The Fate of Jaina Proudmoore

What is going to happen in Icecrown when Jaina is reunited with what her former lover has become? That seems to be on the tongues of a lot of people lately, especially now that it actually has been confirmed she's going to be the Alliance guiding NPC through the Frozen Halls instances.

Honestly and trully, I'm kind of disturbed but not altogether surprised the number of people who would like to see her die in that instance. Their reasons slightly vary but when you cut down to the core you find that they all just want Jaina out of the way so she can't hold Varian Wrynn's war against the Horde back anymore.

So, in a nutshell, they call her "unrealistic" because she wants peace with the Horde, just like Thrall wants peace with the Alliance. People want her dead because that would help esculate their justification for more PvP in Cataclsym.

Does anyone else besides me find this to be slightly disturbing? Sorry, but if you want someone to die, even fictional characters, because they represent a peaceful stand while you on the other hand want an all out war is a sign of having a sick and evil mind, and I have little respect for you because of it. It's as simple as that.

Yet the speculations continue to roll. One idea I saw is that Jaina and Sylvanus cross paths during the confrentation with the Lich King, Jaina wants to try and save Arthas, Sylvanus wants to kill him, and so Sylvanus kills Jaina to get to Arthas. This would surely escalate the Horde/Alliance war to be sure, but I think it would amount to one of the worst and most tragic wastes of a great character that there has every been. I really would not put it past Blizzard to do this though. They already screwed the pooch by degrading the Lich King from one of the most epic villains of Warcraft lore down to a guy who merely shows up, makes threats, gets pwned by a pally, and then leaves. Bottom line is that I really don't have a lot of faith in Blizzard's story telling capabilities, so I worry about the fate of Jaina Proudmoore.

Azshara

Everyone who's spent much attention to Warcraft lore knows about Queen Azshara. She was said to be the most drop dead gorgeous night elf ever to have existed and also one of the most powerful magic users during the time before the War of Ancients. She ended up becoming corrupted and tried to open a portal to let Sargeras into Azeroth, who would burn it to a cinder. In the end she was defeated and sent to the ocean depths along with old Kalimdor, right into the clutches of the Old Gods.

Boom. There is born the naga race with the now transformed Azshara as their queen. At this point she is set to become a major villain not in this expansion, who is going to be featuring Deathwing as it's major villain, but possibly in the next one, Cataclysm II, or something (level 85 to 90).

At first I was kind of offended by the idea that one of the most badass villains in Warcraft lore was going to be outdone by a prissy nelf queen turned into a snake medusa thing.

Then I realized a couple things.

1. Azshara has been a villain in warcraft lore for just as long as Netharion/Deathwing has. Remember that his insanity and evil began at the time of the War of the Ancients, which was caused by Azshara in all actualities.

2. Azshara has been sitting at the bottom of the sea for the past ten thousand years as a servant of the Old Gods, and is now the primary matron of the entire naga race. Where Deathwing is all about rage and madness, Azshara is more calculating and manipulative, making very dangerous. The fact is that we don't have a clue really how powerful she's become over the years. We can take a look at Deathwing though and see what the increased influence of Old Gods on Azeroth has done to beaf up his powers. Imagine what they could potentially do with Azshara.

Battlegrounds in Old Azeroth

It's pretty clear from the Cataclysm trailer that the Horde took the win for the Battle of Warsong Gulch, judging by the amount of deforestation in Ashenvale now. Do I feel bad for the Silverwing Sentinels? Well...kind of. That is their home that's slowly being chopped down after all.

What about the other battlegrounds of Vanilla WoW though?

Who won Arathi Basin? More importantly, who won Alterac Valley?

That's the one I'm really interested in! I'm a huge fan of the Frostwolf Clan and I think that the Stormpikes can get bent in all the wrong directions. They are the encroachers in that regard. Sure, sure, some Alliance fanboys would accuse the FW as being squaters on lands that never belonged to them, but how the hell would SP be any different? Alterac was destroyed which means that land was up for grabs, and Frostwolves made their home there before the coming of those stupid dwarves.

What's more, FW weren't looking to stripmine the place for the sake of archeology.

