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

[Worldshaper]

Considering the Naaru are called stars, not sure this is talking about a Light Lord.

If it is one of the Lords of Light, Dimensius itself would want to claim it personally.

I do like the idea of the Beledar being host to one or more darkening naaru. The "fallen star" name would work in both ways, both literally falling from the sky but also figuratively falling (descending to darkness). Hallowfall, the fall of something Holy or Sacred.

I am again reminded of the Pandaren story of Zao Sunseeker and the 5 suns that were scorching the crops and causing a drought across Pandaria before 4 of them were shot down. I feel like this story might be much like the Tauren myth about the Earth Mother. Not literally true, but still containing fragments of truth that has been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years.

The Earth Mother story might speak of the worldsoul, Elune, and Eonar perhaps. Indeed, the early days of the tauren must've been shaped a lot by what they experienced: the shifting seasons and day turning into night, as well as the corrupting influence of the Old Gods, and perhaps the actual event when Elun'ahir was planted. Who knows.

Similarly, the legend of the 5 suns might have been about the 5 Naaru that Mereldar saw in her visions. Perhaps they were literal guardians (or oppressors) of Azeroth. Maybe 4 of them did, in fact, fall from the sky, leaving only An'she? Maybe Beledar is one of the 4 that fell. While Mereldar's visions took place thousands of years after the height of the Pandaren Empire, perhaps she received it from naaru hidden beneath Azeroth. Maybe that was them calling out to mortals, seeking to build an army over time to help them reclaim their power.

Titans could be trying to cover this up, or perhaps the Void is influencing Archaedas' memory, causing him to tell lies about the true nature of the Beledar.

Edit:

If you think about it, hasn't every depiction of Void-infested planets that we've seen strangely missed any nearby star? They always look like rogue planets, surrounded by darkness. Maybe the Void takes out the nearby star before they head in for the worlds, just to make sure there's no Light to protect them.

The Voice of the Silent Star could represent K'aresh's fading star, vanishing from their skies before the planet was attacked.

Similarly, Nightfall and Midnight might refer to our sun, An'she, being darkened before Azeroth is taken?

[Alanar]

Story-wise, Undermine is amazing. Gameplay . . . it's ok imo. Plenty of zones had better gameplay.

Played through it for a couple of days and there is one thing that annoys me and I actually said this before this went live.

But, this place Undermine, feels very dissconnected from the world. In the sense that, it doesnt even feel this is on kezen. Why isnt the starting area part of this gameplay. Why isnt the old dungeon intigrated in the world. I wanted Undermine on the map, on kezan. This just feels like a separate map/ phased area, somewhere, random on a bc map and not in the actual world.

Missed opportunity, to not have the actual island Kezan back in action. The clusterfuck of items and doodads make Undermine feel larger then it is. Dont get me wrong I love the style of the hotel etc, but the city doesnt feel that large. Especially with the car. I am just missing an outside area or some dock to make it feel connected. It would have been better if the entrence was in the actual starting area. To atleast have a feeling you are going under the volcano or under kezan, where its suppose to be.
Same with Zin" Ashari, ai dont like they put in these famous places without putting it properly on the world map. I mean the cant even do it right. Clicking on kul tiras or zandalar makes you super confused where it is on the map. One island shows it on the left of and the other ride side. The whole map is a mess imo. Slight frustration point for me.

[Nymrohd]

Played through it for a couple of days and there is one thing that annoys me and I actually said this before this went live.

But, this place Undermine, feels very dissconnected from the world. In the sense that, it doesnt even feel this is on kezen. Why isnt the starting area part of this gameplay. Why isnt the old dungeon intigrated in the world. I wanted Undermine on the map, on kezan. This just feels like a separate map/ phased area, somewhere, random on a bc map and not in the actual world.

Missed opportunity, to not have the actual island Kezan back in action. The clusterfuck of items and doodads make Undermine feel larger then it is. Dont get me wrong I love the style of the hotel etc, but the city doesnt feel that large. Especially with the car. I am just missijg an outside area or some dock to make it feel connected.

