u/Solitaire-06

Yesterday, I mentioned stretching out the timeline for the expansions of WOW so that Azeroth could have a bit more breathing room between cataclysms and world-ending threats. With that in mind, here’s a rough timeline I thought of for when each expansion starts and how much time passes between them:

Classic - 25 ADP, like in canon

Burning Crusade - 27 ADP (one year between Classic and TBC)

Wrath of the Lich King - 30 ADP (two years between Burning Crusade and Wrath)

Cataclysm - 35 ADP (four years between Wrath and Cataclysm)

Mists of Pandaria - 37 ADP (several months between Cataclysm and Mists)

Warlords of Draenor - 40 ABY (one year between Mists and Warlords)

Legion - 41 ADP (Almost one year between Warlords and Legion)

Battle for Azeroth - 46 ADP (approximately four years between Legion and Battle for Azeroth)

Shadowlands - 49 ADP (Several months between the end of Battle for Azeroth and the start of Shadowlands)

Dragonflight - 54 ADP (Approximately three years between the end of Shadowlands and the beginning of Dragonflight, like in canon)

The War Within - 57 ADP (1-2 years after the end of Dragonflight)

Midnight - 58 ADP (direct continuation)

The Last Titan - 59 ADP (direct continuation)

Thoughts?

Because honestly, when you look at the current history of Azeroth, it’s incredibly depressing. As of Midnight, seventeen years have passed in-universe since the time of Classic (Midnight currently being set in 42 ADP when Classic takes place in 25 ADP), and because of the way expansions are spaced out, Azeroth has spent almost its entire time in those seventeen years being swallowed up by war. Hell, the only notable break they seem to have gotten was the three-year timeskip between the end of Shadowlands and the beginning of Dragonflight. So I definitely do wonder if they should have included more timeskips between expansions, but it does make me wonder how much time should have passed in each instance? Because Legion, for example, works great as a direct and almost immediate follow-up to Warlords of Draenor, but other expansions would probably show more mercy on Azeroth by spacing themselves out a bit. I definitely feel like there should have been a time skip between Legion and Battle for Azeroth, anyway.

So essentially, we’d have the actual Alliance-Horde war be the focus of the first expansion called Battle for Azeroth, then we have Azshara and the Naga be the focus of their own expansion that’s a direct sequel to BFA (maybe called Rise of Azshara or something similar), and finally, N’Zoth and possibly the other two Old Gods (since I’m pretty sure C’Thun and Yogg-Saron weren’t confirmed to be dead until Midnight despite having been defeated due to the very fact they are Old Gods?) being the front and centre of a Black Empire/Old God themed expansion. Thoughts?

The official lore statement regarding many enemies killed or defeated in raids, events and other aspects of WOW - such as Zul’jin, Kael’thas, Garrosh in the Siege of Orgrimmar, C’Thun, etc - is that they were killed by “Alliance/Horde adventurers”, who are obviously meant to be the players. But if they had to substitute anonymous adventurers for actual established characters in Warcraft lore, who might be some good candidates to be the ones to kill or at least defeat these enemies? You can choose any notable lore character who can be defeated or killed in-game and was canonically killed or defeated by adventurers that you like, from Classic to Midnight.

A thought I had for a long time was Tess Greymane (I figured they’d do a split inheritance where one child becomes the ruler of Stormwind and the other the ruler of Gilneas), but now that Tess is officially the Queen of Gilneas thanks to Genn abdicating the throne and the Gilneans reclaiming their kingdom, I don’t think such a match is likely anymore. Admittedly Anduin’s got a lot larger priorities on his mind right now, but if we ever see it happening (assuming they don’t just introduce a new character), who could it be?

Tensions had been simmering between Class 1-A and Class 1-B ever since the Sports Festival, where Class A had ultimately dominated much of the competition… and the media spotlight. There had been some friendships formed, yes (most notably Eijiro Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu), but the two classes’ relationship by in large was dominated by rivalry, resentment, Bakugo, Monoma, and general tendency for any joint gathering to quickly spiral into competition. So when news of the first couple among their year reached the resident shippers - Mina Ashido and Tokage Setsuna - nobody expected it to be a cross-class relationship… let alone between the two individuals described.

