After many months of waiting, here is finally the eighth expansion of the game which arrives this Tuesday, November 24 (at midnight): Shadowlands. And there are new things! And others that will change! What if we made a little point all together on the story?
The end of the Fourth War
At the end of Battle for Azeroth, commonly known as the Fourth War, N'zoth is defeated, the threat of the Old Gods, so it's a thing of the past (hopefully anyway).
Conflicts are still present between the Alliance and the Horde. Baine Bloodhoof is about to be executed by Sylvanas, still Leader of the Horde, for he has freed the now Forsaken Derek Proudmoore (brother of Jaina). Heroes from the Horde and the Alliance then work together to free him. This is particularly the case with Thrall, whom Varok Saurfang went to charge in Outland, and Jaina. The group sinks into the depths of Orgrimmar, freeing the Tauren leader but also unleashing Sylvanas' fury.
This is a big turning point in the cooperation between the Alliance and the Horde, or at least part of the latter, who find themselves in front of Orgrimmar to stop Sylvanas. Varok then challenges her to a duel during a mak'gora (fight to the death). The latter succeeds in bringing down the veteran, not without revealing herself a little more. To her, the Horde is absolutely nothing. She flees, joining a faction of loyalists loyal to her cause.
This is how an armistice, fragile certainly but well and truly present, is made between the two factions. The Horde no longer has a Warchief, but a Council, representing the various races that make it up. Tensions are still high, especially on the side of the Night Elves, led by Tyrande Whisperwind, who do not accept peace until the Horde has paid the price of blood for the fire in Teldrassil (perpetrated by Sylvanas before BFA).
Meanwhile, at the Icecrown
Well, during that time, Sylvanas hasn't lost any! We find her at Icecrown Citadel, facing off against the Lich King. For the record, after Arthas' defeat in WOTLK, it was Bolvar Fordragon who took his place, sacrificing himself to be able to control the Scourge armies (without it, they would have spiraled out of control and would have spilled over into all of Azeroth).
As with Saurfang, Sylvanas triumphs and seizes the Lich King's helmet. And instead of putting it on, we see her split it in half, causing the veil to tear in the sky at the same time. The veil is what separates the world of Azeroth from the Shadowlands, the place where all souls come together after death.
Meanwhile, Nathanos, Sylvanas' next faithful, has not been idle. We find him in Zandalari (in the novel The Army of Shadows, released recently), taking part in a rebellion against Queen Talanji (the leader of the trolls), with the aim of eliminating Bwonsamdi, the Loa of the death among the trolls. In particular, we learn that things are happening in Shadowlands and that Bwonsamdi is trying somehow to save as many souls as he can. Fortunately, Nathanos' attempt ends in failure, disowning him to Sylvanas.
Direction l'Ombreterre
Despite this setback, Sylvanas is no slouch. Remember at the end of WOTLK, Arthas defeated, Sylvanas thinks there is no more reason to (not) -live. We then see her throw herself from the top of the Citadel and impale herself on a saronite peak. She is nevertheless saved by the Val'kyrs and, during her lightning passage in the Shadowlands, she would have made the acquaintance of the Jailer, an entity ruling the Lair (part of the Shadowlands) and would have made a pact. with him.
Therefore, all the actions Sylvanas would have taken since that day would have been for the sole purpose of increasing the power of the Jailer (and therefore his own), in particular by causing as many deaths as possible on Azeroth, the Jailer ". diverting "souls to his Den.
The prepatch
For the past two weeks, Azeroth has therefore been threatened by the Scourge, the Lich King having no control over them after his defeat against Sylvanas.
We also had the opportunity to confront Nathanos once again, in the house of his life before death. A job that was finished by Tyrande Whisperwind, eliminating for good (well on Azeroth anyway) the Wither. But we now know that the souls of people (living or undead) are sent to the Shadowlands. It is therefore very likely that we will find Nathanos alongside his beloved, but this time really dead for good.
Sylvanas' grand plan is clearly underway, and it continues with the kidnapping of some of the great leaders of the Alliance and Horde, including Anduin, Baine, Jaina, and Thrall. What does she want to do with them? That's a damn good question, one that cannot be answered at the moment.
For the rest, we will have to wait until tomorrow, when we can start the Shadowlands quests!
