Wild theory: Sargeras broke the machine of death

Lore Story
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It depends on what was powering up the Arbiter. And… we don’t know.

At some point I saw a mention that Malygos used surge needles to redirect Azeroth’s ley lines into the Nexus and to the Twisting Nether during the Nexus war. Which made me think… if ley lines of Azeroth could be used outside of Azeroth, could it be the thing that kept Arbiter working? (if the Arbiter is a machine or a construct).

In the Return to Karazhan patch, there was a peculiar event. There were such lines:

Anduin Lothar:
It couldn’t have been helped, you know. We tried to alter it, but it was all part of a larger scheme.

Archmage Khadgar:
I know. All part of a greater cycle. A cycle that now at last may be broken.

What is Karazhan? Other than the place where all the ley lines used to go,

Viz’aduum the Watcher:
Karazhan’s presence radiates through the Nether… a beacon drawing in the Legion’s might. Our Burning Crusade has consumed countless worlds. This tower will serve as a conduit to each of them.

And Medivh himself states:

Medivh:
I will open the way. While you battle that fiend. I will sever the tower’s connection to Legion worlds. I suggest we be quick about it!

So, it already was connected to countless worlds when we got to the place.

If we assume that ley lines somehow could be used for something of that kind, then severing all the connections from Azeroth, or just messing up with ley lines could also cause such side effect. Besides, apparently Medivh would not mind to “shatter the cycle” anyway.

In the end he says

Medivh:
It may be simpler to shut a door than to pass through it. But sometimes a step into the unknown is required to break the bonds of fate.

But all of it is a baseless speculation and going to stay like that until we learn what powered up the Arbiter.

And by the way, the only place which has a location that is known relative to Azeroth, it Torghast tower, which seems to be “up side down” right above the icecrown.

Just like time is a problematic question in Shadowlands, so could be the space. But in general, depending on which side from the Torghast tower Oribos tower would be, the direction to the second one would be either across the Vault of Archavon, somewhere towards the Berean tundra, or in the opposite direction.

What does it all mean?
:man_shrugging:t2:

Edit: in the video form
Anduin Lothar part - 27:27
Medivh appears - 28:53
Viz’adoom right after.

gl hf

1 Like
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There is the Nathrezim connection and Sargeras purged a lot of planets. Maybe that was the first part of the plan, help Sargeras deprive anima from shadowlands and weaken the structure thats why the heart was in the giant sword .
Other theories:
There was a suggestion that the breaking of the lamp in Stromheim caused the breaking of the machine but its a little anticlimactic.
There is a usage of pc necklace in shadowlands. Azeroths blood has influence in shadowlands perhaps the sabering was enough or the souls that died were infused with Azeroths blood and caused Arbiters shutdown.
There is a reference in Ogmots dream journal.
“Other hammers here now. Dey talk and talk bout Argus. Bout da one dat got wakened. Bout great victory dat our enemy not even notice.”
The great victory might be the breaking of the machine suggesting that it was caused either by Argus death or Sargeras sword. If the victory is the awakening it is probably a time reference.

1 Like
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The lamp seems to have had another role, other than enslaving Eyir. But I don’t think that’s what broke the machine. Something that Helya would have an interest in.

Which enforces the idea that Azeroth is a big deal in the whole cosmological plot. Perhaps she had a great deal to do with the creation of Shadowlands in the first place. It’s not just an influence thing, it seems as a matter of authority there. She has authority in the Shadowlands.

Interesting theory, I didn’t think about the Argus’ death as a cause. How do you think that could’ve happened?

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Not much there was some speculation because Argus has been called Death Titan and he is a singular case.
There is also the possibility that the breaking of the machine was an inside job from Jailers allies in shadowlands.

