World of Warcraft: Forever is the hottest title in Blizzard's catalogue, so of course we're diving in to some of the lore of Forever in this first post-BlizzCon episode. We start with a question on the war between the Alliance and the Horde, which makes for a great excuse to recap a lot of the conflict through the whole Warcraft series. From the moment the Dark Portal opened, Orcs and Humans have had conflict -- but is that conflict truly inescapable? But that's just the start of the rabbit hole. There's Trolls and Night Elves and Stranglethorn Vale and the Forsaken, and all of them have their part to play in the lore that makes up the rich world we'll be encountering again for the first time in Forever.

Then, the loremasters address the whole elf-shaped elephant in the room thing. Are the Skyborne being added really less farfetched than just plunking down Blood Elves or High Elves or whatever and calling it good? Is there even a good justification for these guys? Joe, Matt, and Eric run down the lore bedrock behind the new race.

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

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With the new Lanterns show, Joe and Matt wanted to discuss the lore of The Green Lantern, though without spoiling the plot of the new show. They start off discussing the comic in its place in comics history and its parallels to the Flash. The core of the conversation discusses Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, and John Stewart, three of the more iconic Lanterns. The show centers on Hal and John, who have a mentor and protégé relationship, but in the continuity, Guy fell between the two. Matt and Joe discuss the inspiration for each of them, and what each represents to the continuity as a character.

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Lore Watch this week is all about what might be next for World of Warcraft which is quite apropos since we're waiting on BlizzCon. First is the predictions for what we might see in The Last Titan and beyond. The Arathi and Avaloren is one possibility, and Matt, Joe, and Eric explore how that could come to pass, either as a tentpole for the next expansion, or just a part of a patch. The Arathi makes a lot of sense, when we already know we'll see so many nostalgic beats in The Last Titan.

Then we move on to the cosmology and the Titans. We've seen various circles from the cosmology chart from Chronicle represented by specific Titans -- Eonar and Nature, for instance, or Aman'thul and Order. One thing we haven't seen, though, is a Titan of the Void, or Disorder as per the Chronicle chart. What would a Titan like that look like, and how would it oppose the current Pantheon?

Of course, because this is Lore Watch, one of these two responses invokes the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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This week's Lore Watch kicks off with a question based on a datamined spoiler which will be revealed as we come to toward the end of patch 12.1, as we finally uncover the goal Xal'atath has been working toward since before she was besties with a nameless Shadow Priest (Mitch). As usual, her now-revealed motivations may have a knock-on effect on certain aspects of both far-ranging lore and small details of our characters' daily lives. If, of course, that datamined info comes to pass.

Then we go to Magister's Terrace and the Lycaneum, which we've noticed is packed with all kinds of bookish clutter. This includes stuff that represents travel, like ships, but also a few artifacts you might not expect for a Blood Elf location, even if they are global scholars, like statuettes of Moonkin. Is this just set dressing, or is there something more significant these props are meant to signify? Or, one step further, are they foreshadowing a return to something Moonkin-y, like Elune?

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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Anduin Wrynn's kingship — and distinct lack thereof — is the first topic this week on the Lore Watch Podcast. He's been off either having adventures or healing from those adventures for nearly his entire reign, so what could happen for Anduin to truly embrace his throne as a ruler? Joe, Matt, and Eric run down the series of events that led him here, and conjecture about his future.

Then, we talk Gnomes and their inventions. Gnomish inventions tend to run the gamut from great to accidentally explodey. Even human inventions run on a bit of a sliding scale, from earth-shattering ones like the wheel to the mediocre, like the pet rock. What should the next gnomish invention be, and what could spur that inventor to create it?

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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The very forces that underpin the World of Warcraft universe itself are the topic of this week's Lore Watch Podcast. We're all familiar with mana, from the earliest days of playing the first Mage that got absolutely destroyed by troggs outside Anvilmar. Anima is its newer, redder... cousin? How do these two things interact with each other? Are they related? Joe, Eric, and Matt take a deep dive across the leylines and into the anima pools, discussing not only the nuts and bolts of the Azeroth versions, but also the real-world inspiration for these concepts.

They also take a stab at some of the other forces in Azeroth we've come into contact with, like the Chi used by Monks. Or, maybe more like a staff than a stab.

If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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Doom's gore-fueled Hell was one of those games Tipper Gore woke up in cold sweats dreaming about in the 90s when they were all about censoring things for the good of the children. The story of Doom was initially a bit light on the ground (of Mars), being mostly just a vehicle for good ol fashioned wanton violence. But there have been so many entries in the series that now that Doom has several different alternate timelines worth of story. Joe and Matt rip and tear their way through the lore of Doom, from the early days through the Dark Ages and beyond.

Oh, and Isabelle from Animal Crossing and Doomguy are married. It's canon now. I don't make the rules.

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Lore Watch Podcast starts off with a dive into the lore of the Midsummer Fire Festival, particularly since so much was added over the past few years. How has this little event about a melting ice stone grown to reflect the culture of fire and summer in the different races?

Then, we go back to the Shadowlands for the rest of the podcast. We start with actually getting there. If we were the only Maw Walker, why is there a whole portal in our capital cities for any rando to traipse into Oribos? As long as we're in Oribos, let's chat First Ones. What do we know about them, exactly? How has the lore we know about them changed what we used to think we know about Azeroth?

We wrap it up by touching a figurative third rail: what would it take to make it feel like Sylvanas coming back was earned, and not a "somehow, Palapatine returned" cop out?

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Looking back and knowing what we do about Harandar and the deep roots of the World Trees, do we owe Fandral an apology in hindsight? Matt and Joe have a lot of lore to back up their answer, which is like 20 minutes worth of "lol, no." A stopped clock may be right twice a day, but it's still broken, and Fandral Staghelm didn't just ask us humbly for Morrowgrain. All bets are off when you try to re-summon Ragnaros.

But starting off the show is a discussion on Vol'jin and his family, and why we don't really see them in the game. We don't have a ton of Darkspear characters, and that difference is pretty stark in an expansion packed with Amani. So, why might Blizzard not be making Vol'jin's family front and center when they're some of the few other representatives of the canon baseline Trolls?

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In World of Warcraft, we've come across several shattered worlds, in varying degrees of obliteration. From Outland to K'aresh, these worlds have been corrupted with various forces, were shredded into near-oblivion, and some looked as though they may have some kind of shot at redemption against all odds.

But what about their world souls? How does each world soul relate to the creation of these worlds by the Titans? And how worried should we therefore be about the fate that may await Azeroth? This one gets pretty deep into the weeds of tinfoil hat theorizing, pulling elements from several different expansions for reference.

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