Ever since World of Warcraft: Shadowlands players stepped foot into the afterlife, each covenant has played an important part of storylines along with the Eternal Ones leading them. Dubbed the Pantheon of Death, every member wields titan-like power that makes them normally unkillable by mortals. But while heroes recently dealt with Sire Denathrius, they have just found an unintended way to take down the Archon Kyrestia within Bastion.
Kyrestia the Firstborn is the progenitor of the Kyrian responsible for ferrying souls into the Shadowlands. But as the community learned in Bastion's Afterlives video, her strict adherence to the path of ascension disillusioned many Kyrians. With players noting that her former paragon Devos had a point, many were disappointed to find they had to aid the Archon in maintaining the status quo. However, one group managed to give the Archon a piece of their mind, but not without dire consequences for the afterlife.
While Kyrestia is normally unattackable, user Xorihn explains the group’s warlock summoned a doomguard that broke free during their Spires of Ascension run. Although it was hostile, the doomguard only followed the group around until after the final fight with Devos. At that point, the doomguard started attacking Kyrestia and eventually killed her, causing the entire party to die along with a message "As the Archon perishes, all life in the zone is wiped out."
While the Archon only has a minor role in putting up bubbles that prevent players from getting one-shot by Devos, this interaction is possibly a leftover from an earlier version of the fight. Kyrestia probably would have been attacked by the boss or affected by abilities, meaning the battle was more healer-centric like Sun King's Salvation rather than the straightforward version on live. Since Shadowlands' dungeons already have plenty of unavoidable party damage, it was likely removed to save healers from the stress of an alternate wipe mechanic.
On the other hand, this unique death scenario helps explain why the Primus is currently missing or Sire Denathrius wasn't killed in Castle Nathria. If an Eternal One dies, their realm will also be destroyed alongside them. With these ramifications in mind, the final battle may not be as simple as just toppling the Jailer from his seat of power in the Maw.
Although this revelation raises even more lore questions, the issue of Eternal Ones and replacing or severing their link to each realm will likely be addressed in a future content patch. Until then, World of Warcraft players can keep advancing the covenant campaign, do dungeons or raids, and PvP against each other.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is available now on PC.