The Year of the Raven’s Second Expansion – Could it be The Ethereals?

An excellent balance patch, a diverse meta, the most even class distribution across all ranks ever – Hearthstone has everything it needs right now. Community complaints are at an all time low, and the summer slump hits everybody who is in dire need for some juicy Hearthstone news.

But another thing is just as certain: There are still two months in front of the next expansion. Yes, many players are still on their adventure to explore the Witchwood of Gilneas, but others cannot wait for new in-game content. So why not just talk about the upcoming expansion? “Well, because there is no official information about it yet!”

Well, that is not true at all! Team 5 has left at least some clues, and after a more than successful Year of the Mammoth, we can take a step back and look at Blizzard’s history of revealing new expansion information in early stages of the Standard year.

The Main Clue

February 2018: The first official information about the upcoming Year of the Raven has been revealed. Hall of Fame Rotation, improved quests and in-game tournaments are the focal points of the new Standard year.

The most important bit of information, however, is shown on this particular image:

The picture shows a visual teaser of the three upcoming expansions.

The first seal shows, as we now know, The Witchwood as the first expansion. Lots of lore experts leaned towards guesses involving the Cenarion Circle or the Emerald Dream, and nearly nobody was expecting a set featuring the fascinating Gilneas storyline.

The second seal may have been the most “obvious” to interpret ever since the reveal of this picture, and it is the main reason we can speculate a whole lot about the upcoming expansion already.

What we’re seeing is a very aesthetic and symmetric visualization. The pink and purple colors immediately create the impression of arcane magic as we know it being used by the Mage class and other characters in the Warcraft universe. The repeating round shapes support that impression; circles and orbs are dominant shapes in the school of arcane magic, representing infinity in time and and the flow of mana, the arcane form of energy. Purple nebulous mists around the seal could point towards the volatility of the magic element that, in contrast to fel magic, represents the order of the world as we know it.

What is most important about the visualization, however, is the detail right in the center: A golden ring is shown that seems to hold a more dense and void-looking type of material in place. The ring also has little smaller rings attached on the inside and brighter golden details all around it.

As a regular Hearthstone player, this is the place where speculation ends. But lots of Warcraft lore experts instantaneously thought about what they call an Ethereal portal:

This screenshot shows the Ethereal portals that are spread all around Outland, the floating parts of a forgotten world called Draenor and the main stage of World of Warcraft’s first expansion The Burning Crusade. These portals were used by the Ethereals for travelling and keeping dangerous void magic in place.

Needless to say, both the portal shown on the seal and the portals in World of Warcraft share a striking resemblance. Due to this we can safely assume that the Ethereals will play a starring role in the upcoming expansion.

The Ethereals

The Ethereals are considered one of the most mysterious entities in the Warcraft universe. After their home world K’aresh was consumed by the Void, they seek asylum in the mortal worlds, trying to make the best out of their situation by providing adventurers with their otherworldly arcane magic like Transmogrification and tools to control the Void like the Void Storage.

As they have played an important role in multiple World of Warcraft storylines, we already have some Ethereals in Hearthstone as well. Cards like Nexus-Champion Saraad, Raza the Chained or Ethereal Conjurer showcase Ethereal characters that already exist in the Warcraft universe, and existing lore cards with a connection to the story of the new expansion have been a thing in the past.

When it comes to the probability of an Ethereal-themed expansion, the odds could not be better: Both Kobolds and Catacombs and The Witchwood have represented a more realistic theme; a set around the Ethereal race could feature more otherworldly fantasies, something that only Whispers of the Old Gods has done so far. That would also allow for a more Hearthstone-centric lore approach after the visit to well-known Gilneas and its enchanted woodlands.

Sadly enough, the Ethereals don’t have lots of business to do in WoW’s upcoming expansion Battle for Azeroth, as this would have been another dead giveaway due to its similar release date together with the second Hearthstone expansion of the year. However, the Ethereals’ character model has been updated in late 2017, and ever since then they have been a top contender for becoming an Allied Race, one of the new playable WoW races, in the near future, something which could also be cross-promoted with a fitting Hearthstone expansion in the near future.

Lots of Speculation Built on a Solid Base

All in all we can safely assume that the Ethereals will appear in some way in Hearthstone’s upcoming expansion. The resemblance in symbolism is uncanny, and Blizzard wouldn’t release such an obvious clue without second thoughts, and what we see within the seal has to be an Ethereal Portal without a doubt.

Whether the new set will reveal unknown information about the Ethereal race or focus on their influence on the mortal world and the Void will remain a secret for a good while.

What we do know though is that there are still a tons of fascinating stories to tell about them, and both Hearthstone and Warcraft fans should be in for a treat if the Ethereals will become the stars of the upcoming expansion.