In anticipation of the release of World of Warcraft Cataclysm Classic, which will take place on May 20, 2024, we decided to talk about this expansion.
This is the third major expansion for World of Warcraft, and it is going to introduce a wealth of new lore and key story events that changed the world of Azeroth.
At the heart of this patch is the cataclysmic awakening of Deathwing, whose malevolent intentions threaten the very existence of all life on Azeroth.
The Saviors of Azeroth will face challenging battles, not only with Deathwing in Dragon Soul but also with Ragnaros. The latter remains one of the top 10 most difficult bosses in the game. If you have flashbacks about another wipe when your teammates don’t know how to kite a meteor, and you don’t want to repeat the same mistakes in Cataclysm Classic, there is a legal cheat. Just order the WoW Cataclysm Boost service on a platform with a lot of positive reviews and an outstanding raid completion history with no wipes. In case you want to know more about the lore of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, then read this article to the end.
The Awakening of Deathwing
Not long after Azeroth’s heroes returned from Northrend following the events of Wrath of the Lich King, Deathwing awakened from his ancient sleep. Ten thousand years ago, the black dragon had gone insane under the sway of the Old Gods, betraying his siblings and sisters, the other Dragon Aspects. His body had been ripped apart by the abuse of a powerful relic known as the Dragon Soul. The ancient Aspect of Earth had been healing for millennia, with his worshipers painstakingly reassembling him with elementium metal plates.
Now that he was restored to his full power, he broke forth from his earthen haven with such fury that his mere appearance produced a natural disaster on a scale not seen since the Sundering. Great earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis rocked Azeroth to its core, permanently altering the planet’s appearance.
Deathwing’s fury and suffering swept over Azeroth in the form of an elemental disaster that threatened to obliterate countless lives, and every shaman from both the Horde and Alliance races was summoned to assist in healing the planet’s severe wounds.
Elemental Lords’ Alignment: With or Against Deathwing
In the beginning, Azeroth was ruled by elemental lords like Ragnaros the Firelord who fought over land and power. The Old Gods then made them slaves, and the Titans finally sent them to their own elemental planes. Now they had the chance to join Deathwing to slaughter all humans. Even though Ragnaros was still angry about losing at the Molten Core, he quickly agreed. Al’Akir the Windlord also joined the forces of Twilight. The mother of Earth, Therazane, needed some persuasion before she agreed to help the troops protecting Azeroth and fix the damage caused by the Cataclysm.
An army of heroes from Azeroth went deep into Ragnaros’s fiery home in the Firelands to stop him from setting Nordrassil on fire. People finally got rid of the Firelord for good with the help of druids of all races and the Wild God Cenarius. Al’Akir didn’t last long before he was defeated on the Throne of Four Winds, which was his kingdom. Therazane and Neptulon’s help was very important in protecting Azeroth from the Hour of Twilight and fixing the terrible damage that Deathwing’s appearance did to the environment.
The Legacy and Downfall of the Black Dragonflight
For millennia, black dragons had guarded the earth’s deep regions under the direction of their Aspect, Deathwing, also known as Neltharion the Earth-Warder before he went insane. Deathwing’s offspring aimed to cause chaos among the mortal races even before the Cataclysm. Despite being murdered during the events of World of Warcraft: Classic, Onyxia and Nefarian were resurrected thanks to the abilities that the Twilight Cult had been studying. The Blackrock Depths attack slaughtered the two sisters and brothers once more, along with many of their family who had made it thus far.
Then, reduced to a shadow of its former self, the Black Dragonflight turned to corrupt dragons from other flights to increase its size. But one red dragon tried to discover a remedy for their insanity. Using Titan magic, Rheastrasza was able to cleanse one of the black eggs and ultimately gave her life to ensure Deathwing was unaware of its presence. Untainted by the corruption of the Old God, the egg developed into a whelp that became known as Wrathion. He would be the last of the black dragons to remain when the Cataclysm’s ashes eventually cleared. Wrathion would do all in his power to avoid becoming like his father, Deathwing, despite the dubious nature of his tactics. He would take his responsibility to defend Azeroth extremely seriously.
The Fall of Deathwing
With the Hour of Twilight approaching, Azeroth’s defenders would need to offer their best to prevent Deathwing from unleashing the full power of the Old Gods. The Titans had placed the Dragon Aspects on Azeroth to avoid such a happening, and now it was time for them to fulfill their ancient duty. Thrall, the former Horde Warchief, planned to fill the Dragon Soul relic with the essence of all five Aspects to utilize it against Deathwing. Since Deathwing was previously the Aspect of Earth, the shaman Thrall had to temporarily take that position for the ceremony to be accomplished. At the top of Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight, Thrall and the other Aspects struck back at Deathwing, gravely wounding him with the same item that had torn his body apart ten thousand years before.
Deathwing attempted to flee but fell from the sky into the Maelstrom, a massive foaming maelstrom amid the ocean where powerful elemental forces collide. Deathwing reappeared, twisted beyond recognition as a cruel abomination by Old God’s sorcery, determined to bring an end to all life in Azeroth. At that point, Azeroth’s defenders finally destroyed the once-noble dragon, annihilated by the combined energy of his brothers and sisters, the four other dragon Aspects: Nozdormu the Timeless One, Ysera the Awakened, Alexstrazsa the Lifebinder, and Kalecgos, who had only recently ascended as the new Aspect of Magic. All of these dragons gave up their immortality and much of their strength to preserve the planet of Azeroth, fulfilling their vow to the Titans.
Summary
The lore of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm goes into detail about Deathwing’s waking, the chaos in the elements, and the fall of the Black Dragonflight. Heroes work together to protect Azeroth from the Hour of Twilight, and in the end, the Dragon Aspects are sacrificed to protect the future of the world.
Article Written by Chloe Boone.
