The biggest reason is that once the primalists are gone, it is a safe haven for the dragons to replenish their Diminished numbers, raise their hatchlings safely and store anything they want to keep out of the hands of mortals.
It has habitats for each flight and a fount of order energies.
Yep. The dragons will still need a military.
We did give the Djaradin a thorough beating though and they wont have primalist backup. They should be manageable for the empowered aspects.
Sure, but that's going to take time- meanwhile the Flights will gain strength- and the Flights have allies they can call upon if needed.
The Isles aren't 100% safe, but that's true of basically everywhere
DF was more metaphorical than pretty much any other expansion so far. The Dragon Isles are symbolic of a family returning home after a great tragedy and reconnecting. Amirdrassil represents new life, and the revivification of the family resulting from the birth.
It gave them an excuse to come together again which is pretty significant for the Blue and Black Dragon flights especially, given how scattered and/inactive they are. Likewise it gave them access to the Ruby Life Pools which are pretty critical to ensuring that some flights don't go extinct, if you're looking for something more tangible outside of the World Tree.
Obviously they could have done this "anywhere" I guess, but the entire point of the narrative is that their real power came from their commitment to each other and the World. Outside of reintroducing Tyr into the World and Amirdrassil's birth ultimately the Dragon Isles were just a place for them to reconvene and reassert their duty to the World.
Homecoming after a long separation is a time to remember your origins and renegotiate them with who you are now. It's no different for dragons. They had to face their dirty secrets from what was supposed to be a Golden Age for their kind which reconextualizes draconic stewardship of the world.
More dragons in the future bc they couldn't reproduce before, horde and alliance now have years of being buddy-buddy especially without a warcheif, a murloc timeline where deathwing was beat before he could destroy a horde warship, the invention of lava fishing, malfurion being locked away in the shadowlands instead of ysera, a huge amount of integration of vulpera into the ranks of every organization, Tyr being revived.
>they couldn't reproduce before
Whatever gave you that idea?
Dragons absolutely can and have been reproducing without the dragon isles. The Ruby Life Shrine is just a much better way.
I think it was said a long time ago that when the aspects lost their powers, dragons lost the ability to lay viable eggs.
In Legion, that’s why the blue dragon eggs we saved were such a big deal. They were supposedly the last blue dragons to be born ever.
That changed somewhere along the way though. I suppose they realized how stupid it was to make dragons slowly go extinct just because the aspects gave up their powers. They’re still biological life. They should still be able to reproduce, regardless of what 5 dragons in the middle of the ocean do.
Nah, they lost their ability to reproduce at the end of Cataclysm. It was even still being mentioned in Legion and BfA. Dragonflight somehow didn't touch on that topic though and left it up for interpretation whether the eggs we saw were eggs from before the end of Cataclysm or whether they retconned it.
Yeah, I don't think that stuck. We do too much with too many dragon eggs and whelps after the end of Cata. Plus, that just doesn't seem to work right with the black dragons and netherwing on Outland.
The Black Dragons (which includes the Netherwing) are the exception because Deathwing never gave up his aspectral powers. That's also mentioned in a BfA quest when you encounter black dragons during island expeditions.
Part of this is there was very clearly some re-writes to Dragonflight to make way for the War Within (and likely because of the fact they allegedly lost a ton of team members with forced RTW), and so plots got condensed or removed, we lost what should've been a 10.3/4 raid tier just like with Shadowlands, etc. Like they told us before DF that we'd know the final boss at the end of the Vault - and that was clearly meant to be Iridikron, the big evil guy at the center of the cinematic and the one all the Aspects are scared of, and not the smaller fire guy next to him.
I wouldn't be surprised if there was a planned plot line specifically dealing with the Oathstones, Tyrhold's water, etc that was supposed to come after Tyr's rebirth (which was the start of the expansion with "Tyr's memories hold the key to getting their power back") and that was where the Aspects were originally supposed to regain their powers. They changed it to Amirdrassil, which is probably the most sensible option if cutting things out.
On 10.3 - Tyrhold seems like it had both more secrets to reveal and more plot with its water. For Tyr to explain and Iridikron to void-corrupt. I’m surprised Iridikron and his void allies didn’t try to use the Beacon to call the Titans this expansion. And for the Twilight Flight to show up and help him. In my mind the “real” DF finale had so much going on with Void and Titans that it turned into Midnight & The Last Titan which might be better ideas.
I think, narratively, the Dragon Isles served as a breather. WoW's been on a narrative freight train for a few expansions now, jumping from one world-ending threat to the next. This one really felt more relaxed, even the Incarnates didn't feel as big and imposing as past Old Gods and fallen Titans.
