Know Your Lore: The Pillars of Creation

We’re in the midst of the largest battle with the Burning Legion that Azeroth has ever seen. Those Legion forces are pretty much a never-ending stream, originating from a portal opened by Gul’dan. In order to defeat the Legion, we need to close that portal, locking them out of their access to Azeroth.

Sounds simple enough, right? Luckily, we have the tools to close that portal already on Azeroth. Unluckily, they’re scattered all over the Broken Isles – and we’re not the only ones looking for them. The Pillars of Creation each have a long, unique history, and it’s up to us to reunite them and end the Legion invasion for good.

The Pillars of Creation

These artifacts weren’t just created for the purposes of portal-sealing. They were Titan relics, used by the Titan Keepers to shape Azeroth when it was young. They may be sitting with other races now, but they pre-date pretty much every scrap of modern civilization on Azeroth.

During the War of the Ancients, these artifacts were brought together and used to stop an attempted second portal from opening. Second portal? Yes – there was the famous one over in Zin’Azshari that we’re all familiar with. But the Legion attempted to open a second one in the Temple of Elune.

That plan failed. The Highborne of Suramar used the Pillars of Creation to close and seal the portal before the Legion could use it. And the artifacts were then scattered, never really heard from again until now.

Five pillars

Right now, we know about five different Pillars of Creation.

• Aegis of Aggramar This artifact is pretty straightforward – it went to Odyn, it stayed with Odyn. As far as Odyn is concerned, only the person who earns the thing can have it. Luckily, we’ve spent plenty of time building ourselves up over the years.
• Hammer of Khaz’goroth This artifact is a little different. It was retrieved and used by Huln Highmountain to banish Deathwing during the War of the Ancients. Ever since then, it’s been passed down and guarded by the Highmountain tribe – Huln’s descendants.
• Tears of Elune This artifact was kept safely tucked away in Val’Sharah, far from the rest of the world. Oddly enough, it’s the only Pillar of Creation that doesn’t have the name of a Titan associated with it. It does, however, reinforce an implied link between Elune and the Titans, whatever that link may be.
• Tidestone of Golganneth This artifact wasn’t even intact following the War of the Ancients. Prince Farondis was going to use this to try and destroy the portal at the Well of Eternity. Queen Azshara discovered his plans and shattered it. Thankfully, we’ve managed to piece it together again.
• Eye of Aman’thul This artifact is the last one we have to track down – it’s located in Suramar. Since it’s currently being held by Grand Magistrix Elisande, it’s not going to be easy to get our hands on. The Eye of Aman’thul was used to create the Nightwell.

In order to close the portal, all of the Pillars must be used – presumably Khadgar knows how to make this happen. Since we’re collecting them all in Dalaran, we can assume it’s going to be the focal point for the spell.

But there’s a small problem with this.

A sixth Pillar

We only know of five Pillars of Creation – one for each zone in the Broken Isles. Yet in Dalaran, there are six pedestals in the center of the city. Now this could be a case of simply wanting the decorations in the center of the city to be symmetrical. But it could also mean that there’s a sixth Pillar out there – one we don’t know about yet.

I’m not the only one to have noticed this, and there are plenty of theories flying around out there. One of them suggests that the Sargerite Keystone could be the missing Pillar. On the one hand, this makes sense – it’s the key to accessing other demonic worlds. Since it can open portals, presumably one would assume that it’d be great at closing portals as well.

At the same time, the Sargerite Keystone doesn’t really have anything to do with the Titans. It was created after Sargeras turned on the Pantheon. While it’s a powerful artifact, I’m guessing we’ll be using it for its intended purpose – to travel to other worlds.

Pillar theories

Some have suggested that Gul’dan’s skull could be that sixth Pillar, but it’s hard to take that one seriously. Sure, we know the Skull of Gul’dan played an important role in Warcraft lore. But I don’t think it’s important enough to be considered a Pillar. Gul’dan was, and still is powerful – but he’s not on the level of a Titan.

I’ve batted around the idea of Light’s Heart being that final Pillar. Obviously, Xe’ra was sent to us for a reason. She’s a naaru prime, and she’s been helping the Army of Light in their fight against the Burning Legion. Our world is at a critical nexus point. The Army of Light is teetering on the edge of failure. If the Army of Light wants to win their battle, they need us.

And if we want to help the Army of Light, we have to resolve the situation on Azeroth first. Xe’ra is after Illidan Stormrage – she can’t really have him unless our world is saved. Naaru are all about sacrifice, and it feels like this may be another instance of a naaru giving itself to our cause.

Likely prospect

Others have suggested that our Artifact weapons may end up being that final key. To me, this makes the most sense – it’s the most likely option. We’ve gathered these amazing weapons from all corners of Azeroth. We’ve utilized them to our advantage. We’re spending the expansion basically pumping these things full of power. And once this expansion is over, we won’t need the Artifacts anymore.

Why would we get rid of arguably the most powerful weapon we’ve ever put our hands on? I can’t see us handing the thing over at the end of the expansion and just walking away. It doesn’t make sense. We need a reason to get rid of them – and powering the spell to close the portal may very well be that reason.

Legion is an expansion about power – stopping the Legion from gaining any more power, and empowering ourselves. We’re dealing with artifacts the likes of which we’ve never seen before. We’re being handed more power than we’ve ever held in our hands. And we’re expected to do the right thing with that power, and save Azeroth before it’s too late. It’s going to be interesting to see how this expansion plays out – and what kind of power we’re left with once it’s all over.