Recently, I played through the Hallowfall zone and recorded the entire campaign questline in one video of 2 hours, 7 minutes. Below the video embed below, I will post heavy spoilers, my impressions of what I think was hinted in some dialogues, and some direct quotes. There is a lot to unpack, if you prefer to read instead of watching the video.
Note: For fullscreen, click the title within the video embed to open the YouTube page. Don’t forget to switch to 1080HD.
Hallowfall Campaign Questline Roundup
The Arathi call the crystal above Hallowfall a star named Beledar… “The Emperor’s Vision” of Holy Light.
The inhabitants are the Hallowfall expedition of the Arathi Empire.
They followed the Emperor’s sacred vision across the sea — to fight in Renilash, the final battle between light and dark. However, they were caught in a storm. The fleet was enveloped by a flash of golden radiance. In a flash, the entire armada was transported in this underground cave.
When this happened, Faerin Lothar was a child. The only child in the fleet.
Ever since, the Nerubian has been attacking them constantly. The Nerubian try to drag them down into the darkness, to Azj-Kahet.
Great Kyron is a lamplighter of the Hallowfall expedition. He served the empire as a military warden for many years before arriving to the underground cave. When they arrived years ago, he volunteered to lead a group in scouting the land. The scouts found which areas were defensible, and which were overrun by kobyss (murlock-like) and nerubians. From this info, they laid a foundation for the defense of Mereldar.
Anduin says Alleria blames herself for what happened to Dalaran. The nerubians were responsible for its fall. Alleria wishes to get vengeance against the nerubian leaders.
Rekindled Memories: Faerin says every Arathi soldier carries a tinderbox that represents their devotion to the Sacred Flame. Many soldiers use this tinderbox as a focus to bring forth the Flame’s Light in dark places beyond the crystal’s light. Their corpses must be torched whenever their bodies can’t be recovered. Their tinderbox retrieved as a symbol to venerate their sacrifice.
The Arathi protect the Aegis Wall separating the Hallowfall zone from Azj-kahet, to prevent Nerubians from overwhelming them. To quickly move from place to place, the Arathi has an airship armada docked at Tenir’s Ascent to concentrate their defenders where Nerubians are attacking anywhere in the realm. The airships allow the Arathi to bombard the nerubians from the safety of the skies. It is imperative to defend the airship docks for its strategic value. The main airship is known as the Dawnbreaker.
During the quest For their Eyes Only, the avatar of Queen Ansurek (a nerubian) shows up often taunting the player. The Queen says something cryptic: “The threads have been spun. They will get their fated final war.” Considering the Arathi were following a prophetic vision of their Emperor to fight in Renilash (the final battle between light and dark), it makes you wonder how the nerubian Queen knows about that vision. Spinning the threads that led the Arathi here is a strong hint. Old gods are known to see different timelines, different possibilities.
In the quest Zero out Xerosh, Alleria says that when she looks at the Arathi, she sees her son. This is in reference to the Arathi being half human/half high elf with pointy ears. Alleria says she will slaughter every nerubian in her path to keep the Arathi from harm. This portrays the Arathi as her adoptive children in her motherly(!) view.
The Beledar crystal in the ceiling is not the only source of Light, it seems. The dawntowers have beacons scattered throughout the zone to shine with the Sacred Flame — which safeguards the Arathi when the Beledar crystal is in its void state. This is not my word, it is taken from the cutscene placeholder’s text: “Just after Faerin and Great Kyron light the dawntower Beledar shifts from light to void and Hallowfall darkens.”
In this first cutscene placeholder, it seems Xal’atath will make herself present throughout the story progression. Xal’atath taunts Alleria to come find her deeper in the darkness (aka in the Azj-Kahet zone).
At this point, the Beledar crystal casts darkness. The lamplighters are on duty protecting the populace from darkness creatures coming from the depths of the innersea in the north and the nerubians in the south. All towers with beacons must be kept blazing the Sacred Flame until the Beledar crystal shifts again into its Light phase.
