Midnight official cinematic released at gamescom

Blizzard just gave us a look at the cinematic for their next expansion Midnight, and it seems literally anticlimatic. There’s a lot of building action, and some sort of resolution, but it’s the kind of temporary resolution that comes from getting a bandage for a bullet wound.

Our frenemy Xal’atath is back and laying siege to Silvermoon City, which is where the Sunwell is now, maybe. Liadrin is praying to the Sunwell for strength and Lor’themar summons her to battle Xal’atath. They fight for a bit — the new void beasts are deliciously horrifying — when Liadrin decides to run away from battle to pray more. She prays hard enough that she summons an army of light, and that turns the tide of battle, for now. End cinematic.

Aside from geographic quibbles, and Liadrin suddenly abandoning Lor’themar — our girl would never — the tone of this cinematic feels far bleaker than ever before. Liadrin’s miraculous heroics may have saved the day for now, but it’s clear that they are still woefully outmatched, and it’s just a matter of time until Xal’atath gets whatever it is she wants. It does end on a high note, but it’s not a high note like Anduin reaching for the light in the BfA cinematic or Stony Tony being saved by the dragonflights in Dragonflight. Those seem like everything is going to be okay, or at least there isn’t an inevitable doom just around the corner. I’m not sure what happens next, but it’s definitely not going to be pretty.