Hints at the Larger Threat

Battle for Azeroth is going to put the Alliance/Horde conflict more prominently that ever before in World of Warcraft, even Mists of Pandaria. But if you're looking at the same stuff I'm looking at, I think there are strong hints that at least three major villains are working behind the scenes, and there might be some external trigger to this conflict between the factions. Who shot first indeed?

Let's start in Zandalar, where the Zandalari are besieged by Blood Trolls. While Rastakhan and his daughter (whose name I can't seem to find) are mentioned as leaders of these people, presumably friendly to us, (well, Horde us,) there isn't any talk of the Prophet Zul.

But these Blood Trolls really make me wonder. We know that there are some Titan facilities that seem full of nasty slime monsters, and that screams Old Gods. But let's consider another long-forgotten bad guy: when you combine Trolls and blood-based cults, who should you think of?

Hakkar the Soulflayer.

Remember that we defeat Jindo the Godbreaker in 4.1's version of Zul'Gurub by freeing Hakkar, who then devours his soul (flays it?) That's a big old plot thread that has been dangling for a while, and as we get back in touch with the Zandalari, it would be a great opportunity to bring this guy back. What is he? No freaking clue. Dark Loa, spawn of the Old Gods, some other thing?

Now let's go to Kul Tiras.

First off, if you take a look at the armor worn by the Stormsong guy in the What's Next slide show, I'll ask you this: is there any possible way that that guy is not a N'zoth cultist? He's decked out in quasi-religious clothing with a giant tentacle-and-eye motif. How could he not be a devotee of N'zoth, especially given that the area is supposedly plagued by mysterious "dark forces."

Moving over to Drustvar, we know the place is bedeviled by witches who are sending wicker-man-like creatures against the locals. The witches are described as specifically using death magic to curse the place. Death magic? Not void, not fel. Also, apparently, in the playable demo, players have found wild animals turned hostile with glowing blue eyes. Hm... where have we seen things with glowing blue eyes...?

Seriously, I think we're looking at a resurgent Scourge, or possibly a deeper threat from within the Shadowlands themselves.

While the ground was fertile for this war between the factions, it's still not clear what the trigger was. We know that Teldrassil burns and the Alliance invades Lordaeron, but is one in response to the other? Or is there, perhaps, someone pulling the strings?