World of Warcraft patch 8.2.5 has brought an end to the War Campaign, and the accompanying cinematic – titled Reckoning – has provided a cap with equal parts of conclusion and cliffhanger in a final battle between Saurfang and Sylvanas over the future of the Horde. The events already proven controversial among fans – but hey, that’s been the Battle for Azeroth story ever since the burning of Teldrassil.
Here’s your massive spoiler warning – read no further if you’re hoping to see all this in the game itself, or just keep scrolling to see the actual video. The cinematic opens with Saurfang arriving at Orgrimmar to challenge Sylvanas to a Mak’gora duel over the fate of the Horde. She accepts, and we get just the sort of flashy fight we’ve come to expect from WoW’s story scenes.
After getting grazed by a shot from Saurfang, Sylvanas says “the Horde is nothing,” drawing some serious side-eyes from the battle’s observers. She doubles down on the anti-Horde talk, and kills Saurfang with a blast of magic. A few more taunts against the Horde, and she flies off to pursue whatever unknown plans she’s pursuing from here.
As for where the story goes from here, time – and the next round of patches – will tell.
You can see it all in the video above.
Thanks in large part to the contribution of WoW Classic subscriptions, World of Warcraft is doing bigger numbers than it has in a long time – so the game’s past and future are both continuing apace.