If Xal is not a void agent/god/power, then she is for sure the dark side of Elune. Her dark half that was discarded by Elune in order to ascend to godhood. Classic mortal to god ascension story. Xal calls her an upstart goddess with disdain in her voice. Remember how the night warrior looks (has cosmic void tattoos all over).

@snazzydrew

Ай бұрын

I like the cut of your gib.

@Red1Green2Blue3

Ай бұрын

She's definitely not "the dark side of Elune"

I am so glad you mentioned Claudia Christian, voice actress of Xal and I believe Lady Liadrin. She is so good. Fun fact, she was a regular actress on the old TV 90s Sci-Fi series "Babylon 5" as Susan Ivoniva.

@tairad9474

Ай бұрын

That's awesome! Loved that show as a kid and was really bummed when she left towards the end.

@Caiphex

Ай бұрын

Holy crap that's her! I still rewatch that show every couple of years and love her!

I really love the way the dwarf looks in the cinamatic. His beard looks like it's made of copper wire.

@kevinmshields

Ай бұрын

I've been skeptical of the Earthen since their announcement, but there's no denying how cool this one looks in the cinematic

@camorucamoru4664

Ай бұрын

In the beta it reveals that the earthen's hair IS actually wire!

@irony9318

Ай бұрын

That's sick!

@TruthBehindFiction

Ай бұрын

Drug addicts in my city would be chasing him like kids chasing the Lucky Charms mascot.

@notyourdaughter666

Ай бұрын

their hair is wire, which is SO cool! i was kinda hoping they’d look more like the guys in northrend at first but im LOVING the look they have rn.

Let me throw something out there: Earthen: order (arcane) Arathi: light (holy) Hronir: life (nautre) Xal’atath: void (shadow) So all but fel (we kinda stopped that) and death (also stopped that) are represented in the trailer, who are right now in the race for the worldsoul.

@TemronTM

Ай бұрын

Interesting. That's a good point

@uclongnguyen8860

Ай бұрын

Yes, it's like a race for what cosmic will take world soul. Disorder has been long netraulized by Titans until Sargeras order it and form Burning Legion, now the group just disband; Death is kind of weak in physical pressent compare to other cosmic force but Zovaal has another plan to approach the World Soul by using Zereth Mortis aka Power core of Death plane ( each cosmic has a Zereth) empowerd by Azeroth battery to alter reality ( kind of overload and fill the core with Domination Magic then create avalanche to other Zereth ) to win the battle from the very heart of each cosmic force ( I think that quite good ideal, if Blizz don't butcher the Baldy, it may not bad for his master plan😅), but it fail now. So just Order, Life, Light and Void in the race now

What I find most awesome is if you watch the original WoW trailer, the voice over sounds to me like the exact same person on this trailer, which is Xalatath, suggesting she has always been around since the beginning. So very awesome

@synmad3638

Ай бұрын

Isn't the original voiceover Tyrande? (sources: i feel like ive always known this for some reason)

@sleepypanda3694

Ай бұрын

@@synmad3638 there was an argument in the trailer comments about this after a similar comment to OCs. Some said Tyrande, others said Maiev. (I have no idea what the true answer is.)

@blaaablubber

Ай бұрын

@@synmad3638 the original VA in WoW cinematic sounds more like maiev without sounding to angry/harsh , nevertheless the original does sound very different from the new one with xalatath

Maybe Xal'atath was like Elune and loved Azeroth before the Titans came and imprisoned our World Soul. Shortly after that N'zoth consensually trapped Xal'atath in the blade for use in some later plans. She's playing a very long revenge game, same as Iridikron.

