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Why Do The Titans Want To Preserve This Timeline? Lore Speculation with Nobbel87
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Pubblicato
10/03/2024 alle 18:00
da
DiscordianKitty
Why do the Titans protect this timeline? Is it really the "true timeline", or just the one that most benefits Order? And what would happen if we made changes? Nobbel87 asks these questions in his latest video.
The Titans' True Timeline
This line from Iridikron has been stuck in the back of my mind:
Iridikron: Tell me, little one, have you ever questioned why the Titans preserve
this
timeline?
Iridikron's hatred for the Titans is super interesting considering that, without their interference, without them locking away the elemental lords and the Old Gods with the war against the Black Empire, Iridikron would not exist to begin with. And yet we don’t know the full depths of his knowledge yet. He seems to know more about the Titans than what any of us have been shown so far.
We were led to believe that the Titans and their Keepers won a great victory against the Black Empire. It’s only recently that we discovered books which mention the Keepers purging historical records documenting the advancement of the Black Empire and painting that age as one of chaos and misery, a pernicious blight that the Keepers eradicated. With the Old Gods locked in confinement, there should be no evidence available to contradict their assertions. Yet at the same time, we've also traveled back in time. We could see for ourselves what Azeroth was like when the Old Gods ruled the world. We could see them fighting against the elemental lords, just as the history records have always told us.
So what is truth and what is fiction? Who’s to say at this point? I do find the line to be incredibly interesting because if we look at time in World of Warcraft, we know that there is a so-called "true timeline" which beings like the bronze dragons try to preserve. Some changes have been allowed. For example, we have multiple versions of the War of the Ancients—a new version in which time-travelers joined the battle and changed some of the events. So I imagine that key moments still need to happen in order to maintain that true timeline, whereas the details—the path that leads there—are a little bit fluid.
They’ve taken that quite a bit further recently with Nozdormu now working together with the Infinite Dragonflight and alternate Elisande escaping her timeline with knowledge that our Elisande never possessed. The timeline the bronze dragons have been preserving has always been a bit flexible, and yet Iridikron says that the Titans specifically want to preserve this timeline... but why? Why this one and not alternate timelines?
Of course, with speculation anything goes, and time is going to tell. For now, I would go with what we know about the cosmic domains—which is that they’re in a constant tug of war for dominance over the universe. The Titans are connected to the domain of Order. They want Order to take control similarly to how we’ve seen the Void infiltrate the universe or the domain of Death trying to spread its wings. Balance must be maintained though, for if one takes over from the others, the whole thing would come crashing down, but it's still in their nature to keep that struggle going. Not all of them, not every Titan is the same—as we’ve read about Eonar’s connection to Elune and the domain of life, while in the same texts we read about Aman'Thul die-hard condemning anything that isn’t Order to Chaos.
And it’s with Aman'Thul where I think we should be looking at the one that’s keeping the timeline in an icy grip, for it was Aman'Thul who empowered Nozdormu and the bronze dragonflight. Charged them with keeping the purity of time for if they didn’t, more would be lost than you could possibly imagine.
The fabric of reality will unravel. It is a heavy task—the base of all tasks of this world, for nothing can transpire without time.
So sayeth the High Father... but what if he is full of nonsense and just wants the bronze dragonflight to make sure that the timeline that he has seen to be the best for the domain of Order is the one we follow?
Now, of course, we can't forget about the part where Order is in our favor as well. Some of the races we play as, similarly to Iridikron, would not exist without the Titans. Turning them into the bad guys is a little bit of a difficult sell, but still, pushing them further into demanding their Order could make for an interesting concept when thinking about the balance of the universe.
Alternate Timelines
Then another thing they could go with is opening up the floodgate of alternate realities and scenarios to play through. Imagine what would happen if we decide to go against their vision. What happends when we go against Aman'Thul’s wishes of preserving this so-called true timeline and we open up all the others? There was Loki a while back, a show that dealt with this concept as well. I still need to check out Season 2 but, in essence, they also changed things in that show from alternate realities being wiped out to opening up the floodgates and letting them all exist.
