I Have 6 Important Questions About the War Within Story...

[@Arboreus93]

In the german localization of the dialog Nexus-Princess Ky'vesa refers to her boss as "Meisterin" which translates to mastress and implies her boss is a woman.

[@booming2144]

Same thing in the french version.

[@iGizmoTech]

Same as well in the Spanish version. She says Amante which means mistress, female version of master

[@DoktorKeks]

German was mentioned in the comment section 🙋🏼‍♂️🍺🥨🚗

[@Mordheyn]

​@@iGizmoTech"amante" means lover

[@TheSilverwing999]

I wonder why the localisations went with woman and the English one went with man. Seems to be an oversight, as mistress is a word that English can also use. I don't really think we can use it for anything atm

[@BattleF08]

I suppose my interpretation of the Alleria scene is a little different. I was a little disappointed at first, until I realized that the cool thing isn't that Alleria shot the Dark Heart. She made it pretty guessable that she was going to aim for it. But! Xal'atath moved it. Alleria didn't shoot at where it was, but predicted where it _would be._ Now, the Void has future sight powers, of course. But Xal'atath's should be better at Alleria at prediction. Only it wasn't. Because Alleria caused Xal'atath to panic, breaking her focus.

[@snazzydrew]

I love that so much. I said the same thing during the cutscene. Alleria told her she was aiming for it, then proceeded to aim to the side of it. Amazing! 🤩

[@fork355]

This man hasn't done the side quests???? This expansions has some of the most immersive and emotional sidequesting of any WoW xpac before it. Even if you consider that an exaggeration, it still beats out 80% of the other wow expansions. I've played since vanilla and I have genuinely had such an incredible time with TWW.

[@nickmessner700]

Hallowfall stands out in that regard, but all the zones are good. I said aloud multiple times "how are they making me care about rocks?!?" While doing Isle of Dorn's Sojourner achievement

[@KensanOni]

There is a Stay Awhile and Listen that is after the mission where you save the Queen after she has been changed in the Trasformium and I didn’t even knew it was there, and it’s one of the sweetest moments in the game, and I have heard no one talk about it, and I feel it’s a shame.

[@loganboyd10]

I watched that, feeling hopeful she will be returned to normal and become an ally.

[@TheSilverwing999]

Tali did it on stream at least. But yeah most people missed that one

[@Special_Tactics_Force_Unit]

It's haunting. horrible horrible fate, even for a spider

[@TheMirrorOfShadows]

But.. what if Khadgar is Xallie's new corpse puppet?

[@noahmellemstrand4756]

Ooooh love that idea!

[@HawkknightXC88]

Or she corrupts Khadgar with the void and he becomes the dark guardian.

[@ThisisDD]

This is my theory currently as well

[@ThisisDD]

@@HawkknightXC88ooooh, and Medivh is supposed to be coming back at some point. I wonder if he falls and so the real guardian is forced to step back in

[@Slushybear405]

This is kinda obvious if true tho

[@trollpaladin4773]

Okay, bare with me, because this may be tinfoil hat stuff, but my personal theory is that Ethereals that are working against Xal’atath are the ones who are actually working in the service of the void, not Xal. In Legion, Xallie mentions that the Naaru are misguided siblings of the old gods, hinting that their shifting to void forms when they die may be more akin to a reverting to their “true” forms a la a werewolf turning back into a human, rather than a corruption. With this in mind, I think the answer to the question over whether the object in the fresco Xal crawls out of in the “2.5D cinematic” is Xal or Beladar is YES. Because I think it’s both. I think Xal’atath *IS* Beladar. Which means Xal didn’t just unleash us on the nerubians, she unleashed the Arathi on them too. After all, the Arathi never said which side of the war of light and shadow they would fight on. I think it’s totally possible that Xal will be the final boss of the expansion, and her role in the trilogy will shift to ally after she is defeated, and her proper form as a creature of the light realm is recovered and cleansed. May be a long shot, but I think it would be cool.

[@geminiblade]

my only complaint is with delves still, not in difficulty but i hate all the spore based ones, and Brann's hitbox is fucking gigantic. when i try to click on well anything herbs, chests, the jars of xp i click on brann instead and he's not even close to the object.

[@pyr0cyb3r]

portal arrows? Too big of a ploy, it Screams that you are trying to obfuscate and thereby telegraphs your actual target. way too showy. The "I wasn't aiming at you" lands because it is meant to be subtle. Like if you're holding a mug in front of you and I point a gun at you, You can't tell I wasn't aiming at you. You are bigger than the mug you assume you are the target because you are CLEARLY bigger and more important than the mug, right? Portal already says "I am trying to trick you" Which means you already have to question if you are the target and if you aren't the target What IS the target? Because there's only one other thing there, the dark heart AKA the mug. Then logically it HAS to be that. Which means action has to be taken to defend it properly. Instead of the reactive instinctive reflex to dodge.

