Contest. Win a copy of the Diablo 3 Novel: Storm of Light

[Flux]

We're giving away a copy of the new Diablo 3 novel, Storm of Light. Blizzard's blog post about it is here:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/12800866/diablo-iii-storm-of-light-now-on-sale-2-4-2014

Want it, and a copy of The Order, the previous Diablo novel as well? Enter in this thread, via speculation. (You can also enter our 2nd contest, via our Facebook page for another chance at winning the novel. See the news post for that, plus a review of the novel.)

What do you think will happen next in the Diablo 3 story? We know all about the opening to Reaper of Souls, with Malthael stealing the Black Soulstone away and intending to use its power to destroy all demons, and half-demons (Nephalem) and clean off Sanctuary entirely. The final confrontation with Malty is not included in the RoS beta though, nor is the final cinematic, so while we know all the opening, we do not know the closing. What's going to happen?

Will Malty be destroyed or escape? Will Tyrael die? Will the Black soulstone be shattered or will the hero shove it into his/her head again? Will the demons imprisoned in it get free? Will Zoltan Kulle return? Will the Nephalem be corrupted and turn evil? Who will be the enemy of the next Diablo 3 expansion? And so on...

Speculate on some aspect of the story and tell us what should happen next. Be as creative as you like and we don't know the "official" answer so this isn't about making an accurate prediction, though it might be fun to look back in 6 weeks and see how that went. It's more about writing a "wouldn't it be awesome if..."

Contest runs through this weekend, and entries must be posted by Sunday midnight server time. You don't have to be super-brief; this isn't Twitter, but before you write a whole fanfic remember that the judges have limited attention spans. Good luck.

 

[Cipherthros]

Let us turn to the prophecy of the end of days for some insight...

. . . And, at the End of Days, Wisdom shall be lost (Malthael disappearing from the heavens)
as Justice falls upon the world of men. (Tyrael becoming mortal & falling to Sanctuary)
Valor shall turn to Wrath - (Imperious was pretty angry & wrathful towards the Nephalem when they were in heaven, although granted he has never been a fan of mortals, he may still become more wrathful yet)
and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair. (Rakanoth captured Aurial in heaven, before the Nephalem saved her)
Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all (Malthael returns as the Angel of Death in Reaper of Souls)
as fate lies shattered forever (Itherial's aspect, Nephalem aren't bound to the chains of fate.)

On the basis of the above and most of it having already come to pass, I'd say that with Malthael defeated the next expansion will focus in on angels & demons taking the eternal conflict over into Sanctuary itself, with Lilith & Innarius as the mother & father figures leading the battle for the heart of the Nephalem, trying to decide their fate, an ultimate showdown as it were. In the end, the Nephalem just say frak this & cut themselves off from the realms of both heaven & hell for good to live out their lives in peace.

P.S. Zoltan Kulle was right all along, all hail Zoltan Kulle!

 

[BadHammer]

Malthael has always viewed Humans as an abomination. His disappearance from the Angiris Council alone is yet to be explained. Him being the Angel of Death hints at a final solution that involves either the total annihilation of Humans, bending them to his will, as Inarius had once attempted, or interestingly; gradually undo creation and -in time- imprison the angels themselves in the stone. But given the first option being the obvious and easiest, what of the second and third?

Dominion & Purification: Bending Humans to Malthael's will may not be an option per-se, given the destruction of the Worldstone. This involves two aspects, banishing Humans to Death's Domain, a limbo where all Humans are under Malthael's control. Or ridding them from their demonic essence through death and rebirth.

The One Being: Seeing Malthael's actions fixated on acquiring the Black Soulstone in the opening cinematic, and with the mention that this artifact can imprison the essence of Angels alike, as Kulle stated; there's a possibility that Malthael might in turn raid the High Heavens, as he did Sanctuary and imprison the essence of his brethren. Eventually plunging the stone into his body, in an attempt to resurrect Anu, and bring an absolute end to the Eternal Conflict.

