User:Akaria/Theories/The Unending Cycle

The Unending Cycle (Aman'Thul / Ul'Mathan / Primus)
Title	Highfather of the Pantheon, Lord of Fate, Leader of the Necrolords
Gender	Male
Race	First One
Affiliation(s)	Pantheon of Order, Void Lords, Eternal Ones
Location	Everywhere
Status	Always

This article is fan fiction.
The contents herein are entirely player made and in no way represent official Warcraft lore or history. The characters and events listed are of an independent nature and are applied for roleplaying purposes only.

“You know not what you have done. Aman'Thul... What I... have... seen...”

— Murozond upon his defeat in End 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”

— Aman'Thul to Nozdormu, giving the Blessing of the Timeless One before his fall to the Void.

“See truth through deception”

— Voice of the Primus

The Unending Cycle

The Infinity Serpent, a symbol of the First Ones

The Unending Cycle is the final culmination of a First One who, in time, represented the Pantheons of Order, Void, and Death. The Unending Cycle's existence is a paradox, for using their mastery over Time, they created themselves from their own essence. Awakening from the shell of a dying world, Aman'Thul rose as the first Incarnation of The Unending Cycle. Aman'Thul reigned as Highfather of the Titans until his eventual fall into the Void, where he became consumed and arose as The Void Lord Ul'Mathan. His reign as Void Lord of Fate did not last, as upon the Void Lords' defeat, he began to fully understand the timeways he studied for eons. Resigning himself, Ul'mathan laid down his mantle of Void Lord and moved into his final incarnation, Primus. When all reality had settled, Primus once again left the timeways, returning to his beginning, imbuing a dead world with his lifeforce, the final vestiges of The Unending Cycle's conscious waking themselves up to begin the cycle again.

Aman'Thul

Aman'Thul has a vision of a Void-corrupted soul, and the Betrayal of Sargeras.

Shortly after the creation of the Cosmos, the first planets began to form in the Great Dark Beyond. One such lifeless planet was chosen by The Unending Cycle, and their lifeforce was transferred into the world. Using the last vestiges of their conscious, they awoke the newly-born world soul. Aman'Thul rose from the crust and peered out into the Cosmos, vast and empty. Feeling he couldn't be alone, the fledgling First One set out to find others like him. As Aman'Thul explored the Cosmos, he found several worlds with world-souls slumbering within. He nurtured these world souls into maturity, and gathering these newborn Titans, he created the Pantheon.

As his adventures uncovered more and more worlds and world souls, Aman'Thul's understanding of his own powers and abilities grew greatly. With his innate control of time, Aman'thul began to delve into seeing through time and space. But he quickly became cautious, foreseeing that his abilities could lead to abusing his powers to control the timeline if he saw something he didn't like. He avoided using his powers too much, but the temptation to look and see too deeply haunted him. As the ages passed, and more joined his Pantheon, the master of time became more and more tempted to peer into the timeways, until he eventually caved, and saw a terrible fate.

Aman'Thul saw a void-corrupted World Soul and saw Sargeras destroying it along with the rest of the Pantheon. Distraught with the future he saw, Aman'Thul peered further, looking through all timeliness for a way to prevent it. The timeways unraveled in his mind, revealing the secrets of the Light and of the Void, revealing the farthest timeline and the beginning and ending of all. All of time and space now laid bare before the young First One, and he desperately searched for a solution to his problem. Aman'Thul searched every possibility, but while he found some where he could foil Sargeras' or the Void Lord's plans, he could not find a timeline where everything worked out perfectly to what he wanted. It appeared to Aman'Thul that the best outcomes could only come if he gave in, and manipulated time to his desires.

Broken by his visions, Aman'Thul fell to the temptation of the Void and he reached deep into it, finding the Void Lords. He saw how he could serve their cause, manipulating time and events to his will. He would control Fate, and all would happen according to his will. He would take the infinite possibilities and turn them to serve his own vision for the universe. The Titan Aman'Thul fell and the Void Lord of Fate, Ul'Mathan, was born.

