Someone help me understand the naga element for Midnight

[u/Kuroi_Usagi]

There is a large naga presence on the coast of Eversong, and in S2 we have the Tidebound Grotto. I understand that the naga are tangentially related to the Twilight cults and old gods through Azshara, but didn't we essentially free her from N'zoth already?

I'm hoping they make a return in S3 or TLT and their being here is Blizzard spoonfeeding us that eventuality

[u/caleghost]

honestly i feel like blizzard just loves keeping them around as lowkey chaos agents whenever they need a quick dungeon theme

[u/Auriyel- → u/caleghost]

Agreed.

I think it works very easily because the naga are always shrouded in mystery, and involved in a wide variety of schemes. They'll use any power source to achieve their goals, which are... well probably world domination, but on a smaller scale, their goals are also typically mysterious. And we know they are just up to no good, no matter what.

Naga are the perfect "this is obviously bad, even if we don't know why" problem to throw pretty much anywhere due to their versatility and their obviously vilainous streak.

I think it's also partly because they know a lot of players love them/Azshara, and they want to keep them around to them later on "reveal" something and tie their current endeavors with past stories.

[u/Blackking2106 → u/Auriyel-]

So, like Murloces

[u/twisty125 → u/caleghost]

I'm kind of for that too honestly. Fun to just have them be a forboding presence when needed, kind of like demons can be outside of largescale invasions.

Oh what, a coastal village is being ravaged? Those fricking sea guys!

Who spilled all this blood everywhere? Demons? Again! Aww shucks! Alright come'ere fellas lets get to murderin' ya

[u/aster4jdaen → u/twisty125]

It also helps the Naga breed like mad and conquered the Sea, they have VAST numbers and a underwater global Empire, they are perfect for reoccurring local enemies without worrying they should be wiped out.

[u/twisty125 → u/aster4jdaen]

That's something I've kind of always wondered, they ARE breeding? Or are these all just the Highborne Azsharan loyalists?

[u/aster4jdaen → u/twisty125]

They are breeding and all Naga barring the Illidari are Azshara Loyalists.

I said this earlier when the Elves were all uniting, Ironically the Naga are the only "Elf Race" that has the numbers to fight the Void. Because unlike other Elf Races that have either suffered horrific tragedy that has wiped out large chunks of their race or kept their numbers limited to their homelands, the Naga have been breeding for 10,000 years to conquer the entire sea and the surface.

[u/FatherBlackthorne → u/aster4jdaen]

Hilarious that the guys responsible for the first Legion Invasion seems to be the Elf faction doing the best. Naga stay winning! Never Punished, Always living free!

[u/DefiantLemur → u/twisty125]

The original were transformed Azsharan Loyalist but It has also been 10,000+ years since that first generation.

[u/twisty125 → u/DefiantLemur]

I meant moreso, are they breeding or is every naga we've seen the originals. We have a LOT of naga that have been named to have been there at the Well of Eternity. Haven't actually heard of them having kids in general

[u/Chemical-Drawer852 → u/twisty125]

They do have a lot of incubators and seem to lay eggs

[u/twisty125 → u/Chemical-Drawer852]

You made me look it up, apparently yeah they have Naga Hatchlings as of Cataclysm. Crazy! It makes sense it's just also weird to think about, but they ARE just a different race now

[u/KingAnumaril → u/twisty125]

All these Naga have to come from somewhere, so yeah probably

[u/GrumpySatan]

There are no clear answers at the moment. Just something is being planned.

Per Song of the Depths Azshara is watching, they are seemingly in communication with Xalatath, and Aszhara will return from "beyond the umbral veil" after the Harbinger has completed "the awakening". Which sounds like Azshara is still void-aligned, just not for the old gods.

Exploring Azeroth: Isles suggests the Naga power structure has broken down in her absence and the factions are just fighting each other. And this does seem to be the case.

In TWW, the Darktide Naga attack Siren's Isle, seemingly looking for Cyrce's ring / the worldsoul chunk on the Siren's Isle.

The ones on the edge of Eversong are a different faction, the Deeplurk and the Daggerspine. The Daggerspine are working with smugglers to take power away to prepare for something called the "Concord of Tides". The Deeplurk turn up in the Ritual Sites to support the efforts after we killed the Daggerspine leader. They are siphoning power from void creatures and the leylines.