[@lucidity1]

Yeah, no. I think Aleria managed to do something the void has always been good at successfully for the first time. Seeing future possibilities and making the one you want to happen, happen. Aleria would only hit the dark heart if Xal'atath dodged, she made her dodge and successfully predicted in what direction. All because Aleria was able to see the bigger picture after letting go of her obsession with Xal'atath.

[@corvusalbus7276]

If Xal’atath already has energy from 3 realms of the cosmos-chart, the roots we’ve seen might be a hint as to where she’s going to get energy of the life-realm. Fel I’m not sure, the sword should be pretty dormant, but could also still be part of War Within. And what if she’s getting Light from the Sunwell, the last of the six, kicking off the events in Midnight.

[@Tyradriknows]

Would be interesting if the sun is of light origin and she takes that away, sending Azeroth into eternal midnight.

[@JT-mt6ku]

She already drained the sword

[@corvusalbus7276]

@@JT-mt6ku Xal'atath was still a dagger and did not have the Dark Heart, when the artifact weapons were used on Sageras' sword. And they were all powerless afterwards. In BfA Xal'atath's power needed to be restored, by feeding it blood & souls, so I doubt she managed to store some of that sword's energy somehow.

[@nochancewithoutpasta7637]

@@Tyradriknows I mean, I know we Night Elves worship the Moon, but the moon is just reflecting the Light of the sun. I always come back to the Tauren when it comes to Azeroth lore lol, they got the closest. Azeroth being female and immensely powerful, but iirc, the moon/sun are also considered deities and are named. And cosmically linked. Two sides of a coin. Like light and shadow. Taking the sun would be so cool though. No need for inky black pots anymore.

[@ArthurB2023]

ehhh your idea of using a portal to actually hit the dark heart is cool, but for me it emphasised Xal'atath's own hubris and assuredness in her own power, she is so sure there is nothing any one can do to stop her plan that she becomes sloppy enough that Alleria's gamble pays off and she is able to hit the dark heart

[@mossysnail6857]

The storytelling compared to FREAKING dragonflight, actually is just so damn solid. i love these characters, i love how they realize "HEY MAYBE WHAT I AM DOING IS PRETTY CRINGE AND I'MA STOP NOW" we helped every faction, we now have SO many damn allies, We got the Arathi, and the Sacred Flame, we got the Severed Threads, we got EVERY EARTHEN ON THE ISLE OF DORN, and the deeps, WE EVEN HAVE SOME KOBOLDS! like bfa, and how we restored 'order' in Kul'tiras, and Zandalar, this went 300% further. and actually did something with it. SEE THIS IS HOW you include Azerite, this is how you include the void, etc, this was written WELL and i will fight you with a flail in my eyestalk right now. So go on, Take your best shot at the snail, and pray! 18:35 WHAT THE FUCK?!!! OH MY GOD!

[@MyraAmherst2018]

re-restore order 😨oh boy

[@mossysnail6857]

🐌guys it wasn't actually a flail it's just some celery *eating it* . _ .

[@williamcorteslugo5393]

The monthly reset! Kidding aside glad you guys are back.

[@reeven1721]

11:19 Bellular says the raid and its cutscene canonically happen *before* the attack on Hallowfall campaign chapter. Guess you're both gonna have to fight to know who's right!

[@TaliesinEvitel]

I'm open minded; I'd love to hear thr reasoning for that!

[@TheSilverwing999]

I've heard more people say this and I'm unsure myself. But it feels so weird to release the campaign chapters in a way where people will complete them before the raid (as raid times are whenever in the week) and then say the raid canonically comes after the campaign. Like that would be a pretty big miss if true. They should have released the final campaign chapters the week after the raid came out then. And they have done so in the past

[@joshuamitchell4158]

Yeah I was wondering about this too. I’ve heard people say it’s been “confirmed” both ways but haven’t actually seen any confirmation myself? Does anyone know if/where blizz have commented about it?

[@HALPCat]

I think they talked about this with Matt on stream and concluded that it must happen some time or immediately after the Dawnbreaker dungeon, because the final boss of that dungeon is one of the raid bosses that runs back home to defend the queen. I could be wrong though.

[@JBish0]

The REAL question is if Khadgar's chair floats then why does it have wheels???

[@dogwithsunglasses4051]

Archmage Modera made it apparently, wich makes Khadgar fond of it for ... reasons.

[@TK-is7re]

floating ..it costs mana...so probably sometimes he has to be on the ground

[@nakenmil]

Because when she was conjuring the arcane quasiform substance, it used her mind as the matrix in which the physical shape was determined, and since Modera is used to thinking of a wheelchair with wheels, it simply manifested with wheels. (I completely made this up.)

[@corvusalbus7276]

I think the real question is: does it have dynamic flying?

[@LoveOlsson98]

@@corvusalbus7276 It 100% does the barrel roll animation when speed-boosting. There better be a seatbelt on it.

[@ux92]

My only complaint about the story so far is that they brought Khadgar back too soon. As a story beat, it didn't give the wound time to fester. It should've happened during Midnight or at the end of the expansion, so the loss actually sunk in before pulling a 180. Other than that, I really like the worldbuilding they're doing, even if they had to retcon a lot of previous stuff to manage it. Really excited to see what they do with the Arathi in the future.

