Is only one of the Covenant Campaigns canon?

[huth]

One can assume this is done once it's realized the Hearts of Azeroth (which BFA questing makes clear there are multiple floating around in the hands of champions) that serve as this tether, since it's a direct link to Azeroth's world-soul, so yes. They send the others to the Maw to take care of things since they can get to and from.

We still have no real idea why the Maw Walker can do it. The HoA link is merely speculation, and only by the community, in the lore nobody has any clue. For that matter, for a new character it's perfectly possible to enter the Maw without ever getting the Heart, even on a new account.

[Corroc]

Little bit offtopic but if the Venthyr and Kyrian campaigns overlap this much (compared to night fae), its pretty much confirmed that the next raid is going to be Bastion raid. They are already setting it up.

[Toppy]

Why are we ignoring the point of the thread in that there are two covenant campaigns each with contradictory story elements?

Wether or not there are multiple maw walkers is irrelevant. The question is whether or not any certain campaign is canon or not.

Whether there is one Maw Walker or multiple wouldn't answer this question.

[huth]

Little bit offtopic but if the Venthyr and Kyrian campaigns overlap this much (compared to night fae), its pretty much confirmed that the next raid is going to be Bastion raid. They are already setting it up.

Eh, Venthyr campaign ends with taking out a certain Lich that can't seem to manage to stay down.
Wouldn't read to much into it, this could easily go both ways.

Drust seem a likely candidate for the "not related to main storyline" tier, though.

Why are we ignoring the point of the thread in that there are two covenant campaigns each with contradictory story elements?

Wether or not there are multiple maw walkers is irrelevant. The question is whether or not any certain campaign is canon or not.

Whether there is one Maw Walker or multiple wouldn't answer this question.

There isn't that much that contradicts. Mostly the question of whether the Maw Walker is Venthyr or Kyrian. Mikanikos gets his hammer back, the Forsworn get their asses kicked in both versions. There's nothing really preventing Mikanikos from then both repairing(well, upgrading, really) the Emblem of Ascension and creating the crown. Quests rarely ever represent the actual time taken for anything accurately.

[Jastall]

We still have no real idea why the Maw Walker can do it. The HoA link is merely speculation, and only by the community, in the lore nobody has any clue. For that matter, for a new character it's perfectly possible to enter the Maw without ever getting the Heart, even on a new account.

Same reason you can be a newbie fresh out of Exile's Reach and can enter Legion content to immediately be given the Ashbringer and command of all Paladins everywhere or whatever. What little canon there is about the PC just assumes a direction continuation between expansions.

[Sondrelk]

Why are we ignoring the point of the thread in that there are two covenant campaigns each with contradictory story elements?

Wether or not there are multiple maw walkers is irrelevant. The question is whether or not any certain campaign is canon or not.

Whether there is one Maw Walker or multiple wouldn't answer this question.

We still need to agree on what would constitute canon, or even what said canon version would be.

The version we are playing currently could be outside canon since the canon version of events took place over 5 days. Or maybe the canon version presupposes that everyone gets a singel renown point each day. Maybe the canon version of events is one in which we change covenants every other week.

- - - Updated - - -

Same reason you can be a newbie fresh out of Exile's Reach and can enter Legion content to immediately be given the Ashbringer and command of all Paladins everywhere or whatever. What little canon there is about the PC just assumes a direction continuation between expansions.

You cannot canonically be given the Ashbringer straight out of Exile's reach. The version with Chromie time is most definitely not canon, and if it is then the entire conceit is predicated on fourth wall breaking anyways.

The "canon" version of new players now is that they are a fresh recruit being sent to Exile's reach, gaining renown and therefore being sent on the new expedition to Kul Tiras/Zandalar and fixing the problems there, thereby being reputable enough to be asked to join the critical mission to the Shadowlands.

[Thage]

We still have no real idea why the Maw Walker can do it. The HoA link is merely speculation, and only by the community, in the lore nobody has any clue. For that matter, for a new character it's perfectly possible to enter the Maw without ever getting the Heart, even on a new account.

Not the first time the lore carried on assuming we had something we didn't ingame. Also, the story explicitly points out we have a tether to Azeroth's world soul, something Magni in turn notes is an integral aspect of the Heart of Azeroth, while a character stuck in the Maw shows explicit interest in the necklace. Sure, there's no bright, glowing neon signs flashing it in six colors, but this is Blizzard's idea of subtlety we're working with here, which makes the most obvious solution--the artifact tethered to Azeroth's world soul that we spent the Fourth War charging up full of Azerite is tethering us to Azeroth's world soul--the one with the highest odds of being correct.

