World of Warcraft makes a significant time leap. At least that’s what a leak from the game’s Alpha suggests.
Possible time jumps are a recurring topic in World of Warcraft. Because usually, very little time passes in Azeroth – while an expansion often lasts two real years, historically within Warcraft often even less time passes.
With Dragonflight, Blizzard could skip many years for the first time: A first hint of a time jump has been found and it’s quite clear.
Spoiler Alert: Those who do not want to know what exactly could happen with Dragonflight should not continue reading. You have been warned.
This is the new information: In the Alpha of Dragonflight, a new version has been uploaded. That’s not unusual, but an interesting dialogue has appeared. Characters who completed their introductory mission on the Dragon Isles in the 1st Alpha version can now see a special dialogue in Stormwind.
For characters created since the 2nd Alpha build, this dialogue does not appear. It is apparently not intended to be displayed.
What exactly was found? When visiting Stormwind with an “old” character, a dialogue plays out between Matthias Shaw, the leader of the Stormwind intelligence agency, and King Greymane, the king of Gilneas. They discuss the whereabouts of the king (via wowhead).
We have the translation of this dialogue here for you:
Shaw: King Greymane, I thought you should know. Furorion asked if there was any hint of –
Greymane: Anduin? He asked me the same question. Even though their friendship has been strained, I know the king sees Furorion as an ally.
Shaw: Several years have passed since the heroes of Azeroth returned from the realm of the dead. During this time, I have followed countless leads. Reports of the king being seen at various locations. None of them turned out to be true.
Greymane: I do not believe we will find Anduin until he wants to be found. That may take time.
Shaw: Turalyon is popular among the noble houses and he is a good leader for our soldiers. But the people of Stormwind miss their king.
Greymane: The best thing we can all do is give Anduin the time he needs. And then to be here whenever that time comes.
The dialogue is quite unusual. Because usually, relatively little time passes between two expansions within the story of Warcraft. Most of the time, only a few months lie between the end of one expansion and the beginning of the next.
That there is talk of “several years” here could mean that the world of Warcraft is evolving and many changes are on the horizon.
Some hope that this will lead to a further overhaul of the world in the expansion after Dragonflight, which will then represent these changes. How many years have actually passed is unclear. In the original English, it is referred to as “several years” – thus probably more than 2.
What are they talking about? The two are talking about King Anduin, who currently decides not to return to Stormwind after the events in Shadowlands. He needs time and wants to get things done – but does not reveal what he means. One thing that Anduin still needs to do is a visit to Sylvanas Windrunner in the Maw. Many assumed that he would return to Stormwind after visiting Sylvanas, but that seems not to be the case.
As it turns out in the dialogue, the king of Stormwind is likely still missing for many years.
What does that mean? Since the dialogue only appears for “broken” characters from the first build, it is quite likely that this conversation was not meant for the public. This leaves mainly two possibilities:
- Either the dialogue has already been cut and discarded and was merely an idea that should not go live.
- Or the dialogue was intended to be kept secret from players. It is quite possible that the dialogue was only meant to appear in the finished version of Dragonflight.
Thus, it could be possible that the pre-event of Dragonflight explains and initiates a time jump. Several years could pass, and especially with an expansion that deals with dragons – and among them the bronze dragons, the guardians of time – it would be an optimal occasion to allow some time to pass.
Whether this is actually a premature leak or “outdated” lines of dialogue can likely only be determined when we know more about Dragonflight, its release, and the possible pre-event.
What do you think? What do you believe could happen in a time jump? How would the situation in Azeroth change?
We have summarized the entire story of World of Warcraft for you here.
