The Moment Xal'atath Finally Became SCARY! Cinematic Analysis of Threads of Destiny

[@TaliesinEvitel]

Hi everyone, thanks for pointing out that the city behind Alleria in the keyart is Dalaran, I just mis-spoke! The point I'm making fits dalaran much better, after all :)

[@georgemihai1744]

Also 10:42 she says " but in the years that followed ". Cant be hundreds of thousands obviously.

[@MikeBenko]

A wall carving like that is called a "relief".

[@c.b.-]

A lot of the visuals for Xal were veeeery similar to the _Scarlet Witch_ in the 2nd "Doctor Strange" movie. Given that the director was horror-director Sam Raimi, it seems like it is quite fitting.

[@GreyGramarye]

When the Queen turns her down and Xal’atath shifts focus, Tali mentions her having already laid the groundwork with the princess… but she may not have. She apparently had that whole conversation with the Queen in an instant, with time frozen. The same could have happened with the Princess, even possibly mid-conversation with her mother. Which makes it even creepier IMO; she could have gone into that conversation intending to reconcile but then Xal’atath convinced her the only option was matricide.

[@GiovanniBoss]

Which would be a rather nice "part 2 cinematic". XD

[@mattphoenix4702]

I had the feeling she was actually talking to Ansurak the entire time, and she had Neferess there to prove the point that she would never take the kingdom forward, so it was time for Ansurak to take her hand and become queen.

[@moonchild4648]

I think that Xal'atath speaks to her after the queen says she was talking to "ghosts", Ansurak gets this really creepy smile right after that, and she starts saying that she's not sorry. Also, she looks genuinely confused when she asked her mom who she was talking to.

[@stinkyrat758]

Hey Tali: art nerd here. The Art in the City of Threads dungeon you love so much would be probably considered a "Relief". Fresco is usually a type of paint thats painted on still-drying plaster (think Sisteen Chapel) - releief, like the Lion Hunt relief at the British Mueseum, is a sculpting technique that makes an image look 'raised' from it's background of usually the same material. From the depth seen, I'm thinking this is a Bas-Relief or a low-relief or a high-relief (I havent played the beta)

[@GiovanniBoss]

It really looks like a high relief, not a low one, to me. Assuming the translation from my mother language to English is literal, that is.

[@scaicool]

Basrelief is a strong reference to Lovecraft work which would be VERY clever considering old god lore.

[@HatMachine]

@@scaicool Right! Wasn't the city in "At the Mountains of Madness" covered in bas-relief murals? It's been a long time since I've read it.

[@scaicool]

@@HatMachine yes. And R'lyeh as well!

[@stinkyrat758]

@@HatMachine Oh my god how did I not make that connection 😰 yooo

[@Haalaine]

The reason to my understanding that it HAS to be from BFA is that Nerubians, as depicted here, didn't exist during the original collapse of the Black Empire. The Nerubians (and the Qiraji and Mantid) didn't diverge from the main Aqir until after the Troll-Aqir war that happened well after the Titans arrived (and also was itself spurred by Xal'atath), so while Blizzard could have this be from before that point, having the kingdom be a NERUBIAN kingdom rather than a general Aqir kingdom would be going against their existing lore timeline.

[@Haalaine]

And to expand on the other note of knowing about Xal'atath - I'm sure a nation as developed as Azj'kahet, and especially the elite of the nation, would be very well educated, and for how prominent Xal'atath seems to have been during the Black Empire I wouldn't at all be surprised if Queen Neferess was taught of a figure such as the Harbinger existing and when Xal'atath begins to reveal herself in the flesh to her the dots connect in her mind that this isn't just some random ghost, it's THE Harbinger. Plus plus: the next line is "in the years that follow"; if Blizzard wanted to give the idea that this was eons ago, why wouldn't they have had the line been "in the millennia that follow" or "in the ages that follow" instead?

[@CaiRobinson]

Thats my understanding to, that the nerubians were created as they are today post the black empire

[@1Forn61]

@@Haalaine Yup thats my take on it aswell. Im sure we gonna learn more over the course of TWW. As Their City will be a vocal of Point of the Expansion after we cleared the Raid.

[@TheHugos94]

was going to write this up. Seems I was 2 hours late

[@terribleterrier1685]

The Mantid answered the call in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms Assaults. I also lean towards thinking it was end of BFA. The Mantid told us when their gods returned, they would answer the call. I feel the Nerubians are the counterpoint to the Mantid.

[@theWEIR]

The one thing that sticks out for me in the timeline question is the line, "There is much for you to learn before you can be queen." If that first scene was 100s of thousands of years ago showing Ansurek as a child, what the hell has her mom been doing not teaching her whats needed to be queen for all that time? The 7 year gap would be a little easier to rationalize the lack of wisdom gained by Ansurek. The immature zoomer nerubian princess falling for the voids tricks seems easier to take then the 100k+ old nerubian princess acting and being treated like a child.

