World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has just released, with Anduin Wrynn becoming an increasingly important character over the course of the World of Warcraft expansions. When his father was missing between the vanilla release of the MMO and the second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, Anduin reigned as King of Stormwind under the regency of Lady Katrana Prestor and Bolvar Fordragon. Lady Prestor would turn out to be the Black Dragon Onyxia in disguise, while the end of Wrath of the Lich King saw Bolvar take up the Helm of Domination to become the new “jailer of the damned.”
After the death of Varian Wrynn in Legion, Anduin became Stormwind’s king once again, becoming a central character in Battle for Azeroth as the leader of the Alliance against Sylvanas Windrunner’s increasingly aggressive Horde at the age of 18. After killing Varok Saurfang, Sylvanas abdicates her leadership of the Horde and flees to Icecrown Citadel, instigating the events of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Now, it seems Sylvanas and her new allies have big plans for the young King of Stormwind. SPOILERS AHEAD for the events of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
The expansion begins at Icecrown Citadel, where Sylvanas defeats Bolvar and destroys the Helm of Domination, breaking the wheel of life and death and opening a portal to the Shadowlands as shown in the new expansion’s cinematic. After Sylvanas’ central role in the last expansion, fans might expect Anduin Wrynn to be in hot pursuit. His role in this expansion, however, appears to be quite different.
An in-game Shadowlands pre-patch cinematic reveals that after Sylvanas destroyed the Helm of Domination, Bolvar was rescued by the Death Knights of the Ebon Blade. At the same time, Anduin is kidnapped from in front of his father’s tomb, leaving Gilneas’ King Genn Greymane to stand in horror as winged servants of the jailer fly down from the open rift, chain him up, and take him back to the Maw.
The Maw is Azeroth’s very own eternal damnation, a jail for the irredeemable souls of the Shadowlands. As revenge for the events of Battle for Azeroth, Anduin, Thrall, Jaina Proudmoore, and Baine Bloodhoof have all been captured by Sylvanas and handed over to the Jailer.
The player is one of the champions of Azeroth sent to rescue these captured faction leaders. Only Tyrande, the leader of the Night Elves, was able to escape, using the powers she gained after the destruction of Teldrassil at the start of Battle for Azeroth. The rescue attempt goes mostly to plan, but when things go awry Anduin stays behind to hold back the Jailer’s forces while the other leaders and the player escape. “You have failed,” he tells the Jailer. “No,” the Jailer responds, “I have exactly what I need.”
With Anduin still trapped in the Maw, it’s likely that Tyrande Whisperwind will be the most aggressive Alliance leader in Shadowlands, though she seems more intent on gaining revenge on Sylvanas for the deaths of her people than she is focused on rescuing Stormwind’s young king. The last major leader – past or present – that was captured by the main boss of an expansion near the beginning of the story was Bolvar himself. Bolvar was captured at the Wrath Gate in Wrath of the Lich King, and only appeared again after the defeat of Arthas.
This makes it seem likely that if players are able to rescue Anduin in the future, the person they save will be very different than the one who was first captured. There have already been hints at the darkness inside Anduin Wrynn. The book Shadowlands Rising hints at Anduin’s first experiments in shadow magic, as well as the emotional torment and pressure of becoming king after his father’s death. Players have seen Anduin’s rise from a young boy to a High King, but perhaps only now are getting a true glimpse at the man he will become.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.
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