With the 8.3 PTR both announced and brought live today, we've been getting a huge bucket load of information on Visions of N'zoth, a patch that, to me, is very exciting. Actually, to give my take on the patch, here's how I feel: I would have loved to have the heavy Old God stuff happening earlier in the expansion. Obviously, Crucible of Storms was a prelude to this, and you certainly can't go through Stormsong Valley's main quests without a serious Cosmic Horror feel to it, but I'd have gladly not had this major Alliance/Horde war (unless it is well and truly over after this expansion) if we could have made this expansion a straight-up cosmic horror expansion from the get-go.
But we've got the cool purple-and-red N'zoth aesthetic now, eyeballs and tentacles... we're looking good come 8.3.
But let's talk story spoilers. Now, before we begin, first off, there's the courtesy SPOILER WARNING. But we should also put up the PTR CAVEAT, which is that while the grand shape of the patch is surely pretty locked in, there are details here that can change. I'm still waiting on Grand Magister Rommath to be revealed as a member of Twilight's Hammer, and we're eight years past the time that showed up in Cataclysm's beta files.
But some of these elements have very serious implications for the future of WoW and some of its key characters. Also, we've got some cryptic quotes from a familiar... not really face, but familiar voice, that should get us all very excited for future speculation.
Ready?
SPOILERS AHOY (is this the last time I'll be able to say that?)
First off, let's talk the Forsaken. With Sylvanas peaceing out (well, I don't know if you can call it "peaceing" when you've just killed someone) after Saurfang's Mak'gora challenge, the Horde does not have a Warchief and neither do the Forsaken have a racial leader.
Well, it looks like Calia Menethil will be taking up her role as the rightful queen of Lordaeron (or at least the people of Lordaeron) at long last. Derek Proudmoore, positioned as something of a consort or at least a companion, will be going with her. This, to me, says volumes about what the Alliance/Horde relations will be moving forward. Given how firmly Calia and Derek are on good terms with the Alliance - practically being Alliance characters - it would seem very strange for hostilities to begin again and find Calia and Derek happily waging war against Jaina and the rest of the Alliance.
Certainly, I'm sure a lot of Horde players and Forsaken in particular might find this offensive. But I also think that, to a certain extent, that can work, story-wise. Naturally there will be some who remain loyal to Sylvanas, even if being open about that fact is a political faux-pas these days.
What's also pretty fascinating is that there appears to be a discussion about who is meant to take on the role of Warchief, and while most of the leaders are happy to push Thrall for the position - given that, aside from naming Garrosh a successor, he was pretty good at the job, and now he's older and wiser - Thrall turns it down, and suggests that the problem with the Horde, maybe the reason they keep falling back into fascistic, militaristic aggression, is that that they have this all-powerful Warchief. So a leadership council is established instead. Frankly, I think this is a great development, and allows for new stories and conflicts to arise that aren't just "every other Warchief we have is a homicidal lunatic."
As a bit of a footnote, Rokhan, who has been the most prominent Darkspear Troll NPC has now officially been made the new racial leader for them. This is just housekeeping as far as I'm concerned.
Now, Alliance-side, things are a little more complex (for once!) Anduin is very happy to put this war behind him, and is enthusiastic about a lasting peace with the Horde. But Tyrande is not remotely convinced they can trust the Horde to keep the peace, and furthermore considers Sylvanas' blood owed to her. While we might see her more specifically targeting Sylvanas, she is definitely not on board with the peace plan, and even Shandris is concerned that Tyrande is taking this Night Warrior thing too far, especially when Tyrande betrays a crisis of faith, claiming Elune abandoned them. Keep an eye on this story, folks.
Genn is a bit more accommodating to Anduin's view, but still agrees with Tyrande that every time they trust the Horde to keep the peace, they wind up getting betrayed. He's not wrong.
To interpret here: I do think we're going to see some major changes to the way that factions work. I don't know that you'll start having Alliance Forsaken or anything (though the symbols next to our characters introduced in 8.2.5 are definitely eyebrow-raising) but I truly think that we're going to see some broader options to play with friends on the other side, and a story that reflects a true detente and warming of relations between the two sides.
But now we get to what I think of as lore-junkie crack: Remember how when we killed Il'gynoth in the Emerald Nightmare that he said "I journey to Ny'alotha"? Well, given that the final raid is going to be the nightmare-city itself, it looks like old tree-goo-dude is going to be coming back as a raid boss once again.
And he's got new quotes!
A fair number of Il'gynoth's quotes have been fulfilled - like how the Diamond King has been made a pawn (how Magni was used to help free N'zoth) and how To find him, drown yourself in the Circle of Stars (again, N'zoth's release was from a prison called the Circle of Stars.)
Well, we've got new ones:
"Before the last shadow falls, the Father of Sleep shall savor his feast."
It's possible the Father of Sleep is N'zoth. Is his feast the World-Soul? This is something that should be resolved at the end of the raid, assuming that's who this is referring to. The only other Father of Sleep I could imagine is Malfurion, as the archdruid who has lived most of his life sleeping in the Emerald Dream and is basically the patriarch to the Night Elves. EDIT: Apparently, Mueh'zala, one of the three Loa mentioned on a tablet in Zul'farrak (the others being Kimba and Shadra, who appear in Zandalar) is called the Father of Sleep on that tablet. While yes, we've got two Hakkars in WoW lore (the Soul Flayer evil loa and the Houndmaster, a Fel Lord huntsman who plays the role of the big bad in the Hunter class hall stuff in Legion), given Bwonsamdi's mention of his "boss" and the strong presence of death magic throughout BFA, I think this must refer to Mueh'zala.
"The golden one claims a vacant throne. The crown of light will bring only darkness."
