World of Warcraft recently announced Eternity’s End, the final chapter of the Shadowlands saga. With dataminers hard at work trying to unlock the secrets of the challenges to come, some of the uncovered details suggest the Jailer may have been being quite literal when he said “Death comes for the soul of your world!” at the beginning of Shadowlands. Spoilers and speculation for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands to follow.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands' story will culminate in the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid. The raid itself will be divided into two parts; the first eight bosses, ending in a battle against the dominated Anduin Wrynn, and the final three bosses, with the Jailer being the ultimate confrontation.

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These leaks hint at elements to come in the final battle against the Jailer in Eternity's End. Two of Zovaal’s attacks, Desolation and Apocalypse Bolt, appear to deal damage to Azeroth herself, indicating the world, or at least the Titan world-soul that slumbers within it, will be a part of the fight directly. The names of the phases battles are also evocative of previous elements of the game, such as the Intermission phase, “Machine of Origination,” which sounds similar to other Titan-scale weapons players have seen before. It seems the Jailer attunes to this Machine and attempts to use it in the final phase, “The Unmaking,” to try and destroy Azeroth.

This is not the first hint as to Azeroth’s deeper connection with the conclusion of Shadowlands in Eternity’s End. Beyond the Jailer’s own words, Blizzard recently sent out an email that suggested Azeroth’s soul was in direct danger. Likewise, promotional art of the Jailer in the Sepulcher of the First Ones had beams of light similar in color to Azerite–the essence of Azeroth itself–and datamined particle effects sharing this color scheme and containing the word “Azerite” have been discovered alongside a holographic globe of Azeroth itself.

World of Warcraft lorehounds are already hitting the conspiracy boards about what all of this means. While recent interviews with World of Warcraft developers have suggested a return to Azeroth is coming, most players assumed this meant Eternity’s End would not have any direct links with it. Considering the Warcraft fanbase’s major complaint surrounding Shadowlands has been its lack of relevance in relation to Azeroth and the conflicts make Warcraft what it is, this direct connection could be what the story needs to recover itself from those who are disillusioned with Shadowlands.

However, many think it is too late to salvage the narrative of Shadowlands. They believe the cosmic narrative is too detached from the things they know and love about WoW, and that The Jailer is too bland of a villain to be invested in. Players will have to see for themselves how the story unfolds in Eternity’s End, and make a final judgement call as to whether Blizzard succeeded in telling the epic conclusion it seeks to tell.

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is available on PC. Eternity's End is currently in development.

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Source: Wowhead