New Ny’alotha cinematic shows how Wrathion plays into the raid

Spoilers follow for World of Warcraft patch 8.3 and the Ny’alotha raid.

It’s not a secret that Wrathion is a raid boss in patch 8.3’s Ny’alotha raid. And it’s also not a secret that we don’t kill the Black Prince, merely get him to snap out of it and do the right thing. It now turns out that specifically that right thing we get him to do is to stab N’Zoth right in the face with the reclaimed dagger Xal’atath.

Also, technically, it’s not really the face, but it’s hard to say what N’Zoth’s face even is. He certainly does get stabbinated, though. So much stabbing.

If you’re wondering how we got here, there’s a decent amount of lore in both the Azshara’s Eternal Palace raid and the Ny’alotha raid to explain how all of this went down. Essentially, we’ve long suspected that Sylvanas and Azshara had some kind of deal with each other, and the final boss fight in Ny’alotha confirms that. In a voice over, we hear Azshara and Sylvanas discussing their plans, with Sylvanas giving Azshara the now-abandoned dagger body of Xal’atath so the ancient Queen of the Naga can use the dagger against N’Zoth as soon as he was freed from his bonds. It’s also clear from this conversation that Azshara was fully aware of Sylvanas’ true loyalties and plans. But regardless, Azshara now had a weapon that she could use to kill N’Zoth once he emerged from his bonds.

Clearly we messed that all up for her, but in Ny’alotha we see Azshara as part of the Dark Inquisitor Xanesh encounter. As we defeat Xanesh, the Naga Queen and the Black Prince have a short conversation.

Wrathion: We fulfilled our end of the bargain, Azshara. Now honor yours.
Queen Azshara: Mind your tone, whelping. A queen keeps her promises. Listen closely, as I will only say this once.
Queen Azshara: For all his bluster, N’Zoth was ever the weakest of his kin. One vestige of their power yet remains that can be turned against him.
Queen Azshara: I would have driven this blade into his foul heart myself… had you not disrupted my plans.
Queen Azshara: No matter. Xal’atath is yours, mortals. Strike true. Should your first blow fail, you will not survive to attempt another.
Queen Azshara: Now go and do what you will. I tire of intermediaries and heralds. The true throne of power beckons, and I intend to claim it.
Wrathion: Azshara has a fondness for games. I will examine this dagger for signs of treachery. But for now, let us continue.

Curse her sudden but inevitable betrayal

No one who knows anything about Azshara can be particularly surprised that she wasn’t even a little bit loyal to the Old God — Azshara has only ever really care about herself and that certainly hasn’t changed. But by giving us the dagger, she handed us the means to injure N’Zoth, something Wrathion has been eagerly awaiting for quite some time now.

In the cinematic we see Wrathion take dragon form and rush the Old God, dodging a mass of tentacles before finally being hit… only to resume his humanoid form and stab the Old God and deal a significant wound, albeit one that seems to destroy Xal’atath’s body in the process. The explosion knocks Wrathion back and unleashes the Carapace of N’Zoth encounter where the raid fights the Fury of N’Zoth monstrosity that comes out of the mass of the Old God when Wrathion stabs it with Xal’atath.

If you’re like me, you’re wondering why N’Zoth didn’t just destroy the dagger when he had the chance, back when he freed Xal’atath the entity from its dagger shaped body/prison. And we now know from Queen Azshara that the dagger is a piece of the Old Gods, specifically one of the ones that was more powerful than N’Zoth — that could be any of them, as N’Zoth was the weakest of his kin. But which Old God made Xal’atath? Was it destroyed when Wrathion stabbed N’Zoth with it? We don’t currently know, but I’m dying to find out.