I think patch 5.4 will be the last major content patch of this expansion. With it comes the ever present speculation of what the next major expansion should be. As Garrosh Hellscream will be vanquished in the upcoming patch, we will see that part of his power is derived from the Sha. And as the Klaxxi themselves align against the players, we can see how the Klaxxi’s forewarning of joining up with the Old Gods may hint at something bigger on the way.
I recently did some reading, catching up on the lore of Warcraft and looking into the various missing pieces in the game. Mist of Pandaria served as a temporary distraction after Death Wing’s demise in creating a more introspective theme. I still haven’t seen a true conclusion to the initial question of “Why do we fight?” However, this question might be the setup for something beyond this expansion that the Pandarens might have seen.
Besides the constant war between the Horde and the Alliance, there are three major aspects that have been left out for which people have talked about for some time: the Emerald Dream, the Burning Legion and the Titans. Each of these can be expansions within themselves, but as I read up on the lore, these three seem heavily intertwined.
I think that the biggest threat that both the Horde and Alliance will face are the Burning Legion. Kil’jaeden’s end in the Sunwell will more than likely be the proverbial set back as his situation was mostly just a banishment. However, he is only one major agent since we still have Sargeras as the ultimate boss lurking around. I feel that if there is a “last expansion” then Sargeras most likely would be the final encounter of all encounters.
Sargeras in some ways is like the Joker from the Dark Knight: he is an agent of chaos. His work is to usurp the Titans’ efforts and unravel the world. In short, he is the anti-thesis of creation. That leads me to believe that the Titans may attempt to employ the Horde and Alliance to defeat Sargeras or at least nullify him to the point where Azeroth no longer is in danger.
The Old Gods are another imposing threat and it’s something that the Klaxxi have hinted at. The Sha seems connected with the Old Gods somehow and Garrosh’s corruption or acceptance of power might simply be a segue leading to another major encounter with the Old Gods. One article describes the Old Gods as possibly having more power than Sargeras himself, so they might act as a suitable end game, final boss at a certain point.
So what about the much rumored Emerald Dream? We’ve seen small hints at the Emerald Dream with all the portals lying around Azeroth along with the guardians. We even had a chance to sample being within the Emerald Dream during a quest line during Wrath of the Lich King. However, the Emerald Dream has not been fully developed although the pieces of the puzzle do exist.
The Emerald Dream is an interesting situation because of the results from Cataclysm where Ysera lost her immortality. While she still is a dragon, her diminished powers may impact her ability to influence or handle the Emerald Dream as the guardian. In turn, we have the conflicting Emerald Nightmare that can threaten the Emerald Dream as well and might be a good setup that links Cataclysm’s events to the next expansion.
I think using the Emerald Dream would be a good way to connect current events to what we’re seeing with the Old Gods. I can see how perhaps Ysera’s lessened power may allow for the Emerald Nightmare/Corrupted Ones to grow within the Emerald Dream, slowly laying waste internally to the Emerald Dream, leading Ysera to recruit the Horde and Alliance since it probably will affect their realm. However, that’s where the Old Gods might come in again as they might be the ones who desire warping the Emerald Dream. Part of the expansion might go into the history and connection with the Titans so that people can learn how their world was created.
At the same time, people are asking about new races and classes as part of the next expansion. If we see the Emerald Dream take place, I believe that we could see dragons as a playable race and/or class. Not full blown dragons like Ysera, but lesser ones. The diminished powers of the dragons might allow for them to be forced to take their humanoid forms but possess combined abilities. I can see them as a new heroic type of class as well where like Death Knights, the dragon aspect class could be great healers, tanks or DPS or perhaps super hybrids of the three. Another idea would be a way for players to assume something like a dragon aspect capability to help them combat the Emerald Nightmare. Instead of gaining levels, they would be able to choose a type of dragon aspect (e.g. Ysera, etc.) and receive abilities as a kind of “honorary” dragon aspect within the Emerald Dream.
Aligning the players with the Aspects though might bring forth a deeper connection to the Aspects where they unveil deeper secrets about the Old Gods and Titans. I feel part of how the expansions should go is so that the players make their way towards the Titans and themselves become Titans as they hit higher and higher levels and powers. In moving in this direction, they will slowly gain the abilities to combat Sargeras and the Old Gods, which might be in some ethereal type of turf war where the truth about Azeroth and their universe (or World of Warcraft per se) comes out: we’re all part of the same matter and that it’s the maintenance of the balance in the universe to preserve our existence. Hence, destruction and creation are necessary evils and goods for each other, which is why both the Horde and Alliance were destined to co-exist.