Chronicles 4 and Shadowlands

Lore Story Forum
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So admittedly I’m a bit late to the party here, but I just realized that we are getting a Chronicles Volume 4 that, according to the Amazon page, will covering the lore from Mists of Pandaria to Shadowlands.

Given that we all have had the idea of Chronicles being written from the Titan’s perspective for some time now, this begs the question of how the book will address Shadowlands.

Specifically I ask this, because the entirety of the Shadowlands expansion contradicts the description of them given to us in Chronicles Vol. 1.

If we are proceeding with the idea of these books having a Titan perspective to them, how does that perspective rationalize this glaring misrepresentation of the Shadowlands, especially when we have evidence to suggest that the Titans and their keepers were much more aware of both the Shadowlands and the First Ones themselves?

On its own, it isn’t too uncharacteristic for the Titans and their followers to omit or outright lie about information such as this, but if this book follows the trend set by the prior installations, it will seemingly require them to acknowledge this in some way.

The description given in Chronicles, for context:

THE SHADOWLANDS

Like the Emerald Dream, the Shadowlands are tangentially linked to the world of Azeroth. Yet whereas the Emerald Dream represents life, the Shadowlands represent death. They are nightmarish realms of decay, labyrinthine spiritual planes teeming with the souls of the dead who have passed from the world of the living.

The origins of the Shadowlands remain uncertain, but they have existed ever since mortal life first arose in the physical universe. Many believe that mortal souls are drawn into this dark place at the point of death, where they remain forever after. Still others hope that their souls will go on to a brighter place rather than languish for eternity within the cold confines of the Shadowlands.

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since its sylvanas’ perspective im hoping bfa → shadowlands is her dying dream or something

At least Sylvanas covering mists could provide some insight into how we got 2 rebellions in a row so im kinda interested in what she says about the time from Garrosh to her and how the Horde was organized

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Wait, it is??? I didn’t see anything about that on the Amazon page, if this is the case, then it could completely sidestep this issue.

I really hope not. Been doing a massive Shadowlands lore deep dive for a bit now, taking notes on everything, and I have to say that I really enjoy this expansion’s lore.

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yeah I don’t know how Pigzig got to that conclusion.

My hope is that the whole “titan perspective” is written out completely because it never made any sense to begin with. Just Danuser and company did not want to be locked into whatever lore Metzen and co had established as hard canon with vols 1-3. Given that Metzen is once again taking the reins of the story… somewhat.

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Glad I wasn’t missing something there.

I get that, but personally I enjoy the freedom it allows the story while not entirely invalidating the books for use in theories or speculation.

Imo they confirmed WAY too much, too soon, regarding the pre-history of the universe, Azeroth, and Draenor. Mixed feelings on its confirmations on the cosmology, as the cosmology is one of my favorite parts of the lore, but I again feel was confirmed too soon.

Most of this should, including the pre-history lore, should have been saved for a time when we could learn it in-game organically rather than be shoved into a series of “Definitive Guides”

As a general rule, I think placing too many confirmations on an event or location that we haven’t seen/visited in-game, years before we ever do, does nothing but tie the hands of the devs for when that day eventually comes.

Using the Shadowlands as an example, if they stuck to how it was described in Chronicles, I feel like the entire expansion would just have the aesthetic of the Maw + Torghast, two of the most hated parts of the expansion.

Fair, though I still have a crackpot theory that the Metzen made the idea of the Jailer years ago, and that he didn’t just didn’t have an actual design for his appearance, leading that aspect of his character to be a late decision.

Similarly, I also have a feeling that the First Ones may have been his idea as well, though I have even less evidence for this than the Jailer.

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Old Chronicle said that some Val’kyir chose to break away from Arthas and those are the Valkyr Sylvanas made a pact with. I hate that they took away that powerful moment of agency just to have them be loyal servants to the Jailer instead. I hope they find a way to rectify that.

At this point I’m ready to take a loss that all previous plot threads are now obsolete.

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