Time

For the macro, see MACRO time.

“Unto you is charged the great task of keeping the purity of time. Know that there is only one true timeline, though there are those who would have it otherwise. You must protect it. Without the truth of time as it is meant to unfold, more will be lost than you can possibly imagine. The fabric of reality will unravel. It is a heavy task ― the base of all tasks of this world, for nothing can transpire without time.”

— Aman'Thul's Blessing of Nozdormu and the bronze dragonflight on

The Sands of Time in Hearthstone.

Time is a progression of instants. This movement is ordinarily perceived by mortals as regular and determinant, functioning much like a clockwork; yet perception does not dictate reality: time is chaotic, always in flux, and completely malleable, flowing like the sands of an hourglass. While there is an infinite number of timeways, according to the titan Aman'Thul, High Father of the Pantheon of Order, there is only "one true timeline", although some would have it otherwise, and without the truth of time as it is meant to unfold, the fabric of reality will unravel.

Time is a construct of Order and can sometimes move differently according to location. Alternate Draenor saw decades pass after the portal with Azeroth was closed while mere years happened elsewhere. The perception of time is also chaotic in the Shadowlands; to souls in the realm of Death, it can seem like eons have passed since they died whereas only a few months or years have elapsed in the world of the living. Living mortals which are influenced by the force of Order perceive time the way they do. Without a tether to their mortal plane, they no longer have the same perception. Nevertheless, time of some kind, apparently in a less linear way, seems to exist in the Shadowlands, as the Primus, before leaving his realm and disappearing, had an ally able to peer into the timeways to see every possible outcome for his military and its various tactics in order to determine the best possible ones.

According to Nozdormu the Dragon Aspect of Time, all that matters is this moment, and living in the moment itself is far more important than dwelling upon the past or future, serving as Time's First Lesson, and one should try not to get caught up in all the loose ends of Time's tangled web. Time itself is, from a certain perspective, an "illusion", in that the only true reality is the now, with every past moment being a memory, and every future moment a hope or fear that has not yet manifested. Nozdormu told Thrall that it was this quiet, the pause between breaths, the small moments of one's life in which one was receiving and learning rather than giving that made all beings what they truly were, and thereby gave them the strength for their greatest journeys.

Moving between different points in time is called time travel.

Characteristics

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”

— Mount Journal entry for  [Reins of the Time-Lost Proto-Drake]

The Sand Clock within the Caverns of Time.

In all known realms of the cosmos, time flows forward, ever forward. Chaotic energies in places like the Twisting Nether can affect how quickly it flows, but it only flows forward.

Once an event happens, it cannot be changed. These events and choices, made up of all creatures and forces in the cosmos, join together like a river, sharing the same reality. Different choices and different possibilities naturally spin off the river of time like small creeks and estuaries, ebbing and flowing for a while. If these shades of what could have been are left alone, they will eventually dissipate into nothing. If efforts are made to preserve them (or alter them), they can indeed remain in existence indefinitely. They can even be made to feed back into the main river—dead creatures can seemingly "live again," and the past (or future) may literally come back to haunt you. This is not a natural phenomenon, and the inhabitants of the main timeway will often find these experiences to be quite alarming.

But the only timeway that has a permanent effect on the cosmos is the main timeway. Creatures like the bronze dragons, who have command of temporal magic, can see all the countless tributaries of alternate universes and timelines, and they can even move back and forth along the stream to observe the past and the future. If that main river is disrupted, it could spell doom and disaster. All life on Azeroth depends on time to flow ever forward. Without the surety that the sun will rise and set each day, the seasons would not pass, the cycle of life would become meaningless, and all living creatures would eventually die from being unable to sustain themselves. It is the most sacred mission of the bronze dragonflight to keep that from happening.

Due to its damages, in Outland the passage of time feels different to members of the bronze dragonflight.

Apparently, all alternate versions of the same character (from different timeways and alternate realities) are more or less part of the same being, such as in the case with Draka, using an analogy of a rope with different threads which can be pulled off, but which "at some time come together to make that rope" - basically, alternate versions of various characters are able to exist as temporarily separate entities which lead separate existences for a while, but still basically part of the "same rope" which will all eventually come together in the Shadowlands.

Temporal energies are similar to music, with the latter able to influence the former.

