Every week the Lore Watch podcast explores the story and lore of Blizzard titles including World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, or any other games that interest us. Join us for an in-depth look at the evolving stories of the games we all love. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Doom 's gore-fueled Hell was one of those games Tipper Gore woke up in cold sweats dreaming about in the 90s when they were all about censoring things for the good of the children. The story of Doom was initially a bit light on the ground (of Mars), being mostly just a vehicle for good ol fashioned wanton violence. But there have been so many entries in the series that now that Doom has several…
Lore Watch Podcast starts off with a dive into the lore of the Midsummer Fire Festival, particularly since so much was added over the past few years. How has this little event about a melting ice stone grown to reflect the culture of fire and summer in the different races? Then, we go back to the Shadowlands for the rest of the podcast. We start with actually getting there. If we were the only Maw…
Looking back and knowing what we do about Harandar and the deep roots of the World Trees, do we owe Fandral an apology in hindsight? Matt and Joe have a lot of lore to back up their answer, which is like 20 minutes worth of "lol, no." A stopped clock may be right twice a day, but it's still broken, and Fandral Staghelm didn't just ask us humbly for Morrowgrain. All bets are off when you try to…
In World of Warcraft , we've come across several shattered worlds, in varying degrees of obliteration. From Outland to K'aresh, these worlds have been corrupted with various forces, were shredded into near-oblivion, and some looked as though they may have some kind of shot at redemption against all odds. But what about their world souls? How does each world soul relate to the creation of these…
Lore Watch kicks off with a discussion from Diablo 4 this week, which breaks the seal on the Lord of Hatred spoilers. This question concerns the Chekov's Gun that was Neyrelle's lopped off arm. Matt and Joe discuss the possibility that Neyrelle isn't truly, fully dead, as through the lens of that arm, which apparently washed up on shore in Skovos, despite being cut off in a very different place.…
The lore of the games from Remedy and how the two series Alan Wake and Control are linked is the topic of this week's Lore Watch Podcast. Both games are about events that shift from what the main characters know to be true, into something which couldn't possibly be true, if what they already knew to be true was real. Both games have a sense of wrongness and eerieness — Alan Wake 's is more weird,…
The Loa of death Bwonsamdi is the first topic in this week's Lore Watch Podcast. Bwonsamdi was everywhere in Battle for Azeroth , even being a major driver of events in that expansion. But now that we have a whole Troll area packed with Loa in Midnight , he hasn't joined the party yet. Why? He seems like a party kind of guy. And where is he, if he isn't here, and what is he up to? Then, we move on…
This week we take a deep dive — pun obviously intended — into the lore and psychology of Azshara, the ruler of the Naga on Azeroth. But first, we have a lighthearted question from a listener, asking for the lore justification against being able to Skyride on the sad little ghost gryphon when you're dead. I agree. This feels extra bad. Clearly there must be a lore reason why we can't. Then we turn…
We start off Lore Watch this week wishing Mephisto a Happy Father's Day -- but are there any other fathers among the evils of Diablo ? Then, we pivot to World of Warcraft and another set of world-shaking entities. We saw what happened when we killed a Titan and kicked off Shadowlands , but what happens when a world soul dies? Do they just get to hang out in Ardenweald forever? Because that kinda…
This week, our hosts Matthew Rossi and Joe Perez are tackling the absolutely massive universe of Warhammer 40,000. It's so massive that they can only scratch the surface of it in the time they have, so this is a great primer of one big facet of the setting -- The God-Emperor of Man. They cover a bit of the Horus Heresy, all the way up to the current events happening in the universe. Who is the…
In this Diablo 4 spoiler-laden lorefest, Joe and Matt discuss the end of the campaign from Lord of Hatred and where it may lead next. The link between Lilith and Mephisto and us was a core element in Lord of Hatred , and we're discussing the nature of that link, and what that knife had to do with it, anyway. And speaking of that knife, where is Lilith now? Come to think of it, where was she at the…
Diablo 4 lore junkies are in for a treat this week as Matt and Joe run down a spoiler-filled recap and analysis of the story of the latest expansion, Lord of Hatred . Did I mention that it's spoiler filled? Because it's truly spoiler filled . From the shocking death in the opening cinematic Blizzard posted to the official YouTube channel, to the shocking death toward the end of the expansion, we…