[@nochancewithoutpasta7637]

Bold of you to assume he's back after marinating in a void sphere for X weeks with no shadowy strings attached. This is why the shadow worshipers laugh at us guys, we keep falling for it.

[@Overlyopinionated-wl8jq]

100%. Or even keep him dead lol. I love him, but i'm so tired of tv shows/ movies / games being scared to kill off main characters. I WANT to feel loss, I WANT to feel nostalgia, I WANT to want justice for lost npcs.. if they had to revive him, let him come in 3 minutes till midnight to surprise us all and save the day.

[@ux92]

@@nochancewithoutpasta7637 Strings attached or not, the story beat is the same. It's a massive victory and diminishes Xal as a baddie. Completely undoes the stakes that were set back at the beginning of the expansion. Even if it has shadowy strings attached to it, the momentum is gone.

[@emilemilee]

I've really enjoyed the story and cutscenes they have done so far. However, I can't help but feel when Xalatath says, "My...power..." she looks so much like a disney/pixar character. I get they are 3D characters like disney/pixar, but it is more the movements for me that evoke that sense rather than the models. I feel it would have been better for Xalatath to get a satisfied evil smirk to her eyes as she tilts her head downwards, looking up at the camera. The motions she uses when she says that reminds me of the quirky princess from any disney movie rather than a villain who has achieved their goals. But as Tali said, "Don't mind me, I'm just old".

[@gonx9906]

Violence and hate feeding the blood of an old god is something that we can also find in the quests of silithus in vanilla wow.

[@nickmessner700]

The best compliment I can give the writers is this: My biggest complaint with the story is Khadgar's wheelchair. Like why is it glowy and purple? Just make him one out of wood and metal guys, thats so janky looking. But if that's my biggest complaint then they did a really good job imo.

[@IsaacIlIlI]

Really like the expansion so far in almost all its aspects. Only thing I don't like is how the main story line is always full of cheesy oneliners and clichés. Alleria is basically a walking one-liner. WoW has often been like this, and I find that such a shame. Some of the side quests show a lot more depth, and I just wish we weren't bombarded with these cringe lines all the time. I play this game primarily for the m+ seasons, so I've gotten used to ignoring it. But I'd be way more into the story if it just wasn't so cringe.

[@reavestone308]

22:44 those kinda what?????

[@hibbo1989]

plural noun: niggles a trivial criticism, discomfort, or annoyance.

[@nochancewithoutpasta7637]

I kinda love Xal'atath. She straight up called me out for murdering hundreds of thousands, if not millions, tbh, of in-game NPCS which to them, are, y'know, people. Usually. But it's not just people, it's animal, beasts of nature, abominations of Fel, Shadow, every part of the damn energy pantheon. We are the most dangerous, deadly creature on the planet, arguably (that's the status you get when you Kamehameha an Old God and live to right click about it) and void mummy STRAIGHT UP called us out for it. I felt seen, tbh. Like, finally, our questing efforts have been noticed by the lore record. And I don't mean Onyxia, Illidan, Arthas, Deathwing, Lei Shen, Garrosh, Alternate Grom, Sargeras, etc. I mean the random mobs in between me and right clicking to complete a quest for that sweet sweet golden exp glow up. We're mass murderers, and the Big Bad Evil Girl knows it.

[@iGizmoTech]

History is written by the winners, by us. We are actually the big bad the jailer was scared of. In the real history of WoW, we're the ones who locked up Azeroth, stole her powers and went on a psychomanic killing spree of anyone who dare tries to save her and stop us. Old Gods, Titans, Death Pantheon, The Light, Naru, Burning Legion, etc. We then spit on their name when we defeat them and tell the stockholm syndrome citizens of Azeroth they we're the evil ones and we are the good saviors of Azeroth

[@ArcaneEther]

I don't think all these Ethereum bits are going to be expanded on in The War Within. We are in a unique situation now that hasn't been the case in Warcraft history. For the first time ever, we already know that there are two more expansions coming and their names; Midnight and The Last Titan. I think all of this Ethereum stuff are seeds being planted for Midnight.

[@ClaudiaS_]

I get your worry about losing momentum for the main story, but I trust it will be fine. What I mean is that the devs have probably also had that worry and put in some nuggets of content to keep us still intrigued. I mean, they snuck in a hidden Xal’atath in Seasons of Discovery which had people losing their minds for weeks, so we don’t need much to stay engaged. I actually think the reason the expansion came out in August was to allow November to be dedicated to the 20th celebration, so they’ve clearly planned this out.

