FFXIV Player Reacts to WoW Shadowlands Cinematic Trailer

[@The_Scryer]

That helmet is called the Helm of Domination, and it essentially gives the wearer the ability to control the army of the damned, the guy on the throne is -not- Arthas, the Lich King of legend. That's Bolvar Fordragon and he took up the mantle after Arthas' defeat in Wrath of the Lich King, after Arthas' father warned that there must ALWAYS be a Lich King. He's essentially a martyr no one will ever know of. By memory, the reason he's red is because he was nearly killed at the Battle of Wrathgate, but kept alive by the flames of the Red Dragonflight, that warped his body into what you see when the helmet is taken off. He's also blue, cuz he's using the power of the helmet. The giant evil portal of doom is actually a shattered part of reality that peers into the Shadowlands, which is literally the realm of death and where every soul goes after they die, unless they're particularly fucked up in which they are thrown into the Maw, but that in itself is also in the Shadowlands. The tower that pokes down is Torghast, Tower of the Damned, Icecrown Citadel was built as a mirror to it for... Some reason I can't remember. It was important that they were exactly where they were built though.

[@voidjockey82]

He reasons you don't remember not even Blizzard remembers because they didn't even exist before this expansion.

[@PopstarKogmaw]

The location is where the veil between the realms are the thinnest

[@alec_______]

The mirror is where the souls go, thru icecrown's top to torghast and then thru the arbiter which judges the souls and decides where they go. (probably lol)

[@MViLe]

@@alec_______ that's precisely how it's suppose to go! good job! :D

[@Spyrit2011]

Bolvar was raised by the red dragon's fire he is not undead like Arthas, Bolvar is unique, that's why Sylvanas calls him a usurper .

[@SoulExpired]

"I was completely wrong, I thought she was going to wear that helmet." Don't worry, even us long time fans expected the same thing.

[@whirledpeaz5758]

I think our collective jaws hitting the floor registered on the Richter scale

[@ThatWildcard]

@@whirledpeaz5758 also they had to expand the richter scale for the collective facepalming throughout the expansion.

[@ShaneshaS]

Uhm no tf we didn't. Those of us who played warcraft knew she was gonna break it, NO WAY she'd put it on, she literally HATED the LK.

[@ClippyChop]

“Why was he red and now he’s blue?” Respec lol, went frost spec for that extra dps

[@tpenoel88]

he forgot to equip the dual hand weapon, thats why bolvar lose

[@ipalf95]

Should have went unholy, frost sucks right now.

[@ClippyChop]

For what it’s worth, we now know the switch was Bolvar giving in to the full powers of the Lich King to fight Sylvanas. Doesn’t fully make sense since she’s working with the jailer and the helm is tied to the jailer as well but 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

[@Tijuanabill]

I think it's because we haven't seen Bolvar much, aside from some Legion quests for certain classes. I suspect the point was to show that he had powers of his own, after the Wrathgate, that are unrelated to the Helm of Domination. They wanted to keep him as a powerful character, beyond the scope of his former paladin role. Whatever he is now, he ain't no paladin.

[@ClippyChop]

@@Tijuanabill the reality was that was him giving in to the full powers of the lich king. In hindsight, that appears to have been a mistake given that it was actually Zovaal who was working with Sylvanas anyway. Would explain why he went down like such a chump, of course Zovaal wouldn’t let Sylvanas be defeated

[@GrumpyRook]

No, you're keen, lol. First, that place is Icecrown Citadel in Northrend, the northern-most continent of Azeroth. It is the home of the Lich King, the site of the Frozen Throne. That Lich King that Sylvanas fought is technically the third Lich King, Bolvar Fordragon. He used to be the Regent Lord of Stormwind during Vanilla through Burning Crusade until King Varian was returned to the throne, and Anduin was just a child. The first Lich King was an Orc named Ner'zhul, whose spirit was trapped in the armor. The next was Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron, the most-northern kingdom in the Eastern Kingdoms, and was the Lich King we defeated in Wrath of the Lich King. Bolvar was his successor. Bolvar volunteered to become the Lich King because there must always be one, to telepathically control the undead scourge, and prevent them from running rampant over Azeroth. The Lich King is incredibly powerful, and capable of raising the dead to serve him, and has a massive army already. Sylvanas called him a usurper because he was never meant to be Lich King. Sylvanas has, for years, been working secretly for the Jailer, the ruler of the Maw in the Shadowlands. The Maw is where the most unredeemable souls go to be tortured for eternity. Essentially Hell, and he is the Devil, in simple terms, and he will be the final boss of the Shadowlands expansion. Bolvar looks like that because he was he was killed during the first-ever World of Warcraft in-game cinematic, which I recommend you check out. It's called the Wrathgate. He was killed by Sylvanas' agents who betrayed the Alliance and Horde at the battle for the Wrathgate, and his body was burned by dragon fire. That is why he appears charred. And why he volunteered for the job, because he knew he could not return to civilization the way he was after his death. The crown that Sylvanas destroyed is the Helm of Domination. It gives the Lich King his powers, and controls the Scourge. It was crafted in the Shadowlands for the Jailer. And when she shattered it, it broke open the vale between life and death. And that is how we get to the Shadowlands. Just to warn you, today when the server restarts happen, you will get to experience the aftermath of that cinematic. Including the results of the Scourge no longer having a Lich King to control them. Brace yourself, the world is about to be overrun by the dead. Good luck :)

[@ashenfang]

Just adding on a bit more, the battle of the Wrathgate was also where Dranosh Saurfang, Varok's son was killed by the Lichking, before being turned into one of his Deathknights. Dranosh was leading the horde forces at the Wrathgate.

[@teraxe]

@@ashenfang That is actually a good point, and doubly so a good reason for her to check it out.

[@silvermonk13]

@@ashenfang The Wrathgate is also where Bulvar got turned into the current form he is in. After the dragons used their breath to put out the plaque.