Astalor Bloodsworn is the character at the center of the Midnight expansion's Prey feature, but this isn't the first time we've seen him. Matt, Joe, and Eric discuss his history, which dates back to the release of The Burning Crusade 20 years ago. They're answering listener questions this week, and the next topics diverge from that pretty wildly, examining how the WoW timeline gets a little wobbly…
We lead off the week with the history of the most important lore figure of all time to World of Warcraft : Millhouse Manastorm. From his incredibly auspicious beginnings to his even more auspicious middle, and the implausibly auspiciouser current machinations, Matt and Joe showcase this crucial figure in lore. What's after that is clearly less important, but eh, our listeners had some questions,…
A lot of our travels as Lorewalkers seem to revolve around what events are happening in World of Warcraft , and Childrens' Week is no exception. As we cart these vulnerable children around to various areas of incredible peril, it re-showed us several spots around Azeroth that made us say, "oh yeah, what was up with that?" Our frequent listener and question-asked scribbleigh asked us several…
If you could choose a high king for the Alliance, who would you choose? Because who... is the high king of the Alliance right now, anyway? That's the first question on the docket this week. Joe, Matt, and Eric also discussed the races they'd like to see again, or more in-depth. 'Member Yrel, you guys? Then, to close it out: as a massive, glowing font of power, was The Sunwell just always destined…
This week, Joe, Matt, and special guest Liz Harper read the newly released Diablo novel The Lost Horadrim by Matthew Kirby, and are here to share their thoughts. This is where I'd make a joke about that new book smell, but it's Diablo so I don't want to think about smelling anything. In terms of time, the book is set between the events of Diablo 3 and Diablo 4 , though this spans several decades…
Is Midnight the Elf-centric team-up expansion of our dreams, or what? That's the listener question which serves as our jumping off point this week. And our cohosts conclude: Yes, mostly! Indeed, Midnight is the elf-o-rama we've always wanted -- nay, deserved. Matt, Joe, and Eric point out some of their shared elf-y foibles (must we always have a singular, vulnerable font of power that serves as…
This week's Lore Watch Podcast takes us back in the day, with a couple questions that ask about lore from the vanilla days. We start off talking arcs. The Alliance has a great arc involving the Defias in their initial starting zone, which evolves to involve Lady Prestor in the middle levels, all the way up to Onyxia at cap. The Lore Watch crew discuss the various threads of the Horde narrative…
Comic book artist Sam Kieth passed away earlier this month as a result of Lewy Body dementia, so our Lore Watch Podcast team wanted to take an episode to talk about his impact on the genre and pop culture as a whole. Both Sam Kieth's art style and plotlines shaped comics as we moved into a more grimdark take on the old heroes. Sam's comic The Maxx put him on the map, and his collaboration with…
Joe, Matt, and Eric sat down this week to discuss the dragons of World of Warcraft , starting with their origins as proto-dragons, and all the way up through more modern politics. With many thanks for the great questions, we start off with proto-dragons: why do they call themselves that? Seems like they might call themselves "dragons" and come up with something new for those long-armed fellows.…
This week Joe and Eric were joined by Liz, and it was a great opportunity to begin discussing the abundance of Loa we've had in Midnight so far. Our cohosts discussed some of the ins and outs of becoming a Loa, and talked about what they thought they might be the Loa of one day, since none of them were nepo babied into the situation. After that they moved into Harandar and its relationship to the…
We love answering your questions, especially when it lets us don our tinfoil hat. Our first question this week was relatively straightforward: If you were to run a WoW TTRPG for a Horde campaign and an Alliance campaign, what would it be? With three hosts, there were six varied answers. We move from there to conflict among the Titans, and why some all-powerful beings might clash. Speaking of…
This week our usual crew of Joe, Matt, and Eric was joined by Liz to discuss William Gibson's novel Neuromancer . This 1984 novel was foundational to the cyberpunk genre in many ways, from establishing the grittiness of the setting all the way down to shaping the way this genre looks and feels across different types of media. The crew discuss themes through Neuromancer which are also inherent…
We thank our listeners and patrons for giving us another round of great questions, which we summarily answered and used as a diving board directly into the deep end of tin foil hat theories and speculation. First, who was the elf Xal'atath is currently using for a body? While we do have a pithy answer to this identity courtesy of a particular quest line, there's also a broader lore implication in…
