Yes and no, the 2 terms are used interchangeably in certain contexts, but it’s also said that shadow is manifestation of the void in the physical universe. Was that how it was originally supposed to be when the game first started? I don’t know, but by the time Shadowlands rolled around Shadow Priests already became intertwined with the void through Xal’atath, Blade of the Black Empire and the powers granted from her back in Legion.
“I’ll send you do the Death Realm!”
“I’ll send you do the Shadow Realm!”
Just no, actually. They’re separate powers. Early in WoW, void didn’t exist. Then later they were kind of similar powers and it was perhaps apparent that shadow was derived from void. Now we don’t really know what shadow is, because Blizzard has no lore for it. But Void isn’t shadow. Shadow Priests use both shadow and void, but they are distinct magic.
Wow cosmology chart shows that void falls under shadow. Just like how holy magic comes under the light.
The cosmology chart has already been undermined. That is the cosmology chart from the perspective of the Titans. And the Shadowlands one is from the perspective of Death, or the Brokers. So who knows, we might get another cosmology chart that puts shadow elsewhere.
Point is, the cosmology charts aren’t really solid lore anymore, since we’ve established anything could be a perspective issue.
Fun fact doing old questing there was a void related quest that takes you to the void and the place it takes you to was called the shadowlands. Blizz ripped themselves off and didnt even know it
I blame the candle people.
Could you imagine if we got an entire expansion that looked like that the whole time?
Even worse, with that weird whispering thing going on?
I probably would have skipped that expansion entirely.
From Chronicle vol. 1:
Light and Shadow are the most fundamental forces in existence. Although contradictory by their very nature, they are bound together on a cosmic scale. One cannot exit without the other.
Pure Light and Shadow dwell in a realm outside the borders of reality, but shades of their presence are found in the physical universe. Light manifests as holy magic, while Shadow (also referred to as “the Void”) appears as shadow magic.
Do you want to look at it from a gameplay persepective or a lore persepective. Whether or not they were originally meant to be portrayed in such a way, Shadow Priests are tied to the void. In the Netherlight Temple you have a side for light and a side for shadow, and you even have a Shadow Priest that’s starting to have the whispers of the Void getting to them. Alonsus Foal mentions that it happens “when you linger too close to the void.” While there may be differences, the two are closely connected as opposition to the Light, cosmological chart or not. Are there cases where it would not make sense to use them interchangeably, sure, I can give you that.
But Shadow Priests use spells to attack the mind, something that’s typically attributed to the Void, are their spells only Void magic if they’re in Void form? Does that mean that Shadow magic can easily become Void Magic? What exactly sets the two apart? In the beginning they probably intended to have the magics distinct and separate, but it could very well be that Blizzard has no lore for it now intentionally. Like the cosmological map being portrayed as the Titan’s persepective of what the universe is, is it not possible that the denizens of Azeroth called void magic “shadow” because it was the direct opposition to light? (This is the problem with world-building then part way through saying “oh, by the way, this is not all facts because it’s the knowledge of the characters, which can be wrong.” So I will give the caveat that this is most likely a case of poor planning and writing, but that doesn’t really give a definitive answer.)
As far as the magic type and the cosmic force goes, they are one and the same.
They only become different things when you talk about them in the real life sense of shadow (an area of low light incidence due to an obstacle in the path of the rays of light) and void (a volume of extremely low pressure, or another word for ing).
Afterlands?
And then they made the Shadowlands expansion and ruined it all.
Shadow has always been connected with Death. It’s an issue that was created with that image with the cosmic forces. It sorta turned all of it into Void and associated with Old Gods. Forsaken Shadow P., for example, have never had connections with Old Gods but dabbled deeply into shadow magic.
Shadow was its own thing. Kinda reminds me of the Shadow Temple, from Ocarina of Time.
Shadowlands used to be this ‘quite basic’ realm where lost souls would go to. It’s a realm of the dead, but there wasn’t much lore about it. The most expressive quest I remember was one in the Death Knight starting zone, which had us enter the Shadowlands to get a horse for ourselves.
Shadowlands (the expansion) added some interesting stuff but it also crapped on a lot of old lore. Like, undeath had a meaning in the living world because death was permanent and afterlife was distant and unknown, meaning that being raised as zombies was a torment and a prison. But then, with Maldraxxus, we have this entire area where souls create rotting corpses to inhabit in the… afterlife? The Maw is also an issue because it turned undeath into a generic thing that the only negative thing about it is Domination magic (kinda killed the entire Forsaken characterization there).
Shadowlands was a dream that I had after drinking Ale that been found months past its expiration.
I suppose it’s called “The Shadowlands” in the sense that it’s a shadow of the living world, a reflection of the material plane.
Think it has a biblical thing to it. I could be entirely wrong though.
Much as I love the Void stuff, I kind of wish Shadow Priests went a more Necromancer route in that. Instead of summoning corpses and zombies, using spirits and stuff.
As taken from Trials of Mana, Charlotte the Cleric, sub class Nercomancer.
Having read forbidden texts and learned lessons that cannot be forgotten, some who started on a pure and wholesome path find themselves considering the dread art of necromancy as a means to an end. The world is sadly chock full of adventurers and innocents who met tragic ends, and so the Necromancer finds no shortage of corpses and spirits to send against her enemies, inflicting as much horror as injury in their flailing assaults. When direct assault fails, however, the Necromancer imbues her allies weapons with fell energies, and practices foul curses that leave her unfortunate target a shriveled and withered shadow of their former selves.
Plus having Priests using a more death aspected shadow magic would be a wonderful inbetween with Paladin and Death Knight. Holy Priests are closer to Paladins with Shadow Priests being closer to Death Knights.
I love Ardenweald, I love Revendreth and Sire Denathrius, ans I’m glad they’re parts of the game, but it is unfortunate that it stepped on the toes of so much pre-established lore.
Some of the animals look like they have babies (or can breed). The trees and other plants appear to grow and have a lifecycle.
This is very confusing considering everything in the Shadowlands is supposed to be in the afterlife.
The Shadowlands is the afterlife for beings of the Mortal Plane.
There are beings of the Shadowlands, who exist to keep the Shadowlands running. Those beings exist there for their whole life cycle.
On one hand, they are magical beings, and therefore are immortal (in the Warcraft sense of immortality AKA no aging).
On the other hand, if they die there (for instance, if you go there and kill one of them or several), they don’t get an afterlife lul