[@andytilley7205]

I would add that once the restarts go off, then wait a few days as there will be lag beyond belief and a stack ton of bugs to iron out. its happened every expansion and isnt likely to change on this one.

[@dajillwilliams]

"You broke the sky, Sylvanas. You broke the sky"

[@flashmagoo3036]

"What kind of power is that?!" - Galaxy... and everyone on Earth and in Azeroth between "Reckoning" when she swatted Saurfang like a grumpy-but-lovable green bug and Shadowlands. Jaina, Lor'Themar, and Thalyssra exchanged a dialogue after Saurfang's death that went something like this: Jaina - "Ummm... wtf was that?" Lor'Themar - "You two lady-super-wizards don't know?" Thalyssra - "Listen, I may have been slurping moonwell sizzurp for 10,000 years but even I know that sh*t's not right... the dark-matter-mystery-smoke was wild. I need a drink..."

[@thisismyyoutubecommentacco6302]

I now want fan fiction that uses this dialogue style, I would actually slow down and read quest text if it sounded like this.

[@Angaurwen]

I appreciate this paraphrasing very much.

[@Roshen13]

Easy way to understand whats going on here is first you need to watch the ingame cinematic "Wrath gate" and then watch the in-game cinematic "fall of the lichking". I recommend watching the remastered versions of these as they look a lot better. Also as a side not the Orc in "Wrath Gate" is Saurfangs son so that will also answer that question for you. P.S. love your videos.

[@mr.playami5514]

THIS

[@nideriva]

yeah this is actually a really good recommendation. To clarify, the remastered versions are "fan made" (literally the same cinematics with updated visuals, so damn cool) not by blizz themselves. so don't try to look for those in the main channel . Wrathgate: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqjRmHl7fsxrgdk&ab_channel=IKedit Fall of the Lich King : kzbin.info/www/bejne/bn64lGCohqlroJI&ab_channel=Pivotal

[@nerdlabmtg]

"You Broke the sky Sylvanas... you broke the sky." Lol. these reactions are great. Lich King stuff is great. I would suggest starting with Warcraft 3 lore then Wrath of the Lich King stuff.

[@alittlebirdi]

"Why was he red and now he's blue?" Cuz he's from Georgia.

[@TheClocktowerCrew]

Zing!

[@froZn991]

Stop the count !

[@randyranderson690]

Watch the cinematic: Wrathgate and after watch: Fall of the lich king

Before you start the 4 "Afterlifes" cinematics, i suggest you to watch the 2 "Fall of the Lich King" in-game cinematics. They are old but they explain a lot about the first Lich King and the second that you saw in this video

[@khozyla]

Technically Bolvar is the third Lich King already. Ner'zhul was the first and he was put into position to raise an undead army (the scourge) to conquer Azeroth for the "Burning Legion" after their Invasion of Azeroth by using the Orcs had failed.

[@primaltemplar5919]

To understand what is going on with the Lich King character, there are 2 in game cinematics that can explain it. The first one is called Wrathgate which I am sure has been mentioned before and the second would be Fall of the Lich King ending cinematic. Look forward to more reactions.

[@Phoenix_DarkMoon]

Before you watch the other cinematics I HIGHLY recommend you start with The History of WoW in 30 minutes. It's a great and fun way to catch up on the basics of the lore so you aren't as lost in the cinematics.

[@kubaliski]

I was looking for this comment hahaha

[@Century_Chandra]

Trust me, we all thought she was gonna put on that helmet... and then had the exact same reaction you did

[@dardell2001]

Bolivar had been burned/saved by dragon fire hence the Red. When he put on the Crown, after the death of Arthas, he gained the power of the Lich King hence the blue. Arthas was the true Lich King that's why she called Bolivar an usurper.

[@forthealliance1772]

Amazing to see you react. I'm one of many who is looking forward to the older cinematics. It will give you some insight on the story where it all began.

[@austinsebben1402]

There was the Lich King who we fought in Wrath, he was platinum blond with long hair, the Lich King in this video is Bolvar, who was burned with magical dragon fire from a dragon infused with the power of Life, so he didn’t die when he was burned.

[@Ramsteinrig]

I just found these and your channel and I'm already a fan. As a huge WoW fan I loved your reactions(even though you did talk through important parts that answered the question you were asking :p) and I look forward to more reactions(WoW/Blizzard or otherwise)! I like that you got a feel for all the types of cinematics in WoW, with the exception of the in-game ones, there's a few in-game "cinematics" (kinda derpy graphics but we love them anyway) like the secret meeting between Anduin and Varok Saurfang, and Jaina and Thrall rescuing Baine.

[@lilywong9672]

Wrath of the Lich King was really the first one to have a story-based cinematic trailer and also in-game cinematics.

[@acers09]

Helmet controls the undead from rampaging. It's the helm of domination. The helmet essentially gives the lich king his power and when it broke it essentially released the power to travel to the afterlife. The red guy is bolvar. He took on the crown to stop the scourge from rampaging after the lich king who killed sylvanas died. He got burned by dragon fire prior.

[@maxmichalik4938]

"And I will set us all... Free." Still gives me goosebumps even after seeing it who knows how many times. Team Sylvanas for life. And beyond. Anyway, there's Shadowlands cinematics called "Afterlives" which are similar in style to the Warbringers ones.

[@ZugzugZugzugson]

you're giving Nathanos a run for his money in the realm of simping. people are fucking sick and tired of Sylvanas and her favoritism by the writing staff at blizzard. its like every time they write something for her storyline they project themselves through her, and that's why she is so god horridly overpowered and also why we got Simpthanos - a virtual in-game expression of people like yourself. now go on, run to your lady, carry her purse and walk her dog, but don't expect her to put out for you, simp. this comes from someone who used to think sylvanas was a cool character, which she admittedly is in warcraft 3: TFT, but her character has been ruined by simps and bad writers and is just a source for utter cringe now.

[@brianmurphy8811]

If Covid ever allows again, I have to recommend the experience of seeing the reveal trailer of a new expac IN the halls at Blizzcon. Goosemountains is all I can say lol :)

[@ZugzugZugzugson]

@Miranda Durango not even close.

