He’s the ruler of the Maw, the domain in the Shadowlands designated for irredeemable souls. In doing so, she revealed her alliance with an entity known only as The Jailer. Using the power of the Lich King’s Helm of Domination, Sylvanas Windrunner shattered the veil between life and death.
Outside an opening which uses elements from WarCraft III, the expansion mostly uses new lore. The expansion’s story is rather self-contained and for the first time in a good while, largely original to the franchise. After all beyond the veil, every soul has its place. We may visit the four pillars of the Shadowlands, as well as the hellish Maw, but it’s still just barely scratching the surface of the infinite realms composing the afterlife. This is all done while somehow managing to retain the concept of death as infinite and mysterious. Each of the different realms we explore is both wildly diverse and intricately woven into the functionality of the Shadowlands. The expansion’s capital city of Oribos is in itself a clear homage to Planescape’s city of Sigil. Sitting right up there with Planescape: Torment when it comes to explaining the planes of existence, a compliment I do NOT give lightly. Not only does Shadowlands work, it’s one of the most interesting attempts on defining the afterlife that I’ve seen. It begins with a giant blue sky beam, because so does everything else.
