World of Warcraft’s new big bad plays spider politics in a new animation

World of Warcraft’s next expansion, The War Within, is on the way. In the lead up to the start of the Worldsoul Saga, Blizzard has released a new animation focusing on the Nerubian kingdom of Azj-Kahet. These spider people are having a rough time, but a helpful figure appears to offer a hand. I don’t see how this could go wrong!

We first met Xal’atath in Legion; she was imprisoned in a knife, and served as the Artifact weapon for Shadow Priests. We later freed Xal’atath from that knife, and she’s causing all sorts of problems. In this animation, we see her reach out to the Queen of Azj’Kahet, promising power and a return to glory. The Queen isn’t too interested in this pact, but her daughter is much more willing to seal the deal. One assassination later, and Xal’atath gets her alliance.

This sets up the story of the first raid of The War Within; we’ll be plunging deep into the Nerubian kingdoms and raiding the lair of this newly crowned Queen. However, Blizzard are clearly setting up Xal’atath as a long-running villain. We know that The War Within is the first expansion in a three-expansion story centered around the Worldsoul of Azeroth. Xal’atath isn’t an Old God, but she’s clearly aligned with The Void and the Black Empire in some way. Now, she’s possessing a dead elf’s corpse, and causing all sorts of trouble that will no doubt cascade and continue into Midnight and The Last Titan.

As for those players with arachnophobia, Blizzard is adding an accessibility feature that turns the in-game spiders into crabs. While this doesn’t affect cinematics, it should be a good way to help players plumb the depths of Azj’Kahet without being too terrified.

The War Within is set to release on August 26 on PC.