The latest World of Warcraft expansion, Shadowlands, broke incredible barriers in established lore, opening players up to a whole new realm of endless possibilities. While there is a looming threat that has yet to be dealt with, the primary story up to level 60 threw a lot of new concepts at players in a short amount of time. With so much going on, some may have missed the minor details.
Each realm introduced its own lore and conflicts, some of which even seem alien to the Shadowlands. However, the story doesn't always dwell on these concepts for long and instead continues moving forward. There are many things that even the biggest lore buff might miss.
10 The Winter Queen Has A Sister
In the climax cinematic of Ardenweald, The Winter Queen asks why she would breathe life into the wildseed just to save her sister's "pet" which the story later reveals as Ysera. It's a rather vague statement, and so far, there has been no confirmation about who or what her sister is. The WoW community has several theories that might explain a deeper connection between Azeroth, the dragons, and these beings greater than the titans.
A prevailing theory suggests that her sister may be Elune. Blizzard has never fleshed out the goddess of the Night Elves, but Tyrande's new storyline suggests answers may be coming soon. With the Night Warrior having close ties to the Night Fae story, it makes sense that the Winter Queen's sister is none other than Mother Moon.
9 Nathanos Blightcaller Has Yet To Appear In Death
Long-time World of WarCraft players know that Nathanos Blightcaller has remained by the side of Sylvannas Windrunner for many years. However, it's only in recent years that his role gained much more prominence in the story. While Sylvannas pulled strings behind the scenes, Nathanos became the face of the Horde as the Fourth War devastated Azeroth.
After dealing with the burning of Teldrassil and gaining the power of the Night Warrior, Tyrande Whisperwind made it her duty to carry out Nathanos' execution. In a pre-expansion cinematic, she does just that, wondering if Sylvannas may still accept her right hand now that her allegiances lie with the Jailer. Even though Sylvannas broke the machinery of death, it's quite odd that her right hand has yet to make an appearance in the Shadowlands. If Tyrande was right, his soul may be lost in the Maw and his devotion was for nothing.
8 Time Passes Differently In The Shadowlands
At the beginning of the Shadowlands experience, players start their journey lost in the Maw. Heroes from both factions make their way through the portal before the player, but upon meeting Jaina moments later, it appears she has been there for a long period of time. She and other leaders were abducted and thrown into the Maw just days before. Jaina mentions that the Jailer's minions caged her and the others countless times, and she has escaped just as many times. Ultimately, she's unable to recognize just how much time passed since her original abduction.
7 There Are Only Three Good Endings In Death
While there are countless realms in the Shadowlands, only four of them predominantly rule over the plane. Regardless of the realm the Arbiter sends a soul to, they may stay for eons, stay for eternity, or set out to return to the mortal world in a new life. Those that typically have these options are the ones judged to the realms of Bastion, Maldraxxus, and Ardenweald.
Souls who were terrible or prideful beings in life are often sentenced to Revendreth as a sort of final warning before going to the Maw. Souls within Revendreth are tortured until they learn a lesson unique to their life and are even given the opportunity to live a new life. If the soul lives another morally corrupt life, the Arbiter sentences them to the Maw. Once sent to WarCraft's version of hell, souls live forever in torment and cannot leave.
6 We're Not Saving The Faction Leaders Stuck In The Maw
Whether it's to simply keep them out of the way or Blizzard just doesn't know what to do with them, a strange oversight in the Shadowlands is that important figures still remain in the Maw. During the starting experience in the Maw, the Jailer catches up to the player and the other heroes. Anduin uses what energy he has left to hold off the Maw's forces so that the player safely gets to Oribos.
Shortly after, the game reminds the player within a cinematic that Jaina, Anduin, Baine, and Thrall suffer in the Maw. However, there appears to be no attempt to save them, even though the player is the so-called Maw-walker who saves other souls sent there after the breaking. There is talk of future content in which the player finally saves the other heroes, but it's strange that an effort isn't mounted much earlier.
5 Sire Denathrius Orchestrated Almost Every Bad Event On Azeroth
Sire Denathrius is the King of the Venthyr and ruler of Revendreth. Not only does he have ties with the Jailer, a book in Sinfall entitled, Enemy Infiltration, suggests a much more horrifying creation kept secret from even the titans. The book appears to be from the Nathrezim, reporting to Sire Denathrius on his bidding.
If Denathrius created the Dreadlords and they've been following his commands from the beginning, then the Venthyr King orchestrated almost every terrible event ever to occur to Azeroth. He led the Dreadlords to successfully infiltrate the Legion and coerce their efforts, not to mention everywhere else the Nathrezim appeared. It may be the largest conspiracy in World of WarCraft's history.
4 Turalyon Is The Regent Lord of Stormwind in Anduin's Absence
While it's not clearly explained during the Shadowlands story, players who return to Stormwind find that Turalyon rules it in Anduin's absence. Considering time passes differently in the Shadowlands, it will be interesting to see how Stormwind and the Alliance progress with Turalyon as their acting leader.
Even though Turalyon is a great hero of the Alliance, it's strange that he took the mantle of Regent Lord instead of Genn Greymane. In fact, Greymane consistently gets sidelined in the story even though Sylvannas should have a vendetta against him after their battle in Legion.
3 Souls Are Not Locked Into Their Realm
One of the foundational concepts of the Shadowlands is that once a soul completes the trials of their afterlife, they're able to traverse the realms freely. This means that lovers, family members, and friends reunite in the afterlife once they complete their primary journey. That is, unless the Arbiter sends them to Bastion in which they must give up all connections to their past life to become better souls.
Thrall's mother, Draka, takes this concept to the next level. After growing in rank in the forces of Maldraxxus, her journey actually took her to worlds outside of the Shadowlands to face the Legion. As a member of the House of Eyes, she spied on them and did her part as a soldier of the afterlife. But what really is the afterlife if she can physically come into the real world and affect it?
2 The Scourge Continues Running Amok In Azeroth
Once Sylvannas broke the Helm of Domination, the Scourge no longer had a leader. The dead rose forth from Icecrown and attacked denizens all across the globe. After the player ventures into the Shadowlands, it's easy to forget that Azeroth is still dealing with the Scourge threat. The helm is still destroyed and the Scourge has no force strong enough to compel it.
Considering time passes differently in the Shadowlands, this poses an interesting question about the future of Azeroth as well as what kind of world the player might return to. Azeroth now faces the Scourge without the aid of its greatest heroes. Since Turalyon leads the Alliance, he may summon Yrel and her Lightbound armies to stop the undead.
1 Many of Ardenweald's Concepts Are Heavily Based On European Folklore
Those with experience playing other RPGs may find familiarity within the concepts of Ardenweald. Stories of fairies, courts, and wild hunts are all motifs from Northern European mythology. In most accounts, the Wild Hunt is a supernatural army of warriors and beasts in pursuit of lost souls or those unfortunate enough to get in their way.
The concept of Ardenweald's Wild Hunt is quite similar as it is an army of beast folk that protects the spiritual wilds of the Night Fae. The realm is also populated by plenty of fae-folk which are all led by a figure known as the Winter Queen. The ancient Gaels recognized a deity they called the Cailleach or Beira, The Queen of Winter.