The starting area would be a tiny part of Kezan. There is also the dungeon btw. They'd need to create a new zone from scratch for this to work. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it too but it is a lot of work and it would only make sense if Kezan was the expansion instead of what we got. Which maybe would have been better cause the Earthen are fun and all but I cannot see them being part of the story at any point after TWW. While you could have had the story happen in Kezan instead, kept Hallowfall and Azj'kahet and added a Titan-themed zone as the midway patch.

[milkmustache]

Hmm, gee I wonder what 11.2 will be about.

-snip-

This set of images was already discussed a few weeks ago... I think there's a clear difference between design choices and story links in some of these. As someone who is 100% in the Beledar = Naaru star camp, I'm not entirely certain these images are drawing the point that you're making, but I think I see what you're saying.

Arathi armor has embellishments that represent the Sacred Flame, suns, and stars, but I don't think that means they're referencing Beledar. It's entirely possible they are referencing Naaru imagery with the connection the Arathi and Mereldar has with the Naaru and the Light, but I think we're a little far down that chain for that to be the case unless it's retconned that the Arathi have been in contact with the Naaru in recent times.

I'm still wholly uncertain what the Old God mural is. I suppose it could be Xal'atath at some point, but I really have no idea where they're going with that.

But...

It seems to me that the most telegraphed direction they're following is that Xal'atath was a 5th Old God, perhaps the leader of them, who was burrowed under Khaz Algar, the closest to the world soul. She was then killed, either in a fight with her brothers out of some form of animosity, or from any of the other major forces at play like the Titans, Elune, or the Light.

Whatever the outcome of this battle was, her body was not removed or imprisoned, and so it entered a state of decay thus seeping the world with her blood, the black blood, which had powers that were unrealized until she returned, or maybe ruptured by Sargeras' sword. The black blood still affected the area, so the Haranir served as some sort of guardians for the roots to ensure they did not become infected by the blood. My belief here is that the roots had burrowed extremely deep and close to the world soul, and that's why Aman'thul ripped Elun'ahir from the earth. Xal'atah may have seen this and filled it's gap, plotting to get closer to the soul. The blood that remains has attempted to seep through the roots and infect the world soul, but has been staved off up until now by the Haranir. Xal'atath wants to use the black blood and the Dark Heart to finally make her gambit at the soul.

Maybe you're right though, and what killed her turns out not to be her siblings, but something related to Beledar and the Naaru. Seeing as Midnight's hook is the battle between Light & Shadow, it would make sense to have Xal'atath and the Light have a personal background, especially through Beledar and in turn, the Arathi.

So same guess as always. 11.1.5 is Beledar/Arathi based, 11.2 is Rootlands with a Rootlands/Worldcore raid.

[Alanar]

The starting area would be a tiny part of Kezan. There is also the dungeon btw. They'd need to create a new zone from scratch for this to work. Don't get me wrong, I'd love it too but it is a lot of work and it would only make sense if Kezan was the expansion instead of what we got. Which maybe would have been better cause the Earthen are fun and all but I cannot see them being part of the story at any point after TWW. While you could have had the story happen in Kezan instead, kept Hallowfall and Azj'kahet and added a Titan-themed zone as the midway patch.

I get it, the starting area was only a small part, but same as the dungeon. It just would feel better if the Undermine entrance would actually be on Kezan and not yet again another portal.. tricking us we are there, when we arent really. It just would have been better if this was connected in someway. Especislly the starting area really gave you a feeling you were in the middle of the goblin action. Huge factorys in the back. Undermine has the vibe, but just feels as some instanced area. This could have been literslly everywhere on the map, it wouldnt even matter.

Just feels dissconnected, but ye.. I knew this from the beginning. Just sad they couksnt even bother putting it on the map of Kezan for example. I wish they would do better on tge world map.

[Worldshaper]

This set of images was already discussed a few weeks ago... I think there's a clear difference between design choices and story links in some of these. As someone who is 100% in the Beledar = Naaru star camp, I'm not entirely certain these images are drawing the point that you're making, but I think I see what you're saying.

Arathi armor has embellishments that represent the Sacred Flame, suns, and stars, but I don't think that means they're referencing Beledar. It's entirely possible they are referencing Naaru imagery with the connection the Arathi and Mereldar has with the Naaru and the Light, but I think we're a little far down that chain for that to be the case unless it's retconned that the Arathi have been in contact with the Naaru in recent times.

