The War Within Review: 11.2, Xal’atath, Midnight, and a General Vibe Check

With the Midnight reveal trailer and cinematic tomorrow, I am expediting my typical end-of-expansion thoughts to happen before the reveal. I figure it’s best to recap now because we’re about to all hard pivot to being excited for Midnight. Without delay, let’s talk The War Within: my review, my rating, and my hopes and dreams for what’s next.

Did I like it?

YES LOL BEST STORY EXPANSION SINCE MISTS! Finally, my story is about something again!

What did I like?

The War Within succeeded in a lot of areas. Perhaps the simplest: it told a story. It was disjointed at times (due to whatever changed in development, I’m not speculating on that) but was anchored by something really simple: the Dark Heart, magical superweapon in Xal’atath’s hands, then it got broken, then it got stolen, then she got it back, but with a super giga buff this time. I’ve seen some takes that it would have felt more topical for the expansion to be named “World of Warcraft: Dark Heart” and I think that also would’ve been fine, but I’m still a big fan of The War Within as a title. Yes, the Dark Heart functioned as a MacGuffin, no, that is not inherently a bad thing. That relates to the second major thing I thoroughly enjoyed about TWW: tropes, but done correctly.

We all engage with tropes in stories. It is basically impossible to tell a story without using a single trope. Trope does not mean bad, it means trope! For example, Avatar: the Last Airbender is a show that I love and think is brilliant. It uses many tropes: hero’s journey, lowest point, setback before ultimate victory, meeting with the sage, etc. I include this to show you that tropes aren’t inherently a bad thing, it’s how you execute, iterate upon, and employ them. TWW is hysterical from a lore analyst standpoint, as the story team (Mr. Metzen I love you) walked in, looked at the tropes that WoW has used from BFA-DF and said “my turn to do this trope but correctly this time.” Tropes that TWW used: must work with the antagonist to fight a greater evil trope, “Silver Surfer” archetype, hero can’t use their powers trope, revolution in a tyrannical kingdom trope, renewal of a land broken by disaster trope, and pyrrhic victory trope. In my opinion, all of these were executed very well.

Additionally, TWW excelled at setup without being boring. It’s clear to me that a solid amount of the 11.0 story involving Titans, the Worldcore, the energies of the Worldsoul, the Earthen, the Haranir, and the Radiant Song will not be dropped during this trilogy. Normally I wouldn’t trust WoW to follow through-this time I do, given that TWW followed through on its threads from as far back as TBC. The Earthen are maybe the best written race in the game, Khaz Algar had a rich history, side stories were moving, I fucking felt emotions for MAGNI BRONZEBEARD, and I generally followed the vibes.

I rate TWW as an 8.5/10. For context, my previous story scores for expansions are as follows:

Classic: 7/10

TBC: 5/10

WOTLK: 9/10

Cata: 5/10

MoP: 10/10

WoD: 2/10

Legion: 8.5/10

BFA: 2/10

SL: 3/10

DF: 6/10

11.2: my favorite campaign since 5.1 by miles

Before we keep reviewing the full expansion, let’s talk about 11.2 since I haven’t reviewed it yet. The first trope TWW used, teaming up with the bad guy to fight greater evil, was on display in 11.2. I’m gonna be shady for a second: if you ever thought Xal’atath was headed for a Sylvanas style semi-redemption arc, you did not read the text. If you critiqued this story as exactly the same as 9.2, you did not read the text. If you didn’t enjoy teaming up with her, that’s perfectly fine! However, this is simply not the same story as 9.2. The text spends the entire patch reminding you that she’s going to try to kill you again, but a lot of folks are missing the person who she betrayed: Locus-Walker. We did not make a deal with Xal’atath to bring her in as an ally against Dimensius, Locus-Walker did. His reward? She blew him up. Much like she has always done to previous allies, wielders of the Black Blade of the Empire, and Shadow Priests, she hands her allies off to their fates after getting what she needs. We never made a deal with her-we were allied with Locus-Walker who brought her in without asking us. I actually found this fabulous: the guy who spent the entire patch saying “I’m not asking you to trust her, I’m asking you to trust me” received what I view as a predictable consequence of working with Xal’atath: a horrible death at an inopportune time. He made peace with dying during the hunt for Dimensius if it meant vanquishing the All-Devouring, and I respect it tbh.

Alleria’s pissed, rightfully so.