Our readers dutifully sent in questions, and our three hosts -- Joe, Matt, and Eric -- gave them all the answers they could want, and more. They start off with a discussion on the music of WoW , spurred by the inclusion of Player Housing decor, and how Taurens all got drums. It evolves from there, to discuss how the themes present within in-game music mirror real life music characteristics. Then,…
Our listeners had a lot of questions for the Lore Watch crew this week, and they all center on Midnight , specifically the role of the Void and Old Gods. Is there another forgotten Old God waiting in the wings? Will all the Old Gods come back to wreak havoc during The Last Titan? Perhaps most tantalizingly in light of the events to come, with all this Void power at her command, what exactly is the…
As we make our way into the Midnight prepatch and beyond, Matt, Joe, and Eric take the opportunity to recap the lore of The War Within . In case you missed it -- or maybe missed some of the signs leading up to it, or through it -- we have the story. It starts with a literal bang, and the destruction of Dalaran. The implications of that, from how it affects the plot all the way to how it affects…
This week Joe is joined by our writer Eric O'Dea to discuss Blood Ties , the newest WoW novel. The events of Blood Ties happen between the end of The War Within but just before Midnight -- basically when we are right now. As such, there will be spoilers for both Blood Ties and a little bit of what we know happens in Midnight . Joe and Eric point out various details they found particularly…
This week Joe and Matt are answering another listener question, this time concerning Paladins, and how they serve as an intersection between the divine Light, and the Titans who shaped Azeroth. As you might imagine, the answer will span the cosmos, and go completely off the rails in the process. Paladins in particular serve as a mash-up between some Light power and Titanic power -- does that mean…
This week by special listener request, Matt and Joe are delving into Icewind Dale -- perhaps literally, because it involves the iconic character Drizzt Do'Urden, the Drow Ranger. Icewind Dale began simply as a region in Dungeons and Dragons , and then became the title of a series of three novels penned by R. A. Salvatore, with the first published in 1988 and the last in 1990, and then a video game…
Because it's Christmas, and on Christmas you get a little treat, Joe and Matt are discussing all the ways crossovers are used in comics. From KISS to that one time Doctor Doom was Santa, to more mundane crossovers, adding a different set of characters to an existing comic can add new life to a stale plot. This episode has it all, from Archie to Transformers , perhaps both at the same time, and…
Since Paladins were announced as the next class to join the roster in Diablo 4 in its next expansion Lord of Hatred -- and already playable with preorder -- Matt and Joe sat down this week to chat about both, but mostly Paladins and their history within the franchise. First, they dive into the place of Paladins within the franchise as contrasted by other classes. Blizzard seems to be cribbing…
In this birthday episode of Lore Watch, Joe gave Matt a gift, and let Matt talk about whatever called to him -- and that was the lore of The Outer Worlds . They discussed everyone's favorite Gilded Age throwback with minimal spoilers, talking about how the world itself is setup and constructed in this alternate version of earth. In this version of history, the robber baron tycoons who brought you…
Our listeners wanted to know about the legacy of the Troll raid. We've been killing those poor saps a lot -- just about every expansion in either raid or dungeon form, in fact, to the extent that "the Troll raid" is almost a meme. Midnight may be bringing us another chance to murder a whole bunch more Trolls, with rumors swirling about islands off the coast near Zul'Aman -- which, incidentally,…
This week we have four listener questions answered by our lore experts Joe and Matt. First, they discuss the Ethereals and what their timeline is in relation to the timeline on Azeroth. Has this race existed for years, decades, milennia -- or something different entirely. They pivoted to the dragons and their aspects, and how choice figures in. Chromie, for one, clearly got some element of choice…
As we make our way toward Midnight , Joe and Matt are making sure we know what we need to before the expansion launches. Chief among those things is the lore of Blood Elves. It starts with the Highborne and the schism between Night Elves and High Elves, which eventually led to the Blood Elves and the creation of the Sunwell. But ancient history isn't all. Joe and Matt also discuss some of the…
