World of Warcraft: Dragonflight lore, explained

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight is the next expansion for the popular MMO, and the new cinematic gives us a look at where we’re heading, and who we’ll be dealing with. The cinematic is narrated by the Alexstrasza of the red Dragonflight, and it begins 10,000 years ago. After the Sundering’s global disaster, the Dragon Aspects had sealed the Dragon Isles and promised to return once the healing was complete.

But, who are these Dragon Aspects and what is their connection to the little stone man who reactivated the tower and called the dragons home. We have the answers you need.

Dragonflight(s)

There are five main Dragonflights. Each one is led by an Aspect. The trailer’s narrator Alexstrasza is the Aspect for the Red Dragonflight. Their fire also has restorative properties. There’s also the Blue Dragonflight with an arcane bent, the Green Dragonflight that is linked to the Emerald Dream and the Bronze Dragonflight which can manipulate time, as well as the Black Dragonflight led by Wrathion.

The Titans are guardians of Order and helped to shape the world of Azeroth. After a huge battle against Galakrond, the Titans gave the Dragon Aspects their powers. The Aspects would remain stewards of Azeroth for the next 10,000 years — mostly, as players did have to fight Aspects Malygos and Deathwing as raid bosses in the Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expansions. At the end of Cataclysm, the four Dragonflight Aspects gave up their immense powers in order to stop their mad brother Deathwing.

The Titanic Watchers remained on the Dragon Isles to watch over the beacon tower, and after a few expansions of unmitigated chaos and destruction, it looks like the world is finally healing and the dragons are coming home.

Homecoming

The Dragon Isles are a mysterious place that has been mentioned for a while in folklore. Wrathion is the Black Dragonflight leader and Wrathion’s son. He has searched for the Isles for several years.

As it turns out, one of the reasons the Aspects are so eager to return home is that they’ve been in a bad place since giving up their power. Dragons were unable to reproduce, and they’ve taken several hits over the last few expansions, like the corruption of Green Dragonflight Aspect Ysera, the death of a bunch of red dragons at the hands of Death Knights, and the Black Dragonflight remaining nearly extinct.

One of the main goals of Dragonflight will be to help the Dragon Aspects take their power back to protect the four new zones on the Dragon Isles: the Waking Shores, Ohn’ahran Plains, Azure Span, and Thaldraszus. We’ll find out more about the plot as Blizzard adds the final story content to the current expansion, Shadowlands. At this time, there is no release date for Dragonflight.