With rumors of the "Unannounced Project" and Diablo 4 circulating around the community, we have to stop and ask — what comes next? We're going to take a look back at many of the loose ends and unfinished storylines from previous games to speculate about where future entries in the franchise could go.
The Sisterhood
Eirena lived during the times of the Mage Clan Wars. Her and her sisters were the servants of a powerful Vizjerei mage, who's books they used to teach themselves magic. The sisters would eventually learn that their master was summoning demons from the Burning Hells. Eirena and the others resolved to stop their master from completing his rituals. While their master was distracted during his rites, Eirena and the others attacked and succeeded at stopping the summoning, preventing more demons from entering their world. But it came at great cost. While the sisters defeated their master and his minions, they were cursed with the corrupted mage's dying breath. The sisters were brought to the edge of death, their life forces quickly fading.
Words of the Prophet
It was at this time that the mysterious entity known as the Prophet appeared and saved the sisters. He offered to teach them the ways of magic and train them to face a great evil he foresaw would come at some point in the future. After recruitment and training the burgeoning sisterhood was dubbed the Hands of the Prophet and their mission made clear. They were to be placed in a magical trance and made to slumber until the appointed time that they would be called upon to save Sanctuary with the help of a great hero. After roughly 1,500 years, Eirena awoke from her slumber and found all of her sisters dead, with signs of a demonic attack and a great battle having taken place in their sanctum. Undeterred, Eirena searched the deserts around Caldeum until she crossed paths with the Nephelam, the prophesied hero she was destined to find.
During the battle against the Prime Evil in the High Heavens, Eirena would come across a dying angel that gave her an ancient document that had been written by the Prophet. In the document she found that the Prophet was actually an angel and acted in secret to protect Sanctuary, for he saw the great promise within humanity. However, the identity of the Prophet was still a mystery. Was he the dying angel that gave her the scroll? Or some other figure lost to time? After this encounter Eirena and the Nephalem would defeat the Prime Evil Diablo and save the High Heavens and Sanctuary in the process. But not all would stay peaceful for long. Soon a new threat would endanger Sanctuary in the form of the angel Malthael. Eirena would again join forces with the Nephalem to protect their world.
The Whispers in Chaos
During Malthael's attack on Sanctuary, Eirena would begin to hear whispers from her long lost sisters. Through scrying, Eirena was finally able to discern the source of the voices, Sister Lysa. Somehow Lysa still lived and was calling to her from the realm of Pandemonium. While venturing through the broken realm, Eirena encountered the souls of her dead sisters. They began to warn her of what lay ahead and to give clues to what happened to them so long ago. At the heart of the Lair of the Prophet, Eirena encountered Lysa and learned the truth of what the Prophet had asked of the sisterhood. Unbeknownst to Eirena, she had been chosen as the one that would fight against the Great Evils after her sleep, and the rest of the sisterhood was given the choice to leave or to sacrifice their lives to allow Eirena to survive until the coming of the End of Days. All of the sisters agreed to these terms, save one, Lysa. Lysa was furious that she had not been the chosen one. In her pride, she made a pact with demons to try and destroy the Hands of the Prophet. The rest of the sisterhood awoke as they were beset by the demonic horde and, as predicted, gave their lives so that Eirena would live. Lysa somehow survived the encounter and sought revenge on Eirena, but the corrupted Enchantress proved no match against the Nephalem and Eirena's combined might.
The Truth Unveiled
After defeating Lysa, the Prophet reached out to Eirena to explain what he asked of her sisters, telling her she should view their sacrifice as a gift and not a burden. After returning from Pandemonium Eirena resolved to continue the Prophet's work and rebuild the sisterhood. But this new order would not sleep for centuries at a time. Instead, they would remain vigilante and pass down their knowledge from generation to generation. This new Hands of the Prophet would actively watch over and protect humanity without having to sacrifice their own.
Questions still remain. Were the words of the Prophet a message from the past or did the Prophet still live? Who exactly was the Prophet and is he still working behind the scenes to save Sanctuary? Tyrael seemed to recall someone in his past that went by the name of the Prophet. Could he be referring to Inarius, who posed as the Veiled Prophet during the Sin Wars? Could Inarius still be alive, chained and tormented in Hell, looking after the safety of humanity, his legacy? And what of Eirena's new order? Will she be able to rebuild the Hands of the Prophet in the wake of Malthael's attack?
Eirena's story dives deep into the history of Sanctuary and could potentially involve some of the major players in the creation of our world. Her quest to learn the identity of the Prophet could lead her back to the father of the Nephalem, Inarius, and could even be traced back to the Worldstone. We will have to wait and see if Blizzard has plans to answer these remaining questions, whether in Diablo 4 or elsewhere.
Neinball (@NeinballGamer) is a content creator for Diablo Fans and a horadrim in training. Whether he's relaxing on Zegema Beach, fighting servants of the Corpse-God in the 41st millennium, or quelling Rebellions in the Outer Rim, his passion always brings him back to slaying Demons in Sanctuary.
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