That Shadiness Underneath

More Dark Below speculation time! (This should be a fun Blizzcon.)

It has been pointed out that, supposedly, the Dark Below trademark is for specifically a computer game, and not for a console game. While I don't know if there is a legal distinction between the two, if this is correct, it almost certainly means that TDB (or DB, or whatever we're going to wind up calling it) is the next WoW expansion, given that Diablo III is coming to consoles.

Now, in my previous post, I took the name on its own and was fairly convinced that such a title would necessarily refer to the Old Gods.

On the other hand (and as I suggested in the bonus section at the end,) this title could refer to a few other possibilities (barring a totally new threat, of course.)

So I'm going to expand on that bonus section and talk about various possibilities that are not just plain "the Old Gods."

Azshara and the Naga:

Azshara has always been one of those villains that's been waiting in the wings, ready to take the stage. The Naga have popped up now and again throughout the game since Vanilla (Mists is the only expansion where they have not appeared at all.) There's a lot of history to the Naga, and given that their realm is below waves, we have a potential threat that both fits the title and also could exist in a continent-like area that has yet to be seen.

But do the Naga, even with Azshara leading them, have what it takes to be an expansion-wide villain? Unlike Illidan, Arthas, or Deathwing, we haven't ever interacted with her directly, except for one brief moment in the quests in Darkshore. The Naga certainly represent a persistent threat, and much like the Zandalari, they seem to be another mortal race that could actually rival the Alliance or Horde in terms of power. (Third faction of Naga, Zandalari, and Mogu? Probably not, but knock on wood.)

Obviously, they would need fleshing out, but that tends to happen when you have an expansion to yourself (well... maybe not so much for Deathwing.)

While I enjoyed Vashj'ir, I don't think we could do an entire underwater expansion. So perhaps we could have some sort of raised city, perhaps seeing Zin-Azshari raised from the depths.

The Naga could also be part of an Old God expansion, with the city of Ny'alotha being the raised area (and how cool would an entirely urban continent be for an expansion?,) but we're talking about other versions, so hush.

The Twisting Nether:

In the semi-canonical Warcraft RPG (a tabletop game that predates WoW,) the Dark Below was a realm that demons came from, but also one that sorcerers pulled their magic from. This is clearly what has come to be called the Twisting Nether, which serves similarly as the home of demons but also the source of Arcane power.

So indeed, The Dark Below could, in fact, be that very same Legion-themed expansion I have speculated about. The only issues I have with it are these: The Twisting Nether seems to be tied more to outer space and alternate dimensions. Unlike some fantasy settings, we know that Azeroth is a planet much like they exist in the real world, and we know that it's not demons that come from below, but cephalopod-like Old Gods. (Ironic, given that Lovecraft's creatures came from outer space while traditionally demons have been seen as coming from an underground hell-like place.)

More recently, Warcraft lore has described both the Twisting Nether, which seems to be a parallel dimension that is something akin to Hyperspace, and is the home of demons and arcane magic (and Outland, which is why the sky is so weird there) while the Great Dark Beyond is more explicitly outer space - the normal, black expanse filled with stars and planets and such. Typically, we think of space as being above us (though it is, of course, around us in all directions,) so the "Dark Below" doesn't really fit with that, suggesting instead a "beneath the earth" sort of location. Likewise, I think one typically thinks of the Twisting Nether, despite its name, as being above us in space (despite the fact that it's really more accurately to our "side" through an alternate dimension.)

Yet there is some precedence here, so I'm not giving up entirely on a Legion-themed expansion to come next.

The Final Titan:

We got some mega-cryptic stuff out of Wrathion during the ToT-leg of the legendary chain. Namely, upon eating the heart of the Thunder King, Wrathion's voice changed, and he exclaimed that they must complete the Final Titan.

Well what the hell does that mean?

It would seem that even without the Well of Eternity, there is some seriously powerful stuff within Azeroth. Could it be that we've finally discovered the true purpose of the planet? That it is the incubator for the birth of a new (and, ominously, "final") Titan?

What if, beneath the squamous undulations of the Old Gods, we discovered a vast Titan facility, of which Uldaman, Ulduar and Uldum are mere satellites?

The Titans appear to be benevolent (when they aren't trying to atomize us so they can start the planet over,) but they're also known to use some morally-questionable techniques in their "ordering" of the universe. They employ demons, after all. And all of our exposure to the Titans has been fairly surface-level. We only barely know that they were responsible for the creation of various mortal races (were these creations wholly original? What if the Curse of Flesh wasn't so much a curse as it was a reversion to original form?) As I've speculated in a Tin-Foil-Hat kind of way, the Titans may, in fact, be responsible for the Scourge! (Though take that with a big bowl of salt.)

So I could also imagine a giant eternal machine chugging away deep underneath Azeroth's surface. And in the midst of it, we'd have to contend both with the Old Gods and the more dangerous creations of the Titans.

Expect a lot more speculation on this subject matter until Blizzcon. As a disclaimer: we still only know that this is a trademarked name for a Blizzard computer game. It could very well be totally unaffiliated with World of Warcraft. That said, I am about 75% confident that The Darkness Below will be the next expansion for WoW. And unlike Mists of Pandaria, whose title caused many to scratch their heads (though the story turned out pretty good in the end, despite all my crankiness,) the name "The Darkness Below" itself suggests huge stakes and a serious threat.