Diablo 4 Season 14 Teases Shocking Villain Return

Have you ever finished a season's storyline and felt like the game just dropped a bombshell on you? Well, Diablo 4 Season 14 does exactly that. If you're expecting the Lord of Terror to return, you might want to brace yourself for a different kind of evil.

Spoilers ahead for the Season 14 finale. In this season, aptly named Death's Awakening, after Mephisto's defeat, you find yourself fighting cultists of death who want to end Sanctuary's suffering. Eventually, you face off against the fallen angel Serazie in the Pandemonium Fortress, familiar to those who played Diablo 2 and Reaper of Souls. Defeating them leaves behind a chilling warning: "He is coming."

The "he" in question is almost certainly Malthael, the Angel of Death, previously slain in Reaper of Souls. Given the season's death theme, that's not too surprising, but the return of the fortress where Malthael met his end makes it abundantly clear.

But that's not all. After the fight, you meet a mysterious stranger who says that no one can do anything against death itself. When you ask who they are, they reply, "I am nothing, brave child. And despite all your power, so are you." Later, you can talk to quest giver Dannica and mention that the stranger's voice sounded familiar. So who could it be? A lost Horadrim? Lorath returned from the dead? Or perhaps the triumphant return of Deckard Cain? Only time will tell.

This is a big shift for Diablo 4. Previous seasons had standalone stories, but now they're directly tied to the main plot, setting up future expansions. Live service design director Dan Tanguay told GameSpot this was intentional. "We know there's a group of players who are really invested in this story," he said. "They don't play a lot of seasons. Here we said, 'Well, they got a really good conclusion to the Mephisto arc, and now this is a chance to see if we can bring them along on this journey with us.'"

With Mephisto's story wrapped up, many speculated that Baal or Diablo would be next. But it seems Malthael is taking center stage. Even so, Blizzard has plenty of options for future villains.

And you won't have to wait long for answers. BlizzCon runs September 12–13, and rumors are already swirling about a Switch 2 version of Diablo 4. Additionally, details about Season 15 will be revealed soon, including the ability to use the same character each season and the return of iconic items. So what do you think about Malthael's potential return? And who is that mysterious stranger? Let us know in the comments!