The Clarifications and Changes in Chronicle Volume 4 (Spoilers)

Live Posted 2024/07/17 at 8:08 AM by Portergauge

World of Warcraft ChronicleSylvanasWarning: Spoilers for Chronicle Volume 4 Chronological Zone OrdersChronicleAltered Order of Pandaria's PatchesChroniclein ruins at the hands of GarroshThe Broken Isles' New TimelineChronicleAzsunaHighmountainStormheimVal'sharahBattle for Azeroth's Confusing TimelineChronicleChronicleStormsong Valley, Drustvar,Tiragarde SoundJaina Proudmoore's tormentSiege of BoralusZandalar introduction cinematicNazmir, Vol'dunZuldazarMiscellaneous Changes

Rather than being referred to as slumbering Titans as in previous installments of the Chronicle series, the entities buried within planets such as Azeroth and Argus are now simply referred to as Worldsouls, with their ability to become Titans now considered a potential path for them to take when they finally awaken.

While identical otherwise, the infamous cosmic chart now refers to the primary force of Death as the Eternal Ones, rather than merely 'undead' like the chart from the first three volumes.

N'zoth is now referred to as one of five Old Gods who ruled over the Black Empire, but it is still remarked that the Titans found and imprisoned four when they first discovered Azeroth, implying that a fifth member of their cohort was killed or disappeared prior to the Ordering of Azeroth.

The events of the Sylvanas novel are now recognized, with Sylvanas' internal thoughts regarding the Jailer and her brief time in the Maw noted at the beginning of the book, as well as various points across it such as during the events of War Crimes, her ascension to warchief at Mueh'zala's hands, or her true motivations for burning Teldrassil and starting the Fourth War.

Mists of Pandaria

In the wake of the story in Ardenweald that explains how Wild Gods are traditionally reborn, the unique life cycle of the Jade Serpent Yu'lon is explained as being a result of a great wound she suffered in her defiance of Lei Shen's tyranny, one that requires her to be reborn within a jade effigy or else be lost forever.

Rather than simply 'looking the other way', the Sunreavers are now actively involved in Garrosh's theft of the Divine Bell from Darnassus, making them more explicit culprits in the betrayal of the Kirin Tor that Jaina Proudmoore uses as justification to enact the Purge of Dalaran.

Unlike their description as grievous wounds he may never heal from during War Crimes, Anduin's injuries from the Divine Bell at the hands of Garrosh during Landfall are now merely described as ones that will need a 'long rest to recover from'.

Rather than merely happening upon one another as the story progressed, the fateful meeting of the two princes Anduin and Wrathion is now described as Anduin actively seeking the black dragon out in an effort to understand the son of Deathwing and his motives.

To match with his characterization in Battle for Azeroth, Rastakhan's involvement with Zul and his Golden Fleet during the events of Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria is now severely reduced, with his knowledge kept to a bare minimum as to not only Zul's true intentions, but his actions as a whole in resurrecting Lei Shen and attempting to claim Pandaria for trollkind.

Mention of Lei Shen's anima golems is almost entirely omitted from this book (beyond a brief mention of the Dark Animus), and similarly the requisition of the Thunder King's technology at the hands of the blood elves is also not mentioned, in contrast to the explicit mention of Jaina Proudmoore's draining of his power in the Alliance's equivalent questline.

Warlords of Draenor

Rather than perishing at the hands of Kargath Bladefist, the uncorrupted alternate version of King Terokk that we meet in Spires of Arak now survives the encounter, simply being banished back to the shadow realm he was trapped in before communing with the player character.

A brief mention of a second named void lord with the moniker of Invalidus is mentioned during the description of Nagrand's leveling story, though its status as a proper Void Lord on the level of Dimensius is left unclear.

Further reasoning is given for the alliance with Grommash Hellscream at the hands of Durotan and Yrel during the events of Hellfire Citadel, with his usefulness in combat as well as his ability to sway the former members of the Iron Horde in the direction of peace earning him a place in the newly united Draenor in the wake of Archimonde's defeat.

Legion

A description of Thrall's actions prior to disappearance during Legion, with his last act being to advise Saurfang to "keep watch over their people and to not let them be swayed from their path again", citing a distrust of Sylvanas in the wake of his experiences with Garrosh.

New motivation is given to Helya and Sylvanas during the events of Stormheim, with their 'bargain' being replaced by a mutual desire to serve the Jailer and subjugate the val'kyr for their needs.

Battle for Azeroth

Further exploration is given to the backstory of the Drust in Drustvar, with the aggression leading to war being placed more firmly on the side of Gorak Tul and his people, rather than the former Gilneans coming to settle within their lands.

