World of warcraft fans spent most of Battle for Azeroth Ask a big question: What exactly was the infamous warlord Sylvanas Windrunner planning? It was clear he was playing some sort of five dimensional chess involving genocide, betrayal, and incredible secret magical powers. The latest extension, Shadowlands, also focuses on the Sylvanas plots. But thanks to a new scene, we know what he’s really doing and that’s probably bad news for everyone.
This article contains spoilers for Shadowlands‘first end-game content, especially dungeons and Torghast.
Why is Sylvanas so crazy about the afterlife?
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/13599007/World_of_Warcraft_Battle_for_Azeroth_Sylvanas.png "World of Warcraft finally explains Sylvanas 1's secret plot")
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Sylvanas is one of the last remaining characters from real-time strategy games; she was featured in Warcraft
3, where Arthas quickly murdered her on his journey to become the Lich King. He resurrected her, and when she freed herself from his mind control, he took on a leadership role on the Forsaken with the intention of taking revenge on Arthas.
After Arthas was killed by players from Wrath of the Lich KingSylvanas decided it was a job well done, and there was little point in remaining an undead banshee. In the short story Edge of Night, published early Cataclysm In 2010, he threw himself from the top of Icecrown Citadel and died. In a disturbing twist, he ended up going to the worst hell possible for reasons currently unknown.
Sylvanas has made a dark deal with the Val’kyr, the winged servants of death, to come back to life and escape her fate. Since then, he has set himself the goal of never coming back. Most players interpreted this to mean that she didn’t want to die. It turns out it’s a bit more ambitious than that.
Attack and dethrone God
From ShadowlandsWe now know that Sylvanas has been in cahoots with the Jailer, a brand new villain in World of Warcraft. The jailer was one of the leaders of the Shadowlands, but his colleagues decided he stank and banished him. He’s the root of all trouble in the Shadowlands, and his machinations are the reason players have hours of quest content to complete. He and Sylvanas have created a league of evil brains linked to death, including Legion
Helya.
The villains have joined some of Azeroth’s greatest heroes, including the stage golden boy King Anduin. Sylvanas and Anduin finally converse, and Sylvanas explains that death in World of Warcraft is rude and unfair.
Through research, we find out that when someone dies, they go to the Inquisitor, which is essentially the Hogwarts Sorting Hat in the form of a Grand Lady Angel. She organizes souls to their final destination without your participation. So you can die and suddenly wake up to find yourself in a vampire torture rehab program, or in a giant chasm of Eternal War. It’s a second life, maybe eternal, and most of the characters we meet seem pretty cool with the ref and his judgment. Sylvanas, on the other hand, thinks this is ridiculous.
She has a point here! Spouses are separated, as are parents and children. The Kyrian, one of Shadowlands“Four larger factions need new souls to erase their memories of life.
Anduin is having one of the best times of the expansion so far, as he points out that it isn’t exactly the right time for Sylvanas. On the one hand, her outfit is absolutely covered with skulls. Second, he keeps Anduin in a terrifying and desolate prison carved with death-related runes. Sylvanas shrugs her shoulders and says “the end justifies the means!” Which, Sylvanas, I find it hard to join this argument since your means are mind control, genocide, and throwing a plague that raises skeletons on people.
Also, we still don’t know exactly what its goals are. Sylvanas wants to establish a new death system, possibly one with more agency that will allow her to kiss her undead goth boyfriend for all eternity. But we don’t know what that means or how it’s going to be done.
So far, I’m okay with finding out what other story stuff Shadowlands has up his sleeve. There’s a lot of potential in the expansion so far, and the Jailer looks like a good villain to add to the game’s gallery of thieves. It’s still early days, so there’s plenty of time for Sylvanas’ plan goes horribly wrong thanks to the interference of the players.