Ul'Mathan

Ul'Mathan's War, spreading the Void across the entirety of the Cosmos.

Ul'Mathan took up his new charge as Void Lord of Fate with much remorse at first. He believed his actions were necessary to the longevity of existence itself. Perhaps through the care of the Void Lords, the universe would be able to survive and thrive, with his infinite guidance. Ul'Mathan knew what had to happen, and how he could use each event to his advantage. He showed the Void Lords the way to the Great Dark, and how to discover and corrupt World Souls. While some would be lost to Sargeras' crusade, others would be born as Void Titans, powerful tools to be used by the Void Lords. When the time for the Champion of the Pantheon to betray his allies, Ul'Mathan used his powers to trick the other Fallen Titan into believing he had destroyed Aman'Thul. Leaving an echo of himself behind for Sargeras to torment, Ul'Mathan left to join with the Void Lords in the spreading of their will across the cosmos.

While the threat of the Pantheon was extinguished, Sargeras' new legion of demons soon became another threat to rival it. Ul'Mathan saw this and used this knowledge to lure the forces of the Light to see this Legion and their crusade. With the forces of Light and Disorder waging war, few were able to challenge the growth of the Void's power. When brave adventurers from the world of Azeroth confronted the Legion on the world of Argus, they freed the Pantheon from their captivity and Ul'Mathan returned to the guise of his past incarnation to see his final plans for them come into fruition. He manipulated the newly revived Pantheon to entrap Sargeras, spending their energy and effort to keep him captive for all of time. Once again, leaving an echo of himself to disguise his leaving, Ul'Mathan had taken care of another cosmic force that threatened his iron hold over the cosmos.

Of the five cosmic forces that rivaled the Void, only one remained as a threat. The forces of Disorder were wiped out by the Army of the Light and the mortal adventurers. The forces of Order were occupied with the imprisonment of Sargeras. The forces of Light had been decimated during their war with the Burning Legion. Finally, the forces of Death seemed to have conviently broken into an all out civil war amongst themselves. The only ones that remained a threat to the Void's dominion of all, were the forces of Life.

While the forces of Life simply watched the other cosmic forces unravel, sending only minor aid to the various realms, the forces of the Void built up their strength and were ready for an all out conquest. Ul'Mathan lead the siege against the Gardens of Life, bathing the plane in Void energies as his forces flooded the realm. The Gardens defended itself valiantly, and quickly received unexpected aid from the mortal champions of Azeroth, along with what remained of the depleted forces from the Shadowlands and the Army of the Light. Though Ul'Mathan's initial assault was a resounding success, his identity and treachery to the Pantheon was revealed. With this new revelation about their former Highfather, the Pantheon sent what resources they could muster to fight in Ul'Mathan's War. Using his sight to see how to win this conquest, Ul'Mathan only foresaw his defeat. The false Void Lord accepted this fate, as he knew through his death, themost elusive truths of time itself would finally be revealed to him. It was at the hands of the mortal adventurers, aided by the cosmic powers from Life, Light, Death, and Order, that turned the tide in Ul'Mathan's War, bringing the First One to his knees in defeat.

As he lay dying, Ul'Mathan finally saw past the spiraling cyclone of timeways, to the secrets that held everything together. In this, Ul'Mathan saw his true identity as a First One, and how The Unending Cycle was a fate he could not avoid as it was him who first set it into motion so long ago. And when death claimed the First One, it was not the end. In death, Ul'Mathan saw the final truth: that time itself was a mere illusion. Ul'Mathan let go of his past, present, and future, and simply gave in to existence as a whole, outside of time, outside of comprehension, as The Unending Cycle. It was in this state that The Unending Cycle began to build that which would become all. He fashioned the sacred realm of Zereth Mortis and created a new Pantheon to reign over the realms of death, from beyond the reach of time itself. To The Unending Cycle the past in which he saw these Eternal Ones, and the future in which they were created in was one and the same. When the Pantheon was finished, he set them to their realms, taking the dying world that he once rose out of ages ago, and fashioning a new land from it. The land built upon the First One's own corpse was named Maldraxxus, and The Unending Cycle took form as an Eternal One in his final incarnation, The Primus.