[@regalgiant1597]

Cringey obsession with parent issues from Blizz, again.

[@LordAJ12345]

Also, the narration says “in the years that followed“, not “in the millennia that followed“ or something similar. It just doesn’t really make sense to have that be the line if it’s supposed to be much much later

[@Commander_Pandashan]

Maybe there will be answer to it... In the game who knows 🤷🏻

[@1Forn61]

ye

[@kaitlynschoudt7779]

Something that is easy to overlook when it comes to fantasy races with extended lifespans is their age of maturity. Its touched upon in their own universes, like in LotR, but we don't know much about this race in WoW. Who's to say this is not hundreds of thousands of years ago, and it takes much longer for their "frontal lobe to develop" so to speak?

[@cyberbanshee]

Blizzard created such an amazing villain that I felt the some kind of twisted pride when I saw this video. "It was I who freed her."

[@1Forn61]

Voidweavers assemble soon we shall bath in the Eternal Night \o/

[@Maira-sorn]

shadow priest goes "I will follow her to end, long live Xal’atath"

[@zoemarsh8518]

And I was happy to!

[@amalthea924711]

Thank you for my favorite WoW content. Evi I'm going to remember your idea for a soundtrack analysis.

[@TaliesinEvitel]

Thank you friend!

[@warmwaterpenguin]

Something I love is that establishing shot immediately after the tight in on the spider with the hanging structure suspended by webs. It feels like the missing link between the Black Empire temples and obelisks, and the scourge floating Ziggurats. Like sure, we're talking different nerubians, but it just fills in a little architectural language in a way we see all the time in real from cultures and commerce and connections and conquests, but that takes real development and consideration to capture in fiction. Even if you don't notice or think about it, it subconsciously just adds this layer of credibility when a world pulls this off. Also it looks like an egg sac, which is way less important but equally evocative and cool.

[@arthurmussi9897]

To those saying ansurek is teenage elisande,they are not the same! Elisande only joined the burning legion because she only saw futures where the legion always wins,in her mind she joined the legion to protect her people...ansurek on the other hand,wants her people to be the master race and conquer all,she is way more evil then elisande

[@HawkknightXC88]

So this is how Xal'atath is the cosmic horror that she is today. If her eyes don't scary you her movement out of the walls is.

[@MatthewNewman]

It just reminds me of the Crunk shoulder angel/devil meme

[@ziggs123]

That's what mages and locks secretly dream to be with their weak magic. That's why they hate on us shadow priests consistently. They hate us because they ain't us. SP should always be above those borrowed power wizards in any scenario, anything else isn't lore accurate.

[@Paveway-chan]

@@ziggs123 Cope and seethe, at least we HAVE portals and utility 🤪

[@TheDannyschoofs]

Now I want a Ringu movie with Xalatath/Knifu/Xally XD

[@moscanaveia]

@@ziggs123 The only borrowed powers are from shamans, druids and priests, brother. Warlocks especially fuel their magic with bits and bobs of victim's souls. You can call it stolen, but when I slowly flay your soul to chain my Demonic Tyrant, and when his magic expires I rip out his soul and hurl it at you screeching and burning, you'll feel differently

[@EdBurke37]

Taliesen's Razor: All other things being equal the coolest answer is most often the correct one.

[@nono7105]

It's a blunt razor though. Because he's wrong.

[@Z_F-P_22]

@@nono7105yeah but if he didn’t miss the nerubians not existing pre-fall of the black empire, it would be a fun razor to go by

[@nono7105]

@Z_F-P_22 Yeah, but in my experience, it never works. Whenever I've speculated about some unknown lore and said, 'wouldn't it be cool if ...' it has invariably turned to shit in the worst possible way.

[@cxfxcdude]

In storytelling? Yeah it could be. In this instance i feel it may not be correct but hey

[@roninhare9615]

I have a different theory on the “Beledar”. Let’s take a look at the mural, it’s strange to me how the mural of the crystal encased in gold, looks like the star of Azathoth from lovecraft. Interestingly enough, when Azathoth is nearing, you can hear a Symphony of flutes, also, in lovecraft, Azathoth created Cthulhu, translate the inspiration to wow’s interpretation, this is the song of a void lord, the same void lord that created C’thun(inspired by Cthulhu) and it’s now that this crystal is starting to react to “something” we are hearing the nearing of a void lord in the guise of the radiant song. When I looked at how chronicle book 4 showed the “Beledar” specifically from the top and bottom, how sound affects the frequency of its shape. Which got me turned on to the idea that the “Beledar” is actually a gate, a portal. To where you ask? Well the data mining of the beta may have leaked that. The final raid of this expansion has been listed as “K’aresh”, this gate will be opened likely using the blood of the old gods and something todo with the hidden 5th old god. We will give chase to Xal’atath on K’aresh, and while we may win the fight/raid, we will lose the opening leg of this war, as the void come pouring out of the “Beledar”. With the end cinematic of the war within, leading us right into midnight and the invasion of shadow and void. Of all the places Xal’atath could have appeared out of the mural, she opens a portal on the “Beledar” forshadowing the void coming through the gate.