Knowing Blizzard and how badly they designed Alterac Valley, I would not doubt that victory went to the Stormpike in that regard and Frostwolves will now be homeless, which would suck yes, but not altogether impossible. Maybe, just maybe though, Blizzard will make up for that foul up with AV's bad design and let the Frost Wolves keep their home. That would be justice after all I think.

We do know that Drek'Thar, current leader of the Frostwolf Clan, accompanies Thrall to Outland when they visit the Mag'har in Nagrand. That's means by lore he was alive at that time, after the battle of Alterac Valley. That doesn't necessarily mean they won the battle though, although victory is obtained by killing the other dude's general, which is Drek'Thar on the Horde side. It leads me to wonder what the current lore status of Vanndar Stormpike is. Hopefully dead, the bastard.

Shadow Council Presence A. C.

I'm sure that most WoW players who ever rolled an orc character and played through the quests in Durotar to their fulfillment remembers the quests given by Thrall to act as a double agent against guys like Neeru Fireblade, pictured right. Thrall knows that Neeru is a traitor, loyal to the hated Shadow Council and the Burning Blade Clan, but he stays his hand from giving him what he deserves because he seeks to learn more about his enemy before killing off his best source of information. A wise move.

But as far as I know, Neeru Fireblade is still there, sitting in his little glowing hut at the bottom of Orgrimmar's Cleft of Shadows district, and the time of the Cataclysm is drawing near. If rumors about Thrall leaving the Horde turn out to be true, I hope he doesn't overlook this guy. It's possible, considering Thrall has a shitload of important things on his plate already: King Douche and the Alliance, the war against the Lich King, and dealing with buttholes like Garrosh Hellscream.

And there lies the big risk. Suppose it is true that Garrosh takes over the Horde. What happens then with the Burning Blade Clan and their Shadow Council masters?

I can think of a couple possibilities. I believe that Garrosh does have some redeaming factors. He knows his father was the hero who freed the Horde from demonic taint so I can't really see him willingly joinging up with the servants of the Burning Legion right off the bat. If he learns that Neeru Fireblade is a Shadow Council puppet, then Garrosh's temper being what it is, that will be one less orc without a head. He'll likely then mock Thrall for being a coward or a fool for not disposing of him to begin with, yada, yada, yada. The other likely outcome is that Garrosh ends up not knowing about Neeru and the Shadow Council presence within the Horde, which, in turn, will mean he is going to be fresh meat for them.

Almost certainly Garrosh is going to take the war to the Alliance with earnest and butt heads with Varian directly if he takes control of the Horde. The guy wants nothing more than to fill his dad's shoes and become a hero of the Horde, and he's doing that the best way that most orcs know: war. Varian isn't going to be an easy nut to crack though, far from it in fact. You got to admit, the guy might be an asshole, but he is tough, and he is a good leader. I foresee a stalemate between these two. That said, Garrosh is likely going to get frustrated and want to seek new weapons for an easy win, perhaps even desperate enough to start courting demonic energies.

Who then do you think is going to rear up their ugly heads and say "Hey, we're still here!" when that time comes? Right. Neeru Fireblade and his masters. There begins the downword spiral of the Horde back to what it was during the days of Blackhand.

Of course, this is all just speculation. I haven't read any lore on what the fate is of Neeru Fireblade after that beginning questline, but he is involved in at least one quest later on down the road and I haven't seen anything on what happens to him during Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King. I can only assume then that he's still there, plotting in the shadows and waiting for the right moment, which is likely coming very, very soon.

Garrosh, Warchief?

It's on the tongues of the rumor spreaders and naysayers of the internet that when the Cataclysm happens, Thrall will be taking leave of the Horde for a...special project alongside Jaina Proudmoore. So the question arrises, who is going to be the next warchief?

Rumors and speculation abound hint that it's going to be the newest super badass, or just plain ass depending on how you look at things, Garrosh Hellscream.

This choice of new warchief, assuming they are true, is not exactly popular among the WoW fanbase. In fact, someone on WoW Insider managed to come up with a list of people who would make better warchiefs than Garrosh Hellscream, found here.