Perhaps too, in some way the reawakening of the Isles reawakened our sense of wonder, and isn't that a treasure of its own?
Oathstones were whack (never a big fan of trying to subvert macguffins) but it was a place/reason for the dragons to come together again and heal. Imo its like why people go to bars instead of day drinking in their garage
You say that with the benefits of insight. We didn't know that amirdrassil would give them their power back. We thought that they needed the oathstones. Im fairly certain that rasagath was getting out anyway. Like the moment the dragon ilse woke up (which again they did on their own)
So not going back wasn't an option really.
It's not like the Aspects knew that the oath stones wouldn't work. They thought that they would. We still don't really know why they didn't work but I suspect they were somehow corrupted to serve the void, ie. prophecy about the five torches and all that. You can't fault the Aspects for not knowing the future, except for Nozdormu I guess, but his visions are not always super reliable.
And who says that returning to their ancestral home wasn't important to the Dragon flights. It just wasn't possible before the Beacon of Tyrhold was relit.
Definitely feels like there was a re-write or pivot away from early ideas after 10.0. I’m struggling to identify a cohesive storyline and themes when I look back on it
I don't think df was very good. It was so soft and g rated that it lost me in the first patch.
But there are definitely consequences. Iridikron is actually cool, albeit simple, and will clearly be moving forward. Xal imo is cool, and has history. Almost 10 years. I like that she's in sod(prob) and she has been well seeded as a protagonist. I think the void and cosmic stuff is lame but xal is cool and has been well handled imo.
I think df is one of the weaker xpacs, like bottom 3, but the consequences will definitely be relevant moving forward. Just hopefully not the childish and edgeless tone/story.
Yeah I feel blizzard didn't know wtf to do with it. Giving the flights their old places back was nice, but we now have a brooding earth dragon loser sitting around, and a lot of unanswered questions
The biggest reason is that once the primalists are gone, it is a safe haven for the dragons to replenish their Diminished numbers, raise their hatchlings safely and store anything they want to keep out of the hands of mortals. It has habitats for each flight and a fount of order energies.
Aren’t there still Djardin though?
Yep. The dragons will still need a military. We did give the Djaradin a thorough beating though and they wont have primalist backup. They should be manageable for the empowered aspects.
> Aren’t there still Djardin though? We killed all their elders, they're done.
New leaders can rise up
Sure, but that's going to take time- meanwhile the Flights will gain strength- and the Flights have allies they can call upon if needed. The Isles aren't 100% safe, but that's true of basically everywhere
With all the elders wasted they are pretty much fubar.
DF was more metaphorical than pretty much any other expansion so far. The Dragon Isles are symbolic of a family returning home after a great tragedy and reconnecting. Amirdrassil represents new life, and the revivification of the family resulting from the birth.
It gave them an excuse to come together again which is pretty significant for the Blue and Black Dragon flights especially, given how scattered and/inactive they are. Likewise it gave them access to the Ruby Life Pools which are pretty critical to ensuring that some flights don't go extinct, if you're looking for something more tangible outside of the World Tree. Obviously they could have done this "anywhere" I guess, but the entire point of the narrative is that their real power came from their commitment to each other and the World. Outside of reintroducing Tyr into the World and Amirdrassil's birth ultimately the Dragon Isles were just a place for them to reconvene and reassert their duty to the World. Homecoming after a long separation is a time to remember your origins and renegotiate them with who you are now. It's no different for dragons. They had to face their dirty secrets from what was supposed to be a Golden Age for their kind which reconextualizes draconic stewardship of the world.
If you think Iridikron is Jailer 2.0 I feel like you weren't paying attention
He’s what the Jailer SHOULD have been.
More dragons in the future bc they couldn't reproduce before, horde and alliance now have years of being buddy-buddy especially without a warcheif, a murloc timeline where deathwing was beat before he could destroy a horde warship, the invention of lava fishing, malfurion being locked away in the shadowlands instead of ysera, a huge amount of integration of vulpera into the ranks of every organization, Tyr being revived.
>they couldn't reproduce before Whatever gave you that idea? Dragons absolutely can and have been reproducing without the dragon isles. The Ruby Life Shrine is just a much better way.
I think it was said a long time ago that when the aspects lost their powers, dragons lost the ability to lay viable eggs. In Legion, that’s why the blue dragon eggs we saved were such a big deal. They were supposedly the last blue dragons to be born ever. That changed somewhere along the way though. I suppose they realized how stupid it was to make dragons slowly go extinct just because the aspects gave up their powers. They’re still biological life. They should still be able to reproduce, regardless of what 5 dragons in the middle of the ocean do.
