A brand new quest prologue summarily declares elves, trolls, and the brand new Haranir race to be one massive household. The neighborhood, nonetheless, is extra confused than moved.
In World of Warcraft, a single quest prologue is sufficient to plunge half of Azeroth into an existential disaster. Patch 12.0.7, aptly nicknamed “Revelations,” offers a narrative prelude to the upcoming main content material patch 12.1 —a part of the continuing Worldsoul Saga—and it’s filled with lore.
Elves, Trolls, and Haranir as One FamilyWhy Many Gamers Don’t Discover This All That NewThe Actual Thriller: The place do the Haranir slot in?Blizzard weighs in
Elves, Trolls, and Haranir as one household
On the middle is the Haranir, the brand new playable Alliance race launched with the Midnight growth, whose look falls someplace between trolls and evening elves.
The Haranir invite the leaders of all troll tribes and elven peoples to their residence to announce some information:They’re all associated to 1 one other. Follower and Elder Chief Hagar presents a imaginative and prescient in accordance with which trolls and elves are direct descendants of the Haranir—a big, completely satisfied household, in different phrases, that ought to truly get alongside.
Nevertheless, these instantly concerned see issues fairly otherwise:Trolls and elves have been locked in a bloody feud for many years, and the announcement is met with correspondingly little enthusiasm. The Amani chief Zul’jan, for instance, storms off with out additional ado, decided to disprove the Haranir’s declare—and in doing so, encounters an historical evil that he plans to make use of in Patch 12.1 to revive the Amani to their former energy.
Why Many Gamers Don’t Discover This All That Stunning
For a big a part of the neighborhood, the revelation comes as surprisingly little of a shock:Preliminary hypothesis that evening elves are descended from trolls first appearedaccording to Wowheadin the official Troll Compendium on the unique WoW web site.
The connection grew to become formally confirmed in 2011: Within the second difficulty of the official American WoW journal, the dwarf explorer Brann Bronzebeard confirmed the lineage between Darkish Trolls and Night time Elves primarily based on statements from the Titan Guardian Freya and the demigod Cenarius.
The Chronicle books later supplied the detailed model: A splinter group of trolls dwelling underground on Hyjal—the Darkish Trolls—finally migrated to the Nicely of Eternity, have been reworked by its vitality, and henceforth referred to as themselves the Kaldorei, Youngsters of the Stars, higher often known as the Night time Elves.
Much more intriguing: Apparently, this concept was by no means a secret even throughout the sport world itself. Even within the historical Alterac Valley, Archdruid Fandral Staghelm had Alliance gamers kill trolls as a result of they presumptuously claimed to be the ancestors of the evening elves—the Horde faction, via the Darkish Spear trolls, provided an analogous quest with the other accusation.
The in-game bookequipment itemfrom the identical growth revisited the theme repeatedly. The query of kinship had thus been an integral a part of the Warcraft universe for about 20 years.
It appears all of the more unusual, then, that the characters within the sport itself react so shocked, as if all of this have been brand-new. Even extremely educated, centuries-old figures like First Arcanist Thalyssra, Vereesa Windrunner, Lor’themar, or Queen Talanji—whose Zandalar Empire, in spite of everything, is residence to Azeroth’s oldest library—seem stunned by the kinship.
The Actual Thriller: The place the Haranir Match In
The purpose the place the controversy outdoors the sport’s universe actually will get caught is a distinct one: the position of the Haranir themselves. Many gamers have assumed to this point that, primarily based on their look, the Haranir signify a kind of hyperlink between the evolution of the trolls and the evening elves.
Hagar’s imaginative and prescient, nonetheless, contradicts this—it depicts the Haranir as the unique race that break up into two teams: one which remained underground, and one which continued to dwell on the floor. Over time, evening elves and trolls are mentioned to have advanced from these two teams.
This creates a sure rigidity with the present lore, in accordance with which elves are direct descendants of trolls. Now, as a substitute, each races are mentioned to have emerged independently of each other from two totally different Haranir teams.
This leaves unanswered the query of the place the already established darkish trolls slot in: Are the Haranir merely one other title for them? Did the Haranir evolve from the Darkish Trolls, or do the Darkish Trolls match someplace in between?
Blizzard Weighs In
In gentle of the confusion, Senior Quest Designer Keith Riley spoke up on X to supply at the very least some context. The cutscene reveals the Haranir’s perspective—introduced via a Haranir imaginative and prescient—not essentially Blizzard’s official, definitive stance on the query of ancestry.
This shall be an extended put up as a result of I’m seeing loads of confusion, and I hope this helps I’m solely going to debate the lore from an in-world perspective as a result of I’m not right here to “create lore” on social media. I simply wish to make clear what the in-game characters have introduced and what they know. https://t.co/PIu9E9cq6Q
— Keith Riley Co (@Boogily_Woogily) July 11, 2026
Riley then will get extra particular: Based on the character Orweyna, Haranir visions could lack particulars or be inaccurate, however they don’t lie.
The Haranir themselves subsequently imagine within the core of the imaginative and prescient—that there have been as soon as Haranir who remained on the floor whereas others adopted their goddess into the depths, and that over time, the floor group advanced into right now’s trolls and elves. That is exactly the idea for the Haranir’s message to the assembled leaders that they’re one folks. Nevertheless, Riley emphasizes as soon as once more that, in accordance with Orweyna, particulars right here too could also be lacking or incorrect.
As a counterpoint, Riley additionally brings Queen Talanji into the dialogue: Based on her, the Zandalari possess their very own data relating to the earliest days of the evening elves and darkish trolls—although she additionally acknowledges that there are possible vital gaps on this information as effectively.
Riley’s conclusion stays correspondingly imprecise:There isn’t a irrefutable proof for both model, so the query stays open. Whether or not and the way Patch 12.1 will present readability right here continues to be up within the air—there isn’t any set date but, however the patch is predicted in mid-August, that includes a brand new, troll-focused zone full with a raid.
Do you imagine Elder Hagar and her imaginative and prescient, or do you suppose that is simply Lorehounds studying tea leaves till Blizzard formally weighs in?
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