[@imorphius3535]

The thing I am most excited about in the game is people like you! Love seeing new faces pop up :)

[@LadyEsarhal]

The producers said Bolvar Fordragon (the actual lich king you saw in this movie) was just defeated, not dead. She opened some kind of portal to the land of the dead. It's the first time in Azeroth's history there are no lick kings. A lich king was always necessary to prevent this from happening. This land of the dead will be the place where the players will play in the shadowlands expansion.

[@souflikar6702]

Breaking the sky opened up the shadowlands and we march in on the 23rd.

[@madyssinoffrostmourne5681]

The helmet as others have pointed out, is the Helm of Domination. As players, we were told that it was forged by the Legion, an army of Demons hell-bent on ending the Universe, as a tool to help prepare Azeroth for invasion. There's a lot more to the story of the Legion and their Burning Crusade, but what's important to the lore here, is that one of the earliest Warcraft characters, an orc shaman turned warlock named Ner'zhul, is trapped inside the Helm of Domination. Or rather, his heavily tortured and corrupted soul is. Ner'zhul was supposed to use the Orcish Horde to invade and weaken Azeroth so that the Legion could invade and face less resistance than their first attempt at invading 10,000 years prior. He failed, he died, his soul was intercepted on the way to the Shadowlands and he ended up in the Helm of Domination as a malignant and evil presence. The Helm of Domination was flung down to Azeroth from the Twisting Nether where it found itself lodged into a glacier at the top of Icecrown Citadel. From this vantage point, and now we know as close to the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead, Ner'zhul reached out with his expanded power, with a little help from a human mage named Kel'thuzad, to create the Scourge - undead - to help prepare the way for the Legion. This actually took several years, part of me wants to suggest over 10, and over this period of time Ner'zhul realised that his Legion masters had more or less left him alone to do his role. Ner'zhul was cunning, and eventually he used the power of the Helm to find someone else who was as corrupted as he was - Arthas Menethil. Arthas, separately corrupted by the power of the rune-sword Frostmourne, answered the summons of Ner'zhul and claimed the Helm for himself (defeating Illidan Stormrage who heard the call but unintentionally), becoming the Lich King and the commander of the Scourge. Other's have mentioned what happened after this, but what Blizzard have already disclosed is that the Legion did not forge the Helm of Domination - it was forged by someone's unknown in the Shadowlands and the fact that it ended up in Icecrown was no accident. It's also seeming to be suggested that Frostmourne was forged by the same entities that forged the Helm. I'm pretty keen to understand how this happened. It would appear that whomever forged these two items did so with a very specific purpose in mind and that the use of them by the Legion (and whomever else planted Frostmourne) was not so coincidental.

[@mavielor7394]

React to "The almost complete history of World of Warcraft in 23 minutes" by Hidden Azeroth

[@dafire9634]

In the timeline,the videos after this are the "afterlives",but you can watch any cinematic

[@badrequest403]

Just to complement the other statements on Bolvar. He was burnt by the flames of the Red Dragon Flight. Every Element of our Reality has/had a Dragonflight to protect it. The Red Dragon Flight around Alexstraza is called the Dragon Flight of Life. Meaning being torched their flames helped Bolvar survive the Assault of Silvanas troops on Wrathgate. It also helped Bolvar to resist the inate Power of the Helm and its orignal Owner (The Jailer in the Shadowlands). Silvanas working for the Jailer you may now understand why she called him "usurper". He was never meant to be the lichking, he only did it to prevent the undead scourge (something you will be able to "experience" from today on onwards until SL release ;) from running wild. The general mysterie that is still not answered is that, the machinerie of death is broken. When a living being on azeroth dies it goes to the shadowlands and is then being judged by the arbiter. That being decides then where the soul goes. With that soul the essence(?) of that soul is being directed to that realm where you've been sent. But, as i mentioned above, the machery of death is broken, so every soul from Point X (the moment it broke) onwards is directly send to the Maw (basically Hell) and all the anima is now only sent to the jailer. All in all we are all very interested to see what or who broke it. My guess? Something that happened in the past what us players did without knowing. Glad u enjoyed it and so long :).

[@Nicholas1994]

It's refreshing to see a new player actually try to remember the names of key characters. I'd recommend watching the cinematic trailers for each expansion. They might not make a lot of sense until you go questing in those zones, but at the very least you'll see who the key characters have been during different conflicts. Just keep in mind that the Warlords of Draenor cinematic trailer is set in an alternate timeline which didn't impact affairs on Azeroth until that expansion. Hit me up if you wanna chat lore sometime. I'm always happy to dive into it.

[@Renjiro91]

This world is "prison" and I will set us all "free" while the dude she is working for is literally called the Jailer.

[@roflstompin]

sounds like a pyramid scheme if ever i heard of one.

[@bubbykins4864]

Then again, she called the entire WoW playerbase "nothing", and nothing escapes the Maw, so they escaped the Maw, because they are all nothing, so...

[@rogoth01themasterwizard11]

'what kind of power is that?' she asks, i believe the technical term for that is 'PLOT ARMOUR POWER'.

[@FrostyWoW]

There is a new prepatch cinematic that was released in game today that shows what happened right after this.