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What about the old god yoggsaron? He stated interesting thing like: There is no escape not in this life, not in the next. Basicaly that is what maw is, place of eternal torment.Also yoggsaron proclaimed he is the god of death. And keep in mind of the so called great evil imprisoned inside maw, I have an theory that yoggsaron we fought was only physical manifestation of the void lord yogsarron who is somehow trapped in the maw. Also he said: You are a pawn of forces unseen. Which makes sense cause we are all blindly following forces in the universe like light, fel etc we as mortal can not even comprehend. And last one from yoggsarons toy box: All places, all things have souls. All souls can be devoured.Again it strongly implies his true form is trapped in the maw and he is feeding of torment of the souls there.

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I also think that the ancient evil isn’t the Jailer, if it is yogg related it will tye up the things you mentioned.
There was some posts in the us forums speculating that Sylvanas was planed to go bad at cataclysm but they changed to Garosh. The puzzle box has a lot of Nialotha references. Hints for a Nialotha-Old Gods expansion? They could have spin a similar arc for Sylvanas trough Old God corruption and the Icecrown citadel would be the gate to Nialotha. The references you mentioned might be eco of that story.

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We never visited true nyalotha, what we saw with nzoth was only an powerfull illusion, like genjutsu in naruto.A true nylotha is where void lords in their true forms reside in my opinion, as i tihnk old gods we fought were just their physical manifestation on the material plane. Also herald volazj said: They do not live, they do not die, they are outside of circle.So we are dealing with transcendent cosmic entities here.Void is most powerfull cosmic force, they see all possible outcomes, they mere fragments are colapsing planets- Dimensius for example.It kind of remind me of marvel new gods, that is type of stuff we are going to deal in lore now.

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I also think that what we had in BFA was only a teaser for the real void expansion.

I think Shadowlands might be the setup for a that. Torghast must be containing some real crazy stuff in there.

Accolonn was presuming in a video that the Maw is a remnant of an ancient structure destroyed by a void lord and that the Jailor himself is trying to destroy the void lords.

I find the theory interesting and it could have some truth in it.

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Im having some serious Legacy Of Kain Soul Reaver flashbacks in this thread. Dont mess with the machine of life&death, it only bring more tentacles from void.

2 Likes
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I think we need to realize, that Shadowlands exists aside from the worlds, it’s ancient and was ancient even when first titan was born. So I don’t really think anything related to Arbiter is tied to Azeroth. I think it’s void related.

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In what way?

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Who knows, I don’t think Azeroth is the center of the universe. Perhaps it is given it’s an mmorpg, but it’s just a world with a titan soul within. And there are many worlds out there like that. But it could be related to Sargeras alright, as you know, demons are pushed back to Twisting nether when they die. So technically Sargeras was robbing Arbiter and shadowlands of their souls, by twisting everyone he met corrupting them with fel. Thus upon death they vanished into the twisting nether. I did not spoil anything about Shadowlands to myself, so I cannot tell for sure. We will know, once we finish the questlines.

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I’m trying hard not to spoil myself too much, I keep telling myself it’s just a few days left.

Really looking forward to the story.

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More like eternity left lol. Given my luck I will be at work when it launches.
But yes I did not play beta and didn’t watch any videos people posted on YT.
I don’t even know why they do that. That’s like leaking a movie before it’s premiere.

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Not much time left to wait I think. From the recent interview:

The exact moment this happened, along with some clues as to why, will be revealed in an in-game cinematic that you can view in Oribos after the expansion launches.

https://worldofwarcraft.judgehype.com/news/interview-de-steve-danuser-sur-l-histoire-de-shadowlands-164320/

edit: there is english version of the interview available in the article.

gl hf

2 Likes
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Perfect :smiley: Can’t wait.

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I still think Genn broke it when he smashed the Lantern. Or am I the only one who thinks the Hole in the Arbiter’s (and Jailer’s) Chest is weirdly lantern shaped.

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In the recent interview there is a line

When Ursoc was slain in the Emerald Nightmare, souls were still being judged by the Arbiter.

Isn’t that raid where we kill Ursoc chronologically placed after the leveling experience?

gl hf

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I’m really not sure about that. The timeline with the first raids is always a bit wonky.

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