Lore Watch Podcast

Is Midnight the Elf-centric team-up expansion of our dreams, or what? That's the listener question which serves as our jumping off point this week. And our cohosts conclude: Yes, mostly! Indeed, Midnight is the elf-o-rama we've always wanted -- nay, deserved. Matt, Joe, and Eric point out some of their shared elf-y foibles (must we always have a singular, vulnerable font of power that serves as both anchor and crutch?). Speaking of, is Silvermoon City just where all the elves are going to live now? And if so, how will that shake out if (when) the tensions between the Horde and Alliance inevitably boil over?Plus, where's Azshara at? Naga are basically wet elves, and if anyone has a score to settle with some jumped-up cutlery, it's her.If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

This week's Lore Watch Podcast takes us back in the day, with a couple questions that ask about lore from the vanilla days.We start off talking arcs. The Alliance has a great arc involving the Defias in their initial starting zone, which evolves to involve Lady Prestor in the middle levels, all the way up to Onyxia at cap. The Lore Watch crew discuss the various threads of the Horde narrative that branch in similar ways throughout their leveling experience all the way on up.Then, we pivot to class quests of that same era, up through the Legion Order Hall quests. Some of them felt like a great, cohesive way to celebrate your class and give you a lot of lore about it, and others... less so. Joe, Matt, and Eric reminisce about their time playing their respective classes, and whether they prefer unique class touches -- even if they might be a little half-baked for certain classes.If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

Comic book artist Sam Kieth passed away earlier this month as a result of Lewy Body dementia, so our Lore Watch Podcast team wanted to take an episode to talk about his impact on the genre and pop culture as a whole. Both Sam Kieth's art style and plotlines shaped comics as we moved into a more grimdark take on the old heroes. Sam's comic The Maxx put him on the map, and his collaboration with now-notorious Neil Gaiman on The Sandman clinched his place in the pantheon of early 90s comics creators. And that was just the start of his career, which included a turn writing Batman, and later included a crossover with The Maxx as one of his final projects.Because Sam Kieth's comics deal with some heavy topics, this episode comes with a content warning for topics ranging from murder and gore to dissociative identity disorder and sexual assault. While we don't linger on these topics in-depth, they are present as a part of the discussion.

Joe, Matt, and Eric sat down this week to discuss the dragons of World of Warcraft, starting with their origins as proto-dragons, and all the way up through more modern politics. With many thanks for the great questions, we start off with proto-dragons: why do they call themselves that? Seems like they might call themselves "dragons" and come up with something new for those long-armed fellows. But then, this leads into the next question, because the past of the proto-dragons was described largely with Malygos as the narrator. This was written by Richard Knaak, so there's a lengthy bit of discussion on his turn at the writer's desk. But then, Alexstrasza winds up being the leader of the Dragonflights. So, what happened there?Then, speaking of diplomacy and jockeying for power, how are Lordaeron and Gilneas doing now? Calia is on the new Forsaken council, and Genn has sort of retired and let Tess lead the way, so how are the relations there going to shake out as we move forward into the future?If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

This week Joe and Eric were joined by Liz, and it was a great opportunity to begin discussing the abundance of Loa we've had in Midnight so far. Our cohosts discussed some of the ins and outs of becoming a Loa, and talked about what they thought they might be the Loa of one day, since none of them were nepo babied into the situation. After that they moved into Harandar and its relationship to the Emerald Dream, and how that figures in to the Rift of Aln and the World Soul.Then, they wrapped up with a discussion on revamped zones, and which ones we'd like to see in the future. While Northrend is in the offing, our hosts have some ideas on other zones they'd like to see updated. Personally, I'm rooting for the Exodar.If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).

We love answering your questions, especially when it lets us don our tinfoil hat. Our first question this week was relatively straightforward: If you were to run a WoW TTRPG for a Horde campaign and an Alliance campaign, what would it be? With three hosts, there were six varied answers. We move from there to conflict among the Titans, and why some all-powerful beings might clash. Speaking of all-powerful, then we talk about the counterplay of the Light and the Void -- and the Naaru. Part of it is how the two forces interact, based on some of the earlier vignettes from the first few expansions of WoW. And how do all those forces relate to another magic force we've seen coursing inherently through all creatures through a few different expansions: Anima?It is a tin foil hat good time on this week's Lore Watch.If you want even more background story, we also have a guide to every Warcraft book in chronological order (for those of you who prefer reading that way).