[@austinsebben1402]

There’s 4 animated shorts for Shadowlands, the Afterlives shorts, like the ones for BFA. They have a specific order: Bastion, Maldraxxus, Ardenweald, and Revendreth

[@WhywolfSenpai]

So there's a lot to unpack here. The broad strokes are that the Lich King that we all love to hate was Arthas Menethil (murderer of Sylvanas Windrunner among countless others) who was the final boss of the ultimate raid from Wrath of the Lich King, Icecrown Citadel. Upon his death Bolvar Fordragon, who was previously thought dead after the events at the Wrathgate ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZmXo5ZrjJmXgbs ), volunteered to wear the crown and become the Lich King we saw here since there must always be a Lich King. Otherwise the scourge would be an uncontrolled threat (see the prepatch event). As for Sylvanas's crazy death powers throughout this expansion and her motivation to open the Shadowlands, the current state of the lore suggests that she first learned of the Shadowlands and the Jailer after, having achieved her goal of revenge on Arthas, killing herself by falling from the top of Icecrown Citadel and briefly seeing the afterlife. All of her antics since then have apparently been towards whatever end she has planned with the Jailer in Shadowlands. As for where to start for watching other videos I would highly recommend watching at least all of the trailers in order, and there are also several large compilations floating around for all cutscenes in a given expansion. There's also a 23 minute video called "The (almost) Complete History of World of Warcraft" ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/e57LgGSCocl8h9k ) which would give you a very basic but broad understanding of everything from the earliest Warcraft lore up to current events leading into Shadowlands.

[@omega1231]

The power the helm has is essentially the lich king, the body is just a host the helm basically enslaves to be the commander of the undead. I've heard there's going to be a lot of references to the lich king in Shadowlands, so it is probably a good idea to get an idea of that story, which is very good it's the story that made many of us fall in love with the game before world of warcraft was even a thing.

[@LadyEsarhal]

He was using the blood spec, then he changes to the frost spec. Blood is marked by the red color, frost by blue and unholy by green. Specs are roles, your character can only use one spec at a time. And every class on WoW has 3 specs to choose from. The only exceptions are the druid and demon hunter. Druid has 4 specs and demon hunter only 2. o/

[@WolfmanXD]

Here's an idea. Do a little research on a night elf named Illidan stormrage. Once you did that, watch the "rejection of the gift" ingame cinematic. Illidan is one of the best characters as far as his story is concerned, and that cinematic is just gold.

[@Lyko5]

people thought this guy died at the Wrath Gate along with Saurfang's son, but when the red dragons came to clean the plague with their breath (flame of life) he was cursed by it and became like a walking bald charcoal man. The Lich King took him and chained him as decoration upon his throne. When Fodring killed the Lich King, he knew omeone had to keep the burden of the Helm of Domination and control the scourge, thus, becoming the new Lich King. Before putting the helm on the head, Bolvar (this charcoal baldy) told him to put the helm on his head instead since he was already cursed and take another curse on top and also to tell the people there is no Lich King anymore to bring peace of mind (which he didnt really do later but thats another story). now, he has the flame of the red dragons in his body and the blue light is actually the cold aura of death, so, he is now made of fire and ice

[@Schwifter_]

There's another video after this one but it's done using in game graphics, it's called Shadowlands: Dark Abduction.

[@Tazytots]

As a WoW player who has played FFXIV a bit myself, I'm finding great enjoyment in watching you react to these. The current standing Lich King is Bolvar Fordragon. He looks burnt to a crisp simply due to the fact that he was. The Previous Lich King revived him just to torture him after the Events of Wrathgate (That's a rabbithole of it's own). He was then enstated as Lich King after ARthas (The previous Lich King) was killed so that the wandering undead of the world (though mostly just Northrend) would have a shepherd. Now that the crown is gone, which is what mind controlled the undead, the scourge of the world are free to attack and go anywhere they please. This prefaces the pre-patch content that dropped the other day.

[@ZrodyApo]

There are a lot of in game cinematics that give some insights and fill in story elements during and in between each expansion

[@Thirft]

Im sure there's a lot of different explanation but I think the best thing to understand is Sylvannas was once alive as an elf and turned undead against her will. After rising to the powerful position of the leader of the undead she's been subtly, or not so subtly depends on who you ask, working to undo the penalty of being undead (Dying while being undead has a heavy price which is more or less what Sylvannas has been trying to avoid). Battle for Azeroth is more or less Sylvannas hoarding power at the expense of everything else. Pretty much pissing off every other group in the Horde faction (which is why Saurfang pretty much turn coat and looked for Thrall (Previous horde leader and green jesus) to assemble a force to oust her from leadership.

[@Alexanderthegreat159]

Definitely should watch the rest of the cinematics

[@thomasolson1154]

In her defense Sylvanus knows that there is the world of the living and the world of the dead. There is a barrier that keeps people from crossing over which is what she meant by "This world is a prison". By destroying the Helm of Domination she destroyed the barrier and now everyone can go visit their dead relatives.

[@Umbradomo]

The two most important videos you will need to watch to get more out of this one are The Opening of the Wrathgate and the Death of Arthus ones. Those back to back will give you a good feel for this story.

[@Excellerator420]

The TLDR. When the original Lich King was defeated someone had to wear the helm or all the mindless undead would ravage the world. The wearer controls ALL of them. So when she shattered the helm it broke the veil between life and death. And caused the Scourge to go wild and uncontrolled.

[@laylen245]

+1 sub from Australia the wow lore is unreal i hope they make a full on TV serious as good as the witcher some day

[@-Miasimon]

Fun fact: If you go to Icecrown ingame, starting today, you can see the broken sky. Also, you should *definitely* just watch all the ingame cinematics as well. Some will need a lot of context but just about all of them tell a fantastic story. The Legion ingame cinematics are a *must,* but they hit a lot harder if you're leveling through those zones and connecting with the characters.

[@Hoigwai]

Probably best to start with Wrath of the Lich king in-game and full cinematics. There's a lot to unpack.

[@alexanderstormdahl2562]

You should watch all of the cinematics, really fun to see someone not in the know react to them

[@greetingz1540]

I still think it was a bad move for the Lich King to switch specs. But he did show us the Frost DK can use two-handed weapons now.

[@TheReDeeMeR1988]

The best WoW cinematic i ever saw. Sylvanas Windrunner 🥰

[@eckce]

So cool seeing all of your reactions from someone new to the game! As other people stated you should watch the "Afterlives" Cinematics which are the shadowlands shorts in the art style you (and I) like. You know a lot more than I did when I started lol, but if you ever want to dig into the lore there is a youtube channel called Nobbel87 and his entire channel is dedicated to WoW Lore. Dude is super entertaining to watch, explains in depth and could easily be an ASMR channel with his accent. Hope you are enjoying WoW and we will see you in The Shadowlands!

