The Lore of Ulduar
by Matthew Rossi 
Jun 7th 2009 at 4:00PM
Ulduar also does a really excellent job of making you part of the lore of the place. If you leveled through the Storm Peaks, you most likely took part in the extended and rewarding quest chains that allowed you to interact with the Sons of Hodir, took part in the Hyldsmeet, and eventually raided the Halls of Lightning themselves to slay the Prime Designate himself. I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything, so suffice it to say that if you played through all of that content, you are directly responsible not only for the presence of one of the watchers within Ulduar itself, but for the potential upcoming end of the world. I find that to be rather motivating for going into the place, and they did a really excellent job of tying it all together.
The recent release of the Bosstiary also struck me as a good way to tie in some lore that players might otherwise miss in their frantic clicking through to the accept button on a dialog tree. I knew Razorscale was Veranus, Thorim's mount, by the presence of a certain gun on her loot table, but reading about what Loken did to the poor drake makes killing her somewhat bittersweet for me: on the one hand, it's probably best to put her out of her misery and get me a nice tanking gun, but since again I'm directly responsible for her being there in the first place I feel a sort of Old Yeller'ish duty to put her down.
While I'm generally very impressed by how Blizzard handled the lore of Ulduar and tied it into various instances and zones throughout the old world of Azeroth and certain Northrend zones (Yogg-Saron's presence is felt throughout the continent, from Icecrown to Grizzly Hills to Dragonblight to the Storm Peaks his insidious whipers and machinations threaten) I do find it somewhat jarring to go from raiding a big Scourge necropolis and killing off the number two undead in Azeroth to raiding a Titan citadel up in the Storm Peaks.
I realize that back when I was in BWL shifting gears to raid AQ and then old Naxx was even less connected lore wise, but to some degree I was spoiled by the progression from SSC/TK to Hyjal and Black Temple and finally even Sunwell in BC. Now, I don't miss the attunement processes that forced you to run Kara, Gruul and Mags if you wanted to raid SSC and TK, then forced you to kill Kael'thas and Vashj to go to Hyjal, where you would get the key to go to BT, but I did enjoy the lore reasoning of having to kill each of Illidan's lieutenants to retrieve the waters of the very Well of Eternity itself, just so I could time travel back to get an impossible key fragment for Black Temple. I don't understand why when I killed Malygos, an Aspect empowered by Norgannon himself, he doesn't drop some kind of magical device warning that there's trouble afoot in Ulduar. It doesn't have to be an attunement or a key, simply a quest item that sends you up there to check up on the place.
I mean, we have the key to the focusing iris dropping from Sapph, which gives us a tenuous lore reason to go raid Malygos after we get done in Naxx, all I'm saying is it would be nice if Maly similarly pointed us at the next step so it doesn't feel like we're just careening around the world killing whatever drops the nicest purples. Yes, that is why I'm actually going there, I admit it. Still, with the work Blizzard has put in tying Ulduar into the lore of the game, this is a minor quibble at best. If anything, Naxx feels more like a distraction now, with the fact that its swarming with Scourge the only real reason to go there lore wise, while Ulduar is where all the lore is popping. To some degree it almost feels like Yoggy and Algalon have made Arthas an orphan in his own expansion.
We have one more raid before we finally get to see Arthas roar back as the big bad of this expansion. Hopefully after the Coliseum we'll get to see Icecrown Citadel debut with lore this developed and interconnected. Maybe it can even do the job of making Naxx and Ulduar feel like logical stops on the way to the end.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Instances, Raiding, Bosses
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Raulnor Jun 7th 2009 4:13PM
Good job Matt! I didn't really notice all the little nods to past lore.....now that you mention it, I can see how the design team did a really good job of tying everything together.
Balthezor Jun 7th 2009 4:22PM
Those aren't mermaid's by the classical "our Earth" sense. They seem to be NagaHuman's. An uncharted breed seeing as how they have Nagabottoms (omg that word rocks) and Human or Vykrul tops.
Notice it now?
Balthezor Jun 7th 2009 4:23PM
Possibly a nod at what's to come in the next xpac?
Knob Jun 7th 2009 4:26PM
More likely a nod to the naga being created by the Old Gods' influence.
Khalis Jun 7th 2009 5:40PM
The Nage weren't made by the titans. They were High Elves that were mutated by a curse of an Old God at the request of Queen Azshara.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Naga
Styvorama Jun 8th 2009 6:02PM
I was going to say basically that Khalis. I'm pretty sure that "mermaid" is Queen Azshara, a naga.
Ref: http://www.wowwiki.com/Queen_Azshara
Knob Jun 7th 2009 4:25PM
The Iron Dwarves part was really messed up though. You come across them as being some sort of rogue army created by Loken to overthrow the Titans' defenses while he's serving Yogg-Saron, but it doesn't really go anywhere in the instance. What was the deal with the giants being enslaved by the Iron Dwarves in the Howling Fjord and then being sent in the direction of Ulduar? What was the Assembly of Iron's purpose? The Bosstiary says that they are the 3 generals of the 3 races comprising the Iron Army, but they stand in such an obscure place in the instance itself.