LOL at #15 and 16 :D

I have to agree, Garrosh would make a lousy warchief. Right now when I look at Garrosh, I see the Horde version of Joffrey Baratheon from A Song of Ice and Fire, who, as everyone who is smart enough to have read that series knows, is a bloodthirsty little fucker. (Btw, if you're not smart enough to have read that series, GTFO your computer now and go get it, the first volume is A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin). Anyway, the point is, Garrosh, like Joffrey, is going to mess things up...a lot. The moment he gets into power is the moment the war between the Horde and Alliance goes to a new level of violence, and everything that Thrall has done to bring the Horde up out of the dark is going to be ruined in very short order.

For a lot of citizens of Horde, this is very much wanted actually. With the recent declaration of war against the Horde by Varian Wrynn and the alliance, and renewed aggression between the two factions, more than a few of the Horde have been viewing Thrall's wishes for peace as weak and frustrating, and they want action to be taken. I'm sure a lot of alliance also saw this in guys like Bolvar, Jaina, Tyrande, and King Magni before Varian came back, and their new king served as a breath of fresh air in the Horde vs Alliance theatre.

Garrosh Hellscream might be the same thing for the Horde. Tragic? Yes, and a lot of both Horde and Alliance lives will be lost in that war, especially with the Cataclysm killing the world and Deathwing breathing down everyone's necks. Not a good time to start a war, Garrosh! But then again, what stopped Varian from doing the same thing when the Lich King was still at large.

...Holy crap, here I am talking like Wrath of the Lich King is already over! Ah well, at this point I really am more looking forward to Cataclysm.

Anyway, I think that Garrosh taking over the Horde and butting heads with Varian in an all out gankfest is going to be a very interesting story. Garrosh is possibly going to bring the Horde back down to where it was when Blackhand's days, or at least Orgrim Doomhammer anyway. Garrosh is definately more like Orgrim. He's nobody's bitch, unlike Blackhand who was a tool for Gul'dan. This will create two scenarios. 1) It will give Thrall a chance to be a hero again when his duties to the Council of Tirisfal are completed and 2) it will give Varian a chance to make up for his past moments of being a total douche bag. Thrall and Varian working together to bring down Garrosh?

Might be interesting. :)

Cataclysm: Mini-Expansion?

Howdy all.

I can't help but think that Cataclysm is going to amount to something more on the lines of a "Mini-Expansion" rather than a full blown expansion like Burning Crusade or Wrath.

Sure, we have a great deal of new content coming out such as two new races being released, and the level cap is raising. Just by five levels though instead of ten?

Also, there really isn't all that much being added as far as new zones are concerned. A lot of old world material is being redesigned, yes. But actual new zones? Hyjal, Twilight Highlands, South Seas, Gilneas, and a few others.

It doesn't seem to amount to what we were given in BC or Wrath, yet it's enough to amount to its own software.

I say this because I wonder, will Cataclysm take less time to release than Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King?

So, Mankirk's Wife...

What's going to happen to the poor girl's body once the Barrens gets its face lifted I wonder.

Will Mankirk have finally gone out and retrieved it and given it a proper burial after all these years? Or will she fall down into a deep, fiery ravine and have her be burned not-so-alive.

Either way, I see it as a win-win situation for her. The poor woman has had to put up with five years now of her dumbass husband not going out to where her body was, taking it a graveyard, and giving her the proper burial one think she is entitled to, yes? Instead, it's four years of him begging noobs to go out and help him find it for him, and they go out, fondle her corpse to make sure it's her, then go back and let him know where it was.

Just how many times did that happen accross all the game servers combined over the last five years? Probably in the millions I would guess. Imagine a million noobs being sent out to poke your corpse and then go back to tell your husband, and then he never comes out to get you. He just gets another noob! That would piss me off! Right now I'd be willing to bet that Mankrik's wife is wishing that the Lich King had come to visit her to join the Scourge and make her into a Death Knight, so that she would have been able to come back and Scourge Strike him in the junk. Instead she's likely going to have to wait until the Barrens gets torn in half and her body falls into the lava, never to be seen again, much lest to be prodded by noobs. I'm sure she thinks that is a bonus!

And what's more, what's going to happen to Crossroads when the Barrens go up in flames? It is kind of right in the middle of Barrens, so unless the rift kind of does a zig and then a zag at exactly the right time, there will be no more crossroads.

