The Volcano

The Volcano, as seen from the Warfang ramparts

The Volcano is a pivotal location for the dark forces of Malefor throughout the events of Dawn of the Dragon. It serves as a harbringer of doom and an image of menace. The updraft the Volcano creates is strong enough to suspend several Islands, the most notable being The Dragon Temple

Story

The volcano first appears at the end of the Twilight Falls level as Hunter and Spyro stare out at the horizon with Hunter explaining how Malefor attacked and suspended the temple above the volcanon to symbolise his dominance. The next appearance was during the siege of Warfang where it can be seen in the background of Malefor's army.

The volcano plays a major role later in the game after the Golem was killed. Malefor addresses the Guardians and announces the ressurrection of the Destroyer. The volcano then explodes and the Destroyer climbs out of the crater and commences to form the Ring of Annihilation to destroy the world.

After failing to stop the Destroyer, Spyro and Cynder venture through the Burned Lands, a desolate ridden wasteland shadowed by the great mountain, where the Destroyer can be seen attempting to scale the volcano. Spyro states that they must reach the volcano to find an updraft to continue. The volcano can be seen when flying above the floating islands.

During the final battle with Malefor, the Destroyer arrives at the volcano and falls back into the Earth. The volcano erupts so violently the the Earth's atmosphere is dispersed and the planet begins to break apart. The updraft of the mountain dies out and Malefor's Lair plummets into the volcano towards the Earth's core. During the Spyro's reconstrucion of the world it is possible the volcano was drawn back into the planet.

Trivia

• The Volcano provides a defensive area for Malefor, is responsible for the creation of the vast Burned Lands and also the Belt of Fire which prevents anyone for getting close to Malefor's Lair
• In terms of volcanology, the volcano is an amalgamation of the two main groups of volcanoes. It has the steep slopes, incredible height and explosive nature common with Strato volcanoes, but is also constantly active and has a large crater, features common with Shield volcanoes.
• The volcano may have been created by artificial means as the dragon temple, and to a fan based theory, the swamp, lie on the area the volcano is situated on. In A New Beginning and The Eternal Night the mountain is absent from this area.