What Makes Us Strong

"What Makes Us Strong" is the introductory cinematic opening theme for World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth. It depicts the Battle for Lordaeron. The cinematic was first shown at BlizzCon 2017.

Locations

 * Eastern Kingdoms
 * Tirisfal Glades
 * Ruins of Lordaeron

Transcript

 * bossemote
 * As a result of the Burning of Teldrassil, the Alliance is invading the Undercity with siege towers. Anduin Wrynn and Greymane overlook the battle.
 * bossemote
 * Sylvanas and her forsaken archers continue to fire at the Alliance forces from the battlements.
 * bossemote
 * Down below, Varok Saurfang and other members of the Horde clash with the Alliance. Saurfang knocks back a footman with his axe, to which several night elf archers land several direct hits with their arrows, and Saurfang is wounded. Taking notice of the wavering Horde forces, Sylvanas leaps from the battlements and destroys one of the Alliance siege towers, then descends from the flaming wreckage and enters a banshee form, killing several footmen before unleashing a battle cry.
 * bossemote
 * Reinvigorated, Saurfang unleashes his own battle cry, then charges forward with several other Horde members - including Zekhan - and pushes back the Alliance forces.
 * bossemote
 * As Anduin and his forces engage several Horde soldiers on the field of battle, Saurfang manages to knock him to the ground with his axe, causing his helmet to fly off. Injured, Anduin looks back towards the battle to see Greymane attacking Saurfang.
 * bossemote
 * Greymane is incapacitated by a lightning bolt from Zekhan, and another troll warrior attempts to strike Anduin down. Anduin defends himself several times before finally slamming his assailant with Shalamayne. He looks around at the wavering Alliance forces, then looks towards the glowing light of his sword. Determined, Anduin throws Shalamayne to the ground, then reaches up into the air and calls upon the Light. A beam of holy magic descends from the sky, briefly stunning the Horde forces. The Light then begins to heal the wounded Alliance soldiers - including Greymane - forming a dome of light around the Alliance as they recover from the battle.
 * bossemote
 * As Sylvanas looks almost impressed by the display, the Alliance and Horde forces resume the battle.

Credits

 * Directed by Marc Messenger
 * Animation Supervisor: Ricardo Biriba
 * Animation Lead: Peter Starostin
 * Animators: Ronny Kim
 * Models: Chung Kan

Trivia

 * The cinematic contains more characters than had ever previously been created for a Blizzard high-end cinematic.
 * The cinematic was the last Warcraft project that Chris Metzen worked on before his retirement from Blizzard in September 2016.
 * WowCraft's episode 40 is a parody of this trailer.