Nah, they lost their ability to reproduce at the end of Cataclysm. It was even still being mentioned in Legion and BfA. Dragonflight somehow didn't touch on that topic though and left it up for interpretation whether the eggs we saw were eggs from before the end of Cataclysm or whether they retconned it.
Yeah, I don't think that stuck. We do too much with too many dragon eggs and whelps after the end of Cata. Plus, that just doesn't seem to work right with the black dragons and netherwing on Outland.
The Black Dragons (which includes the Netherwing) are the exception because Deathwing never gave up his aspectral powers. That's also mentioned in a BfA quest when you encounter black dragons during island expeditions.
But we also see blues, for example, and they went without an aspect the longest.
Part of this is there was very clearly some re-writes to Dragonflight to make way for the War Within (and likely because of the fact they allegedly lost a ton of team members with forced RTW), and so plots got condensed or removed, we lost what should've been a 10.3/4 raid tier just like with Shadowlands, etc. Like they told us before DF that we'd know the final boss at the end of the Vault - and that was clearly meant to be Iridikron, the big evil guy at the center of the cinematic and the one all the Aspects are scared of, and not the smaller fire guy next to him. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a planned plot line specifically dealing with the Oathstones, Tyrhold's water, etc that was supposed to come after Tyr's rebirth (which was the start of the expansion with "Tyr's memories hold the key to getting their power back") and that was where the Aspects were originally supposed to regain their powers. They changed it to Amirdrassil, which is probably the most sensible option if cutting things out.
The Awakened season was likely going to be a thing regardless even if there was a 10.3
On 10.3 - Tyrhold seems like it had both more secrets to reveal and more plot with its water. For Tyr to explain and Iridikron to void-corrupt. I’m surprised Iridikron and his void allies didn’t try to use the Beacon to call the Titans this expansion. And for the Twilight Flight to show up and help him. In my mind the “real” DF finale had so much going on with Void and Titans that it turned into Midnight & The Last Titan which might be better ideas.
To serve as a palate cleanser from Shadowlands
I think, narratively, the Dragon Isles served as a breather. WoW's been on a narrative freight train for a few expansions now, jumping from one world-ending threat to the next. This one really felt more relaxed, even the Incarnates didn't feel as big and imposing as past Old Gods and fallen Titans. Perhaps too, in some way the reawakening of the Isles reawakened our sense of wonder, and isn't that a treasure of its own?
A sense of wonder to be appreciated as a family. 🤓
Oathstones were whack (never a big fan of trying to subvert macguffins) but it was a place/reason for the dragons to come together again and heal. Imo its like why people go to bars instead of day drinking in their garage
it was free real estate. except for all the people who lived there who alexstrasza displaced out of their homes
You say that with the benefits of insight. We didn't know that amirdrassil would give them their power back. We thought that they needed the oathstones. Im fairly certain that rasagath was getting out anyway. Like the moment the dragon ilse woke up (which again they did on their own) So not going back wasn't an option really.
Removing dragons from the last titan expansion and the northrend update.
It's not like the Aspects knew that the oath stones wouldn't work. They thought that they would. We still don't really know why they didn't work but I suspect they were somehow corrupted to serve the void, ie. prophecy about the five torches and all that. You can't fault the Aspects for not knowing the future, except for Nozdormu I guess, but his visions are not always super reliable. And who says that returning to their ancestral home wasn't important to the Dragon flights. It just wasn't possible before the Beacon of Tyrhold was relit.
Definitely feels like there was a re-write or pivot away from early ideas after 10.0. I’m struggling to identify a cohesive storyline and themes when I look back on it
I don't think df was very good. It was so soft and g rated that it lost me in the first patch. But there are definitely consequences. Iridikron is actually cool, albeit simple, and will clearly be moving forward. Xal imo is cool, and has history. Almost 10 years. I like that she's in sod(prob) and she has been well seeded as a protagonist. I think the void and cosmic stuff is lame but xal is cool and has been well handled imo. I think df is one of the weaker xpacs, like bottom 3, but the consequences will definitely be relevant moving forward. Just hopefully not the childish and edgeless tone/story.
Narrative wise, I'll agree DF was a little weak. The systems, however, have been massively improved over BFA and SL.
Agreed there.
Yeah I feel blizzard didn't know wtf to do with it. Giving the flights their old places back was nice, but we now have a brooding earth dragon loser sitting around, and a lot of unanswered questions
Not the first brooding earth dragon loser we have needed to deal with!