[@MaemuraLonewolf]

Love this theory!!

[@autumnleaf2263]

Oh I love this and I think you might have hit the nail on the head. Can't wait to see if you're right or not.

[@sdrs2713]

Final Raid is listed as "Ethereal Raid" not "K'aresh."

[@EliasBlind]

@@sdrs2713 Karesh is the homeworld of the ethereals.

[@Lockecole81]

@@sdrs2713 It's being thought that we'll get a final patch with zones similar to Argus with the final raid being there as well

[@Bzk--]

I love your channel and have watched your videos for years now, but my favourite content has to be these analysis. They are so well thought, well spoken and narrated, and you make it all come togheter. I've never commented under one of these but this time I wanted to take the time to thank you for the incredible work you do every time a wow cinematic comes out, a work I always look forward to check out.

[@dangingerich2559]

2:16 "That would be like us having tiny, little feral humans running around" That's not too far from describing mice.

[@davidfields5375]

We call them children

[@dangingerich2559]

@@davidfields5375Well, children aren't feral unless you're a really bad parent.

[@SunniestAutumn]

MICE ARE HUMAN?

[@Amaryllon]

@@SunniestAutumn They're not actually *that* far off, genetically. That's why they're used in medical research.

[@tenaciousgamer6892]

some cities even have monkeys running around, Which might as well be our cousins.

[@frankielofaro4778]

Why did Talie say Silvermoon at 20:30? Thats dalaran

[@Omnimonism]

yep, that's Dalaran.

[@sashapaliukh7689]

The pic is Dalaran, yes, but the fact of falling shadow is about Silvermoon. Void will attack the city in midnight

[@Skyfuck]

Yeah and fits with his thinking bad things are coming

[@slymcfly123]

2nd expansion is about the Voud attacking Silvermoon.

[@Skyfuck]

@@slymcfly123 True! But TWW opens with Dalaran being destroyed, so Dalaran's downfall is a little more relevant at present 🤫

[@Spippie_Sugarfuse]

While I would love it taking place during the first fall, one small detail that makes it hard to think so, is that the nerubians didnt exist until the aftermath of the troll wars when a subsect of the fleeing aqir settled in what would be northrend after the sundering , after being chased there by the drakkari. and later evolving into the Nerubians with their proximity to yogg-saron

[@Spippie_Sugarfuse]

Funnily enough , said war was started by Xal'atath's meddling

[@yanivcassuto4198]

One of the best cinematics' analysis you posted. Incredible and informative. Thank you so much.

[@Whalebelly2239]

I am so happy that you made a proper scripted cinematic analysis instead of the stream footage this time :) It is just so well produced and no one does it better, so thank you so much for taking your time with this!

[@robertsmith4830]

The coversation between the Queen and Princess reminded me so much of the confrontation between Lucille and Lady Waycrest at the end of the Drustvar levelling campaign albeit with some role reversal.

[@InfestationPony]

"Are you seeing this shit, Ansurek?" Sorry I have to do it

[@mathiasthorndal9218]

One thing I haven't seen anyone discuss is that the "higher evolution" of the nerubians is one that is strikingly more humanoid in appearance. The true origins of the mortal races and the truth of the curse of flesh has been called into question multiple times in the past years, so could that be intentional or is it just an artistic choice because we automatically see humans as more advanced than bugs?

[@raymondward2035]

And this is why Xal'atath can twist bodies to look like that

[@moscanaveia]

I found it funny you should phrase it like that. "I haven't seen anyone discuss their humanoid form". I actually made the mistake to read the comment section of Asmongold's reaction video to the cinematic and one of the most common complaints by the incels over there (other than the gender of the characters involved) is just how Blizzard replaced the scary spiders with scrawny humanoid forms.

[@c.b.-]

@@moscanaveia I'm unsurprised by Asmongold's audience. Disappointed, but not surprised. It makes sense that the void would warp their minions, because all the greater powers do so. Fel and Light have definitely both been shown to change the individuals who embrace that power. (I mean, the orcs were the first gamers had witnessed, via fel blood.)

[@usernamedove]

Blizz just made them humanoid so they can be made an allied race #copium

[@Zoulz666]

I do really enjoy these deep dives Tali makes for blizz cinematics.