This was set up correctly. In 9.2, when we were told Sylvanas was necessary to defeat the Jailer, we did not have a compelling reason why it had to be her. Everyone knew for ages that TJP (The Jailer’s Plan) was to go to the Sepulcher (to be clear that’s as far as his plan goes, not even he knew what he was doing once he got there, oh my god I hate this guy). While Sylvanas contributed to the resilience against Domination that we needed to get into his boss room, she was by no means the only way we had through. She was a strong ally in the fight against Anduin, but a generic line about “since she dominated him her presence will help free him” doesn’t do much to sell her importance.

Contrast that with “yeah actually Xal’atath created the Ethereals so they wouldn’t die in Dimensius’s aura then struck a deal with their leaders to blow up the planet,” and we should very clearly see that one is better than the other. A mystery decades in the making, Xal’atath is revealed as the entity responsible for the transmutation of the K’areshi. I was enraptured with the gradual peeling back of the layers around the conspiracy that destroyed K’aresh. If anyone watched the old ABC show Scandal, it reminded me of the election-rigging conspiracy in season 2. All of the parties involved decided to do something really shady for their own interests, cover it up, and then ended up hating each other later on. But the second someone rings the alarm that their conspiracy may get revealed? Everyone comes running back like nothing changed. I loved the vibes of Locus-Walker, Ve’nari, and Xal’atath all disliking each other currently but instantly calling a cab to K’aresh when their ancient wrong was about to be made worthless. In Xal’atath’s words, “there would be far less regret…had it been successful.”

11.2 pulls from my favorite video game story, FF14 Shadowbringers, by giving you an entire patch story to ask the main antagonist some questions and get some answers, while simultaneously offering a vast, rich, compelling explanation of one of WoW’s oldest story pillars: the destruction of K’aresh. Finally receiving the full info dump about a disaster we’ve been dealing with since TBC was wildly satisfying.

Allegory: when a story is about something

A friend of mine likes to say that some stories are about something while others are not. What he means by this statement is that some stories don’t really have a message or thesis statement they’re conveying to you-they’re just there to give context to the action. A story can be about something by incorporating many different narrative devices, one of my favorites being allegory. WoW has dabbled in allegory previously: the strongest examples are certainly in Mists of Pandaria, with the arrival of the Alliance and Horde on Pandaria acting as direct parallels to European colonization in our world, the Sha as an allegory for despair and depression, and a (frankly) very correct Taran Zhu acting as an indigenous warden of his homeland, repeatedly saying the Alliance and Horde fucking suck. The War Within returns to allegorical storytelling in patch 11.1, with Undermine being our game’s biggest commentary on class struggle to date. Not only does the patch show us the horrific labor conditions in Undermine, it also shows us how various people of differing politics act during a revolution. One of the best quests in the entire expansion is the initial uprising in Undermine, where you and other Goblins are tear gassed, conservative establishment fans get mad when you won’t debate them, and moderate Goblins tell you “I support your cause, but why do you have to protest like that?” The developers shared a vulnerable piece of their lives with us, and once again, fuck Bobby Kotick.

11.2 is also “about something.” Dimensius’ arrival and the K’areshi response to his attack act as an allegory for climate disaster: a catastrophe that is going to inevitably befall our world unless we do something about it. The arcane barriers they erected permanently altered the K’areshi, stripping them of their humanity and damning them regardless of Dimensius. While fighting a giant Void Lord is different from confronting climate change in our world, we can learn a lot from the story here. The K’areshi refused to tackle the Dimensius crisis head on, instead choosing to prolong their resistance under the barriers, wait it out, and see what happened. Our leaders refuse to tackle the climate crisis head on, continuing to exist in our world’s version of the arcane barriers: unfettered, technology-driven late stage autocracy.

The story offers even more reinforcement to this point by showing that K’aresh is governed publicly by the Oracles, but secretly by the Ravel. The Ravel act as a ruling class of the most technologically advanced K’areshi (read: billionaires) who all act in secret without the public’s knowledge. While our fantasy characters mostly act with the interests of the public as their driving motivation, King Salhadaar and Soul-Scribe do not. Lastly, 11.2 includes something WoW has been missing for awhile: religious fanaticism. The Oracles, both before and after K’aresh blew up, are depicted as severely against scientific advancement, adhering to strict principles of communion with the Worldsoul (read: the Catholic church not letting you talk directly to god and having to go through a clergyman). I was impressed by the amount of allegory in 11.2, and you may not even agree with my interpretation, but I think it’s hard to dispute that this story had some meat to it. You may have found different allegorical text-tell me about it on Twitter!

What needs improvement?

