The Deathwing Kill Clip and What I Think it Means...

[Shadowwolf]

So if you havent yet seen the clip in game of what happens when you kill Deathwing, it works similarly to how the LK statue in Dalaran worked. Just talk to Chromie where Deathwing's remnants hang (idk if its a head, jaw, whatever) and she will let you view the 1:30 long clip.

For those lazy folks, here it is on Youtube, haha

Aftermath of Deathwing's Destruction Cinematic

Now, this probably raises more questions than answers for a lot of you. I know for me, it certainly did. So...being as though Im a sucker for a good story of lore and legends, I did some digging and found the backstory leading up to this patch here: http://twg.im/q

Now for those too lazy to read, Ill sum up what it says and I'll offer my interpretation of the future and answers to some of the questions that might be brewing in your head.

Summary

Basically the Aspects come together and decide the the best way to defeat Deathwing is to use the Dragon Soul which is what basically gave him the power he has now and caused all this in the first place.

To do that, they have to go back in time and pull it from the past since it was destroyed. Unfortunately, they can't just do it, because Nozdormu (Bronze Aspect) realizes that all this time, the Infinite Dragonflight is actually a corrupted version of him and his fellow Bronze Dragonkin from the future after Deathwing has "won". This ties in with the heroics introduced with 4.3. Because his future self is basically aiding in Deathwing's victory, you have to go to the future, kill the Infinite Dragonflight, then go back in time, grab the Dragon Soul, then take it back to the present and use it to kill Deathwing. Im no Doc Emmit Brown but thats the best way I can think of to word all that.

Anyhow, the Dragons themselves cannot wield the Dragon Soul as after Deathwing tried to use it, they cast a spell preventing any Dragon from using it ever again. Plus, even if they could, it would either kill or drive the one who used it insane (like it did Deathwing). So they basically enlist Thrall to do it because the Dragon Soul doesnt affect the mortal races adversely.

Now the problem is they can't "undo" Deathwing's essence with it so easily because he never infused any part of himself to it. Only the other 4 aspects did. Thrall however, being cast asunder by Staghelm and his minions has gained a connection to Azeroth similar to that of what Deathwing has (Deathwing was originally in charge of the Earth before he went nuts). So because Thrall has a portion of Azeroth within him now from being broken apart and re-assembled, the Aspects figure out they can use that as "Deathwings Essence" to undo him. When I say undo him, I mean unmake him which essentially is like disassembling him till he his no more.

To make sure it works though, they infuse the Dragon Soul with more of their powers than it originally had so that they can be sure it is powerful enough to destroy him. Which leads us to the end clip and my speculations of what things mean, the intent, and the future.

The Future is What You Make of It

Opinion:

The title of this section says it all I think as far as what I believe Blizzard's writers what you to take from Deathwing's defeat.

Lore Fact:

The Titans foresaw this day coming and all of these events, and so that is the reason they imbued the dragon aspects with the tremendous power they had in the first place. The other stuff along the way, War of the Sands, War of the Ancients, etc all prob played into it as well, but it all culminates to this.

Opinion Again:

The ending Alexstrasza says "we now see this world through mortal eyes" and goes on to say that their day is done/ending. What I believe this means, though it is poorly expressed in writing, is that their role in protecting Azeroth to this point is now over. They sacrificed their immense power and essentially their immortality, to see the task they were charged with eons ago through. In doing so, they have basically "finished" their duty and responsibility and now whatever they do is an individual decision.

They are still dragons, they can still wield magics, they are also still performing their respective roles in the world, Alex being the Queen of Dragonkind, Ysera guiding the Shaman and Druids, Kalecgos guiding Mages and other magic users, however they are no longer in the power of controlling those things entirely by themselves. We now have input on how things go, what happens in the world, etc instead of Dragon infighting causing turmoil and change in the world.

Basically its a setup for what Blizzard spoke of at Blizzcon in wanting to move away from the "big baddie of the expansion" philosophy and just have things stand on their own more. So basically you can have one bad guy and he does evil things, we stop him, then the next guy that comes along that is bad has no tie in, relationship with, or influence over the last necessarily. He/She/It/Them can, but they dont have to anymore. Its written in such a way where they leave the future open ended to anything. It also removes the need to have the storyline continue to have to involve the Dragon Aspects and flights as every expansion has in some way and eventually they will run out of stories and bad guys, this method leaves things open to anything now.

Its a really crappy way of doing it, and the storyline direction they took could have been done a TON better than it was, but as with everything else in this expansion, it seems half-assed and so thats why it feels "cheap". They seem to be hell bent on making the story lines carry over into the comics and novels and it causes a ton of confusion when it ties back into the game. This chapter of the game's ending however was poorly written, big buildup, lousy flimsy end unfortunately. Im not an expert writer but I think this could have definitely played out a lot better than it did.

So basically the Dragonflights no longer "rule" over Azeroth and the mortal races which is everyone now except the Old Gods, do what they please and dictate the direction the world will take. Which goes back to the title of this little section I chose: "The future is what you make of it".