Malthael seemed immune against El'druin, which makes him of righteous intent. Kulle once said "There's no justice in murder", and thus this may eliminate the first possibility. Even so that this statement reflects Tyrael's actions against the Council to save humanity. I'm mentioning this because Tyrael and his sword are bound to each other, which renders murder a defiant against El'druin. Which leaves us with three options; banishment, purification, or reincarnation of The One. In my opinion I see purification being the most apt. This may as well somewhat explain the final event in the prophecy of the End of Days. With the purification and rebirth of an entire race, it's a reset where it leaves Fate yet to be rewritten.

In a way, though; I also see banishment a righteous solution, as well as convenient to leave Fate lying shattered forever. In the end, all I can predict is an end with a sacrifice of a Nephalem, for Uldyssian's bravery and sacrifice in The Sin War was the Angiris Council's lone reason to reconsider their judgement against man kind. Perhaps; history will repeat itself, only differently.

The Future: Where does all of this leave us? Will there be a second expansion? Most likely yes. Regardless of the outcome in Reaper of Souls, the Demons remain without leadership, the chances of them being a threat are minimal, yet uncertain. The chain of command in the Burning Hells seems to have a different structure. We've encountered Lesser Demons with the aptitude for command and leadership, such as Cydaea, the Maiden of Lust. In Azmodan's journals she seemed more of an an ally to Azmodan than a follower. And with the possibly countless population of Demons in the Burning Hells, there's a possibility of a new Demonic Leader emerging, waging a war to free the Lords of Hell, or worse; to become the new Prime Evil.

If so, how would this play with the two likely fates of Humans? As a purified race, the Humans may be -for the first time- a third party in the Eternal Conflict fighting alongside the Angels, or perhaps against Angels and Demons alike. The latter is much more likely, as Kulle predicted it. Or as a banished and enslaved race; a tool for the High Heavens to use against the Burning Hells, but this may hinder the progression of the lore. Thus; purification remains yet the most convenient outcome, leaving much room for two possibilities to shape the future of the story.

I've seemed to put much emphasis on rebirth, but for a good reason. Such an aspect in a lore like Diablo's seems to be prevalent. There's always a return of something or someone, somehow. And through Death -being the expansion's theme- it's only natural to think in such manner.

My apologies for this rather extended post.

 

[Disciple of Erebos]

First of all, I've already seen some spoilers from RoS, since the streamer I watched played through story mode and watched the dialogues. As a result, if you care about seeing the story in RoS, don't read my post. I'll put what I know below, and then my thoughts on what it means for the future at the bottom.

In the RoS story, Tyrael explains that he has discovered that Malthael's true goal is to completely remove the demonic taint from humanity as a whole. The problem is, since humans are the descendants of angels and demons, light and dark are both intrinsic to humanity, and are impossible to remove without 'consequences.' In other words, completely removing the demonic taint from human souls destroys them entirely. As a result, Malthael's plan is to completely destroy the human race, beyond any possible hope of return.

The last beta quest before the final confrontation with Malthael has the player defeating the guardian of souls in order to gain the power to defeat Malthael. It is explained that Malthael is immune to mortal weapons and spells because he has absorbed the intrinsic essence of death, and exists like a living concept, rather than a living being. The souls of the dead are very unhappy with this, because Malthael has taken their power by force, and is using it to utterly annihilate the human race. Once you kill the guardian of souls, whom Malthael appointed in order to keep the dead 'in order,' the dead give you as much of their power as they can, thus also giving you the essence of death and allowing you to confront Malthael on the same spiritual level, allowing you to defeat him.

Although the angels recognize that Malthael has gone well off the deep end in terms of sanity, I highly doubt that killing him will go over well with the High Heavens. Imperius will most likely be an even greater proponent of wiping out humanity, now that the strongest human has shown that he/she is willing and able to kill even one of the five great angels themselves. If the presence of the Black Soulstone in Heaven was enough to cause a frenzy before RoS, I imagine that killing Malthael will cause the equivalent of outright rioting among the angels.

