In World of Warcraft, many years could pass soon. The reason for this is a small detail that suggests a faster passage of time in the new expansion …
In the next expansion of World of Warcraft, we will venture into the “Shadowlands,” the realms of the dead. But players are already speculating about the time afterwards, which could be particularly interesting. After all, there are hints in the game that time passes differently in the Shadowlands. This could mean that after “Shadowlands,” we will experience a significant time jump in the history of Azeroth.
Where does this information come from? On Reddit, a user pointed out that death knights were able to complete a quest chain for their mount in Legion. One part of the quest is given by “Salanar the Horseman.” He is an NPC who was last seen in the starting area of the death knights, where he had a connection to the Shadowlands (“Realm of Shadows”) where he resided. In Legion, he says:
Greetings, deathlord. Years have passed since our last encounter, but for me, it has only been a few days.
This is a clear indication that time passes slower in the Shadowlands. While only a few days pass there, weeks, months, or years pass in the “real world.”
Since Blizzard claims to plan about two expansions into the future, they must have already known when they introduced the quest that we would be going to the Shadowlands in the future. So this information could be a small teaser, especially since it has no other use for the quest.
How likely is that? A time jump like this would mean significant change for Azeroth and would essentially be a “second Cataclysm,” where many areas would need to be revamped. However, it would also be a perfect opportunity to bring fresh wind into the game and perhaps establish a new adversary.
This adversary could have caused chaos during the years of absence of the great heroes. Perhaps N’Zoth survived and created the Black Empire? Maybe the Void has long been attempting to attack Azeroth while we are away?
Chromie is another clue: Another hint that is often discussed on Reddit is Chromie. Chromie is a bronze dragon and is familiar with different timelines. In Shadowlands, Chromie is the contact person for new characters. They can choose an expansion with her and then experience it. The whole world is then brought up to the state of that expansion so that not four different warlords are standing in Orgrimmar.
This kind of technology would also be perfect for conducting a time jump into the future.
Beta will provide clues: It is likely that the beta of Shadowlands will already provide us with initial hints as to whether Blizzard has planned such a time jump. If there are significant (story) quests that regularly take us from the Shadowlands back to Azeroth, then they would need to be sprinkled with such hints. If that is not the case, Blizzard may have abandoned the concept of differently passing time.
However, if there are no quests that lead from the Shadowlands back to Azeroth or “back and forth,” that might also indicate that Blizzard is aware of the time shift and is intentionally proceeding this way.
It is also possible that the new Warcraft book “Shadows Rising” will provide initial answers to this.
We will surely learn more about this in the coming weeks, as the Shadowlands beta is likely to start soon.
Would you be interested in a significant time jump in World of Warcraft? Or would that be too drastic and the changes too extensive for an expansion?
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