@elreytriton

Ай бұрын

If that is the case then who and what was she before then? That would also mean he had to do it before the war if he was the first one taken down by the others. Then again we still dont have that story

@kabrozkabroz

Ай бұрын

@@elreytriton well she's void adjacent but we still don't really know anything about the void. We know how old gods and their minions work. Old gods are powerful psychic monsters that can also create life by breaking off pieces of themselves (the N'raqi, faceless ones) and they can also elevate corrupt and evolve other life forms (humans, Aqir, Dwarves, etc.). They can also enslave them like the elementals without actually changing anything physically or mentally about them as well. But with the void all we know is there are void lords, some Naaru have become void lords, void walkers are tanky warlock pets that do not willingly work for the burning legion, and the void lords made the old gods and flung them across the universe, the void can corrupt beings (just like old gods can) but in a little bit different way (like making void fauna that still function like normal animals, but voidy), and one notable situation involved them consuming an entire planet which somehow did not kill the people that lived there but made them Ethereals instead (some of whom also became void corrupted) So either Xalatath falls into one of the things listed in these two paragraphs (piece of an old god for example was a theory posited by the game itself) or she falls into the category of things we still dont know about.

@Red1Green2Blue3

Ай бұрын

She states she was imprisoned, it wasn't consensual

So Xalatath's plan was to have the Jailer think it was his plan all along

@nigelhirth2181

Ай бұрын

I don't think it's so much Xalatath had a plan per se, but more she waited, watched, and chose a time to strike in response to everyone else's failed plans.

@fiffer13

Ай бұрын

That was my thought too

@Noyb266

Ай бұрын

Blizzard’s plan was to make us think that Xalatath’s plan was to have the jailer think it was his plan all along

@Red1Green2Blue3

Ай бұрын

There was no "plan" other than to corrupt the world soul which has been known since WotLK at the latest.

Getting Na'vi vibes from the Harronir.

So since all the fighting over Azeroth has led to tha World Soul being exposed to basically every cosmic force out there, and we have all but established that World Souls follow Eevee rules of evolution, that means our World Soul is basically gonna be the Med'an of cosmic biggies, right?

@TemronTM

Ай бұрын

I love the Eevee comparison 😂

“The drums of war thunder once again” is a maiev line from the original trailer! Missed that the first time

I think it's also neat that it shows the races in order of how deep down we go. First the earthen at and just under the surface, then the Arathi a bit deeper, then the Harronir near the bottom, and then Xal'atath at the center.

Xal'atath playing 4-d chess while Jailer playing checkers on a tic-tac-toe board

I think the earthen starting the war within bit is also a callback to the start of the video where it opens with the regular dwarf. And Night Elf and Harronir that comes after (but that's not quite mirrored since Faerin Lothar is there in between).

I like to imagine the jailer was too proud to admit he jumped onto ideal circumstance, so he lied and is parading about it being “all according to plan” and completely his doing. Compare that to Xal’atath who was the definition of waiting and watching until the perfect, ideal moment to strike, no matter how long it took just as long as it happens.

@Subject_Keter

Ай бұрын

You say "just as planned" more then once it just comes off as "flailing around?"

the orbs remind me of the lights in avatar. "There is no void in ba sing se" xalatath is another world soul that's looking for a partner to make world babies.

@KC-py5vq

Ай бұрын

Her orbs look like a world soul is potentially corrupted since it's darker and more void looking in the center

@Tharrilicious

Ай бұрын

Or she is collecting world souls and need a third one

Locus walker was 100% the harbinger of his world but has come to regret it seemingly.

To the person that said "they're humans with elf ears", all elves are humans with elf ears /j

I more believed that the Old Gods rebelled against Xalathath, wanting Azeroth for themselves, and captured her in the dagger, preventing her from communicating back to the Void and preventing her from claiming the World Soul back way then.

what about the giant enormous tree in pandaria, its as big as a world tree and is corrupted by old gods, and just so happens to be where one was, and one world tree was ripped out by ammonthul just like he ripped a old god out.

my first thought was "is blizzard implying that Xal'athat is the narrator for the first WoW cinematic????"

Claudia has come a long way since her Babylon 5 days. She had the occasional monologue there, too. I'm looking forward to much more Xal'atath in the coming years.

Azeroth is like a stem cell awaiting instruction.

Im so glad i discovered you guys back in Legion, because your consistent joy over new WoW stuff mirrors my own, and that makes me happy. lol And also you're a normal, not insane person on Twitter, which was a relief.

