The Fate of Azshara

Spoilers for the end of the Eternal Palace Raid (though I guess the title is almost a spoiler itself... so sorry.)

When we fight our way (well, when heroes do - I must confess I haven't run Eternal Palace at all, and never did most of Battle for Dazar'alor...) up to Azshara and defeat her at the end of the current raid, her end is much more of an ellipsis than a period.

Whether she truly dies or not, upon defeat she collapses while her mission - unlocking N'zoth's prison - is a success. When the Old God's shadowy essence blasts its way out of the deep abyss below, it gathers Azshara and her eyes shoot open in a look of...

What is that? Terror? Shock?

Here's my take:

Azshara has convinced herself since first making the deal with N'zoth that she was getting the better end of the deal. Her ego is the largest in the entire Warcraft cosmos, such that she literally defined her society's hierarchy over who fawned over her the most. Yes, the physiological differences between the Night Elves and Blood Elves are actually the (somewhat indirect) result over whose ancestors sucked up more to Azshara.

Given that N'zoth is far older than Azshara's entire race (and I'm not even just talking about the Naga,) and that over that time he succeeded primarily by manipulating things behind the scenes, Azshara was probably an easy mark for his games. Again, my read on the Azshara Warbringers short is that the sly, scheming voice at the beginning is much closer to N'zoth's actual personality than the bellowing rage-god. (Though I'd have kind of loved it if they'd gone with a third option and had him sound like a totally reasonable and even concerned and caring voice in that moment - but that would undercut the point I'm about to make.) Letting Azshara think she had out-maneuvered him was all part of the pitch.

Given that take on Warbringers, my read on the expression on Azshara's face when N'zoth grabs her, possibly reviving her, is one of abject terror.

Now, what is the source of that terror?

Is it Azshara realizing that all this time she's been the pawn? That her inflated sense of importance is actually a lie? That she's second fiddle to literally anyone else?

Or perhaps, like Arthas as he drifted off into his nothingness of an afterlife, she had truly been dead and now saw that there was no grand rebirth, no glory for her. That she was, in the end, just a mortal?

Or there's a third possibility.

Azshara's actual endgame in her two biggest "betray the planet" schemes were always a little muddy. When she tried to bring Sargeras to Azeroth, she theoretically wanted Sargeras as her husband - the only being great enough to be worthy of her. And to be certain, Azshara was powerful - thought to be comparable to if not exceeding the power of Archimonde or Kil'jaeden (though that was never tested.) But one imagines that, had Sargeras' plans come to fruition, we'd have one of two scenarios. Either Sargeras would have made Azeroth another Fel Titan, in which case he'd probably have dropped any false interest in Azshara, perhaps deigning to let her become a powerful demon, or if Azeroth had been destroyed, he might have just killed Azshara in the process.

Because as powerful as Azshara was, I think the general consensus is that the only single entity more powerful than Sargeras is an Azeroth that makes it to adulthood. (Though get back to me if we ever figure out what the hell Elune is.)

Azshara might have hoped to rule a reborn Black Empire, but one really wonders if that was ever in the cards. Being Queen is still a secondary position when you've got a God right there.

But the point that I'm taking a long time to get to here is that Azshara understands arcane magic intrinsically (in D&D she'd definitely be a Sorcerer,) but the true, cosmic horror of what the Void represents is probably not something she's ever thought to reckon with. N'zoth is a means to an end, the end being the restoration to her proper place as Empress of the World.

And the Void has changed her, mutating her into this five-eyed aquatic monstrosity, but she still sees only her own beauty.

What if death forced her to see the Void for what it really is?

What if she has only just now realized the horrors her ego has bought her?

And for most of us, sure we've got the Curse of Flesh, and we're vulnerable to the Old Gods' corruption. But she has been stewing in it for ten thousand years. There is no hope whatsoever for her. And the ends the Old Gods are striving for?

The Black Empire was only ever a means, not an end. The Old Gods themselves are only a means, not an end. Even the Void Titan that they seek to make of Azeroth is only a means, and not an end.

The end is darkness everywhere - a universe of only Void. No empire. No subjects. No beauty. No power.

No Azshara.

And for ten thousand years, she has been working toward that end.

And perhaps in that moment, she realized it.

So what does she do now?

She is so deeply corrupted that it's not even clear she'll be able to exercise her free will. Sure, she's been given the illusion of agency for all the time that she was doing exactly what N'zoth wanted. But if you look at how batshit the Old Gods (and it's implied, specifically N'zoth) made Neltharion, to the point where his entire dragonflight is bombarded by whispers of the Void (even Ebonhorn, a theoretically cleansed Black Dragon, has to fight off those whispers - maybe it wasn't the best idea to live so close to where Dad went crazy for ten thousand years, Ebyssian?) you have got to imagine that N'zoth's installed a bunch of back doors to Azshara's programming to control everything she does.

So Azshara is screwed. Even if she realizes what she's done. But is it possible that she could do something - anything - to prevent the dark fate that she has contributed to? Might some glimmer of the real Azshara - not benevolent, not altruistic, but defiant - show through?

Or, if she realizes how screwed she is, will she find no reason to care? After all, is she is lost, then the whole world is lost, if she is the whole world.

Blizzard chose not to kill, or at least not permanently kill, Azshara for a reason. It may be a long time before we find out why, but it's a really interesting choice.