Lich King and the val'kyr

So did the lich king have a deal with helya to get valkyr as well as kvaldir? Or did he make his own in a case of convergent evolution? Or was helya just retconned in during legion?

That’s the thing, from all indications the Primes were enslaved by Arthas; but we know next to nothing about their origins past that. A LOT of people just assumed that they were created by him, but considering the rampant Kvaldir throughout Northrend (which served absolutely ZERO narrative purpose) 
 it could be very well that Sylvie’s primes were once Heyla’s.

That would explain how exactly she knew how to get in touch with the crazed Titan Watcher.

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Arthas made his own based on the legend of the Valkyrie that was passed down by the Ymirjar who dwelled in Icecrown. You can go to where they are created in game, to Valkyrion in Storm Peaks, where female vrykul train and wait in hopes of receiving the Lich King’s ‘gift’ in hopes of ascending. There’s also the first boss in Utgarde Pinnacle whom the Lich King converts into a Valkyr during an RP event.

It is surprising that the Lich King so accurately reproduced Odyn’s Valkyr, but it’s possible that death magic and the forms those that are bathed in it take are just similar no matter who the person is harnessing the death magic.

The Lich King does not command any Kvaldir, however. Most of the undead Vrykul under the Lich King’s control are Vargul, Bone Giants, or Frost Vrykul. All of the Kvaldir we see in Wrath are raiders along the coast. It’s likely that they directly serve Helya and were attracted by the war between the factions and the Scourge since they show up shortly after the factions create fortresses in Northrend.

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Val’kyr which worked for Arthas are basically knockoffs based on the ones Odyn made.

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Chronicles say he created the Val’kyr that follow him after learning about them from the Vrykul.

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Door Number Three is the winner!

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Helya is a newly introduced character in Legion, more than a retcon, as the idea for her character pre-exists legion. but the Lich King can definitely make his own Val’kyr.

My theory on the Kvaldir in Northrend, is that Helya moved on Northrend to claim some of the Winterskorn Vrykul before Arthas could claim them all as his own champions.

I thought they showed up because pirates stole Vrykul artifacts. That is what the spirits imply when you return the artifacts.

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Val’kyr were made by odyn and Helya. The lich king saw the design and copied it. He is capable of making his own val’kyr.

Don’t get hung up on the kvaldir lore in northrend. They were a mystery at the time and I doubt the devs had a story for them. No mention of helya, a leader, motives, enemy’s, nothing. All that was known was that they were big seaweed men raiding coastal villages and killing Tuskarr. Poor Tuskarr.

I wouldn’t be surprised that they pushed a “vengeful vrykrul spirits” vibe onto them. Which looking back on it, its kinda accurate.

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In Icecrown during the quest https://wow.gamepedia.com/Honor_Challenge Some of the enemies say “Hela take you”. I think blizzard had the idea of Helya and Odyn back in Wrath (given the whole norse theme with the Vrykul and the keepers of Ulduar).

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That’s a nice find, I forget about that!

One things for sure, blizz took their sweet time developing that story. 4 expansions later.

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That was the broad explanation given in Howling Fjord, but they also attacked the Kalu’ak villages in Bornean Tundra, Dragonblight, and northern Icecrown for no discernible reason other than they were ghostly vrykul raiders and that’s the sort of thing they did.

Apparently they were a known problem for years before the Lich King ever came to Northrend, but they hadn’t raided the coast recently until around the same time we arrived. Even the Naga apparently had constant problems with them.

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I wonder if the Valkyr have more to do with death and the Shadowlands independently from Odyn and Arthas. Perhaps there are other similar creatures.

As if a Valkyr is something that can be created with the right knowledge, by anyone. As if they become a creature “of the shadowlands” once they become a Valkyr.

Odyn forced Helya to become the first Valkyr after she refuses to willingly become one. Which means Odyn learned about this “independent process” from his lessons about the Shadowlands. Those two then create more Valkyr.

She eventually shakes his control and imprisons him. Some of her Valkyr stick with her, while many go off and do their own thing.

Meanwhile, Arthas seems to have been able to use a similar process to turn Vrykul into Valkyr. It seems as if he wandered into their death obsessed culture and found a way to mesh it with his goals.

The female aspirants fought to prove themselves and Arthas stepped in and fit their current culture by providing an ascension for the winners.

As far as Sylvanas’s Valkyr, I do not know if they were older Valkyr Arthas found and captured, or Valkyr he created himself.

It all does make me wonder. Helya is the first Valkyr we know of. But what does that even mean? Are there other creatures like the Valkyr in the Shadowlands but in different forms?

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looked it up. Edge of night.

These are my sister battlemaidens, and we are the only nine who remain. We served the warriors of the north in life, and chose to continue our service in death."
“To serve the Lich King.”

The vision of Annhylde rankled. “Did you choose to serve the Lich King?” she asked.