In the quest “A Lamplighter’s Duty” — according to Faerin, the darkness phase of the Beledar crystal may last moments, sometimes days. The first time they experienced this phase, years ago, they lost many people.
Among the lamplighter’s duty is using mini-airship vehicles to combat darkness creatures from attacking the dawntowers, the airship docks, and the populace. During this quest, you launch lances at flying voidwalkers (Keening Shadows) and a Vile Behemoth (looks like a giant shadowy squid).
Over the years, the Arathi dedicated to lamplighting duties have died. Their narrow numbers have made some of their faith to shaken. Some of these lamplighters are turning to the whispers in the darkness.
The Kobyss (new type of Murloc) raid Sina’s Yearning when the Beledar crystal is in its dark phase. Some Arathi have been captured and dragged to the nearby Kobyss encampment at the shore. They eat victims alive.
In the quest “Fish are Food, Not Friends,” Anduin says he can heal the injured with his First Aid knowledge, but not with the Light. Faerin responds she will send injured his way. One of the Deepwaker Kobyss said “Light’s fault” — seems they don’t like Beledar crystal’s Light phase or that the Arathi help that phase or keep the dawntowers up at night. The Kobyss use a shadow magic to raise Drowned Arathi. Sort of the Shadow version of … undead.
When the Arathi arrived to the zone, years ago, some among the Arathi tried to establish peace with the kobyss (murlocs), but they only see humans as food.
During a cutscene placeholder, the nearby dawntower’s light was replaced with a shadowy flame. The Order of Night cultists, who claim allegiance to Xal’atath, are channeling the shadows. Alleria arrives to interrupt their ritual. Their leader, Aelric, flees after saying the shadows have spoken of Alleria.
As Alleria, Anduin, and Faerin enter the dawntower to investigate, Faerin discovers the Sacred Flame of the dawntower has been corrupted.
Faerin says Aelric was once a Lamplighter for years, keeping the dawntowers lit and the people of Hallowfall safe. One day, Aelric betrayed them by ambushing Faerin’s friend: Andari. Aelric now leads the Order of Night.
Faerin attempts to cleanse the Sacred Flame in the dawntower beacon with her Light. Alleria asks Anduin to call upon the Light to assist Faerin. Anduin hesitates.
During the quest “The Darkened Flame” you can read the Order of Night Journal.
“Tabita,
I’m leaving. I’m tired. I don’t expect you to understand.
The Order of Night gathers strength.
They hide in caves, in towns, and linger
with our greatest enemies.
They even have a base beneath one of
their precious towers. The army has no idea.
The Light has made us all blind.
Not me. Not anymore.
What have we fought for this whole time? Why are we here?
Does Beledar even know we exist? Does it love us for our devotion?
Or does it hate us for holding it back?
What if its true form is darkness?
We’ve toiled in the Light for years. What good has it done?
We die. Picked off in the shadows, one by one.
Perhaps we should listen to what Beledar
is trying to tell us. There’s comfort, in the
shadows.
I’m tired, Tabita.
I know what this means. I know we will
end up hurting our own. Hurting you. I’m not sorry.”
Beneath the dawntower, you kill the Order of Night cultists and seal the Shadow Rift. However, a voidwalker spawns. You help Faerin and Anduin fight it. Anduin reluctantly tries to call the Light, but is unable to. He uses his sword instead. Faerin is concerned about Anduin’s Light. He claims he is no longer worthy of it.
Faerin reveals she was the only child in the fleet that got teleported in this underground zone because she boarded the ship as a stowaway. She wished to flee a family that only saw her as a failure. This is not further explained, but either she did bad things, or she was shunned for being half-high elf? Hard to tell.
Anduin tells Faerin what he did in the Shadowlands. Faerin confronts Anduin about his unworthiness self-determination. Having doubts or making mistakes doesn’t make him unworthy.
I have a feeling Faerin might be introduced to be Anduin’s love interest at some point in the trilogy. Faerin is how Anduin might be reconnected with the Light.
During the quest “Light and the End of the Tunnel” a cutscene describes Faerin begins a ritual to reignite the Sacred Flame into the dawntower beacon now that the Beledar crystal switched to its Light phase. Faerin extends her hand to Anduin to make him participate in the ritual. He rejects her, but she insisted. Both join hands. The Light begins to trickle and the ritual completes.
