In the new Bastion animatic we saw that Uther’s soul was drawn in two directions, one part being sucked into Frostmourne, the other going to Bastion. Something people have jumped onto is the speculation that the Light split Bolvar’s soul in half in an attempt to save it from Frostmourne. I don’t imagine that is actually the case, as Uther’s servitude to the Light is disregarded by the Kyrians almost immediately upon his arrival to Bastion.
I speculate instead the following, that we have been given new information about Frostmourne: we potentially have misunderstood Frostmourne, in that it might not steal souls at all, but merely their anima. Frostmourne and the Lich King’s power grew as they slayed more people, but given the awareness of anima now, that power doesn’t actually need the souls, just the power that the souls carried, much like how almost anything in the Shadowlands functions.
We did talk to Uther from inside Frostmourne a number of times, though. However, I think that might have just been the anima from Uther’s soul echoing his personality. This would also clear up one of the most confusing things from the Legion Death Knight artifact quests:
These echoes of Ner’zhul and Arthas within Frostmourne. Both were long dead by the time the Death Knight interacts with these echos. And now we saw from the Bastion animatic that Arthas’ soul was collected immediately upon his death. These echoes of Ner’zhul and Arthas, however, could have been the anima that Frostmourne might have stolen from their souls when they were bound to the blade, and lingered on even after the souls themselves went to the Shadowlands.
This would wrap things up quietly without there ending up being duplicate characters. For example, if there really were two Uthers, and Kyrian Uther was there when Arthas died to collect Arthas’ soul, wouldn’t Uther have seen his other self soul freed from Frostmourne when it was broken? If the energies released by Frostmourne’s shattering left mostly as raw anima, that would avoid that problem, leaving only Kyrian Uther as the main actual singular character all along. And avoids any nonsense of any other souls potentially being duplicated, as we really don’t need a repeat of Warlords of Draenor giving us unnecessary copies of characters. Warcraft’s story is all already muddled enough as it is.
This also gives a strong explanation for why Sylvanas experienced the afterlife despite having a soul-stealing sword jammed into her stomach.
Though it would be slightly surprising that the raw anima would have enough leftover personality to attack the Lich King (iirc).
At least as far as I’m aware, there hasn’t been anything that said anima couldn’t also be sentient, which would explain how souls trapped in Frostmourne still seem to have a personality.
It doesn’t take anima. Uther was unique, Light tried to save him. Sylvanas’s soul was specifically used to reanimate her body. All undead require souls.
If you remember, when we killed Syndragosa she claims she can finally rest. This would not be true if her soul was still in Frostmourne. Same for putting Saurfang Jr to rest.
One of the big problems I keep running into if Uther’s soul being split isn’t unique is why didn’t it become very quickly obvious to much larger portions of the Shadowlands that a weapon of the Maw was running around? Frostmourne claimed -a lot- of souls and if they all split they should’ve showed up in the Shadowlands with these horrible soul-wounds on them. Is Devos supposed to be the only one who questioned this?
Even if we assume that it will later be revealed that other realms did notice, surely some other person killed by Arthas would have ended up in Bastion for Devos or another Kyrian to notice. However, if Uther is essentially unique because of just how powerful his connection to the Light is that problem is averted.
I agree with Dread… Terenas literally tells Arthas in the “Fall of the Lich King” trailer that “there are a thousand souls trapped within this blade, with my soul being one of the first to fall”.
Also, we see Terenas’ soul released and it was the souls trapped inside that had the power to stop Arthas when it was shattered, if it was simply anima they wouldn’t all join in willfully to stop Arthas.
Another flaw in the theory is that stripping a soul of anima doesn’t wound or even destroy it- all souls in the Shadowlands regularly are stripped of it. In many cases, it is necessary for the denizens of a particular realm.
What we see in the fragments of the blade are just echoes- ill-defined echoes to be sure.
Necromancy is a separate matter from soul theft. One needs neither to have had a stored soul to perform necromancy or even particular death magic. A vast variety of powerful enough sources of energy can be used to pull souls from the Shadowlands. See all the spirits at Black Rook Hold. Frostmourne did not need to have stolen souls to raise people into undeath. If it did steal anima it could have used that same anima to fuel its necromancy.
Anub’arak is actually a good example of necromancy and soul theft being separate matters, given the number of times he was brought back into undeath that had nothing to do with his soul being in Frostmourne or not.
If the anima took on echoes of personality of the souls it was stolen from they would most certainly attack Arthas, same as the echoes that attacked the Death Knight during the Legion artifact quests.
