What Sword and The War Within Shirts on the Blizzard Gear Store

Key Takeaways

At BlizzCon 2023, Blizzard leaned into a long-running community joke and put a "What Sword?" shirt on the Blizzard Gear Store, listed at $35.
The companion release was The War Within Key Art T-Shirt, listed at $30, featuring the expansion's promotional art.
The meme began in April 2022 when streamer Asmongold asked Game Director Ion Hazzikostas about the giant sword in Azeroth, and Hazzikostas replied "Wait, what sword?"
The sword is the Sword of Sargeras, plunged into Silithus at the end of Legion, wounding Azeroth's titan world-soul.
That wound is the thread the Worldsoul Saga pays off across The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan.
Hazzikostas wore the shirt on stage at The War Within Deep Dive panel, turning a fan joke into official acknowledgment.

To understand why a shirt about a sword became a highlight of the merchandise drop, it helps to trace the joke back to its source.

The What Sword Meme, Explained

In April 2022, during an interview with Game Director Ion Hazzikostas, streamer Asmongold asked where the story of the enormous blade jutting out of Azeroth was heading. Hazzikostas answered with a deadpan "Wait, what sword?" The line landed because it acknowledged something the community had grumbled about for years: the sword had sat in the world with barely a mention since Battle for Azeroth. Fans turned the exchange into a running gag, a kind of Chekhov's gun that the developers had planted and then seemingly forgotten. By putting the phrase on a shirt, Blizzard signaled it was in on the joke and that the sword's story was finally going somewhere.

The Sword of Sargeras and Azeroth's Wound

The blade in question is the Sword of Sargeras. At the end of Legion, the fallen titan Sargeras drove his colossal sword into Azeroth, burying it in the desert of Silithus and tearing open a wound that bled Azerite across the region. Thrall and Anduin later stood over the crater and surmised the strike must have been aimed at something specific. That something was Azeroth herself, a nascent titan world-soul growing inside the planet. The sword was never a random act of spite; it was a targeted blow against a sleeping god, and the wound it left drove much of the conflict that followed in Battle for Azeroth.

The Two Shirts in the Drop

The Blizzard Gear Store paired two shirts that both orbited The War Within's launch: one a meta joke, the other a straight piece of hero art. Prices below reflect the listings at the time and may have changed since.

The War Within Key Art T-Shirt

Listed at $30, this shirt reproduced the expansion's key art. That artwork centered on four figures heading into The War Within: Thrall, the orc shaman channeling the elements; Alleria Windrunner, the void-touched ranger; Anduin Wrynn, wielding his father's blade Shalamayne; and Xal'atath, the Harbinger, the expansion's principal antagonist. The villain sharing the frame was the point of the composition, and some wider versions of the art also included Jaina Proudmoore.

The What Sword Shirt

Listed at $35, the "What Sword?" shirt distilled the whole gag into a single punchline. For anyone who had followed the sword's long narrative silence, the shirt was an inside joke made wearable. Blizzard even set up sword displays with matching signage on the BlizzCon show floor, treating the meme as a celebration rather than an embarrassment.

Why the Sword Mattered to the Worldsoul Saga

The Worldsoul Saga is the multi-expansion arc Blizzard announced at BlizzCon 2023, structured as a trilogy: The War Within in 2024, Midnight in 2026, and The Last Titan still to come. Its central subject is the fate of Azeroth's world-soul, which loops directly back to the sword's wound. Story beats across the saga keep circling the same injury: in Hallowfall, for instance, the crystal Beledar has shifted between Light and Void since the day Sargeras plunged his sword into the planet. The joke shirt, in other words, pointed at the exact plot thread the saga was built to resolve. Viewed from Midnight, the payoff has been arriving expansion by expansion, which is why the "What Sword?" gag reads less like a complaint now and more like foreshadowing the community spotted early.

FAQ

What sword does the "What Sword?" shirt refer to?

The Sword of Sargeras, the giant blade the titan Sargeras drove into Silithus at the end of Legion. The strike wounded Azeroth's world-soul and caused the land to bleed Azerite.

Where did the meme come from?

From an April 2022 interview in which Asmongold asked Ion Hazzikostas about the sword's story and Hazzikostas replied, "Wait, what sword?" The clip became a community running joke.

Who is Ion Hazzikostas?

He is the Game Director of World of Warcraft. He wore the "What Sword?" shirt on stage at The War Within Deep Dive panel during BlizzCon 2023.

Who appears on The War Within key art?

Thrall, Alleria Windrunner, Anduin Wrynn, and Xal'atath, the expansion's antagonist. Some wider versions of the art also include Jaina Proudmoore.

What is the Worldsoul Saga?

A trilogy of expansions announced at BlizzCon 2023: The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan. It follows the fate of Azeroth's titan world-soul, the same world-soul the Sword of Sargeras wounded.

Are these shirts still for sale?

They were part of the BlizzCon 2023 era Gear Store lineup, listed at $30 and $35 at the time. Availability and pricing on the current store may differ, since merchandise rotates.

Last reviewed 2026-07-19 against Patch 11.0.2 The War Within. Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.