When the Shadowlands broke?

Couldn’t be. We know souls were still getting sent to the right place as of Emerald Nightmare (which we know takes place after the events of the Stormheim questing experience) because of Ursoc ending up in Ardenweald, so it had to have been some time after that

The Shadowlands went broke after adopting the New Jersey policies of

  1. Spending more anima then it took in.

  2. Passing anima costs onto future souls with aggressive borrowing.

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No, We know that the Emerald Nightmare happens before the Events of Stormheim because the Emerald Nightmare comes at the end of Questing in Valsharah.

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No it doesn’t. All the leveling zones happen first story wise, and then the raid happens as that is how they were released.

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The Emerald Nightmare might have existed and been known of before the events of Stormheim, but that doesn’t mean it was dealt with immediately. There are several questlines at max level, such as the druid order hall and Suramar campaign that lead the player to resolve the Nightmare.

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No, All zones happen in order. Being able to play the zone out of story order is a game mechanic. Emerald Nightmare was released in 7.0.3. Which makes it part of the first story.

Resolving the Nightmare is one of the last quests you do in Valsharah, which you get LONG before Suramar.

Correct. The zones go something like Highmountain > Val’sharah > Azuna > Stormheim canonically even though we can level through them however we want. But all those still happen before the Emerald Nightmare raid, meaning Genn shattering the lantern couldn’t have broke the Shadowlands.

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No, Lorewise, it happens at the end of Valsharah because that’s the order in which you get the quests. The Emerald Nightmare is part of the Valsharah Storyline and canonically, you don’t leave Valsharah until after the Emerald Nightmare.

And Lorewise, you go to AZUNA first, because one of the first quest you receive is to aid the Demon Hunters there.

Which quest are you referring to? Are you mistaking the Darkheart Thicket for the actual Emerald Nightmare raid? You also leave Val’sharah to complete the Tear of Elune quest after Ysera is put down, where it is placed in Dalaran.

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This is what I am thinking. I think Faelia means the Darkheart Thicket quest which is the dungeon. We don’t go straight into the Emerald Nightmare after finishing Val’sharah.

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No, I’m not.
Coincidentally, That Quest chain is ALSO part of the 7.0.3 patch so canonically, it’s still part of the same story and was released at the same time as the Emerald Nightmare.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that Helya serves the Jailer and her deal with Sylvanas in exchange for the Soul Cage was for Sylvanas to aid the Jailer in breaking the “machinery of death” and to get started on sending as many souls to the Maw as possible. There may be several holes in this theory but there’s too many unanswered questions and ambiguity around Sylvanas’ dealings with Helya to rule out that it had something to do with the Jailer.

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I like this idea. What if it was a combined effort of the lantern being shattered and Helya being killed? What if the lantern being shattered didn’t directly break the Shadowlands, but because it had something to do with Helya, who may be working with the Jailer, it had a part to play?

What if Helya dying is what actually broke the Shadowlands, but the shattered lantern did some damage prior to that making it possible for the machine of death to become broken?

I think you make a valid point. There was no need to start the story with “Edje of night” but they did. Why they stated that Sylvanas arc starts there? What is so important narratively that they “retcon” her story?

Incorrect. The last quest you get in Val’sharah, as other people have already brought up, is:

https://www.wowhead.com/quest=40567/darkheart-thicket-enter-the-nightmare

This quest does not have a follow up to send you into the Emerald Nightmare raid.

Doesn’t matter. They were released at the same time, in the same prepatch.

That is a meaningless statement that is not evidence of your claim.

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My point was, the Quest chain leads you there. Correct, there’s no DIRECT quest that takes you there (except for Druids) but the Chain does. It introduces you to the Emerald Dream but exists as the Breadcrumb that leads you there.

And the overall point was that The Emerald Dream happens at the End of Valsharah canonically. You do not “come back to it” after Stormheim.

You are factually wrong, specifically because of the Druid Order Hall questline, which required one to complete all the leveling zones canonically before being given the final quest to go into the Emerald Nightmare raid, including Stormheim:

https://www.wowhead.com/quest=44075/halls-of-valor-essence-of-ferocity

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I think you either posted that wrong quest or you misread that quest. Because it doesn’t support your argument.

And the Druid questline is canonically different from every other class.