I'm still wholly uncertain what the Old God mural is. I suppose it could be Xal'atath at some point, but I really have no idea where they're going with that.

But...

It seems to me that the most telegraphed direction they're following is that Xal'atath was a 5th Old God, perhaps the leader of them, who was burrowed under Khaz Algar, the closest to the world soul. She was then killed, either in a fight with her brothers out of some form of animosity, or from any of the other major forces at play like the Titans, Elune, or the Light.

Whatever the outcome of this battle was, her body was not removed or imprisoned, and so it entered a state of decay thus seeping the world with her blood, the black blood, which had powers that were unrealized until she returned, or maybe ruptured by Sargeras' sword. The black blood still affected the area, so the Haranir served as some sort of guardians for the roots to ensure they did not become infected by the blood. My belief here is that the roots had burrowed extremely deep and close to the world soul, and that's why Aman'thul ripped Elun'ahir from the earth. Xal'atah may have seen this and filled it's gap, plotting to get closer to the soul. The blood that remains has attempted to seep through the roots and infect the world soul, but has been staved off up until now by the Haranir. Xal'atath wants to use the black blood and the Dark Heart to finally make her gambit at the soul.

Maybe you're right though, and what killed her turns out not to be her siblings, but something related to Beledar and the Naaru. Seeing as Midnight's hook is the battle between Light & Shadow, it would make sense to have Xal'atath and the Light have a personal background, especially through Beledar and in turn, the Arathi.

So same guess as always. 11.1.5 is Beledar/Arathi based, 11.2 is Rootlands with a Rootlands/Worldcore raid.

I get what you're saying, and just to be clear I acknowledge that this is tinfoil.

But essentially, here's what I believe right now:

• What all of this art depicts is a literal crystal (the Beledar) falling from the sky and into the depths of Azeroth. Possibly from a sun-like sphere. The Arathi worship is because it does bring Holy Fire from the heavens, but the reason it is depicted as purple in several of these images is because it possibly fell to Azeroth at a time when it was in its darkened state.
• Either the Beledar is still a "fallen star," meaning Archaedas gave us the wrong information (whether intentionally or because he was being manipulated), or this has been retconned and this art is all out-of-date (made at a time before they possibly retconned the Beledar to being worldsoul goo).
• I am no longer certain about Xal'atath's true identity. I used to be in the "5th Old God camp," but two things have given me pause. The first is the cinematic in which Alleria damages the Dark Heart, and Xal'atath says something to the degree of "I've risen from the ashes of countless worlds," implying she hasn't been stationary on Azeroth like the Old Gods we know. The second reason is because she was gifted a staff by Dimensius during the time of the Black Empire (Voidsong), which implies that she had a humanoid form back then. Either Old Gods have "visage forms" that allow them to walk around, and move from world to world like locusts, or Xal'atath is something else.
• Lastly, I'm still not entirely certain she is 100% evil by nature. While she has made a lot of horrible remarks and evil deeds since we first met her, it's still possible that she is some type of dark fragment left behind by a good being. Corrupted and distorted. For example (and I'm just spitballing here), maybe the reason she's risen from the ashes of countless worlds is because she sought to defend those worlds but failed every time. Like a sort of emissary sent by the Light to warn the people. But that's a long shot, and what's more likely is that she's simply evil.
• But where does that leave the Beledar, then? It's depicted in it's Void state alongside an Old God in that mural, which is now seemingly absent. We know something was done to Xal'atath by her brethren long ago - what?
• Sometimes I wonder if there's an even deeper plot going on here, connected to that whole Titan revelation we're about to witness in TLT. Like, are Old Gods really the good guys, and did the Titans place some type of spell on us so that we see them as evil slimeballs rather than pure beings of Light? Is that why N'Zoth keeps yapping on about "all eyes shall be opened"? Probably not, but it's fun to think about.

At the end of the day, I'm guessing the simplest explanation to all of this is that Xal'atath is an evil Harbinger of the Void, moving from world to world to usher in Void Lords and destroy those worlds. But when she arrived here, the Old Gods had their own plans for Azeroth and disrupted her plans. She was imprisoned within the dagger.

