I don’t have a lot of predictions, because this is only Blizzconline and not a full Blizzcon and it’s just 9.1 but but my predictions are as follows:
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I predict we should get a new High def cinematic teased in the Shadowlands story trailer about how the Jailer came to be jailed in the Maw in the first place. I lowkey feel like the Jailer is only the penultimate threat of this expansion and more hints about what/ who will really be the final raid boss.
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I predict we get more information about what is happening currently on Azeroth and how the left behind characters are dealing with the Scourge Invasion.
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I predict that they will tease the return of Arthas.
Feel free to leave your predictions in this thread and we will see this weekend if any of us were on the money.
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I predict hamfistedness and disappointment in the story beats to come, so if I’m wrong I can be pleasantly surprised.
But I’m sure they’ll make it look really cool in a cutscene or cinematic so that’ll be nice.
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In the tradition of Blizzard reusing High-Def CGI models for future cinematics I definitely predict that we will see The Winter Queen, The Archon, The Jailer, etc. in some kind of CGI. Maybe depicting the fall of the Jailer when he was originally put in the Maw. I just don’t believe Blizzard spent all of that time and money rendering those models for a side-note under-noticed cinematic that most WoW players haven’t even seen.
Based on the announcement of the Q&A (Call to the Light and you may be heard) I think we will see some development of the Anduin/Sylvanas story and I suspect that it will lead to Anduin either being corrupted by Sylvanas or perhaps going Super Saiyan with either the light or the shadow. Shadows Rising teased Anduin having a darker side and as we know Blizzard sometimes likes to pull from Hearthstone where Shadowreaper Anduin is a thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdG9c5G66HE
Lich Queen Sylvanas was a big prediction going into Shadowlands being announced, and it was never really all that likely in my opinion based on understanding the character and her motivations. Similarly I think its more likely that Anduin embraces the Shadow to avoid his Jailer fate than it is that Sylvanas is the one to personally corrupt him.
I hope they haven’t set up a scenario where they’re just going to villain-bat Sylvanas again after the last two cinematics finally brought nuance back to the character.
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I predict there will be precisely zero mention of what’s going on on Azeroth. I just don’t see them as having any interest in what’s going on outside of the focus of the moment.
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Anduin becoming the fabled “Shadow Ascendant” in priest lore would be a pretty cool twist but do you really think they would really corrupt such a stalwart character?
This is a pretty cool speculation though regardless.
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I doubt they’d corrupt him permanently, more along the lines of Luke from Starwars, tempted but coming out stronger/better for it. Maybe turning him into a Discipline Priest?
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probably a high def cinematic featuring anduin becoming lichking and attacking ardenweald.
We will find out more about why the jailers trapped and will have a raid having to protect ardenweald from the lich king anduin and sylvanas.
I suspect that Jaina will die but end up saving anduin her death having far more of an impact than his fathers seem to have had. Yet she just becomes a spirit so is still around in a new magical form.
Tyrande will confront Sylvanas and kill her at end of the raid. Again this will just release sylvanas spirit to reconnect with her other split soul. Tyrande will go nuts looking to destroy her entirely and we will have to stop her.
Maybe a new Zone with other people from our past rest.
Awww Anduin sounds so edgy…how adorable.
I think he’d go all light super sayin. Or, perhaps the Light will bust in and save him (why yes I am imagining a Light Koolaid Man) right before Sylvanus turns him. They have plans for him after all.
In a perfect world Anduin turns into Lich King 2.0 and we raid and kill him.
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No, he’ll have Mastered the Void all on his own to the extent that Locus-Walker and Alleria both will be begging to learn from him.
We’ll also be introduced to the next Alliance Allied Race: Void Humans.
Sass aside, if Anduin wields the powers of the Void I do fully expect that he will master them swiftly as well.
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I predict a Kel’Thuzad raid with Vyraz being a boss within it, Thros being included as a new zone and/or mega dungeon, and the more covenant campaign content.
For the Night Fae campaign, I see that ending with the Mawsworn launching an attack on the Heart of the Forest that is pushed back by Vol’jin dramatically awakening.
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I think I buy into “each zone will have a raid”, so my 9.1 prediciton is that we’ll get a Maldraxxus Kel’Thuzad raid - it’s the (a?) logical progression of both the Necrolord and Venthyr campaigns. I think that it’ll be the first big event where all the covenants attack there together - I’m not sure how the Night Fae will get involved, but there’s definitely enough friendly Kyrian in Maldraxxus that it may warrant some attention from the Archon. Not to mention Uther, as well!
The inevitable cinematic will probably be our favourite gang of 3: Sylvanas, the Jailer and Anduin doing god knows what.
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I’m honestly quite a bit worried at this point because they just seem to do random things that don’t make sense for the rest of the story.
I’d want to predict that there’s some resolution for Tyrande and the Night Elf souls but I don’t know if it’s likely at all
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Well yes, they do. I think Wrath of the Lich King is the only expansion that went in a mostly predictable direction, and even then there was random side notes about the Blue and Red dragonflights presaging a dragon-centric expansion in Cataclysm.
It isn’t about where the story should go, it’s about where will the story go from here that we don’t expect?
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Hopeful prediction: It’s something we can’t predict. Ion said we’d be going to a bunch of different planes of death. To me that implies we won’t do the obvious journey to Thros -> Some Kyrian Place -> Some Maldraxxus Place -> Torghast again.
My cynical prediction is that either 9.1 9.2 is Thros and Thros isn’t going to be terribly interesting.
Either way we’re probably going to get updates on the attempt to save Tyrande from the Night Warrior power - that was all set up in the Ardenweald campaign - as well as Thrall, Bolvar and maybe Calia.
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Actual prediction: a patch centered entirely around Broker shenanigans, while twisting and contorting as much as humanly possible so as to avoid telling us anything interesting or useful about the juicy bits of info that we actually want to know about the Shadowlands and its operations.
Hopeful prediction: I just want to know what the Big Red Blob was, please, that’s all I need and I’m complacent for like six months.
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Arthas will make a return in some form everyone will hate.
Out of left field, we have to fight bronze dragons
Also
Arthas gets into the story
Garrosh gets into the story
Uh Fandral gets into the story, why not.
I’d say that this is probably far ahead of what they’ll toss out at Blizzcon, but we’re totally fighting the Arbiter at some point. You can’t tell me that area they’ve set her in isn’t a boss room. It screams “There will be some form of fire everywhere. Good luck.”
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The Red thing that crashed into her will probably take over her at one point. The part of the Red thing that went lower into Oribos will probably reveal itself as well though in what form I cannot guess.
The Jailer is too boring looking to be a Final Boss anyways so the Arbiter corrupted would be a better Final Boss just as Sylvanas would be.