Time elementals are, as their name implies, a type of elemental that embodies time. A manifestation of the sands of time itself within the Temporal Conflux, the Manifested Timeways is an ancient being always watching, always waiting for the moment when the Timeways are in peril.

Appearance

“Lost time is never found again. Oh, never mind I found it.”

— Chronormu

Nozdormu using time magic in Legacies.

Temporal magic manifests as a bronze or golden light.

Rarely, the essence of time can become crystallized to form an  [Epoch Stone]: golden mineral matter that radiates the weight of ages. To form, this mineral requires rapid passage through the eras. Its presence indicates that the place or the being in which the stone is found may not exist in one time at all, but shift rapidly from timeway to timeway.

Intrusive time-shifting of the infinite dragonflight creates tears in time itself, twisting it infinitely into crystallized essences.

Chronomancy

Chronomancy is the arcanic art of weaving time. Time magic is a young field of research. This discipline falls under the school of Transmutation, allowing the deceleration of events (through [Slow Fall] or [Slow]), the acceleration of events (through [Time Warp]), or returning you back to your previous location and health (through [Alter Time] or [Temporal Shield]) among other possibilities.

Chronowarden evokers can manipulate time, giving them glimpses of the future to speed their attacks or recalling echoes to revisit past actions. Specialization in bronze magic can cause instabilities due to the many future possibilities they constantly see.

To fulfill their duty of protecting the timeways, the agents of the Timewalkers may use a Timewalker Staff, an instrument for manipulating time magic as shepherding the timeways is a dangerous work. In their ranks, the Weavers are arcanists who specialize in chronomancy. Only they can repair damage to the timeways, open temporal portals, and other such tasks.

Modifying divination magic with temporal magic can allow one to see across time.

The Sands of Time can be used by skilled chronomancers to alter the course of time.

Influences

Bronze dragonflight

Empowered by the titan Aman'Thul's powers, the bronze dragons exist to keep the time stream inviolate and the order of events progressing as the fates intended. The Dragon Aspect Nozdormu and his bronze dragonflight are the guardians of time itself, and police the ever-spinning and interweaving pathways of fate and destiny. Ever since then, all who sought to disrupt the timestream flow faced the Great Aspect and his brood's forces known as the Keepers of Time.

While they can still travel the timeways, they don't have that perfect knowledge anymore since Deathwing's defeat. They could once see the past and future with perfect clarity, and all the countless tributaries of alternate universes and timelines. They've also lost the ability to control the flow of time.

Members of the bronze dragonflight can help adventurers time travel to older versions of some zones.

Emerald Dream

Time is meaningless inside the Emerald Dream. As a result, the green dragonflight, which spends the majority of its time in the Dream, is extremely long-lived. Ysera's consorts in particular almost never emerge from the Dream and are effectively immortal, as are all other permanent denizens in the Dream. As time and distance hold no meaning in this intangible realm, and a day in the physical world feels like decades in the Dream.

Twisting Nether

Time passes differently deep inside the Twisting Nether, and it is impossible to tell whether days, years, or centuries have passed. Turalyon and Alleria have fought in the Nether for a thousand years from their perspective, while on Azeroth it has been only a few decades. A week on Azeroth could be a month in the Nether, or ten or many, many more.

When the orcs entered the Nether they journeyed through time and space from another world to Azeroth. A spell that would cast one into the past was hardly that much different.

Immortality

Immortal creatures essentially stop aging when they reach adulthood, and thus, they cannot die merely from old age. It was Nozdormu's blessing on Nordrassil which conferred immortality, immunity to aging and disease, to the entire kaldorei race. Nozdormu has likewise blessed Xarantaur and Jonathan the Revelator with immortality.

Titans

With the titans intrinsically being aligned with the cosmic force of Order, some members of the Pantheon such as Aman'Thul have considerable mastery over time itself. The Eye of Aman'thul created the Nightwell, and Aman'Thul claimed that time was the one force capable of binding the "relentless fury" of Argus the Unmaker during their confrontation, attempting to collapse time around him and briefly dissipating his form, though his powers failed to truly subdue him. Aman'Thul's vision of the Old Gods one day causing the Hour of Twilight, capable of potentially wiping out all life on Azeroth, was one of the reasons the Pantheon empowered Nozdormu and the other Aspects with their powers, to ultimately avert this single catastrophe, although Aman'Thul for all his vast powers was not omniscient and was unaware Neltharion would eventually be corrupted into Deathwing.

