Embrace

This article is about the event. For the short story of the same name, see The Embrace.

The Embrace in World of Warcraft.

An artistic depiction of the Embrace, representing the moons as elf-like beings.

The Embrace is an extraordinary celestial event when Azeroth's two moons — the White Lady and Blue Child — are in an extremely rare conjunction, happening approximately once every four hundred and thirty years. It is so named because it appears that the Mother is holding the Child.

Archmage Khadgar was told that a new Dragon Aspect is selected by a vote of the entire flight during a sacred ceremony known as the Embrace. Following the defeat of Deathwing and the loss of the Aspects' power, however, the transfer of leadership has become a less stately affair.

Background

Mythology

According to one Azerothian legend, Embraces occur when the Blue Child reunites with her mother after spending time away from Azeroth to explore the universe. The first time the Child left, the White Lady grew fearful and angry. She first showed this by turning her face away from the world to wait for her Child's return, causing chaos on Azeroth until the Lady's friends, the stars, suggested that the Child might be lost and would return if she saw her mother's light. The Lady returned to her old position in the sky, but eventually grew fearful again and started moving closer to Azeroth until she outshone the sun, depriving Azeroth of night and once again throwing the world into turmoil. The song of a human mother grieving for her dying child caused the Lady to realize that she was harming Azeroth's people, including other mothers who also loved their children, and so dimmed her light and retreated.

After a very long time, the Blue Child suddenly returned and leaped into her mother's embrace. The joy this caused was greater than any seen in the skies before or since, and the two moons' combined light stretched across the sky "like the love connecting all parents and children". The Lady realized that by going off alone, the Child had grown into a person all her own, rather than simply being a mother's daughter. She also realized that the Child would one day grow restless and leave again, but that she would always return when she was ready. Thus, most people on Azeroth will never see the White Lady embrace the Blue Child, but when they do reunite, the sky is luminous with their joy.

The Dragon Aspects

According to legend, the Dragon Aspects were first created during an occurrence of the Embrace.

As the blue dragonflight debated how to appoint a new Aspect of Magic to replace Malygos, one popular theory espoused that this celestial event was important to that task. Some felt it was crucial to the proper working of the magic necessary to facilitate the alteration of a normal blue dragon into an Aspect. Others simply deemed it good timing. Arygos argued that the ability to become an Aspect may be in the blood.

It turned out that neither bloodline nor intellect was important to the process. During the following Embrace, Arygos acted with brashness and arrogance, while Kalecgos simply beheld the beauty of the Embrace with the other dragons. The wonderment of the Embrace came from grace and rarity rather than the offering of dominance or power. Its light shown down on those gathered at the Nexus, causing them to glow with magic. As the radiance faded from them, it intensified around Kalecgos, bestowing him with the powers of an Aspect. In the same vein as the name of the celestial phenomenon, the ritual was about the heart of the blue dragonflight and what they felt.

Notes

• Cordressa Briarbow states in Before the Storm that five years had passed since the Embrace.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Neither Dawn of the Aspects nor Chronicle Volume 1 mention the Embrace event. The legend may be a part of the cover in which the Dragon Aspects decided to hide the truth about Galakrond and the creation of the Aspects. However, the fact that Kalec did indeed get his Aspect powers during the Embrace may mean there is some truth to it, even if the detail was not mentioned in Dawn of the Aspects or Chronicle.