Caverns of Time
In eastern Tanaris a path winds down into a sealed cave guarded by the bronze dragonflight. In vanilla the caverns were already built, light show and all, but closed. Players found that a dead character could slip past the gate and resurrect inside, and what they saw there became one of the most talked-about secrets of 2005.
The sealed caverns
The gate in Tanaris, watched by Chronalis and other named dragons, normally blocked the way. Until it was patched, a player who died close enough could resurrect on the other side, and inside was a starry void full of odd things: a small boat of skeletons drifting through space, and a gigantic hourglass. The caverns were finished, with no broken textures, and players correctly guessed that they would lead to instances set in Warcraft's past.
Opened in The Burning Crusade
The Burning Crusade opened the caverns in January 2007 with two five-player dungeons, the Old Hillsbrad Foothills, where players free a young Thrall, and The Black Morass, where they defend Medivh while he opens the Dark Portal. The Hyjal Summit raid followed. Later expansions kept adding to the caverns: the Culling of Stratholme in Wrath of the Lich King; End Time, the Well of Eternity, the Hour of Twilight and the Dragon Soul raid in Cataclysm; and the Dawn of the Infinite megadungeon in Dragonflight.
Explore the original Burning Crusade Caverns of Time · Game UnCrafter
From the archive
For a time you could get partway into the Caverns through the Tanaris entrance. A dead player could slip through and resurrect inside. Those who used the trick found a starry void full of odd things, including a little boat of skeletons drifting through space and a gigantic hourglass.
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Mira Duskwood is the pen name of the Lost WOW editorial team. Mira writes the secret walkthroughs and the history of the lost areas, and keeps them up to date when a patch changes something.
- How this page was made. Every step was checked against at least two independent sources (Warcraft Wiki, Wowhead and Icy Veins), and against the patch notes for anything that changed over time.
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