[@isiseungella4688]

There is no better way than to start your Friday than with T&E deep dive. 5.30 am and it drops in Oz so you quickly get your day started and 6.30 am, here I am with a hot cup of tea, enjoying it after expecting it from the moment the trailer dropped.

[@sebonesiful]

Isn't that Dalaran and not Silvermoon in Alleria's background?

[@TaliesinEvitel]

@@sebonesiful you are right! .... Uh oh

[@sebonesiful]

@@TaliesinEvitel meh, what's the worst that could possibly happen, I mean, it's a magical flying city full of wizards....I wouldn't worry

[@ShalThuzar]

@@sebonesiful Khadgar "reading the scripts.."

[@c.b.-]

@@sebonesiful been wanting a void-version of the Karazhan raid. Something where you're fighting on the ceiling, the raid-party is split up, and your enemies could just as likely be simple vermin, because you've been shrunk - or - titans, because you've suddenly found yourself in the clouds. Ever since Tali started explaining the Black Empire, I've been hoping for this. 😅

[@ololadin91]

31:10 - void corruption made them more humanoid. As stated by Neltharion in the book he corrected (found in the vaults from Dragonflight), all flesh was given by the old gods. In the same book its confirmed that 5 oldgods were imprisoned by the Titans (Y'shaarj was killed and because of the destruction it caused the remaing ones were imprisoned). So we officially have 6 oldgods (1 killed by the Titans and 5 that were imprisoned) on azeroth + G'huun (which was an experiment and didn't have a titan prison like the others). So 6 oldgods or 7 if you count G'huun. The one on the wall in this cinematic doesn't look at all like the one from the chronicles painting - so thats probably our answer who the remaing 2 are.

[@dinhoX360]

I'm so happy your trailer analysis are back 🤩

[@samwalsh205]

The first thing I thought of when I saw this cinematic was, I can't wait to watch Tali's video on this

[@Kammithekiller]

I like the idea that she warps a body to fit her persona- its just like when the Hero of Cyrodil becomes Sheogorath, and no matter what you looked like, by the time we see them next in Skyrim, he is back to his dapper cheese loving self, the hero's body having shaped itself to suit the prince persona.

[@lindadelorme4259]

Her smile is " Attack on Titan" creepy

[@cyndrigaming]

Definitely "smiling titan" vibes, but not as creepy as Yelena still LOL

[@jugler07]

Made me think of the Babadook myself, with her perched on the shoulder looking down at the object/camera/us.

[@alyssumn3884]

Made me think of death note as well!

[@jugler07]

@@alyssumn3884 I can see that yeah haha

[@alyssumn3884]

@@jugler07 the smile is very Ryuk lol

[@destrucktor8071]

Incredible breakdown, so much I didn't see and your analysis makes the cinematic even better

[@CanadianManeuvre]

@20:28 Regarding the sepia tone stuff, it's also the colour palette of a sunset. The thing that ushers in darkness. Maybe that's a stretch for the old Black Empire, or not if this choice is a somewhat subtle hint that the Black Empire was only ever here to prepare the world for complete darkness ... the arrival of the void lords. Sepia tone, or sunset colours, makes you feel that darkness is just around the corner. That the whole world is about to fall into darkness. *chefs kiss*

[@redlady37]

Another amazing job, Taliesin. Thank you thank you

[@CuriousZenWayfarer]

This is WAAAAY cooler than a reaction video, thank you!!

[@radmike64]

It is, without question, the end of BFA

[@splashmok]

I don’t know how Tali didn’t catch that Nerubians didn’t exist during the black empire 😭

[@ENGLISHBACON]

great analysis of this tali! I don't always have time to think this deeply on these things and usually I connect the dots way down the line but its always good to hear other peoples thoughts and connect those dots way earlier, even if theyre right or wrong in a few weeks or months from now, still cool to hear!

[@kcroyal23]

Been waiting for this! So excited.

[@stonehenge313]

I tend to watch these cinematic vids a few times when released and I still miss bits and pieces - I love the discussion you bring to them as it provides both context and depth

[@galadrigal7644]

Aren’t Nerubians ancient descendants of the Akir from the black empire era? So that would likely make this event much sooner.

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

Correct, the Nerubians didn't exist during the Black Empire.

[@moscanaveia]

Ansurek is displayed to be far younger than later in the cinematic. Her growing so much in just seven years would drain some of the potential weight her character would have, for not being thousands of years old but just a couple decades

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

@@moscanaveia How do you know the life cycle and maturation rate of Nerubians? In any case, it's irrelevant. Nerubians ***did not exist*** during the black empire. It's impossible.

[@moscanaveia]

@@Red1Green2Blue3 I know, but things have been retconned before.