On K'aresh, she had previously made enemies with a lot of the survivors (for obvious reasons), which are now seeking to thwart her plans for Azeroth. These ethereals will end up siding with us.

The Beledar, meanwhile, is probably a holy object that is or was involved with the protection of our world (potentially other worlds before that), but has since fallen into some kind of latent, inactive state (and sometimes shifting to the Void). An unknown Old God used its powers in Khaz Algar in the ancient days, but was probably slain. Its former people resides at the bottom of the Undersea, now that the Beledar radiates Light.

Archaedas is being manipulated into decieving us that the Beledar is less important than it really is. Either by Xal'atath or the Titans.

[elderu]

It seems to me that the most telegraphed direction they're following is that Xal'atath was a 5th Old God, perhaps the leader of them, who was burrowed under Khaz Algar, the closest to the world soul. She was then killed, either in a fight with her brothers out of some form of animosity, or from any of the other major forces at play like the Titans, Elune, or the Light.

In case you missed it (it triggers during a random hand-in during Hallowfall campaign):

Alleria is asked "Xal'atath is from the Black Empire?? One of the Old Gods?"

And she replies: "No.. Something else. A survivor from the depths of time."

So I think we can rule out the 5th Old God thing for her.

Honestly the most surface level thing for her probably IS a Void-aligned Dreadlord, given her tactics and behavior and armor (I mean Archmage Drenden was Nathrezim 101). They've been known to possess corpses like her too. Her quotes about them are usually either disappointed (varimathras) or almost impressed (mephistroth).

I was thinking for a while she was a full-on dark Naaru or being similar to that, given her silhouette and Beledar connections- but really what's to stop a Nathrezim from doing the same naaru-absorbtion that Alleria did? So, even if it feels cringe or odd, Xal's 'brethren' may not be Old Gods after all.

Shes keen on harvesting our Fury, our 'Wrath'. Revendreth has a missing Harvester of Wrath who was supposedly Denathrius' wife I think? (the guy with a talking weapon....) Naaru attacked there a long time ago too..

[Limayria]

In case you missed it (it triggers during a random hand-in during Hallowfall campaign):

Alleria is asked "Xal'atath is from the Black Empire?? One of the Old Gods?"

And she replies: "No.. Something else. A survivor from the depths of time."

So I think we can rule out the 5th Old God thing for her.

Honestly the most surface level thing for her probably IS a Void-aligned Dreadlord, given her tactics and behavior and armor (I mean Archmage Drenden was Nathrezim 101). They've been known to possess corpses like her too. Her quotes about them are usually either disappointed (varimathras) or almost impressed (mephistroth).

I was thinking for a while she was a full-on dark Naaru or being similar to that, given her silhouette and Beledar connections- but really what's to stop a Nathrezim from doing the same naaru-absorbtion that Alleria did? So, even if it feels cringe or odd, Xal's 'brethren' may not be Old Gods after all.

Shes keen on harvesting our Fury, our 'Wrath'. Revendreth has a missing Harvester of Wrath who was supposedly Denathrius' wife I think? (the guy with a talking weapon....) Naaru attacked there a long time ago too..

and there were dreadlords connected to void on the planet sargeras saw as well i believe? Tho i'm still holding out Xal will be seen much more morally grey in the end, I could see her being a void Thraegar almost with her trying to destroy azeorths prison in her own way and the shadow etherals chasing her are deminius aligned trying to get back at Xal for betraying them

But I also think midnights 12.0 story is gonna end with us stopping the void at the sunwell and the mainline Arathi empire betraying us with the "story mode" quest for that raid having not only the fight against Xal in the sunwell but also a scenario of us running to escape the arathi who betrayed us with Air ship's and Naaru in the sky as the light comes to claim the world soul away from the titans

[Joshuaj]

In case you missed it (it triggers during a random hand-in during Hallowfall campaign):

Alleria is asked "Xal'atath is from the Black Empire?? One of the Old Gods?"

And she replies: "No.. Something else. A survivor from the depths of time."

