Know Your Lore: The Green Dragonflight Page 2

The War of the Shifting Sands came as a surprise to the green dragons, but they still signed up to fight in it. It's important to remember that, while the war is a thousand years past (and thus fairly remote to, say, humans) to the nearly immortal night elves and green dragons who exist in the timeless Emerald Dream and as such rarely age, it's barely over. The green dragonflight sent Merithra of the Dream to help in the battle against C'thun and his minions. Sadly for the green dragons, Ysera's daughter was forced to lead a charge alongside Arygos of the Blue Flight and Caelestrasz of the Red, giving the bronze dragons and night elves time to seal the Ahn'Qiraj inside their own city complex at the cost of being trapped within forever themselves. After this, when Fandral Staghelm shattered the scepter entrusted to him by Anachronos, a fragment of it was entrusted to Eranikus himself.
It's known that Eranikus and his brother Itharius were entrusted by Ysera to deal with the corruption of the troll god Hakkar the Soulflayer and prevent him from escaping the Sunken Temple created when Ysera smashed the Atali and their temple below the waters in the Swamp of Sorrows. What is at present unknown is the connections between various vile forces: is Hakkar an old god, an agent of one, or otherwise related to them? How does he relate to the Nightmare? Somehow, while Eranikus managed to destroy the god's physical form, he was corrupted and his dreaming shade imprisoned within the temple, to be later found by adventurers and destroyed, freeing his chained essence. (To step out of lore mode for a moment, the fact that the quest line just stops dead in Winterspring is annoying to me personally.) Later, a vision of Malfurion Stormrage himself reveals that Eranikus' corruption is tied to that of the Nightmare, which means... what? How does this relate to Hakkar? We can speculate, of course (given recent events in lore - I am now linking to two spoiler heavy reviews of the new book Stormrage so if you click these links it's your own fault, I warned you) but in the end we keep getting hints that lead to figures that then hint at deeper evils offstage.
Whatever the Green Dragonflight is facing in the Dream, it's powerful, malevolent and can warp even the strongest members of Ysera's brood (the aforementioned Dragons of Nightmare and even Eranikus himself): it's understandable that with an enemy like that or old gods trapping members of the flight in Ahn'Qiraj, the greens didn't pay too much attention to the events of the First and Second Wars. What interests me (and what I've never really seen answered anywhere) is this: do orcs and draenei in Azeroth go to the Emerald Dream when they dream? Are they somehow 'outside' the green dragon's jurisdiction or in coming to Azeroth have they made themselves part of the spiritual blueprint of Azeroth even though they were never intended to be a part of it? Certainly the green dragons haven't expressed an opinion on this.
We know that Ysera was restored to her full power following the destruction of the Demon Soul in the great battle with Deathwing outside Grim Batol, when she finally listened to the entreaties of Korialstrasz, the consort of her sister Alexstrasza. (Just as is the case with Malygos, it's unclear if they actually are siblings or just call themselves that.) It's also the case that there was little to no reaction during the Legion's invasion of Mount Hyjal during the Third War, even though the druids themselves responded and Malfurion chose to yet again blow up something hugely magical to stop them.
In the aftermath of the world tree's destruction Ysera refused to bless the replacement planned by Frandal Staghelm, perhaps due to his disrespect during the War of the Shifting Sands, a general desire to avoid giving the night elves another giant magical thing to blow up, or even possibly related to the ultimate fate of Vordrassil in Northrend (since Ysera and her brood were aware of events there due to their role protecting the Great Tree to the Emerald Dream in Crystalsong Forest).
At present, while Ysera appears to sleep in the Emerald Dragonshrine in Northrend, but her flight is far from resting. Between battling the corruption of the Nightmare, being kidnapped and tortured by the Scourge, dealing with Blue Dragonflight forces that recently laid siege to Wyrmrest Temple or guarding various sites of importance to the Dream (such as the aforementioned Great Trees) they're a remarkably active bunch of sleepers.
