Are We Going to Fight All the Warlords?

The Warlords of Draenor title refers to the chieftains of the various Orc clans at the dawn of the Horde, or, in this timeline, the Iron Horde.

While Grom Hellscream certainly seems to be the frontman for the Warlords (I really don't know about that final boss quote. People think it was a joke but from the video, but if it was, it was one of the most deadpan deliveries I've ever heard,) we've clearly been presented with an ensemble of dudes to deal with in the upcoming expansion. Each of these guys has their own vibe and their own history, and that got be wondering whether we're going to fight all of them.

Grommash Hellscream:

Garrosh's dad and Thrall's one-time friend, Grommash was the first Orc to drink the Blood of Mannoroth in our timeline, but he was prevented from doing so by his time-displaced son, which is how the whole alternate timeline split off in the first place.

Yet even without demon blood, Grommash seems like a real brute. He's bloodthirsty and vicious, and if the announcement trailer is any indication, just as bent on conquest as he was hopped up on green.

Indeed, if that remark was not a joke, Grommash could be the final boss of the expansion (though I really hope he isn't, because damn it, we just fought a Mr. G. Hellscream as a final boss.)

But even if he isn't the final boss, I expect we'll fight him at some point. The question, though, is if we'll kill him. Personally, I'd actually love to see Garrosh forced to fight him, to be confronted with the truth about his dad and thus hopefully recognize that everything he had feared when he was at Garadar had come to pass.

Blackhand:

Blackhand, chief of the Blackrock Clan, was, at least in the original timeline, the original Warchief of the Horde (unless Ner'zhul was?) In our timeline, Orgrim Doomhammer assassinated him and took his place, but things are going to look very different in this timeline.

Blackhand will be the final boss of Blackrock Foundry, which will be a large, 10-boss raid in tier 17.

Not sure what else we'll find out about him. Currently, you can fight his son Rend in Upper Blackrock Spire, who claims the title of Warchief of the Dark Horde (there are so many Hordes!) But given that UBRS will be getting a revamp, it's not clear that we'll have Rend to kick around anymore (then again, Whitemane's still in Scarlet Monastery, despite most of the other bosses getting replaced with similar, but separate people.)

Kargath Bladefist:

This is actually the only one of the Warlords we've actually killed already (Ner'zhul's complicated.) In the original timeline, Kargath, chief of the aptly-named Shattered Hand clan, survived the first and second wars, and when Illidan took over Outland, he served the Illidari as Warchief of the Fel Horde (see what I mean?) To this day, you can head into the Shattered Halls wing of Hellfire Citadel and kill this dude to claim his badass fist weapon.

It seems that the younger Kargath will probably be in a different part of Draenor. While Kargath has been revered by some in the modern Horde (there's a town in Badlands named after him,) it actually looks like he's a creepy, vicious masochist.

I think it's really damned likely that we're going to have to kill this dude.

Durotan:

Durotan is Thrall's dad, and while he did take part in the war on the Draenei in the original timeline, and he did take part in the invasion of Azeroth, he and his Frostwolves Clan never drank the demon blood, and they always maintained a tie to their shamanistic roots.

While I think Thrall is going to be in for a bit of a shock and find his dad is not quite as enlightened as he is, I think that Durotan will be the one Warlord who accepts the modern version of the Horde, and it seems likely that he and the Frostwolves will aid the modern Horde in the struggle against the Iron one.

Kilrogg Deadeye:

The chieftain of the Bleeding Hollow clan, Kilrogg is apparently a powerful shaman/warlock who has a kind of reckless bravery due to the fact that he knows how he will die. Most people know of Kilrogg by his Warlock spell, the Eye of Kilrogg.

Two interesting facts present themselves regarding Kilrogg. First is that the visions of his own demise tie somewhat into the time-travel and prophecy theme that Blizzard may or may not be willing to explore (I'm hoping yes.)

The other thing is that, much like Grommash Hellscream, Kilrogg has a son who lived in Garadar. We don't know much of what Jorin Deadeye has been up to (clearly not as much crazy stuff as Garrosh,) but I'd be curious to find out more about this mystic.

Gul'dan:

Gul'dan is probably the most evil character in Warcraft who is not some kind of god of evil or embodiment of darkness. He and his Stormreaver clan want nothing but power, and they are happy - gleeful, even - in the wanton destruction they cause to get it. Gul'dan only created the Horde and opened the Dark Portal so that he could get to the Tomb of Sargeras out in the ocean. The destruction of Stormwind was just a side-effect to him, and he really couldn't have cared less.

Yes, Gul'dan is a super-bad guy. But will we fight him?

I actually think that if we're going to have an Orc as the final boss of the expansion, Gul'dan seems like a way better choice than Hellscream. But it might be interesting instead, if we were to find ourselves in a profoundly uncomfortable position of needing his help.

Gul'dan was the one who orchestrated the whole demon-blood infusion into the Horde in the first place. With Garrosh preventing his father from drinking it, I think we can imagine that Gul'dan considers the Iron Horde his enemy. With the Iron Horde out of his control, Gul'dan may very well want to see it destroyed.

And so do we. So, the question is: could we actually find ourselves teaming up with the most disturbing, despicable mortal in all of Warcraft to stop a mutual threat? (Yes, please. That would be awesome.)

Ner'zhul:

And here's the weirdest one. Ner'zhul has two huge legacies, and both of them are pretty horrific. The thing is, at least when he was a mortal, he was not really a malevolent or spiteful person. Essentially, Ner'zhul spoke with the dead. It was his and his Shadowmoon Clan's thing. As the most respected Shaman in all of Draenor, people listened to what he had to say.

So when all of a sudden, the spirit of his dead wife came to warn him that the Draenei were going to make war on the Orcs, Ner'zhul brought this information to his people, and they decided to strike first. How could Ner'zhul have known that the spirit was not his wife, but a disguised Kil'jaeden?

Is Ner'zhul really a bad guy? He might be self-centered, and maybe callous, but evil? Perhaps not. If we could convince him that he had been misled, perhaps he might recant and try to end the hostilities.

So here's the other thing:

Ner'zhul wasn't just the one who brought the Horde together in the original timeline. He also inadvertently destroyed his planet trying to escape from Kil'jaeden. The portals he opened ripped the world apart, and it was all for nought, because the moment he stepped through one of those portals, he was captured by Kil'jaeden. His body was torn apart and his soul was locked within a helmet made of dark metal. The armor was sealed within an ice-like crystal and sent to Azeroth, specifically Northrend, and more specifically, Icecrown Glacier.

And Ner'zhul became the Lich King.

Something I had not realized before is that Ner'zhul was already a speaker with the dead. He had a connection to the afterlife. It's not that much of a stretch to see how he would use that ability, combined with the demonic power with which he had been infused, to create the Scourge.

So what I'm fascinated by regarding Ner'zhul is what his reaction will be when he sees Forsaken and Death Knights marching out of the Dark Portal. Will these figures disturb him? Or will he realize, somewhere deep down, that these are his own children?