[@kai.09]

Why not try watching the in-game cinematics for Shadowlands? There is a follow-up to this cinematic where Anduin, Thrall, Baine, and Jaina get kidnapped by Sylvanas' agents. There is also another in-game cinematic showing Tyrande killing Nathanos Blightcaller, a.k.a. Sylvanas' number 1 simp. There are also tons of videos similar to Warbringers explaining the different realms in Shadowlands.

[@jasondeandulierjr.299]

Sylvanas opened up a direct portal to the realm of the dead, more specifically the maw which is basically WoW's version of hell.

[@l.s.squirrel4226]

"Usurper? Why was he red now he's blue?" There have been three lich Kings. Prince Arthas Menethil (originally from Lordaeron) was the most well-known, but the current lich-King is Bolvar Foredragon. So, a little history...remember in an earlier cinematic where Varok Saurfang was holding his son, Dranosh. Back in Wrath of the Lich King, Dranosh and Bolvar Foredragon teamed up together to challenge Arthas at the Wrathgate. Arthas kills Dranosh (and later raises him as a Death Knight), but before Arthas can kill Bolvar, Sylvanas' people show up and toss blight on everyone. Right before Bolvar dies, the red dragons fly over and burn away all of the blight. No one knows why, but Bolvar has remained on fire. After Arthas is finally killed, Bolvar volunteers to take the helm of domination and become the new Lich King....unlike with the White Walkers of GOT, the Scourge will not just suddenly fall over and die when their leader dies. Someone has to control them. Always. Bolvar has actually been the first Lich King to resist both the Legion's influence over the helm of domination as well as the influence from the jailor from The Maw in the Shadowlands, whom Sylvanas is currently working for. So the red fire is from the Dragons, the ice cold blue is from the Helm of Domination.

[@Anahka117]

These reaction vids are great! I'd recommend watching the intro videos of all the xpacs. It's a good stating point to see the villains that get referenced, and you can always delve into the cut scenes as you see fit.

[@thespaghettiwives]

To get a quick recap on what's going on, watch the Wrathgate cinematic, then the Lich King death cinematic. And to add more, watch Afterlives: Bastion

[@Rainydaysq8]

I suggest you do the pre-patch event since it has 2 cinematics then you can go back and watch the old ones

[@abbiejo6822]

Do this: take your max level character in game, go to Icecrown, and run through the 3 dungeons there that start with the Forge of Souls (it will lead into the next 2 in order). Listen to the story that plays out in there. Then tab out and watch the Wrathgate cinematic on youtube. Then go back to the game and run the Icecrown Citadel raid and listen to all the dialogue that happens in there, particularly shortly after you enter and after the gunship battle (stick around after the gunship battle till Jaina starts crying). Finish up the raid (hope the flying undead pony mount drops for you) and watch the cinematic at the end. That will give you a bit more story on what's up with the red/blue Lich King, Saurfang, and why Sylvanas breaking the helm is a big deal. The others may have told you already but it's neat to hear it in game too.

[@bloodmight8490]

The reason he went from fire to frosty was because he was trying to stop the helm from corrupting him. He had been doing so for years, I think around 8. As he took over the helm after Arthas, the previous lich king. However he let the helm take control over him so he could fight better against sylvanas. Which is why he went blue. Also there is a HUGE story behind Arthas and bolvar regarding the helm and the lich king. Basically Arthas is the most popular character in wow and his story is considered sacred. This is a side track but since Arthas was the lichking before, quite a bit of people (my self included) were upset with how easily she won the fight. Even if it wasn't the same person. So we cope with that fact by saying bolvar isn't as strong as arthas was :p Anyways, if you want to learn more wow lore and a way more easily digestable format. I highly HIGHLY recommend nobbel87 here on youtube. He does tones of really good lore videos going over the story of wow. Including a video that goes over everything in a concise manner. I recommend that if you want to learn the general story

[@davedraper389]

I have the opposite story, I started WoW the day it released and played til near the end of Legion, at which point I reinstalled my FFXIV that hadn't been touched since before ARR and I have been playing that nonstop for nearly 2 years now. I watch a lot of gaming videos and your Azshara one came up as suggested so I watched it and you have very genuine reactions and emotions, which is a good thing for a reactor. So I went back and watched the rest of your WoW reactions, and now I feel obliged to agree with many of the people that have commented on your videos and offer the same piece of advice they did. Talk as much as you want before and after the videos, but try not to ask questions while the actual video is playing. In a few of your videos, the Jaina one in particular, you were asking questions constantly, and so you missed all the answers to your questions that were in the lyrics of her song. If you try to restrict the urge to constantly ask questions, you will find that most of the answers are in the videos themselves. Regardless of that issue, I look forward to seeing more of your reactions to earlier content, so it's a sub from me. Welcome to WoW!

[@jle6785]

Definitely check out the BC cinematic. It isn't particularly relevant anymore, but I still get goosebumps every time I watch it all these years later.

[@allenbair226]

There's a tremendous amount of continuous lore and story in World of Warcraft even predating actual WoW back to the original RTS Warcraft 1 (which the recent Warcraft theatrical release was based on). The story from that time period to present spans about thirty years or so of plotlines, characters, and growth between the games and tie in novels. The shear amount of depth literally fills volumes. Rook's post beneath mine has some good history and lore points to fill you in. What you're seeing after she destroys the helmet is the barrier between the world of the living and the realm of the dead being shattered. The next expansion takes place in WoW's afterlife, and the part of that afterlife you're glimpsing is called the Maw. Think Tartarus and you'll get the picture. I recommend Athelarius' cut scene videos to get caught up with the Shadowlands storylines. They're very good.

[@anairsta6507]

It good to watch some of the In Game cinematics if you don't quests in some expansions or zones.

[@thewalrusaurus]

In your defense, we ALL thought she was going to put on the crown.

