A new cinematic for World of Warcraft has been revealed. This time you see the Ardenweald – and the problems faced there.
In the lead-up to the release of the upcoming WoW expansion Shadowlands, Blizzard keeps unveiling new cinematics. After the exciting video for Bastion and Uther was released at gamescom, last week Maldraxxus featured the orc woman Draka.
This week it’s the Ardenweald – you can watch the cinematic here.
What is the Ardenweald? The Ardenweald is one of the countless realms of the Shadowlands and an important place for all beings connected to nature or druidism. Beings who cared for nature during their lives or are natural demigods return to the Ardenweald after their death. Here, they are divided into different groves and nurtured and cared for by the inhabitants of the Ardenweald until one day they have enough strength to be reborn.
This is what can be seen in the cinematic: The video shows Ursoc – a bear god that players defeated in Legion. He was corrupted by the Nightmare and had to be killed, after which his soul wandered into the Ardenweald.
Or he lands in a grove and has since been cared for, to be reborn one day. But as time passes, it becomes apparent that something is wrong. The necessary anima required to sustain the nature spirits seems to have run dry. There is a drought, and more and more of the nature spirits are deteriorating.
Even Ursoc’s essence is threatened and will someday be attacked. The guardian of the grove tries to save his soul – ultimately realizes, however, that the ruler of this realm must make decisions about which soul lives and which dies.
With a heavy heart, Ursoc is sacrificed so that other souls can continue to live.
Much emotion without great action
Although Afterlife: Ardenweald contains the least amount of action of the cinematics so far and fundamentally tells a story that can be summarized in three sentences, it has touched me.
The dilemma faced by the Ardenweald, its queen, and the various guardians of the groves has been wonderfully conveyed and provokes thought.
For me, the video is clearly better than that of Maldraxxus – but still falls short of the Uther cinematic.
Cortyn Nightshade
WoW demon from MeinMMO
What do you think of the video for Ardenweald? Does it set the stage for the most beautiful area of Shadowlands?
