Ok, spoilers here. If you're waiting to progress through the whole raid to see how Garrosh's successor is chosen, then look away.
Seriously.
I'm just going to say it here.
Tell you what, I'll make a cut
For the first time since the Horde's inception, a non-Orc now holds the title and role of Warchief. Vol'jin, son of Sen'jin, leader of the Darkspear Trolls, is now Warchief of the entire Horde. Thrall seems to have returned to a leadership position among the Orcs, but he has opted to defer to the leader of the Rebellion, who rescued the Horde from tyranny.
Never again can the Horde claim to represent the Orcs alone. The other races are now truly equal partners.
This is big. Seriously big news.
Vol'jin is a troll. While the Orcs come from another planet, only present on Azeroth thanks to a magical gateway, the trolls are in fact one of Azeroth's oldest races. This certainly makes the dynamic with the Alliance a little more complicated. Previously, the Horde could be looked upon as invaders and interlopers, who had no right whatsoever to claim a square inch of the planet. Yet with a Troll in charge, the Horde gains legitimacy as an Azerothian institution that it could not quite claim before.
But this also means that the Horde must be approached in a different way. Vol'jin has just gained a huge amount of power, but implicit in his ascension is that he has met the approval of the other Horde leaders. For now, that gives him a mandate to do what he needs to do to restructure and rebuild. But it also implies that a Warchief must now attain that approval. Garrosh failed to do so, and he is being dragged off to Pandaria in chains. Vol'jin will not be able to rule with strength, both because the Horde is ravaged by civil war and also because doing so would make him look like Garrosh. If one Warchief can be felled by his people, another can as well.
Yet for now, Vol'jin is sure to be immensely popular.
Indeed, even outside the Horde.
The Alliance has found themselves in a new position. After several years, they have the upper hand. And yet, being in that position now introduces new elements. Varian has made a hell of a gamble in allowing the Horde to continue existing. Admittedly, there is some logic to it. A full conquest of the Horde would mean more blood and cost, and an opportunity for failure. At this moment, the Alliance can return victorious.
And yet, acts of good will have not always payed off when dealing with the Horde. None understand that more than Jaina Proudmoore, who allowed the Horde to use the resources of Theramore in order to defeat her own father. Jaina had felt morally obligated to give the Horde a chance to build a real civilization, yet after years of skirmishes and failed peace talks, her sacrifice was thanked by a massive bomb that obliterated the city she had spent about a decade building. After receiving nothing but kindness and patience, the Horde had rewarded her with an atrocity. Yes, the main figure responsible for this has been removed from power, but those who took part in the battle remain in positions of leadership, including this new Troll Warchief.
The Alliance may be able to feel some sense of relief, but before they can rest too long, they need to establish a force that can keep the Horde in line. Varian made a serious threat - that if the Horde ever started going down the path Garrosh had attempted, then there would be some serious bloodshed. The Alliance cannot simply walk away and expect that threat to carry any weight.
So even as a war comes to an end, the Alliance needs to strive to win the peace. They need to remind the Horde that they could come back any time and level Orgrimmar if they so desired, while also working hard to make sure that such an act does not become necessary.
Peace also comes at a serious cost. The Night Elves have lost more territory than anyone to the Horde, and while it's easy for humans across an ocean to simply grant a portion of the forests north of Orgrimmar to the Horde in order to keep the peace, there are those like Leyara who are not willing to forgive Horde atrocities so easily. Likewise, peace would seem to imply a draw-down of activity in Lordaeron, but there are not really any great assurances that Sylvanas will respect the terms of peace.
Seeing the Horde truly give equal footing to their various races, the Alliance might need to take a look at their own diversity. While in theory the Alliance has always been a more equal society than the Horde, they have just spent the last year or so investing more and more power into the human king.
How does the Alliance deal with differences between its peoples? Might the Night Elves get upset over the lack of action in northern Kalimdor? Might the Gilneans grow impatient to take back their country? Might the Draenei balk at any orders from the "High King" that could interfere with their eventual plan to bring the fight to the Burning Legion?
The Alliance has been pulled tightly together by the threat of Garrosh Hellscream. With his removal, could that bond begin to deteriorate? The Alliance is now more powerful than it has ever been, but power can attract certain types of people. We've been dealing with a man who was overtaken by an addiction to power - a man who had, for a time, been a celebrated hero and close friend to his comrades. Might some darkness be lurking beneath the Alliance, poised to spill out?
Everything has changed after the Siege of Orgrimmar. Before we even consider the external threats that may lurk below or above, we must also make sense of this new order to the world, where a Troll can be Warchief of the Horde.
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