Forsaken Future

With two major cities that have been in WoW since vanilla about to be removed (for high level characters) due to their destruction in war, I thought it would be interesting to talk about the people of these cities, where they're likely to go, and what the implications are for the future of the territory.

Even though Teldrassil and Darnassus are going to go first, I thought I'd start by talking about Undercity.

The Undercity started its life as the sewers beneath Lordaeron's Capital City. After Arthas returned from Northrend as a death knight and slew his father, he massacred the people of the city and then set their undead corpses to building out the Undercity as we know it, taking it for his capital as the technical King of Lordaeron (though I feel like patricide/regicide is typically grounds for disqualifying someone for the throne.) In the chaos following Illidan's weakening of the Frozen Throne, Arthas was forced to flee the city and was ambushed by a newly-free Sylvanas, surviving only thanks to intervention by Kel'thuzad. Eventually, Sylvanas would give the free-willed undead a banner under which to rally, creating the Forsaken and claiming the Undercity as her capital.

With the Forsaken in the Horde, the Undercity has served as a primary bastion on the Eastern Kingdoms, and though Forsaken loyalty has always seemed to be first to the Banshee Queen and only second to the Horde itself, things got really thrown for a loop when Vol'jin named Sylvanas as her successor following the disastrous Broken Shore defeat.

This has put Sylvanas in an awkward position. In the decade plus she spent as a major figure but not leader of the Horde, she was able to maintain a consistent presence in Undercity, and her cult of personality was incredibly strong among the Forsaken. But the demands on her as Warchief have pushed her to spend more time in Orgrimmar, leading to the spontaneously-arisen Desolate Council.

Though there was no indication that they had any intention of usurping her power - its was just that someone had to be in charge of the Undercity while she was away - Sylvanas saw the Council as a threat, and quickly equated their differing opinions on the whole "endless state of undeath versus eventually dying and passing into whatever afterlife awaited them" debate with others who, seeing an opportunity to defect to the Alliance during a negotiated summit, attempted to do so. Sylvanas wiped out the Council along with many other Forsaken as well as Calia Menethil, who, as rightful heir to the throne of Lordaeron, could easily become a threat to her legitimacy (Calia was resurrected as some kind of Light-based Undead, so that chapter's clearly not closed yet.)

Sylvanas' difficulties with her dual position as Banshee Queen and Warchief are going to see something of a nightmare scenario take form: in retribution for the Burning of Teldrassil (which I personally suspect is going to be a false flag operation by a third party like Azshara - but we'll see) the Alliance is going to march on Lordaeron, and ultimately the Undercity will be left so contaminated by plague that neither Forsaken nor Alliance can make use of it anymore.

Sylvanas appears to be the one to "detonate" the city herself, if I understand the broken cutscenes that I saw in the Beta correctly, but she has to know that doing so actuates a serious blow to her.

As terrible as it will be for the Alliance to lose Teldrassil and with it a safe harbor and previously-thought unassailable stronghold off the coast of Kalimdor, not to mention an adopted home for the Worgen, the fact is that the Alliance is still standing on pretty solid ground. The Night Elves will be pushed into a far more dangerous guerrilla fight against the Horde, but one should recall that Teldrassil is actually a very recent addition to the world and that the Night Elves have places like Feathermoon Stronghold and other major settlements in Kalimdor to which they can fall back. And as Anduin is in the primary leadership position within the Alliance, he can offer aid and safety to his allies without having suffered a major personal defeat.

Sylvanas is losing her own city. For the Forsaken, it will look a whole lot like she has abandoned the Undercity to rule the Horde (even if she does lead the defense of the city during the battle) and the Horde must be looking at her skeptically as someone who can't even keep her own territory safe - and now she's supposed to be ruling all of us?

The Forsaken did not really have all that much of a home field advantage against the Alliance, given that their territory is all former Alliance territory. Sylvanas' murderous display at the summit in Arathi might have quelled some dissenters, but it could have also emboldened others who resent that a group founded on the very principle of having free will nevertheless expects perfect and unflinching loyalty to the glorious leader.

The humans and worgen are likely to make a strong push to re-take Lordaeron. The Worgen don't even have Darnassus to fall back to, so they will be fighting as if backed into a corner. Retaking Gilneas seems practically a given, and indeed much of Tirisfal might return to Alliance control.

Where, then, will the Forsaken go?

Some I'm sure will keep fighting for Lordaeron, but whereas they had previously fought with the advantage of their war machine and plagues, that's pretty much crippled with Undercity's destruction. They're now bereft of the city to defend themselves and they're facing a lot more opposition.

Silvermoon would be a logical place to retreat back to, given its proximity, but the Blood Elves have their own problem now of dealing with Void Elf separatists who are now among the ranks of the Alliance again. Granted, I don't know how civil Silvermoon's impending civil war is, but it's not going to be the most appealing place for Forsaken refugees.

So I think it's most likely that the Forsaken will be forced to follow the Banshee Queen in relocating to Kalimdor and Orgrimmar. Great. It's not like that's a place already dealing with scarce resources and a bunch of populations that don't always get along with one another!

This is a pretty explosive way for a major war to start, and one wonders to what degree it will escalate. Not only is Sylvanas set to be on shaky ground with this humiliating loss, but she's also about to incorporate one of Azeroth's oldest and most established civilizations into her empire - which should shore up its forces, sure, but also introduce a lot more players in the world of courtly intrigue.

The pressure is on Sylvanas for a big and unambiguous win, but the Alliance is both emboldened and motivated to make doing that very difficult. The real question is whether destabilizing the Horde with his attack on Undercity will wind up being the right call for Anduin.