The future is set for this Dragon Aspect.

The lore of the World of Warcraft is complex and compelling and, with 4.3 finally on the PTR, this is the time when we get to learn the intricacies of upcoming lore. This week on WoW Legends, we’re going to look at the Timeless One: the Bronze Aspect, Nozdormu.

As we come to the end of Cataclysm, we really are entering the twilight of the Aspects. Malygos is mad and dead, Deathwing is on notice; his demise inevitable and now the Timeless One must come to terms with his own mortality.

Along with Alexstrasza and Ysera, Nozdormu is the last of the original Aspects to still hold true to his appointed task. Kalecgos might be slowly restoring the Blue Dragonflight but Deathwing and the Old Gods have managed to do plenty of harm to the Aspects. With the new End Time dungeon, you wonder how much more they’re going to do. Especially when you face Murozond, the mysterious leader of the Infinite Dragonflight and a possible future form of Nozdormu himself (yes, it’s an anagram).

Nozdormu has always been the most mysterious of the Aspects. We’ve been dealing with his brood since the Caverns of Time were introduced but the Aspect himself, well he’s been noticeably absent. There have always been hints through, from Chromie and the other Bronze Dragons that their master is around, albeit preoccupied with his task. We first glimpsed him in the Bronze Dragonshrine during the Mystery of the Infinite and Mystery of the Infinite - Redux quests but it’s only in patch 4.2 that we formally meet Nozdormu in his rather gorgeous High Elven form.

Nozdormu can sense his impending doom is close at hand.

But even now, there are hints at the Aspect’s future. Nozdormu was given the ability to wander the timelines but he was also shown the manner of his death, to remind him that the end comes to all of us, even Time Lords … sorry Dragon Aspects. Nozdormu has appeared a lot of late in the companion novels and has been present at all the important moments in Azeroth yet it’s his future which is particularly concerning.

At the wedding of Go’el (aka The Poster-Orc Formally Known as Thrall) and Aggra, Nozdormu hints that his time is running out and this has become even more obvious with 4.3 now available. For the Timeless One, death is certain but as is the knowledge that he can’t do anything to avoid it; inevitability is a heavy burden. But at the same time, Nozdormu seems to take a modicum of peace from the knowledge that Murozond has been stopped and the Infinite Dragonflight beheaded.

The knowledge that Nozdormu and Murozond are one and the same isn’t exactly breaking news though, particularly to anyone who has followed the lore for a couple of expansions. There were hints, particularly during when you find yourself in the Bronze Dragonshine, helping your younger/older self beat back these fearsome, gunmetal dragons but it’s only now, three expansions in that we’re coming to the crux of this particular storyline.

The future is dark and twisted.

The Infinite Dragonflight has been in the lore of WoW since we stepped into escort Thrall, protect Medivh, cleanse Stratholme with Arthas and defeat Archimonde yet we’ve never really seen its inner workings. The Infinite Dragonflight doesn’t particularly seem allied with Deathwing but that’s not exactly a positive thing, particularly given their attempts to disrupt vital points in Azerothian history.

Nozdormu himself is noble and yet his fate truly tragic. He has always known how and when he will meet his doom but for it to come at the hands of the very champions he’s been aiding all these years. But what’s even more startling that, unlike his brothers, Nozdormu has remained sane and steadfast to the task assigned to him. His intentions are good but the eventual transformation of Aspect into Master of the Infinite Dragonflight makes you wonder if any of the Aspects will survive their twilight.