“Tokoyami and Shiozaki?!” Mina spluttered in disbelief.

Tokage was just staring into space, stunned beyond measure. “… Yeah…”

“Tokoyami — he was hanging around Class B more often, but I assumed it was because him and Kuroiro are pretty much the same person, being obsessed with darkness and melancholy and all of that goth stuff,” Mina murmured, before her amber eyes widened. “And… oh, God. He’s been writing poetry, Setsuna! It wasn’t just him being all obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe! It was LOVE POETRY! That’s, like, Romance 101!”

“Shiozaki, she…” Setsuna seemed almost faint. “She pressed flowers into Tokoyami’s books! They exchanged books! And she started mentioning darkness and melancholy and all of that in her prayers — she’s pretty much an angel in mortal form, Ashido! Light, purity, nature! Nothing like what Tokoyami is! How does this make sense?!”

“Opposites attract?” Mina suggested.

“THIS GOES BEYOND THAT!” Setsuna screamed.

Elsewhere, Fumikage and Ibara sat beneath a tree, quietly pouring over a book as Ibara rested her head on Fumikage’s shoulder. Her vine-like hair brushed against the feathers coating his neck, and Dark Shadow curled up on the other side of her. “He likes you here.”

“Dark Shadow. Please be silent, I wish to read in peace,” Fumikage said in that familiar monotone… though he couldn’t help but allow a faint smile to curl across his beak as Ibara gently kissed his cheek. She smiled, and that smile felt as radiant as the sun.

Azshara deserves to be the main villain of at least one expansion, and since Battle for Azeroth was the closest we’ve come to that (albeit being second to N’Zoth and the Old God plot being balanced with Sylvanas turning evil and yet another Horde civil war), I figured it was worth asking this question. Personally, I could see them adjusting the story so that Azshara helps push tensions that could have been addressed peacefully (but could have also easily led to war - the Alliance and Horde still need to be culpable) over the edge, probably involving Azerite and the two main kingdoms joining each faction (Kul Tiras and Zandalar) since the sea is her and the Naga’s domain. Then you could have N’Zoth be like he was in Cataclysm - clearly influencing events, but not being the main villain, because I feel the Old Gods tended to work better when they weren’t all front and centre. Whether Azshara dies or is simply removed from power or even escapes to fight another day is up to you: though personally, I would like some form of permanent consequences at least.

Personally, I feel like naga would have worked best as the first neutral race before we got the panderan, dracthyr, earthen and haranir in subsequent expansions, and while either TBC or BFA seems fitting, I think TBC provides a more interesting way to bring them into the playable fold, with Vashj in power in Outland. Plus, if we had already had playable naga for years, then Azshara being a major villain in Battle for Azeroth could be a great way for them to return to prominence, maybe with a unique plotline focused on them dealing with Azshara’s loyalist naga.

I found a comment on my post about hypothetical alternate versions of Wrath of the Lich King that suggested that Sylvanas should have taken up the Helm of Domination and become the Lich Queen after Arthas’ death, and the more I think about it, the more this idea has been growing on me. Up until that point, Sylvanas’ whole character since the destruction of Quel’Thelas had been defined by the need to reclaim agency from Arthas. By taking up the burden of keeping the Scourge at bay, Sylvanas’ story has a sort of circular structure it: Arthas made her a slave to the Scourge, and years later, Sylvanas ends Arthas’ legacy by willingly becoming the Scourge’s jailer. The difference this time would be that, unlike being raised as a banshee, Sylvanas would be choosing to do this… something she’d probably need desperately after everything that happened. And if there’s anyone better suited to taking up the burden of holding the Scourge at bay for eternity, it would be someone who has literally been part of the Scourge and seen what they’re capable of.

So… if this had happened, and Sylvanas’ story had ended with her becoming the Lich Queen, how do you see this impacting the wider lore going forward (aside from the Desolate Council likely coming into existence much sooner)?

Being around for as long as it has, Warcraft is no stranger to retcons, particularly in new WOW expansions and sourcebooks. But of these retcons, which are some of your favourites and which are ones you absolutely can’t stand?