World of Warcraft's newest expansion is coming very soon, November 28th, and given that it's going to focus so much on dragons, I figured a little recap of the history of the Dragon Aspects that have gone through Ages of Azeroth would be a good idea. So, let's embark on a journey of several millennia, to discover these ancestral Dragons and their children!
Creation of Dragon Skins
After the ordering of Azeroth, in time immemorial, the Pantheon resumed its journey through the cosmos in search of other world-souls and left its Guardian Titans behind. Various life forms began to emerge on the world, including proto-dragons. One of them, Galakrond, became so threatening to Azeroth that the Titan Tyr rose up against it.
At his side stood five other proto-dragons and together they managed to defeat their congener.
To reward the five dragons so brave, the Titans (despite Odyn's categorical refusal) infused them with the powers of the Pantheon and gave them the charge of watching over Azeroth.
Ra channeled the powers of Aman'Thul, the mightiest of the Pantheon, over Time into Nozdormu, who took over the leadership of the Bronze Dragonflight. Since then, he has been in charge of monitoring the timelines. He then became the Lord.
Eonar, Guardian of Life, through Freyja, infused her powers into Alexstraza, who would become the fiercely protective mother of the Red Dragonflight and more generally of life and creatures on Azeroth. She took the name of Linker of Life.
Freyja also blesses Ysera, green dragon and sister of Alexstraza, with her powers over nature. She was since then linked to the Emerald Dream, watching over the fauna and flora, under the name of Dreamer.
Norgannon was the Arcane Master of the Pantheon and gave his powers to Malygos, allowing him and his Blue Flight to master magic. He was known ever since as Spellweaver.
And finally Khaz'Goroth, creator of worlds, breathed his talents into Neltharion, the black dragon, giving him power over the earth. The one who will then be called the Earthkeeper was given responsibility for the depths of the world and the mountains.
The five thus became the Dragon Aspects, protectors of Azeroth.
The War of the Ancients
It is -10 (before the Dark Portal first opens) and the Burning Legion, led by Sargeras, is about to invade Azeroth for the first time. As the Night Elves battled the demons, the Dragon Aspects came together to find a way to hold off the Legion.
Neltharion, the Earthkeeper, then proposed a solution: that each Dragon Aspect sacrifice a part of its powers to breathe them into an artifact, the Soul of the Dragons.
But what his friends hadn't noticed was that Neltharion had been corrupted by the Old Gods. His very strong bond with the earth had made him much more sensitive to the whispers of these millennial entities, sent by the Lords of the Void to take control of the world-soul of Azeroth.
The five Dragon Aspects therefore attacked the Legion and used the Dragon Soul. But as the battle turned in favor of the Aspects and Night Elves alliance, it was this moment that Neltharion chose to turn on his friends and use the Dragon Soul against them.
This sudden attack almost completely wiped out the Blue Flight and forced the other Flights to retreat. For his part, Neltharion was overwhelmed by the energy released by what will now be called the "Demon's Soul" and his body deformed, cracks appeared on his skin, pouring torrents of lava and magma. He disappeared into the sky and will be, for millennia to come, henceforth called Deathwing.
The Dragonflight unit was shattered that day. Malygos, driven mad with sadness by the loss of his Flight, will never be the same since then.
Still, the remaining Dragon Aspects did not forget their responsibility to Azeroth. The war against the Legion has left scars all over the world, due to the implosion of the Well of Eternity. Taking refuge in Mount Hyjal, preserved from destruction, the night elves witnessed the creation of a new Well of Eternity by Illidan Stormrage, without the knowledge of his compatriots (which will earn him imprisonment for several millennia) .
Aware that the existence of a new Well might draw the Legion once again to Azeroth, the Dragon Aspects grew a majestic tree upon it, its roots seeping into the world to spread its beneficial energies. Above all, it would prevent the Legion or anyone else from abusing the powers of the Well.
The night elves decided to protect at all costs the tree which they would henceforth call Nordrassil (the Crown of Heaven). And to thank them for this commitment, the Dragon Aspects tied the blessings given to the tree to the elves. Thus, Alexstraza granted them incredible strength, Ysera allowed them to survey the Emerald Dream whenever they wished. And Nozdormu granted them immortality (as long as Nordrassil was standing).
You can find all this history in the trilogy The War of the Ancients, bringing together three volumes (The Well of Eternity, The Soul of Dragons, The Apocalypse). Some details are also visible in-game in the instance The Well of Eternity.
The First War (Warcraft I)
The Demon Soul that Neltharion had created unfortunately could not be destroyed. The Aspects had no choice but to hide it in an isolated place (Redridge), but taking care to enchant it so that no other Dragon, and especially not Deathwing, could use its powers. Since then, the other four Aspects have each isolated themselves in their lair. Same as Deathwing in the Underworld, healing the wounds caused by the use of the Demon's Soul.
However, the opening of the Dark Portal on Azeroth roused him from his slumber and saw in the orcs a way to regain his power. He maneuvered behind the scenes, disguising himself as a noble human, then an orc, in an effort to allow invaders from Draenor to occupy the mortal races. He can then focus all his attention on his opponents Dragons.
He then sent visions to an orc chieftain, Zuluhed, showing him the Demon's Soul and the benefits he could derive from it. The orc went in search of the artifact and confronted its guardian, Oriastraz. He gave it to his warlock, Nekros, who was able to reveal its secrets, thanks in particular to visions sent by Deathwing. Alexstraza immediately felt that the wards she had placed around the object no longer existed and quickly left to check on what had happened, along with some of her red dragons. Without suspecting that they were going to fall into a trap.
The Second War
Alexstraza eventually tracked down the Demon's Soul in Khaz Modan, then under attack from the Horde.
But Nekros was able to learn how to use the artifact, thanks to Deathwing, allowing him to enslave Alexstraza and keep the Red Dragons at bay. They sealed them within Grim Batol and began to make harnesses and saddles to be able to control them and use them as an engine of destruction.
Poor Alexstraza gave birth to new dragons by laying eggs, despite her captivity, increasing her rage at seeing her offspring used by the Horde. She swore to herself to annihilate Nekros for his ignominies. He had to wait until the end of the Second War, however, when the Horde suffered yet another defeat from the Alliance before they could escape, ironically thanks to Deathwing. The Dragonmaw Clan, seeking to put their red dragons out of reach of the Alliance, took them out of Grim Batol. Deathwing then attacked the convoy to seize the precious eggs of the Life-Binder, which would allow him to reform his Black Flight. Thanks to his consort Korialstraz and a human mage, Rhonin, Alexstraza was able to escape and rejoin his fellow Aspects. Rhonin was able to once again banish Deathwing with the Demon's Soul, then destroyed the artifact for good.
This story is told in detail in the novel The Day of the Dragon.
That's all for now, we'll let our Dragon Aspects rest for a bit. In the second part of their story, we will find them in Northrend, while the war against the Lich King is raging, in a fratricidal struggle.