[@corvusalbus7276]

10:00 "now you're thinking with portals"

[@desroth]

Ya know... I want to toss into the ring of ideas about Xal... We never thought about the Dark Heart and why Xal has it and why she is pulling the powers of each school of magic/reality... What happens if Xal is the void side of Azeroth, separated from her leaving two distinct forms. Azeroth is a radiant light whenever it speaks to people so far, the Light as we have seen it always has an equal darkness. Where is hers? We always assumed the Void was out to "corrupt" Azeroth, and it may be the case but that is from the aspect of what Light aligned/Titan aligned things say. The corruption is re-introducing the void back to the soul of Azeroth after it had been sheared away and sealed. I am sure others have probably said that by now, but eh I am saying it again here.

[@ReikaLady]

I doubt it because Locus Walker recognized Xal from Kuresh.

[@Emcron]

with the way people keep calling Xal "mummy" and the way she's been using the Dark Heart (and reacting to it being damaged), I'm reminded of a middle-aged lady with her favourite Tupperware box lol

[@kaichu3666]

I'd like to propose a totally uneducated guess as to who is the master of Ky'veza. Cause one that creeped into the back of my head was Ve'nari.

[@SupremoMancoSama]

maybe denathrius? i mean we know he got saved by the nathrezim which are demons now as well, meaning they can go or maybe hide in the twisting nether? and is pissed at us?... maybe

[@TimChaos5]

The damaging of the Dark Heart is true to WoW’s oldest philosophies: ALWAYS remember to repair your gear before raids!

[@Dofladingus]

You're not gonna believe me Tali but incredibly, the side quests are S+ everywhere.... Except Hallowfall

[@mattwo7]

7:17 Curious, how would she absorb enough Disorder without the Burning Legion? We know demons and fel still exist because otherwise they'd have to remove Warlock and DH from the playable classes but the good guys who use them haven't really had an active role since Legion, with two of the Black Harvest warlocks making a breif cameo in Dragonflight and Akama (and not the Shade of Akama) appearing in a now-removed trial at the Brawler's Guild in BfA and that's it.

[@TaliesinEvitel]

There's a big fel sword in Silithus :)

[@CelticShaman.]

I'm pretty sure I saw a video from Bellular where him and Matt prove that the end of the raid cinematic happens BEFORE Aleria confronts Xalatath.

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

I saw a video where Bellular claimed that, but I didn't see any proof.

[@ShamanWolves]

@@TaliesinMyrddin Is there proof that it happens after?

[@tenshikaren]

@@ShamanWolves Yes, I did all the quests on my main character BEFORE the side quest to defeat the raid ever appeared. This implies we were meant to see her take that shot BEFORE the raid ever happened (at least since we didn't take the quest or enter the raid through a Bronze escort). Blizz has fudged timelines before, especially when the quests could be done in either order, but they would have held back that shot until the week the end boss was available in LFR (as they have done many times) and probably given the raid quest as a splitting side quest before the confrontation scene if they intended that order. Either the order didn't matter... or the shattering of the focus happened first. It could even be why Xal'atath wasn't able to interfere more and ramp up the spider war.

[@tenshikaren]

@@ShamanWolves I admit, this isn't solid proof, but it heavily implies an order or the non-existence of one.

[@TaliesinMyrddin]

@@ShamanWolves To me the fact we got the quest to deal with Xal'atath in Hallowfall before we got the quest to do the raid (or the raid even unlocked, IIRC?) means the burden of proof lies on whoever wants to claim the raid takes place after the nerubians attack Beledar.

[@92Locutus]

the master is Gallywix!

[@wyndhamwildlifegardens5718]

I keep thinking that while Xali wasn't defeated, It could be argued that our protagonist won their own internal "within" wars. This includes the Earthen, Alleria, Anduin, Thrall, Moira and family.

[@TaliesinEvitel]

Great comment 👍

[@Skollshorties]

I have a solid question: Where is Rexxar?

[@J479fstknvds]

Kidnapped by alternate dimension Draenor Yrel and forced into marriage

[@Skollshorties]

@@J479fstknvds We have to rescue him!

[@J479fstknvds]

@@Skollshorties afraid it's too late for that.. he has been forced into death by snu snu 😞

[@PainfullySubjective]

we don't hate it when you say nice things about anything, taliesin. we hate it that you only say nice things about everything. makes it seem like you're faking it or you're paid to be overly positive

[@TaliesinEvitel]

Yeah but I don't ever only say nice things, so this is a made up problem.

[@tmanook]

I love all the 'stay a while and listen' parts.

[@nuricakar9238]

When the arrow finds its mark, the last fetter will fall away.

[@AnubisofScorpio]

Not having Dagran meet Dagran would be a missed opportunity. Dagranbowl

[@shawnsstuff24]

Hot take. Her blood...she's the mother of the old gods.

[@synmad3638]

im probably misremembering the lore but i think if a planet gets sufficiently messed up it sort of drifts into the twisting nether which iirc happened to outland for example, so locus' house might technically be in the twisting nether?

[@TimbobJames]

That Trial of Style easter egg is insane lol

[@procedupixel213]

The shattered Darkheart was merely a minor setback.

