Xal’atath has become a major antagonist. Some fans believe that Blizzard is planning a moral change for her like they did with Sylvanas. But many would find that disappointing.
Actually, Xal’atath was only intended to be a supporting character. But then the cruel harbinger of the Void from WoW Legion was so popular with fans that Blizzard made her the major antagonist of the World Souls saga, which has now reached its middle part called Midnight. Even now, she is making life difficult for you with her dark plans.
Many players are currently discussing how she will continue and whether she will even meet her end in the latest expansion. Most of them agree on one thing:They don’t want Xal’atath to follow the path of Sylvanas and end up being good after all.
Just be evil for once
For many, what is so interesting is that she is so wonderfully evil and apparently simply strives for power for herself. She did briefly work with the Alliance heroine Alleria Windrunner and the champions of Azeroth at the end of The War Within, but betrayed them again as soon as they had fulfilled their purpose.
Many important characters from WoW lore cannot be clearly categorized as heroes or villains, which makes them complex and interesting at the best of times. We remember Anduin, for example, who fell victim to the powers of the dungeon master in Shadowlands.
So some fans now want an enemy who starts out evil and stays evil until the end. If only because Xal’atath’s fall would then feel much more rewarding.
This is discussed extensively on Reddit:
I know this feels absolutely silly to say. But please for the love of all that is holy: Let Xal'atath stay a villain and end as a villain.
byu/Siggythenomad inwow
In all honesty, I love her as this villain who actively acts really sadistically and harms as many people as possible. She has no reasons unlike so many other characters who take out on others what bad things they themselves have experienced or who try to stop something even worse. She’s a mortal who has consumed gods to get to her goal, and that so wonderfully foreshadows her eventual downfall…
And that’s why I fear we [meaning the players and Blizzard’s writing] are trying to do something incredibly stupid, like have her make amends for her actions or keep her around after the saga. For them in particular, I really hope their story comes to an end in The Last Titan. I’d prefer her to end in a cracking finale rather than being dragged through the mud like so many characters before.
Many in the comments agree and share their guesses as to how Xal’atath could end and what her death could do to the world (feel free to write your own theories in the comments). But some see a story similar to that of Sylvanas Windrunner coming.
Southern-March1522 writes something like this:
Sorry, my best guess is that she gets hit by light that turns her into a good person, but gets shoved into the Maw for a few years. There she’ll think about what she did until we bring her back as a hero. – Blizzard, probably
And of course, there’s still the faction that hopesthat Xal’atath will end up back in her talking, magical knife,in which she was trapped, affectionately known in the community as “Knaifu”.
So far, it doesn’t look like Xal will discover her lovable side any time soon, but the story is far from over.
Do you enjoy really nasty villains without a tragic backstory in World of Warcraft? Or do you just enjoy gray characters with understandable motives but questionable methods? Maybe it’s the mix of both types of antagonists that does it for you? Let us hear from you.
