In the new expansion of World of Warcraft, a notorious banshee returns. Sylvanas will make an appearance again.
With the launch of a new expansion of World of Warcraft, new characters are once again the focus of attention. However, the intro cinematic of Midnight only showcased Xal’atath, Liadrin, and Lor’themar. Many players are left wondering which major characters will also make an appearance.
An answer that few expected: Sylvanas. We will see her in Midnight.
What was revealed? At gamescom 2025, many interviews were conducted with the developers of WoW. In a conversation between PsybearTV and Game Director Ion Hazzikostas and Associate Design Director Maria Hamilton, an interesting question was posed (on YouTube): Which important characters that we will see in Midnight were not featured in the grand cinematic?
Maria Hamilton replied:
I don’t want to spoil anything. But I believe you’ll see a bit of Sylvanas at a certain time, that seems very likely. I don’t think you will see the Naga anytime soon, but I’m not ruling that out either.
What many took from this: Sylvanas will definitely return.
What does this mean? Although Hamilton says that “you will see a bit of Sylvanas,” it doesn’t necessarily mean that Sylvanas will return from the Maw and play a significant role in Midnight.
After all, there is a dungeon in the new area of Quel’thalas, the “Tower of the Windrunners” – the estate of the Windrunner family, where Sylvanas, Alleria, and Vereesa lived together in the past. The tower is said to offer a lot of story, so it seems likely that we will also experience some flashbacks into the past of the Windrunner family – including Sylvanas.
Where is Sylvanas right now? After Sylvanas regained the missing part of her soul in the Shadowlands, she was condemned by Tyrande to spend her future in the Maw – essentially the “hell” of World of Warcraft. There, she must unconditionally collect all souls that ended up there unjustly and ensure that they are brought before the Soul Judge Pelagos.
How long this task will take is uncertain – especially since time flows differently in the Shadowlands than on Azeroth. Therefore, it is possible that Sylvanas has already been pursuing her task there for several decades… or even much longer.
What does the community think about Sylvanas? Opinions on Sylvanas have been divided in the World of Warcraft community for several years. Many did not like her development since the “Battle for Azeroth” expansion, in which she burned Teldrassil and was responsible for further atrocities in the resulting war. During the Shadowlands expansion, many were finally fed up with Sylvanas and happy that she had to remain in the Maw.
However, there are also many fans of Sylvanas who have loved her since Warcraft III and are longing for the return of the banshee queen. How extensive Sylvanas’ appearance will be remains to be seen. But it is sure to be exciting to see when the community will soon have to choose between the two undead elf ladies – Xal’atath or Sylvanas.
Are you looking forward to Sylvanas’ return in Midnight? Or would you have preferred that the Dark Lady had to serve her sentence for a few more years and not return to Azeroth so soon?
If you find the story of World of Warcraft too confusing, don’t worry: We have summarized the entire lore of WoW here.