Speaking of the Black Soulstone, I do not think that it will be destroyed. Rather, I imagine that Malthael's soul will be sucked into it, as it was meant as a container for the souls of angels and demons. However, it was showing great signs of strain with just the souls of demons inside of it; with the soul of one of the great angels inside as well, the stone may well explode on its own, under the pressure of so many strong souls inside of it. As a result, I see this as gong two ways:

1) The stone does not break. In this case it will likely be the catalyst for a war between angels and humans. The angels will greatly fear the stone, as souls within the stone will not return to the Crystal Spire to be reborn, the same as regularly destroyed angel bodies would be. Imperius will likely push for an invasion of Sanctuary in order to get the stone, to prevent other powerful humans from trapping more angels within it. Meanwhile, demonic forces within the stone will likely try to corrupt the angels from within. Finally, Diablo will likely make a bid to escape the stone again: he was cunning enough to turn death and entrapment within a soulstone into a boon rather than a curse, so he can probably do the same for the Black Soulstone. The goes doubly since Diablo was able to unite the other demon lords within the stone under his power, becoming the Prime Evil before he was defeated at the end of D3V.

2) The stone explodes under the pressure. Diablo will likely make an immediate attack on Heaven. In the middle of Act V, the player briefly journeys to Heaven, in which Malthael's followers are seen causing a lot of trouble for the angels who don't support him. As a result, Heaven is in a bad state as of RoS. The return of Malthael after the stone is destroyed would likely throw Heaven into a civil war, while the return of the demon lords would rally the Hells into a war fury. Furthermore, the lords of Hell are somewhat united, given that Diablo took their essences and became the Prime Evil at the end of D3V, while the angels are very fragmented due to Malthael's rebellion. As a result, in this scenario, the lords of Hell could come very close to winning the Eternal Struggle, if they didn't win outright.

Either way it goes, I foresee nothing but trouble for humanity and Heaven come the next expansion. If the angels invade Sanctuary for the Black Soulstone, many humans will die. Furthermore, Tyrael will be forced to make a grim decision: will he stand by his angelic brothers and renounce humanity, or will he turn his back on his brothers and become a betrayer?

On the other hand, if the stone explodes and the demons are released, Heaven will be fighting a battle that they likely will not be able to win. If the Heavens are overwhelmed completely, mankind will face a double-threat: the Hells below, and the Hells above. Either way, I see nothing good coming to Sanctuary in the future, save for new loot and another class.

 

[SoulSpectrum]

I think the key to the Diablo universe is balance. The Eternal Conflict, Sanctuary, Guardians and what not. With the Primes captured in the Black Soul Stone you'd think that there would be a shift in balance to the lights side. Now would be the time for the High Heavens to strike against the Burning Hells, unless the heavens are recovering from the events of D3V.
In the RoS trailer Tyrael speaks of how the Black Soul Stone has an influence on the Angirus Council so it must be removed. But would it be possible for the stone to have the opposite effect on the Burning Hells if it contained Angelic Souls? What about Leah's soul?
Or just Inarius kills everything.

 

[Flux]

Although the angels recognize that Malthael has gone well off the deep end in terms of sanity, I highly doubt that killing him will go over well with the High Heavens. Imperius will most likely be an even greater proponent of wiping out humanity, now that the strongest human has shown that he/she is willing and able to kill even one of the five great angels themselves.

During that Heaven visit in Act 5 imperius says that Malthael was his friend but he's gone mad and must be put out of his misery. And then Imperius helps you get into the PandaFort and wishes you well on your mission. Seems fully on board with you killing Malty.

Impy could well twist around later and vow vengeance, I suppose.

 

[Flux]

The deadline has come and DiabloIIIChris is the winner. Everyone offered some interesting discussion, but most of you guys were short on discrete predictions, which was the imperfectly-stated contest entrant requirement.

Thanks to everyone for entering.