Timewalkers

After the Dragon Aspects' loss of power following the fall of Deathwing, the bronze dragons required mortal help to police the timeways. Vowing to protect them at any cost, the Keepers of Time reformed themselves as the Timewalkers, a new faction comprised of both dragons and mortals. A proper Timewalker will never leave a temporal crisis half-resolved.

Vision of Time

The Vision of Time was an hourglass created by Kairozdormu with the Epoch Stones from the Timeless Isle and Sands of Time from the Hourglass of Time. During Garrosh's trial in Pandaria, Kairoz smashed the hourglass to bring Garrosh to Year -4 of an alternate universe Draenor. The Vision of Time and its shards can also be used to see through time by those without any particular knowledge of chronomancy.

Nightborne

Likely in part due to the Nightwell's connection to Aman'thul, the nightborne Elisande's mastery over temporal magic was said to rival that of the bronze dragonflight, and she was capable of placing an entire army of three elven groups into a long-term stasis, as well as stopping time and sending her enemies back into the recent past. Some nightborne guards as well as other elves such as Advisor Vandros, Tempomancer Virinya and Thalyssra herself also appear capable of using time magic (the latter casting a time stop spell to suspend Erasmus Moonblade in midair), notably to reverse damage and heal themselves as well as to increase the haste of their attacks, and it is even used to expedite their manufacturing of arcwine.

Naaru

Dimensional ships, such as the Exodar, are vessels created and operated by the naaru that can travel between worlds and dimensions, traversing the Twisting Nether just as normal ships traverse the air and sea, and warp time itself.

Old Gods

The Old Gods have appeared capable of disrupting the timeways, as their past interference in the War of the Ancients has demonstrated; it required Nozdormu's full concentration and strength to just barely hold their machinations at bay, and they are also responsible for eventually corrupting Nozdormu into his twisted future self of Murozond. It has been implied they are allied with the infinite dragonflight, as they worked together with N'Zoth's servants during the Cataclysm, and brought Aedelas Blackmoore from an alternate timeway into the main reality, where he slew Arygos to reanimate Chromatus. They also appear to be capable of constantly seeing all paths and possible futures, and embrace them all simultaneously as truth, in contrast with the Light, even being aware of the nathrezim's covert manipulations as detailed in  [Enemy Infiltration - Preface], with Il'gynoth, Corruption Reborn noting that "The cunning ones kneel before six masters, but serve only one".

Tailoring

Tailors can mend Time Rifts with  [Synchronous Thread]. Timeweaver Delormi is among a group known as the Synchronous Tailors.

Wildlife

Due to the infinite dragonflight attack on the Temporal Conflux in Thaldraszus on the Dragon Isles, unstable temporal energy was seeping into the Flowing Forest, and its bears, vorquin, ohuna, hornswogs, and salamanthers were infused with time magic, making them hostile.

Notes and trivia

• Ner'zhul had the gift of true visioning and all he had seen would come to pass.
• Velen has the ability to see possible futures.
• Loa are able to see the future and are even capable of showing it to their followers.
• The Burning Legion and the Old Gods burn holes in the fabric of the future.
• The demon lord Archimonde arrived in alternate Draenor, reaching across space and time, to ensure that the invasion of Azeroth proceeded as planned, and that Gul'dan did not fail his Legion masters.
• The North Wind was responsible for time going awry in eastern Storm Peaks, with time rifts being present that needed to be closed. The corrupt timeline was restored with The Lorehammer.
• The citizens of Azeroth seem to use the same Gregorian calendar as us, with months such as March, May, November, and October existing, along with weekdays such as Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday. On the other hand, the older Brann's Journal mentioned "Selune" as a spring month.
• In the Trading Card Game, the Sentry Totem card's description says: "Aided by the Spirit of Air, a shaman may be able to see faraway objects or events, whether the distance be physical or temporal."

Gallery

Hearthstone

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  Chronoacceleration

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  Chronomancer Inara

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  Double Time

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  Stolen Time

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  Time Rewinder

See also

•  [Destiny Driver]