It's known that Eranikus and his brother Itharius were entrusted by Ysera to deal with the corruption of the troll god Hakkar the Soulflayer and prevent him from escaping the Sunken Temple created when Ysera smashed the Atali and their temple below the waters in the Swamp of Sorrows. What is at present unknown is the connections between various vile forces: is Hakkar an old god, an agent of one, or otherwise related to them? How does he relate to the Nightmare? Somehow, while Eranikus managed to destroy the god's physical form, he was corrupted and his dreaming shade imprisoned within the temple, to be later found by adventurers and destroyed, freeing his chained essence. (To step out of lore mode for a moment, the fact that the quest line just stops dead in Winterspring is annoying to me personally.) Later, a vision of Malfurion Stormrage himself reveals that Eranikus' corruption is tied to that of the Nightmare, which means... what? How does this relate to Hakkar? We can speculate, of course (given recent events in lore - I am now linking to two spoiler heavy reviews of the new book Stormrage so if you click these links it's your own fault, I warned you) but in the end we keep getting hints that lead to figures that then hint at deeper evils offstage.
Whatever the Green Dragonflight is facing in the Dream, it's powerful, malevolent and can warp even the strongest members of Ysera's brood (the aforementioned Dragons of Nightmare and even Eranikus himself): it's understandable that with an enemy like that or old gods trapping members of the flight in Ahn'Qiraj, the greens didn't pay too much attention to the events of the First and Second Wars. What interests me (and what I've never really seen answered anywhere) is this: do orcs and draenei in Azeroth go to the Emerald Dream when they dream? Are they somehow 'outside' the green dragon's jurisdiction or in coming to Azeroth have they made themselves part of the spiritual blueprint of Azeroth even though they were never intended to be a part of it? Certainly the green dragons haven't expressed an opinion on this.
We know that Ysera was restored to her full power following the destruction of the Demon Soul in the great battle with Deathwing outside Grim Batol, when she finally listened to the entreaties of Korialstrasz, the consort of her sister Alexstrasza. (Just as is the case with Malygos, it's unclear if they actually are siblings or just call themselves that.) It's also the case that there was little to no reaction during the Legion's invasion of Mount Hyjal during the Third War, even though the druids themselves responded and Malfurion chose to yet again blow up something hugely magical to stop them.
In the aftermath of the world tree's destruction Ysera refused to bless the replacement planned by Frandal Staghelm, perhaps due to his disrespect during the War of the Shifting Sands, a general desire to avoid giving the night elves another giant magical thing to blow up, or even possibly related to the ultimate fate of Vordrassil in Northrend (since Ysera and her brood were aware of events there due to their role protecting the Great Tree to the Emerald Dream in Crystalsong Forest).
At present, while Ysera appears to sleep in the Emerald Dragonshrine in Northrend, but her flight is far from resting. Between battling the corruption of the Nightmare, being kidnapped and tortured by the Scourge, dealing with Blue Dragonflight forces that recently laid siege to Wyrmrest Temple or guarding various sites of importance to the Dream (such as the aforementioned Great Trees) they're a remarkably active bunch of sleepers.
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
jasonkidd1234 Mar 10th 2010 4:24PM
Speaking of which, I wonder if the Night Elves might be more "explosive" than the gnomes or goblins. Sure the Gnomes and goblins make some small explosions, but the Night Elves made some big ones.
Shizukera Mar 10th 2010 4:34PM
Son of a motherless murloc. It ate my comment. D:
But yeah, like I was trying to say before I was so rudely swallowed into the depths of the internuts: "Har har the night elves blew up the world AGAIN durpdurp" got old a long time ago. Joke is not funny, sorry to say.
The Well of Eternity was blown up because there was no other way to get rid of it, and the night elves nearly went extinct. The World Tree was blown up because there was no other way to get rid of Archimonde, and the night elves lost their immortality. That's not stupidity, it's sacrifice.
