The End of Mists of Pandaria

I seriously jumped the gun when, like a year ago (or more) I started writing about the end of Mists. I don't know, I guess I was eager to sum things up, even though I think Siege of Orgrimmar had not yet come out. I don't really intend to sum up the expansion, but instead talk about its end.

The end of an expansion is kind of a nebulous thing. Arguably, one expansion "ends" on midnight when the next expansion is launched. You could also argue that it ends when the next X.0 patch comes out, with that patch functioning something like a prologue, introduction, or just blank space between expansions. Of course, most of the content from past expansions still exists - you can still run Heroic Sethekk Halls if you want - but sometimes that content is lost.

The Kor'kron War Wolf, the Garrosh heirlooms, and the gorgeous Challenge Mode armor sets, title, and mounts are going to be unattainable. On the plus side, the requirement for Cloud Serpent Riding as a separate skill is going away. Those who are on the legendary chain still have until the actual launch of Warlords to get their cloaks, but if you haven't started it, you're SOL. Actually, that means that Wrathion's presence in Pandaria will really be only for those who played during Mists.

Lore-wise we're going to see a lot of big changes in the Horde's territories. The Kor'kron (who used to be cool before Garrosh had to ruin them) have been dissolved, and Orgrimmar's martial law lockdown that has persisted since 5.3 I believe, is at an end. Orgrimmar's guards are now pointedly multicultural, with Goblin Bruisers, Tauren Braves, Troll Shadow-Hunters, and good old fashioned regular army Grunts sharing the responsibilities of keeping the streets safe. Likewise, and less reassuringly, the Kor'kron have finally been removed from the Undercity after six years, and the Abominations are back. While it warms my dead, still heart to see those horrifying monstrosities offering friendly directions and advise to visitors, it also signals that Sylvanas is not going to be under as strict control as she was under Garrosh, which... might be a problem (though to be fair, it was Garrosh who ordered her to invade Gilneas... but I don't really think he's the one responsible for her malicious tactics.)

Pandaria heals. It has been through a really bad trauma, and the destruction in the Vale was pretty awful, but it's looking like the effect was temporary. With the Heart of Y'shaarj utterly drained of any power it once had, the Sha are presumably totally extinct now, and the Vale is in the process of healing. Yes, the last couple years sucked for the people of Pandaria, but in the long run, they're probably better off.

The open warfare that persisted between Alliance and Horde starting in Wrath and ramping up to full-scale war in Cataclysm is officially over. While I'm sure that, for gameplay reasons if not for lore, there will never be true peace between the two sides (Ashran is an example of that, though I really file it under "purely for gameplay - consider it non-canon lore-wise,) it does seem that we can finally declare this particular war over (to those who complain about not having enough War in Warcraft, I present to you the Burning Legion, the Old Gods, the Iron Horde, and the countless other threats that we've got plenty of war left to fight with.) Admittedly in Draenor, the Frostwolves and Draenei don't have that same history of conflict to really see each other as anything other than a valuable ally in the fight against the Iron Horde, but I think the Alliance and Horde proper will also pretty much bury the hatchet for now and focus on the bigger threat, much as they did in the early days of WoW.

It's a little too bad that nothing of the trial of Garrosh was represented in-game. There are a lot of new threads opened up by the trial and by Garrosh's escape. For now, we can really put Pandaria aside and let the people there recover and rebuild.

In a sense, it's actually quite smart to set the next expansion in a different world. Vol'jin and Varian and a whole lot of Azeroth has been in the spotlight for a while, and now they can get about the important, but perhaps less suggestive of a WoW expansion process of regrouping and rebuilding.

Of course, we suicidally brave adventurers wouldn't be content to stand around organizing food drives for displaced Orgrimmar citizens or surveying the ruins of Theramore in order to start rebuilding (please, Blizzard, let the Alliance do something with that crater.) Nope, there's no rest for the heroes of Azeroth. Not when there are new pants to be found!