[@peterbabicki8252]

So the Lich King you're seeing on the Wrath loading screens will be Arthas, who was the Lich King before Bolvar - the one in this cinematic. I'll spare you why he looks burnt, but the crown he's wearing is the Helm of Domination; it's a powerful relic that was taken from the afterlife, also known as the Shadowlands. Breaking it somehow opened a gateway to the Shadowlands, so that's where we're all going in a couple of weeks! Also worth pointing out that while Sylvanas has always been dexterous and unmatched with a bow, the powers she used to defeat Saurfang and Bolvar are new - and something she's picked up recently from an unknown source.

[@DAYBROK3]

bolvar fordragon was killed by a dragon, the other guy was arthas, two different guys

[@Gwynbelidd]

There always has to be a lifeless king, the first one certainly died but the crown was passed on to Bolvar Fordragon (a knight of the Alliance), to keep him alive after his body was burned alive (that's the reason why everything is black and orange streaks) and for him to keep the plague under control without it roaming uncontrollably and destroying Azeroth. The crown and the sword (Frostmourne) are imbued with the power of the Maw, one of the kingdoms of the Shadowlands (they have been the afterlife, the place where the souls go to stop) when Sylvannas breaking the crown literally opens a portal that goes to that kingdom connecting the mortal world with the other. There are many reasons for her actions (and on video she can be heard saying some) but I'll let someone else tell you about it. I loved the video!

[@XtrmPlays]

Are you going to watch the Afterlives series next? I highly suggest it before Shadowlands since it gives you a quick introduction into each zone.

[@Paradoxal-Gaming]

As a long time player, since vanilla, i think you should start from the beginning. I will watch with you! haha I will sub to you now, cause i actually want to go back and watch them all again.

[@GHIBaal]

I think these Videos are going pretty well for you so why not watch EVERY Cinematic for every Expansion (except the Panda one) ! :D

[@michaelwolejszo6445]

It's good to see Blizzard is keeping with the times and on board with the girl power movement.

[@nicolaj990]

"What kind of power is that!?" Yeah, Blizzard really should not have gone with the whole Sylvanas getting stronger behind the scenes without anyone knowing until the major turning point moments in the cinematics thing. Would have been better if we knew all along as players. This trailer would have been amazing if it wasnt so heavy on the whole "I GOT A LOT OF POWER SUDDENLY" feeling which makes it feel out of place for me :S

[@danbernardes1726]

The last 4 major cinematics revolve around her showing more power. At Legion's, her first major appearance, she's fighting side by side with Varian and is seen having an easier time than him handling all that chaos and flying ship crashes. Then you see her again in BFA wrecking Alliance forces and making Anduin cry. What she did to Saurfang... Damn.. Then the obvious next step is to add some chains to her arrows. It actually looks like a cool PvP skill for Dark Rangers If they ever add them as a class, not OP at all, it's simply a root and she had to hit multiple arrows on him before she was able to activate them. The most OP ability she's ever had is not even that purple laserbeam she used to finish Saurfang, but her ability to enter banshee form, fade out like a black smoke and ignore fisical hits while moving at incredible speeds, and she's had this kind of Power since Arthas. So no, it's not that far from what I expected her to be able, specially knowing that she's having aid from the Val'kyr and access to Shadowlands secrets and possibly artifacts since Cataclysm.

[@itsVilu]

If you want to know who, what, why; you need to watch Wrathgate (in-engine cinematic players got to see after a questline) and Fall of the Lich King Ending (cinematic after players defeated Lich King in the raid). For wrathgate I would recommend the remastered one, it's the same as the one done by Blizzard, just better looking.

[@GenericDifference]

If you're considering Old Cinematics there's also the Warcraft Strategy games. I'm mainly thinking about Warcraft 3 and it's expansion The Frozen Throne because they are actually pretty relevant to what goes on the first 3 WoW expansions. The stuff from Warcraft 1&2 has largely been retconned or changed by now but might fun to take a look at. Fun Fact: I consider the last line of Warcraft 1's introduction to be amazingly prophetic and i'm so sad there's never been a solid callback to it.

[@newbarktownbob1]

If you want to understand this more you need to watch the wrath gate cinematic, and then the fall of the lich king. Of course the afterlives series is also amazing and is about shadowlands.

[@dabbie2700]

To answer some of your questions. - The Lich King you see there, is not the same Lich King you see on the loading screens in Northrend, that one was Arthas Menethil who was way stronger, weilding Frostmourne, the one you see now is Bolvar Fordragon that took his place once we defeated Arthas, because the Scourage must always have a Lich King, otherwise they would riot and attack everyone on Azeroth ( like it happens in Shadowlands Pre-patch event) Also this is why she said " a usurper" in the beginning. Because Bolvar isn't Arthas. So he's not the Lich King that made Sylvanas a banshee. - If you pay attention, Sylvanas mentions at the beginning " Icecrown, the veil between life and death" , Icecrown was the place where the veil between Azeroth and Shadowlands was the thinnest, hence she managed to break the veil and reveal Shadowlands, the tower that mirrors Icecrown Citadel in the sky is Torghast in Shadowlands - Sylvanas is using Death magic in this cinematic ( also the one where she killed Saurfang), this type of Magic is from the Shadowlands, and is extremely powerful, that's why she managed to win versus the Lich King. - Why she said " you're unfit to wear this crown" ? The helm is called The Helm of Domination and it's a powerful tool that's been created in the Shadowlands. As you saw in the video, Sylvanas thinks that's not the way it should be used, hence she broke it to open the gateway to Shadowlands. - Why was Bolvar, the Lich King red then blue? Alexstraza the Life-Binder ( queen of the red dragon flight, so a dragon) sealed Bolvar with her fire. The moment Bolvar turned blue, it means the seal has been broken and he is using the crown's powers, so the true Lich King power.

