Warbringers

Warbringers is a series of animated shorts serving as a prelude to Battle for Azeroth. It presents the tales of Jaina Proudmoore, Sylvanas Windrunner, and Queen Azshara during pivotal times in their lives. The teaser for the series was released July 16, 2018.

Descriptions
''War has a way of making—or unmaking—someone. Take the plunge into the lives of three iconic leaders from across Azeroth and learn more about what war has made of them.''


 * Warbringers - Jaina
 * Jaina Proudmoore has made many difficult decisions, but no choice weighs more heavily upon her than the decision to step aside when her father fought the Horde years ago. She believed then that he was consumed by irrational hatred. But now . . . she wonders if she should have listened.
 * A new war between the Alliance and the Horde rages across Azeroth. This time, Jaina will not stand aside.


 * Warbringers - Sylvanas
 * Sylvanas Windrunner, warchief of the Horde, leads her forces to victory against the night elves of Darnassus and moves to conquer their home: the World Tree, Teldrassil. But a chance encounter with a dying young ranger who questions her motives and tells her that she cannot win the war she is truly fighting—a war on life itself—leads Sylvanas to make a decision that will change the course of history on Azeroth.


 * In war, nothing is certain. In just one moment, a single action can determine victory or defeat. For Sylvanas Windrunner, warchief of the Horde, war has led her to many such moments—including one that will change the course of history on Azeroth.


 * Warbringers - Azshara
 * Ten thousand years ago, the lands of Azeroth were torn apart by the Sundering. As the continents cracked open and the ocean rushed in, the Highborne elves and their great queen, Azshara, seemed doomed to a watery grave. But what she found in the deep was not oblivion . . . but opportunity.


 * What would you do to save a people? For the great queen Azshara, it is within the deeps that she finds what she needs most: opportunity.

Locations
 

Warbringers: Jaina

 * Kalimdor
 * Dustwallow Marsh
 * Ruins of Theramore
 * Great Sea



Warbringers: Sylvanas

 * Eastern Kingdoms
 * Quel'Thalas
 * Eversong Woods
 * Kalimdor
 * Darkshore
 * Teldrassil



Warbringers: Azshara

 * Ancient Kalimdor
 * Zin-Azshari
 * Well of Eternity
 * Great Sea
 * Prison of N'Zoth

Songs

 * In Warbringers: Jaina, Jaina sings the Kul Tiran sea shanty "Daughter of the Sea". The lyrics and script were written by Robert Brooks.

In-game availability
All three shorts can be viewed as in-game cinematics within World of Warcraft.
 * Warbringers: Sylvanas originally played during The Guidance of Our Shan'do/Killer Queen, quests only available during the War of the Thorns event. It can also be viewed by speaking to Zidormi in Darkshore and selecting the "What happened here?" dialogue option. The flashback portion of the short plays during The Day Hope Died, part of the Heritage of the Sin'dorei questline.
 * Warbringers: Jaina plays as an in-game cinematic after turning in The Lord Admiral's Lament, which starts from the Lord Admiral's Footlocker in the Siege of Boralus.
 * Warbringers: Azshara can be viewed by interacting with the Memory of the Pact in Nazjatar.

Warbringers - Azshara

 * Directed by Doug Alexander
 * Art by Laurel Austin
 * Azshara voiced by Laura Post
 * N'zoth voiced by Darin De Paul
 * Voice directed by Andrea Toyias
 * Written by Robert Brooks
 * Music by Neal Acree and Cris Velasco
 * Vocal intro by Celica Soldream
 * Edited by Anna Morgan

Warbringers - Sylvanas

 * Directed by Mark Messenger
 * Music by Neal Acree
 * Sylvanas voiced by Patty Mattson
 * Delaryn voiced by Erica Lindbeck

Warbringers - Jaina

 * Directed by Doug Alexander Gregory
 * Music arranged by Neal Acree
 * Co-produced by Neal Acree
 * Song (guitar part/chords, vocal melody and vocal harmonies) by Logan Laflotte
 * Edited by Anna Morgan
 * Art and Illustration by Laurel Austin, Vasili Zorin, Jonathan Fletcher, and Yewon Park.
 * Lyrics and script written by Robert Brooks


 * English version
 * Jaina: Laura Bailey
 * Soloist: Dónal Kearney
 * Choir: M'ANAM


