The year is 2020, and the world is in turmoil – however, there is one good thing: Hearthstone is in a better place than ever before.
The changes introduced with the Year of the Phoenix seem to engage both casual and hardcore Hearthstone communities, while the release of the new expansion Ashes of Outland together with the new Demon Hunter class sparked player interest, discussion and – most importantly – recurring balance changes to keep the meta-game nice and fresh.
The only thing that Hearthstone in its current glory is missing is a compelling story to tell. The stage has been set thanks to the Demon Hunter prologue, but players have yet to wait for the release of another iteration of Hearthstone’s single-player concept.
What we do know is that Illidan Stormrage will play the leading role in a lore-heavy tale based in Outland. We take a look at the story told so far through the prologue, its backgrounds in Warcraft lore, and a conclusion about the quality of Team 5’s current and future storytelling.
The Demon Hunter Prologue: Hitting the Nail on the Head
As already said, the Demon Hunter prologue tried to convey a first general feeling regarding the upcoming story arc surrounding Illidan – but not only that: Players have been able to play the Demon Hunter class one week in advance of the upcoming Ashes of Outland expansion.
And while the majority of players most likely focussed on the playstyle of Hearthstone’s new class addition during their first playthrough, it is the combination of gameplay and storytelling that turns the prologue missions into masterfully crafted story introductions.
The one question that Dave Kosak and the Mission Design perfectly encapsulate within the first four single-player missions is almost as old as Warcraft lore itself: Is Illidan good or bad?
Chapter 1: Azzinoth
The first chapter of the prologue tells the tale of the fight against a certain creature called Azzinoth. In canonical Warcraft history, this encounter happened through the War of the Ancients, a monumental conflict between the night elves and the Burning Legion that invaded the lands of Azeroth for the first time in history.
In that fight, we already learn a lot about the character behind Illidan Stormrage, the young night elf mage. Azzinoth notices that Illidan already is attracted to the limitless power of the Burning Legion, an unstoppable force of demons that has been threatening the existence of the whole night elf civilization.
During this time, Illidan has been a mage under Kur’talos Ravencrest, leader of the night elf military forces. Together with his brother Malfurion and Tyrande Whisperwind, he tries to fight off the neverending demon armies attacking the Kaldorei.
While fighting Azzinoth, Tyrande assures her and Malfurion’s support, and Illidan’s reply to his childhood friend comes off as quite cocky – or is it just the statement of a man with a broken heart?
Back to the main story: Illidan defeats Azzinoth eventually, although he still admires the demonical powers of the doomguard commander; that is why he keeps his weapons, the infamous Warglaives of Azzinoth.
Chapter 2: Xavius
The first step towards Illidan’s act of betrayal is depicted in the second mission of the prologue. He eventually meets with Xavius, a powerful satyr and one of the most influential commanders of Sargeras’ Burning Legion. He commands him to prove his worth in battle so that he could introduce him to the Burning Legion.
And while the prologue tries to focus on Illidan’s story arc, it is imperative to tell the insane tale of Xavius as well. Long before his encounter with Illidan, Xavius was not only the right hand of Queen Azshara herself during his time as a Highborne; Xavius, called by Sargeras himself, was also responsible for the creation of the first high elf portals to the Twisting Nether, only for the Burning Legion to enter the lands of Azeroth. Luckily enough, these plans had been thwarted by none less than Malfurion Stormrage, who killed Xavius in the process.
Over the course of multiple events, Xavius was resurrected and turned into the first satyr created by Sargeras, the leader of the Burning Legion. One of his top priorities during the War of the Ancients was to take revenge on Malfurion, the druid that not only killed him but also prevented his master Sargeras from entering the world of Azeroth long before the war.
Fast forward to the second mission: We understand Xavius’ intentions now, and Illidan thankfully takes the powers provided through his satyr commander. The story told in the encounter is fairly simple: We have to stabilize demon portals to the Twisting Nether to prove ourselves worthy. But what about Illidan’s intentions?
“You control the Well. Without it, I am nothing.”
This statement after Xavius’ question about Illidan’s reasons for leaving the night elf resistance forces needs explanation. Illidan refers to the Well of Eternity, an ancient artifact created by the titans and the engine behind the magic and power of the Kaldorei.
The Burning Legion wanted to use the Well of Eternity to summon Sargeras into Azeroth, and Illidan immediately knew that these plans would result in a tremendous loss of magical powers for the night elf race. Driven by despair and the ongoing thirst for power, he seeks to join the Burning Legion – but not without other secret intentions.
For that, Illidan even agrees to betray his own blood in the form of Malfurion. Xavius takes the bait, while Sargeras knows about the true hidden potential of Illidan.
At the end of the mission, Illidan accepts Sargeras’ gift in return for his eyesight. What he sees now though is so much more than anything that any mortal has ever seen before. Sargeras injects the vision of the Burning Legion’s true potential into Illidan’s mind – but that only strengthened Illidan’s secret plan to destroy the Burning Legion for good and with their own weapons as well as the Demon Soul, or as we Hearthstone players, the Dragon Soul: a powerful artifact once crafted by Deathwing himself to enslave all other dragons and their aspects, Illidan now wants to destroy the portals of the Burning Legion with it.
