The ending ofWorld of Warcraft: Shadowlandsis nigh, with the final chapter ofEternity’s Endreleasing next week. However,World of Warcraftfans have practiced their due diligence and datamined the voice-over from the upcoming cutscenes, revealing the judgment given to Sylvanas Windrunner at the hands of Tyrande Whisperwind.Warning: SPOILERS for Shadowlands: Eternity’s End follow.
Sylvanas Windrunner has been inextricable fromWorld of Warcraftlore recently. The on-again off-again anti-hero/villain went full villain inBattle for Azeroth,only forher to swap sides once more inEternity’s End, aiding players against the Jailer.
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The final chapter ofEternity’s End, called “Judgment,” aims to wrap up some loose ends inShadowlands–most notably, what to do with Sylvanas. The datamined voice lines are shared between Sylvanas, Tyrande, and Pelagos, whobecame the new Arbiter during this week’sEternity’s Endchapter. Pelagos grants Tyrande the right to determine Sylvanas’s sentence, to which she declares death would be too good for Sylvanas. Tyrande demands the former Banshee Queen returns to the Maw and brings every soul to Pelagos so he can sort them to their proper afterlives.
Sylvanas’ fate is no surprise to those who pay attention to datamining fromWorld of Warcraft’sPublic Test Realm.WoWfans previously discovered an animation of Sylvanasleaping off a precipice, presumably from Oribos into the Maw, along with Dori’thur, Tyrande’s owl companion who will act as the former Banshee Queen’s warden. Between it and voice lines where Sylvanas submitted herself to Tyrande’s judgment, this new information confirms theories already held by fans.
Generally speaking, players are content with this ending. Fans of the Dark Lady are happy to see she was not executed. Most agree her penance is fitting, given many of the souls in the Maw are there because of her actions. Those who dislike Sylvanas are mostly happy to be rid of her, at least for the time being.
That said, there are still plenty who are dissatisfied with the ending. Many would have preferred her to have been killed off instead of placed in a “glass case” for later, while others hopedWoWwould use the magic of Zereth Mortis to rewrite history and undo her worst actions–many of which were written by Alex Afrasiabi and others allegedly responsible for thetoxic culture which got Blizzard in trouble last year.
Regardless of one’s opinion on Sylvanas and her ultimate fate, the final epilogue chapter arrives next week, and with it, the end ofShadowlands.World of Warcraftreveals its next expansion on April 19th, which will hopefully allow it to start with a fresh slate after learning from its mistakes fromBattle for AzerothandShadowlands.
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