Mankrik's Wife: "Did you hear that, you dirty bastard! I may be going down in flames, but I'm taking you with me! Thank you, Deathwing!" XD

I also kind of think that the other NPC's of Crossroads will be happy to go as well. Never again will they have to put up with Alliance assholes sacking the entire town and then wonder why no one came out to help, and they'll never again have to facepalm whenever they hear Barren's chat! Win! They had to put up with about five years of such silliness and apathy, I think death would be most welcome for the poor souls.

Well, that's just my opinion though. We'll just have to wait and see what fate has in store for Mankrik, his wife, and the people of Crossroads.

WoW and the Real World

I have always thought that the World of Warcraft was basically a representation of our world in a sense, and the things that go on in WoW has sort of represented events of real life.

Take, for instance, the constant conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. In retrospect, these are two sides that have the same goals in mind: to live in peace and make the best life possible for themselves and for their children, and that is entirely understandable. We all want the same for ourselves and our children, so we do what we do. However, these two forces often clash and viewpoints conflict, differences can't be resolved, greed often steps in and whispers in someone's ears saying "you don't want to share with the other side", so they try to take things that don't belong to them, the other side tries to defend it, and thus war breaks out. It's a law of the world as a whole.

I view the relationship between the Horde and the Alliance a lot like the way I view the relationship between Democrats and Republicans. These are two factions of people who should not be fighting because they are both pursuing the same thing, and thus should work together to achieve it. The Horde and the Alliance both face the same enemies in the Scourge or the Burning Legion or the rising threat of Old Gods and corrupted dragonflights. Just as Democrats and Republicans, both Americans, face threats of terrorism and a declining economy. If one side were to work with the other side, it would make things better for everyone, yes?

Every once in a while though, a certain someone comes along who has no interest in playing with the other side, he just has his own agenda in mind or is driven by his own motivations and not those of the country he is trying to protect. In those regards I see Varian Wrynn along the same line as George W. Bush. Bush was driven by the thought of wanting to "kick ass" and Varian is driven by his revenge, both started wars against the wrong people, and though Varian has not screwed Stormwind the same way Bush screwed America, I would not doubt if it comes down to that. He is a man who was traumatized as a child when he saw his father murdered and his home burned during the first war and has suffered much since then, and people like that might be great combat leaders but they seldom make great kings. I really think that this vendetta turned to war against the Horde is going to cost Stormwind a lot when it's all said and done.

The bottom line is that I think that Blizzard introduced Varian Wrynn as an allegory of Bush's presidency. It begins with a tragedy to both the Horde and the Alliance by what happened at the Wrath Gate event (9/11) and both sides are quick to make the perpetrators pay for it. When they do though, Varian Wrynn sees all the human bodies in Undercity and gets pissed. The truth is he's always hated the Horde, and now he has an excuse to move against them, even if they had nothing to do with it (Iraq and 9/11).

A lot of Alliance players have drank that kool-aid however just the same way a lot of Republicans bought into that reasoning and were quick to support a war. The only difference at this point is that Bush did not make war on the Democrats, but with the start of the war the differences between Dems and Reps took a nasty turn for the worse.

This is where we're at now in WoW, two sides fighting each other when they should be fighting a more dangerous enemy, and though I have no doubt that we'll take care of the Lich King, Yogg-Saron, and any other real threats to Azeroth, I think the war between the Alliance and Horde will most undoubtedly get in the way. And even after the Lich King has been defeated, what then? Will the war go on, or will certain people gain some sense? Judging by the nature of WoW, I doubt it.

The whole tragic thing I find about all this is just how enamured some Alliance players have gotten with Varian Wrynn. "Ohhhhh, we have a king who kicks ass now! He's going to lead us to victory! *GASP* SQUEEE!" A lot of Americans did the same thing with Bush because he was a dude who was willing to take the fight to the sands of Arabia and beat terrorists on their own ground, but as things got worse he lost a great deal of support. Some not so bright individuals in the world still think that Bush was the best president ever though, just as I think some Alliance players will think Varian is the best king ever.