[huth]

while a character stuck in the Maw shows explicit interest in the necklace.

The Heart is never mentioned in Shadowlands. Ve'nari shows interest in the necklace Bolvar gave us to find Darion, which you necessarily possess at the time since it is a direct followup to finding the latter.

[Thage]

The Heart is never mentioned in Shadowlands. Ve'nari shows interest in the necklace Bolvar gave us to find Darion, which you necessarily possess at the time since it is a direct followup to finding the latter.

Ah, right. Almost forgot about that. I'll strike that part accordingly, but it doesn't really impact the crux of my argument (while nobody's shouting it from the rooftops, Blizzard isn't being subtle at all with two expansions both making note that you now have a tether to Azeroth's world soul, with the shiny necklace now sitting in our banks the most likely culprit, and the existence of these artifacts allowing others to go running around doing the other Covenant campaigns in full without the PC's direct involvement).

[huth]

Ah, right. Almost forgot about that. I'll strike that part accordingly, but it doesn't really impact the crux of my argument (while nobody's shouting it from the rooftops, Blizzard isn't being subtle at all with two expansions both making note that you now have a tether to Azeroth's world soul, with the shiny necklace now sitting in our banks the most likely culprit, and the existence of these artifacts allowing others to go running around doing the other Covenant campaigns in full without the PC's direct involvement).

But that's the thing. Blizzard generally isn't subtle, and there haven't even been hints as to why we can use the Waystone. I wouldn't call the Heart the "most likely culprit" when the only correlation is temporal. And what artifacts?

[Thage]

But that's the thing. Blizzard generally isn't subtle, and there haven't even been hints as to why we can use the Waystone. I wouldn't call the Heart the "most likely culprit" when the only correlation is temporal. And what artifacts?

The Heart is an artifact-quality item. There are multiple Hearts of Azeroth floating around as confirmed in the BFA quests. We had no implied or confirmed tether to Azeroth's soul before obtaining the Heart--which is made from a fragment of her essence--but have one after. Of everyone present, only the person with a Titan's essence in their back pocket is able to use the Waystone. There's more than just a temporal correlation here, there's enough circumstantial evidence to side-eye given how Blizzard gets when they think they're being coy about something.

[huth]

The Heart is an artifact-quality item. There are multiple Hearts of Azeroth floating around as confirmed in the BFA quests. We had no implied or confirmed tether to Azeroth's soul before obtaining the Heart--which is made from a fragment of her essence--but have one after. Of everyone present, only the person with a Titan's essence in their back pocket is able to use the Waystone. There's more than just a temporal correlation here, there's enough circumstantial evidence to side-eye given how Blizzard gets when they think they're being coy about something.

I don't remember any quest hinting, much less confirming, the existence of multiple Hearts. And the game doesn't state that there are multiple Maw Walkers, much less that there is any overlap between possessors of the Hearts and Maw Walkers.

You're trying to draw conclusions from assumptions.

[Giovaaa]

I don't remember any quest hinting, much less confirming, the existence of multiple Hearts. And the game doesn't state that there are multiple Maw Walkers, much less that there is any overlap between possessors of the Hearts and Maw Walkers.

You're trying to draw conclusions from assumptions.

About that
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Tormentor%27s_Notes

[Danvash]

It's canon that those things happened, and the player character may have helped with it. If the player is not part of the Venthyr or Kyrian covenants, then they did it without the player's help.

Time gating is a game mechanic. If they were trying to be realistic with time, it'd take several days to travel across a zone and even longer to go from one zone to another. WoW isn't a game where it is useful to be particular about the timing of events in the story.

[huth]

About that
https://wow.gamepedia.com/Tormentor%27s_Notes

That link is outdated. The notes aren't readable on live, just a quest item.

[Dastreus]

I highly doubt any of the covenant stories would contradict another. You will likely see it all cannon.

[Engal]

Someone doesn't understand the royal use of plural words.

And someone assumes his native language is naturally spoke by everyone on the planet. Get off your high horse lol.

When you are in a story quest involving only yourself, indeed they talk about THE maw walker since you're supposed to be alone for this quest.

However, during the hunt " Soul Reapers" the MawSworn did talk about Maw WalkerS. We're not supposed to be alone at this point, because well, its a hunt, a collaborative event.

[Vampyrr]

And someone assumes his native language is naturally spoke by everyone on the planet. Get off your high horse lol.

When you are in a story quest involving only yourself, indeed they talk about THE maw walker since you're supposed to be alone for this quest.