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

@@moscanaveia No where is it stated that this has been retconned.

[@Gui2356]

20:21 i pretty sure this isn't silvermoon, but Dalaran..... Right?

[@sonnyliston3762]

Was coming down to make this exact comment

[@silverchoweez]

Yes, it is Dalaran. Don't know how he confused the two, but it clearly is Dalaran.

[@watchman6671]

That is definitely Dalaran and falls under "What super obvious thing have I got completely wrong, because there's always something".

[@Juulben]

Yup, that's Dalaran

[@mikki6158]

@@silverchoweez Pretty sure he was talking about Silvermoon because it's been stated that the void will attack Silvermoon in Midnight.

[@anastasiosbanakakis7765]

I got goose bumps when u pointed out that the Nerubian city is gone in comparison and now Xal'atath stands in its place. Cinematic analisis is the pinnacle of your content. LOVE IT!

[@robertb1633]

Personally, I believe the cinematic happened recently as opposed to ancient history. My reason for this is the Queens daughter - she's a child in the beginning, and seemingly little more than a young adult by the end. You can see this in the way her hair has changed - it's still short and capped as opposed to the wild mane of her mother. She's positioned as young, impetuous and still having much to learn before she can be queen. So, unless Nerubians take hundreds of thousands of years to mature, I'm confident we're dealing with recent history.

[@raymondward2035]

I liked the possibility that Nerubian maturation depended on social stimuli rather than just time, kind of like how changes in the compression of a colony will affect changes in particular ants. That way she only matures at the rate required by her queen or colony, which may take thousands of years. But yeah, I think the scene happened at the end of BFA.

[@BobMerlinx]

She still acts like a young adult towards the end, sure, but it also feels like her physical appearance has changed a bit too much to only be a few years. (But I'm not an expert on Nerubian physiology, so...)

[@jakewright1932]

I love that the Faceless One didn't panic or wasn't even shocked at the betrayal showcasing how the Void sees all futures but doesn't know which will play out. As soon as the Queen reveals her treachery he knows how this thread ends, and mocks her with it.

[@jklroxmysox111]

And this cinematic passes the bechdel test, which is great.

[@Tinykek]

I truly love and appreciate you guys doing these. It's so much more needed now than ever before with media literacy and art appreciation declining.

[@Keyboardturner]

A few other notes i can think of: Xal'atath in her past Black Empire visage could literally be the same body, due to the Time Travel shenanigans from Dawn of the Infinite. That portal she was behind that Iridikron passed through as far as we're aware wasn't a time portal, it was a voidgate, still in that past timeline. The gem colors on Ansurek change from blue in her younger form to a dark blue/purple in the older forms, representing a shift over toward the Void. This difference in color can be seen before we see Xal'atath's visit as well, where it's still blue when Ansurek talks in favor of the people, but is starkly dark purple when she asks Neferess "who are you talking to?" I believe that these meetings with Xal'atath happened simultaneously to both Ansurek and Neferess personally, but she wasn't yet under the influence of Xal'atath when looking down from the palace.

[@raymondward2035]

Nice! I also like the possibility that her ancient form could reflect (or be the source of) a tendency of the curse of flesh to turn things into humoids

[@raymondward2035]

I like the possibility that Xal'atath's ancient form could reflect (or be the source of) a tendency of the curse of flesh to turn things into humoids

[@ub3rfr3nzy94]

Something to note is that the crystal on the wall carving is shown with rays coming off of it, indicating it gives off light. Either it has something to do with the structure above the city that's suspended, or the crystal was originally a void crystal, and that the Arathi came only after it shifted to light. The green jewel on the "crystal" is also the same as the ones addorned on the queens crown and armour/clothing.

[@GoncasCrazy]

1) On the "timeline question". When I saw the cinematic for the first time I immediately assumed that it was depicting events that happened at the end of BfA. Not only does "the last stand of the Black Empire at Ny'alotha" perfectly describe the setting of the raid in patch 8.3 (and I guess if that flashback was to the days of the actual Black Empire, then it wouldn't have been their last stand), but at the time of the Black Empire there wouldn't be a separate Nerubian kingdom to "recruit" anyway. As other have mentioned, the Aqir didn't split off into their distinct sub-races until after their war with the Trolls (which happened much later than the fall of the Black Empire), and from what I've seen about Ajz-Kahet, it seems that they split up from the Nerubians of Northrend even later than that. So, with all of this in mind, I don't understand how or why people think that the flashback was from thousands of years ago, and I have seen no compelling arguments to point in that direction. 2) That was not Silvermoon, that was Dalaran. I understand you were trying to find a connection to Midnight, but there's no need to force it so much.