You know, I don't hold it against Alliance players for playing Alliance, I started WoW as Alliance myself and still have a few alts abroad. I don't hold it against people if they want to be Conservative Republicans either. I might not agree with their ideals or beliefs, but this is America and they are entitled to those ideals and beliefs. However, if, as a Republican, you are not appalled, embarassed, and ashamed of George Bush, then I think there is something seriously wrong with you. I'm not to that point yet with Alliance players and their attitudes towards Varian Wrynn, but time will tell if we get to that point.

What will our new Alliance Bad Boy have to do to get to that point? Everything that Bush did I guess. Can we expect Varian Wrynn to all of a sudden start ignoring the Lich King the way Bush started to ignore Osama Bin Laden, just to concentrate his efforts on Thrall? Instead of toppling Icecrown Glacier, will he try to burn down Orgrimmar first? Is Varian Wrynn willing to sacrifice the sons and daughters of Stormwind to fight a needless war? Is he willing to destroy his nation's economy to get that war?

God, I hope not, but I would not be surprised. I guess our saving grace is that some of the factions out there who were once part of the Alliance probably will not support King Douche if he makes such an action.

I already mentioned in the last thread that I think Jaina would stop being Alliance only if it came to blows and she was forced to choose sides. Doubtless guys like Tirion Fordring, who has friendships with orcs, will see such things as folly, plus his focuses are on the Lich King.

I'd like to think that people like Velen, Tyrande Whisperwind, and King Magni might have more sense, but who knows... The draenei have bad blood with the orcs for past transgressions, Tyrande is constantly getting upstaged by Staghelm, and Magni Bronzebeard has no love for orcs either, so they might support a war as well, to which they currently are it seems.

What will they do if things start turning bad though? Only time will tell.

Jaina Proudmoore, What Next?

I am assuming that by this point, everyone I know has done the Battle of Undercity quest in some form or another, or has already had it spoiled in some form or another. If you haven't done the questline yet, and if you don't know what happens, and you don't want to be spoiled, then you should stop reading about....now.

Ok, moving on. I'm interested on what our pretty little mage is going to do next now that the Alliance and Horde are back at each others throats even worse than before now. I know that King Douche is going to be trying to take the battle to the Horde lands if the war keeps going after the Lich King has been dealt with (assuming he can be when those who are suppose to stop him are fighting each other), and he'll foolishly try to invade Kalimdor, Duratar, etc.

My question is, what will Jaina do in that respect? I can think of only one thing that she would do in that regard. The same thing she did when she sided with Thrall against her own father, and refuse to help fight the Horde. If that would happen, then I imagine that King Douche will certainly be the douche that he is and kick Theramoore Isle from the Alliance.

My prediction for the future includes an ocean expansion. It would be stupid for Blizzard to not tap those regions in between the continents as new territories, less that big Maelstrom is just going to sit there as a not-so-pretty picture in the center of the map, staring at us mockingly. When those oceans become available, let's look at the facts:

Eastern Kingdoms Open Ports:
Stomrwind Harbor: Alliance Controlled
Menethil Harbor: Alliance Controlled
Booty Bay: Neutral
Sunwell Isle: Netural (maybe this won't be included?)

Kalimdor Open Ports:
Theramoore Isle: Alliance Controlled (currently)
Ratchet: Neutral

Sorry if I missed any, but as you can see, the Horde is kind of lacking on actual open ports in either of the two continents. Since the beginning Horde transport has depended on zeppelins to get them to and fro across Azeroth, and if you include zepellins into the lines along with ships, that's two for the Horde. It's still kind of unbalanced though.

What am I getting at? Well, I'm hoping that with an ocean expansion we finally get the option of player ran ships, battle on the high seas, that sort of thing. The problem with that currently is that as a Horde player, I do think that captaining a zeppelin would be pretty awesome, but I want the options of actual ships for the Horde as well, but right now they are lacking in viable ports to call on, so I think that Blizz should make some for Horde only just as Alliance have their own (this means, of course, that Alliance would get their own zep towers, and I think that would suck, but fair is far I guess).

You're probably asking, what the hell does any of that have to do with Jaina Proudmoore?

Simply this. If Jaina refuses to take part in Varian Wrynn's war against the Horde, I can see him getting pissed off at her and kicking Theramore Isle from the Alliance. I then see Theramore becoming neutral territory, now open for Horde characters to enter, ships included, and I think that would be frickin' awesome. I always thought it was kind of a crappy thing to do to make it for only Alliance considering the friendship that was forged between Thrall and Jaina, but I guess that's the way the world turns sometimes. Hopefully soon we'll be seeing some changes happening.