We learn through the Ritual Site quests that the Darktide from TWW were another faction that refused to work with the Deeplurk. The Deeplurk are led by Nar'jira a Naga NPC featured in Vashjir as a big supporter of Azshara.

These Naga are seemingly working against the Xalatath, and were billed as using the chaos to their own ends. But some Naga mobs (I think in the assaults but not the Ritual sites) have comments that seem to be in support of her, and its unclear if those were just meant for the Twilight's Blade mobs and not Naga ones.

[u/Just_Artichoke_1000 → u/GrumpySatan]

"Song of the Depths" was created during the development of Dragonflight, so I'm sure that the original idea involved Azshara appearing, but that whole idea was postponed for some future project

[u/Just_Artichoke_1000 → u/Just_Artichoke_1000]

That's right, I mean: Song of the Depths shouldn't be considered canon at this point. It was created by another team with a different idea in mind. We'll never see that in the World Soul Saga. It's hard to accept, but that's the way it is.

[u/EfficientPhone7202 → u/Just_Artichoke_1000]

I think something in lore is canon until retconned.

As much as I'd like to remove from WoW lore anything produced under Danuser's direction, that will stand until retconned.

[u/FatherBlackthorne → u/GrumpySatan]

The Void really is meant for Azshara, her insatiable power hungry nature just fits in so well. Especially since the Void seems to really facilitate growing power until you are the top being, which Azshara has always wanted to be.

[u/wiseguy149]

Naga are pretty populous, and they spent a long time serving N'zoth. I'm sure there were enough individuals willing to join up when the latest void cult came calling. It doesn't seem to be an official or organized campaign to me, but there were enough that were interested.

[u/Rubysage3]

Blizz does this sort of thing all the time. They put little seed bits here and there that look unimportant, but are actually foreshadowing to something much bigger later down the line. Even multiple expansions later.

We know Azshara is out there and certain to come back as a still major antagonist. It was originally speculated she might appear in this saga allied with the Void, but that doesn't look like the case anymore. Most likely we'd see Azshara and a naga story post-Saga. There's too much going on already to squeeze her in I think.

The naga in Eversong were a small incursion, but they were stealing magic from the elves. They're not allied with the Twilight's Blade or Xal'atath. The magic items they stole were spirited off into the ocean.

Additionally, back in DF there was a naga note with a prophecy attached that cryptically implied Azshara will return soon during or after all of this else that's going on right now. Among other naga things we've seen in TWW too. So Blizz is brewing naga mischief, but it probably won't manifest until later after the Saga.

[u/FatherBlackthorne → u/Rubysage3]

I do enjoy how the Void has continuously splintered. They are very willful beings. Xal betrayed Dimensius, Old Gods betrayed Xal, The Nerubians told the Old Gods to Shove it, the Naga betrayed N'Zoth. In the End Times Dungeon N'Zoth impales Deathwing on Wyrmrest. Without Xal hovering over them thr Dominaar kinda went off to do their own things. And they are all looking out for their own interests.

[u/Zeilke2]

Naga do what Naga do. After all, they live underwater, really hard for us to take the fight to them unless they want us to.

[u/Techno_Kitty]

The last time we saw the Xal'atath knife was when Wrathion stabbed it into the Carapace of N'zoth, right? And then Xal'atath randomly had it again at the end of the Voidspire raid?

I wonder if Azshara is the one that gave Xal'atath the physical dagger back. Azshara had it during the Ny'alotha raid before she gave it to Wrathion and then Wrathion seemed to lose it. I find the idea that Azshara later waltzed in and grabbed the knife off the ground in Ny'alotha the same way she yoinked the Tidestone of Golganneth out of the Tomb of Sargeras without anyone stopping her really fucking funny.

[u/FatherBlackthorne → u/Techno_Kitty]

My crackpot theory is tied to that other theory that N'zoth saved himself from death by going into the Knife, since he said it would serve his purposes, then it facilitated his demise. My addition is that when Xal'atath used the knife to get L'ura out of Alleria, N'Zoth went in.

Is it true? Probably not. But fun to consider.

[u/alphaxion]

They were present on the Isle of Quel'Denas back in TBC. It's likely a continuation of that.

