World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is the latest expansion for the long-running MMO, bringing back characters from across the history of Warcraft lore in the land of the dead. The gate to the Shadowlands has been opened by former Warchief Sylvanas Windrunner by destroying the Lich King’s Helm of Domination, breaking the wheel of life and death itself.
This has had side effects which form some of the core conflicts in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Uther the Lightbringer, the mentor of the former Lich King Arthas Menethil, makes an appearance in Bastion and in the Afterlives: Bastion short. His actions, however, may have unintentionally helped cause one of the Shadowlands’ biggest problems.
The Shadowlands rely on anima – the essence of souls. However, by breaking the Helm of Domination and opening a direct window the Shadowlands, Sylvanas is responsible for a drought that spans across the different realms of death. Instead of souls going to the Arbiter and being distributed to the different areas of the Shadowlands based on their actions in life, all newly deceased spirits are going directly into the Maw, an eternal prison reserved only for the Warcraft multiverse’s irredeemable souls.
This doesn’t mean all Warcraft villains are in the Maw, even some of the biggest bad guys in WoW history. Garrosh Hellscream, for example, is hinted to be the “old reliable” soul being drained of his anima in Revendreth, helping the area survive during the drought as the vampiric Venthyr feast on his pride. Other famous WoW villains like Kael’thas Sunstrider and Kel’Thuzad the Lich also appear in Revendreth, where the souls of the prideful are usually drained of their anima in an attempt at rehabilitating them.
What gives a soul a great amount of anima in Warcraft isn’t particularly clearly defined, though Shadowlands hints that it is directly related to how “great” the soul was in life. This could mean that the extent of a soul’s impact on the land of the living is part of what gives it anima, explaining why a soul like Garrosh’s is so valuable.
However, if this is the case there must be very few souls more valuable than Arthas Menethil’s. Arthas has been a prince of Lordaeron, a Death Knight of the Scourge, and finally, the Lich King himself, wreaking havoc across Azeroth and affecting almost all of its inhabitants in some way or another, excluding the inhabitants of places like Pandaria which would remain hidden until future expansions.
However, in the Afterlives: Bastion short Warcraft fans saw Uther the Lightbringer personally deliver Arthas’ soul to the Maw as a final act of retribution against his former student. If Arthas had instead been taken to Revendreth, he might have been able to significantly reduce the effects of the anima drought there.
Of course, that wouldn’t make for much of a story, but it does raise questions about the Warcraft narrative going forward. The fact that Uther’s quest for post-death justice may be partially responsible for some of the Shadowlands’ biggest struggles could be a hint to players that the character make be turning down a darker path in death than he walked in life. Like Arthas, Uther’s own righteousness may be the first step in his undoing. He may be an old favorite, but Warcraft fans should keep an eye on Uther’s actions and their consequences as the expansion continues.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.
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