Genn Greymane's involvement in the Battle for Dazar'alor and subsequent assassination of King Rastakhan is omitted from this book, with the blame being firmly placed on Jaina Proudmoore to line up with stories such as Shadows Rising.

Zekhan's involvement with the Horde war campaign is clarified slightly, with him now being directly initiated into Sylvanas' mission to find Saurfang rather than inexplicably showing up in Redridge to warn the Horde player of Sylvanas' intentions.

Further information is given on the armistice that is put in place at the end of Battle for Azeroth, with a note being made about the displeasure of many members of the Alliance due to the lack of punishment given to the Horde for their actions during the Fourth War.

Despite being available for players of both factions, the questline that culminates in the freedom of Xal'atath at the Crucible of Storms is now solely completed by the Horde player character in canon. Sorry, Alliance-only players.

Shadowlands

Light is shed on the nature of the appearances of Varian Wrynn and Saurfang during the events of Sepulcher of the First Ones, with their existence being described simply as visions from the Light given to Anduin, rather than spirits or echoes as some speculated in the past.

Confirmation is given on the motivations of the dreadlords (for now), in that rather than serving a master plan under Denathrius to use the Jailer like many have speculated, they and their master were genuinely loyal to Zovaal's cause and stuck with him until the end, leaving their current motivations unclear.

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Comment by ThorinixShadowlands is still canon so the story can’t recover until they “salvage” that.Comment by ArchipelagosOof. The word "clarifications" is doing a LOT of work here.Comment by DeVeteran"Rather than simply 'looking the other way', the Sunreavers are now actively involved in Garrosh's theft of the Divine Bell from Darnassus, making them more explicit culprits in the betrayal of the Kirin Tor that Jaina Proudmoore uses as justification to enact the Purge of Dalaran."

Where are those Horde sympa's that are always like: "bUt BuT aLlIaNcE aLsO eViL tHeY kIlLeD bLoOd ElVeS?"

Aha... suuure... so, purge of Dalaran is out of the question... Camp Tarajo is laughable since the Alliance general gave the enemies a chance to retreat, since he only wanted to destroy the encampent, aka, if they would have retreat, they'd have all survived, but hey, at least the woman and children left, they were smart...

What does the Horde "still" have about the Alliance also being "the bad guys"? :)))

"Despite being available for players of both factions, the questline that culminates in the freedom of Xal'atath at the Crucible of Storms is now solely completed by the Horde player character in canon. Sorry, Alliance-only players."

--- LOOOL Horde players can't even say that, well, Alliance players also released Xal'atath :))))) this one does feel ? though since, how could Horde players go willy nilly in Stormsong Valley, I'd have assumed that an Alliance player would do it since they can go anywhere in Stormsong Valley with ease AND being helped even (to get somewhere where its more difficult, let's say)... but eh... Horde baddies again it seems :)Comment by LandaiJust when we thought their lore couldn’t get worse, they print a book complete with utter nonsense. Did the writers even play the game? Sure as hell just sounds like they read wowpedia and made up their own story based on that.Comment by zauriakMan i like jailer but damn how they did him dirty. I hope we can revive his PlayStation 1 polygon model by pressing the switch on button and asking his help against the first ones. But i am getting ahead of myself.

But like he said that "You preserve that which is doomed. A cosmos divided will not survive what is to come."Comment by zauriakBut i do hope they use primus more since he is still interesting.Comment by Sp33deyShadowlands is still canon so the story can’t recover until they “salvage” that.Comment by SahalaI really don't understand the direction they took for posting events in BFA. Invalidating whole swaths of quests and motivations for what? Its like Metzen and crew decided that they were going to put how they wanted BFA to play out; as oppose to how it did play out for the sake of future content that will be made referencing these events. If that is the case it should be clarified. Until then I will not be taking that portion of Chronicle as canon, as it makes almost no sense when viewing the in game content.Comment by ZulvanThe lore is deadComment by LucidKtJust when we thought their lore couldn’t get worse, they print a book complete with utter nonsense. Did the writers even play the game? Sure as hell just sounds like they read wowpedia and made up their own story based on that.Comment by dabone1337the events of Kul Tiras entirely take place before that storyRather than simply 'looking the other way', the Sunreavers are now actively involved in Garrosh's theft of the Divine Bell from Darnassus, making them more explicit culprits in the betrayal of the Kirin Tor that Jaina Proudmoore uses as justification to enact the Purge of Dalaran.Comment by Keyber"Rather than simply 'looking the other way', the Sunreavers are now actively involved in Garrosh's theft of the Divine Bell from Darnassus, making them more explicit culprits in the betrayal of the Kirin Tor that Jaina Proudmoore uses as justification to enact the Purge of Dalaran."

