Quick Links
While theDiabloseries is mainly known for its action combat, loot, and build variety, there’s actually quite a bit of deep lore involved, if you know where to look. The world of Sanctuary has been developed since the original game through main series entries, lore books, and more.
Related:Diablo 4: Who Is Lilith?
Between Diablo 3 and 4, there’s quite a large gap of time that passes by. Below, we’ll take a look at what happens at the end ofDiablo 3, and what happens between the end of that entry and the start ofDiablo 4, so you’re all caught up on the story.
What Happened At The End Of Diablo 3?
There are two main eventsthat occur at the end of Diablo 3that have lasting consequences for the future of Sanctuary, culminating in the end of the main story and the Reaper of Souls expansion.
First, for context, we need to understand theBlack Soulstone. In Diablo lore,a Soulstone is an object that can trap the essence of one of the Prime Evils; that is, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal. The Black Soulstone functions similarly, but has a wider range of beings that it can trap, namelyall seven of the Great Evils, the Prime Evils included.
This means that the Black Soulstone is capable of holding immense power, making it a popular target among villains.
In Diablo 3, Diablo himself learns of the Black Soulstone, anduses its power to become the sole Prime Evil, gaining the power of all the Great Evils combined. However, thanks to the player, aNephalem, Diablo is defeated, and the Black Soulstone falls down to earth.
Before the Black Soulstone can be safely recovered and sealed away, it isstolen by Malthael, styling himself theAngel of Death. Throughout the Reaper of Souls expansion for Diablo 3, the Nephalem pursue Malthael, who wants to use the power of the Black Soulstone towipe out humanityandend the Eternal Conflictonce and for all.
He would do this bytrapping theDemonic essencethat is present in every person in the Soulstone.Because humanity aredescendants of angels and demons, they still retain this Demonic essence, which is why they would be killed by the Soulstone.
Before the Nephalem are able to stop Malthael, the Angel of Death uses the Black Soulstone and begins to cleanse humanity of this essence,killing a portion of the population. However, the Nephalem appears and battles Malthael. During the battle, after being pushed back,Malthael shatters the Black Soulstone, embedding its shards into his body.
Despite gaining the power of the Great Evils,Malthael is still defeated by the Nephalem, and the Black Soulstone is shattered and spread across Sanctuary,releasing the souls that were previously trapped inside.
So, at the end of Diablo 3,the Great Evils have been released back into the world, and a portion of humanity’s population has been eradicated.
What Happened Between Diablo 3 And 4?
Diablo 4 is set roughly 50 years after the events of Reaper of Souls. During this time, not a whole lot happens in the realms of angels and demons.Humanity slowly rebuildsafter much of Sanctuary was destroyed in the fighting between Heaven and Hell during the events of the previous game.
During this time, theNephalem also started to disappear or go into hiding. It isn’t known exactly what happens to them, and why they aren’t around in Diablo 4, but maybe this will be explained in future updates.
What we can draw conclusions toward, however, is why the current Diablo 4 player character is not a Nephalem. This is most likely due to the"curse of humanity", and how Nephalem were originallybred out of the population over time. Due to the ever-declining power of the Nephalem, future generations of humanity were born withless and less of their original power.
This means that, over time, fewer Nephalem would be born, untileventually there would be none left. Because of this, it’s not unlikely that there would be no Nephalem around during Diablo 4.
While humanity rebuilt Sanctuary,Tyrael,along withLorath, Donan, and Elias, were charged withguarding the Horadric Vaultafter Malthael’s defeat. However,Tyrael was called away by danger elsewhere, and Lorath left for unknown reasons. Donan left to seal the demon Astaroth,leaving only Eliasto defend the Vault.
Eventually, Elias’s fears of the Black Soulstone overcame him, believing it wasonly a matter of time before it reformedand theforces of Hell revived once more. Seeking a permanent end to the Eternal Conflict, he performed the ritual thatsummoned Lilith back to Sanctuaryby sacrificing three adventurers. This sets the stage for the story of Diablo 4, with Lilith as the main antagonist.
