory. We succeed, culminating in Renilash- which turns to be a battle between the Light Titan Azeroth and the Void Titan K'aresh, each supported by their armies.

In the end, K'aresh is defeated. But the Pantheon returns, angry that the Prime Titan they sought for so long has become something entirely different...

[Viridiel]

Elune is not that. Need people to stop the overcomplicated tinfoil hat speculation regarding her. She is a Life goddess, and that is okay.

Not saying she isn't a Life goddess, or even that she's more than a Life goddess, just that she might be snake-shaped and be indirectly responsible for everything else snake-shaped, even if it's been corrupted by other forces.

My main thinking is that we still don't know why the Draconic language was included when Saezurah was saying "vessel" in a bunch of cosmically important languages. The only forces left for Draconic to represent are Life, Death, and Light, and Life is the only one that really makes sense, unless the Light is even more abstract than we thought and there's some sort of rainbow connection between the Light and snakes (rainbows are the source of dragon and serpent myths in several cultures around the world). Alternatively, Saezurah does say vessel seven times so it's possible that dragons represent the "seventh force".

[Limayria]

Ethereals in the final raid seems to be a definite at this point. I doubt Xal'atath will be fought this expansion. She gives off the same whiff of "future hook" that Gul'dan did in WoD leading into Legion.
My guess is that Xal'atath will be the final boss of the first raid in Midnight once she has finished starting the conflict that takes us there.

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The Rootlands were basically already made though, as we could see it on the datamined developers maps way back in Alpha and Beta. Not using them seems like a waste.

The final raid will almost certainly be Ethereals. But that doesnt mean we need to go to K'aresh. Especially when, as has been mentioned many times before, it would feel like a major left turn in the expansion. Not to mention kinda undermining the whole "invading Quel'thalas" theme that will kick off Midnight. Hard to take the void threat seriously if we just came back from a major stronghold where the void were at their strongest.

If the Rootlands as a raid have been cut, then I would think it more likely that the final raid is the Beledar infested by Ethereals. And even then. The entire expansion has been about the Black Blood. It's the glue that holds all the plot points together. Would be odd if we never got a payoff to what the Black Blood really is, and why it's in Khaz'Algar to begin with.

also our characters and allies dont know the etherals are on k'aresh, and we have no way to get there so a raid in the root lands with us trying to fight xal whos trying to get to the heart, or trying to stop etherals from siphioning our world soul, or something we could easily have an etheral raid in the root lands leading us to k'aresh in midnight or we should even have k'aresh and the rootlands especially if rootlands really was mostly finished

Not saying she isn't a Life goddess, or even that she's more than a Life goddess, just that she might be snake-shaped and be indirectly responsible for everything else snake-shaped, even if it's been corrupted by other forces.

My main thinking is that we still don't know why the Draconic language was included when Saezurah was saying "vessel" in a bunch of cosmically important languages. The only forces left for Draconic to represent are Life, Death, and Light, and Life is the only one that really makes sense, unless the Light is even more abstract than we thought and there's some sort of rainbow connection between the Light and snakes (rainbows are the source of dragon and serpent myths in several cultures around the world). Alternatively, Saezurah does say vessel seven times so it's possible that dragons represent the "seventh force".

elune is clearly also connected to void power like the night warrior, and arcane magic like the Potms use so anyone acting like she's "just a life goddess" is strange to me

But this is some good speculation, I'd love for Elune to be a big snake goddess maybe they could tie that into zul drak in TLT with that huge snake being a manifestation of elunes power called upon by the trolls or something

[Cheezits]

Not saying she isn't a Life goddess, or even that she's more than a Life goddess, just that she might be snake-shaped and be indirectly responsible for everything else snake-shaped, even if it's been corrupted by other forces.

My main thinking is that we still don't know why the Draconic language was included when Saezurah was saying "vessel" in a bunch of cosmically important languages. The only forces left for Draconic to represent are Life, Death, and Light, and Life is the only one that really makes sense, unless the Light is even more abstract than we thought and there's some sort of rainbow connection between the Light and snakes (rainbows are the source of dragon and serpent myths in several cultures around the world). Alternatively, Saezurah does say vessel seven times so it's possible that dragons represent the "seventh force".

I personally thought Draconic was representing an Order/Arcane language, but they could be the seventh force (freedom?)

[Hitei]

You guys are approaching Pyromancer tier conspiracies.

[Jolly Roger]

Did you hear anything about the rootlands debacle/end of expac shift?

lol no just heard a bunch of random stuff and things like they were happy the leaks were more controlled

[Melorandor]

They should let Earthen become Death Knights.

[Jolly Roger]

Sure...

Metzen had anxiety due to a lot of things. Age, stress while working on WoD, Activision's BS, etc.

no clue just the anxiety of the stage

lots of ppl were asking about danuser not being there then the staff threw a fit over free mt dew

[Hitei]

They should let Earthen become Death Knights.

Yeah, I don't really understand why they made the push for unlocking everything and then weirdly walked back class availability and won't give new races DK.

[Jolly Roger]

You guys are approaching Pyromancer tier conspiracies.

i mean a few were correct like the maga being connected to nzoth who was underwater

[Joshuaj]

Also the snake patterns and ouroborus in Oribos, as well as its name.

There are enough mysterious snakes in WoW for the devs to make them some kind of conspiracy.

Maybe the First Ones have serpent pets or summ? Wouldn't be too shocking, given what we know about the Oruboros, as well as our limited knowledge on the whole "crooked serpent" stuff.

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no clue just the anxiety of the stage

lots of ppl were asking about danuser not being there then the staff threw a fit over free mt dew

I think Blizzard knows not to talk about Danuser. Heck, I think Danuser wanted to have a silent, peaceful exit. And tbh, I can't blame him, have you seen WoW fans on places like Twitter?