I absolutely love the heartbeat effect at the start of the cinematic.

Now I know why Taliesin has a crush on Xalatath. She looks exactly like Evitel 😁

Cool as it might be, we don't usually get introduced to that much *new* information about characters in the 2.5D animations- they're usually a recap of the past we already knew about characters first, and new information 2nd, or a new perspective on things we already knew in the broad strokes. I know Jaina's Warbringers introduced the psychological Ghost Galleon, but it was *primarily* a way to explore everything that lead Jaina to where she began BFA, and to bring in new context about Kul Tiras around that- including that the Kul Tiras wrote a Sea Shantie about how much they hate her now! Azhara's Warbringers was great, but it was mostly a new look at things we'd already known the broad strokes of- how she and her subjects became the Naga in the wake of the War of the Ancients and the Sundering. Even Sylvanas' Warbringers, which, you know, included the moment where she burns Teldrassil, was *mostly* a Recap of Sylvanas' past and how she became the Banshee Queen. Khadgar and Gul'Dan's Harbingers shorts were mostly recaps of backstory we knew, I thought, but they were good ways to recap where the characters were at, and where they began that expansion. Shadowlands shorts like Maldraxus and Bastion still did a lot of recapping of who Draka and Uther were in life before they showed us who they became in the Shadowlands, but Dragonflight went right back to form by exploring something we knew about, just not the details- the moment Neltharion fell from grace. The 2.5D animations are primarily *recap*, and I don't feel like we know enough about Xalatath for her to get a recap short.

Wooo welcome back Tali

@FlasKamel

Ай бұрын

And Evi!

I think Xal'atath is the bit of N'zoth saved of himself. As we went back to the Black Empire during the Bronze Flight questline, N'zoth saw us, and 'what we would become', and it was strongly implied he now would make a fail-safe of some form. I think Xal is that failsafe, and that she is a bit of either just N'zoth, or of each Old God put into the dagger. This would explain the 'denied me for so long' part, as well as her shaky relations with N'zoth. N'zoth, so long as he is around, wouldn't want a small part of himself running about freely, since he is plotting bastard and knows that about himself, so he only unleashes her during BfA, cause he knows his form is about to die. So, in that sense, that would be why she is known as the Harbinger. She harbinges the return of the Old Gods. If she is a bit of each Old God, she could even be a return of the most powerful Old God, Y'shraarj.

So the way I see it is that the remaining major cosmic powers are all going to be fighting over the world soul in this expansion and future expansions. Earthen - Titans Harronir - Life Arathi - Light Xal'Atath/Nerubians - Void I suppose you could also say they Sargeras' Sword also represents the Fel but I don't think we're going to see any more out of the realms of Fel/Disorder and Death.

In addition to the phases of the moon/eclipse vibes, cosmic cycles and orbits, I think the orbs at the end are also meant to evoke an imagery of EMDR, or even classic brainwashing techniques like we saw in Avatar when they got Jet in Ba-Sing-Se. Xalatath is a tricky, psychic villain so using this sort of magic is a perfect fit.

The orb scene. "There is no War Within Ba Sing Se"

Earthen = Titans / order Arathi = Light Haronir= Life Xalatath = Void The only powers from the cosmology chart left, fighting for the world soul. The rest are defeated Sargeras = Fel / disorder. He’s imprisoned and the legion are no longer a threat. Jailer = Death / Necromancy. Also defeated and forces contained

LFG... I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR DAYS NOW.

I think their might be something telling about how the whole sum up of history was actually really positive toward all the life and heroes. Xalatath likes us I think lol

I THINK that the arathi customization option will be available at some point, for humans and kul'thirans, with round ears the elf option, and I HOPE the harronir or whatever they are called will be a new playable race. But like pandas and evokers and earthen, for both factions.

Xal is 100% our BBEG for the next 3 expacs. We are going to see her machinations pan out. TWW is setup, then in the next espc she gets her "empire strikes back" moment, and we get our "avenger's endgame" in the third. She isn't a god, she is here to put the gods in their place and take the power for herself. Metzen is a DND guy, so I imagine they could mirror Vecna and his ascent to godhood for her.