[@monkeysk8er33]

Old lore is incomplete. Nerubians existed during the Black Empire. The video itself mentions that this takes place during the Black Empire. The Ny'alotha raid in BFA was no the time of the Black Empire, it was a fakeout, a vision of the old Empire. People will literally watch new lore and still scream "non-canon", even when Metzen is back in the writers room lol. Metzen is George Lucas, don't argue with lore under Metzen; you automatically lose. It's like arguing with God.

[@PopGoblinYT]

​@@monkeysk8er33No Nerubians definitely didn't exist back then. You're objectively wrong on that.

[@monkeysk8er33]

@@PopGoblinYT I'm sorry, are you Chris fucking Metzen? Didn't think so buddy. If Blizzard says they existed back then, they existed back then. There's nothing in lore that even definitively states they didn't exist back then. In fact I remember a funny little thing that happens in Dragonflight that made the Centaurs older then previously thought. Hidden civilizations remain hidden because nobody knows they are there. Everything in The War Within is about hidden civilizations no one knew existed until now. You're clearly not a writer, because this is writing 101: intro to not being a dumbass. Blizzard makes the lore, not you. If Blizzard says Zovaal was behind WC3, he was behind WC3 now. That's how writing works, it evolves. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to tell interesting stories, let alone develop the world state. It's always the people who have never written a damn thing in their lives, let alone created lore themselves for their own unique setting, that bitch about Blizzard and their writing. I've never seen a single writer talk shit on Blizzard before, because writers know it's good. Stop arguing about semantics. Nerubians defied Yogg, so they definitely existed back during The Black Empire. People just suck at studying the lore. We also just got this cinematic proving they existed during The Black Empire. Get the dust out of your ears, this is canon.

[@thomas00129]

also we never saw the mother actually die just getting stabbed so she may still be alive somewhere

[@Fervus18]

After playing the beta, I say this comment deserve a like.

[@archermahou8910]

The first scene being 100,000 years ago makes the whole thing really funny. Queen: You aren't ready yet, daughter. Your time will come. Ansurek: But mother, my age has hit six digits!

[@jakubpelikan2393]

First scene is during BFA.

[@jaymzOG]

It makes more sense for it to have happened in BFA.

[@mesmedor]

my god can you imagine having a teenager at home for thousands of years. That poor mother

[@TheSilverwing999]

Which is why it didn't happen 100.000 years ago. But funny bit

[@reboundTTV]

Great video, Tali. Also wanna point out another parallel with Ansurek and Azj-Kahet, and that's with Suramar in Legion. Alternate Gul'dan filling the role of Xal'atath and Ansurak being the Grand Magistrix. A large city filled with loyalists and powerful enemies, versus a smaller, seemingly rag-tag group of revolutionaries.

[@chadmclendon6475]

@26:30 love this was left in. Regardless of if on purpose. Love seeing how the pudding gets made.

[@austinsebben1402]

It's just nice to have a villain not drowning in grim solemnity, that's definitely why I liked Denathrius

[@ChrisBear1989]

Xal'atath is most definitely enjoying herself.

[@ReverendRaff]

Yet again, Bliz has delivered brilliantly with these cinematics.

[@ThatGurds11258]

The coming into focus aspect is interesting. As the mural is also returning to focus, suggesting a return to those times of "greatness," or a return to the former power that their kingdom once had. Though she is really undoing the breaking from the Old Gods that her mother achieved some time ago. Also, the queen pulling and cutting the thread to "refuse" the faceless. A simple act to sever any ties that they had with the Old Gods.

[@Ric0121]

I would say the faceless one coming was during BFA, only because when the princess is with her mother her concerns are still about her people and how they are suffering. And then you see xalathat right then as well, which got her body during that period. I doubt the nerubians were under distress for 10,000 years or more without venturing out for better things

[@Sk_Et]

I think there's a very important detail in the first line. "Slender is the strand that guides our destiny." Ansurek only sees one path to her perceived destiny. The void sees all paths as truths. The void is malleable and shifts to make it's perceived destiny happen. Ansurek was trapped long ago, by her narrow vision and Xalatath preyed on it. The Queen states this by saying how much she has to learn. That is why Ansurek fell to corruption, she saw no options. While she is the one seizing control, she sees herself as the spider. When the black empire agent gave the prophecy, Ansurek was there, she heard it as a part of her destiny as she recalls. Xalatath mimics the Queen killing the agent by the simplest gesture bringing downfall to another. The Queens was a curl of the finger, Xalataths was an eye shift. Both the Queen and the Black Empire Agent were in the web of their demise without knowing. As now is Ansurek.

