World of Warcraft: Midnight has been a successful expansion so far. Revamped versions of Eversong and Zul’Aman, a strong leveling campaign, an engaging endgame loop, and a dramatic Mythic raid Race to World First have all served to make it a memorable release. One of its most popular, standout features is the Haranir. This new allied race is incredibly popular due to its high-fidelity model and breadth of customization options, leading World of Warcraft players to create Haranir characters in droves.
That said, the Haranir have not stood out in this expansion just because of their gorgeous World of Warcraft character models. In an expansion full of Elves and Trolls fighting against the Devouring Host, the Haranir and their struggle against the Lightbloom doesn’t seem to fit. It is almost like the Haranir weren’t supposed to be in Midnight at all, and mounting evidence seems to suggest that might be exactly the case.
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The Haranir Stick Out of WoW: Midnight Like a Sore Thumb
Why Are the Haranir Even In World of Warcraft: Midnight?
The Haranir are a group of beings that live in a subterranean zone in WoW: Midnight called Harandar, where the roots of the World Trees meet to form the Cradle of their goddess, Aln’hara. Their exact history is unclear; in-game sources suggest they went underground 20,000 years ago or earlier, while the art book suggests it happened after the Dark Trolls found the Well of Eternity about 15,000 years ago. Regardless, the Haranir have an ancient connection to both Trolls and Elves, though they have lived in hiding for millennia.
Midnight itself is all about Elves and Trolls. Though Blood Elves and Void Elves are front and center, the Amani Trolls play a major role as well. By the end of the max-level campaign in WoW: Midnight, the Night Elves, Nightborne, and High Elves join the forces opposing Xal’atath. The Haranir arrive to help, too, but in a way that feels like it is only because there was a zone about them; their shared ancestry with the Elves or Trolls is not even brought up once.
All the other campaign chapters directly pertain to the war against Xal’atath. Eversong, Zul’Aman, and the Voidstorm zones in WoW: Midnight deal directly with the antagonist’s minions, and Arator’s Journey focuses on fueling the Sunwell’s defenses. Meanwhile, Harandar is all about the Lightbloom—a corrupted overgrowth caused by the surging Sunwell. While connected to the Light and Void plot, the Harandar story doesn’t move the Lightbloom plot forward in any substantial way. All that changes by the end of the zone is that more Haranir come to the surface, and one of their elders is slain.
- Eversong Woods: Introduces the Lightbloom, Twilight’s Blade, and Amani plots.
- Zul’Aman: Unite the Amani against the Twilight’s Blade Void cultists.
- Arator’s Journey: Help collect artifacts to power the Sunwell’s defenses.
- Harandar: Fight off Lightbloom creatures in a land far from the rest of the action.
- Voidstorm: Push into Xal’atath’s stronghold and shut down the Voidstorm.
The Lightbloom itself is a good addition to the story, but the Haranir’s involvement does not contribute much to it. The zone doesn’t fit in with the rest of World of Warcraft: Midnight‘s story, and the race ultimately doesn’t do much. Indeed, it feels as if you removed the Harandar and the Haranir from Midnight, very little would actually change.
Were the Haranir Cut Content from WoW: The War Within?
The Curious Case of Orweyna and the Rootlands
Evidence suggests the Haranir were actually supposed to play a bigger role in The War Within, rather than Midnight. The first piece of this puzzle is Orweyna herself, the main Haranir character fans interact with. She was introduced in The War Within, appearing in the “Shadows Beneath” cinematic trailer, during the Azj-Kahet story, and again in the Undermine campaign in WoW. That said, she really didn’t do much, especially compared to other main characters like Faerin, Alleria, and Gazlowe.
If players fly high enough in the root-filled section of Azj-Kahet, they are put to sleep and teleported to the ground. Datamined files suggested there was a zone in development early on called the “Rootlands,” which most suspected was going to be a patch zone with an entrance in Azj-Kahet in WoW: The War Within. However, the Rootlands never came, and this Azj-Kahet Easter egg amounted to nothing. Instead, it seems likely that the Rootlands from The War Within were instead transformed into Harandar from Midnight.
Several details from Midnight corroborate this theory:
- Players who fish in the Gulf of Memory delve in Harandar gain skill points for Khaz Algar Fishing, rather than Midnight Fishing.
- A world quest in Harandar has Orweyna ask fans to catalog wildlife for Brann Bronzebeard: the delve companion from WoW: The War Within who does not play a role in Midnight at all.
- The Otherworldly Cloth sub-specialization for the Fabric Specialist Tailoring specialization refers to Harandar and the Voidstorm as the Rootlands and the Voidlands.
- There is a side quest in Harandar where Gazlowe visits Orweyna, despite having a major role in The War Within and no other appearance in Midnight.
- Orweyna’s Black Blood plotline from The War Within was dropped in Midnight in favor of the Lightbloom.
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Steve Danuser, Chris Metzen, and the Worldsoul Saga Mystery
While there is no way for players to know exactly what happened, this is possibly due to the introduction of the Worldsoul Saga. Steve Danuser, former lead narrative designer of WoW, left the company in November 2023, shortly after Warcraft creator Chris Metzen returned as executive creative director. This would have had to be right in the middle of when The War Within was in development and likely when Metzen introduced the concept of the Worldsoul Saga.
The Haranir were almost certainly the creation of Danuser. A race of ancient wild Elves called the Hironar exists in the lore of Kingdoms of Amalur, which Danuser was the creative director of. Concept art from Project Copernicus, the canceled Amalur sequel MMO, shows beings that look like a cross between the Haranir and the Ruutani, a plant-like race that also lives in Harandar. Between their similar names and aesthetics, a connection between them is probable, especially because the Haranir were briefly known as “Harronir” before settling on the final spelling.
The Haranir were likely well into development by the time Metzen returned, especially given how long it would take to make the cinematic Orweyna model, so it was too late to fully cut them. Instead, their content was adapted and split between The War Within and Midnight, leading to their odd delivery.
Of course, this is mere speculation based on files and observation. The only thing fans know for sure is that the story of the Haranir has been disjointed at best, or irrelevant at worst. It is a shame to see such a popular and aesthetically interesting race flounder as much as they have, so hopefully, Blizzard can give them a more unified storyline in future World of Warcraft updates.
- Released
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March 2, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