I think Xal is an agent of the void that was sent along with the old gods. Locus Walker knows what she is - It's likely their planet had a Xalatath as well, a being that is specifically an agent meant to push things along and deliver the world souls to the void. The old gods are the almost generals that infest the planet and bring about the army but Xalatath seems like she doesnt report to them but to the void lords themselves. That's how it feels to me - And the fact locus walker knows what she is, makes me think their planet had one similar to Xalatath.

I think it'd be cool if Xal'atath was a denizen of the Void that was trying to become a Void Lord by claiming Azeroth. I also think World souls are maybe kind of sentient power sources that can be used to create whatever type of life whomever claims it desires(Titans, demons, shadow constructs, etc.). And since we know the world soul in Azeroth is an exceptionally powerful one it makes sense to me that everyone would want to claim it and it might be powerful enough for Xal'atath to use it to become a Void Lord and perhaps even overpower the other Void Lords.

Is it the same voice actress that narrates the very first wow cinematic? It sounds like her, when she says "the drums of war thunder" it sounds so much like the voice that narrates that, the fact they made her say it and show the old cinematic etc

There is part where world soul makes dragon roar. Its clevery cut into DF footage but it looks like world soul have anything to do with zereth mortis and some sort of draconic stuff in there.

@Shoes4Sigma

Ай бұрын

Pyromancer theory is bad

I mean thusfar Earthen have got a lot more time in cinematics for their introductory expansion than Worgen did, let me tell ya.

But why is there such emphasis on the magic connected to movement when showing the Harronir? Could they be a mid-expansion race that also introduces a Dancer class a la Augmentation?

Rhea Ripley is WoWs new goth mommy and I’m for it

I feel like the 'orbs' around Xal echo the 'orb' shown as Azeroth's heart

I'm starting to wonder if maybe all of the titans efforts on azeroth were just to protect the world soul and ma,e sure it wasn't corrupted. Not so much in that they were trying to claim it for themselves, or make it a titan, but just to counteract and prevent corruption.

I thought the orbs spinning around Xala'Tath represent K'aresh, "which she could have absorbed somehow and the other, maybe Argus, but of a stretch but just a thought!😊

Sylvanas is one of my favourite WoW characters, and I am so sad that they couldn't do with her what they did with Xal'atath and Jaina in BFA... Still upset even after all these years, the sheer badassery, charisma, and hype of Lady X is bittersweet. :(

Reminds me of Kael'thas' blood mage orb. We never got blood mages class/specc but maybe future void?

It's interesting that the only other person speaking in the trailer is Grommash (?) "we will never be slaves", significant or just a coincidence?

The Old Gods are the Old Ones. The Void Lords are the Outer Gods. Xal'atath is Nyarlathotep, imo.

What if the Harronir/Arathi are cross faction customization for humans/blood elves and trolls/night elves allowing you to blur the line across the factional boarder.

Super crazy theory...Xal is actually the "Blue Child" and she finally gets to be among the mortals. 😅

I really like the release date. I'm going to be on vacation that week...and that week is my birthday, and Tactical Breach Wizards drops that week. I'm going to be eating good that week.

It's called how to replace a character to make sense that you lost one that was in a similar role, Sylvanas, that's what Xalatath is but she can be made way more evil and a real villain because unlike Sylvanas she doesn't seem to have a good side so people would be more ok to getting her off the way unlike Sylvanas.

Dying for Xal'atath to actually be one of the original Tauren.

My guess is she's a courier, a messager sent by the void to Azeroth to supervise world soul's corruption, but was betrayed by old gods already existed, whom enjoyed power a little bit too much that started fighting among themselves. N'zoth probably freed her in exchange for an immunity from the void.

