King Anduin in World of Warcraft also knows no break. In the new expansion “The War Within,” he once again faces a bizarre fate …
The next expansion of World of Warcraft, The War Within, is currently being tested in Alpha. Not all content is available yet, and Blizzard is gradually opening up the new areas. Along with this come significant revelations of the story. The finale of the newest area deals with the future of Anduin Wrynn …
Spoiler Alert: This article discusses the story of The War Within and the conclusion of the area Healfall. Anyone who does not want spoilers should not continue reading.
What has been discovered? In the Alpha of The War Within, the main story of the new area Healfall (“Hallowfall”) is already fully playable. As usual, cutscenes are not yet in the game, but there is a brief description of what will be seen in the sequence, so players can continue to follow the storyline.
It also concerns the fate of Anduin Wrynn, who seems to once again fall into captivity.
In Healfall, much of the story revolves around the fight against the Nerubians. They continuously attack on behalf of Xal’atath, trying to overpower the Arathi and other inhabitants.
The final questline leads to one last great battle, part of which takes place on an airship of the Arathi.
The description of the cutscene “Anduin is lost” is as follows:
Faerin, Alleria, and the hero climb the ladder to the ship, only to see that Anduin has been left behind.
Anduin sees the Nerubians preparing a ballista that would cause the ship to crash.
He finds his resolve and jumps into battle to stop them.
Faerin, Alleria, and the hero watch in horror as Anduin is surrounded by the Horde of Nerubians.
After that, there is no trace of Anduin. He was apparently captured and likely taken to Xal’atath.
Where is Anduin currently? The current whereabouts of Anduin are still unknown. Following the events of Shadowlands, he is on a journey of self-discovery and will likely only reappear with Patch 11.0, which is the pre-patch for The War Within. Because then the cinematic will play where Thrall encounters Anduin.
It’s a bit curious, as there are further parallels between Anduin and his father Varian. Varian also once boldly threw himself into an army of fiends, specifically during the opening scenario of the “Legion” expansion. This subsequently led to Varian’s death and directly resulted in Anduin having to ascend the throne.
That Anduin displays the same heroism in Healfall as his father could indicate a similar fate, but it may still be too early to say that for sure.
Or to quote the very apt summary from wowhead:
“After all, he’s already used to being captured and kidnapped by an evil purple woman with the body of a dead elf. If Xal’atath spends time with him, there’s at least a 5% chance she will reconsider her methods until the end of the expansion.”
That might be a little bit cynical, but also quite fitting. After all, Anduin was already kidnapped during Shadowlands and was at the mercy of Sylvanas. The visually and morally quite similar Xal’atath could almost be like an old acquaintance to him…