In Warcraft, alternate realities are said to disappear on their own unless you mess with them, but what if that’s a lie as well? What if Aman'Thul and his plans are what is causing those alternate realities to disappear? What if they’re all meant to play out next to each other? What if we make a similar choice and we let go—we let those alternates flow? We could end up in a Murloc universe to play through, or we witness an Azeroth where the Horde won the war over the Alliance, or we could see a world where Arthas never picked up Frostmourne. The concept of playing around in alternate scenarios—have those alternate scenarios invade our timeline, our reality—I think it has a lot of potential which I would love for them to explore.
Then there's there’s another thing which I’ve noticed when it comes to time—and this is not just for Aman'Thul, this is for nearly every cosmic domain. They nearly all show the capability of predicting the future—sometimes with incredible accuracy—and yet when you reach the end of whatever they’re predicting, they still lose, they’re still proven wrong—and it happens so much that it makes you wonder... why? What’s causing them to see the future with clarity in one moment but not all the way through? You know... why—besides the basic obvious answer of it would make for a boring short story if somebody could actually predict the future and the ending. What if we could find a reason in-game? What is going on here, why can't they figure out what the future's going to be?
For example...
The Jailer was able to predict that Sargeras was going to stab Azeroth. He wasn't going to destroy her, he wasn't going to miss her entirely, he was going to stab her in such a way that Sylvanas was going to hold her blood in her hands. That’s crazy accurate, and yet he couldn’t predict that he was going to lose—he couldn’t predict his own ending. The Primus was able to predict, if not expect, the Jailer turning his chains into a weapon, was able to leave voice recordings in case this was going to happen, and yet he couldn’t predict his own imprisonment. Or could he...?
Elisande in the Nighthold used the Eye of Aman'Thul, one of the Pillars of Creation left behind by the Titans during that whole bringing Order to Azeroth time period. With the Eye of Aman'Thul, they made their magical fount of power—the Nightwell—and Elisande checked the timelines when the Legion returned with the expansion
Legion
. Seeing no other alternative, no way of getting victory, she lowered their shield and allied with the Legion. We proved her wrong, of course—we joined the rebellion and changed the set-in-stone fate as seen by Elisande.
Echo of Elisande says: Will you defeat the Legion? Will you fail? Time eddies about you fits and starts. Nothing is certain!
Echo of Elisande says: Perhaps you will win. And in saving your world, my people would be freed from the terrible bargain we were forced to make.
Echo of Elisande says: Fates be damned! I cast my lot in with yours, champions.
Nothing is certain when it comes to the heroes of Azeroth—when it comes to the future. Even the proclamation of Aman'Thul about reality fracturing if the truth of the timeline is not preserved seems to be fluid, as we quite recently have done a questline in which alternate Elisande got information from Tyr’s disc, Keeper Tyr’s memories, and is then just allowed to make a portal and depart to her timeline and keep Suramar safe. The infinite dragonflight now also works together with the bronze dragonflight instead of being in complete opposition, so all of that seems to be a bit more fluid.
Flawed Prophecies
Prophet Velen has this title not without reason, and has seen several visions of the future. His powers—his gift—can be traced back into the domain of Light and his connection to the Holy Naaru. His foresight allowed him to see that signing up with Sargeras and the Burning Legion was not the way to go—would lead to the corruption of their people, the devestation of the entire universe. With the aid of the Naaru, they managed to escape, they became the draenei, and through their faith held on to a brighter tomorrow.
He had also seen the coming of the Cataclysm but the Light—his compass, the sense that helped him navigate the uncertain seas of his visions—had not pointed directly to the Cataclysm. It had left Deathwing's destructive return a possibility among many. What good was a prophet who saw no difference between the true vision and the false? How maddening it must be to see so many possibilities and no longer have the certainty of prophecy?
It would be Anduin Wrynn who'd teach the prophet his lesson. Every life was a universe on its own, and if he was unconnected to the living beings of the now, how could he ever navigate all the connections of their futures? The draenei were going to respond to the Cataclysm in the now. They would be of service, instead of focusing on potential futures.
A similar lesson was once taught to Nozdormu by the mortal Thrall. Nozdormu had lost himself to the endless possibilities of the timeways until Thrall showed him that all that mattered was this moment. The moment we have right now.
As for Anduin Wrynn, he would be part of Velen’s visions as well, as Velen saw the prince in golden armor leading the charge against the darkness. Light vs darkness, with dragons, Horde, Alliance, Naaru, everybody on the battlefield. What good fortune that we just finished restoring the Aspectral powers of the dragonflights! There’s also a comic with old man Anduin preparing for the final battle, and yet, if we’ve learned anything so far, it’s that prophecies and fortunetelling are not exactly 100% accurate.
