Elune in World of Warcraft might be much more important than we all thought. At least that is suggested by new information about the “Night Warrior”.
Elune is one of the few remaining mysteries in World of Warcraft. However, with Shadowlands , the moon goddess is brought into a new light. Because it seems that Elune has a greater influence on the cosmos than we previously thought. At least that is suggested by the current datamining of the Shadowlands alpha.
Spoiler alert: This article contains some spoilers for the upcoming expansion Shadowlands. You have been warned.
The Nightfae Campaign Reveals New Details
In the datamining, some lines of text have already been found that probably relate to the campaign of the Nightfae of Ardenweald. The story here revolves largely around the first Night Warrior.
The background is that the Night Elves are worried about Tyrande. During the events of Battle for Azeroth, she performed the ritual of the Night Warrior and was filled with Elune’s destructive power. From the stories, we know that a former Night Warrior met a grim fate and was ultimately destroyed by the energies. Many Night Elves and other members of the Alliance fear that Tyrande may share the same fate.
This story is picked up in the narrative of the Nightfae. To find out what happened to Tyrande, the player researches with some other characters and finds the souls of Thiernax and Kadarin.
Who are the two? Thiernax was once the Night Warrior of Elune himself. After the burden became too great, he shared the power with his husband Kadarin, but ultimately they were both overwhelmed and died. Here are some (translated) passages from the dialogue:
Thiernax: Then her fate is sealed. My condolences, but you must let her go. For your own good as well as ours.
Kadarin: Please forgive my husband, Thiernax became the Night Warrior to save our world, but in the end, he had to pay a great price.
He knew the risks, but we had no choice.
He summoned the dark powers of Elune and together we repelled the invaders.
Although we saved our world, the power of the Night Warrior began to destroy him.
In my desperation to alleviate his burden, we attempted to share the burden by dividing Elune’s power between us.
But we failed and lost our lives. He has since felt responsible for that.
With this, Blizzard not only reveals that Night Warriors can apparently also be male, but also introduces a gay couple in World of Warcraft.
Why is this so interesting? As often, the devil is in the details.
It is notable that the two characters never mention “Azeroth”, but always refer to “our world”. In English, they even place particular emphasis on “our”, which suggests that they do not mean Azeroth. Therefore, it is assumed that Kadarin and Thiernax are not Night Elves, but rather a race from another world that was attacked – presumably by the Legion many years ago.
This would imply that Elune is not just a moon that orbits Azeroth, but also visible on other worlds where she is likewise revered as a goddess. This was confirmed just a few days ago by Steve Danuser, who explained in an interview with wowhead that Elune is also revered on other worlds.
Elune is more than just a goddess of Azeroth
This theory is supported by the mysterious place “Elunaria” that players enter in the raid Antorus. This world is clearly named after Elune and served as a refuge for the essence of Eonar, a Titaness. The exact location of this place is unknown – but if Elune has her own sanctum hidden in the cosmos, there could be much more behind “Mother Moon” than we can currently imagine.
It is clear that Elune seems to be a much more versatile goddess that is active and revered not only on Azeroth but also on other worlds. It is entirely possible that there is much more to Elune than the Night Elves know or believe. Although, of course, the question arises as to how Elune can be seen on other worlds – as they would have to be very close to Azeroth, or Elune is at multiple places at once.
What do you think about that? Would you find it cool if Elune is much more than just a moon goddess of the Night Elves?
