The Horde was created by the Orcs. It was created on Outland, where the only other playable race that existed was the Draenei. The Horde was made up entirely of Orcs until the Second War, when they made alliances with the Amani Trolls, the Ogres, and a handful of Goblins.
The Darkspear, then, are actually somewhat recent members of the Horde, even if the link between the original Horde and the current one is somewhat tenuous. However, if there is a through-line, connecting Old Horde with New, it is the Orcish people. Before the Horde, they had no unified structure to bring them together as a nation.
Thrall's time as Warchief saw the Horde transform utterly, both in that he reined in the Old Horde's lust for conquest and that he expanded it to include new allies - the Darkspear, the Tauren, the Forsaken, the Blood Elves, and the Goblins. The Horde was now a strong alliance between people, whose vision was to carve out a safe home for all of its citizens.
Yet when Thrall stepped down in the face of the Cataclysm, the person he appointed to rule in his stead was a catastrophic choice. Thrall likely saw the Cataclysm as a threat not only to the structure of the world, but also the safety of his people. He wanted a wartime leader who would be able to fend off the Twilight's Hammer, the Naga, and any other threats who might take advantage of the chaos. Little did Thrall realize that it was Garrosh who would seize an opportunity in the Shattering, rallying his people in a renewed war against the Alliance.
The irony is that not only did Garrosh embody the sort of opportunism that Thrall chose him to defend against, but he's not even a particularly effective military commander. Garrosh has pushed into Ashenvale, yes, but that seems to be the extent of his successes. While the Bilgewater Cartel has secured a great deal of Azshara, it is really Sylvanas who has been able to expand her territory, and Sylvanas has proven time and again to have only a theoretical loyalty to the Horde. In fact, it was under Garrosh that the Horde finds themselves scrambling to hold on to the Souther Barrens, the very heart of Horde territory.
Garrosh is a good fighter, and should be leading his men on the front lines while someone more wise and intelligent calls the shots back home. He would have preferred it that way, and the whole of Azeroth would be better off if that were the case.
But as it stands, the Horde is about to fall into civil war, and Garrosh's downfall is imminent. The leader of the rebellion is Vol'jin, who Thrall probably should have chosen as Warchief in the first place. The only reason he did not? Vol'jin is not an Orc.
Despite what even Blizzard representatives like to say, Warcraft is not all about Orcs vs. Humans. Sure, those two races are huge factors in the way of the world, but while Garrosh makes plenty of enemies abroad, the enemies he makes at home are angry with him because of the fact that he forgets what the Horde has become. It is not simply a nation of Orcs - it is a coalition between the Orcs and several other races, each with their own needs and desires.
The comeuppance for this hubris will likely lead to a new leadership for the Horde. Whether we see Vol'jin just straight-up become Warchief, or if the Horde reinvents itself, creating some kind of governing council comprised of various racial leaders (Lor'themar and Baine seem like good candidates, though it might be best to just have eace race send a representative.) The Horde might be a lot better to live in if every people gets their say, and never again will we see one race dominate the others.
But what does that leave for the Orcs?
Clearly not every Orc is a fan of Garrosh. We know that Saurfang, Eitrigg, and of course Thrall are not happy about the way Garrosh is running things. Yet the Orcs are divided. Here is a leader who is telling them that they are the strongest and most deserving people in the world. It's an attractive philosophy if you don't think about your non-Orc neighbors too much.
When Garrosh is gone, what happens to the Orcs? Should they be punished for what Garrosh did? Do the Orcs not get a seat on this War Council?
Can the Horde still be the Horde without Orcs?
Even if they are afforded some degree of power within the Post-Revolutionary Horde, who will speak for them? Thrall is still beloved by some, but part of the Garrosh take-over saw an abandonment of Thrall's ways, and some have even denounced him in favor of Garrosh's leadership style. And that's not to speak of the other problem, which is that to an extent, the Garrosh Regime is Thrall's fault. He was the one who invested the Horde's future with this ruthless dictator. Has Thrall lost the right to lead his people by inflicting Garrosh Hellscream on them?
Who does that leave? Saurfang is old, and probably not the strong man he once was. Like Garrosh, he's always been a soldier, albeit one with the wisdom of age. Eitrigg is also older, and probably wise, but he's never been a leader. It would be nice if Thrall had groomed a successor, but of course, that was Garrosh, wasn't it? And we saw how well he did there.
The Orcs probably lost the right to be sole leaders of the Horde - that's almost a guarantee. But surely the Orcs should be able to lead themselves? The question that demands an answer is "who?"
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