The final boss of the next expansion of World of Warcraft is already known. But can that really work?
With the next WoW expansion Shadowlands, we go into the Shadowlands to stop the Jailer in his plans. The Jailer already appeared in the first trailer and also plays a significant role in the intro scenario. He is also supposed to be the final boss of the addon.
What has been said about the Jailer? During a group interview, Game Director Ion Hazzikostas talked about the Jailer and the differences from previous expansions. Because there, the final boss was often a mystery – as in Battle for Azeroth, where N’Zoth became the final antagonist. Hazzikostas said:
To be honest, it is almost the opposite of a challenge. It’s almost an easier way to tell a story and to build an expansion with a clear theme, just like back in WOTLK or Cataclysm. We haven’t talked so openly about the final boss in the last expansions because it wouldn’t have made much sense at the time or would have been too big of spoilers for the story.
For example, in Warlords of Draenor, if you had known from the start that you would fight Archimonde at the end, that would have been confusing.But here, we are fighting against this great antagonist on the level of a “Titan++” and there are major steps in our journey to discover the motivations of the Jailer and his plans and to gather enough allies to stand against him.
This story will run throughout the entire Shadowlands expansion and our content updates, until we eventually have a chance to fight the Jailer.
Who is actually the Jailer?
What do we know so far about the Jailer? Not much is known about the Jailer and his motives yet. However, we know that he rules over the Maw. This is a realm of the Shadowlands where only the darkest souls are banished. For some time now, however, all souls from all worlds have been drawn into the Maw and transformed into the Jailer’s forces.
That’s why Hazzikostas probably referred to the Jailer as a “Titan++” in terms of his power. Since among the countless worlds of the cosmos, the Jailer’s army is likely to be even larger and more devastating than the forces of the Legion.
In addition, the Jailer is in league with Sylvanas, whose plans are still unknown. Throughout Shadowlands, light is to be shed on this alliance and Sylvanas’ plans.
Changes have happened in the past already: Whether Blizzard will actually stick to this plan remains to be seen. After all, there have been such changes in the past. In the first expansion “The Burning Crusade”, Illidan in the Black Temple was actually planned as the final boss. However, Blizzard then introduced another patch with the Sunwell and Kil’Jaeden.
Similarly, in Warlords of Draenor, Grommash from the Iron Horde was supposed to serve as the final boss. However, since a patch was skipped and the story was changed, Grommash became a “good” character and the final boss became Archimonde.
Do you think it’s a good thing that the villain of the expansion is clear from the start, like with the Lich King or Deathwing? Or does this knowledge take away the surprise for you?
