I remember at the start of Dragonflight we were teased with a “mystery” about a coin that was placed in our adventure guide, Danuser in an early interview for Dragonflight said, in regards to the coin, “You might have to wait a little while, it’s a bit of a tease, a bit of a hint, that’s really all I can say.” The flavor text on the coin itself made it pretty clear who the coin was from, it was from Shadreen the Watcher.
A single, strange coin sits in your bag, along with a small note: “Thank you for the opportunity to observe you. The information I’ve gathered has been illuminating, to say the least. This will be my final gift… for now.”
Shadreen was overseeing the Trial of Style and had a minor plot in the Brawlers Guild, the origin of her mission was to observe us, the player characters so that it would be easier for her and her masters to infiltrate us, to what purpose is still a mystery. Xan-Sallish is a minion of Shareen, when you defeat him in the Brawler’s Guild you get a book called the Shadowscralled tome which reads “You are my eyes when my eyes are elsewhere. See everything. Remember, record, report. The way they move, the way they fight, their choice of armor, their taste in weapons. Let no detail elude you. Pay special attention to the heroes, the champions, the movers of fate. Watch from afar. Watch when up close. Interfere, if you deem it necessary. Do not fail me, Xan-Sallish. Know that I have eyes on you, too”
Shadreen also makes an appearance in the Void Elf intro quest where she is seen observing he Telagrus Rift. The Void Elves are in possession of a mysterious void cube which may or may not be a portal. Regardless this is an item of high importance and it has been dormant until plot relevant.
With the new expansion dropping hints about Iridikron’s plan and his possible involvement with Xal’atath. I felt the need to pull out my pre-Dragonflight speculation notes where I tracked all the unfinished plot threads relating to the void.
The title of Saprish is “Ethereum-Lord of the Shadowguard” hinting at a connection between the Ethereum and the Shadowguard. Saprish is the second boss in the Seat of the Triumvirate. After Saprish is killed, Locus-Walker takes his staff, “Thank you for removing the obstacles between me and this staff.” it’s never revealed why Locus Walker needs this staff but he has a bad reputation with ethereals that we consider trustworthy. Thaumaturge Vashreen claims Locus-Walker is a “disreputable individual” who sought him out as a financier for a project that sounded profitable, and Locus-Walker has never repaid Vashreen’s investment. There’s a potential conflict here.
he Shadowguard are ethereals who have heeded the call of the void and become Void ethereal. They seem to be related to the Ethereum. They were drawn to Eredath on Argus by the Void energies of the Naaru L’ura. They stormed the Seat of the Triumvirate and established a base named Shadowguard Incursion. There, they used Void harvesters to call the Void to Eredath, but they were stopped before they could plunge the entire city into shadow and cause all of Argus to fall to darkness. The darkness they cultivated manifested into crystals of pure void, a resource the Shadowguard coveted. The Shadowguard also succeeded at creating Void-infused Broken whose mind did not fall into madness. Shadowguard Abyss Callers attempted to summon another void lord through the Umbral Locus, but their ritual was interrupted by Alleria siphoning and consuming the void essence of L’ura. It’s unclear if this was a good thing for Alleria because on one hand, it’s better that L’ura not fall into the hands of the Ethereals, but on the other hand Locus Walker cannot be trusted as far as we can tell, but thwarting the Ethereum’s plans to become void was a large part of Legion as was stopping Nexus Prince Bilall from summoning a void lord to Azeroth.
Nexus Prince Bilall, In the Mage artifact questchain for Aluneth we confront this Nexus Prince who was trying to refocus the Surge Needles, they wanted to use Aluneth to rip open a portal in the Twisting Nether. This plot was connected to an old deal the Nexus Prince made with Malygos in WoLK. The ethereals wanted to rework the Surge Needles to rip a hole in the fabric of reality to bring a Void Lord to Azeroth, not unlike what happened to their own planet. This is not the first time a being from across the fabric of reality was brought into our existence.
Dimensius the All-Devouring. The Ethereals homeworld K’aresh was destroyed by a Void Lord. However, at least one ethereal appears to still operate from K’aresh, which suggests that a portion of the planet may have survived the destruction. Dimensius may have also abandoned the planet after the ethereals fled. The demonym for K’aresh is K’areshi. During Etraeus fight: Xal’atath whispers: I long for the day our masters can truly pass into this realm. You have only seen fragments, shadows; the faintest of echoes. Ask the Ethereals what one of these manifestations are capable of. (she is talking about Dimensus being able to destroy a whole planet) There’s hints than the Talgarus Rift is actually the ruined remains of K’aresh and the one still operating was the agent the Void elves destroyed to get the cube, or it’s relating to Shadreen herself.
So, yeah, there’s potential for a lot of Void related overlap with the story, focusing on the Void Elves, Alleria Windrunner with a focus and with a returning cast of Void related threats that are more than just the Old Gods. I am looking forward to what I am currently calling “The Ethereals Plot.”