Even World of Warcraft is full of small and large references to Game of Thrones. We show you a few that you might have overlooked.
At the start of the final season of Game of Thrones, there is hardly another topic in gaming. Suddenly, the Night King, Winterfell, and various gnomes are on everyone’s lips. It’s time to take a look at World of Warcraft and examine how much “Game of Thrones” is actually in WoW – or conversely, how much WoW is in Game of Thrones. At least in one scene, the creators apparently borrowed quite obviously from Blizzard.
Warcraft had a Night King before it was cool
The largest parallels between Game of Thrones and World of Warcraft can be found in the role of a major antagonist. The Night King, who leads the White Walkers and their undead in Game of Thrones, has strong similarities to Arthas Menethil, the former Lich King.
Both come “from the icy north” and try to overrun the kingdoms in the south and make them their subjects. They are also both powerful necromancers capable of reanimating fallen foes in large numbers and integrating them into their own army.
But the similarities do not stop there. Especially one scene from the last season caused amused smiles among World of Warcraft fans. The resurrection of a dragon as an undead servant is something that Arthas Menethil did in his cinematic of “Wrath of the Lich King.” There he awoke Sindragosa from the ice.
One scene is almost a 1:1 copy. As the undead dragon flies over the armies of undead soldiers in Game of Thrones, surrounded by a grim atmosphere with the cold, inhospitable landscape in the background, WoW fans immediately recognized where it came from.
The exact same scene was also seen in the cinematic. When comparing the two scenes side by side, it is hard to deny that one work has borrowed from the other.
Of course, the books “A Song of Ice and Fire” existed before Warcraft 3 – but the exact portrayal of this undead army with the dragon probably had its origin in Warcraft.
Both sides likely borrowed heavily from one another.
Many small references in World of Warcraft
But World of Warcraft does not hide the fact that the developers are apparently great fans of A Song of Ice and Fire and have incorporated numerous Easter eggs into Azeroth.
For example, there is the “Axe of the Iron Price” to be found in the expansion Mists of Pandaria. The “Iron Price” is a concept from Game of Thrones. Instead of paying for things (the “gold price”), one pays the Iron Price – which usually means killing the person who owns what one wants. This is especially practiced by the Ironborn, to which the Greyjoys belong.
In the expansion “Legion”, rogues could obtain a legendary item called “The Empty Crown.” The item has a small flavor text that says: “It is hard to put a leash on a dog once you have placed a crown on its head.” These words are taken verbatim from Tyrion Lannister.
In Stormshield (the capital of the Alliance in Warlords of Draenor), you can find an NPC named Amelia Clarke – a clear reference to actress Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys. Hunters can even notice something quirky about her: Amelia Clarke is not a humanoid, but a dragonkin!
The Shado-Pan in Mists of Pandaria should also be looked at briefly, as they have many parallels to the Night’s Watch. After all, they have been protecting a wall for years and ensure that nothing gets over that wall. While they are not undead, but Klaxxi, the task is identical. They even have the same sayings as the Night’s Watch, namely “We are the watchers on the walls” and “I am the sword in the darkness.” Both are taken from the Night’s Watch oath.
Another prominent figure can be found in the Mage class hall. There is Melis, the Mistress of Flames. With her burning sword and red robe, she is a clear reference to Melisandre, the “red woman” behind many a curse. Her famous words “The night is dark and full of terrors” appear similarly. Melis says when you talk to her: “The night is dark and full of demons.”
These are just a few of the Easter eggs you can find related to Game of Thrones in WoW – there are several dozen, and some of them have probably not been recognized yet.
