World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will see the returns of many villains and heroes from Warcraft’s past. The game will take players to the different realms of death itself, and Blizzard has been building up to the release of the game by releasing animated shorts covering each of the 4 main regions of the Shadowlands which will become available in-game.
The latest short, Shadowlands Afterlives: Revendreth, was just released. It is narrated by the leader of the Venthyr, Sire Denathrius, as he delivers a cruelly ironic speech to his citizens regarding the anima drought. While some of the citizens of Revendreth have been forced into servitude in order to ration anima while the rich like Denathrius drink it freely, the trailer also revealed an old enemy from WoW’s past, Garrosh Hellscream, is being tortured for his anima in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
Revendreth is where the souls of the prideful like Kael’thas Sunstrider, former prince of the Blood Elves, are sent so that they can repent for their sins in life in order to avoid being damned for all eternity in the Maw. However, during the anima drought, the way Denathrius talks about Garrosh implies that he won’t be reaching redemption any time soon.
The former Warchief ruled the Horde from Cataclysm to Mists of Pandaria and helped create the Iron Horde in Warlords of Draenor. Now, however, he is referred to as “old reliable” and a “work-horse” and appears to have been turned into something of an anima battery for Revendreth.
It appears that Garrosh is so prideful that draining him of his anima is a serious source of power for the realm of Revendreth and the Venthyr covenant. The new short does not reference Garrosh Hellscream by name, but up-close shots of a tortured orc face strongly resembles Garrosh, and it would make sense that a prideful former Warchief could be a great source of anima for the Shadowlands.
However, while prideful former rulers like Kael’thas Sunstrider are given sin stones to carry and are given more direct chances to redeem their actions in life, Garrosh is shown chained deep underground in a dungeon, implying that he was far more prideful than even Kael’thas. It is also possible that Kael’thas has been experiencing similar torture for years since his death at the end of The Burning Crusade, and went through the same torture as Garrosh.
Garrosh’s presence in the Shadowlands appears to confirm that, when it comes to the relationship between the Shadowlands and the material realm in Warcraft‘s multiverse, the Shadowlands includes souls from all timelines. Garrosh was killed in Nagrand on the alternate Draenor created in Warlords of Draenor. It is unclear if this means he has been in the Shadowlands since before the first war, or only the few years since the events of Warlords of Draenor transpired in the main timeline.
The fact that the Shadowlands appears to transcend all other Warcraft realities has some interesting implications for WoW lore that Blizzard will need to be careful with while balancing its many story commitments.
For example. The skull of Gul’dan is a feature in the main Warcraft timeline, the skull that Illidan Stormrage famously holds onto. Did the soul of this version of Gul’dan pass through the Shadowlands, and then the soul of the alternate version Gul’dan that returned through Warlords of Draenor’s time travel and was killed by Illidan in Legion pass through separately? Does creating new timelines potentially increase the amount of anima available, and does Garrosh’s existence in multiple timelines have something to do with his use as an anima battery?
Garrosh’s return will also make the next expansion particularly emotionally poignant for Thrall, with both his mother Draka returining in Maldraxxus and his failed student returning in Revendreth. The fact that Garrosh was send to Revendreth seems to have the final word on his morality, which went back and forth during quests in the game itself, but it will be hard for many players to imagine that the process has humbled Garrosh. This is likely why he is of such importance to the Venthyr.
Denathrius’ own corruption is hinted at in the Revendreth short as well. He clearly hoards more of the anima for himself than his own people, and even has those trying to keep enough for themselves executed. While the original purpose of Revendreth is to extract anima from prideful souls and thus redeem them, a process feasibly as noble as what happens in Bastion, it is possible that souls like Garrosh are too valuable as anima sources to actual properly redeem, which is why he is being tied up and tortured rather than carrying a sin stone.
Text regarding the Venthyr Covenant campaign says that “in the sinister confines of Castle Nathria, souls are being tortured not to redeem their sins, but to amplify them. The prideful Prince Kael’thas has been burdened with the sins of others, and his pain and hatred are channeled to make him a powerful weapon. This has imperiled his soul like no other, and it must be saved–if only to keep it from being unleashed upon the Shadowlands.”
It is very likely that Garrosh’s soul is one of those being tortured to amplify his sins and keep the proverbial lights on in the realm of Revendreth. How exactly this connects him and his sins to Kael’thas or any number of other Warcraft characters who could return in the Shadowlands remains to be seen.
Either way, the return of Garrosh could be interesting in WoW: Shadowlands. Sylvanas Windrunner is one of the main antagonists of WoW: Shadowlands and like Garrosh is a former Warchief of the Horde who has been corrupted in their pursuit of power. Many fans felt that this arc was too similar to Garrosh’s, so it will be interesting to see if Blizzard uses his return to differentiate between the two more.
With characters like Arthas, Kael’thas, Kel’thuzad, Draka, and Uther the Lightbringing already likely all returning in some form or another in the next game, fans will be interested to see the role that Garrosh Hellscream has in the upcoming expansion. Garrosh has always been a controversial character among WoW players, and many will be interested to see whether or not the son of Grommash Hellscream is ever able to redeem himself like his father.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC. At this point, World of Warcraft Shadowlands releases on October 26 or 27 (depending on time zone) for PC.
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