https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBBEt8gfXks&ab_channel=WorldofWarcraft
Just gonna put some space here so we don’t spoiler anything …
Very interesting that the Harronir (Cave Elf/Troll hybrids of some kind) is dancing in a very dynamic, almost ecstatic way as she’s drawing the pale blue-white flames out of those roots, and in the process the roots seem drawn to her, while the Earthen Dwarf is very stoic, grim and almost seems mechanical as he’s dragging that chain back and forth, a horrendous amount of force being applied to him every time it is yanked back, and there’s even flecks of dust flying off of him, although that could also be a lighting effect.
The Earthen story is pretty much already laid out by streamers and lore-nerds who got in early, but the Harronir stuff has been kept pretty much close to the chest, and from what we have learned, these people live very close to the still-thriving roots of a World Tree that was ripped from the planet by Aman’thul, and hidden by a heart-broken Eonar until such time as the tree could rejuvenate from those roots. There’s more to their story, but thus far, it is either heavily encrypted or players simply cannot access those quests yet.
Just as concerning, our new Padawan, Faerin Lothar, emerges in the cinematic from absolute darkness, and appears to be very on-edge, her every movement swift, economical and, indeed, aggressive as she equips her shield in that dim and dusty storage room. Evidence of not only the possibly war-like nature of the new Arathai Empire, but their efficiency at conflict. In 50 years, they turned a cavern into a fortified city with no tools, no mages and only soldiers and their support crews.
Dialogue between Faerin and Anduin suggests that while Anduin sees much that is hopeful and worthy of praise in the Arthains we do meet, Faerin is warning him as subtly as she can, in public no less, that their Empire isn’t the best place to live and that there’s little racial diversity, with only Humans and Half-Elves having any real significance and the other races are either non-existent or don’t even register to the citizenry. We’re getting our Alliance Civil War by proxy, it seems, and if and when we eventually do either go to, or are met by, the actual full Empire, I suspect things are not going to go well at all for any of the groups involved.
Horde are likely going to be K.O.S. because of what they are, the Alliance are going to get a mixed reaction with only the Humans and possibly the Light-Forged Draenei getting a pass and the rest … either K.O.S. or seen fit as second-class citizens at best, servants and slaves as a middle-ground. We could maybe be working with Faerin and an underground movement seeking to topple the Arathai Emperor, which would be a nice touch, Suramar 2.0 but the Alliance get ‘Nice Things’ this time around.
Regardless, I loved this trailer, although at least Xal’atath isn’t duck-facing at us in premature triumph.