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I think a more likely scenario is one in which Tyrael has lost his standing with the High Heavens and thus lost his powers (and perhaps his wings), and now the High Heavens (or at least Imperius) are at war with Sanctuary. Without Tyrael to defend them, the humans will need to fight back. This would lend some credence to the grimness of the splash page.

Quote from "Magistrate" »

Yes! Those were my exact thoughts, to a T. Honestly. It makes the most sense to me. It seems like his wings were stripped or something, of their power, perhaps.

If the High Heavens are at war with Sanctuary, they wouldn't be demons. We would be fighting servants of heaven instead. So, if we are still fighting demons, then the war cannot be with anyone other than hell. Unless there is a pact between the two which doesn't really make sense. What I'm saying is that I'm not sure my theory actually works in its current state. It does forward the debate on the different splash page wings though.

It seems that the strongest points in this thread are the ones concerning Sanctuary as a battlefield and Tyrael's going against the orders of the High Heavens.

I like the idea of Tyrael being the meteor, but not in a corrupted sense. Maybe he is only cast down from the High Heavens once and for all.

Now the battlefield of Sanctuary, with some humans on the side of Heaven and other on the side of Hell is very interesting. It even leaves room for a human vs. Heaven conflict.

I'll pose another question here. If Heaven and Hell are both invaders in Sanctuary, would that inspire a faction (possibly aligned with a banished Tyrael) to fight against both in the name of Sanctuary as a world in and of itself independent of either the Heavens or Hells?

8/10 for being easily identifiable without being animated, cliche, or hyper-stylized.

I am also having difficulties with the site, specifically a database error. I also saw a message once or twice that said something to the effect of "we're having server issues, be back soon."

Quote from "cheebalover" »

finally someone who understands me!
i agree entirel with your post..its not defined truth, but a nicely argumented speculation..

I thought you might appreciate that part of the comment. But on this matter of the Hells and High Heavens joining forces against Sanctuary, is it a possibility? I'm afraid my knowledge of the lore is a bit shallow to say one way or the other.

But, what that does not explain, is why we are still fighting demons and monsters. Maybe a pact between the Hells and High Heavens? I don't know if it works or not.

Tyrael (or the angel on the front page) does have an ominous look about him, which was never a vibe I got from the original Tyrael. I hope that he doesn't become an evil force, because he was always such a cool character to have on your side. However, Blizzard does have a tendency to write stories where character 'x' goes crazy and becomes evil.

I think a more likely scenario is one in which Tyrael has lost his standing with the High Heavens and thus lost his powers (and perhaps his wings), and now the High Heavens (or at least Imperius) are at war with Sanctuary. Without Tyrael to defend them, the humans will need to fight back. This would lend some credence to the grimness of the splash page.

As for the debate on the concept art, I would suggest that we focus our attention on two places in the drawing: one, the shoulders (where the wings aught to be) and two, the sword. Notice how the sword fades into nothing at the angel's side. This denotes that the rest of the sword exists, but that it is not necessary to the particular piece of artwork (as it is most likely a representation of the armor details). Now look at the shoulders where the wings should be. They do not extend and fade. They stop and are capped by lines all the way across the shoulders. I can't say that this means Tyrael will lose his wings, but it does seem an odd coincidence that we have this piece of art and a new wing style on the front page that seems to have them deteriorating.

Just my thoughts. At any rate, the D3 site is incredible in its detail and use of flash.