World of Warcraft Shadowlands In-Game Cinematics Part 2 Reaction!!

6 thoughts on “World of Warcraft Shadowlands In-Game Cinematics Part 2 Reaction!!”

1. Draka is Thrall's Mother.

   Spoilers..

   Draka and Thrall mets in 9.1 next patch.

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2. The Maw is also part of the Shadowlands. Shadowlands encompasses everything that makes up the Afterlife in Warcraft universe, which includes The Maw as it is WoW's version of Hell.
   Essentially, Strong souls of warriors and fighters who can't rest even in death are sent to Maldraxxus to become guardians of the Shadowlands against external cosmic forces (Light/Void/Chaos etc). Souls who have dedicated their lives to nature and animals are sent to Ardenweald, Souls who are divine and just and are relatively good are sent to Bastion (Bastion has a bit more to it than that though, it is far from Heaven even if it might sound and look like it), Souls who have done wrong in life but can be redeeemed are sent to atone for their sins in Revendreth, if they succeed in being redeemed they are either sent back to the Arbiter to be judged again for where their now belong, if they don't get redeemed then they are sent to the Maw. If a soul has done so many wrongs that it is absolutely irredeemable by cosmic standards, it skips the Revendreth process and is sent to the Maw directly, however the Arbiter being broken means that there is no one to judge things like this so everyone who has died since the end of Legion has been sent to the Maw (that includes every innocent who died in Teldrassil when it was burnt for example). These 5 aspects of Shadowlands are the "core" of the machinations of Death, they are basically in charge with keeping the afterlife going, they are however NOT the only places to exist in the Shadowlands as Shadowlands is actually infinite, the other places within Shadowlands are just not important to the grand scheme of things so they dont appear (although it's hinted we might go to another place in a future patch). If a soul does not meet the requirement for the 5 "main" places, they are sent to one of those infinite pocket dimensions, one such character that they named is Durotan (Thrall's father), he is in one of those many pocket dimensions rather than Maldraxxus. The Jailer (real name: Zovaal) was one of the Eternal Ones (leaders of the Shadowland places), he betrayed them a very long time ago (specifics aren't revealed yet) and the other 4 teamed up and locked him up in the Maw. For a long time, he was as much of a prisoner in the Maw as any other soul, but over time (and through help of Denathrius, The Dreadlords, The Lich King, Sylvanas, etc) he adapted to the Maw and turned his own chains into his weapons and became the ruler of the Maw and it's tormented souls and is now using Sylvanas (and another pawn that u havent seen yet so no spoilers) as his tools on the outside as he's not able to escape the Maw himself yet.

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3. 1) Draka is Thrall's mother, but she died when he was a baby on Azeroth.

   2) The Shadowlands are the afterlife and the four ruling realms are the respective destinations of souls who embodied the realms core principles in life. THIS IS LIKE WARCRAFT HOGWARTS! and The Arbiter is like The Sorting Hat, except broken now. But, she read new souls like the Hat read new students to best decided where to send them.

   BASTION: Those who have lived a life of service are drawn to Bastion to assume the highest duty of all — carrying souls to the Shadowlands. Amongst Bastion's gleaming spires and sweeping vistas await challenges to test the mettle of the steadfast kyrians.
   Bastion is a beacon for those who lived a life of service. Souls worthy enough to stand upon its fields soon face challenges in pursuit of their highest calling of all — shepherding souls to the Shadowlands. A life of service determines who is worthy to tread upon the golden fields of Bastion. Stalwart commitment to their duties was their goal in life: ascension is their goal thereafter.

   ARDENWEALD: The vast forests of Ardenweald serve the natural aspects of life and death. Its wilds are a sanctuary for the great spirits of nature that seek respite and renewal before awakening to join the cycle anew.Ardenweald and the Emerald Dream are opposite blooms connected to the same tree. If the Dream is the personification of Life in the waxing stage, then Ardenweald is life when it is waning.

   MALDRAXXUS: A realm of unending conflict. It is a place of brutality and bravery where its chosen are forged by the fires of war to answer a great calling: to protect the Shadowlands against any force that threatens its infinite realms.The First Ones who shaped the cosmos knew they needed to protect the Shadowlands from external threats and beyond. Maldraxxus was their answer. Maldraxxus is home to the mighty, a station for souls consumed with great determination, or for those who maintain an unending drive to make their mark upon death.Those who strove for greatness in life may have the chance to find it in death. Maldraxxus is a realm where ambition is rewarded and where the strong of body and mind thrive.