[@piorcanaldoyoutubedomundo]

Sorry... but nothing will EVER be better than the opening + story quests in WoD. The thrill of losing important characters and fighting a battle against a almost infinite army and battle the leaders of that army + the suberb in game cinematics and everything coming with TWO VERSIONS OF STORY (Horde and Alliance)... not... that was peak storytelling. Everything storywise until Tanaan Jungle was PERFECT...

[@Lupinemancer87]

I took a break from WoW at the end of Dragonflight, after having played for almost 20 years, I did have a temporary break at the end of Shadowlands too, but I came back to Dragonflight. I have yet to return for TWW which makes this the longest break I've ever had, but I am contemplating it, but I don't know if I should yet. I wanna make sure it's actually worth it, cuz Dragonflight was good, but I slowly lost interest. I'm still keeping up, so as to know what happens and eventually decide if I should return. And who knows, maybe Midnight could be the one that finally convinces me to come back, as it sounds like it'll be Elf-focused, and I love Elves. They are my favorite race in Fantasy.

[@TheRockinDonkey]

You could do what I did and sub for a month. That’s plenty of time to level a couple of characters and scope out the zones. You’ll be sky riding almost immediately and getting pathfinder is stupid easy in this expac

[@Lupinemancer87]

@@TheRockinDonkey I'll consider that.

[@Whalebelly2239]

I think we will get more ethereal stuff in TWW, and I think it will completely coincidentally be in the same patch as we get Tazavesh back in the M+ rotation (no, not confirmed).

[@SensationalBanana]

TWW had me more invested in the story than any of the last 3 expansions before it managed. I wasn't expecting that. Not as amazing as Legion, but the expansion isn't over yet.

[@ChrisBear1989]

For the most part I enjoyed it. Not every single % I love the Light vs Void theme(Not the arathi themselves) in Hallowfall. I like the Earthen story arc and them deciding their own fate. I don't care about the Titans being overly authoritive aholes but I've said that for awhile, it feels very non nuanced. Is it still entertaining and compelling? Yes. I aboslutely love Xal'atath, watching her is just fun. She makes Fyrakk look meh in comparison and its not the gender either. Az'kahet was a fun zone to, creepy and uncomfortable to be in, It had some Suramar vibes in it. I was absolutely shocked that the Dark Heart was destroyed so early, including Khadgar's return. I truly believed(Until that cinematic) that he was gone, and I think in some ways he should of stayed that way. It was an incredible gut punch and the destruction of Dalaran just as much. I am just wondering what happens now and what Xal'atath even wants, at most I imagine the Az'kahet war(As I'm calling it). It was merely a distraction but thats speculation. I also am not very confident that Alleria is safe from the Void now, can't be that easy. Anduin finding his Light is all well and good but I still wish he didn't have to go through that arc. Thrall... well he's ok right now. I do like the banter between Turalyon and that mag'har orc, I appreciate the factions still existing and having that tension. I can go on but its a strong start but not everything is to my desire.

[@grumpydinosaur2347]

I still have no idea why we killing Arathi paladins in that castle dungeon. I havent played all of expansion, just main quests and some delves, some dungeons. But i think, thats pretty important to include dungeon lore in main quest chain. Perhaps ffxiv spoiled me. There must be some side quest chain, right?! Right???

[@Nickuh88]

So WE already know Dimensius is making moves. BLIZZ is trying to set up this big bad cosmic entity AS big and bad and with a hand in everything. I want to believe it's super thorough and subversive, but we learned from SL that they can't go TOO abstract or nobody gets it....gotta reign it in a bit So yeah, definitely just a tie in to a faction (whom we will slaughter) to tie in to the big bad raid boss Dimensius, master of void ethereals. The actual plan doesn't matter, CHAOS IS the plan. Void is a force of entropy (hence all the chaos themed abilities by skardyn....also sure is weird they grow DEMON horns...?) the idea seems to be the void sees all possibilities --- and all possibilities besides "good" lead to oblivion. Void victory. And it seems obvious Dimensius is trying to feed. The void hungers. It grows. It was established back in BC even a world isn't enough for a void lord to manifest in reality. It's not surprising they went for dalaran, they were feeding on pink arcane energy back in netherstorm. They eat everything, they grow, they eat some more. The goal is oblivion: eat until there's nothing left to eat...true void. If void is a representation of our negative emotions and survival instincts....as saezurah calls it the ability to "adapt". That's probably the TRUE plan. Ascendance is fuelled by "becoming what you eat" once they have consumed enough power from all cosmic forces they'll probably "ascend" and become something more.... something whole That's also a unique trait of Azeroth...to be at the center of everything with influence from every force

[@theoldmanplays]

Thank you for making the Ghostbusters 2 reference! I knew I wasnt the only one!

[@DriplessShrimp]

This is the best expansion ive played in a long time, of any game. Actually got a 6 month sub. So much to do, so many good side quests. Great job Blizz

[@leetackett7879]

pretty easy sire d is the master

[@keisuhunda1724]

Sire Denathrius anyone?

[@murmurrrr]

Who the fuck comes back to WoW after years without playing due to the anniversary event?? It'll be bland after less than a week..

