Diablo 5 came in as a surprise announcement during BlizzCon, but it was actually already shown to us inside Diablo IV, thanks to our archangel friend Lycander. In this video, I’ll be discussing the premise of Diablo 5, and how its story was already foreshadowed to us in Diablo 4. With that, let’s jump right in
Diablo 5's Story
Diablo 5 was announced with a trailer showing us a world completely overtaken by Hell, and more specifically - Terror. Diablo has not only returned to Sanctuary, but he has completely overtaken it - with heroes failing to stop his reign. Diablo takes over Sanctuary 100 years after D4’s Lord of Hatred. But, Sanctuary’s loss shouldn’t be seen as a surprise - Diablo 4 already told us this was going to happen, with vivid detail to match, along with another fact we haven’t yet learned about Diablo 5 - that Sanctuary was lost before Diablo laid foot on it
The Lycander Prophecy
After beating the campaign - in the island of Lycander - the Oracle Cyra is speaking to one of her Seers. She notes that something is wrong with the sightless eye, no longer granting visions. She is speaking to a seer named Athrpa, who saw a most terrible vision and has clung to it since - the Oracle granting her the eye if she so deems to fix it.
The questline has you traveling with the seer Athrpa to fix the sightless eye, so she can clearly see the vision that’s been plaguing her since her childhood - not able to see the full vision
In the process, Athrpa’s use of the eye is interrupted by literal Divine Intervention - the Archangel Lycander, one of the original angels that took refuge in Sanctuary amongst Inarius - interferes with the ritual and notes that the eye itself is corrupted
Choosing to lend a helping hand, Lycander assists us and the seer in removing the corruption. She performs the ritual and opens the way into the eye, the wanderer enters it to outroot the corruption. Reaching the center and destroying Hatred’s Heart - what emerges is completely unexpected. Not a demon, not a man corrupted by Hatred, but an angel! A seraph born of Hatred, now a shriek in the abyss.
TERROR
After repairing the Eye thanks to Lycander’s Blood, Athrpa is able to use it to experience her fragmented vision in all its horror:
She sees Oceans boiled by hellfire, cities turned to bone, the weeping and gnashing of teeth, and something waiting behind the veil
She then screams TERROR - as they open the gate to him. Diablo himself returns to Sanctuary
With that revelation, Lycander leaves
Returning to Athrpa, the wanderer asks when Diablo would enter Sanctuary - and she answers. She said the ruin she saw will not come to pass in their lifetime, and there’s nothing able to stop it.
This vision tells us the story of Diablo 5. Diablo will return - to a world conquered by Hell - and humanity won’t be able to do anything to stop it. The line mentioning that it ‘wont happen in their lifetime’ is indisputable foreshadowing that Diablo will not returning in Diablo 4, and instead returning in a future timeline - which is exactly the premise of Diablo 5
What This Reveals About Diablo 5
In hindsight, when I first played this quest, I commented that it feels so well done - especially with the archangel Lycander returning just for this brief quest, with a character model more detailed than any angel we’ve seen yet in the game - that the story telling surpasses many acts of the main campaign. Now we know why - Blizzard wasn’t just going above and beyond for the sake of satisfying lore fans, they were telling us the future of the franchise
The most interesting part of this tie-in to me is that this quest doesn’t just foreshadow Diablo 5, but it expands what we know about Diablo 5 from the announcement - that Sanctuary was already conquered by Hell BEFORE Diablo emerged to claim its crown.
What do you all think about this realization? And more importantly, are you glad this story will be told in a new game with advanced technology and an extreme devotion to flesh out Diablo as a terrifying Prime Evil as they did Mephisto in the age of Hatred? Or would you have preferred they kept releasing new expansions? Let me know in the comments below
Also, Im be streaming Season 15 live on Twitch and actively including my community, so if you’re looking to join a helpful, fun, and lore obsessed Diablo 4 community, come say hello. With that, I want to thank you all for watching, a special thanks to all my supporters - until next time
