For five whole World of Warcraft expansions, players have lived with a giant sword stuck through their planet. Sargeras stabbed Azeroth with the Sword of Sargeras, and for years afterward, the wound bled. Players asked whether anyone planned to pull the blade out. The answer, finally, arrived today — in a single screenshot.
The moment came during the World of Warcraft: What’s Next panel at Blizzcon. Associate game director Paul Kubit was onstage talking about the final raid of the current Midnight expansion, called The Worldcore. The raid takes place in the core of the planet, where the multi-expansion villain Xal’atath is trying to absorb or consume the planet’s soul.
Kubit showed a screenshot from The War Within opening cinematic. In it, Thrall and Anduin appear to be looking at the sword. They seem to think Sargeras was aiming his blade at “someone.” Many players guessed at the time that “someone” was Azeroth herself, the planet’s soul.
Now it looks like they were right.
The Screenshot
The screenshot shows the world soul in the middle, bright and whole. To the left of it sits what appears to be the veeeerrrry tip of the Sword of Sargeras. The spines on the blade match the weapon’s familiar shape.
Freelancer0495, a user on Reddit, flagged the image. The paper agrees with the reading. The sword is there, barely visible, but unmistakable.
Five Expansions Of Avoidance
Blizzard has spent years answering questions about the sword with shrugs and jokes. Players asked whether the sword was a problem that might need solving. The company’s response was mostly silence, occasionally broken by a laugh.
That changed today. The answer was not a panel or a speech. It was a still image, tucked into a cinematic for a raid announcement.
The Question Nobody Asked
Did the planet do something to protect itself? That might explain why Anduin had strange visions. Maybe Azeroth was trying to get him to go down into the soul chamber and get the sword out.
If that’s all it took, the question is simple: why have we been wasting all this time racing Goblin cars and hanging out in the poison snake palace?
The Unanswered Problem
The sword itself is not a mystery. It has been visible in cinematics before. But the question remains: when will players actually address it?
Something this massive should be causing problems large enough that the heroes of the world would have to act. The comparison to removing a tiny dagger from a neighbor’s planet applies here.
The Close Shave
Good thing Sargeras didn’t stab a teensy bit deeper. The sword missed the soul chamber by inches. The planet dodged a blow.
Now let’s get that sword out of there. And maybe we can also remove the freaky void harbinger lady trying to eat the planet’s essence while we’re at it.
The Schedule
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Sargeras stabs Azeroth | Five expansions ago |
| The War Within cinematic | Last acknowledged mention |
| The Worldcore raid announcement | Today |
Key Facts
- The sword belongs to Sargeras, a titan
- The raid is called The Worldcore
- The villain is Xal’atath
- The cinematic is from The War Within
- The announcement was made at Blizzcon
The answer was a joke, but it was also a promise. The sword is visible again. The question has been asked. The next expansion better have an answer ready.
Whew! What a close shave this was.