For the first time since Cata, I paid attention to what Aggra was saying as she flies you down to Deepholm. The line that has me puzzled is this:
“All of Deepholm is going to collapse into Azeroth if we don’t put the World Pillar back together.”
This implies that Deepholm sits atop Azeroth and will collapse into Azeroth. I always thought Deepholm was below Azeroth. If it’s below, then she should have said Azeroth will collapse into Deepholm.
Was this simply bad writing or is Deepholm sitting above Azeroth?
Its not terribly well said but maybe Aggra just isn’t very good at explaining things.
If Deepholm is some large cave inside Azeroth, you would be correct in thinking that its collapse would be like creating a huge sinkhole into which everything above it would collapse.
The Elemental Plane is one single astral dimension existing parallel to Azeroth. Just like the Emerald Dream. Always there, but never visible. Separate, but connected. All four of the different element zones exist in this same dimension as just individual areas. You could even think of them like the SL covenant zones, each their own pocket region.
It’s not literally located on Azeroth. Like you can’t just dig down and burst into Deepholm. You have to magically travel there and cross a dimension. The World Pillar is a special titan-made object that stabilized the entire Elemental Plane and its realms by acting like a shock absorber for all of that chaotic energy.
When it was destroyed the absorption was gone so the Plane would grow increasingly unstable over time and eventually shatter the dimension and release it all into Azeroth. That’s what caused the Shattering and all those natural disasters. Deathwing destroying the Pillar shoved the entire Plane against our physical world. That’s where the earthquakes and tidal waves and storms/tornadoes all spawned from.
Thanks for that explanation, that clarifies it for me too. I always had this idea it was just inside Azeroth because I read somewhere that Deathwing was “given dominion over the earth and the deep places of the world”. So I assumed that meant him being stationed underground.
Nah he was actually just freeloading there. Deepholm was usually his secret base when he needed to hide. But he was only allowed there because Therazane tolerated his presence, as long as he didn’t do anything to upset her. Like a mutual leave each other alone and it’s cool.
It was never his place of power though. His Aspect was mainly back over Azeroth’s land.
Deathwing already caused the Firelands to collapse into Azeroth resulting in Sulfuron Spire showing up there(there are also portions of the Firelands bursting into Darkshore, Ashenvale and Stonetalon Mountains).
If the World Pillar collapsed we’d be seeing parts of Deepholm all over Azeroth just as the Firelands has been doing the same!
Skywall has also collapsed into Azeroth as seen with the pillar of Air bursting out of Westfall and the entrances to the Skywall Dungeon and Raid showing up in the skies of Uldum.
Abyssal Maw and Deepholm currently are the only Elemental Planes that have not collapsed even partly into Azeroth even if Entrances to them have been made in the Ocean Floor!
