Seventeen Rings for the DPS, Pew-Pewing from behind, six to the healers, spirits lifted high. Two to the tanks, faces smashed by boss.

While we might worry that they aren't as flashy as weapons, or even cloaks, the Legendary Rings coming with 6.2 tap into some of the oldest and most potent fantasy lore there is: Lord of the Rings (and yes, that in turn taps into Norse Mythology.) If you're some philistine who for some reason cares about World of Warcraft but isn't familiar with Tolkien's Opus, here's a quick breakdown: Sauron, who was basically the Kil'jaeden or Archimonde of Tolkien's setting (being a number 2 to the big bad, Melkor, also known as Morgoth,) showed up disguised as a good guy and taught the elves how to make rings of power that would... well, it's actually kind of vague. The rings would basically make the bearers more powerful and effective leaders, and potentially enhanced certain magical abilities, but again, it was kind of vague.

Sauron helps the elves make three for themselves, plus seven for the dwarves and nine for humans. But he also makes a single ring for himself, which is the One Ring that is the macguffin of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The One Ring is basically the master control for the other rings, allowing him to mind-control anyone using them and bend their power to his will.

His plan doesn't work perfectly, though. The Elves figure out who he is before they put their rings on, and they're only willing to use them during the Third Age, after Sauron is separated from the One Ring (in the Fourth Age, which is what happens after the events of Lord of the Rings, all the rings get de-powered because the One Ring is destroyed.) The dwarven rings only partially work because Dwarf minds work differently - part of the backstory is that they were created separately from Elves and Men (Hobbits being an off-shoot of humanity.) The one resounding success, however, is the set of nine rings given to powerful humans. These guys, mostly kings and sorcerers (not wizards, though, because that's a term reserved for five specific Maiar, aka second-tier angels,) become the Ring Wraiths, the Dark Riders who hunt after the ring and serve as Sauron's top lieutenants (though clearly even here it didn't work perfectly, as there are plenty of humans who didn't follow them.)

Anywho, rings of power. They tend to come in a set and interact in interesting ways. And that's what we're doing in Draenor.

For the record, I've never really bought any of the "Khadgar is Evil" or "Khadgar isn't Really Khadgar" fan theories. I've found his wry wit to be a lovely change of pace from the teeth-gritting serious hero stuff we usually get from Varian and Thrall. Yes, he does talk a lot about power, but power's not inherently bad - it's how you use it. And Khadgar is trying to capture Gul'dan, who is definitely public enemy number one (well, at least until he summons Archimonde.)

A group of rings isn't necessarily a bad thing either. In a recent blue post, Watcher addressed some criticisms and concerns about the model for the design of the legendary rings, and while Tolkien's influence (beyond the "standard fantasy setting" he created) is definitely something they have in mind, they're also going for a more benign, Captain Planet kind of thing: "By your powers combined," etc.

Just mechanically, I don't really see our rings suddenly turning evil on us because Khadgar has forged his own ring in secret. But it would be kind of interesting to see some kind of mirror image to what we've been working on. What if Gul'dan was working on his own legendary all along? We still don't know what his fate will be - it's fairly surprising that he isn't a boss, or the final boss, for that matter, of Hellfire Citadel. We do know that our Legendaries will be complete by the end of HFC, but even that said, it could mean that we've got another raid in which to use them, if we're sticking to the Mists model.

Anyway, it is kind of cool to think that we're creating these rings of power. It's a grand and storied tradition.

PS: Something I always thought was cool is the fact that a lot of the most famous fantasy villains are technically liches. Even though the "Lich" as a fantasy trope was invented, I believe, by Dungeons and Dragons in the 70s, Sauron totally fits the bill (even though he's really a fallen angel as opposed to a mortal spellcaster staving off mortality,) as does Voldemort from Harry Potter (Horcruxes being JK Rowling's word for a Lich's phylactery.) Within Warcraft, Arthas is technically an involuntary Lich, with Frostmourne serving as his phylactery (though it clearly works differently depending on whether you just grip the handle or die by the blade.)