However, during the hunt " Soul Reapers" the MawSworn did talk about Maw WalkerS. We're not supposed to be alone at this point, because well, its a hunt, a collaborative event.

I consider that use of THE to be similar to like a James Bond movie referring to him as ah The British spy, welcome. Obviously there are MULTIPLE British spies but he was the specific one they are talking to.

[haiyken]

In all seriousness, the lore and story of WoW kinda stopped mattering after Wrath of the Lich King. And it REALLY stopped mattering after Legion. Everything since has just kinda been placed there to have a reason to keep making expansions.

I wholeheartedly believe that Blizzard would be better off stopping WoW and either creating a WoW sequel or making an MMO from one of their other franchises. Of course, they won’t do this because of money, but from a lore/story perspective, WoW as we know it has basically run its course.

I'm pretty sure the last 12 years of content did bring us new lore and story. It obviously didn't stop then. Maybe you stopped caring and enjoying the story, but it did continue.

On topic : the covenant campaigns are all canon but, for gameplay purpose, some events will not make complete sense when playing. In the end, I don't think details like "who cleared the Eternel Forge" is really important. The overall story is what matter the most, as long as some events doesn't contradict others to the point of incoherence. It's easy to combine some events or use the "different point of view" style of storytelling to explain some of it. The "which faction killed the boss?" is a question Chronicles tried to answer, contradicting a lot of stuff players did in game. I think we need to wait the end of all campaigns (or even the end of the first phase of the expansion) to consolidate the lore in one cohesive timeline that make sense for the story, aside from gameplay.

[Scathan]

So as someone who has 4 capped characters, 1 in each of the 4 covenants - I get to notice some oddities as I am currently almost up to par on all of them (Necrolords is still a bit behind) and after this week's Venthyr Covenant campaign I got some questions that I was hoping someone here could help me answer, the main one being the very title of the post;

Is only one of the four Covenant campaigns suppose to be the canon one?

It may seem odd to say this but here's what made me wonder; The Kyrian Covenant Campaign Chapter 4 sees the Maw Walker assist Mikanikos with retrieving Phaestus, Genesis of Aeons; A special hammer found at the Eternal Forge which upon arrival; is under Forsworn control. Ofc we save the day and clear out the forge so that the Kyrians can re-claim it and so that Mikanikos can finish crafting the Crest for which he needed the previously named hammer.

Now before moving on; I would like to mention that yes ofc for replayability purposes there can spawn a World Quest at the Eternal Forge which sees you clear out Forsworn but I do not really include World Quest action in the "streamline story"

Moving on to this week's Venthyr Campaign; Chapter 6 - The Crowned Prince sees the Maw Walker venture to Bastion with General Draven and Theotar. They need the help of the Forgelite Prime - Mikanikos himself; to craft a Crown that can hold all the medallions which the Maw Walker has assisted Prince Renathal in retrieving. But here come's the issue...

Now suddenly the Eternal Forge is under Forsworn control and Mikanikos does not seem to act as if it ever was in their possession. It is as if THIS is the moment in time that the Eternal Forge is freed of the Forsworn's control. But that also seems to be odd considering that:

There is already NPC's in the game that refers to the players as "Maw Walkers" <- Not the s. Maw WalkerS. The world itself acknowledges that we are not just "The Champion / This Champion" - There is multiple Maw Walkers and they have committed to that. So there is no Maw Walker helping out in Bastion? Since if so; then surely the Eternal Forge should not be under Forsworn control given the actions done 2 weeks prior in the Kyrian covenant? Or at the very least Mikanikos should have spoke of how they have lost dominion over the forge, again...

Also while speaking of this; Is Denathrius defeated at this point of time in lore? His interactions during this weeks Venthyr covenant campaign makes it seem like he is already taken care off? So I suppose opposed to how it was sometimes before; that the world / story for YOU would not acknowledge a raid boss's defeat unless you completed the quest TO defeat them; now a raid boss is canonically considered dead / defeated upon release? It just caught me off guard as Renathal or well... Anyone else for that matter has yet to hand a quest with a story tie-in which would imply that Denathrius is already delt with.

So... Can anyone clear this one up? Is all Covenant campaigns canon and are achieved by multiple Maw Walkers or is just one suppose to be canon? As there is points in the games that goes to show either one COULD be the case.

I would imagine that there are at least 4 different azerothian maw walkers, and all the stories are actually happening simultaneously. When on your venthyr thee is a bastion maw walker doing the other quest unbeknownst to you.

Kinda like hoe at the end of legion we channeled our artifacts into the sword in silithus and there were other classes there with their respective artifacts