Shadowlands has World of Warcraft sustainably damaged, especially the story. That is why part of it has now been rewritten.
If you ask in the World of Warcraft community what has caused the greatest damage to the story of Warcraft, it is likely to be the Shadowlands expansion. The Jailer as the ultimate villain, who has been guiding the story for millennia, simply did not work.
Blizzard has long struggled with the criticism and has now ensured that it would cease. Because some of the Jailer’s actions disappear into obscurity, and he will likely never play a major role again.
What was the problem with the Jailer? The problem with the Jailer was not only that he was poorly developed, but that he was also supposed to function as a mastermind who essentially guided the fate of the entire world. He was not only responsible for the creation of the Burning Legion but also for Arthas’s actions, all the conflicts of previous expansions, and essentially every major event of the past.
This alone turned the Jailer into a meme, so that in the community he was always seen as having “thought one step ahead.” Thus, this article could also presumably be part of the Jailer’s plan.
The YouTuber Bellular also made a video about this:
What has Blizzard changed? In the fourth part of the book series “Warcraft Chronicles,” Blizzard makes a few changes to the existing story and places them in a new context. Especially the last words of the Jailer take on a whole new meaning – a much weaker one. Because when the Jailer died, he warned us that “only a united cosmos can survive what is coming.” But what is actually “coming”? He never said. And now we know: He didn’t know either.
Yes, you read that right. The Jailer actually had no idea what was coming our way. He only had a vague feeling of it. He got that when he held the role of the Soul Judge and looked into the souls of countless mortals over whom he had to pass judgment. He saw that some great danger was coming – but he didn’t really know what it was.
Sure – that makes the Jailer look like a fool, who took rather radical paths, just based on a feeling.
The story of the “First Ones” has also been changed. According to the narrative from Zereth Mortis, they were akin to the “gods of gods” – those who created the Titans and the Pantheon of Death.
In Zereth Mortis it was said that we had found evidence of the existence of these beings, but that has now been retroactively changed as well. The First Ones are now mainly a myth and an explanation that some inhabitants of the Shadowlands have come up with. Whether they really exist is no longer quite clear.
Is Shadowlands therefore “erased”? No, it is not. A large part of the story of Shadowlands still stands. The current patch 11.2 also showcased Ve’nari and Tazavesh – both content introduced with Shadowlands.
Moreover, Shadowlands also had some good story elements that can still be utilized. Some incidents are simply too significant to just erase – all the events surrounding Anduin or Tyrande for instance.
Parts of the Shadowlands will therefore also continue to appear in the story, but only the parts that worked well. This will mainly restrict itself to Denathrius, the major followers of the four Covenants, and the intermediaries. At least Blizzard will likely want to exclude the Jailer from now on – just like the “First Ones”.
But in the long run, the developers want to bring back smaller threats…
