Top 3 speculations/reasons about Ancient City's center statue being a portal to new realm in Minecraft 1.19

Hype for the upcoming Minecraft 1.19 update is in full force. Players are excited about the Ancient City, the Warden, the new biomes, etc. The long-awaited Deep Dark biome features are finally coming, including the Ancient City with a mysterious city center statue inside it. As soon as players saw the city in the snapshots, they started speculating how a new realm could be coming to the game.

Deep Dark and Warden were introduced in 2020 but were pushed back as Mojang wanted to expand on the features and make them more detailed. Fast forward to October 2021, after the successful release of the Caves and Cliffs update, they announced the 1.19 The Wild Update, which will contain Deep Dark and the new city structure.

However, as soon as players noticed the mysterious center statue in the city, they were extremely excited as it looked like a portal to another realm. Although the game developers have confirmed nothing, millions of players are already speculating and debating.

---

Few speculation/reasons about how Ancient City's center statue could be a portal to a new realm in Minecraft 1.19

3) Warden not only protecting valuable loot

Warden might be protecting something more than loot (Image via Minecraft 1.19 snapshot)

When the most terrifying and strongest mob, the Warden, was introduced in the game, many thought that the mob would drop or protect some precious loot. However, the mob does not drop anything but a common sculk catalyst block. Even though the loot in the city is really good, players are still debating that this cannot be the sole reason why such a beast is dwelling in these places.

This sparked speculation that the beast must be guarding something much bigger. Along with many speculations combined, it can be said that it is protecting or preventing players from entering another realm.

---

2) Disc 5 sounds like speculation

New Music Disc 5 (Image via Minecraft 1.19 snapshot)

Mojang recently added a new music disc in their Minecraft 1.19 snapshots called '5'. It is similar to other discs like '11' or '13', as it contains a series of sounds of a person exploring the caves and fighting mobs. In this new disc, players will be able to hear footsteps and a flint and steel lighting up something. Soon after, the disc plays the sound of a sculk sensor and the Warden.

After hearing this, players once again speculated how the music disc entails how a player is trying to activate some portal in the Deep Dark biome. This once again hints at the central statue in the Ancient City.

---

1) Reinforced deepslate block speculations

Reinforced deepslate block can only be found on this statue (Image via Minecraft 1.19 snapshot)

When the new city structure was introduced and was added to the Minecraft 1.19 snapshots, people quickly discovered a new block called 'Reinforced Deepslate.' It was a particular type of block that was only found at the center statue of the city. These blocks surround the hollow part of the statue. This block was instantly compared to the End portal frame-block in terms of rarity and strength.

The reinforced block cannot be broken easily and takes several minutes to break from a strong pickaxe. Even if it breaks, it does not drop as a block. Previously, the block could move with a piston. However, in the latest snapshots, that feature was removed by Mojang. Since this rare variant of deepslate can only be found at the center of the city in Minecraft 1.19, players frequently connect this to the End portal blocks and speculate how Mojang could add a new realm through this statue.

---

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion. The developers have not confirmed the speculations and reasons mentioned here.