Combine that with the fact that all Iron Army defenses in the Descent into Madness have been killed and replaced with Twilight mobs. Who let the Twilight Cultists into the instance? How did they know about it? How did they overcome the defenses of the instance? And why did Yogg-Saron allow them to kill the Iron Defenses which were apparently created for his benefit by Loken? Why not allow the Twilight guys to work together with the Iron Army?
Overall, the zone is good and it ties in quite a bit of the lore but there're still some blanks which I'm afraid will remain blank.
Matthew Rossi Jun 7th 2009 4:42PM
See, I'm not entirely sure that Loken was fully controlled by Yogg. Because if he was, why would he deliberately set up a confrontation that ended in his death and the impending reformatting of Azeroth by Algalon?
My theory is that Yoggy can influence powerful titan/titan servants (I'm still not sure if the Watchers of Ulduar are intended to be considered Titans the same way that Golganneth, Norgannon, etc etc are) but he can't make them totally act out of character so much as he can emphasize/exaggerate their natures. So Mimiron becomes more interested in his gadgets than in lives, Thorim seeks sport through combat and forgets his duty (subtly aided by the 'Sif' entity created by Yogg), Freya becomes an avatar of nature's impartial cruelty and Hodir is lost in delusions of the rampaging strength of winter. We go in and slap them around, but Loken was too far gone for that.
So he sets up the Iron Dwarf army for Yoggy but he also sets us up to kill him, thus reformatting Azeroth and *once and for all killing Yogg-Saron*. The Titans couldn't kill the old gods without destroying the world, remember: since they're going to destroy the world anyway, it's a safe bet that they'll take the time to kill the old gods this time instead of letting them continue to interfere with the development of their experiment.
After Loken dies, Yogg's in a race against time to get out of Ulduar before Algalon arrives to sterilize the planet. If he can get out and enslave the mortal races, he'll have a power base from which to fight Algalon off and fortify Azeroth to stand against the Titans when they come to personally whup his butt. So he needs the Iron Army, but he doesn't *trust* it, since it (and Loken) are creations of the Titans and might regain their loyalties if pressed. He intends to use them as fodder in his war of conquest, and then discard them before it's too late. Hence his sticking them in front of the Archivum: he needs it guarded, but at the same time it's a relatively minor concern for him.
Likewise, Yogg himself is the one who lets the Twilights into Ulduar, much as C'thun made use of them in Silithus. They're insane cultists who worship the old gods via their elemental lieutenants, perfect minions because there's zero chance they'll betray him and side with the titans.
This is all speculation on my part, mind you.
Hellscreamy Jun 7th 2009 5:08PM
Yes, the Twilight Cultists are known for worshiping the Old Gods even when they have died long ago (See the Master's Glaive in Darkshore). They are blind zealots who are obsessed with the end of the world. They will do anything to see the world explode and would happily aid C'thun, Yogg-Saron or the other Old Gods. Maybe there are some Iron Dwarves who see the madness in Loken's plans and want to stop him from destroying their planet. The Earthen in Uldaman did everything to stop you from entering, but their are also Earthen who have allied with Brann Bronzebeard. What if the same would work for the Iron Dwarves, where they will aid you in stopping any threat that may destroy Azeroth?
joerendous Jun 7th 2009 5:14PM
Mr Rossi, I love your mind.
Cyanea Jun 7th 2009 4:41PM
I always thought of all of these events happening at roughly the same time. We come back to Dalaran after toppling Naxxramas and have barely had enough time for a celebratory drink when Brann emerges from Ulduar and the world needs saving again.
From an RP standpoint, I think the war against the Scourge has ground to a halt while the Alliance and Horde forces continue to mobilize. The Alliance/Horde armies are stuck behind Angrathar with little more than an advance force of each faction inside struggling to maintain a spearhead. Meanwhile, we've toppled the Scourge's main forward-operating area when we killed KT.
Clevins Jun 7th 2009 5:17PM
Yeah, I've really liked the Storm Peaks storylines. However I agree that Arthas kind of feels like a sideshow. I mean... Old God, destruction of the world vs some undead guy. Sorry, but Arthas isn't the biggest of those 2 threats. As far as we know now...
Wulfkin Jun 7th 2009 5:29PM
Less explodey-end-of-the-world doesnt have to mean less epic. If Arthas isn't stopped it will mean the end of Azeroth, just in a more drawn-out nightmarish way than a Titan pressing a big red button. I often prefer the more personal touch than the unstoppable nightmare approach.
For example, the 3rd season of Buffy was always my favourite, although it was one of the few series that didnt involve saving the entire world in a dramatic fashion. Instead it involved stopping a (very well developed) villain becoming a daemon, and slayer-turned-evil. That personal form of evil, which Artha/Lich King seriously commands, feels more epic to me.
