Loken

For information on how to defeat Loken in the Halls of Lightning, see Loken (tactics).

Loken
Title	Keeper
Gender	Male
Race	Titanic watcher (Giant)
Affiliation(s)	Iron army, Ulduar, Old Gods' forces
Former affiliation(s)	Pantheon of Order
Occupation	Keeper of Ulduar, Servitor of Yogg-Saron
Former occupation(s)	Prime designate of Azeroth, Chief jailor of Yogg-Saron
Location	Various
Status	Deceased (lore) Killable
Relative(s)	Thorim (brother), Sif (sister-in-law), Odyn (father),

Loken in World of Warcraft.

“My master has shown me the future, and you have no place in it.”

— Loken

Loken was one of the nine titanic keepers tasked by the Pantheon to watch over Azeroth in their absence. He betrayed his fellow keepers after succumbing to the whispers of the Old God Yogg-Saron, who was imprisoned in the depths of Ulduar. Loken's first kill, his brother Thorim's wife Sif, was accidental. It was his efforts to cover up the incident—and then to cover up the cover-up—that ultimately spiraled out of control. Loken's trickery left most of the other keepers incapacitated or dead, allowed him to take Odyn's title of Prime Designate, put Ulduar under his control, and unwittingly released Yogg-Saron's Curse of Flesh upon the titan-forged.

Desperate to prevent the titans from discovering everything he'd done, Loken pushed his own history of events by creating the Tribunal of Ages and made it so that no one could contact Algalon. Only Loken's death would trigger the signal to call Algalon to Azeroth; he assumed that Algalon would arrive and reoriginate the planet, destroying everything.

Loken laid dormant and complacent for thousands of years under Yogg-Saron's influence. Not long before the war against the Lich King, Yogg-Saron's power over the keepers in Ulduar increased, and it commanded Loken to begin creating an army from the Forge of Wills. With this army, he worked to undermine the titans' creations and attempt to free Yogg-Saron from its prison.

He was ultimately slain by Horde adventurers.

Biography

Ancient history

Loken was one of the keepers created by the Pantheon to lead the titan-forged armies against the Old Gods. He was given power by Norgannon. He and Mimiron battled and defeated Neptulon the Tidehunter.

Loken had an affair with Sif, the wife of his brother Thorim. Yogg-Saron, from its prison within Ulduar, muddled Loken's thoughts and made him lash out at Sif, scared at the thought of losing her, and he killed her by accident. Horrified at what he had done but too scared to tell Thorim the truth, Loken tricked Thorim into believing that it had been the work of Arngrim, the king of the frost giants, turning Thorim against his allies. Loken would stop the war between Thorim's and Arngrim's forces with an army he had created with the Forge of Wills, but unknown to Loken Yogg-Saron had planted the Curse of Flesh inside the forge, which would slowly convert titan-forged into flesh and could also spread to those forged before the curse was created.

After Thorim retreated to the Temple of Storms in despair, Loken was desperate to cover his actions, even if it meant using Yogg-Saron's power to do so, for if Algalon or the Pantheon ever found out, his life would be forfeit. He arranged the death of Mimiron, making it look like a lab accident, though Mimiron's mechagnome followers would create a new mechagnome body to house the keeper's soul. Loken subdued Hodir and Freya, corrupting them into complacency with Yogg-Saron. He convinced the titan-forged Helya to imprison Odyn, the Prime Designate, within his Halls of Valor, claiming the title of Prime Designate that Odyn had abandoned in the process. Loken expected Ra to come up from the south and investigate what was going on, but Ra never arrived. This is because he had discovered that the Pantheon was dead, killed by Sargeras, and had locked himself up in the Mogu'shan Vaults in despair. Afterward, Loken exiled all titan-forged from Ulduar and retreated into the depths of the complex.

The final two keepers were Tyr and Archaedas, who had seen what Loken did to the others and left before he could reach them, alongside their friend the giantess Ironaya and the earthen, mechagnomes, and vrykul of the Storm Peaks. Tyr and his allies stole the Discs of Norgannon, which record all history in the world, to investigate the extent of Loken's betrayal. Discovering the theft, Loken sent horrific monsters called C'Thraxxi after Tyr's group, but Tyr sacrificed his life to fight the creatures while his comrades escaped with the discs.

Terrified of what would happen if Tyr, Archaedas, and Ironaya showed the Discs to Algalon and revealed his treachery, Loken created the Tribunal of Ages and filled it with false information to cover his tracks. Almost all of the information contained within the Tribunal is false. Loken also altered the signal sent to Algalon so that no living being could contact him and he would only arrive upon Loken's death.

Awakening from dormancy

For thousands of years, the imprisoned Yogg-Saron was unable to do more than keeping the keepers, Loken included, quiet and complacent inside Ulduar. Its grasp on them was tenuous, and convincing them to directly help the Old God had proven fruitless in the past. It was not until Cho'gall of the Old God-worshiping Twilight's Hammer clan infiltrated Ulduar and weakened Yogg-Saron's chains that the entity's influence on the keepers increased, becoming strong as iron. Yogg-Saron commanded Loken to create a new army from the Forge of Wills. In Loken's hands, the forge churned out legions of iron dwarves and vrykul who sought only bloodshed and war.

Wrath of the Lich King

This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

Thorim and Loken during The Reckoning.

