Summary
World of Warcraft: Dragonflightrecently released its newest patch, dubbed Fractures in Time. The story revolves around the schemes of the Infinite Dragonflight and their determination to bring about the end of all things by messing up the various timelines.World of Warcraft’s players must help the Bronze Dragonflight repair the timeways and put a stop to their foes’ machinations.
One of the many activities players can participate in is helping theBronze Aspect’s Prime Consort, Soridormi, in an event known as a Time Rift. When the Infinite Dragonflight causes a rift to open up in the timeways, it tends to displace a lot of that timeline’s inhabitants, be them Old God minions or, in this case, Horde and Alliance soldiers. As players help defeat these enemies and stabilize the Time Rift, however, they may notice some odd details.
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World of Warcraft’s Time Rifts Show a World Where the Horde and Alliance Never Found Peace
Some of the enemies that pour forth from these Time Rift portals are familiar to players, as they appear to be Horde and Alliance soldiers. However, their nameplates indicate thatthey work for a different Horde or Alliancethan the factions players know. The orcs fight for a so-called “Blood Horde” while the dwarf and human soldiers belong to the “Great Glorious Alliance.” This change in moniker may pass unnoticed to many, but it indicates that this timeline is very different from the Azeroth that players know.
Certain lore objects can be found throughout these Time Rift events, and there are two which help explain this aforementioned timeline. These two books are diaries, firsthand recollections of events, both written shortly before the author perished in battle.According to the Alliance book, its pages soaked in oil, Azeroth’s history was much the same until after the Second War.
In the primary timeline, the Horde was soundly defeated in theSecond War and the Alliancecondemned the remaining orcs to internment camps. In time, this sequence of events became crucial in order for Thrall to assume the mantle of Warchief and lead the orcs to their new home in Kalimdor. In this darker timeline, however, the Alliance leaders were overthrown by radical separatists who sought to exterminate the remaining Horde. The war was re-ignited, and the fighting never stopped.
The Great Glorious Alliance, as it became known, was hellbent on the orcs’ extinction. In response, the Horde grew ever more violent and desperate, renaming themselves the “Blood Horde.” In a blood-stained diary, one orc soldier chants over and over how they welcome the war and devastation, as it purges the weakness from their ranks. Both theHorde and Alliance in this worldare consumed with hatred and bloodlust, and it shows what Azeroth might have become had events turned out differently.
The Time Rift concludes with players making their way to a world torn apart by an endless war between the Horde and Alliance, traversing the decks of two flying warships. Waiting at the helm of the Alliance vessel is none other than King Varian Wrynn, old and gray after decades of conflict. This likely means thatAnduin Wrynn, the current reality’s High Kingof the Alliance, was either killed or never even born. It paints a dismal picture of what could have been if characters like Anduin and Jaina Proudmoore hadn’t strived for peace between the Horde and the Alliance.
It’s easy to forget how far these two factions have come, asWorld of Warcraftbuilt much of its identity upon this distinct player binary. Seeing them achieve a lasting peace after the Battle for Azeroth is a welcome change for many, as nearly two decades of the same Horde vs Alliance narrative was growing stale and overdone. Now,players from opposite factions can fight alongsideone another in raids, quests, and dungeons, which was a huge leap forward for the game.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflightis available now for PC.
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