Why don't I find this true? Well the first part is the name of the Expansion, Reaper of Souls. While Death does reap souls, he is not the only one. Death has given the power of reaping to his minions so that he doesn't always has to do the job. And I feel Maltheal is in that position. He is not Death, but in fact a lieutenant or general of the real Death. Absurd, I know. An Archangel becoming a minion of someone else? Wont happen! But I feel it did.
Even if you don't agree, hear me out. So why would Wisdom fall and instead becoming a minion? And who would be able to take up the role of Death if not Maltheal? Well, the later I will start first and it will lead to why I believe Wisdom fell. But who could be Death if not Maltheal? I'm glad you asked. I believe it is Tathamet.
WHAT? HOW? WHY? I know, I know. Also seems absurd. However, I will point back to the prophecy of the End of Days.
I feel the prophecy has actually not been fulfilled yet. I will argue that Valor has not turned to Wrath, but instead was consumed by Pride when he ignored help and denounced Tyreal. And Fate, is currently not shattered. Sure he can't see the future of the Nephalem, and I doubt he could see Maltheal falling, but what is the one thing that could cause Fate to be shattered forever? The rise of Tathamet. Which is where my second point lies. In the Book of Cain, it is said,And, at the End of Days, Wisdom shall be lost
as Justice falls upon the world of men.
Valor shall turn to Wrath
and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.
Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all
as Fate lies shattered forever.
Sure, the term is ambiguous, but it fits. A dragon, based on most of our own lore, has wings. But it also explains why Maltheal took the Black Soulstone. Because Tathamet needs it. Because Tathamet is actually not dead.the Dragon, Tathament was his name - and he breathed unending death and darkness from his seven devouring heads.
Tathamet not dieing would mean that there is a being more powerful than any in the plane of Creation. But he was not, because the Lords of Hell were his power. So he was weakened, so even Wisdom should have been able to kill him. However, I feel Maltheal was also weakened. It was said that his mood was darkening before he left. I think he found something. Something that proved that Tathamet was alive. And Anu was in fact, dead. The savior of the Angels, Anu. Learning that his greatest feat had in fact never happened would seem to be a crushin blow to Wisdom. Someone who is supposed to know many things would start to question if one thing was false, how many other things are false as well. So we went to search for Tathamet after the destruction of the Worldstone and had in fact found him. Just the confirmation of him being alive shattered Maltheal, allowing Tathamet to corrupt him and use him.
Why would he need Maltheal? Well, Tathamet probably wants to still act in the shadows. Plus with using a corrupted Archangel, it would be hard press for another angel to even defeat him, as we saw in the cinematic. And Maltheal would be able to locate the location for the Black Soulstone and take it. As I have said, Tathamet it weaked. And while theory would say that Tathamet should of been born right when all Lords of Hell entered the stone, he was not. Tathamet wasn't just a name for all of the power combined, it was also a name for the controling personality. The one creature that was only given the name of Dragon. The one creature that no one knows nothing about and could easily be described as Death.
Edit
As someone pointed out, how could Maltheal find the Black Soulstone, especially so fast? I believe that Tathamet was the one that told him. Not that Tathamet knew the location before Tyreal and the Horadrim decided on it but that Tathamet can sense the power from it like someone knows where their arm is. That power, the Lords of Hell, are a part of Tathamet so the ability to find where it is does not seem unbelievable. And so I think Tathamet knew that it was going to be placed in Sactuary, probably general location due to the travel to the location was going to be long, so he had Maltheal follow the Stone to where we see in the Cinematic and then we get what we saw.
Thanks you for reading my speculation. If you have any opinions or maybe want to add further, please do so. I look forward to the Reaper of Souls and learning more about what is to come in the Future of Sanctuary.
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