I'm thinking this is either Anduin or, more likely, Calia. As a being resurrected by the Light, hers could be a crown of light, and the vacant throne being the one Sylvanas abandoned.
"When their mistress beckons, nine ravens take flight. Each seeks a prize to earn her favor."
How many Val'kyr does Sylvanas have at this point? Ravens are of course associated with Medivh and Khadgar, as well as Lord Ravencrest (though I don't think he's really playing a big role post Black Rook Hold.) Might there be nine prominent Sylvanas-loyalists? I'll be honest, all of these are pretty hard to figure out, but that just makes them more fun.
"The vassal of life disguises treachery. Beware the eyes of green."
Jeez. Ok, could the vassal of life be a red dragon? Or Freya, who was empowered by Eonar? Green eyes in WoW could mean Blood Elves (though many by now have golden eyes since the Sunwell was cleansed,) it could mean Demon Hunters, or perhaps anyone who just happens to have green eyes. Alexstrasza seems to have golden eyes, so unless this is referring to two different people, I don't know.
"Five lanterns, now darkened. The flame they seek will light the masters' way."
Note that the apostrophe comes after the "s," meaning that it's plural masters, and if it's not the Old Gods, it could be the Old Gods' bosses - the Void Lords. I'd had some theories before about how the Pillars of Creation might be used by the Old Gods. Given that they were going to be used to close a portal to the Twisting Nether (which we didn't actually wind up doing... hey, did we ever reckon with the fact that we didn't actually wind up using those after spending all of 8.0 and 8.1 gathering them?) could they not also be used to open a gateway to the Void?
"The blind queen wields a scepter of bone. From the deep she calls forth doom."
Blind queen? Unless that nick to her eye was worse than it looked, I don't think this is Sylvanas. The only characters I can think of who are quite prominently blind are Demon Hunters, but the most famous of them is most certainly not a queen. Queens associated with deep places would be either Therazane or Azshara (oh, and more on her after this.) Blind could also, of course, mean naive. Queen Talanji, given her connection to death via Bwonsamdi, might wield a metaphorical scepter of bone. While she's a very good-aligned type of person, I could totally see her calling upon some power that she has mistaken for something benevolent and bringing forth catastrophe.
"The cunning ones kneel before six masters, but serve only one."
Ok, I really need to know how many official members the Horde's new war council will have. If it's the racial leaders for the Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Undead, Blood Elves, and Goblins, that would be six. And cunning Sylvanas loyalists might bow before them but serve only her. Still, we don't know how that's going to work out. It's also notable that, if you leave out Sargeras, the Titan Pantheon (also not counting Argus or Azeroth) is six individuals (unless I've forgotten one - Aman'thul, Eonar, Golganneth, Aggramar, Khaz'goroth, and Norgannon.)
Now, to be fair, we're still waiting to figure out a number of Legion's Il'gynoth quotes, and some might be red herrings. But damn these are fun things to speculate around.
One thing that worries me is Wrathion - who will actually be Ny'alotha's first boss. Now, to be fair, we've fought other people before as bosses - Cenarius, Jaina, Azshara - and had them survive. I'm hoping that they don't eliminate the Black Prince (or Black Emperor as he's referred to in the raid) but instead beat some sense into him, perhaps saving him with the very alchemical antivenom he developed in 8.2.5. Wrathion's behind-the-scenes manipulations for what he thinks are good ends make him a very compelling character, and after his extended leave of absence (that was particularly missed in Legion given how he spent Mists warning us about having to get ready for their invasion) it'd be a shame to bring him back just long enough to kill him. Wrathion also has a recurring role to play in the new Legendary cloak quests. It is possible, of course, given that Ny'alotha is a nightmare version of what N'zoth wants the world to be like, that the "Black Emperor" is really just his intentions toward Wrathion, and not the true Wrathion himself.
Finally: Azshara
Azshara did not die (or at least not permanently) when we defeated her (well, you might have. I still haven't run the Eternal Palace,) and we've finally pieced together what exactly went down with Xal'atath, Sylvanas, and Azshara.
As it turns out, Sylvanas requested Azshara to wreck the Alliance fleet using the Tidestone of Golganneth, and in exchange, she sent Nathanos with the empty Blade of the Black Empire that once held the creature Xal'atath (whose current whereabouts in a hijacked blood elf body that now conveniently looks like a void elf for obvious reasons are unknown) to deliver it to Azshara.
See, Azshara's plan was to release N'zoth - and then to stab him with the blade. While Shadow Priests who tried stabbing things with it back in Legion were probably very underwhelmed by its god-killing potential, my guess is that the blade functions more as a prison - and that by using it on N'zoth, his essence might be trapped within it. Assuming N'zoth's a far more powerful being than Xal'atath (which I would assume, though I'm not 100% convinced,) that would A: be a good way to get rid of N'zoth and B: give Azshara a weapon of absurd power. Azshara might come out of this expansion having been in the raid spotlight but getting to be a major player once more as well. Don't assume she's plotting against N'zoth out of a sense of altruism. Azshara wants to rule the world, and for her to outplay an Old God famous for his deceptions would be quite the boost to her already planet-sized ego, not to mention that it would get her out of the obligations she has been under.
What it means for the World Soul remains to be seen - if N'zoth is removed, will it create as much of a terrible wound as Y'shaarj did? Or would this essentially be a carefully surgical extraction that could leave the world intact?
One thing I like about how N'zoth's being handled in this patch is that he's burrowed into Azeroth in a less physical way, but more in a metaphysical way. Ny'alotha is less of a physical place than a demiplane cyst in the reality of Azeroth, waiting to infect the rest of the body. This makes N'zoth feel more Yogg-Sothoth than Cthulhu, which is something that would have been cool if they could have pulled it off with the previous Old Gods whose names were inspired by those Lovecraft creations.
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