Now that I’m done glazing 11.2, let’s talk about what needs improvement. This expansion was extremely disjointed: while the Dark Heart acts as a connecting thread that sufficiently guides us onward, the disconnect between adventuring in Khaz Algar, then Undermine, then K’aresh is definitely felt. A lot of us in the lore community felt like 11.2 was the true start of the Worldsoul Saga-I definitely still feel that way. While I enjoyed 11.0 and 11.1 in a vacuum, they definitely did not feel like the logical precursors to 11.2. The writers did a good job of inserting the Dark Heart, Xal’atath, and Ethereals in 11.1 to keep everything on topic overall, but it’s definitely a tonal shift to pivot to K’aresh. I’d like to see the next 2 installments be very focused and concise with their narratives, having less random characters and cultures just present for the heck of it and more intentionality. A lot of 11.0 can feel like it’s just “there” in a vacuum. My hope is that things like the Haranir, Earthen, and Arathi are revisited in the rest of the Saga, but if they are not, those inclusions will definitely feel weird.

WoW can still have a dialogue problem, with one too many characters calling me champion every week. Where Undermine was refreshing in terms of dialogue, K’aresh was not. The story beats surrounding it were so phenomenal that it didn’t matter, but a lot of “end of all worlds,” “doom,” and “trust me” came out. One of TWW’s other problems? Xal’atath is just too good. That character is so well-written, well-done, and well-acted that she can make a lot of other people look like shit on screen sometimes. That doesn’t mean she should be less well-done: she should be the standard.

The entire Red Dawn questline was a bit of a miss. I respect that someone wanted to include it, but this was the only questline this expansion that felt like I was back in BFA. I could tell the story team locked the fuck in on most of the other story content this expansion-Red Dawn did not feel like that. To sound like a nerd, it’s insane that Azeroth’s Champion got hit over the head and knocked out by a random thief in this questline. It’s equally insane to let Marran live at the end of it.

Lastly, pacing was waaaaaaaaay too fast this expansion. It’s funny how even perceived “filler” patches can feel fast, but they can, that’s how pacing works. 11.0 moves at a breakneck pace through like four different character arcs, an entire Nerubian plot, the Worldcore plot, Dalaran, and more at the speed of sound. It does definitely feel like things such as Alleria’s initial arc on Khaz Algar, Anduin’s recovery, and Thrall being there at all went a bit too quickly. I’d like to see some pacing iteration in the rest of the Saga. Again, these are just hopes for improvements to the story-I am so unbelievably grateful to have a story I enjoy this much again and to clearly tell that there are people who care and aren’t screwing around with it, as Chris Metzen said at Blizzcon 2023.

Where is The Horde?

Let’s talk about it. With the only Horde character in our key art cast being Thrall, who was immediately sidelined after the 11.0 questline finished, it’s absolutely valid criticism to say that the Horde needs some more main characters on screen.

“But Undermine!” was displayed as very neutral and cartel-based. And if your big win for the Horde is to (rightfully) depose another of their racial leaders as a raid end boss, that doesn’t feel good for the players. I am a bit surprised and disappointed we didn’t have significant conversations with the Tauren about the Worldsoul, given their connection to the Earthmother. I am a bit disappointed that Thrall…really didn’t do much. I love so many characters in this game and want all of them to succeed, not just a few. I don’t think that the way to correct this game’s cast is to have the Alliance on screen and no Horde characters on screen, I think it’s important to have representatives from both factions. Yes, previous iterations of WoW have been extremely Horde heavy, often feeling one-sided, but I don’t think this Saga will feel great if it continues to be thoroughly Alliance front and center.

Did Xal’atath rise to the occasion?

Without a doubt, Xal’atath is the greatest success of TWW and my new favorite antagonist in Warcraft (finally dethroning Azshara). She has so many of the essential qualities to a good villain: well-acted, smug, charismatic, genuinely just not a good person, and we can actually see what she’s after. Anyone in any game who immediately becomes the most interesting character anytime they come on screen is an S-tier win for me. To be shady once again, no, this expansion did not end in the exact same place it started. Xal’atath came into possession of the Dark Heart, but clearly that relic needs to be charged up before it can do the big scary stuff. Xal’atath’s goal in 11.0 was to charge that shit up, using Dalaran, Nerubians, and Beledar to give it some juice. She even tells us in 11.2: “I can’t prevent Dimensius’ return because you guys blew up my magic superweapon.” Clearly, her initial plan was to charge the Heart, eat Dimensius, then attack Azeroth. Due to our efforts, she had to adapt the plan. Xal’atath was interesting to watch in TWW as we got to see how she adapted under pressure.