Chapter 3: Mannoroth
The third prologue chapter leads the player through to the end of the War of the Ancients and Illidan into a fight against Mannoroth, the prime leader of the pit lords. To fulfill his one wish to destroy the Burning Legion, Illidan sides with Malfurion, the brother who stole Tyrande’s heart away from him.
This fight is a special one since it had been restaged during WoW’s Cataclysm expansion. The Caverns of Time dungeon hub offered a way to travel through time with the help of Nozdormu, and the 5-man dungeon experience called the Well of Eternity featured the final fight of the War of the Ancients.
What we don’t see in the third chapter of the prologue is Azshara’s influence on the matter. Corrupted by the Burning Legion, she assisted Mannoroth to manipulate the Well of Eternity, the artifact that her very own kin needed so much.
Eventually, the night elf task force stopped Mannoroth, Azshara, and the Burning Legion from opening the portal for Sargeras by applying the power of the Demon Soul as well as sacrificing the Well of Eternity. The implosion caused by the well’s destruction eventually triggered what has been called “The Sundering”, one of the most influential “geo-events” in the history of Warcraft.
The Well of Eternity turned into the Maelstrom, and Azeroth’s main continent Kalimdor got split into multiple smaller lands and islands, reshaping the world as it was known ten thousand years ago. The night elves accepted their fate and the future with the Well of Eternity – but Illidan didn’t.
To regain his magical powers, he climbed up Mount Hyjal to create a new Well of Eternity. Just moments before the old well got destroyed, Illidan managed to save some of its water in seven vials. With three of them, he summoned a new Well of Eternity.
Finally, the night elves got hold of Illidan, and they were not amused by his actions. The creation of a new Well of Eternity spoke for Illidan’s irrational greed for power, and the night elves led by Malfurion didn’t want Illidan to become a male version of Queen Azshara.
Chapter 4: Cenarius
To deal with his possessed brother, Malfurion had to summon Cenarius himself, the patron of the night elf druids, and once teacher to Tyrande, Illidan, and his brother. He also brought Maiev and Jarod Shadowsong – the two siblings and commanders of the night elf resistance troops, who both appear as legendary cards in Cenarius’ deck.
In the last prologue fight, Illidan is getting denounced by Malfurion, Tyrande, and the Lord of the Forest, but in the end, we remain victorious – however, we witness only a vision of how the fight could have turned out if Illidan wasn’t eventually defeated in reality. And since simple defeat was not enough, Illidan got locked away in a prison below Mount Hyjal so that he could never interact with the Well of Eternity or the Burning Legion ever again.
Illidan’s Life: The Story Not Told
Do you know what my first thought was at the beginning of the prologue playthrough? They could never tell the story of one of Warcraft’s most complex characters through Hearthstone.
I was wrong.
Without a doubt, Team 5’s Mission Design team didn’t even come close to look at all the past, present, and future events that Illidan was part of. However, the Demon Hunter prologue encapsulated the persona behind Illidan – his intentions, his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws, his talents.
We could sit here all day long and go through all the subplots of Illidan’s long, long life. His incredible character development in Warcraft III. His ongoing inner conflict depicted in World of Warcraft up until today. But we really don’t need to – because after the prologue playthrough, even a casual Hearthstone player who thought that the War of the Ancients is a street fight between two retirement homes down the road before will now understand what Illidan’s story is really about.
The love triangle between him, Malfurion and Tyrande, the unending thirst for power, his hatred towards the Burning Legion, his relentless willingness to achieve his goals at all costs – Illidan’s life is a prime example of a character that took years of storytelling and multiple World of Warcraft expansions to turn into the complex persona that he is today, loved and hated by the community.
Ashes of Outland: Illidan’s Redemption Boogaloo?
The one thing the prologue doesn’t answer though is the question we’ve asked at the beginning of this article: Is Illidan good or bad?
The question still remains, and that is good in its own way. The players have to create their own answer, have to form their own opinion of the Betrayer who loves the argument of the greater good, and hates demons with a passion.
The prologue feeds the players with information that is needed to find a solution to the Illidan dilemma, and that is why it is so brilliant in its way of telling a story through limited gameplay and storytelling tools.
Looking into the future, World of Warcraft players know how Illidan’s journey continues. I could go on and tell you everything about it, about the Burning Crusade expansion, the Black Temple, the “You Are Not Prepared!” meme – but I don’t want to spoil things for many of our readers who want to experience this part of Warcraft history themselves.
And while we will most likely see yet another goofy but warming iteration of an important piece of Warcraft lore – starring Illidan and the Rusted Legion, a Hearthstone mech Burning Legion spin-off -, Team 5 hopefully will continue to tell Illidan’s story as they did during the prologue: compressed, but with heart, love to detail, and – most importantly – a close eye to one of Warcraft’s most meaningful and beloved character arcs.
Nice Story !
Thanks!