World of Warcraft 'The War Within' story overview: What players need to know (2024)

Soon, players will embark on another journey to save the world of Azeroth from evil forces in World of Warcraft's tenth expansion, World of Warcraft: The War Within. In this upoming PC title, a new mysterious villain called Xal'atath the Harbinger, is planning to lay waste to Azeroth, and an otherworldly ‘Radiant Song’ is calling its greatest champions to venture forth in the depths of the world.

If you’re a new player jumping into World of Warcraft for the first time or a veteran that’s returning after a long break, you’re probably wondering how we got to this point. Well, have no fear, for we have prepared a recap of the major relevant events leading up to World of Warcraft: The War Within to help you learn what you’re fighting for and understand what’s going on so you can get invested in the story.

World of Warcraft The War Within: General premise

The World of Warcraft takes on Azeroth, a fantasy world that’s been ravaged by decades of war between two major factions, the Horde and the Alliance. Although there have been times when Horde and Alliance have put aside their hatreds to battle common enemies like undead armies of the Lich King, the world-ruining dragon Deathwing, and the infernal Burning Legion led by the dark Titan Sargeras to name a few.

Sargeras is particularly noteworthy as he sought to destroy Azeroth as he believed that its Worldsoul (essentially the soul of a planet that has the potential to be reborn into a god-like entity called a Titan) would spell doom for the entire universe if the Old Gods and their Void Lord masters corrupted it. The Old Gods are a group of disgusting eldritch horrors created by Sargeras’ afforementioned arch-enemies, the Void Lords, a race of evil shadow gods bent on consuming all energy in the universe.

Sargeras nearly destroyed Azeroth when he impaled the planet itself with his namesake sword at the end of World of Warcraft: Legion but was ultimately foiled by the players with help from the fan-favorite Warcraft character, Illidan Stormrage.

Many years later came the tumultuous events of World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, which saw the Horde and Alliance team up yet again to save the world and the afterlife from the villainous Jailor. Once that crisis was averted, the Horde and Alliance realized their war had gone on for too long and agreed on a proper truce so they could focus on healing their lands.

During this peacetime, an otherworldly phenomenon called the ‘Radiant Song’ is occurring throughout Azeroth, subjecting certain individuals to cryptic visions and an unfamiliar voice compelling them to travel to the heart of the world. Famous Warcraft heroes like Thrall, Anduin, and more have heard the Radiant Song and are organizing an expedition comprised of Azeroth’s greatest champions (that's you) to venture into the depths of Azeroth to find the cause of this Radiant Song.

However, our heroes’ investigation of the Radiant Song has been complicated by the re-appearance of a recent threat named Xal'atath, who has now taken up the monicker "The Harbinger." This enigmatic villainess plans to bring ruin to Azeroth by gathering an army of cavern-dwelling, spider-like monsters called Nerubians to invade the surface while she works on her own schemes in the shadows. So, not only will our heroes be tasked with uncovering the origins of the Radiant Song, but they will also need to unravel Xal'atath's plans and put a stop to the swelling Nerubian invasion.

World of Warcraft The War Within: Who is Xal'atath the Harbinger?

Much of Xal'atath’s motivations and what she even is, is shrouded in mystery. What we do know is that she is an ancient creature related to the Void, a primordial extra-terrestrial force ruled by the Void Lords, associated with the depths of space.

Long ago, Xal'atath’s essence was sealed away by unknown beings inside a cursed blade called Xal'atath: Blade of the Black Empire, which players could acquire during the Shadow Priest Legion Artifact questline in World of Warcraft: Legion. Xal'atath could talk to the player wielding the knife, and rapidly became a fan-favorite artifact, which potentially lead to an expanded role in the wider story.

Then during World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth, Xal'atath managed to free herself from the blade by making a deal with the Old God N’Zoth, who players vanquish at the end of the Battle for Azeroth expansion. Although, many are wondering if N'Zoth is truly dead ... given its penchant for manipulating Azeroth's powers across history.

Once the deal was complete and she was no longer bound to her namesake blade, Xal’atath possessed the dead body of a high elf girl named Inasis and abandoned the player to their fate. Fortunately, the player managed to break out of the trap and ultimately destroy N’Zoth.

Xal'atath's ultimate goals are unclear as of writing. Aside from gathering an army of bloodthirsty Nerubians, we know that Xal'atath’s schemes rely on an ancient artifact in her possession called the Dark Heart. She acquired this relic from the powerful elemental proto-dragon Iridikron, one of the central antagonists of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

The Dark Heart is just as mysterious as Xal'atath, but we do know that it has the power to convert magic into shadow energy and that it possesses the essence of Galakrond. Galakrond was a humongous proto-dragon that threatened to consume all life on Azeroth, but was destroyed by the dragon Aspects eons ago.Galakrond is something of a legend in Warcraft lore, whose gigantic skeleton can be found by players half-excavated in Northrend. The Scourge was attempting to resurrect Galakrond as an unimaginably powerful undead frostwyrm, but this proved too much even for the powers of the Scourge to pull off.

