World of Warcraft: Dragonflight’s main cast and lore, explained

polygon.com:

World of Warcraft players have been wading through uncharted territory for some time now, working their way through the realms of Death in Shadowlands. Dragonflight, the next expansion, which is currently in alpha, looks like a narrative reset. Players are returning to Azeroth, and the Dragon Isles look to be the site of some good old-fashioned fantasy adventuring.

Of course, in a game as long-running and narratively dense as World of Warcraft, nothing is ever truly simple. It looks like Blizzard is returning to many old plot threads and reintroducing older characters. If you’ve been taking a break from Azeroth, but Dragonflight has piqued your interest, here’s everything you need to know about the cast of the upcoming expansion.

[Ed. note: This article contains mild spoilers from Public Test Realm content.]

It looks like Dragonflight starts fresh on the heels of a time skip — something sorely needed, since up until Shadowlands, each expansion has covered a chronological window of about one to two years. It’s now been “several” years, and things have changed. Characters have been resting and healing, there’s been a royal elf wedding, and Azeroth is off the train of constant, unceasing crises and war. So, what are all of the major players up to?

The Horde is in a very interesting narrative spot, thanks to the long and sometimes very terrible story of Sylvanas Windrunner that played out through Battle for Azeroth. The Horde has made peace with the Alliance, but that doesn’t change the faction’s violent past, as they committed genocide under Sylvanas’ command, burning Teldrassil and the home of Night Elves and killing all who live there. That’s something the narrative tries to wrestle with, and Horde characters find