   REVENDRETH: A realm of looming keeps and gothic villages, Revendreth is home to the venthyr, the harvesters of sin. The wretched souls who arrive here may find penance for their misdeeds… or merely indulge the appetites of their keepers. Souls burdened with prodigious pride in life are sent to Revendreth at their end. Anima is tormented from them to feed the appetites of their keepers. Learned humility was supposed to be the destiny of the souls entrusted to our care. I fear those archaic ways no longer have a place within Revendreth.

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4. Draka was Thralls mother who died protecting him from gul’dans assassins. The power the maldraxxi use is not fel, just similar color. Most of the maldraxxi look undead, but I believe they can choose their natural form ( like draka) or take an undead form (which most maldraxxi do)

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5. Also the night elf fighting Nathanos is Tyrande Whisperwind, the leader of the night elves. She underwent a ritual to envoke an ancient ritual to become the night warrior, to make her the avatar of elunes vengeance ( night elf moon goddess)

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6. Been a while, Khan, but I've started catching up on your new stuff.

   As most folks already mentioned, the Shadowlands is the entire realm of Death—what most mortals call the afterlife. As we see here, there are actually multiple realms within the Shadowlands. As you saw with the in-game cutscene regarding The Arbiter, every soul—based on what kind of life they led prior to their death—is sent to the appropriate realm.

   You already saw Bastion, where beings who lived selfless lives—like Uther as a Paladin—were sent to in order to shed their mortal memories. In Bastion, they're prepared and trained by the Kyrian (like Devos) to eventually serve as shepherds for souls entering the Shadowlands, much like how you saw Devos carrying Uther to Bastion. Also, the realm of Bastion is overseen by The Archon.

   Regarding the souls that go to Bastion as Aspirants, I remember it was mentioned that their memories in life are shed in order to make them impartial in their duty as an Ascended, and so that they aren't biased whenever ferrying a soul who may have lived a good or evil existence—if we base it from the Ascended's experiences in life.

   Case in point, you saw how 'impartial' they were towards Arthas (sarcasm, by the way). Given the context of Shadowlands, many players have speculated that Arthas was meant for another realm, not straight to the Maw. Devos and Uther denied Arthas that place by casting him there directly.

   In this set of cutscenes, you were introduced to Maldraxxus. For context, the souls sent here to serve one of the four Houses were primarily warriors or strong-willed individuals in life, whose memories of battle and warfare are put to further use in the afterlife.

   The entirety of Maldraxxus is led by The Primus, and the four Houses are each headed by a Margrave. They are as follows:

   – The House of Plagues, where they create and further develop magical, biological weapons that can likely even destroy supernatural beings like demons and such;
   – The House of Constructs, where Maldraxxian warriors who fall in battle are turned into patchwork amalgamations in order to continue serving as fighters until they fall into complete disuse;
   – The House of Rituals, which is where magic-focused Maldraxxian warriors hone their craft to levels they probably wouldn't have in life;
   – The House of the Chosen make up the bulk of the fighting force of Maldraxxus, led by Magrave Krexus and;
   – The House of Eyes—where Draka was sent—serves as the scouts, spymasters and information gatherers of Maldraxxus, led by the late Margrave Akarek.

   It's even implied that the agents of the House of Eyes visit realms outside of the Shadowlands in order to gain insight on current events, which is why in one part of Afterlives: Maldraxxus, you saw Draka infiltrating a fortress that looked to be guarded by demons in order to get a map of some kind.

   As for the similarities between the Maldraxxians and the Scourge (nice catch, by the way), there is heavy implications with the more recent lore that the creation of the Scourge was highly 'inspired' by the denizens of the Shadowlands.

   Lastly, let's talk about The Maw. As a short explanation, it's one of the realms of the Shadowlands much like Bastion and Maldraxxus.

   It's the final destination for souls that cannot be saved, redeemed, or made humble from their atrocities in life. From there, they spend their eternal afterlife under the dubious 'care' of The Jailer. Given this context, it probably makes more sense how the order of the afterlife was bypassed by Uther and Devos sending Arthas directly to the Maw—instead of the realm where they could have determined if his atrocities could be expunged from his soul.

   Anyway, you have two realms left to see. I'll be waiting for that 🙂

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