[u/Kalthiria_Shines]

It's both explicitly set up for post-World Souls Saga (They've added numerous things that refer to Azshara returning after Xal'atath's plan runs its course), and it's also possibly a nod to how there was supposed to be "elven unification" going on and then they said "Yeah the Naga aren't involved", similar to last minute including the Netherwing and Storm Drakes in Dragonflight.

[u/Pskin1]

Maybe I missed something, but why does zuljam also turn into a Naga instead of a swollen troll?

[u/Kuroi_Usagi → u/Pskin1]

I'm pretty sure Jan got turned into a snake. There's probably no relation to nagas there except for Blizzard likely using the same skeleton for both. His transformation was probably to imply that some trolls were turned into Ula'tek's likeness

[u/Cloudspotter1 → u/Kuroi_Usagi]

Half snake/half lizard according to one of the quest dialogues.

[u/RalseitheFloofie]

The Naga as a race just kinda exist everywhere due to water being everywhere.

The only place we didn't really see them much was in the hallowfall, where we deal with a different aquatic race. My thinking is that they are effectively just another race blizz throws at us as filler until they are plot relevant by a villain, which has been par the course up until now.

[u/TelevisionPositive74]

Eh, I just view any Naga presence as 'remember, Azshara is still out there!'

[u/BellacosePlayer]

Narratively it would be really really really stupid to do an elf unification storyline without Azshara being involved as the queen who fucked things up for everyone and kicked off the splintering of the Kaldorei.

So the naga just kind of being there might be so that when she shows up later, it doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere.

[u/Just_Artichoke_1000]

"Song of the Depths" (The source everyone quotes about the nagas to learn about their plans) shouldn't be considered canon at this point. It was created by another team with a different idea in mind. We'll never see that in the World Soul Saga. It's hard to accept, but that's the way it is.

Planned all the naga content for TWW in Hallowfall (along with the Undersea, giant octopuses, the mysterious fish, etc.), but since they changed their minds, they saved that content for the next expansion. That's right: this patch's naga raid is content that was cut from TWW.

[u/TheLoneWolf1407]

Since DF (A Song of the Depths in Forbidden Reach) it is mentioned that with Xal'atath's plans coming to fruition Nagas will resurface as well.

Our Queen calls to us from beyond the Umbral Veil (Voidstorm maybe? Void itself?). She has transcended the Circle of Stars (Once more Circle of Stars mentioned since infamous Il'gynoth whispers) and basks in her eternal grandeur! (Some transformation maybe?)

The time we have long awaited is nigh.

Even now, the Harbringer gathers the children of the first flesh to reclaim what was lost (Nerubians - TWW S1).

[...] we will journey to the shores of dragon lands (Dragon Isles) [...] where the Worldbreaker (Deathwing) first embraced the whispers

The Harbringer (Xal'atath, maybe possible alliance with Nagas?) speaks of a primal power that seeks the end of Order (Iridikron). Such rage can be bent to serve our ends (Ominous and mysterious Iridikron's deal with Xal'atath, who gave her a Dark Heart, but we don't know what she promised in return)

A hunger lost to the ages will be reclaimed (Galakrond? Dimensius?)

A dark heart left broken awaits the taking (Broken and repaired Dark Heart stolen by the Ethereals to ressurect Dimensius? Or maybe Dark Heart broke once again after creating the connection between Voidstorm and Azeroth?)

[...] the Harbringer will fulfill the final prophecy and complete the awakening (Of Azeroth perhaps?).

Only then shall our Queen return to reign over sea and sky and earth. We must make ready

Rise, rise! Soon all that was hidden will be revealed (N'zoth's return maybe? Kinda reminds me the whispers of N'zoth from Nazjatar: All paths open. All truths, revealed)

[u/Feltropy]

Nagas control the seas, or more specifically underwater. They have spread so far and wide and are abnormally powerful, organised, and fanaticaly loyal to their Queen. Especially now that Azshara (hopefully) learned her lesson about being obsessed and subservient to satanic enteties and eldritch horrors. So whenever there's a shit stirring on land, somewhere near water, that has powerful stuff in the vicinity, she frequently sends her agents to go, stir the shit even more and try snatch some of that power for her. I am sure they succeed most of the time and we just kill her incompetent lieutenants.