The Light sees one truth, one path, and disregards all others. A path which they had envisioned for Illidan Stormrage was for him to become the child of Shadow and Light. Xe’ra got really close at converting the demon hunter, take away his scars, and turn him to the Light, but the elf
is
his scars and would not play along. Their fate was never in the hands of prophecy. We were going to do it ourselves, our way, and we did. Not as the Light predicted, but as the Jailer predicted—with Velen laughing together with Illidan at the idea of fate.
Illidan: Did you not see this fate, Prophet?
Velen: Fate... Our survival was never in fate's hands.
The opposite side of the Light would be the Void, and they don’t just see one truth, they see thousands—very open-minded beings. Dragonflight had us cruise the timeways and end up in the days of the Black Empire. The days in which the Old Gods ruled the world, and our boy N'Zoth whispered some sweet lines specificly put in there by Danuser:
I... know you. What you were. What you will yet be.
From that, the speculation mill started running. Did N'Zoth know of our coming, know what was going to happen in
Battle for Azeroth
, and did he prepare? In combination with 'putting himself in the blade' speculation that may or may not have been destroyed after Wrathion used it. My take, in the realm of speculation anything goes, but I would ask... if he could predict himself losing and prepare an escape plan by putting himself in the weapon... then what was preventing him from predicting himself victorious? Why could he not use the information of the future in order to plan a victory scenario?
Beyond time-travelers dropping some spoilers, the Void itself dabbles in all kinds of scenarios, desires, and prophecies. Alleria Windrunner got a taste of that during her Void training:
A Thousand Years of War
"You already understand one truth, Alleria. The Light is blind. It cannot see the whole of destiny, because it alone is not responsible for it. Now understand another truth. The Shadow is just as blind. It saw your fate intertwining with its own, and it rejoiced. But it, too, sees only a fragment of destiny. But that fragment is unlike anything you've known before."
Alleria began to see visions. Terrible, terrible visions. She saw the Light moving through the cosmos like a ravenous predator. She saw it touch the minds of Azeroth's mortals—a touch that corrupted them forever. She saw generations live and die in invisible chains, bound to a force that granted them fleeting moments of peace in exchange for absolute obedience. She saw war. She saw the forces of the Light striking back against the Void. She saw darkened worlds burning in holy fire. She saw millions of creatures encased in luminous crystals the size of mountains, sustained by the Light and unable to die. Warriors of the Light were monsters, corrupting and consuming everything they touched. On and on and on it went, until she could not even comprehend it all.
"Lies," she whispered. "These are all lies."
"Sear that into your heart," the Locus-Walker said. "Know that, and never forget it."
"I do not... What…?"
The Locus-Walker kept her firmly afloat. "You have known the Shadow as nothing but horrors. The Shadow sees the Light in the same way. Neither viewpoint is true. Neither is wrong."
The roar of the Void nearly drowned him out. The masters of the Void were clawing at her mind. She barely fought them off.
"The Light seeks one path and shuns all others as lies. The Shadow seeks every possible path and sees them all as truth."
More visions. Possible futures. She saw Xe'ra, the Mother of Light, declaring her a heretic and calling for her death. She saw her blood on Turalyon's sword. She saw Arator calling an army of Paladins to hunt her down, only to fall with her arrows in his throat. She saw herself kneeling before the One Who Slumbers beneath Azeroth's waves. She saw herself killing it and taking its place, leading a throng of horrors to consume every nation.
As she swam in the Shadow, all these visions seemed true... at first. Slowly she began to see the difference between the Shadow's memories… the Shadow's plans… and the shadow's desires. And from that…
Destiny. She saw what the Light could not. She saw what even the Shadow could not, because, yes, it was just as blind. She saw terrible choices. She saw noble betrayals. She saw… victory, in a way she could scarcely comprehend. And among all of that, she saw countless events that would never happen.
The lies of the Void were strong, intoxicating, but they quickly collapsed. Perhaps one day she would fall to madness. Perhaps one day she would betray her allies, she was capable of it. But she would never, not in any possibility, not in any circumstance, harm her son.