[@josephheller3825]

i fkn LIIIIVE for these break downs! amazing

[@silviopiovani5279]

I just love your cinematics annalysis

[@christabelle__]

Given how Egyptian they are, the wall-art makes me think of Egyptian art - and the radiant lines coming off of the crystal really make me think of how the sun was depicted in Egyptian art, how Ra was shown... with lines emanating from them, to indicate sunlight. And yeah, Blizz really nailed the 'insane Anime villain' vibe with Xal this time, and I *love* it!

[@MintEverett]

Uploaded this just in time for me to watch it while eating breakfast lol best start to the day!

[@Beer_Wolf]

Her coming out of the wall reminds me of the Demon Wall from the Final Fantasy series 😅

[@epic-o2215]

its cool to think that xalataths outer appearance is just like a skin suit, and the horror is inside, the short of her eyes being completely black except for pupils almost made her look like the monster was gonna shift inside the puppet dead body she wears.

[@mosando]

I was waiting for this video as as soon as I saw the cinematic, I needed to see what Tali would say in regards to "Making them great again" hahaha

[@weazed]

My interpretation of the timeline here is that even though these nerubians are "ancient survivors of the black empire," I thought they were supposed to have left azjol-nerub more recently (I can't remember where I read/heard this). This would mean that this big faceless guy is definitely from BFA Ny'alotha. Also, xal'atath is of course in the form of the body she takes in BFA.

[@kevinmontgomery4443]

"That's like us having tiny little feral humans running round eating bugs in our home". We do, they're called The Borrowers

Been waiting for this video :D

[@OnlyRoke]

"That's like us having tiny little humans walking around eating scraps." Those are monkeys, Talie :D

[@SurpriseCake]

The Outer Wilds sounds always trigger my brain. Love it.

[@Jerao]

What really does it for me, is that it feels kinda good to be dealing with a terrestrial army again. A "dark" kingdom waging war against the rest of the world without a bunch of mcguffins or titan trinkets. There's old god juice obviously but it feels like a more classic "army vs army" that worked well in Legion, Wrath, and even parts of WoDs level up story.

[@erdtroll7010]

That final shot of Ansurek also has her second pair of arms outstretched, urging to behold the armies behind her as if to say “Look at all those things I’ve achieved (with some help of course but we dont need to talk about that)“

[@krakwithak]

I love the Imagery where Neferesk is framed outside of the old god tentacles of the mural, to the right, but when Ansarek stabs her, Ansarek is framed right in the mouth of the old god with the void forces of the mural facing inwards towards her

[@ebernardou]

The mural is a relief! That’s the world you’re looking for

[@nico-leeshort7253]

A cool detail i noticed was that of the princesses jewel's on her crown & outfit turning from blue (13:00) in the conversation they had on the balcony to the void purple ( which to me suggests that she had already taken the deal with Xalath before the 'eye shift' moment (25:08)

[@CYBONIX]

Well done, and very entertaining~!

[@Magik160]

I need that Xal’Jesus image as a high res wallpaper

[@DasDevilSquid]

I really enjoyed this cinematic a lot. Xal'atath was just so sinister.

[@JoULove]

It's giving The Dragon Prince, with Xal'atath as Aaravos and Ansurek as Viren. I know body horror is a staple for Old Gods and void servants but it's interesting to think about spider people becoming more humanoid as equivalent of night elves becoming Naga. Oh and the scene with the big mural is like something out of Prince of Egypt as well.

[@chaselevinson7950]

Nerubians evolved AFTER the fall of the Old Gods. According to WOWpedia, the troll empire was the one that split the old aqir empire into the qiraji, mantids, and nerubians. The troll empire arose after the fall of the Old Black Empire.

[@monkeysk8er33]

Inaccurate. Nerubians served the Old Gods, they served Yogg. Then they turned on them. Also, this video literally shows Nerubians DURING the Black Empire. People really suck at lore *facepalm*

[@Mairiain]

Love it when you do this analyses!

[@71jdanziger]

"And together, we will finally claim our destiny!" The faceless one at the beginning of the trailer already told you of your destiny since Queen Ansurek is part of that "line that will sever itself"

[@altgrw701]

Unironicaly one of my favorite parts of wow is The tali reactions to The cinematics

[@Palisis]

@Tali I believe this is actually recent history. Few reasons: 1) There's no indication that nerubians can live for 100 of thousands of years. They are insectoids, such as the mantid, have very short lifespans. 2) Nerubians are a split from Aquir who traveled to Northrend; Northrend existed only after the well of eternity events. Even the paintings and sepia-colored slides, depict old aquir-like or more insectoid-seeming figures as opposed to the queen/princess and other more humanoid seeming insectoids we have today. 3) The hard times the nerubians are going through seem to suggest that this is after the War of the Spider and the plague they were suffering from, this would put it after the events of the Lich King. 4) Xal'atath appearance and the queen's dismissal: These are nerubians, if they were aquir (meaning 1000s of years ago), why would they follow Xal'atath instead of serving the black empire? I think this queen is a survivor of the War of the Spider. After the betrayal of the Lich King, the queen dismisses Xal'atath with that in mind.