Because we aren't all constantly filled with existential dread, Joe and Matt are answering some deep questions asked by some of our listeners. The first concerns the afterlife in Diablo , namely where we all go when we die. Heaven and Hell aren't really in keeping with our religious afterlife paradigm, after all. Then, they're asked about what the moon or sun is, really, in WoW . This one is a…
As we head into Midnight , we know this act begins with a direct assault on the Sunwell. But what is the Sunwell? Our Loremasters Joe and Matt discuss the history of Xal'atath's next target. The Sunwell isn't even the only well of power to be found on Azeroth -- they discuss the Well of Eternity, and the Nightwell, too. This isn't the first time the Sunwell has been directly assaulted -- and…
In the first of three questions we answered this week, a listener wanted to know some of the influences our hosts Joe and Matt see in WoW from literature, movies, and myth, and they talked about a slew of varied media, from 60s sci-fi (no, not that one, though yes, that one) through comics. There are a lot of cultural touchstones and homages to explore in WoW . They also sort of explored the…
Matt and Joe sit down this week to discuss Vampire: The Masquerade : its lore, some of the source material that inspired it, and how it rippled vampires forward in pop culture. They break down what you need to know about the history of vampires in this setting, which goes back almost to the beginning of humans, so there's kind of a lot to discuss. Clans are the core concept to be aware of, as the…
Now that we've seen Lorewalking a bit, a listener asks the Lore Watch team what other events in Azeroth's history we should get to go visit through that system. While the listener suggests the War of the Three Hammers -- which Joe and Matt are on board with -- the response runs the gamut of Azeroth's history, from ancient events to a couple from WoW we just weren't there to see, all the way back…
The ultimate fight of The War Within , Dimensius is a hulking purple Void Lord, and several developer interviews have led us to believe he may be the last one. Or, at least, that's what two of our listeners asked about -- is he the last Void Lord? And if he is, what does that even mean? So Matt and Joe start off explaining the Void and Void Lords a bit, before making a turn -- in the way only Lore…
This week we're having a throwback episode from the Archives. Over a hundred episodes ago, Matt and Joe discussed what they would like to see from an elf-centric expansion, which is more or less coming to fruition with Midnight . They begin by talking about the lore behind elves in general, their historical origins as an offshoot of the Trolls, through the Night Elf schism with the High Elves,…
The topic of Forsaken Paladins is the meat in a three listener question sandwich this week. We start off with the idea of corruption, and just how the Old Gods managed to bend the kobolds eating Milly Osgood's grapes in Elwynn Forest to their will, being that they're generally not all that geographically adjacent. Besides which -- kobolds? Really? Then, the Forsaken Paladin discussion, which dives…
This week's show is devoted to two listener questions. The first asks what the Void fears, in reference to a line from our old pal Ve'nari who asserts that she knows what it is -- but doesn't let us in on the secret. Can Matt and Joe unravel the mystery posed by our Broker friend? They go down some twisting paths to discuss their way to the answer, including a lot of discussion of all the elves on…
Most people think of the 80s as a simple time full of big hair and scrunchies, but those of us who were into Dungeons and Dragons will remember the Satanic Panic, a period of time when parents were terrified that every piece of media was making their children evil. Our hosts Matt and Joe take a walk through a history they remember quite well, drawing from their own experiences as kids trying to…
Lore Watch this week explores three questions sent in by our listeners, all ending in answers we may see as we go forward into Midnight . First, they talk about the different types of magic -- specifically that Warlock magic stems from the Titans -- and why that knowledge didn't knock the socks clean off the Kirin Tor. Or maybe Xal'atath literally knocking those socks off also knocked some sense…
With the rigidity of the structure of the Kirin Tor and the Jedi Order, and their propensity for keeping secrets about power -- and sometimes that power for themselves -- there are a ton of parallels between these two organizations. Our hosts Matt and Joe dive deep into both the World of Warcraft universe and the Star Wars universe in order to compare and contrast the master light side wielders of…
While we’re all excited about the new trailer for Midnight from gamescom, Matt and Joe took this opportunity to discuss what narrative threads we may see in Midnight as a whole. They recap some of our adventures on K’aresh, discuss the order of what might be coming, plus what the nature of the energy-based Ethereals have to do with Azeroth. It’s a multi-faceted lore deep dive on the story up to…
