Datamined WoW: Dragonflight Cinematic Teases A Major Change For Azeroth

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s big Embers of Neltharion content patch is right around the corner, and while the focus of update 10.1 will be on uncovering the secrets about the character that would go on to become Deathwing, another major storyline years in the making looks like it will also come to fruition.

First, a little context. In the leadup to WoW’s Battle for Azeroth expansion, Sylvanas and her Horde forces controversially burned down the home of the Night Elves, the world tree Teldrassil. Since then, the Night Elves have essentially been refugees, living in the Alliance capital of Stormwind until a more permanent solution is found. However, the seeds of a story that would see the Night Elves receive a new home have been planted over the past several years, and it seems that storyline is finally coming to a head in Dragonflight.

Potential spoilers below!

A newly datamined in-game cinematic (via WoWhead) from the current test build of update 10.1 reveals that a new World Tree is coming. In the cinematic, the dragon queen Alexstrasza states that “For soon Azeroth will welcome from the dream a symbol of hope, and together, we shall protect it.” The cinematic shows a large, otherworldly looking tree blossoming into an even larger one.

It’s the culmination of years of setup. In the game’s Shadowlands expansion, the souls of the Night Elves slain during the attack on Teldrassil were rescued from their torment in the Maw. Instead of seeking peace in the afterlife, the spirits volunteered to use what remained of themselves to create a special seed and “become a part of a new beginning for their kin.” That seed was then placed in the magical nature realm of the Emerald Dream for safekeeping.

Fans believe the new World Tree seed will be planted and later sprout somewhere in the Dragon Isles zone of the Ohn’ahran Plains, the ancestral home of the Green Dragonflight and where a portal to the Emerald Dream can currently be found. The leader of the Green Dragonflight Ysera, who has a powerful connection to the Emerald Dream, was recently brought back to Azeroth–despite having been slain in the game’s Legion expansion–by having Night Elf leader Malfurion Stormrage essentially take her place in the afterlife. If there was one character who could usher in a “symbol of hope” from the Emerald Dream, Ysera would be it.

Though the Emerald Dream has appeared in small bits and pieces over the years, datamined files already have fans speculating that a future Dragonflight patch will introduce the Emerald Dream as a full-fledged zone for the first time.

Dragonflight patch 10.1 arrives on May 2, and will introduce cross-faction guilds, plus a new underground dragonriding zone, raid, and open-world event alongside the start of new Mythic+ dungeon and PvP seasons. It is the first of two major content patches planned for 2023, though Blizzard is also planning on releasing additional, smaller content updates that will introduce new story content and an additional dungeon before year’s end.