The finale of the expansion World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is practically known. On the PTR, you can see how the machinery of death is being repaired.
In the latest version of the test realm of Patch 9.2, there are fresh hints about the state of the Shadowlands – and how the problems will be solved. Someone has to replace the Arbiter so that the machinery of death works again. Who that is – and also why – has now been revealed.
Spoiler alert: This article deals with content from Patch 9.2 that is currently only playable on the test realm. If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading here.
What’s it about? On the PTR of Patch 9.2, further chapters of the campaign are playable. These deal with the development of the Shadowlands. After all, the fundamental system of the afterlives is still disrupted. Without the Arbiter, souls flow endlessly into the Maw.
For the Shadowlands to function as usual again, a new Arbiter is needed – and this role will be assigned over the course of the campaign.
New Arbiter is an old acquaintance: The role of the Arbiter will henceforth be taken by Pelagos. He is a character that players already know from Bastion. He is one of the Kyrians and is still striving for his ascension – in contrast to his soulbind Kleia, who has already ascended and been appointed as the hand of a Paragon.
There is an emotional farewell between the two, but Pelagos assures that their souls will be forever connected.
The colleagues at wowhead have already recorded the still-in-progress cinematics:
In the second cinematic, we see Pelagos already in his new form as the Arbiter. From now on, he ensures that the flow of souls is directed and that all souls are sent to the correct realm of the Shadowlands. The original problem of the Shadowlands is thus likely resolved.
What “deactivated” the Arbiter? A major mystery behind the Shadowlands expansion has been what exactly was behind the reddish projectile that took the Arbiter out of commission. This too has now been clarified – apparently. As speculated by some players, it is the World Soul of Argus, who was killed in Legion.
During the course of the campaign, the Nathrezim attempt to pour the soul of Argus into the “vessel” of a new Arbiter to make Argus an “Eternal.” The attempt fails, and instead, Pelagos ultimately becomes the new Arbiter.
Whether Argus was really responsible for deactivating the Arbiter is not 100% clear – however, the evidence now increasingly points in that direction.
It does seem a bit surprising that Blizzard has revealed all these rather explosive story details already on the PTR and not – as often in the past – only disclosed when the patch goes live. This now leads to numerous spoilers, but in return, the contents are tested more thoroughly and the occurrence of bugs is significantly minimized.
What do you think of this “rescue” of the Shadowlands? Is Pelagos well-suited as Arbiter? Or would you have preferred a different resolution?