Cyrus Jun 8th 2009 12:54PM
"Arthas kind of feels like a sideshow. I mean... Old God, destruction of the world vs some undead guy. Sorry, but Arthas isn't the biggest of those 2 threats. As far as we know now..."
If Algolon isn't beaten, Azeroth would be almost literally nuked, reduced to a smoking cinder by the Titans. (Or so I surmise, based only on what I read; I haven't watched any videos of the fight, let alone encountered him in a raid myself.) If Yogg-Saron is freed, faceless ones and their ilk would methodically slaughter all intelligent life while the god himself drives them to suicidal insanity, and then elementals would have free rein on the planet, which would make the planet inhospitable to life anyway. So the process would be different from that caused by Algolon, but the result would be the same from the perspective of anyone now living on Azeroth, just a little bit slower.
If the Lich King wins, like Yogg'Saron, his armies would sweep over the world, also methodically slaughtering all life in his way. However, while both of their arsenals include tactics that insidiously destroy their enemies from within - in Yogg's case, insanity; in Arthas' case, disease - only one of them also converts their victims to their side. (As far as I know, but even if not, at least Yogg'Saron's victims wouldn't become a threat to the living.) A victim of Arthas usually gets reanimated and remains conscious of his past life, even while completely in thrall to Arthas. That would be torturous, both for the victim and for anyone who knew them while living and now has to face them as undead. And that might never end. If Arthas succeeded at wiping out every last bit of (multicellular) life on Azeroth, he might drop his control of the zombies and call it a job well done (until a billion years or so go by and multicellular life evolves again), but then again he might set his sights on other worlds out there or on the Legion or just keep the Scourge around to lord over and sate his own ego.
And as for their respective chances of success, it's hard to gauge, and Arthas might well come out ahead. The Lich King started out with less power than Yogg, but the Lich King's power has grown, maybe even by stealing from Yogg himself, while Yogg has remained unchanged at best and is starting out from inside a prison that's still only partially compromised.
tl'dr version: I have no problem with saying that the Lich King is the ultimate villain of WotLK, and is more scary than Yogg'Saron.
Wulfkin Jun 7th 2009 5:25PM
Nice article. It is certainly one of the most gratifying things about the instance that it ties into so much established lore. Blizzard had been cooking this stuff up for a good long while. One day after a full clear I plan to go on a wander through the halls and try and analyse the meanings in the various artwork, including the mermaid!
I agree with Cyanea that I dont think the progression jars too much. We're here in Northrend principally to make war on the Scourge, but have been embroiled in these other conflicts as a result. Also I think Ulduar is going to be somewhat relevant, if we take the conspiracy theories about the Lich King usurping Yogg-Saron as the god of death.
I would fully expect that Icecrown Citadel will be as steeped in lore. Afterall, theres been Lich King lore going on since WC3 as well as a lot of significant stuff in vanilla WoW, so they have plenty to draw on.
TheChao Jun 7th 2009 5:51PM
In the past, a lot of instances felt like an awkward break from the flow of quests and lore.
One minute, you're killing yetis for precious furs, and the next youre killing ogres, demons and treants, for no other reason than the fact that they're there and someone asked you to.
Probably the best example in the past is the whole Defias quest lines in westfall, deadmines, stormwind and stockades.
When you're doing a quest line like the Sons of Hodir, it definitely feels epic learning about a titan, and experiencing his entire character arc without too much of a break in the story. So many quest lines in Wrath work so well because they culminate into such a fantastic ending. They just happen to be in an instance or a raid, which means they can be much more involved than activities in the overworld.
TheChao Jun 7th 2009 5:52PM
meant to say, "Probably the best example in the past OF A GOOD QUESTLINE is the whole Defias quest lines"
Neo Jun 7th 2009 8:49PM
The thing i don't get is why there's only 4 wings in the keeper's section of ulduar when there's 6 watchers. Tyr and Loken should have had wings unless ulduar was reshaped after the keepers fell to yogg-saron's corruption
epsilon343 Jun 7th 2009 9:30PM
Just looking over WoWWiki, it says that Loken's place is called the Terrestrial Watchtower which is a separate wing of the Ulduar complex, in the Halls of Lightning.
As for Tyr...well, there's always Uldum?
Methuus Jun 7th 2009 9:43PM
Okay, while we're all lore geeking out about Ulduar. I have some questions.
What's the point of the Sara manifestation? It's interesting, but I'm not sure I get it. Wowwiki says Sara is a vyrkul avatar of Yogg-saron. But why is Yogg's vyrkul avatar stuck there? Why does she say creepy things? Why does she cast spells with a good and bad component on the party during phase 1 of the fight? Again, it's cool, but I don't get it.
And when you first engage Yogg, the Sara avatar says "The time to strike at the head of the beast will soon be upon us! Focus your anger and hatred on his minions!" Is Yogg talking to us and referring to him/her/itself as the "head of the beast"? Is Yogg talking to the faceless ones (meaning we're the "minions"), but then who's the "head of the beast"?
Just bugging me a bit. I guess I should ask on the official forums too.