You should both get wow tattoos and document the process

It's a question about who went rogue, I suppose. Did Xal'atath overstep her role to the Old Gods, and get punished for trying to claim what they were fighting over? Or did she serve the cause of the Void faithfully, and the Old Gods wanted to do their own thing? On the one hand, she always betrays her masters. But, if the Old Gods had worked together to corrupt Azeroth, rather than fight for dominance, they'd have succeeded before the Titans arrived. So were they actions against the Void's will... Or did Xal'atath play them against each other?

I wonder if they combine Xalathat with the old god thingy we met in Frozen Throne kingdom of Nerubar

The idea of Xal being Azerothian is interesting. It makes me wonder if she is a "champion" like our characters, but from the Black Empire days as opposed to the TItan days our characters come from.

Why nobody noticed this trailer was flipped? Xalatath is smirking to the other side and the Faerin's shield is on the wrong side too.

I just realized that Xal'atath only helped us in Legion because she wanted the world soul for herself! Can't have it if Sargeras had destroyed it.

I think Azeroth, if it has a corporeal form, will look like a Harronir.

At this point I’d be surprised if they make any new race faction exclusive

The reason Xal'atath works better as a full- on villain than Sylvanas is the former was a mystery from the start, and had a connection to the player during Legion, with a sexy voice and interesting lore hints, with a sexy model added later. The latter was a popular faction leader who got butchered for the sake of a faction war nobody wanted, and later became the poster girl for the worst expansion ever.

@eldritchdragon5755

Ай бұрын

Sacrificing herself and dying at the hands of Arthas at the end of Wrath of the Lich King would have been the best ending for Sylvanas. Starting from Edge of Night, her story had really started to become stupid.

I love the look of the warrior/paladin, her armour goes so well with her skin colour, and the artists really made her look like her 'disabilities' have only made her meaner. 🤣

Arathi are totes going to be theyre own playable human race akin to the Kul'tiran. Neutral for sure (Horde Half Elfs) My fan theory, the humans gave ten of their own to learn from the Dalaran wizards, What if the Arathi took ten high elfs (who live exceptionally longer than humans) and integrated them into their Holy Light society. These ten elfs would have procreated with the rest of the Arathi who set sail for Avaloren, making most of todays Arathi have shared elven and human ancestory. Playable Half Elfs for sure.. not just customization. Placing my bet now.

@brandonheuberger187

Ай бұрын

Is the Earthen in the cinematic a significant character in the questing? Or is he another Stony Tony?

vid ended too early. didn't get to hear what y'all were doing for dinner.

What if because of every cosmic power trying to claim Azeroth she will have all of those powers when she wakes up

My theory is that when Azeroth wakes up cause of all the forces fighting over her and putting their energy in her that she will have aspects of all of them and be balanced and none of them get what they want. That or she will wake up without being influenced by any of them.

Maybe Xal'atath is the Void incarnate, something beyond Void lords, Void gods, or the Old gods. Maybe she's got all eternity to wait for Azeroth's soul. Maybe this really is Azeroth's true Apocalypse between the Light and the Void.

xal is 100% a goddess of the moon just like elune but on the dark side rather than of the light. there's a REASON they've put so many lunar eclipse motifs into not just HER EYES but now even the very orbiting eclipses here... and nothing has been 'watching' azeroth longer than the very moons that orbit her. wouldn't be surprised if the phases of the moon acted as mirrors for zereth umbra/lumen to see azeroth and interact with inhabitants--albeit limited, just like Elune's interactions. They've been leading up to Elune for so long to the point where Tyrande was a vessel (kinda like the corpse currently hosting xal, ay?) there's no way they dropped that whole thread. They're just indirectly telling us what she is--by exploring xal's parallel.

What if Xal'atath is azeroth sister. Xal'atath rule the void, and want to rule with her sister, but the titan are trying to turn azeroth is the light, and have her fight again her sister. 2 ex. Azeroth and Xal'atath teams with Iridikron to fight again the titan.

Xal'atath is the wife of Locus Walker, the one that helped destroy their world. One reason why Faerin might look diabloish, I'm pretty sure they used Prava's model from D4.

