Abyssal Maw (instance)

The Abyssal Maw is a scrapped instance from World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. The unused entrance hallway exists next to the Throne of the Tides.
Originally planned as a launch dungeon, it was first pushed back to patch 4.2 to release alongside the Firelands, then scrapped altogether to focus patch 4.2 entirely on the Firelands. The reasoning given at the time was that Throne of the Tides was a good ending to the Vashj'ir storyline.Archived page
However, fans have noted that it ends on a vague (and hard to see) cliffhanger where Ozumat kidnaps Neptulon. In regards to this at the BlizzCon 2011 World of Warcraft Lore and Story Q&A panel, Metzen proceeded to dodge the question with jokes about "Neptulon's tryst with Ozumat" and said that it was a hard question and that a "damn mess is what it was."BlizzCon 2011 - World Of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria - Lore and Story Panel
The fights would have taken place inside a third shelled demigod that had been corrupted by the naga.http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/709055/World-of-Warcraft-Cataclysm-Zone-Videos---Blizzard-Commentary-On-The-Secrets-Inside.html Ghostcrawler says that "It was three bosses inside Nespirah, with no unique art,"http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/4519250/Cataclysm_Post_Mortem_--_Greg_%E2%80%9CGhostcrawler%E2%80%9D_Street-3_7_2012 though earlier previews described the dungeon as multiple raised underwater plateaus above a chasm.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIGRGEgM5vY
The Abyssal maw dungeon was scrapped because the storyline and setting was not convincing and fitting.- WoW Patch 4.3: Ein Raid, drei Instanzen und ein wirklich lang gehegter Traum
While it was originally announced as a 5-man, later statements suggested it may have been changed to a raid before getting scrapped.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJKu0PkB9F0
==Ghostcrawler about the instance==
Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, WoW's lead systems designer (at the time), talked about the Abyssal Maw during Blizzard's Cataclysm post-mortem blog series.
==Gallery==
Abyssal Maw 2 layout.jpg|An early map of the Abyssal Maw dungeon
ABMaw3.jpg|Art of the Abyssal Maw dungeon
Abyssal Maw art.jpg|Art of the Abyssal Maw dungeon
==Speculation==
*Nar'jira might have been intended to appear here.
==References==