At the time of the war against the Lich King, Thorim finally discovered the truth and, with the aid of adventurers serving the Sons of Hodir, recovered his weapon and his armor, then brought war to his treacherous brother. However, it turned out to be an elaborate ruse perpetrated by Loken to lure him out of the Temple of Storms, where proximity to his dark master granted him the power to overcome Thorim's attack. He then captured and took Thorim and his proto-drake Veranus to Ulduar, so he could be driven mad by Yogg-Saron.

Loken utilized the services of Ignis the Furnace Master on at least two occasions. One was the transformation of Veranus, Thorim's proto-drake, into the plated monstrosity Razorscale. He also ordered the construction of Kologarn, the massive stone construct, to guard the Shattered Walkway that leads into the inner halls of Ulduar.

The "Algalon failsafe"?

When he was killed in the Halls of Lightning, Loken said that his death "heralds the end of this world", after which the map of Azeroth burst into fire and launched a beacon of light toward the sky. According to the Archivum Console in Ulduar, the "Algalon failsafe" - an automatic emergency signal following the death of the prime designate - was activated immediately following Loken's demise, resulting in the arrival of Algalon the Observer. The console then went on to explain:

"Destruction of prime designate is considered the first warning sign of systemic planetary failure. Algalon Observer entity's arrival is followed by planetary diagnostics resulting in one of two possible reply signals. Reply code Alpha: signaling all is well, and Reply code Omega: signaling planetary re-origination."

When asked to explain "re-origination", the Console replied:

"The decomposition of the planet and its living organisms into base elements: metals, rocks, gases. This is followed by a period of reconstitution of each element into the original planetary blueprint."

In other words, the Titans would destroy all of Azeroth and everything on it, then rebuild it from the raw materials left behind from that destruction - thus giving credence to the dire warning in Loken's dying breath.

Tribunal of Ages

The Tribunal of Ages is a false system created by Loken to cover up the crimes he had committed and is not based in historical fact.

According to the Tribunal of Ages, Loken — also known by various sources as "Keeper Loken", "Sentinel Loken", and "prime designate" — was named the supreme protector of Azeroth by the Pantheon, leading the aesir (storm giants) and vanir (earth giants) following the containment of the Old Gods. Along with his brother Thorim, the Stormlord, as well as Watchers Hodir, Freya, Mimir, and Tyr, Loken was designated as a guardian to watch over the prison of Yogg-Saron, deep within Ulduar. Over time, however, Loken succumbed to the whispers of the Old God and turned on his allies, taking control of Ulduar and seeking to unravel the plans of his former masters. At some point he provoked a global war to break out between the storm giants and earth giants, which was ended by Loken "neutralizing" them. After the conclusion of that war, Loken placed the earthen, giants, and vrykul into stasis at designated holding facilities (presumably, facilities like Uldaman or Ulduar).

Locations

Location	Level range	Reaction	Notes
Storm Peaks[34.6, 33.6]	25-30 Elite	Alliance Horde
Halls of Lightning	22-32 Boss	Alliance Horde	As the final boss.

Objective of

•  A Time of Wrath

Quotes

Quests

Main article: The Delicate Sound of Thunder#Notes

Main articles: Put on Your Best Face for Loken#Notes, Loken's Orders#Notes

Main article: The Reckoning (Storm Peaks)#Notes

Halls of Lightning encounter

Main article: Loken (tactics)#Quotes

Notes and trivia

• Loken is rumored to have created the  [Earthen Amulet].
• During the Purge of Dalaran, Archmage Lan'dalock summoned images of various Wrath of the Lich King-era bosses, Loken among them, to fight for him against the Horde.
• Hugh Glass—an insane human in the Grizzly Hills—claims that Loken is out to get him, saying You never know which tree he's hiding behind!
• Loken was presumably the keeper of the Temple of Wisdom; he can be found in the throne of the Temple during the confrontation with Thorim in  [25-30] The Reckoning.
•  [Loken's Tongue] was torn out by adventurers after his demise at their hands.
• Loken appears as a legendary warlock minion in the TITANS expansion. His flavor text reads: "Really great at his job! - Yogg-Saron"

Myth

Loken's name is likely based on Loki, the main trickster of Norse mythology. With Angrboda, he was the father of Fenrir, Jormungandr, and Hel. Although Loki is actually a jotun, he is a blood brother of Odin, and Odin, Thor, and Loki feature in many stories in Norse myth. However, Loki turns on the Aesir when he tricks blind Hodr into killing Balder (or Baldur), setting off the events that would lead to Ragnarök. At Ragnarök, Loki would lead the jotuns and inglorious dead into battle against the Aesir and the Einherjar (glorious dead), and there he would do battle with Heimdall, the watchmen of the gods, and both would slay each other. Interestingly, it's Loken's death that causes events in WoW to spiral out of control leading to the possible destruction of Azeroth.

Loken was also referred to as Kronus in the beta, which is a reference to Cronus, the first Titan of Greek mythology and father of several deities of the Greek pantheon. This may be an alternate name or a leftover from the alpha, before his name was finalized.

Gallery

• 

  A mural depicting Loken's corruption in Uldaman: Legacy of Tyr.
• 

  Loken, Jailer of Yogg-Saron in Hearthstone.
• 

  Deceit of Loken in Hearthstone.
• 

  Encroaching Insanity in Hearthstone.

Patch changes

• Patch 3.0.3 (2008-11-04): Added.
  

External links

Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB	Wowhead WoWDB