Maby Azeroths world soul will be special like her denizens where unlike other worlds she gets corrupted by all the cosmos

I don't mean this to sound offensive in anyway but the shocker for me is that Xalatath's voice actress is the same as the norn female character's in GW2. Not sure if it's a recording issue or perhaps maybe she was sick back in the early days of that game but the norn female VA was... questionable. Amazes me the shear difference between the 2.

She is using us to smack around her Void bosses, so she could dive ass first into the sunwell and turn it into the Voidwell .

I think there might be a link between Xal and Elune tbh

Wait... Did Xal'atath narrate the original vanilla WoW opening? It's the same voice!

I almost feel like Xalatath is being set up to be so powerful she can break the fourth wall.

I kinda wonder if that (Hair-rear-near) is what the primal humanoids looked like. lol Kinda looks like a troll and a night elf. I know trolls were like the first human like thing on the planet and they evolved into night elf i wonder if this one was just like "Mid way through changing was like ya i'm out!"

Learning that Claudia Christian is voicing Xal'atath may have just decided whether Im re-subbing for this expac or not.

Harronir, cross faction new playable race, with one new special class like the dracthir, based on life magic, would be amazing like, but do doubt thry would throw us that curve ball.

WTF Claudia Christian? as in B5 Cmdr. Susan Ivanova? Dude, now I know why I love that voice.

hype

What if Xal'atath is a fragmented part of Azeroth's world soul herself. Like a void-currupted fragment, and that's why she feels entitled to the world soul?

@elreytriton

Ай бұрын

but if that's the case, wouldn't that make it beyond easy for the old gods to have corrupted her back in the day?

@brymcc11

Ай бұрын

@@elreytritonWe don’t really know. The Black Empire was working on corrupting her for a long time before the Titans came, so maybe part of her was corrupted and broken away/hidden when Titans showed up.

The Drums of War thunder once again. Callback to the vanilla trailer, incredible vibes

But are we even so sure that Xal’atath is a villain? I don’t know if I believe she is. I heard a theory that sounds very plausible that makes me think she actually is trying to save the worldsoul. She was PUT in the dagger by the old god N’zoth, to stop her from doing something he didn’t want her to do. And they wanted to destroy Azeroth.

Wonder if we will help Azeroth choose which archetypal force (light, feel, arcane, etc) she will identify with. Perhaps she will choose to be one, or a combination of them. Maybe…all of them? Maybe she will chose one we don’t particularly like. Would be cool if the player could “choose” which she chooses, but impossible to implement that in game. Maybe the final raid is us fighting back the forces she does not want from reaching her. Ok I’ll stop now.

They didn't give us Walrus boys when they had so much data already to make them. Why would we get these!

Bel suggests that Xal my be a world soul, not the one from Ethereals planet. But another that was some how lost and Xal is its last remnants. That wants Azeroth so she can take its power to become the World Soul it was meant too.

"Azeroth isn't a Titan" 100% agree here. I think a "Titan" is a World Soul influenced by Order. The Cosmic Forces in WoW are just fighting over Azeroth trying to influence what she *will* be, and I think the ultimate story is Azeroth's push for self-determination.

Xala’tath is Queen Aszhara

Arathi are for the horde calling it now...

Also. Azeroth herself is the child of light and shadow, a world soul that was exposed to all the cosmic energies who will bring balance.

Oh... and it's my theory that she's a Void Lord and that N'Zoth didn't release her earlier because he wasn't sure of her power level in this form.

I think Xal is a free agent, so to speak. She's a void entity but she's not aligned with the old gods or the designs of the void lords, hence why the old gods didn't release her from the dagger. She doesn't want the world soul for the void. She wants it for herself. She's working for herself not for some unknowable Eldritch horror. She is the Eldritch horror.

What If.. All the forces of the universe COMBINE inside Azeroth?! And she becomes something New, something More?!?!

Tali, you can’t ask Evi what’s for dinner and not let us hear her answer! 😂

It's not just Evitel that was noncommittal with them being new playable races. Intertwining them in imagery without any official statements seems like Blizz being noncommittal and just testing the waters for interest.