Primus

Maldraxxus: A new kingdom, built atop the remains of its ruler's previous body.

Primus took his position among the other Eternal Ones that he created. Knowing what was to come, with the betrayal of Zovaal and his capture and transformation into the Runecarver, he could not risk the knowledge of the First Ones being discovered by Zovaal or Denathrius. He extracted his ancient memories and sealed them away deep in the Sepulcher of the First Ones, entrusting the Attendants to keep the location a secret, informing them that the location would only be revealed when the time is right. With his memories extracted, left only with the knowledge he knew as an Eternal One, Primus took his place among the rulers of the afterlife.

As eons passed, The Primus sought out more knowledge on how to uncover the secrets of strategy, and began to explore the timeways as a way to learn the infinite strategies available through it. Reaching out into the cosmos, seeking a force to show him the way, he tapped into an ancient memory from his time as Aman'Thul, Highfather of the Pantheon. Not realizing it was a memory, The Primus mistook it for an ally giving him guidance in his search for knowledge of time. He used the knowledge, quickly learning that he had a natural talent for these abilities. Peering into the timeways, he discovered what he was seeking, but also learned much more of the universe as a whole, and how manipulation of the timelines could lead to great power and great disaster. As The Primus learned more, he contemplated using this power, much as his former incarnation was doing. Before he fell to the temptation though, Zovaal laid his trap, and Primus was abducted and his memories stolen. Zovaal looked through his memories and found this peerage through time. Studying it closely, Zovaal was able to understand what was to come, and he began setting his own plans in motion to manipulate the timeline.

Zovaal's plans and manipulations succeeded without flaw, giving him a sense of invincibility. He broke free from The Maw, and made his way through the Shadowlands, all the way to Sepulcher of the First Ones, seeking the forbidden knowledge he believed he could find there. It was at the Sepulcher, however, that Zovaal met his demise to a group of heroes who hailed from Azeroth, braving the lands of death to prevent Zovaal's plans from coming into fruition. The Primus, now freed by the adventurers, followed them into the Sepulcher but quickly felt that the sacred place was not to be meddled with. But over time, the temptations grew, and after another eon of resisting, The Primus finally gave in and sought out the secrets within. Despite his expectation of the Attendants stopping his search, they allowed him past unobstructed. Thinking that it must be fate, The Primus reached the secrets he sought, and discovered a cache of his own memories, hidden away since the very beginning of creation. When he reclaimed his memories, he finally understood how everything connected together. It was the echos of his old memories that led Zovaal to the Sepulcher, an event that was predestined long ago.

As The Primus once again understood all, he removed himself from the timeline once again, leaving behind an echo of himself to preside over Maldraxxus for all eternity. As time began to settle around him, he traveled back to shortly after the creation of the Cosmos. The Primus chose a lifeless planet, and began to transfer all his lifeforce into the world. Using the last vestiges of his conscious, Primus awoke the newly-born world soul Aman'Thul, as the cycle began once more.

History of the Theory

This idea was first formed in December 2018, in the Secret Findings Discord. The theory was first based on Ul'Mathan being an infinite version of Aman'Thul, being a reflection of Murozond and Nozdormu. The idea quickly evolved drawing on the idea that since Aman'Thul has mastery over time, and can see all, he should have been able to see the void-corrupted World Soul, and Sargeras' Betrayal, but kept both of them hidden. The idea is that he kept these hidden in order to help the Void, giving into the temptation of manipulating the timeline with magic, much as the Infinite Dragonflight do.

In October 2023, the idea was expanded with ideas by User:DeludedTroll in the Warcraft Wiki Discord, taking in Primus as a form of Ul'Mathan, due to similar appearances and Primus having some ability or ally allowing him to see all timelines for strategic purposes. The idea being that he could be a final version of Ul'mathan who has retired into the afterlife, settling on the corpse of a dead world-soul, naming it Maldraxxus. Soon after, I started putting the full idea down into this horrendous article, expanding it into a full complex story that comes full circle.