Important point of clarification: this expansion does not depict Xal’atath as a psychic who secretly knows the future, it depicts her as a cold opportunist who knows how to make the most of a bad situation, get something out of it, and survive. Where the Jailer somehow knew literally everything that would happen on Azeroth, and it sucked, Xal’atath has been on a millennia-long rollercoaster of twists and turns, occasionally failing along the way. We’ve watched her attempt to usurp the Old Gods, only to get sealed in a knife after her attempt failed. We’ve watched her be cast aside by the Priest after Legion, then have to find a new way to survive in BFA. We’ve watched her lose to Alleria in 11.0 only to make the most of a potentially horrible situation in 11.2. She does not end up where she started: she ends up in a significantly better position with her boss contained in her doomsday device, primed to make her big play for the Worldsoul at last.

I also really enjoy how personal it feels with her. She’s been eyeing Alleria since 7.3, teasing her along the way, developing an actual dynamic, and ending TWW by directly threatening Alleria’s home and loved ones. The attack on Quel’thalas that we’ll see tomorrow won’t just be by random chance-Xal’atath wants to make specifically Alleria have as bad a time as possible. This type of dynamic has been sorely missing in WoW, with our previous examples including Genn/Sylvanas, Thrall/Garrosh, and Tyrande/Sylvanas.

Underrated, Xal’atath manages to get an actual subversion of my expectations. Do you know how rarely the villain says “you guys know I can just repair my superweapon right?” The last example I can think of is Emperor Palpatine saying “I’ll just build another Death Star fuck you guys.” Xal’atath says “ok, Goblins helped make Neltharion’s other magical superweapon so I bet they can help me fix this one,” then gets her Dark Heart fixed. Amazing. More villains should do that.

Xal’atath is the first believable, successful, and frankly awesome villain who genuinely feels like she could be the final boss of WoW. She may not be, but she is certainly making her case as the one we’ve been building towards. She has been on Azeroth for millennia, getting to know the entire world, all of its people, their strengths and weaknesses, and combines that with her previous cosmic knowledge as the Harbinger of Dimensius. She knows a ton of shit, and she radiates that aura on screen every time she talks. She’s not the Silver Surfer, seeking to do good and be free from her boss’s service, she wants to kill her boss and take his job, doing it better than he ever could. We still have more to learn about her, see from her, and of course have a boss fight with her, but she absolutely slammed her first expansion.

What do I want to see in the next two installments?

I was thrilled that TWW said it would pull threads left in WoW’s past and weave them into the present. It did so, such as finally continuing the Dimensius story from TBC, the Worldsoul story from Legion, and (as promised) That Sword in the future. I want to see more threads pulled together. Name a stray thought in WoW, I want it on screen.

I’m extremely interested in Xal’atath’s Void coalition. I’m hoping to see her assemble Azshara and Iridikron, two of my other favorite WoW villains, to attack the planet. I’m intrigued to see where their home base is. I’m interested to see what they all want to get out of this. Xal’atath is clearly interested in becoming the biggest, baddest Void Lord who currently exists. Remember, all of the Cosmic forces want the Worldsoul, and probably want it just because it’s likely the most powerful thing in the universe. There’s nothing wrong with a simple premise around the Worldsoul: various parties want it because it literally makes them in charge of the universe. Seems reasonable to me!

I want to see more of our favorite characters on screen. I’m excited at the prospect of Jaina, Lor’themar, Sylvanas, Thrall, Baine, Alleria, Anduin, and more folks all fighting together against some really scary shit. I want the writers to keep pushing Alleria to new places: she has gone from someone I like to someone I really like in just one expansion. She is interesting when she struggles with her own choices, she has an unwavering lawful good commitment to her moral code, and she has clear points of motivation that keep her anchored in the story. I’m really impressed with the foundation for her in TWW and I hope she keeps it up.

Anything else?

I’m just so grateful to the team that worked on the first part of the Worldsoul Saga. I really love this silly game, its story, and its cast of characters. I’ve been following WoW for so many years that I genuinely don’t know what I’d do without it as my hobby. To be totally honest, during BFA and SL I was genuinely worried I would never enjoy the story again. My worries have been replaced with genuine excitement, enjoyment, and investment for the first time in many years. I can’t wait to see the Midnight reveal tomorrow and experience the second part of the Saga!

For Quel’thalas,

-Ily