[@Skrutskij]

In order to be truly caught up with the Shadowlands stuff you still have four videos to watch called "Afterlives" which are to Shadowlands what the "Warbringers" were to BFA. I will say that those are packed full of old lore so maybe you would want to wait with those until after at least Wrath stuff I'm not sure. You do get a bit of insight into the Covenants (factions you will choose) and their respective zones in those videos as well.

[@arch4609]

The other high-res cinematics aren't as story driven as what you've watched so far but are still super cool and highly recommend them.

[@voidjockey82]

Ah, I was anticipating this for a long time.

[@Dratom1990]

been playing alot of BG3 and cant help to see her as a chaotic evil drow elf rogue lol

[@daak8927]

Haha well we were all a bit confused when watching this at first. However it's cleared up somewhat in time. Don't want to spoil you with what happens in Shadowlands even tho it would clear up some stuff (I've played through the leveling already so all makes sense to me now). In short: Original Lich King was Arthas Menethil, and Bolvar (the version you see here) picked up the Helm of Domination after Arthas was killed because there must always be a Lich King. The Reason why Bolvar was "red" at the start is cause he's suppressing the powers of the Lich King, and when Sylvanas showed up he then channeled the power to help him in battle. When she destroyed the helm, it shattered reality and opened a rift between the Shadowlands and Azeroth.. and that's what you see in this Cinematic. If you're up for it and want to check out some more Shadowlands stuff. Check out all the Afterlives pre-expansion cinematics called "Bastion", "Maldraxxus", "Ardenweald" and "Revendreth" for the different covenants you can join when Shadowlands releases. In the same kind of style as the Warbringer series you watched :) Also there's a story trailer cinematic aswell that you can check out if you want :) Thank you for the reaction, and keep it up! I'm enjoying these! :)

[@bubbykins4864]

Well, Bolvar is the third Lich King, with the actual original being Ner'Zhul, who, in the old lore, was made such by the Burning Legion, but now, the Jailer's responsible.

[@keelinadin]

Arthas, (the original imo, the lich king before the current guy with the fire chest) made sylvanas (the woman in this cinematic). he got defeated eventually in the Wraith of the lich king expac. current guy, bolvar, got hit by dragon fire just before he had to take the lich king mantle. that is why he has the fire chest that turned blue. basically the lich king, regardless of who it is, made her and now she is more powerful then he is...which shouldnt be possible. her power is an unknown and seems to point to the new expac

[@OnyxANZ]

The Helm of Domination is basically the essence of the lich king. It was made in the shadowlands, and used to trap an orc named Ner'zhul, who became the first lich king. Ner'zhul betrayed the demons who were controlling him, and passed the mantle on to Prince Arthas, who had acquired Frostmourne at that point. Bolvar would have died during wrath of the lich king if it wasn't for dragonfire (which is why his body is so fucked up), and there must always be a lich king, because without a lich king, the undead scourge return to being mindless and will just attack anyone. Bolvar offered himself up to keep the scourge under control (not to be confused with the forsaken, who are freed from the scourge). Because Icecrown is the closest place to death (thanks to the lich king), and the helm of domination is why so many undead exist, and the helm being from the shadowlands, destroying it broke the veil between life and death. The scourge are now mindless once more (which will play into a prepatch event coming up soon), and Anduinn has been kidnapped and taken to the shadowlands (I think some other leaders were as well, don't quote me), and then I'm pretty sure we have to kill ourselves to get to the shadowlands, seeing as the shadowlands is the afterlife (well, afterlives. Different areas represent different things and have different purposes, and we get to see 5 of the uncountable areas in the expansion). And no, Bolvar is not dead

[@azertube77]

That’s not arthas lich king btw that’s bolvar fordragon as the lich king.. when he activates lich king powers he turns blue....as to why he is red in first place...well that’s more lore you might wanna dig into

[@froZn991]

I definitly recommend you watching the ingame cutscenes for the BfA Jaina storyline these videos are really wholesome. They are called (in this order): Jaina's Nightmare Arrival to Kul Tiras - Alliance Realm of Torment The Return of Hope: Kul Tiras And they are pretty short so you best watch them in one session :) And there is a video called "For Teldrassil" where Tyrande (leader of the Nightelves) has her vengeance on Sylvanas's lapdog Nathanos Blightcaller Also there are Warbringer-like videos for Shadowlands they are all called "Afterlives" (there is four of them) Best would be to watch all of these before you start watching the old cinematics since all those i listed or very recent story. "Whats that power?" Thats the power of Mary Sue thats why the video has such a bad ratio for a wow cinematic. Blizzard did an explanation that she burrowed that power from (kind of) the god of death who we will see in the Shadowlands or in the newest cinematic ad. But a gain of power was usually something the players could see or grasp like when Arthas picked up the sword Frostmourne and got stronger but corrupted but now she all of a sudden was so strong and beating the "new" Lich King without him even landing a single hit was very weird and not well received. I mean she winning is ok i guess but couldnt they made the fight a bit more balanced ? The Lich King was always respected in the playerbase as a powerful being (even tho Arthas more than the new one but still).

[@JargoTheUltimate]

You need to check out the Afterlives animations to get some good info on Shadowlands. I've really been enjoying the reactions and the art style follows that of Warbringers and they're really cool introductions into the Shadowlands!

[@Tomha]

You should check out this video called "All the lore you NEED to know for Shadowlands (+BFA Recap)" made by Platinum WoW, it's pretty funny and it'll tell you everything you need to know.