Thoroughly dead in Azeroth, Iridikron teamed up with the time travelling Infinite Dragonflight to travel to corpse of Galakrond, and siphon his soul as it was leaving this mortal coil. Galakrond's insatiable, all-devouring essence has been implanted into the Dark Heart by Iridikron as part of a deal he made with Xal'atath. Iridikron despises the ancient gods called the Titans, who he views as alien invaders that corrupted Azeroth and its denizens. The Titans are responsible for shaping and "ordering" Azeroth in its primordial era, and stand in direct philosophical opposition to the entropic and chaotic forces of the Void.

Much of the cosmic battles at a macroscopic level are over Azeroth's Worldsoul. Azeroth is a uniquely powerful planet, owing to its size and abundant spirit energy. Azeroth consumed this energy and became the most powerful known Worldsoul in the universe, which is why cosmic forces like the Titans, Void Lords, and the former Burning Legion were all intent on acquiring it for their own ends. The Burning Legion (largely destroyed during the Legion expansion) were largely successful in creating a corrupted Worldsoul Titan in the form of Argus, which players destroyed. As of writing, there's no known successful instance of the Void corrupting and enlisting a Worldsoul. But that is exactly what we may be trying to prevent in this expansion.

Chapter 3: What is the Radiant Song?

Like Xal'atath and the Dark Heart, the Radiant Song is an enigma that is yet to be solved, however, we do have some clues as to what its nature could be. According to several Warcraft characters like Thrall, Jaina Proudmore, Anduin, and Magni Bronzebeard, the visions from the Radiant Song feel like a dire warning, as if Azeroth’s Worldsoul itself is crying out for help.

This interpretation of the Radiant Song being a cry for help is further hinted at by the Locus Walker, a Void-Ethereal who first appeared in World of Warcraft: Legion.

During the Dark Heart Patch questline, where the player accompanied high elf huntress Alleria Windrunner into investigating the Dark Heart and Xal'atath, the Locus Walker explains that his homeworld experienced a phenomenon similar to the Radiant Song. Sadly, his people were too late to decipher its meaning as the Locus Walker’s world was shortly destroyed by a Void Lord named Dimensius, who originally appeared almost two decades ago in The Burning Legion expansion. Dimensius was something of a smaller character back then, but has been given a much bigger role as a result of this questline.

The Locus Walker believes a similar catastrophe is about to happen again in Azeroth and that Xal'atath will most likely be the cause of it.

Will you answer the call of the Radiant Song and stop Xal'atath from destroying Azeroth?

As you can see, World of Warcraft: The War Within's story will have a lot of mysteries for players to uncover as they fight through Xal'atath’s army of Nerubians. Personally speaking, I predict that a new or returning Old God is trapped somewhere inside the caverns of Khaz Algar, and that Xal'atath is planning to use the Dark Heart as part of a ritual to free it from imprisonment and unleash the essence of Galakrond's hunger upon the world.

I believe that Azeroth’s Worldsoul may have sensed Xal'atath’s intentions to free the Old God, and is now calling out to Azeroth’s champions through the Radiant Song to stop Xal'atath before it's too late. In addition, this would explain why Sargeras attempted to destroy Azeroth with his sword as he may have sensed the dark presence of an Old God dangerously close to Azeroth's Worldsoul within.

However, it is very likely that Xal'atath could be an entirely different being of the Void altogether and is merely using the Void Lords’ power to achieve her own ambitions. She didn’t seem keen on helping N’Zoth (a monster created by the Void Lords) finish off the players back in Battle for Azeroth. There are also a variety of villainous, Voidy characters out there that could make a return. Where is Queen Azshara? What is Iridikron up to? Could we even see a return of Sire Denathrius and his Dreadlords?

There are many other questions that need answering too: Will Galakrond’s essence within the Dark Heart play a role in Xal'atath’s plans or perhaps be revived in a new body? Is the Radiant Song indeed a sign of Azeroth calling for help? What exactly is Xal'atath and what sealed her away in that blade eons ago? What is Xal'atath’s ultimate end goal? And what exactly was Sargeras aiming for when he impaled Azeroth?

Join the great expedition to Azeroth’s depths and find the answers to these burning questions when World of Warcraft: The War Within, the tenth expansion for one of Blizzard Entertainment’s best PC games, launches on August 26, 2024 for PC.