:-/
Artificial Mar 10th 2010 4:50PM
"WTB sense of humor" :p
Celess Mar 11th 2010 3:12AM
@Shizukera
"The World Tree was blown up because there was no other way to get rid of Archimonde"
The Draenei seemed to manage pretty well hopping worlds from Argus.
The Blood Elves and the other races seemed to cope with Kil'Jaeden coming through the Sunwell... No world shattering kabooms in either of those.
The point is, the Night Elves, arrogant as they are, seem to have this nonchalant approach to solutions which end up screwing the rest of the world over.
"We're guarding the Well of Eternity, let's summon demons, then blow the world up!"
"We're guarding the Well of Eternity... again... let's summon demons... again... then blow the world up! ...again"
"Whew, that was a close fought war. I lost my son and I'm going to turn into an unabiding douche now for the rest of eternity *snaps Sceptre of the Shifting Sands over his knee*"
"Hmm, I'm sure 10,000 years of solitude being locked away in a dark cell can only have reformed Illidan. Let's set him free and see how he's coping."
But their best one?
"Well, the worlds screwed, sod it, you can all fix it, goodnight! Zzzzzz..."
galestrom Mar 10th 2010 3:54PM
I'd just like to give mad props for the awesome vocabulary used in this article. I found myself referring to dictionary.com at least three times reading it.
Sapient, Palimpsest, Malefic. Totally awesome. Thanks for expanding my own vocabulary, ye sages of prolific word usage. =)
Malenx Mar 10th 2010 4:02PM
The emerald dream is us wow players irl.
When the emerald dream expansion comes out, we'll all be able to teleport into the dream world and start doing mindless trivial things like pushing paperwork, approving tps reports, unjamming printers.
Man that expansion's gonna rock!
Edge Mar 10th 2010 6:04PM
OMG I just figured it all out!!! The very last expansion of the emerald dream is actually going to be YOUR real life. Not your avatar playing your life on your computer, but you physically just living day to day. So they have not only figured out a way to truly make this game never ending, but they also figured out how to make you pay for living your own life (maybe they'll throw in some LARP world events or something so that people don't catch wind of what they are really doing).
Farproc Mar 10th 2010 4:20PM
Two questions:
1. Did the Titans create the emerald dream then? My theory is that the emerald dream is some kind of Titan backup system / "holodeck" version of Azeroth.
2. Whats the deal with the emerald dream reaching to the Arokkoa of Outland? I mean, when chasing up the Anzu quest line to get epic flight form, it seemed full of emerald dream references - Anzu is summoned out the dream - Into Auchindoun of all places?
Astetic Mar 10th 2010 4:20PM
this article is accurate to the present of WoW time, but I believe it incomplete due to it's lacking serious information from the Stormrage book,
also, orcs and draenei can indeed go into the emerald dream, it's in the stormrage book, read it, then edit the article to include all the important emerald dream things.
STOP READING THIS NOW IF YOU HATE MINOR SPOILERS
you failed to include anything relating to how between the death of arthas and next expansion, major events involving the emerald dream, teldrassil, malfurion stormrage, the red and green dragonflights, druids in general, and the whole population of azeroth occur which ultimately cause the emerald nightmare to recede into a small corner of the emerald dream
without giving more detail than that I can say the events relating to the green dragonflight are certainly important enough to be included even if they techinically haven't occured yet.
--------MAJOR SPOILER-------
for instance, Ysera does end up blessing teldrassil.
Matthew Rossi Mar 10th 2010 4:54PM
Uhm, I linked to two reviews of the novel. I'm not going to put major lore spoilers in this post for a book that hasn't been out very long.
Riari Mar 10th 2010 5:15PM
The book just came out the end of last month. It's only been three weeks since it's release. Give people some time to get it and read it.
Though I do think there should be a separate Know Your Lore for that book since it since so much happens in that book.
Possum Mar 11th 2010 1:42AM
So are the night elves immortal again or what?
