MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus is looking forward to the upcoming Diablo 4. Just the thought of Lilith years ago created excitement that still lasts today. Many fans are also anticipating the game and pondering what might come. One theory is currently being discussed.
In a tiny thread on reddit, the user Tesdey explains that he believes he knows the Lord of Terror will appear in Diablo 4 – the namesake Diablo himself. He was already in charge during parts 1 to 3, at least in the main games.
The Supreme Evil is actually dead, we personally killed him. Admittedly… several times. Somehow, Diablo keeps coming back. The only exception so far was Diablo Immortal, where the big villain is Skarn, at least so far.
Now, in Diablo 4, 2 other major characters have already been introduced: Lilith, the mother of all Nephalem, and Inarius, the fallen angel, who was extensively introduced in the latest trailer.
This is exactly where Tesdey picks up. The user explains that he has been thinking about the theory for days and now wants to know that Diablo returns – and how he does it.
Lilith was shown in the reveal trailer and captivated me completely back then:
Theory: This is all Diablo’s plan… again
Based on what we know so far, Inarius, or at least his followers, are first our allies and apparently those that we support. A church-like cult has been created around the angel and he fights against the evil Lilith.
Lilith is said, according to Tesdey’s theory, to possess Diablo’s skull, which grants her power and prevents the return of the Supreme Evil. The same is already being attempted by Skarn in Diablo Immortal.
So we help Inarius defeat Lilith, which gives the angel himself more power. In the theoretical plot twist, he goes mad with power and tries to “purify” Sanctuary, meaning to annihilate all Nephalem.
Once again, we have to step in and take out the winged one. According to the theory, Diablo has been waiting for this. With the two greatest threats eliminated and the potential shards of the Worldstone that are released as a result, Diablo can free himself and BAM! – new final boss.
I personally consider this quite likely as well. At least for a DLC, such a story would be suitable and would not differ too much from classic Diablo narratives. Such things have happened more often there. But it would be a mistake for Blizzard to rely on old patterns here.
The head already stated earlier that Diablo 4 uses the best features from previous parts. But that would be fatal for the story, as there is so much potential here. This is the current state:
Diablo is dead – Let Lilith and Inarius live
The Diablo series follows a seemingly clear pattern of good and evil, which players should be able to assign at least superficially. Angels are good, demons are evil, so we beat up the nasty foes.
Diablo has always made this very clear as an antagonist. The big villain seemed to have only terror, death, and destruction on his mind and did not tire of mentioning it. Perfect for mindless hack’n’slay gameplay, after all, you don’t want to think about whom you are currently beheading.
However, reality is not so black and white. Angels can, from a moral standpoint, be quite evil, or at least willing to sacrifice lives for their goal. This was already seen with Malthael in Diablo 3 or, historically much earlier, with Inarius. And also with Lilith.
Diablo offers a much greater depth from the story than the gameplay initially suggests. And Diablo 4 should please utilize this:
I love Diablo, both the series and the character. I even use the female form from Diablo 3 as my avatar in Battle.net, and the Lord of Terror was one of my mains in Heroes of the Storm. But Diablo as a character is played out – from my perspective.
Lilith and Inarius, on the other hand, offer such great potential that should not be wasted. But if Diablo appears as the theory claims, the angel and the demoness would be directly “burned,” without being fully realized.
Actually, we should want to help Lilith
A small excursion into history explains why Inarius and Lilith deserve more than “just” 4 chapters (or less) in a new Diablo entry. Inarius and Lilith are responsible for the entire world. They created Sanctuary and the Nephalem. Without them, we would not be these powerful beings we are allowed to play today.
Inarius saw it as a danger and wanted to wipe out the Nephalem. Lilith wanted to protect her children. Historically speaking, we should actually want to ally with Lilith and overthrow Inarius.
In our special, you will find everything you need to know about Lilith. You can see the latest cinematic featuring the demon lady and her angel lover here:
At the same time, both also wanted to exploit the Nephalem for their own goals. They weave their own intrigues, and it is hard to say how much genuine affection or fear actually speaks from them.
Lilith and Inarius have so many facets that they deserve to be described in detail. One game alone will not do them justice.
Historically, they have done more for the creation of the world of Diablo than the namesake Lord of Terror. Even though the main game takes at least 180 hours to reach max level, there is enough potential for more stories behind it. Faction wars, new features, something along those lines.
No one would likely miss Diablo anyway. For those who play Diablo for the gameplay, it probably does not matter who they are hitting, if they even read the mob names. But lore nerds like me would be delighted by such details in the story. Let’s just hope that the fan theory is incorrect.
The first official playtest reports on Diablo 4 are already here:
First tests explain the gameplay of Diablo 4: Here are 5 cool details – And 2 that annoy