[@madnss69]

I like how, in the moment that Anduin is surrounded, Alleria forgets that she could shoot an arrow accurately from one continent to another and decides to just watch 🤣🤣

[@warlock3691]

I disagree about the story having a beginning @1:50. This is an alliance story and I was so confused as a hordie. Whose Xyla tath? Who are these dwarves that know me that i talked to before Dalaran fell (Magni's kid and grandkid???), or the emo elf chick whose angry? Not once have i ever interacted with any of them on the horde side. Ive been following them in this adventure and they act like we're best friends or something. Aundiun is the only one i talked to before this expansion back in Mist and Shadowlands. It's like I skipped the first 5 chapters of a book and then hopped in to void things while emo elf going crazy over someone named Xyla'tath. Okay??

[@thornwolf4234]

Personally I was invested right up until Xal f'd up and got beaten, with khadgar showing up and being ressurected. It felt like the beginning of legion where we had stakes, we lost someone we cared about and vengeance was a driving theme. I on my DH who was the character I started, the first character I Really played and the whole reason I came to wow in the first place was right there and the investment and immersion for it was peak. These were people I fought beside. Alleria was doing an illidan which was something I could get behind, I wish I could've just gone with her rather then help all these idiots get their junk together honestly. But then... It just stopped, I got tired of her showing up and monolouging at me while being all smirky while she has shown no indication that alleria and the player character CANT beat her. I left at the end of BFA, or mid way through I guess is better after the naga came around. I didn't even bother with shadowlands really, I came back to try and check it out and I skipped dragonflight outside of its last few weeks. The narrative just doesn't land for me, I dont feel the tension or interest I felt when it opened (The opening and the whole dalaran blowing up immediately grabbed me. Similar to how Teldresil being burned made me want blood and I was in World PVP ganking any horde I Saw, or at least trying too.) Im glad people like this stuff. Im glad people like how its going. I remember wanting a Xal focused story after meeting her again in BFA (Friend was a SP so I got to hear and see all of her class stuff, despite not playing the class. Im a Lock/DH guy pretty much.) But honestly ... this was mid at best. I guess maybe my expectations were spoiled with Gul'dan and Kil'jaden who in my opinion alongside even Xavius felt like proper villains who were not only imposing and intimidating to deal with... but a lot of the time did show a level of intelligence that would cause us to have pause. Like without illidan, Velen and Khadgar we would've been boned. Then we got to Sargeras who kinda let me down but him STICKING HIS SWORD INTO MY PLANET kind of redeemed that. I loved the introduction to the void elves, their recruitment and thinking about wanting a void themed class sorta like a DH for the void. Or a void spec. I remember being so hyped... I just wish it could do that again, kinda also wish my class didn't feel like poop too right now... but thats not narrative related. Thanks for your time, and thank you for your content.

[@AzamaraSehki]

"Her dreams sing beneath the surface. Our dreams. Our song." "She is not the last, but the first. Drown her and you will see." "When the arrow finds its mark, the last fetter will fall away." "The fall of night reveals her true face. She will bring only ruin." "Six seats at the high table. Six mouths that hunger. One will consume all others." Just some whispers of N'zoth to think about.

[@ponyote]

So, since no one seems to have mentioned this. Claudia Christian voices Xal'atath. She played Ivanova from Babylon 5, a sci-fi series that had an antagonist that is literally called "The Shadow" and they're opposed to the Vorlon, who represent Order. I'm sure these data points have no relation.

[@felixforschner2572]

is Void=Darkness? is the absence of light=void? i dont think that night is Void. what does thiss tell us about Elune and the starless night, deep sea and even about Caves? beings and plants without light like kraken and angler-fish people, bioluminescence so if we actually had life without light (Kobyss) then we are life WITH light it makes ALOT more sens why someone or something places a GIANT lightbulb underground - bringing light to the deepest ocean and Caves.

[@crustyplayer]

There is certainly a lot going on. I’m happy about that. The story doesn’t “resonate” 😅with me. Story-wise, I was more engaged with WoD, Legion, even BfA. I think the earthen are incredibly boring to me. Add in the arathi who don’t intrigue me in their current iteration, I’m sure the empire will capture me more. I don’t think I was expecting our spidey folk to be “over” so quick. I don’t say my judgement is final but I’m still looking forward to the near future and the unfolding of the worldsoul saga.