So I think we can rule out the 5th Old God thing for her.

Honestly the most surface level thing for her probably IS a Void-aligned Dreadlord, given her tactics and behavior and armor (I mean Archmage Drenden was Nathrezim 101). They've been known to possess corpses like her too. Her quotes about them are usually either disappointed (varimathras) or almost impressed (mephistroth).

I was thinking for a while she was a full-on dark Naaru or being similar to that, given her silhouette and Beledar connections- but really what's to stop a Nathrezim from doing the same naaru-absorbtion that Alleria did? So, even if it feels cringe or odd, Xal's 'brethren' may not be Old Gods after all.

Shes keen on harvesting our Fury, our 'Wrath'. Revendreth has a missing Harvester of Wrath who was supposedly Denathrius' wife I think? (the guy with a talking weapon....) Naaru attacked there a long time ago too..

Wanna know what I believe?

She is a Void entity that was sent by Dimensius to keep the Old Gods "in line", but due to the Old Gods' nature, they went against Xal'atath, killed her, and turned her into a weapon for sacrificial purposes, etc.

Sure, failing to keep the Old Gods in line would suck, but as long as they do what they do for the Void's victory, death is but a small price to pay.

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Of course, that is my theory, and anything goes at this rate. Maybe she is a Naaru, or maybe the Naaru were once former Void guys that were changed by the Lords of Light + members of the Lords of Life.

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The latter could be possible btw, based off Xal'atath's comments on the Naaru in Legion.

[Worldshaper]

Wanna know what I believe?

She is a Void entity that was sent by Dimensius to keep the Old Gods "in line", but due to the Old Gods' nature, they went against Xal'atath, killed her, and turned her into a weapon for sacrificial purposes, etc.

Sure, failing to keep the Old Gods in line would suck, but as long as they do what they do for the Void's victory, death is but a small price to pay.

Surely the dagger would be by accident. Why would they choose to preserve her essence? To mock her?

I'm guessing somebody used the blade to murder her, and it was a stroke of fate that she ended up being preserved inside of it.

I could see the Old Gods turning on her, though. They had probably gotten rather comfortable with the idea of living on Azeroth, slowly feasting on its worldsoul and ruling over its inhabitants. Why else would they even form an empire, unless they had a desire to rule (not destroy)?

It would be a funny turn of events if Queen Azshara represented that part of the Old God legacy -- the desire to rule over a vast empire, rather than see it all go up in flames -- so her return marks the beginning of a Void-on-Void conflict. Perhaps they end up representing different Void Lords, or maybe Queen Azshara is some type of Illidan-esque figure who once betrayed her people but now seeks to use that power to unmake the source of her newfound powers - the Void.

A bit like Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades. Wasn't she also a renegade force within the Zerg, killing its former cerebrates or whatever until she could rule alone?

Edit:

Actually that makes a lot of sense, now that I think of it. It fits Queen Azshara's character perfectly to defy her subjugators and seek to rule alone. It's basically the relationship she wanted with N'Zoth. Maybe she's on a quest to destroy the Void Lord Dimensius and rule over a "swarm" unchallenged, with Azeroth as the crown jewel of her galactic domain?

I don't think all those Naga prophesies suggested that the Naga are allied to Xal'atath, did they? They merely said that a bunch of things need to come to pass before Queen Azshara returns. So maybe Azshara needs this "awakening" to occur, before making her entrance.

What the awakening is remains to be seen, though.

Is it the worldsoul, so she can enslave it once it's fully awake and no longer protected inside the Worldcore?

Is it Xal'atath's former body, so she can be truly slain once and for all?

Is it some immense beast that Azshara intends to enslave?

Is it the 5th Old God?

No clue!

[Cheezits]

Yknow, last we saw of Xal messing with Beledar, she was taking shadow OUT of it.

Wouldn't this, in theory, drain the crystal of Void and restore it to light? How does this work with a patch called NIGHTFALL?

[Joshuaj]

Yknow, last we saw of Xal messing with Beledar, she was taking shadow OUT of it.

Wouldn't this, in theory, drain the crystal of Void and restore it to light? How does this work with a patch called NIGHTFALL?