During the quest “To Mereldar” — Anduin makes a comment about the Mereldar city. He says while this was happening we were fighting the Legion, then the Fourth War.
During the quest Nightwatch, Faerin meets with Raen, head armorer. Since they landed in the zone, Raen and her team have created inventions to save many lives. Raen forged her shield prosthesis.
In this quest, Anduin claims that the “Emperor’s Vision” prophecy that drew the Arathi to this underground zone… is the Radiant Song he heard — as shown in the Silithus cinematic.
Alleria asked Anduin if his voice was the Beledar star. Anduin says yes, but then corrects himself. When Anduin saw Beledar for the first time, he had a vision again. Anduin thinks that the Beledar crystal and the visions he saw in Silithus are related somehow.
In this voice over dialogue between Alleria and Anduin, he wishes Khadgar was here. He then stops and apologizes to Alleria. Seems to hint that Khadgar might have died when Xal’atath and the nerubian assaulted Dalaran. That’s my impression. As if he suddenly felt he was insensitive to Alleria’s loss of an old friend.
Anduin also thinks the crystals the Arathi use to lit the keyflames of the dawntowers and Azerite are connected somehow. The crystals are not Azerite, but Anduin thinks they are connected. In essence, this seems to indicate that both are part of the Worldsoul.
Alleria connected the dots. The first time the Beledar crystal started to shift to a void phase was when Sargeras plunged his sword into Silithus at the end of the Legion expansion.
During the quest “Economical Request,” Auralia Steelstrike says they have traded with the Earthen before, but their trade ended abruptly after the Day of Darkness — the day the Beledar crystal began its Light/Void phases. The day Sargeras plunged his sword into Silithus. From past dialogues, this Earthen/Arathi trade ended because what Sargeras did caused a cave-in, blocking access to the Ringing Deeps.
After General Steelstrike talks with Alleria, she tells you in amazement the Harbinger is from the Black Empire? One of the Old gods? Alleria responds: No. Something else. A survivor from the depths of time.
I find it interesting that an Arathi knows what the Black Empire is and that there are many Old gods. I’m even more intrigued with Alleria’s response. We have heard theories about Xal’atath being an Old god imprisoned in the dagger, but a survivor of what?
In this quest, General Steelstrike provides more backstory about their journey here. She was entrusted to seek out the imperial prophecy. Her airship armada braved the Storming Sea and its impassable tempests. A radiant flash transported their airship armada beneath the surface of Azeroth, under the light of the Beledar star.
Note: The Storming Sea was first mentioned in an in-game book about a green dragon that went missing days after Watcher Tyr warned her not to fly in search of the Storming Sea. The dragon never returned from her travel.
https://twitter.com/mrgmyt/status/1709361260914233391
Interesting. When their airship armada kinda crash landed in the zone, they discovered the stowaway child, Faerin, among the crash site of one of the airships. The child preserved embers of the flame before the eternal flame of Arathor snuffed out. Note: This means she might have absorbed some of the Light’s essence from that eternal flame.
Years later, there was a great rumble. The Arathi thought the cavern was going to collapse. It was the Day of Darkness, the first time Beledar shifted to shadow.
During the quest “Mereldar’s Light” — Faerin Lothar reveals the airship armada arrived to this underground zone 10 years ago. Note: There might be a mistake somewhere in the campaign text that contradicts itself. The last Arathi mage disciple says they landed in the zone 15 years ago. Faerin and General Steelstrike are consistent with the 10 years ago estimate.
The Eternal Flame is a sort of beacon powered by the remnants of the embers the child Faerin saved 10 years ago. The Eternal Flame is now at the Veneration Grounds — the large plaza far to the west of Mereldar city.
The kobyss and Aelric’s cultists invaded the Veneration Grounds, and plan to corrupt the Eternal Flame with Darkfire.
Alleria says Aelric Leid (leader of the Order of Night) reminds her of Dar’Khan Drathir.
