We're going to another plane of existence in Shadowlands, and one that seems far larger and more diverse than was originally hinted. The Shadowlands are a realm of death, yes, but not all that death takes dark forms. Ardenweald and Bastion are both realms of death, but have a far different aesthetic, with Bastion a heaven-like land of light and angelic beings and Ardenweald being a land of Fae creatures (in fact, this is the first time in WoW we're going to have entities that are explicitly Fae creatures, with perhaps the exception of Faerie Dragons.)
Given the opening cinematic and features trailer, we can be pretty confident in four major figures in the expansion's story. Sylvanas sets the whole thing off by destroying the Helm of Domination. Bolvar, having failed to prevent her from doing that and losing his power as Lich King, will likely play a major role in organizing the living to help solve the chaos that has ensued.
Two new lore figures are being introduced as well. The Arbiter is a kind of judge of the dead, and will be the central figure in the city of Oribos, which will be our urban hub for the expansion. The Arbiter seems like she's in contention for most powerful entity in the Warcraft cosmos we've encountered yet, and it'll be exciting to see what relationship she has with the other godlike entities we've seen before. (Part of me just wants her to be the Lady of Pain from D&D, but that'd obviously be some huge copyright infringement.)
And then the Jailor will presumably be the main villain of the expansion. I think either he or Sylvanas could be the final boss. I'm of two minds when it comes to Sylvanas. On one hand I think she needs to have a big loss - she's been winning too much and edging toward the "villain sue" territory. But on the other hand, I also kind of feel like just making her a raid boss might be weirdly unsatisfying.
This is a problem as WoW has gone on. It used to be that being an expansion's final boss was a huge thing - the build up to our fight with the Lich King made that fight feel profound, and it felt like a fitting end to his character. But perhaps we're so used to it at this point that it doesn't feel as special. Is that weird?
I think the thing they need to do with Sylvanas is resolve what became of her more sympathetic traits - sure, she's always been ruthless, but for a while it really seemed to be in solidarity with her people and a desire to protect them and get them justice. Is Sylvanas irredeemable? I know it would take a whole lot to rehabilitate her character, and no matter how hard-earned that is, some players wouldn't ever accept it. So maybe we do just need to kill her off and be done with her.
Beyond that, though, who might play a part?
Well, there are plenty of death-aligned characters we could encounter. Bwonsamdi is going to play a major role in a dungeon in Ardenweald. Helya, we're told, isn't as dead as she seemed before, and resolving the mystery of her origins and who got Odyn's eye feels important. I also can't imagine they'd introduce Bolvar's daughter just before he is dethroned as Lich King without doing something with her as a character. We've also just barely glimpsed Calia Menethil in her newly light-bound undead form, and while it doesn't look like she's just going to take over from Sylvanas as the leader of the Forsaken, it does feel like she's got a part to play.
There will, naturally, be important figures from the new Covenants. We've heard about a few familiar NPCs that we'll encounter there, but I also imagine there will be a number of new figures.
I also feel like we have got to, got to see Arthas in the Maw. (Also, Gul'dan, right? There's no way he didn't wind up there too.)
Apparently the intro to the expansion is going to have us storming Icecrown in an attempt to deal with the rampant Scourge, and from there we'll be sucked into the Maw. Who will go with us and become trapped there? We'll presumably have some of the heroes of our factions coming with us, but we're going to be the special ones who can escape the Maw. I imagine there will be a classic heroes gallery from either side and that a big part of the expansion's plot will be rescuing those people from the Maw.
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