Blizzard has announced its next major update during a turbulent period for the company. Update 9.2, titled Eternity's End, is being presented by Blizzard as the final major content update for Shadowlands.
Eternity's End is set to arrive soon, although no exact release date has been announced yet. The update is meant to bring the story of Shadowlands to its conclusion, as players try to stop the Jailer from rewriting reality itself. In the reveal, Blizzard also introduced a completely new zone: Zereth Mortis, the mysterious home reality of the First Ones, the beings said in the lore to be responsible for designing the different afterlives of the Shadowlands.
In that new zone, players will also encounter The Enlightened, a faction of brokers that has lived in Zereth Mortis for a long time and views the place more as sacred ground than as a trading hub. Patch 9.2 also introduces a new progression system in the form of the Cypher of the First Ones, allowing players to gradually learn more about the language and secrets of Zereth Mortis and unlock additional activities, rewards, and opportunities in the zone.
There is also a new raid, Sepulcher of the First Ones. There, players will battle the Jailer’s allies before eventually facing him directly. Class tier sets are also returning, with each class receiving its own armor set and bonuses obtainable through raids, Mythic+, and PvP. In addition, there is a new quest hub called Haven, where players work together with the inhabitants of Zereth Mortis to push back the Jailer’s invading forces.
Tazavesh, the mythic-only mega dungeon from an earlier update, is also being adjusted. Blizzard is splitting the dungeon into two smaller parts, each of which will become available on heroic and Mythic+ difficulty. That should make the dungeon fit more naturally into the regular endgame rotation.
The announcement of Eternity's End comes at a particularly uneasy moment for World of Warcraft and Blizzard. The company is still dealing with the aftermath of lawsuits, investigations, and broader criticism of its workplace culture. Because of that, this update arrives under very different circumstances than usual: where new content would previously have mainly generated excitement, Blizzard is now also facing a crisis of confidence among part of its player base.
