Deathwing, Dragonlord

Deathwing, Dragonlord is a legendary neutral minion card, from the Whispers of the Old Gods set.

Lore

Deathwing, Dragonlord, destroyed atop Wyrmrest Tower in the End Time

"The sun has set on this mortal world, fools. Make peace with your end, for the Hour of Twilight falls!"

This card depicts Deathwing in the Hour of Twilight, otherwise known as the End Time. A possible future reality, the Hour of Twilight depicts the successful culmination of the plans of the Old Gods, enacted in part through the actions of the corrupted Earth Warder, Deathwing.

The description of Whispers of the Old Gods as offering a glimpse into an alternate reality, where the Old Gods are awakened and rule Azeroth, appears to loosely match the concept of the Hour of Twilight, although if this is so, the Hour must have been recent, since the world has not yet been scoured of all life as seen in the End Time.

For general background lore on Deathwing, see Deathwing.

This section uses content from Wowpedia.

The Hour of Twilight is the fulfilment of a chain of events instigated by the Old Gods many aeons ago. It is prophesied as the moment when the Old Gods will finally be freed from their ancient prisons, and will return to end all life on Azeroth.

A very ancient prophecy speaks of the Hour of Twilight--Azeroth's final moments of existence. At the last sunset, the Old Gods, sealed away within the depths of the world long ago, will enact their judgment and irrevocably twist the mortal world to reflect their essence. It possibly started with the reopening of Ahn'Qiraj, when the Old God C'Thun stirred from its slumber beneath the lands of Silithus.

The Dragon Aspects were created to stop such an event from occurring, where they would give their powers to prevent it. Using this to their advantage, the Old Gods corrupted Deathwing as a way to make their plan "foolproof", using one of the very aspects destined to stop the Hour of Twilight, to instead usher it.

The Hour of Twilight, as revealed in prophecy by Ragnaros

A chain of events is set in motion where the Old Gods are rising, their ancient machinations are finally paying off, and Deathwing is their greatest pawn upon the board. While the insane Aspect believes himself to have his own purposes, his mind and soul were devoured by the Old Gods from the onset, and in this final hour the former Earth-Warder of the Titans has become the ultimate weapon for the Old Gods to unleash.

In Ysera's vision of the Hour of Twilight, all the five Aspects, including Deathwing himself, lay dead and broken at the ruins of the Wyrmrest Temple, having been destroyed by their own powers. Every lifeform on Azeroth will be dead and rotting, except twilight dragons. This outcome was also a possible future if Thrall would not step in the place of Neltharion as the aspect of earth, and remained in the Horde instead of appointing Garrosh as his replacement.

The grim aftermath of the Hour of Twilight can be witnessed first hand by players within the End Time instance. When the Hour of Twilight shown in the End Time has come to pass, all life on Azeroth forever has faded, and only time-twisted echoes (and possibly some newly risen ghouls) are left to aimlessly wander a dead and empty world.

Deathwing's attempt at fulfilling the Hour of Twilight was finally stopped when he was vanquished at the Maelstrom by the Dragon Aspects, Thrall and mortal champions of the Horde and the Alliance. However, this victory came at a great cost, with the dragonflights' losing the majority of their power and immortality, as they had at last fulfilled their ancient purpose.

Gallery

Deathwing, Dragonlord, full art