[@raymondward2035]

I liked the possibility that Nerubian maturation depended on social stimuli rather than just time, kind of like how changes in the compression of a colony will affect changes in particular ants. That way Ansurek only matures at the rate required by her queen or colony, which may take thousands of years. But yeah, the scene probably happened at the end of BFA.

[@Saimeren]

The sepia colour was also used in Uther's Afterlife video at the beginning with Arthas. So it's not just Old God stuff.

[@TheHugos94]

One thing that I noticed as well was the change in the colour of the princess's eyes. For most of the cinematic they had an orange colour and then at the end after she had succeeded her mother they took the same colour that her mother's eyes had. Either that could be just something that happens to the queen or could reflect some stronger ties to some void entity that the old queen had that also gave her those red eyes but through force of will she managed to free herself from their influence, or maybe it means nothing and it's just something to make her look more threatening.

[@ourovermelho23]

brilliant analysis mate!

[@askatormc2375]

Ok, I didnt think the thumbnail could make Xal any more horrific, but here we go. Well done, Tali. Now I'll acutally start watching, tho...

[@kunlaialps]

this analysis is a masterpiece!

[@Aerisot]

I think the Narubians struggling started when The Arathi showed up 15 years ago, they originally traded with the Earthen, but then when the Arathi showed up, they blocked their trade routes and treated them as enemies.

[@Draec]

Tali, I believe the wall carving would be called a relief. " a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material"

[@TaliesinEvitel]

Yes thank you! I'm stupid that I always forget this, especially considering my literal art historian wife 😂

[@blu1blu1blu1blu1blu1blu]

29:25 ngl, top right and 2nd from the left do unspeakable things to my mental state

[@koletonnelson6310]

Preach, my brother in the void.

[@Erasmus_Trueandreal]

There seems to be a lot of references to the Dreamworks movie, Prince of Egypt. The music at the end is ery similar to the music playing in the movie whenever Pharao says "I am the morning and evening star". The idea of a leader standing up to an oppressor and refusing slavery echoes "Let my people go". Ahnsurek's comment on the people's suffering leading to her killing someone echoes Moses' arch from Prince to murderer. Xal'atath's entrance into the cinematic echoes Yahwehs entrance in Prince of Egypt, saying "I have heard the cries of my people". The mother lecturing her daughter echoes Pharao lecturing Rameses... I find it -very- interesting.

[@Lemonface1]

God i love when you do these sort of videos!

[@lonelystarslibrary9326]

I always found it funny how the void was much more classically demonic than the demons. Yes, the demons did whispers here and there, temp people and stuff, but overall, they were mainly a force of chaotic destruction, while the void is more conniving and into the whole "demon deal" thing

[@grade14]

Perhaps the difference of Devils vs Demons. Especially in DnD but also other settings Demons would fall under a more Chaotic Evil (ie Destruction) and Devils fall under Lawful Evil (ie deals, corruption, etc). Also, the expression "Deal with the Devil". But I do like how both the Legion and the Void can both be evil and different from each other, even if they occasionally share tactics (orc/eredar corruption, black empire's use of force).

[@AlexSaheli]

The crystal from the fresk is the main building of their Kingdom. It has the identical shape to the details and threads and all

[@NateLyell]

I thought as far as the timeline goes, this takes place during BfA for the simple fact that Xal'atath did not take on the physical representation (void elf) we see here until mid way through BfA.

[@TANGL3_BURR]

From the start, Xal'atath gave me a lot of Asian urban legends vibes. Her glitch to the camera in the features overview reminding me of Samara Morgan, giving me Girl in the gap vibes from the thumbnail for the beta trailer, and now a lot of Yokai vibes from her smirk and the fact the Nerubian queen called her a ghost.

[@DarkHeroGamePlay]

Ngl, that creepy smile turned something on 😮 Great job 👏

[@HawkknightXC88]

While coming out of the walls is on the top of horror.

[@jare3959]

The use of gemstone colors for visual storytelling is fascinating. Citrine continues to represent the subterranean. The maw, the black dragon flight, and now the buildings in Azj-Kahet. Sapphire was Ardenweald, the Blues, and young Ansurek. Emerald was Maldraxxus, the Greens, Queen. Amethyst is the Nerubian guard, Xal'atath, and the new Ansurek. I'm not entirely sure what Sapphire and Emerald represent. Green I think could be a behind the scenes protector approach. It was also in Zereth Mortis and the mural crystal. Blue feels like it could be in regards to how power is used. The emerald on the crystal in the Old God mural makes me think that Xal'atath used to be on the same page as the Queen.