Quest: A Candle in the Dark. After Alleria disrupts the shadow bubble protecting Aelric during his Darkfire corruption ritual over the Eternal Flame, you fight him. After his defeat, however, the Beledar crystal remains in Shadow phase.
A cutscene placeholder says General Steelstrike commands all forces to retreat as darkness creatures come out in the shadow phase, but Faerin refuses. They turn the Eternal Flame back to the light, and so Beledar shifts back to the Light phase. Seems to be a connection between the Arathi’s Eternal Flame and the Beledar crystal.
Anduin is surprised with whatever happened in the cutscene. He has never seen anything like it. The closest was Calia’s resurrection. It seems the cutscene shows many Arathi coming together to reignite the Eternal Flame with their inner Light? … Anduins words: “So many people. One purpose, one unity. One hope.”
There is a Stay a While and Listen dialogue between Alleria and Faerin Lothar at the end of this quest. “When Dalaran fell I didn’t draw on my power. Someone dear to me paid the price.”
Note: This might mean either Khadgar or Vereesa died during the Xal’atath and nerubian assault on Dalaran.
As the Arathi celebrate their victory, news come from the south. Nerubians are attacking Livia’s Patience. Some Arathi have been kidnapped. Others are still fighting for their lives. You must aid them and remove survivors while The Reckoning airship travels there to repel the invasion.
The Reckoning airship arrives. As you climb the ladder, a cutscene placeholder is triggered.
11.0 Anduin is Lost.
Faerin, Alleria, and player climb the ladder to the ship,
only to see Anduin has been left behind.
Anduin sees the nerubians preparing a ballista
that would take out the airship.
He finds his resolve,
and jumps into the fray to stop them.
Faerin, Alleria, and player watch in horror
as Anduin is enveloped by the horde of nerubians.
After the cutscene, you shoot at nerubians with abilities from Alleria and Faerin. After slaying 150 nerubians, another cutscene plays up.
Airship Tangled Up
Their airship descends into Azj-kahet.
The airship gets caught in the nerubian webs,
coming to an abrupt halt and immediately beset by nerubian forces.
Alleria and Faerin fight off the nerubians,
but the lead nerubian boards the deck
readying an attack on Alleria.
Suddenly, a vine/root/etc whips out,
sending the nerubian flying.
Alleria whips her head around to see Orwena off to the side,
helping defend the ship.
Note: The player spawns at Light’s Redoubt, to the south, bordering with Azj-Kahet.
Captain Placeholder: The journey continues in Azj-Kahet, but not right now! Thank you for playtesting the level up campaign of Hallowfall.
… and that’s how the Hallowfall campaign questline ends. Still, with all that bunch on info dropped throughout the questline, a thought is lingering in the back of my mind.
The Emperor’s Vision, the prophecy… the Arathi think this was a call to the final war between the Light and the Shadow — an event they named Renilash.
Why does this intrigues me? Because while it was never named “Renilash” … I thought the final battle between the Light and the Shadow happens in the Blizzard online comic: “Son of the Wolf” — which debuted during the World of Warcraft: Legion expansion.
In this comic, a Dreadlord attacks Anduin. You can read the rest in the link above. However, at the final page of that comic, Blizzard did something that it has never ever done before. They gave us a vision of the future as canon. Or a possible future. In this future, a long haired and bearded Anduin, presumably older, talks with Velen.
They are preparing to face what sounds like the final battle between … the Light and the Void.
This. is. intriguing.
Old Anduin says there is only one more battle to fight. Velen sums it up with the Light will triumph over the Shadow this day.
Can the Arathi’s Renilash be the same final battle Velen and Old Anduin are about to fight?
If both battles are one and the same … could this mean Old Anduin is traveling in time to this time in The War Within… or are we traveling in time to meet Old Anduin in his final battle? Or are both battles simply separate ones?
It is really confusing and yet exciting.
Correction: I hear chatter that this Arathi come from an Arathi empire built somewhere in the Veiled Sea before the former Arathi empire split into 7 kingdoms. The emperor sent the Hallowfall armada in search of the vision.
