Sunday, September 29, 2013

In the Infinite Days of Future Past

When can you be sure that you have defeated an enemy that can travel through time?

Their motivations remain mysterious, and even after we killed their leader, the Infinite Dragonflight still has the potential to be the greatest threat that Azeroth has ever faced. All of our past victories, all hope for the future, remain in danger of falling under the Infinites' grasp.

Our greatest victory against the Infinite Dragonflight occurred in a future that no longer exists. Deathwing was defeated before he could bring about the Hour of Twilight, and so there was never any End Time in which we could fight and defeat Murozond.

What is it that the Infinites desire?

Nozdormu is a noble mind, who adheres to his mission, and yet he is also well aware that he will one day become Murozond, and set about undoing all the work he has dedicated his life to.

The Infinites threaten to play havoc with the timeline. And yet, their goals have often seemed well-intentioned. They seek to stop the opening of the Dark Portal and spare Azeroth the chaos wrought by a demon-blood-fueled Horde. They seek to stop Arthas before he can travel to Northrend and become one with the Scourge.

One might argue that they seek to avoid catastrophe. Without Arthas, the Scourge may never have invaded Dalaran, and the Third War may have been stopped in its tracks. Without the opening of the Dark Portal, the First and Second Wars would have never come about.

But the question then lies in what may have happened otherwise. Without the Orcs, the Third War may have been lost, and without Arthas, the Burning Legion may have kept total control of the Scourge, presenting a relentless united front that may have consumed Azeroth.

Murozond locked the timeways to us, requiring us to go into the End Time and defeat him so that we could recover the one weapon that might destroy Deathwing. Yet Murozond again claims to have almost noble intentions. He mocks his past self for calling this vision of the world the "End Time," when in his mind it is a far preferably alternative to what else he has seen.

A desolate waste, devoid of life, seems like a bleak "preferable alternative." Just what is it that Murozond has seen?

We have been fighting the Infinites since the Burning Crusade, and yet the Bronze Dragons of our present are still very much on the side of good. Could we have possibly defeated them before the flight even formed? This is Time Travel, so I won't rule it out, but given our experiences on the Timeless Isle and the visions we're seeing of the future, I am made very uneasy.

If you've been doing the weekly Epoch Stone quests, you've mostly seen Thrall and Saurfang fighting their way into Orgrimmar. The third vision shows the leaders of the Alliance and Horde standing over a defeated Garrosh, but high above them, Kairoz, the bronze dragon who sent you on this mission in the first place, is also watching. Kairoz is surprised to hear this. Why is he there?

An optimist may believe that Murozond's defeat in the End Time, and the de-powering of the Aspects following Deathwing's demise, would mean that the Infinites would never come to pass. And yet, could it not be that very optimism that brings them into being?

The Infinites, in may of our interactions, seem to be wanting to save the world. Nozdormu was shown how he would die to instill the humility required of a guardian of time. But after seeing everything change at the dawn of the Age of Mortals, Nozdormu may have had a most dangerous notion - that fate, both is own and that of Azeroth, could be changed.

That deadly seed could grow to rip asunder the flow of causality. Far from being done with the Infinite Dragonflight, or whoever else they may draw into their service, I fear that this threat has only just begun.

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