Where are those Horde sympa's that are always like: "bUt BuT aLlIaNcE aLsO eViL tHeY kIlLeD bLoOd ElVeS?"

Aha... suuure... so, purge of Dalaran is out of the question... Camp Tarajo is laughable since the Alliance general gave the enemies a chance to retreat, since he only wanted to destroy the encampent, aka, if they would have retreat, they'd have all survived, but hey, at least the woman and children left, they were smart...

What does the Horde "still" have about the Alliance also being "the bad guys"? :)))

"Despite being available for players of both factions, the questline that culminates in the freedom of Xal'atath at the Crucible of Storms is now solely completed by the Horde player character in canon. Sorry, Alliance-only players."

--- LOOOL Horde players can't even say that, well, Alliance players also released Xal'atath :))))) this one does feel ? though since, how could Horde players go willy nilly in Stormsong Valley, I'd have assumed that an Alliance player would do it since they can go anywhere in Stormsong Valley with ease AND being helped even (to get somewhere where its more difficult, let's say)... but eh... Horde baddies again it seems :)Comment by CaeruleIt should be noted that Invalidus is no Void Lord. But a Voidlord. Which are sometimes also called Void Lords. But are actually just the greater armored type of Voidwalkers of which many exist within the game.

Which is stupid, and Blizzard messed up giving the ultimate big bad rulers of the Void the same name as a quest mob, but that was known from the start. Either way, it is not one of the world-eating Void Lords that created the Old Gods. Chronicles even describes us slaying it.

As for the Sunreavers, were they not always at least one involved in the theft of the bell? I am pretty sure I remember it being so. I think the main difference in Chronicle is that Garrosh purposely ordered the theft of the Bell with the Sunreavers involved, because he secretly knew Lor'Themar had been negotiating with Varian Wrynn, and was purposely looking to drive a wedge between the Blood Levels and the Alliance with the potential fallout.Comment by dabone1337It should be noted that Invalidus

As for the Sunreavers, were they not always at least one involved in the theft of the bell? I am pretty sure I remember it being so. I think the main difference in Chronicle is that Garrosh purposely ordered the theft of the Bell with the Sunreavers involved, because he secretly knew Lor'Themar had been negotiating with Varian Wrynn, and was purposely looking to drive a wedge between the Blood Levels and the Alliance with the potential fallout.Comment by astleyt07"Rather than simply 'looking the other way', the Sunreavers are now actively involved in Garrosh's theft of the Divine Bell from Darnassus, making them more explicit culprits in the betrayal of the Kirin Tor that Jaina Proudmoore uses as justification to enact the Purge of Dalaran."

Where are those Horde sympa's that are always like: "bUt BuT aLlIaNcE aLsO eViL tHeY kIlLeD bLoOd ElVeS?"

Aha... suuure... so, purge of Dalaran is out of the question... Camp Tarajo is laughable since the Alliance general gave the enemies a chance to retreat, since he only wanted to destroy the encampent, aka, if they would have retreat, they'd have all survived, but hey, at least the woman and children left, they were smart...

What does the Horde "still" have about the Alliance also being "the bad guys"? :)))

"Despite being available for players of both factions, the questline that culminates in the freedom of Xal'atath at the Crucible of Storms is now solely completed by the Horde player character in canon. Sorry, Alliance-only players."

--- LOOOL Horde players can't even say that, well, Alliance players also released Xal'atath :))))) this one does feel ? though since, how could Horde players go willy nilly in Stormsong Valley, I'd have assumed that an Alliance player would do it since they can go anywhere in Stormsong Valley with ease AND being helped even (to get somewhere where its more difficult, let's say)... but eh... Horde baddies again it seems :)Comment by dabone1337Despite being available for players of both factions, the questline that culminates in the freedom of Xal'atath at the Crucible of Storms is now solely completed by the Horde player character in canonComment by AlkaizerRather than simply 'looking the other way', the Sunreavers are now actively involved in Garrosh's theft of the Divine Bell from Darnassus, making them more explicit culprits in the betrayal of the Kirin Tor that Jaina Proudmoore uses as justification to enact the Purge of Dalaran.Comment by GorbaWarcraft Chronicles 4
More retcons than beforeComment by Blayaden01
Horde are objectively cooler and superior in every way tho. All your points are invalid.objectivesubjective.WarWarComment by KerathrasTLDR: they can’t make sense of their own storylines thanks to 20+ years of retconning huge parts of the lore just to suit whatever wild idea they had in each expansion, with BfA and SL being the most problematic. Basically what we already knew so this offers very little clarity.

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