Celess Mar 11th 2010 3:21AM
@Possum
As long as they can still be killed, and still make such wonderfully pathetic dying sounds, I'm happy :)
Taurvi Mar 10th 2010 4:27PM
It'd be interesting if the Emerald Dream was actually a "reorigination blueprint" for the Titans. Since it doesn't adapt to catastrophes like the blasting of the Blasted Lands, the Sundering, etc., it might be meant as the backup copy of Azeroth, as it were. Which would make the Nightmare troublesome to us mortals. Do we restore the backup and make reorigination possible, or do we leave it corrupted and risk the Titans just blowing everything up completely? Obviously this is all speculation, but it's still interesting to consider the "real" role of the Dream.
Sturmovic Mar 12th 2010 11:00AM
People have not yet asked the important question-when are we gonna be able to ride a green drake? We have the black, twilight, nether, blue/red/green so why not the damn green?
DeathPaladin Mar 10th 2010 4:38PM
Here's my understanding about the nature of the Emerald Dream.
The Dream is what Azeroth would be if the sentient races did not exist. I've never heard it described as the Dreamlands (where everyone goes when asleep), but more as a backup copy of the world created by the Titans. Which is why there is no indication that Draenor, which is not a Titan world, ever had an equivalent.
Had Algalon sent Reply Code Omega, and the Titans responded, my understanding is that Azeroth would have been overwritten by the Emerald Dream.
To use networking terminology, Azeroth is a computer, the Emerald Dream is a backup copy, Algalon is an Intrusion Detection System, and the Green Dragonflight is the backup's anti-virus software.
Unfortunately the computer is riddled with malware, the backup copy is infected with a retrovirus (which, for laypersons, is a computer virus that attacks anti-virus systems, a sort of electronic HIV/AIDS), and the administrators haven't made any other backups (plus, they stupidly put the backup on the same network).
Fletcher Mar 10th 2010 5:02PM
Loving your analogy ... but that means it's only a matter of time until Rhonin Sue becomes The One and confronts an empowered Me'dan in a battle for the fate of the Matrix! :D
busuan Mar 10th 2010 7:02PM
Draenor could well be a Titan-modified world. Titans could have had a much easier job there to set up an order, because what really complicates Azeroth is the Old Gods. On Draenor, the re-shaped world would have been as Titans' had planned, if not for Sargeras. (So as Argus, actually.)
For that said, no existing lore says Titans are the only workaholic, puritan race in the Cosmos. Heck, the Naaru are shaping up worlds too. (BTW, do they know each other, Titans and the Naaru?) So Draenor could be someone else's work.
It is actually very interesting to say Emerald Dream is where spirits go when creatures are alseep. What I want to propose further is: how about it is also the designated place (by Titans) for spirits to go when creatures DIE? Because of the concept 'Cycle of Life' in game (it's a quest!) I would strongly recommend the lore goes to this direction: Spirits go into Emerald Dream upon death but come back to Azeroth when time comes.
Certainly it's a place the Old Gods want to control so that they have the absolute monopoly of lives on Azeroth. In other words, the Greens were put into charge of when/who/how/where spirits come back into life by preventing any interference. 'Dream' is just a better word than 'death' or 'hell' since in Titans' perfect world, death would be merely a necessary phase in 'Cycle of Life'. So why not make it less dreadful by setting up a special place for spirits to go?
By studying it and living in it, the Druids would actually achieve the True immortality as Titans had intended, rather than 'living for ever' in a World Tree.
ElrithCC Mar 10th 2010 4:47PM
When the Cataclysm was first announced, I had a novel idea that perhaps in a future expansion we use the Emerald Dream to reboot Azeroth free of the destruction Blackwing wrought. It would be a lot of work again if they planned to update the graphics beyond the original game's and yet preserve the continental make up. But it would be a neat idea, the concept could be used in a variety of methods, some more radical than others.
Eldoron Mar 10th 2010 5:28PM
"do orcs and draenei in Azeroth go to the Emerald Dream when they dream?"
um.. I think nobody dreams with the Emerald Dream except for druids..