Corruption of the Dragonflights

I read a very interesting article about the Dragonflights recently in terms of Warcraft Lore, and where things very well might be headed. As of now, we have already seen two of the great aspects become corrupted in their purpose.

Neltharion the Earth Warder, better known to some as Deathwing, was in charge of keeping the earth itself stable and protecting the underparts of the world, mountains, that sort of thing. In his corrupted state we see him making his home in seismically and geographically unstable regions, volcanic areas and the like, and the black flight uses lava as a weapon of battle.

Now we have Malygos the Speal Weaver, charged with safeguarding the magical flows of Azeroth, turning against his purpose and messing up the leylines of magic in the world to his own ends, possibly causing a catastrophe by letting magic destroy the world. This brought about the Nexus War to stop him and the eventual death of the first of the five aspects. What next for the Blue Dragonflight? Only time will tell.

That leaves three of the five dragonflights uncorrupted...or so we think.

As of now, both the bronze and green dragons are fighting in their own private wars. Nozdormu the Timeless, leader of the bronze, is supposedly helping to fight against the Infinite Dragonflight who are trying to upset time by attacking important events in history: Thrall's escape, the opening of the Dark Portal, the Culling of Stratholme, etc. Aside from that Ysera and her flight is fighting the Nightmare that is slowly taking over the Emerald Dream.

But what if these two are the perpetrators behind their own war?

Although it's just speculation, but someone pointed out a very interesting possibility. Chromie sends the player on a quest to the Bronze Dragonshrine which is being besieged by the Infinite Dragonflight, hoping to uncover their leader. The result is the appearance of Nozdormu himself, and although he seems to be fighting the Infinite, it's interesting that he should show up, yes? What if he's the cause of the Infinite Flight?

This is supported by what he said in the War of the Ancients trilogy where he seems to know that Malygos and maybe himself as well will eventually become corrupted and turn against their own duties: "Know that I now ask forgiveness for the wrongs I will cause you in the future, but I must be what I am destined to be... as Malygos is" (p. 712 in the combined books).

If this is true, then that would explain the origin of the Infinite Dragonflight, not as a seperate flight altogether created by some outside force (possibly by the Old Gods), but rather they are corrupted bronze dragons.

Ysera the Dreamer is ruler of the Emerald Dream, which is slowly being taken over by the Nightmare. What is causing this to take place? I have to wonder now. Already we have seen a number of green dragons going mad because of that force and becoming a threat to the world, and thus having to be dealt with accordingly. Soon enough players will be venturing in to the Emerald Dream itself to help deal with this Nightmare force, and what will they find there? Will they find an invading force trying to take over the Emerald Dream, or will the find that the enemy actually comes from within. Do important lore characters such as Malfurion Stormrage or Cenarius already know this? I guess we'll see...

Finally, we have Alexstrasza the Life Binder, who is in charge of safeguarding life itself on Azeroth. She's still very much the good aligned, motherly figure who likes to take the form of a blood elf female in skimpy clothes, doing what she can to help against both Malygos and the Scourge (and, I hope, against Yogg-Sarron the Old God). Now that Malygos is dead, she can turn her attention to both of them, but I have to say I don't like that idea much. What happens if she does become corrupted with the plague of undeath.

Think of it. The guardian of life on Azeroth now getting control of undeath from the Lich King and Yogg-Sarron and thus going on to create a flight of undead dragons, the beginning of yet another corrupted dragonflight. The plauge of undeath from that would be far, far worse than the Scourge I think.

What does this mean for me? Well, considering I'm totally hot for Alexstrasza, I don't think I like that thought very much. I would prefer that she remain the motherly guardian of life with the hot blood elf body, and not become the ultimate undead queen of undeath. That would...kind of suck, to be honest. Yeah, that would make for one hell of a raid fight, but one that would make me sad. So, hopefully, we can kill the Lich King and Yogg-Sarron and all of the other Old Gods before they can further corrupt our favorite dragons.

One can hope anyway.