I think it's more so the idea that she's taking the magics of Beledar and converting it to Void. Like, the Dark Heart consumes the power, the Void twists it.

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Surely the dagger would be by accident. Why would they choose to preserve her essence? To mock her?

I'm guessing somebody used the blade to murder her, and it was a stroke of fate that she ended up being preserved inside of it.

I could see the Old Gods turning on her, though. They had probably gotten rather comfortable with the idea of living on Azeroth, slowly feasting on its worldsoul and ruling over its inhabitants. Why else would they even form an empire, unless they had a desire to rule (not destroy)?

It would be a funny turn of events if Queen Azshara represented that part of the Old God legacy -- the desire to rule over a vast empire, rather than see it all go up in flames -- so her return marks the beginning of a Void-on-Void conflict. Perhaps they end up representing different Void Lords, or maybe Queen Azshara is some type of Illidan-esque figure who once betrayed her people but now seeks to use that power to unmake the source of her newfound powers - the Void.

A bit like Kerrigan, the Queen of Blades. Wasn't she also a renegade force within the Zerg, killing its former cerebrates or whatever until she could rule alone?

Edit:

Actually that makes a lot of sense, now that I think of it. It fits Queen Azshara's character perfectly to defy her subjugators and seek to rule alone. It's basically the relationship she wanted with N'Zoth. Maybe she's on a quest to destroy the Void Lord Dimensius and rule over a "swarm" unchallenged, with Azeroth as the crown jewel of her galactic domain?

I don't think all those Naga prophesies suggested that the Naga are allied to Xal'atath, did they? They merely said that a bunch of things need to come to pass before Queen Azshara returns. So maybe Azshara needs this "awakening" to occur, before making her entrance.

What the awakening is remains to be seen, though.

Is it the worldsoul, so she can enslave it once it's fully awake and no longer protected inside the Worldcore?

Is it Xal'atath's former body, so she can be truly slain once and for all?

Is it some immense beast that Azshara intends to enslave?

Is it the 5th Old God?

No clue!

Yes. I don't think the Old Gods are above mocking their victims

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Also, not quite sure about the Kerrigan comparisons, but I see where you're going with it. As for the questions? Lemme answer one by one.

1. Pretty sure Azshara is awaiting for Azeroth's awakening. And I think she wants Azeroth's power in order to become the most powerful "goddess" or summ like that. Makes sense, as Worldsouls are busted, especially Azeroth's. Why? Only the First Ones and maybe the Titans truly know.

2. Don't think it's Xal'atath's former body, but Xal'atath is ancient. I think she's just the All-Devouring's herald, much like how the Lich King was supposed to be Zovaals herald (Til it failed miserably), or how Deathwing was the Old Gods' herald, etc.

3. Don't think so.

4. Don't think so. If you want me to be honest, if Blizzard explores the 5 Old God stuff further, I think some of Xal'atath's remains were scattered across Azeroth in some form, and the Titans just presumed it an Old God due to its fleshy nature and whatnot.

But, if a 5th Old God does exist, it's most likely not located at the known regions of Azeroth. This uhm...would be terrifying if true.

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@elderu Speaking of Wrath, if Disorder Lords do exist, I would love it if there was a Saga based around them and their battle against the Titans, and one of those Lords was the originator of the felguards, the wrath demons, etc. This embodiment of rage, wrath, etc would then throw our player characters in a bunch of crazy ass ordeals, both because they feel like it, and because they want to see if we're as wrathful as people claimed.

It would be so cool if this happened, and ngl, a Disorder counterpart of Sargeras would be sick.

[Eldryth]

Yknow, last we saw of Xal messing with Beledar, she was taking shadow OUT of it.

Wouldn't this, in theory, drain the crystal of Void and restore it to light? How does this work with a patch called NIGHTFALL?

There are only two known times when a Naaru that had fully fallen to the Void was restored to the Light- AU K'ara, and Saa'ra. And the latter was said in-game to be unprecidented so it's not just a normal thing that's rarely shown.

In both cases, the process revolved around infusing them with a massive amount of Light. A Shadow Priest player helps by draining the Void as well, but unlike Light Naaru falling to the Void when they're drained too much (which fits the theme, since "Void" can also suggest emptiness), there's no precedence to suggest that simply draining a Void object of power will turn it to the Light.


