The Worldstone, Diablo's Soulstone, and the permanent outpost of Hell

[mjharper]

This is all highly speculative.

Things we know:

• Baal used his Soulstone to corrupt the Worldstone; his aim, according to Tyreal, was to turn the world into a permanent outpost of Hell.
• Baal 'failed', although Tyreal had to destroy the corrupted Worldstone.

Things we don't know:

• What happened to Diablo's Soulstone (thread I started here)

So how about this:
The Worldstone was like a kind of firewall, protecting the world from invasion from Hell. Diablo managed to slip through because he possessed a mortal already in the world. Corrupting the Worldstone would begin turning the world into an outpost of Hell, so the Worldstone had to be destroyed. Nobody knows quite what effect that will have, as the people of Harrogath tell us at the end. But the world itself is now vulnerable, although there seems to be little threat because, after all, we've just defeated the three Prime Evils. Not having a firewall is not a problem if there's no-one trying to hack your computer.

Except…

Except no-one really knows what happened to Diablo's Soulstone. Everyone assumed—like Marius—that it too had been destroyed, but instead it lay hidden, festering, corrupting the earth itself. We know that the Soulstones can corrupt physical objects (the Worldstone) as well as sentient beings (the Wanderer). The monsters spreading out over Sanctuary do not follow in the wake of a Wanderer; instead they emanate outwards from a centre of corruption (much like the Undead bases in WarCraft III), gradually encroaching on the untainted lands, which begin to fall to the sword and to the corrupting influence of the Soulstone. The Soulstone will become the very heart of Diablo, moulded out of the earth itself, a molten chaos forced into demonic form (like the boss at the end of the gameplay video). The world will be turned into a permanent outpost of Hell…

Baal's actions thus acquire another dimension. If he succeeded in corrupting the Worldstone, the world would be conquered by Hell. But if he only succeeded in having the Worldstone destroyed, the world would still fall because his brother's Soulstone was left behind, turning an unprotected earth against itself. A win-win scenario.

Sure, it's all speculation, but it sounds good to me

[ThulRasha]

That is not quite how I see it. The worldstone was a device with multiple purposes. One was to keep the powers of the mortals in check. The other purpose was to hide the world from both heaven and hell.
By corrupting the worldstone, Sanctuary would be no longer hidden from hell. Tyreal had to destroy it to level the playing field, making it accessable to his peers as well as the denizens from hell.

The soulstones were just one way for the prime evils to enter Sanctuary. They could use the stones to posess a mortal. Now that Sanctuary is no longer hidden, they don't need the soulstones anymore. Instead they will use a different way to regain a corporeal form. We don't know yet what, but the cultists probably have found a way.

[Reanimator]

If Tyreal has (as has been suggested elsewhere) been corrupted by the soulstone, then could it mean that not only is Diablo able to corrupt the world but also access heaven for the same purpose? After all, that is part of the point of the soulstones: to allow the Prime Evils to enter the world by corrupting a host.

[mjharper]

Yeah, I know the idea depends on Diablo's Soulstone being left behind; and a particular interpretation of the Soulstones and their function; and, well, every other theory about the 'resurrection' of Diablo being wrong. But it's fun to speculate.

What this theory and the possession of Tyreal have going for them is the idea of Diablo's increasing power. In D1, he possessed a child; in D2 he possessed the hero who slew him. Possessing an Angel, or corrupting the earth itself, should lead to a Diablo of terrifying proportions.

Which is just what we need ;-)

[Reanimator]

Originally Posted by mjharper

Possessing an Angel, or corrupting the earth itself, should lead to a Diablo of terrifying proportions.

Like a massive, three-headed, version made of molten lava?

[Thirty-Thirty]

The corruption of Tyrael is consistent with the story of the games, and Blizzard could choose an appropriate point and mechanism for that corruption to take place. On the other hand, it's still plausible that Tyrael has not been corrupted, but, as you say, wanted to destroy the Worldstone to keep the playing field even. It's looking a bit further ahead, but the triple Prime-Evil beastie might be the villain of D3, and Tyrael the villain of the inevitable expansion pack.

There are two important things that I try to keep within my speculations about the various stones.

Firstly, the destruction of the Worldstone might very well remove the need for soulstones at all. They were created to contain the spirits of the Prime Evils in the mortal realm, but wouldn't be necessary if the boundary no longer exists. The soulstone might still be around, but it might not contain Diablo's spirit any more. By the same token, any reduction in Tyrael's power cause by his tenuous links to Sanctuary (he refers to his weakening when you find him in Tal Rasha's tomb - end of D2, Act II) is probably gone too. I can see all out war between Heaven and Hell breaking out across Sanctuary.

If the soulstones are now moot, I think there are huge doors open to Blizzard, and our speculation . If the brothers are back to being more spiritlike now, it could be made consistent with the three-fold theory proposed for the three-mouthed beastie in the cinematic trailer. Diablo is, after all, strongest of the three brothers, so I'm happy with the Diablo-like physical appearance. And it'd make for a totallysuperawesome climactic fight (even if he does only drop Isenhart's Case).

Secondly, I'm a bit wary of Tyrael's motives, even if still aligned to the light. He may have stepped in to help humanity purely for the sake of keeping the Evils out of Sanctuary. After all, both the Heavens and Hells recognised that humans are the tool to win the war. So he may have chosen to destroy the soulstone to give the High Heavens a fighting chance, well aware that Sanctuary was basically stuffed either way. Again, this is in line with an all-out war scenario.

A whole lot of speculation on a lot of things. At the end of the day, just about every one of Blizzard's games has been a top-selling Editor's Choice galore superhit. I don't doubt for a second that D3 will be no different.

[Thirty-Thirty]

Double-posted. No need to read such a long one twice.

[Reanimator]

Yeah, a beast formed of all the 3 Prime Evils would be pretty awesome - and would make sense to me in many ways...

There is that really impressive shot in the cinematic trailer with what appears to be a huge rift in the earth and masses of soldiers, which would back up the "all out war". Plus, if Tyrael is working for his own interests it would make sense that he has decided to make a play for Sanctuary in the same way Diablo is trying to do so for the Hells.

I agree however, Blizzard are awesome at writing good stories so I'm sure whatever they come up with will rock!

[BlackenedRoseThorn]

oh god, that is all the land needs... first it gets stepped on by the three, then 20 years later, guess what? both sides come to war over the land, and who cares about who gets crushed in between...

[mjharper]

I have to say, I'm not convinced that the Soulstones are now moot. They've been a part of the story for as long as Diablo, Deckard Cain, and Tristram...