[@Rellster13]

What if Xal'atath is actually a titan thats already been corrupted by the void. More so a fraction of a fromer "Dark Titan". Maybe shes attempting to regain her power. I know she's more aligned being some sort of old god, but at the time she was used more as a tool. We know theres and never-ending battle between the cosmos and that this whole planet corruption (world soul) thing isnt new (*cough* argus but with Fel). Maybe she was a failed attmept that couldnt be controlled. A lot of these cosmos factions seem to retain a lot bases around Order.. hmm

[@LoveOlsson98]

17:24 Not necessarily. Ky'vessa could be more of a mercenary working for anyone who pays, so the job with Ansurek and our bounties could be from separate people. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of bounties on our heads after all we've been up to throughout the expansions. That being said, 100% agree with it not being Locus walker, even if it would be funny if he saw the state Alleria was in when she left and was like "Y'know what, I'm hiring an assassin to take care of this as well. Just in case..." 20:18 He can roll over her XallyToes

[@kij1997]

Yo I just realized something. Azerite is Azeroths blood. Xal says the Black Bloods power is „her power“ = her blood? This could imply that she maybe was/is a worldsoul herself (K‘aresh)? And so maybe she flung the old gods/„her power“ onto Azeroth to make our world the same as herself?

[@JoULove]

Khadgar appearing like that forcibly reminds me of how Anduin dropped the compass at the end Sanctum of Domination. There's also the parallel to Sylvanas falling unconscious before she could tell us anything. But it makes me wonder (if that was done on purpose): is Khadgar the compass that will show us the way, or a red herring from Xal'atath to throw us off the scent?

[@chappo1725]

Honestly what surprises me is how a lot of the conflict in this expansion got solved relatively quickly at launch. We reunited the Earthen, destroyed the Dark Heart, saved Khadgar, dealt with Ansurek, and have made a lot of allies already like the Arathi, Nerubians, Kobolds and the Earthen as mentioned before. My original theory for how the Worldsoul Saga would go is that we kill Xal in War Within, Azshara in Midnight, and Iridikron in The Last Titan. Apparently Xal is gonna survive this expansion but I still reckon Azshara is gonna play a huge role eventually, and might even be who the Nexus Princess is talking to. On top of this, we might have another Klaxxi situation later, where the Halowfall expedition reunites with the empire, and the majority end up becoming our enemy similar to the Scarlet Crusade, while some of them such as Faerin choose to side with us.

[@Sisren86]

I actually like the way Alleria "wins" because it further shows what Tali talked about in his raid cinematic breakdown - Xali'tah's arrogance. She turns around, not hiding the heart at all. Faunting it, even. Because why not? She's sooooo smart and powerful. And Alleria's just...shoots. It isn't a physical victory, it's a humbling.

[@pdieraue]

I just want to point out for future videos that it's Telogrus Rift like tel-OG-rus. You were saying tel-GOR-us.

[@just_gut]

I think it would be interesting if Xalatath isn't working for the Void. I would find it extra awesome if she was collecting each of the cosmic energy types to complete Azeroth as a being free from any of the realms, and her plans for us are to keep defeating the best the cosmos has to offer so there is no one powerful enough to seize control of Azeroth. Less awesome, but still excellent, would be if Xalatath is trying to collect all of the cosmic energies so that she can consume Azeroth's world soul to power herself. Least awesome would be if Xalatath is just working for someone else.

[@ArchMagus1]

The bloodbound horror we fight in Nerub-ar Palace LITERALLY lives in the Ghostbusters slime, I call it the Ghostbusters arena, ever since I first ran the raid.

[@benjaminehren7965]

Frankly the change I would make to the cutscene of shooting the dark heart is just make it so the heart stays behind xalatath, she shoots, xalatath disappears again, mocks her, and Aleria does the smug “I wasn’t aiming at you’. Is it cheesy? Extremely. Is it satisfying? I think so. Also also did you read the book in the mage house side quest? Where it mentions imagining the cosmic forces as a hexeteron? Because that is a real 5 dimensional shape and insinuates some very important things about the lore, which I would best sum up with ‘the only reason it looks like certain cosmic forces are polar opposites of others is because of our particular placement in the cosmos, any 2 forces could be enemies or allies just as easily as any other 2, but for the mortals of Azeroth this sense of antithesis remains” I could go on an hour long rant about wow cosmic powers and how I think they could be much cooler an idea than we think.

[@Urbish-v3t]

I have conflicted feelings about the ending scene. It's a bit too easy and comes across more like Xalatath holding the idiot ball because they need to move the plot along. I get what they're going for - Alleria tricks Xalatath into defending the heart and makes her move it into the arrow's path, in doing so showing how she has overcome her short-sighted obsession. I just don't think the execution was quite there.

[@TheSilverwing999]

I agree with a couple other people here. I thought the Alleria and dark heart cinematic was done pretty well, because what it showed us was that xalatath was way more confident than she should have been. She was so focused on her own body always being shot at, that she was purely planning for another attack against herself. Proudly proclaiming that alleria will never hit her. But then completely forgetting to protect the other vaulable item in her possession, and actually losing that time to her own overconfidence. It also showed us that alleria is actually extremely clever. She knew that xalatath would dodge in anticipation of the arrow hitting her, so alleria aimed slightly to the side, because she knew that she could hit the dark heart then as xal turned to dodge the arrow That's what I got out of the cinematic while watching it in game myself, before seeing the internet or anyone else's opinion on it. And personally, I don't think your idea of using a portal would hit quite the same way

[@DanielAllan]

I still wonder if she is the bad guy, is this a plot to prepare us for the void lords, a training session.. wouldn't be the first time I just feel she knows enough about 'players' , that competing against them doesn't make any sense. bieng this is the first expac ive not had to wait until the following expac or 2 before doing the raid, it does feel like a chapter was closed a little sudden into a season, waiting for the next set of stories to drop I guess the oppsite of that is time gated stories and they are more annoying.

