The last three bosses for The Sepulcher of the First Ones raid unlocked earlier today. In contrast to WoTLK Gold other raids, the final encounters of the game's most recent adventure were locked down for a further week and were not tested on the game's publicly-available test realm. This meant that players entered the experience with no idea about what was expected which led to an abundance of speculation about the Jailer's future plans, what the raid's finale might be a sign for future expansions and more. However, the answer seems to have most players prepared to put Shadowlands behind their backs. Spoilers below.
In the cinematic that plays towards the end of the raid, the Jailer, aka Zovaal, lies in a state of defeat. As he kneels, he recalls the events that led to his deportation, including thoughts of when Primus demanded the reason that led Zovaal's betrayal of the Shadowlands and attempt to break the circle in the realm of afterlife. His answer?
"A universe that is split will not endure what's to come," Zovaal says defiantly. He fades into the present, to be replaced by a mechanical shell of his previous self. The entrance to the Shadowlands above Icecrown Citadel closes. Filming ends.
If the players wanted some idea of where the new expansion (set to release in April) will bring them, this film does not deliver. The film also delivers an unclimactic conclusion to a widely disliked villain and the expansion overall.
Zovaal has long been set up as the ultimate villain and has been portrayed as the ultimate villain, with Blizzard making the character be the true mastermind behind a huge amount of World of Warcraft lore, all the way from Arthas turning into the Lich King to the making of the devastating planet-destroying Burning Legion. The players have always wondered what the character's real motives were in the course of. In the end, having Zovaal's infamous 4D-chess plot be solely just to set up an previously unheard of villain who is lurking behind the scenes (a role the Jailer himself played for multiple expansions) does an insult to what could have be a fascinating villain.
However, the Jailer's purpose appears to be nothing more than the beginning of an even more formidable opponent cheap WoTLK Gold, which makes possibility that he's intrinsically linked to major World of Warcraft -universe defining instances all the more frustrating for the fans.