 * Russian version
 * Jaina:, known as Hellawes
 * Soloist: Mikhail Maslovskii
 * Choir: Sea shanty Sally Brown's Boys (Anton Platonov, Mikhail Maslovskii, Aleksandr Tsvetkov, Iakov Safronov)
 * Bass: Valerii Fedorenko, soloist and director of Moscow Chamber Musical Theatre


 * German version
 * Jaina: Pia Allgaier
 * Soloist: Patrick Roche
 * Choir: Stefan Thomas, Thomas Hohenberger, Dirk Lüdemann, Harin Lee, Frank Oliver Weißmann, Tommy Amper.


 * French version
 * Jaina: Nathalie Homs
 * Soloist: Vincent Heden
 * Choir: Arnaud Léonard, Guillaume Beaujolais, Michel Lerousseau


 * Italian version
 * Jaina: Mavi Felli
 * Soloist: Paolo De Santis
 * Choir: Diego Baldoin, Matteo Brusamonti, Francesco Mei, Leonardo Gajo, Alessandro Seccafieno


 * Spanish version
 * Jaina: Celia Vergara
 * Soloist: Daniel Millet
 * Choir: Fernando Rubio, Pedro Adarraga, Alfonso Baruque

Retcons and inconsistencies

 * In Warbringers, Jaina picked up the anchor-shaped necklace from the sword in Theramore, and gave it to the ferryman, who put it around his neck before disappearing. In Battle for Azeroth, Jaina is still in possession of the necklace, which can be seen around her neck.
 * In Warbringers, Sylvanas dies on an open field. In Chronicle, she dies slumped against a tree.
 * In the "Words of Wind and Earth", Azshara used Sharas'dal to create a magical shield. After it broke and the waters swallowed her, she used it to create light in the darkness and to warm herself, before finally drowning. Sharas'dal is not portrayed or mentioned in Warbringers, she creates the shield with only her hands. In the novel The Sundering, she made it with but her thoughts, an empty goblet of wine in her hand.
 * Compared with The Sundering, the palace scene in the Warbringers is changed, moving the moment Azshara accepted the deal with N'Zoth to a later point.
 * In the book, Azshara created the shield, having a short monologue. Then, the voices of the Old Gods promised to save Azshara while holding the shield, and she nodded at that. She and her followers started being transformed into naga before her shield finally broke, and they were swallowed by the waters. In Warbringers, she created the shield without saying anything. She then heard the feminine voice telling her to let go of the shield, but Azshara refused to give up, having a short monologue. After her shield broke, and Azshara was swallowed by the ocean, she and N'Zoth made a pact, then she transformed into a naga.
 * In the novels and in the "Words of Wind and Earth", Azshara was contacted by "the Old Gods", "creatures", or "entities", in plural, with multiple voices whispering to her. In Warbringers, she only communicates with N'Zoth.
 * Zin-Azshari's architecture looks different and more Greek-influenced in Warbringers than in the Chronicle artwork.
 * In the novels, Azshara expressed no remorse at her actions, in fact she had willingly tried to massacre the "lesser races", which included the non-Highborne night elves, and cleanse the world of their "imperfection". In Warbringers, she feels guilt, and regrets betraying her people.

Notes and trivia

 * On July 12, 2018, four days before the official announcement of Warbringers, the series was hinted at by the inclusion of several pieces of artwork from the shorts in the official 2019 World of Warcraft calendar.
 * Jaina's final words to her father were "why wouldn't you listen?" In the Battle for Azeroth announcement trailer narrated by Jaina, she opens with "My father once told me that peace was like a dream: Beautiful. Ephemeral. Unattainable. I didn't listen... No one listened." This leads to Warbringers where she exclaims "Father... I'm listening now".
 * The ship Jaina raised from the bottom of the sea seems to be the same one she later uses to reach Lordaeron Keep, and to sail from Stormwind City to Kul Tiras.
 * Warbringers: Azshara was revealed at gamescom 2018.
 * Jaina's giving of the pendant to the ferryman for 'passage' has a visual similarity in Greek mythology, where the souls of the dead who had received the rites of burial, pay the ferryman Charon to ferry them over the Rivers Styx and Acheron to reach the gates of the underworld.

Gallery

 * Screenshots