What Deal did Sylvanas Make With the Jailer?

World of Warcraft: Sylvanas, the new novel by Christie Golden, finally answers some questions about the exact details of the deal that was struck between Sylvanas Windrunner and the Jailer.

Sylvanas Did Not Trust the Jailer At First

One question many people have had is why Sylvanas agreed to align with someone like the Jailer, who uses Domination magic and who helped create the Lich King in the first place. As it turns out, Sylvanas was quite justifiably mistrustful of the Jailer when she first met him. As we already know, the initial meeting between Sylvanas and the Jailer occurred after her second death, when she threw herself from Icecrown in the short story Edge of Night. Instead of the peaceful afterlife she had expected, Sylvanas found herself in the Maw. In the novel, Zovaal approaches her and introduces himself, telling her that everything she believed about free will was a lie — that there is no freedom or justice in life or death. At first, Sylvanas — who recognizes the runes of Domination carved into the Jailer's skin — strongly rejects his claims.

«I am Zovaal. Before I was the Jailer of this place, I reigned over the realms of Death from the precipice of eternity itself. I stood as Arbiter over every mortal soul whose brief flicker of life had sputtered out. In an instant I knew the entirety of their existance. And time after time, do you know what I saw? Fragile beings left to the fickle whims of fate. Their world, their kin; whether they were wise or simple, hale or sickly; these things were forced upon them. From the moment they drew their first breath until they exhaled their last, the choice was never theirs. And when their lives ended, it was my duty to decide their soul's fate for all eternity.» Read more on wowhead.com