The heroes of World of Warcraft are in danger. Four great leaders are kidnapped and taken away at the start of Shadowlands.
In the upcoming expansion Shadowlands, the champions of World of Warcraft head to the eponymous Shadowlands. But how exactly the entrance there plays out was not so clear – until now. Meanwhile, it is possible to play the intro on the alpha server and experience what Sylvanas is doing and what happens to the leaders of the Alliance and Horde.
Spoiler warning: This article deals with the intro and the story at the beginning of Shadowlands. You have been warned. The shown screenshots are from wowhead.
Right at the beginning, we are called to Icecrown. There, the fortress of the Death Knights, Acherus, is located. The events from the Shadowlands cinematic have already taken place, Sylvanas has destroyed the Crown of Domination, and Bolvar is recovering from these consequences.
However, in the background, Sylvanas has apparently done much more. Several important leaders of the Horde and Alliance have been kidnapped by her. Among them are Anduin Wrynn, Jaina Proudmoore, Baine Bloodhoof, and also Thrall.
At the top of Icecrown, the remaining leaders of the Horde and Alliance along with the Death Knights discuss a plan. They agree that they must rescue the leaders but do not want to risk the remaining leaders. Only Tyrande is angry about this decision and wants to seize every opportunity to follow the Banshee Queen and finally take her down.
Bolvar explains that Sylvanas became easily connected to this through the destruction of the helmet of domination. It is therefore possible to use the fragments of the helmet to locate the Banshee Queen.
As the Death Knights of the Ebon Blade already have experience with the Shadowlands, they volunteer for this mission, along with the player. It is made very clear that this will likely be a “one-way trip” – a return cannot be guaranteed. We enter the Maw – and Tyrande storms in as well.
What happens in the Maw
Upon arriving in the Maw, players quickly encounter Darion Mograine of the Ebon Blade, but Tyrande is missing. Apparently, people were teleported to different locations.
It doesn’t take long before we find signs of other allies. Many servants of the Maw are frozen or pierced by frost bolts – a clear indication for Lady Jaina, who we find shortly after. She is trying to find a way out of the Maw but has repeatedly failed and always found herself in chains. Time and again, she has fled and tried to explore this place.
A short time later, we also encounter Thrall, who is also trying to escape. He reports similar things, but explains that something is going wrong in the Maw. Instead of housing only the darkest souls, many noble souls are disappearing into the Maw and being tortured until they are broken and become servants of the Jailer.
With the help of the Death Knights, an attempt is made to get one of the souls to speak in order to discover a possible escape option. While the Death Knights try this, the rest of the group searches for King Anduin. He is also in chains and is currently being mocked by Sylvanas. A cinematic is supposed to play here, but it is not yet included in the game.
After a longer battle, Jaina and the player rescue Anduin from the chains and return to the Death Knights. Meanwhile, they have succeeded in discovering that there used to be a way out of the Maw at a waystone – but it has long since gone dark.
The Escape from the Maw
On the way to the darkened waystone, the group crosses a river of souls and is attacked and thrown into the river by none other than Helya. This is followed by another (not yet implemented) cinematic, and we get a first glimpse of the Jailer. He is currently working on Baine Bloodhoof’s soul, which is almost broken. However, it is possible to save Baine at the last second.
The group continues to fight against the Jailer’s armies and makes their way to the waystone. It seems to react directly – but not to Jaina, Thrall, or the others, but specifically to the player character. What this means and why such an ancient relic reacts specifically to the hero is not explained at this point.
While the waystone is charging, a final great battle ensues. The Jailer sends all his troops to recapture the characters. However, he does not succeed, and thus everyone escapes through the portal. The Jailer screams that “Death seeks the soul of your world” – he apparently wants to “kill” Azeroth. Why he wants this and why Sylvanas is on his side is also left unanswered.
It ends with the arrival of all characters in Oribos, the central city in the Shadowlands. Here sits the Arbiter, who has so far categorized the souls into different realms of the Shadowlands. Later, the player will be sent from here to the first quest zone, Bastion.
What does the intro mean for the story?
By the end of the quest, players no longer encounter Tyrande, although everyone is on the lookout for her. Where exactly the leader of the Night Elves is now is unclear.
Time works differently in Shadowlands: One detail from the intro experience is particularly interesting and supports many theories currently surrounding Shadowlands, especially regarding a possible time jump.
Although Jaina, Anduin, Thrall, and Baine were only trapped in the Maw for a short time, they apparently experienced it differently. Thrall and Jaina tell that they have already escaped from the Jailer “countless times” and always found themselves in cages. It seems as though they have spent a lot of time here, even though they have only recently disappeared in Azeroth.
By the way, even more new content will be revealed in just a few days. Because then there will be a livestream likely showcasing a lot of new material from Shadowlands.
How do you like the story of the intro? Is it enough to draw people into the exciting world of Shadowlands? Or would you have wished for something different?
