The Ember Court loves Azeroth’s holidays, but other Covenants don’t seem to care

As our annual effort to fail to get the Love Rocket comes to a close, it’s time to reflect back on the past two weeks and wonder: why doesn’t the Maw celebrate Love is in the Air? Can you think of a greater torture to the souls trapped there than to see Mawsworn riding by on their Love Rockets all day long, or getting every candy heart but “Hot Lips” so you can never complete the Be Mine achievement? Honestly, the Jailer could really turn the Maw into a land of perpetual torment just by going back to the original implementation of the holiday.

The Shadowlands don’t seem to put much store in holidays, with the lone exception being Theotar sprucing up the Ember Court to reflect the celebrations. In a way it makes sense for the Shadowlands to ignore Azeroth holidays — denizens aren’t just from Azeroth after all — but at the same time holidays add a touch of flavor throughout the game world and it’d be nice to see that flavor reflected even when we’re in the realm of the afterlife. At the bare minimum, everyone should be celebrating the Day of the Dead.

While the distinct lack of holiday accoutrements in the Shadowlands pales in comparison to ongoing crime that Pandarens do not have Elders to visit for the Lunar Festival, it would be nice to see these annual events reflected in some small way outside one Covenant’s mini-game. Every zone’s theme fits in well with one or more of the holidays (we’ve already covered the Maw) so what holidays should they celebrate?

How to commemorate holidays in a zone that wants you to forget everything

Ardenweald is the easiest realm to choose a holiday for — Noblegarden just makes perfect sense. It already has a theme of renewal and spring, and you could chase after Soulshape Bunnies. It’s actually the zone that makes the most sense to celebrates holidays in, as many of the souls are just passing through on their path to rebirth and are most likely to remember the holidays they celebrated before.

Revendreth is a little trickier because the majority of the aristocrat denizens there are partying all the time. Yet, at the same time, that makes things easier — any excuse for a party! You could add touches of the various holidays to soirees outside of the Ember Court, but I think keeping the majority of the flavor in the Ember Court is the right way to go.

With all the combat that takes place in Maldraxxus, you’d focus on martial holidays that celebrate the fallen, and there’s a great candidate for that from Azeroth — the Harvest Festival. As a mostly neglected holiday to begin with — understandable because it takes place so close to the much less somber Brewfest and Hallow’s End — it’d be interesting to see it given a Maldraxxian touch.

Bastion is the hardest to choose for, because holidays are about celebrating memories and the Kyrian ethos is the exact opposite of that — while I can’t prove it, I strongly suspect the Forsworn movement started during the Feast of Winter Veil because people missed Greatfather Winter’s visits. However, that’s not necessarily a huge impediment as there’s a holiday that matches their mission — Children’s Week. Instead of commemorating an event in the past, Children’s Week is about taking care of those in the present, shepherding them to adventures they may not normally have encountered in their lives. While I’m not entirely sure how it would function (do the Kyrians drag aspiring souls around to all the other zones to check them out?), I do know that the School of Hard Knocks is removed from the meta in Bastion because it’s the closest place to heaven we’ve seen.

I’d love to see holidays that aren’t celebrated in Azeroth make an appearance too. Thiernax and Qadarin come from a different world, for instance — I wonder what holidays they would celebrate? Perhaps the Brokers have their own events they celebrate, and since holidays are secondarily about profit I could see them embracing as many as they could. Maybe this summer we’ll finally see a holiday in August in the World of Warcraft as we celebrate Brokernalia™️, sponsored by the Ta Cartel. Even the Attendants might have a holiday for us — Happy Purpose Fulfillment Event, everyone!