Mists of Pandaria: New Wrathion voice files datamined

So, have you been wondering why exactly Wrathion's made an appearance in Pandaria? Datamining over the course of the past month or so has revealed several legendary quality items, and the possible existence of a quest chain for more details on what those legendary items are for. And of course this all ties back to our dear friend Wrathion, who has apparently been quite pleased with what he's seen so far in Pandaria.

But Wrathion, while a black dragon, isn't necessarily a bad guy. A bit short-tempered, yes. A creature you certainly wouldn't want to cross, absolutely. A black dragon with an agenda that benefits something other than himself? ... well, that actually seems kind of likely. MMO-Champion dug up some voice files for Wrathion and the apparent quest chain for those legendary items. The implications are utterly fascinating, both for current events in Mists of Pandaria, and for future patches as well.

Spoiler Warning: These voice files may contain big spoilers for Mists of Pandaria. If you are avoiding spoiler content, turn away.

Oddly enough, Wrathion's dialogue includes the line "My favorite assassin," indicating he is addressing a rogue that obtained the Fangs of the Father. Whether this means this is a rogue-only chain is yet to be discovered. It is just as possible that the line is something he slips in when he is talking to a rogue that has completed the legendaries, as an Easter Egg for those that finished that particular chain. For non-rogues or rogues that did not complete the chain, he might just omit the line altogether. Who knows?

And that's the other important thing to note, here. This is datamined material, and therefore may not even make it to the final release of the game. Please keep this in mind as you listen to the dialogue. After all, we had some important dialogue that never saw the light of day in Cataclysm, either -- it's entirely possible that's the case for this as well.

Whatever Wrathion's motives may be, it is clear that the last of the black dragonflight is not going to simply hide away and do nothing as he suggested he'd like to do in the legendary quest chain. Wrathion, it seems, is here to stay ... which is pretty amazing as far as I'm concerned, because he is one of the most fascinating new characters to come from the Cataclysm expansion.

It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!