[10] On February 22, 2022, Eternity's End (Patch 9.2) was released, including a new zone known as Zereth Mortis, home of the originators of all reality.
[11] A new raid, "The Sepulcher of the First Ones", concluded the story of Shadowlands by having the expansion's main antagonist, Zovaal the Jailer, as its final boss.
In addition, a new roguelike "endless dungeon" called Torghast, Tower of the Damned, was introduced for both solo and group play.
The tower introduced a non-player character called the Runecarver, who can add certain powers to pieces of armour when players return his Memories to him.
[19] Dark angelic figures kidnap King Anduin Wrynn, former Warchief Thrall, tauren chieftain Baine Bloodhoof and Lady Jaina Proudmoore and hold them in Torghast, the maze-like Tower of the Damned within the Maw.
Tyrande Whisperwind—empowered by the moon goddess Elune as the "Night Warrior" after the burning of the World Tree Teldrassil, and aided by Azeroth's champions—confronts and kills Sylvanas' consort, Nathanos Blightcaller, outside his former homestead in the Eastern Plaguelands.
[20] Upon finding a waystone placed by the enigmatic "First Ones", the champions escape the Maw and arrive in Oribos, the Eternal City at the center of the Shadowlands.
All the while, Baine, Thrall, and Jaina are recovered from Torghast thanks to the insight of former Lich King Bolvar Fordragon, but Anduin is kept hidden.
The heroes of Azeroth discover that the Primus has been imprisoned in Torghast under the guise of the "Runecarver", forced to craft armaments for the Jailer's Mawsworn army, as well as the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne, the regalia of the Lich King.
The combined Covenant forces discover that they have been infiltrated by the Nathrezim, formerly thought to be demons serving the Burning Legion but actually agents of Denathrius.
The heroes are also sent to aid Uther, who has repented for his part in the Forsworn rebellion and seeks to understand the fracturing of his soul by Frostmourne.
After the heroes discover the fragment taken by Frostmourne in Torghast, they return to Bastion, where Uther relives his memories, ending with his death at the hands of Arthas Menethil.
During the ritual to remove the Night Warrior's power, the Winter Queen is forced to intervene, and Tyrande is briefly possessed by the spirit of Elune.
Azeroth's champions band together with Jaina, Thrall, and Bolvar to stop the invasion by breaching the Jailer's personal fortress, the Sanctum of Domination.
With Zovaal defeated, Pelagos, an aspiring Kyrian who aided Uther in his journey, volunteers to become the new Arbiter and fill the vacancy left by its demise.
Sylvanas is confronted over her actions during the War of the Thorns and the Jailer's rise to power, though Pelagos gives the final verdict to her long-time nemesis, Tyrande.
Anduin visits Sylvanas as she searches for souls within the Maw, where he reveals his uncertainty about being a leader after the actions he was forced to commit while under the Jailer's influence.
[22] PC Gamer gave the expansion an 80/100 in their review, describing Shadowlands as "[a]mbitious but uneven" and "an exciting evolution of World of Warcraft".
[27][28] While the players' initial reaction to the launch and first weeks of Shadowlands' late-game progression was positive,[29] the overall sentiment went down considerably by the time the expansion's first major patch, Chains of Domination, came out.