Still, that scene is worth thinking about. Xal'atath was gathering vast amounts of magical energies into the Dark Heart and, if Alleria was correct, converting it to the Void. She tried to drain the Beledar, but we interrupted her and Alleria broke the Dark Heart. So, if she's returning to her plan now that it's fixed... wouldn't her next step be to resume draining the Beledar (as the roadmap implying the Hallowfall story would be in 11.1.5 suggests)?

Perhaps "Nightfall" will be Xal'atath succeeding in her initial goal. Beledar will be fully drained, either making it permanently dark, or just... empty and powerless. And that will give her enough power to move on the Worldcore in 11.2.

[Worldshaper]

I doubt Blizzard will mess up the Beledar. It's the centerpiece for Hallowfall and having to access it through some time travel phase would be annoying.

I think Nightfall lets us see what could happen should she succeed, but it'll be through visions or flashbacks.

"The fall of night reveals her true face."

So we'll do some digging and unmask Xal'atath, in order to learn how to defeat her.

[Joshuaj]

There are only two known times when a Naaru that had fully fallen to the Void was restored to the Light- AU K'ara, and Saa'ra. And the latter was said in-game to be unprecidented so it's not just a normal thing that's rarely shown.

In both cases, the process revolved around infusing them with a massive amount of Light. A Shadow Priest player helps by draining the Void as well, but unlike Light Naaru falling to the Void when they're drained too much (which fits the theme, since "Void" can also suggest emptiness), there's no precedence to suggest that simply draining a Void object of power will turn it to the Light.


Still, that scene is worth thinking about. Xal'atath was gathering vast amounts of magical energies into the Dark Heart and, if Alleria was correct, converting it to the Void. She tried to drain the Beledar, but we interrupted her and Alleria broke the Dark Heart. So, if she's returning to her plan now that it's fixed... wouldn't her next step be to resume draining the Beledar (as the roadmap implying the Hallowfall story would be in 11.1.5 suggests)?

Perhaps "Nightfall" will be Xal'atath succeeding in her initial goal. Beledar will be fully drained, either making it permanently dark, or just... empty and powerless. And that will give her enough power to move on the Worldcore in 11.2.

This would be cool.

[Viridiel]

It seems quite a coincidence that the two crystals we've found are located in or near the former domain of an Elemental Lord, Beledar being in Al'akir's domain and Hymosul seemingly in Therazane's. Maybe the Elemental Lords were drawn to them as a source of power, maybe the crystals really are the shards of light that spawned elemental life on Azeroth from Chronicle, or maybe the Light of the crystals kept the Old Gods and their minions at bay, giving the Lords a place to consolidate power.

If it's not a coincidence, I'd place the other crystals under the Azuremyst Isles and Karazhan. I'd hate to see what either of them look like now given what's happened above them.

It would ruin my theory that one of the crystals is underneath the Sunwell, but maybe it's actually the case that whatever seeded the crystals specifically sought out existing leyline nexuses and the Sunwell is the beginning of a new crystal, worldsoul essence slowly calcifying around M'uru's heart. That would place it in a very vulnerable stage where it could be turned and incubated by the Void to grow... something.

[Scyth]

Today I realised there is a world quest that lets you play golf with bombs. I love Goblins

[Nymrohd]

Today I realised there is a world quest that lets you play golf with bombs. I love Goblins

There is a side quest leading to it and the golfing part is also a world quest so we can keep doing it.

Imo, they should have made it a minigame that is always available. Or let me pay a fee and then wander around the area with a hobgoblin caddy.

[Scyth]

There is a side quest leading to it and the golfing part is also a world quest so we can keep doing it.

Imo, they should have made it a minigame that is always available. Or let me pay a fee and then wander around the area with a hobgoblin caddy.

Oh I've not done the side quest, will look for it.

Agree on it being a minigame, would have been a nice addition. The WQ is great but a bit too short imo.

[Teriz]

Undermine should have been its own expansion, with a larger area for racing and connected to a rebuilt Kezan. What a missed opportunity.