[@InfestationPony]

Tali, you remember in Alleria's animated short film, when she's talking about "hunting Xalatath", it showed her on Argus or somewhere fel, killing demons infused with void, so it looks like Xalatath had already grasped fel energy beforehand.

[@rd9102]

I have enjoyed the storytelling of TWW so far, there is a lot of actual character development over time. I love all of the stay for awhile conversations and things. BTW, it's Telogrus rift and NOT Telgorus rift.

[@ayasemisaki8309]

Tbh i just wonder whats next by ending the story so quickly does these new zones keep on mattering or are we going somewhere else on Azeroth. Also will we see dramatic changes to the zones as the story progress in simmular fassion as MOP where the vale got heavily changed ?

[@bobbythefish4836]

I have liked most things about the expansion so far, and nothing has been a deal breaker for me. Great intro quest and story cinematics, warband banks, the ability to just auto complete all main story quests on an alt, and the Arathi zone and soundtrack. The only things I am salty about is the profession knowledge grind returning and that I have to do a 5 sec cast to switch flight style. I wish it was a setting on the mount page so I could go back to having a dragon ride mount and a swim fly mount button.

[@austinsebben1402]

Ky'vesa is very funny to me, SHE'S the one bumbling spywork having loud conversations where she says "the queen suspects nothing!" Lol

[@ewokpants4891]

The good move here on blizzard's end would be to introduce a power that aids the heroes in the next expansion that can be small but eventually important - Xalatath wanted all of what she captured to be under her control but as you said, some of it escaped. Retroactive payoff

[@AlexandraAndersson42]

I think the master will turn out to be Magnus Manastorm, the father of Millhouse who was imprissoned in the twisting nether. And Millhouse will first be on his father's side and be a raid boss. Then he will turn on his dad again and help us dispose of Magnus. Gnome Power!

[@allanpersinger5274]

When I saw Khadgar’s expression when he is being hugged after being brought back to life, I immediately thought it might be Xal.

[@ryanruttan7480]

I skip the 'ad' potion of every channel, but will be honest that i actually stuck around to see this one...laughed every time the acronym was said :)

[@thestralner6335]

i agree that the whole dark heart arrow thing is more or less fine, but i dont think it should get a pass either. it completely undermines xalataths competency as a villain, which is especially egregious for being this early in her story. just lame that shes set up as this grand plotting villain who has much more power than she lets on, but her only line of defense for protecting this instrumental part of her plan is to move to the side slightly. no sort of spellward, voidy magic shield, nothing? just strange

[@katarzynakoti4154]

Where are dragons? They got their power backs to protect Azeroth once again and now.. they are not protecting her.

[@bamboozled_again]

yep, you are grumpy and old, the current Aleria shot is much better, sorry bud :D

[@trynnicus]

I'm still banking on azeroth being a spirit titan since she ate the world's elemental spirit before anything tried to adjust her alignment. If xal'atath tries to control the elemental decay to tie all the powers together, I'd really bet good money on spirit azeroth

[@StephanPult]

Can't say it different: i LOVE your videos and the way you are talking and what you are saying! Greetings from Germany

[@JT-mt6ku]

Xal really seems like she went out of her way to allow the heart to be grazed before she's engulfed in void and khadgar pops out. "Drown her...and you will see."

[@milanbozic7573]

Wait, how did xalatath get the void heart in first place? Last time it was seen before TWW was in dragonflight, in hands of iridikron when he was entering some sort of portal, so how did she get it?

[@Angelicprophet1]

We’re lined up for Xally to spite void poison the sunwell to get back at Alleria for foiling her plans. If not that, we’re still playing into her plans.

[@pauldunecat]

So far there is no character I care about. I need my Runas, Arulin, Bwonsamdi, Draka in this expat and I don't see any.

[@Graavigala85]

So far its been blast! The story was fun and felt chunky withouth too much waff in between. Overall it has been a fun adventure in every way

[@hibernationgaming]

Tali - with love - You need a big leather couch to sit in while you talk about lore with a pipe or a cup of tea for the most amazing wow experience ever!

[@katpagan4821]

Reno Jackson is in WoW now who was a Hearthstone character his nemesis is Rafam an ethereal crime lord who is usually the butt of jokes but could be using him? Perhaps? or its our buddy from Shadowlands that helps in the Maw.

[@DasDevilSquid]

I've really been surprised by how well crafted the story for this opening patch has been. Lots of strong feelings.

[@davos6129]

I'm actually not that concerned about 11.0.5 not having any story. 10.0.5 had nothing either

[@Raika63]

Does Beledar count as holy energy (for Xalatath's purposes), even if it's in the shadow phase?