[@GradyBroyles]

Your reaction videos are awesome!! OK. A lot to unpack here. The Lich King is a title not a name. The "helm of domination" is the source of the king's power. It was made by the big baddie from this expansion The Jailer as a control mechanism over the dead on Azeroth (and probably other planets). Without it, the mindless undead would just do what zombies do: bring about the apocalypse So the helm (worn by someone to wield it - a lich king) was the only thing holding back the undead from just rampaging. Icecrown Citidel (SO MUCH FUN TO RAID!!1!! sorry, i digress) was constructed by the Jailer as a gateway like thing and a baser of operations on Azeroth for him overseen by his Lich King wielding the sword Frostmourne to enslave souls of the living that he killed with it and the Helm of Domination which gave him the power to do it. The former Lich King, before the "usurper" was a former Prince of Lordaeron, Arthas Menethil. (Calia's brother) WAAAY back in Warcraft 3 was "tricked" into taking up the sword Frostmourne (well his vanity and ego was used against him, really) which slowly twisted his mind with the whispers of who we now know is the Jailer and led to the summit of Icecrown where he donned the helm, merged with the spirit of the helm (basically let the Jailer move in his mind with him) and became the titular Lich King. He then killed Syvannas and with Frostmourne turned her into an undead banshee and his slave. You saw that story in Warbringers: Sylvannas. So once free from his control, she wanted revenge.. And man did she go big. As Sylvannas does. She ended up freeing all the former humans of Lordaeron who had been killed and raised just like her and the became "The Forsaken" In the Lich King expansion, we kill the Arthas Lich King. Bolvar Fordragon, another noble from Lordaeron who assists the raid in killing Arthas had just been burned by dragonfire (long story) so he's all burned and fiery looking. Even though everyone back home thinks Bolvar died, in reality he was Infused with the magic of dragon fire. So as we all stand over Arthas's body, he volunteers himself to take the Helm of Domination and sit for eternity alone on top of that spire being a good guy and keeping the Scourge (undead army) from rampaging across the planet and forces everyone present to take a vow to NEVER tell anyone, not even his family, about what Bolvar did. He speaks those famous lines "There must always be... a Lich King." Sylvannas with her nemesis gone and no other reason to carry on throws herself off the citadel presumably to splatter herself on the stone below like the drama queen she is. Obvie, that didn't go as planned. The Jailer's hand-picked servant, Arthas had failed and been replaced by a... wait for it... usurper. So.. right from the very moment Bolvar took on the helm, BEFORE Sylvannas even had a chance to try and kill her undead self the Jailer already had a plan to fix it. So he unbeknownst to us at the time, saved Sylvannas as she was falling by some of his Valkyr struck a deal with her and set about the plan to... (deep breath) Kill Vol'jin, the Troll and quite popular and beloved warchief of the Horde. Install her as the new warchief Start a war between the Horde and Alliance by committing genocide of the Night Elves so that all the souls go to the Jailer, (her boss) Defeat his biggest competitor for universal power, the Old Gods (Void) and when the time was right: take the helm from Bolvar and rip open the veil and deliver Azeroth and it's Titan worldsoul to the Jailer to devour. That's where we're at!

[@wwe2005]

All the previous trailers and in-game cinematics are worth watching if you want to catch up on the very basic lore of the world and characters. My favorite will always be the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic trailer, it gives me chills every time.

[@johnholton6485]

Watch the Wrathgate cinematic, and you will see how this guy who is bolvar and you will see saurfangs son. Then fall of the Lich King cinematic. It will explain everything you asked here.

[@chadstrickland6877]

If you want to understand all the lore from start until now I suggest searching for The History of WoW in 23 Minutes. You may have to pause and slow it down a bit but it will tell you everything.

[@HarlequinTiefling]

Don't forget pre launch event zombie invasion on the 10th

[@dochamsty7361]

As my fellow commentors suggest, all the cinematics are worth watching. The lore of world of warcraft is old and long, if you feel like you have some catching up to do i highly suggest the lore aficionado Nobbel87. He has basically all the relevant videos on every major and minor characters, storyline and timeline you will ever need. Definitely worth a check out. Also i like your reaction vids, keep up the great work.

[@janetowen9]

watch the ALL in Cronological order

[@Venter-bb7ji]

Hi, maybe i can fill in some blanks. The current lichking is Bolvar Fordragon a former member of the alliance. He was burned in the battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate by the red dragons and captured by the former lichking Arthas Menethil. After Arthas was defeaded is came clear that the scourge (army of undead) requieres a leader in form of a lich king so they don't rampage through Azeroth. Bolvar offered to replace Arthas as the lichking and to contain the scourge for good. The helm of domination was set upon to him and he because the new lichking by this act. So now you may ask yourself why is the turning blue. That happens when he uses the power of the lichking which infuses him with rune power which is blue in color. The scattered sky is a result of tearing down the veil between the world of the living and the afterlive aka the shadowlands. Keep it up and i'm looking forward to your next video!

[@Xeoena4207]

If you want Legion to make sense you have to see all of them hahah I'm so sorry this game is literally so long and there is so much lore. For any of it to make sense you have to watch all of them. Bolvar is not the original Lich King, and there must always be a Lich King in order to control the balance of life and death on Azeroth. Bolvar was a paladin who sacrificed his life to control the scourge, being that he was such a great paladin and very in tune with the light he was able to keep control of the armor and the position of LK. By breaking the helm, she essentially killed the power of the Lich King, and therefore allowed the realm of life and death to converge. We all expected her to put it on. We were all in awe when she instead broke it.

[@maruhto3508]

"clearly I need to go back and watch the older cinematics" :D that made me chuckle, good luck with 12 years worth of wow story :D but you definitely should go back! Compared to FFXIV which I also played and where the story is also *very* good ("Remember us..."), it doesn't compare (in *my* opinion) to the depth and riches of wow's story, simply because the game existed for much longer and because the story of wow begins even before the game in warcraft. As Im sure many have mentioned in your comment sections, try out Nobbels videos. He has a video called "the story of the lichking". It easily fills an entire evening. While other people watch hollywood movies, we watch lore movies instead. lets go :) Also, since the the 4 afterlives shorts that I assume youre about to watch also, for the most part, reference characters from earlier wow story, it might be beneficial to check out the story of the lichking. keep up the reactions! very enjoyable to watch for a person who loves both games.

[@Psi-Storm]

There is like a 5 hour supercut. It's insane what Blizzard have put out over the years.

[@shadowcat1606]

Great cinematic and all, but SL better give a really good explanation as to how Sylvanas is so ridiculously powerful now...