The War Within animated shorts

The War Within animated shorts is a series of animated shorts released as a prelude to World of Warcraft: The War Within. Unlike previous animated shorts series, no title beyond "The War Within" has been announced for the series as a whole, with each episode having an individual title instead. The first episode, Threads of Destiny, released on August 6, 2024.^[1] The second episode, Alleria: Light and Shadow, was released on August 15.^[2] Threads of Destiny plays in-game during the max-level [The War Within] campaign quest [80] Making of a Monster.

Videos

Description

Threads of Destiny

As the might of the Nerubian kingdom of Azj-Kahet falters, their queen must decide on the choices she’s willing to make to ensure her people’s survival.^[1]

Alleria Light and Shadow

This 5-minute fully animated short delves into Alleria’s deep connection with her sisters Sylvanas and Vereesa, her sacrifices for family and love, and her ultimate transformation into a weapon of the void. Watch as Alleria faces the darkness within and rises to defend the world she loves.

Characters

	Major	Minor	Mentioned
Threads of Destiny	Queen Neferess Queen Ansurek Xal'atath	Nerubian Evolved nerubian N'raqi	N'Zoth
Alleria: Light and Shadow	Alleria Windrunner	Sylvanas Windrunner Vereesa Windrunner Turalyon Arator the Redeemer Demon Voidscarred	Horde Alliance L'ura Lor'themar Theron

Credits

Threads of Destiny

Director: Ben Dai
Art Director: Jon Styles
Illustrations: Mooncolony^[3]
- Mooncolony Art Director: Arthur Bozonnet
- Mooncolony artists: Alex Alexandrov (Lead Artist), Yerbol Bulentayev, Dmitry Khrapovitsky, Gabriel Nagypal, Maximilian Degen, Tulio Brito, Max At, Marina Krivenko, Axel Sauerwald, Giby Joseph, Ahmed Maihope
- Mooncolony Production Team: Meghan Hamilton (Production Manager), Amy Paterson (Senior Art Producer), Katie Millar (Production Coordinator)^[4]
Music: Neal Acree
Voice of Ansurek: Elsie Lovelock
Voice of Xal'atath: Claudia Christian

Alleria Light and Shadow

Director: Mike Tyler
Executive producers: Christine Burmeister and Luke Yougman
Producer: Billie Segal
Art directors: Thibaud and Fanny Marguerie
Animation Team: Sun Creature Studio
Music: Neal Acree
Voice of Alleria Windrunner: Mara Junot
Voice of Sylvanas Windrunner: Patty Mattson
Voice of Vereesa Windrunner: Courtenay Taylor
Voice of Turalyon: Travis Willingham

Retcons and inconsistencies

Alleria: Light and Shadow

In the short, when Alleria is leaving Quel'Thalas to join the fight against the Old Horde in Lordaeron alongside the Alliance following the burning of Quel'Thalas, Sylvanas is angered by Alleria's abandonment of their homeland and family. However, in World of Warcraft: Sylvanas, she understood Alleria's reason for leaving and even encouraged her to go swiftly.^[5]
- In the same scene, Vereesa is absent as Alleria is leaving, whereas in Sylvanas, the youngest sister was present.
Presumably to identify him, Lor'themar Theron is shown wearing his modern World of Warcraft outfit during the Second War, which is a significant departure from the Farstrider attire worn by his comrades in the short and even himself in previous depictions of his Farstrider days.
Following Lore in Short, this is the second time Turalyon is shown looking more like his redesigned model from Legion (sans Naaru crystals on the armor) rather than how he was depicted during the Second War in Chronicle, Thousand Years of War, and Betrayal of the Guardian art. Tides of Darkness also describes him using a one-handed warhammer and shield during the war, whereas in the short he is only shown using a two-handed warhammer.^[6]
In Beyond the Dark Portal, Alleria is unable to say goodbye to her sisters on the eve of the crossing through the Dark Portal, so she instead instructs Verana to deliver pendants to Sylvanas and Vereesa.^[7] In the short, however, Vereesa is present with Alleria in Nethergarde Keep.