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Unless-- going with my previous theory -- we find that the entirety of Nephalem spirits are collected by Trag'Oul, and together they have power rivaling that of the Worldstone. This may open up an avenue for a sidequest to rescue Leah.

But Diablo has to have a goal. I can see every side -- us, the Nephalem; Inarius; and Diablo all vying to destroy the other by means of creating a new reality in their own image.

I have to wonder what the original story for Reaper of Souls was. From what I gathered from lore panels and book lore, the Worldstone was to play a role in the expansion, and Imperius had sided with Malthael. I imagine Urzael took Imperius' place in the campaign, being a fire-themed angel and all.



Now. How does one up the ante in the Diablo universe at this point? We've defeated the Lords of Hell, leaving Hell powerless. We've saved Heaven. We've saved an invasion of the planet from Malthael. Really, what else IS there? Well, saving the universe, of course! Inarius is going to be hating everyone and everything at this point. But how will he threaten reality without the Worldstone? Is there something else he can use?

Let's look at Diablo himself and his goal. He has fused the Lords of Hell within himself, but he is not yet Tathemet the Dragon reborn. The only dragon we do know of is Trag'Oul. Trag'Oul represents the Past, Present and Future of Humanity -- for all intents and purposes, its very Fate -- as well as being the Guardian of Balance itself. Now cosmic balance is upset as never been before. Maybe Diablo's actions have, all this time, been meant to lure out Trag'Oul? Would Diablo be able to possess Trag'Oul? Would Diablo have to contend with Inarius in a race against time to capture and use Trag'Oul's powers? Will perverting Trag'Oul result in the enslavement of Nephalem-kind itself?



In this final great war, I see several sides. Inarius' perverse fusion of Angels and Demons. Diablo and the dregs of Hell (although Hell has replenished itself while everyone's been busy with Malthael). Imperius leading a tattered Heaven. Isolationist refugee humans. And Nephalem, sick and tired of constant invasion, bent on conquering the other two realms. It's like this sad smorgasbord of cosmic-wide hate and revenge.

There's a surprising number of ways the story can continue.

I think the Horadrim disappearing at Skovos was a joke; they were probably too distracted by the natives.

It's implied that Inarius grew fond of humanity from the time he spent with them, coupled with the fact that they've had their Nephalem powers sapped. Who doesn't like a tiger cub over the tiger?

I can see Inarius coming back. He would be a twisted creature, a fusion of angelic and demonic essence, a living parallel to the Pandemonium Fortress. I think he would seek to undo all Creation, save for Sanctuary. He could resurface, leading a legion of demons and fallen angels from the depths. Over time, angels may defect to his cause, weakening Heaven. Finally, after releasing Lillith, he would try to harness Humanity's emerging Nephalem powers. This is the point where the Crusader's jest to Auriel in Heaven during Diablo III proves foreshadowing; representatives all across Sanctuary must decide whether to join Inarius or oppose him. A new Nephalem civil war erupts.

In the end, a new world is created, leading to the Diablo MMO!

Diablo's plans have included both the elimination of his fellow Great Evils, as well as the members of the Angiris Council. He stoked Imperius' fire, leading him to become more erratic. After Malthael's departure, Imperius became unrestrained and turned on Tyrael. Tyrael was the next to fall, stripping the Angiris Council of Justice. With Justice, Wisdom and Valor gone, Heaven now only has Fate and Hope left in the face of Imperius' Wrath. Neither of these two have been explored in any detail, leading me to hope they will play a larger role in coming chapters. We also have to consider the possibility that Diablo has somehow incorporated either the aspect of Death or Malthael's essence in some way.



Trag'Oul is basically humanity's soul, representing their Past, Present and Future in one. Could Trag'Oul therefor be tied to Fate? Might Diablo, this entire time, be trying to lure Trag'Oul out from hiding to force a confrontation? Perhaps he even wants to possess Trag'Oul! How wicked would that be?

So, Enty, you're going to have to post a link to the video or article for me, because I'm clearly looking at the wrong version of The Making Of ROS's Cinematic. :\

So you're saying that the Worldstone's "destruction" was just Tyrael eliminating the containing vessel, a shell, which revealed its true nature: Anu's spiritual power, which is embodied in Nephalem spirits? Makes sense, and explains the "Soul Prison" at the heart of Pandemonium.



But did Malthael not realize the true nature of the Soul Prison/Worldstone, then? He could not recognize Anu's being, as it was composed of Nephalem spirits? Was Baal's influence 20 years before still that powerful?



Or, perhaps Malthael DID see it for what it was for, but attempted to do two things at once; 1.) Win the Eternal Conflict, and 2.) Purify the Worldstone of Baal's influence by overpowering it with Angelic essence (Nephalem spirit minus their demonic heritage)?

It's never really addressed. Lore transcripts you find in Pandemonium show that Malthael felt and heard the voices of human souls, which summoned him from Pandemonium Fortress. Whether these were stray souls, or spirits trapped in the Soul Prison, is never stated.

Another mined video came up that mentions Belial and his possible return.

So I've been looking around and found quite a few spoiler-filled videos online -- AdriaCraft seems to be a good place to find 'em. I'm not too concerned about having the story spoiled since I doubt I'll buy D3, but here's the video if anyone is interested.

So we've all bitched and bitched about the story, plot and characters. So let's be a little more constructive and see what we can do, eh?

What, specifically, would you change about the story, and how? What is your solution to those pressing storyline problems? Would you rewrite one character or scene? Or scrap everything and work from the ground up?

So according to these portraits, do Baal and Mephisto make cameos in ROS?

By TamplierPainter on deviantArt.com. Amazing work.

I'm pretty sure Malthael's ultimate plan is to use the Black Soulstone to replace the Worldstone. He needs to purify it, and will probably use the essence of the Angiris Council (or perhaps Humanity?) to do it. Tyrael's selflessness will foil his plan (he lost his angelic essence upon becoming mortal), leading to the corrupted Soulstone being at the center of Creation. Leah's essence will probably be released, however. We'll rescue her spirit in the next expansion where she'll reveal how to purify it, leading to happiness and Disney sunsets.

I wonder if each of the angels derives their power from a particular artifact? The Worldstone was at the center of Creation because it embodied life and death. With it gone, there is an imbalance. Perhaps Malthael perceives an excess of life and seeks to balance the equation?

Or perhaps -- and this is exciting -- I wonder if he intends to attract the attention of the rest of the Angiris Council, bring them to Sanctuary, and then bind them into the stone to cancel out the power of the Prime Evils? However, Tyrael's lost his essence of Justice and thus leaves the equation unbalanced. If this IS involved in the recreation of the World Stone, then it may be biased towards Evil, thus bringing Sanctuary one step closer to the Final Day -- all because of Tyrael. Which I find to be fittingly tragic and ironic.

Further more, from what we now know, the final confrontation in ROS should take place in the Pandemonium fortress.

How do you figure?