Monday, August 3, 2015

State of the Horde and of the Alliance

The impact of Warlords of Draenor on the rest of WoW's story is something we can't really know until we get past it. Understandably, it's possible that our Draenor adventure will have very little bearing on Azeroth. We lost Maraad, we killed Garrosh, and Eitrigg's son Ariok got transformed into a Dire Orc. The Iron Horde was at best a momentary threat to Azeroth, and the Fel Iron Horde is presumably going to be restricted to Tanaan Jungle until we dismantle it and stop the Legion invasion.

Still, it's possible that we'll see some long-term impacts. The biggest potential there comes from Gul'dan - an alternate Gul'dan who is, well, alive, which makes him a big threat. And this Gul'dan is motivated to take revenge on us - he's presumably in very hot water with the Burning Legion, and, perhaps like Illidan in WC III The Frozen Throne, might be forced to lead an invasion of Azeroth to avoid the Legion's wrath.

Given that Grommash appears to see now how he was mislead by Garrosh, and looks like he's willing to make peace with the Draenei and Frostwolves, it appears that Draenor itself should be able to survive without genocide or other such nastiness. As such, it seems unlikely the Frostwolves will come back with us, and if the Draenei are confident that they can make a lasting peace, they're unlikely to want to leave either - unlike in our universe, most of their civilization on the planet is intact, so there is a lot they would have to leave behind to join with our Draenei, even if we have a surviving Velen and they don't.

Alliance and Horde relations seem to be the best they've been since the Third War. While there's conflict on Ashran, one could almost imagine that that PVP content isn't even canon. The two factions worked together happily at the Dark Portal, and they continued to do just fine working together in Tanaan Jungle. The only real indication of conflict is that there were turncoats in Spires of Arak working for the other side, but a little bit of espionage is not really on the same level as where we were in 5.1.

The success in Draenor is likely a feather in the cap of the new Warchief. While killing Gul'dan immediately after freeing him at the Dark Portal would have been a much better option, overall, the Iron Horde's invasion of Azeroth was turned back almost instantaneously, and there were basically no major setbacks in the Draenor campaign (which is not so good from a story perspective, but if you were in-universe, you'd be pretty happy about that.) The only thing you could call a setback was Gul'dan's usurpation of the Iron Horde, but that was a kind of internal-politics thing that we couldn't really have prevented militarily other than by storming Tanaan concurrently with our attack on Blackrock Foundry.

One gets the impression that people back in Azeroth were able to spend the time rebuilding - though Warlord Zaela posed a threat in Blackrock Spire, she was dealt with quickly, and while the bases in Blasted Lands were destroyed, neither faction really suffered any serious harm from the invasion. Everything was "over there." And that's very good considering how much it was going to take to rebuild after the events of Mists.

Indeed, most of the status of the two factions is essentially "end of Mists plus time." So presumably Vol'jin has been consolidating power and resources in Orgrimmar - luckily, if there were any Orcs or Goblins still loyal to Garrosh (or in the latter case, suspected working for him would still be profitable,) they likely shipped out to Draenor to help him. Vol'jin likely has strong support from Baine, and most of the remaining major Orc players like Saurfang or Eitrigg are presumably happy with him. Really most of the Horde's leadership is probably happy to have someone who isn't a roid-raging asshole as Warchief.

The exception here is Sylvanas. It's not that the Banshee Queen liked Garrosh, but Garrosh was sufficiently intimidating to keep her in line. Vol'jin's biggest test as Warchief is going to be keeping Sylvanas and the Forsaken in line. While the fighting in Kalimdor has presumably come to a stop, at least for now, but potentially long-term, it's not clear whether the same can be said about the northern Eastern Kingdoms.

The Alliance, meanwhile, is probably breathing a sigh of relief that they were able to end the latest war against the Horde in Orgrimmar, rather than their own territory. That said, there could be plenty of people unhappy that Varian was willing to allow the Horde to persist and name a new Warchief.

While Orcs are probably the least popular race among the Alliance (though Undead might surpass them,) humans also have a long and troubled history with the Trolls, so it's not like having Vol'jin in charge is going to placate detractors within the Alliance.

Again, the conflict in Lordaeron really seems like the potential flashpoint in all of this. Varian promised, after the Siege, that they would work on liberating Gilneas - a promise both to his allies and the players, that has yet to be fulfilled.

The Alliance has an opportunity to build up their strength and potentially contain the Horde, though it would probably be wisest to do this with a light touch, given that excessively crippling their enemy after peace has been established would serve as a strong catalyst for a renewed conflict.

On the other hand, the Alliance will never have a better opportunity to squeeze the Horde for concessions, and Gilneas would be a big win - its strategic location would give them a foothold in Lordaeron to put pressure on Sylvanas, and it would be a huge symbolic victory, proving that the Alliance does right by its people, and reversing what was a hugely demoralizing evacuation.

I've said before that this is actually an area where Vol'jin and the Alliance might want the same thing. While losing Gilneas (to the extent that the Horde really has it, which it arguably doesn't - the Silverpine Forest quests suggest that the Gilnean Liberation Front does actually hold Gilneas itself, but not the outlying zones like Silverpine or Hillsbrad) would theoretically be a big loss for the Horde, the reality is that the Horde territory in Lordaeron isn't so much Horde territory as Forsaken territory (with the exception of Quel'thalas - though the Blood Elves are primarily linked to the Horde through Sylvanas, and might consider approaching the Alliance once again if that link were severed, though something would have to be done about the prisoners in the Violet Hold.)

Anyway, though perhaps counterintuitive, Vol'jin might profit from allowing the Alliance to put pressure on Sylvanas. As long as she's occupied dealing with the Alliance, she's less likely to plot against him or break away from the Horde. And on top of that, the Alliance will be committed elsewhere and be less likely to look over his shoulder while he attempts to rebuild Durotar and the Horde mainland.

That said, if such a thing were to be discovered, Vol'jin would be in deep, deep trouble as Warchief, losing his credibility. WoW doesn't really do intrigue, at least not particularly deep intrigue, so it's unlikely we'd get a plot like this.

Still, a conflict involving Sylvanas would be a major test for the tentative peace achieved after the Siege of Orgrimmar. Sylvanas is the most likely to stir that pot, but the reactions to any aggressive actions in that area on both sides could have huge consequences down the line.

In fact, even something as simple as a human death knight trying to rescue his blood elf brother-in-arms could cause an avalanche that leads to full-fledged war.

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