The mystical meteor seen in the WWI 2008 intro cinematic is obviously important to Diablo 3's story line, but the purpose of it, or what it is, remains unknown.
Meteor is also a Tier 6 skill unlocked for the Wizard at level 20, summoning a massive meteor from the sky to burn down enemies.
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Meteor
The infamous meteor sailing towards Tristram Cathedral.
We know from the cinematic and other art that Leah and Deckard Cain were at the cathedral at the time the meteor struck, crashing through many levels down into the catacombs below. Exactly who is where when the meteor hits is unknown, but further explained in the Cain and Leah section below.
Blizzard has said the catacombs we see here are essentially the same ones we visited in Diablo I, where Diablo himself was once "defeated".
In the BlizzCon 2008 playable demo, Captain Rumford says a meteor had struck the cathedral and it has awakened evil within. He asks you to investigate. This awakened evil turns out to be King Leoric (or possibly something deep underneath, where the demo characters were not able to proceed to). Whether we'll see the same story in the full game is unknown.
Cinematic Meteor Event
This is the sequence in which the cinematic movie from WWI 2008 depicts the meteor:
Meteor across the horizon.
Comes tumbling down...
And down...
New Tristram Cathedral.
Light from meteor shines in.
Crashes through the roof...
Impacts in Tristram Cathedral.
Great bang ensues.
Possibly a view of the crater left by the meteor.
Diablo behind it?
Speculation
What the meteor actually contains is unknown. The only things fans have been able to speculate about are information given in the concept art.
It is of course possible the flaming stone is just some spirit from above that resurrects Leoric, but knowing Blizzard's intricate story lines, it's likely something much greater than just the Skeleton King.
Fallen Angel
The most popular line of thought is that the comet in fact is an Angel, or even an Archangel expelled from the High Heavens for unknown reasons and that hitting Tristram Cathedral is either a sign to call the hero characters there, or random chance. The reason for this line of belief is the concept art with angel-like appearance. The two most popular candidates are Tyrael and Izual.
The Angels and the High Heavens are by no stretch "good" creatures. In Sanctuary, there is no true good force. Even the Angels, and Tyrael himself were once in favour of eradicating the humans and the whole world. What sort of internal politics, could have made them expel one of their own to our realm is unknown, but it could be related to Tyrael or Izual interfering with the world of humans once to many for the Angiris Council
These are the concept art pieces that have been speculated to be related:
Was Cain originally supposed to be in the Cathedral, or was he just not visible in the cinematic?
Meteor impacts, but does not hurt Leah.
Presumably Leah looks down the crater.
Some Angel-type entity doing something involving fireing up his wings...
Tyrael on Diablo3.com changed wing-look on Dec 10 2008, is this related to the left image?
Entity with angel-like orange "wings" standing in a bastion of sorts. Wears helmet with horns, or has horns.
Looks a lot like the previous Angel in the tower, has a helmet with horns/wings, and apparently turns to fire/light. Tyrael has no such helmet normally.
Cain and Leah
Exactly how things progressed at the impact is not known yet. There is a lot of concept art about Leah and Cain in and around Tristram Cathedral, and through any game or story development things change. Not all of these images are necessarily part of the actual story we'll experience in Diablo III
In the material we do have access to, it does seems like Deckard Cain is sitting furthest in to the Cathedral, noticing the light from the meteor shortly before impact, and Leah running in to try and save him. Either he is hit, somehow not killed and pushed into the labyrinth below, or neither of them are hit.
Only Leah is seen approaching the big gaping hole, looking down. However, the similar scene from the cinematic shows only the hole, and no Leah looking down.
We know Cain has spent the last 20 years trying to find out why there has not been a demonic onslaught after the Worldstone was destroyed, and either all that research has been done in Tristram Cathedral, or they just recently arrived there.
From Abd al-Hazir's entry about Gnarled Walkers, we know Wortham is close to Tristram, and at one point, Leah was there with her father. This could have been either before she met up with Cain or a brief trip to Wortham with her father during the research.
We do know Cain and Leah know of and care for each other, as the WWI 2008 gameplay video has the Barbarian telling Cain that Leah is worried about him. Since he is alive and down in the labyrinth (which you get to by jumping down the hole), either he wasn't hit, or the meteor isn't a meteor in the common sense. The meteor could simply be one of the aforementioned Angels (Tyrael or Izual), who makes sure to save Cain on the way down, saving him from the impact that destroys the Cathedral.
Exactly how he got down there, and is looking through old scriptures there is unknown, and this could also be a story interaction that will be cut from the actual game. If this has any significance or not is also unknown.
If nothing else, the two of them are both obviously surprised when the meteor comes rushing down, so it did indeed appear unexpectedly.
Media
You can find pictures in the Diablo 3 screenshot and picture gallery:
Meteor Terms
A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System. [1] The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteor reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite. Many meteors appearing seconds or minutes apart are called a meteor shower. The root word meteor comes from the Greek meteōros, meaning "high in the air".
Reference
- Diablo III Cinematic Trailer
- Blizzcon 2008 Hands-on Playable Demo
- Captain Rumford Quest