World of Warcraft The War Within Shadow and Fury Trailer Lets Xal'atath Lay Out Part of Her Plan

Xal'atath’s presence was once bound, and later, unknown, but now we look ahead to her major role in The War Within, World of Warcraft’s next expansion, with a new teaser ahead of tomorrow’s closed beta.

The new video, called “Shadow and Fury” features narration by the Harbinger of the Void herself, Xal'atath. This mysterious presence now has some sinister plans in place, and the new teaser begins to lay out how she plans to use some of the struggles and worries of those in Azeroth against them. Luckily, there are those who will help.

The expansion title makes a little more sense now with Blizzard’s deliberate reveals here, joined with details previously revealed. The official description from the expansion minisite gives some more insight into  Xal'atath‘s plans:“Journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and lurking perils, down to the dark depths of the nerubian empire, where the malicious Harbinger of the Void is gathering arachnid forces to bring Azeroth to its knees.”

(It’s clearer why WoW is getting an arachnophobia mode toggle with this expansion.)

Overall, The War Within is the first of the three expansions announced at BlizzCon last fall, and they make up The Worldsoul Saga, so what happens in this first chapter will no doubt be consequential. The closed beta for the expansion begins tomorrow, with those who’ve flagged their accounts for testing consideration and owners of the Epic Edition getting first crack at testing all of the major new content and changes.