As the sun shone down upon the morning of the 25th of Midsummer in the year 451 MA, the sky wrenched open, exposing the Shadow Plane. After decades spent within the Shadow Plane, fighting the beasts and Shadowbound within, Severn, the Manipulator broke free, fighting the denizens of the Plane every inch of the way. Before He was able to close it once more, however, Ati, the Shadow rose from the Itzatl, engaged the Manipulator, and gained entry to the Shadow Plane, reuniting once more with Ohlsana, the Shadow Mother. During the fight between them, the Lance of Irissotl - wielded against the shadows by the Manipulator - was broken beyond all repair.
In the wake of the temporary breach, shadows assaulted the Cities of Spinesreach and Bloodloch, and spread out across the Mamashi Grasslands and the Itzatl. The greatest casualties were suffered by the Rajamala of Saluria, of whom hundreds were slain at the hands of the shadows; the village itself was devastated and torn apart, not likely to be repaired again anytime soon. The Manipulator vanished soon after falling from the sky and into the Mamashi, offerings only these words amid His broken laughter:
"I lost. I couldn't defeat them. They're coming."