This is not a flaw. That anima can be taken from souls without damaging or destroying them is the core of the theory. That Frostmourne can damage souls - like that Frostmourne can perform necromancy - is a separate matter.
Hmmm interesting read. I wonder were does that leave Calia Menethil unique Lightforge necromantic resurrection I wonder?
I’m begging to think that all of this is going to tie up later in the SL expansion or far beyond it years later.
Honestly, I don’t expect Blizzard to address necromancy in regards to the Shadowlands at all, as I don’t think they’ve thought about it or even want to think it through.
The echoes in Frostmourne serve the Lich King. Their memories would be tainted to serve him even if shattered, and all echoes in the Legion campaign attack the PC. Souls would realise they are free, that’s why they attack the Lich King.
But your reasoning for a damaged soul is that Frostmourne steals their anima. The causation relation is between Frostmourne stealing anima and damaged soul.
But stealing anima doesn’t wound a soul.
No they didn’t. None of the echoes we saw did. They all where just echoing their lives:
Baelgun Flamebeard says: Did that traitor of a prince send you? So be it, I’ll show no mercy!
Baelgun Flamebeard says: You an’ that prince of yours are gonna pay for what he did to ole’ Muradin!
Halahk the Deathbringer says: The king may have fallen but I will never abandon Lordaeron!
Magroth the Defender says: You unholy monster! The righteous fury of the Light will tear you apart!
Gavinrad the Cruel says: The Silver Hand will remove your blight from this world!
And no, I never proposed this. Nowhere did I mention the damaging of souls. Whatever your reasoning is, it is not mine.
You seem to have quite a number of misunderstandings.
Xandria: The Arbiter’s judgment is infallible. She must have recognized something within you that was meant for Maldraxxus.
Alexandros Mograine: Yet I dedicated my life in service to the Light. Is that not what earns a place in Bastion?
Xandria: Walk with me. Both of you.
Xandria: Our aspirants shed their memories in the Temple of Purity, but we will follow a different path. Does Maldraxxus not suit you?
Alexandros Mograine: When I first looked upon the Maldraxxi, all I could see was the Scourge that brought ruin to my homeland. The monsters I had sworn to destroy.
Alexandros Mograine: In time, I learned that they are not the mindless undead I thought them to be. That honor has its place in Maldraxxus. Or at least it did.
Xandria: The memories of your life bear torment in death. Were you chosen for Bastion, they would be deemed a burden.
Alexandros Mograine: But why was I not chosen? Wass my faith in the Light not strong enough? Was my soul tainted from the moment I rose into undeath?
Xandria: Light, Void… such trifling powers have no purchase here. The Arbiter sent you to Maldraxxus for a reason. One we shall attempt to discern
These were never called echoes though, they are described as souls. You can say they could be echoes, but the same expac made it a point to distinguish the echoes of Frostmourne and the souls released from it- the same you use in your reasoning.
I mean, it’s deductive reasoning. Why is Uther’s soul scarred? You didn’t bother to address it in your theory but it’s the central point of contention from the cinematic.
it is severed or fragmented because the Light saved his soul while Frostmourne claimed a part.
His anima is taken from him.
Frostmourne damages his soul, and takes its anima.
Option 3 would be viable except we see that it’s not the case for others like Sylvanas, whose soul was whole when Frostmourne killed her and again when she died in Icecrown.
Again: Necromancy requires souls, not anima specifically. Arthas claimed Saurfang Jr’s soul with Frostmourne, and used it to reanimate his corpse as a Death Knight. Faranoth is correct.
The soul is not physically needed at the site (like in Frostmourne) to bring it back into a corpse.
Souls in the Shadowlands (like the ones the Valkyr raise) are brought back into a corpse on performing necromancy. (such as Derek)
As long as a corpse is there, the soul will find its way back violently.
I mean I know that Valkyr can cross into the Shadowlands. That’s the entire reason Sylvanas needed them to raise the Forsaken. My point is that Arthas harvested Saurfang Jr’s soul with Frostmourne, then used it to reanimate his corpse. He didn’t just use anyone’s soul. That was Saurfang Jr’s soul in the body.
Liches, Necromancers, Death Knights and the Plague don’t grab other peoples’ Souls and randomly shove them into someone else’s body unlike Gul’dan so why would Arthas be any different!?!
They shove the dead person’s own Soul into the body and improperly attach it! They don’t do what Gul’dan did to create his Death Knights!