She would never lift a finger against Arator. Even if he killed her for what she had become, she would accept it gladly. The weight of that truth kept her afloat. And she could feel the Shadow's confusion. It did not understand the bonds between mortals. It did not understand that there were some things that could not be corrupted.
Another truth emerged. This was happening too soon. She was swimming in the Shadow before her destiny demanded it.
"You are ready, Alleria. Every ounce of power out there will be at your command. Dive deeply into it. Your mind will yet be your own."
She was indeed ready. But it was not yet time. She had witnessed herself jumping from a cliff, peacefully surrendering to the long fall. When the time came, there would be no choice and no alternative. Now, she could still escape. And her destiny demanded that she must.
I let that play a little bit longer as Alleria is going to play a part in the next expansion and she has some interesting thoughts on her future right here. She’s also going to feature in one of the upcoming short stories for the book
World of Warcraft: The Voices Within
, a story about her and her son Arator... curious to see how that's going to build up.
And here, we read about the Void that sees the world from their point of view. Whereas beings that walk in the Light would consider its radiance pleasent and healing, to the Void it would be an all-consuming monster. In turn, their views on the future would be altered as well, and not in line with how the Light or any of the other forces out there would view what is to come. It would be shown with a bias, a taste of their desires and wishes. Garrosh was fed false visions—how many prophets of the Void have come and gone, listened to their whispers? And if we can see this happen with the Void, then what does that mean with prophecies from the other domains?
Garrosh Hellscream yells: The True Horde WILL come to pass. I have SEEN it. IT HAS SHOWN ME. I HAVE SEEN MOUNTAINS OF SKULLS AND RIVERS OF BLOOD. AND I WILL....HAVE....MY....WORLD!
There are more examples of prophecies to be found, like the green dragon Aspect Ysera getting dreams and visions which I’ll credit to the domain of Life—this is what pushed Thrall on the path of allying with the Aspects. That only leaves the domain of Disorder for which I couldn’t really remember a clear prophecy—besides we’re going to win—which is what they all say until they meet us.
Ultimately, when it comes to prophecy and predictions in the Warcraft universe, I think it’s safe to say that destiny is a bit wibbly-wobbly and nobody really knows what is to come... which is a really good thing. Again, how boring would it be if we had an actual road map going on? But knowing that, how would that apply to that one true timeline concept? If we can acknowledge that fortune telling is not accurate, and that different cosmic domains view the universe with a bias—with their point of view—how do we apply that information to the vision of the Titans and their so-called true timeline?
Seeing how prophecy and destiny is time and time again challenged and changed, what other conclusion can we draw than this being Aman'Thul pushing his version, his vision, onto us, one that might be beneficial to us so far—but for how long?
How long before Order becomes too dominant? What did Elisande learn from Tyr’s memories, and how is that going to affect the future? Time is going to tell!
Predestined Or Not?
Now the interesting part is that, as it stands right now, the story of the Shadowlands together with the introduction of the First Ones does put us in a predetermined universe—but it’s something that wasn’t their intention. The so-called true "Maw Walker" was prophesied and predicted to come. Gateways were placed at precise locations for when they would need them. All according to the purpose, all according to deciphering scrolls and reading their fates. The Brokers in Zereth Mortis knew of the day that we would come, tested if we truly were the ones spoken about, and confirmed it when the gateways opened. It’s a concept and storyline that’s not properly dealt with as we didn’t really change anything in the Shadowlands besides putting down a new Arbiter and giving every soul a chance at redemption. The part about Sylvanas being right when it comes to the problem of our souls being judged on actions that apparently we have no control over is still a thing that’s currently running.
That said, it was not their intention to make this happen, as we learned from interviews. It was supposed to be about the First Ones calculating possibilities. predicting probabilities, and preparing things accordingly, similarly to how the Jailer was never meant to be behind the entire story of Warcraft—rather it was meant to show that the domain of Death had as much of an impact on the universe as the domain of Order had. Does intent matter compared to the product shown in-game? Compared to the story being told? That’s a question you’ll have to answer for yourself. I do think that the end of the Shadowlands story was meant to show how mortal souls, perhaps souls linked to Azeroth itself, are rather special—that they can do things others never imagined—and therefore the idea of prophecy or destiny is one we can throw out the window.
Khadgar: What have you done?
Illidan: Sometimes the hands of fate must be forced.
And yet, that line of Iridikron's about this one timeline, the Titans having their focus on it, I am incredibly curious...
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