Bolvar Fordragon was a hero of the Alliance. In Varian's absence, Bolvar actually served as the Human racial leader during Vanilla and Burning Crusade, as Anduin was only a child at the time. In many ways, Bolvar is actually the Alliance equivalent to Saurfang - a stone-cold badass whose reputation within the Alliance was unassailable. His only great failing was in not recognizing Lady Katrana Prestor for who she really was - the Black Dragon Onyxia. Yet when the truth was revealed, Bolvar ensured both that the young King (later prince again, later king again) was safe and that Stormwind survived the infiltration by the Black Dragonflight.
That equivalence between Fordragon and Saurfang was reinforced by Bolvar's presence at the Wrath Gate, along with Saurfang's son (a son who appeared every bit as brave and honorable as Varok, but who had not sinned as his father did in the days of the Old Horde.) It was that moment - the moment of clearest, closest cooperation between the factions - that Varimathras' coup pitted the factions against each other and made Sylvanas' blight production known to the world.
However, perhaps even more than putting the factions into a conflict that would convince Thrall to give Garrosh the title of Warchief, the most significant consequence of this event may be the death - or rather, the horrific non-death - of Bolvar Fordragon.
In Chronicle III, we find out that much of Arthas' actions as Lich King were born out of a twisted version of his impulses as a Paladin. He wished to conquer the world as a way to unify it - to silence all dissent so that a global Scourge would be able to defeat the Burning Legion.
Arthas' plan to effectively audition the greatest heroes of Azeroth as his greatest lieutenants backfired due to his underestimation of the Light. But let's never forget that had Tirion Fordring not been there, the Lich King would have won, and with us at his command, he would very likely have been able to sweep away all opposition with relative ease.
Arthas used fear as a tactic to great effect - in fact, some of the most fascinating in-game books in WoW are essays written by Kel'thuzad about the Scourge's use of appropriated culture and sinister symbolism as a way to demoralize foes. The Scourge's actual stance on morality was that there is no such thing, but they were happy to play the part of an unstoppable evil juggernaut in order to incite panic in their foes. There's definitely some "be careful who you pretend to be" elements to this, but I think the Scourge just didn't care about coming off as villainous.
Arthas played his cards close to the vest, and had it not been for the miracle of the Ashbringer, he'd have won. But Bolvar has a big advantage over Arthas:
We don't know what he ultimately wants.
It was pretty clear that Arthas wanted the whole world converted into Scourge. He'd happily slay the Forsaken and raise them again to bring them back into the fold. He'd happily kill, well, everyone. To Arthas, enemies are just minions you haven't killed yet. Or rather, the living are just minions you haven't killed yet.
But Bolvar? Theoretically, his coronation as Lich King was meant as a way to keep the Scourge from going wild and attacking in all directions. The thought was that without a single mind directing them, the Scourge would be more of a virulent infection than a force that could withdraw and respect peace.
Do we know that's what he's doing? Death Knights (and to a much smaller extent Mages) get some exposure to the Lich King in Legion, and he definitely does not seem like the nice Bolvar Fordragon we once knew. He commands (well, requests from (well, commands)) Death Knights to raise various people to become the new Four Horsemen, and seems to gradually be planting various people in the Ebon Blade that are tied directly to his will rather than having their own.
During the Legion invasion, the goals of the Ebon Blade largely line up with that of the Scourge - namely the defeat of the demons - but we're putting a lot of trust in a guy who could very easily flip his organization's mission statement to "zombie apocalypse." He has us attack Light's Hope Chapel in the interest of raising Tirion Fordring as a death knight (something we thankfully fail to do) and then also has us kill a number of red dragons in order to raise one of their ancient ancestors.
Assuming Bolvar is still a good guy is very naive at this point. Arguably, he has already crossed into villain territory, but at least for the moment he does not seem to be the kind of global threat that Arthas was, and may in fact be a potential ally against worse threats.
Now let's talk Sylvanas.
You could argue that she hasn't been good since she was alive. As a Banshee used by the Scourge and later as the leader of the Forsaken, she has done extremely questionable things: she betrayed Garithos (not that the guy didn't have it coming,) and she has overseen the development of the Blight as well as experiments on captives. She has had human towns like Hillsbrad and Southshore wiped out. She invaded Gilneas, using Val'kyr to raise defenders as Forsaken who are clearly being at least a little bit mind-controlled (either through magic or psychological manipulation,) she tried to enslave the Val'kyr in Stormheim, and of course most recently, she burned Teldrassil along with thousands of Night Elf civilians.
One could argue that some of these actions had noble motivations behind them, but doesn't any good villain think they're the good guy?
Bolvar and Sylvanas have a connection, despite the fact that I don't think they've ever properly met. It was the vision of Bolvar encased within the Frozen Throne that led Sylvanas to jump off the top of Icecrown Citadel, which of course then led to her resurrection by the Val'kyr.
Sylvanas was far from perfect before that point, but she does seem to have gone down a more villainous route since then.
And now, as Warchief of the Horde, team red has been employing a lot more necromancy in their fight against the Alliance. We saw this at the Siege of Lordaeron, when Sylvanas was able to raise hundreds of skeletons of those slain by the Blight to attack the Alliance.
When did she get this power? And more importantly, how much is she going to use it?
One of the biggest critiques against Sylvanas is that, as she raises fallen humans as new Forsaken to help her, you know, kill more humans to raise as Forsaken, the distinction between her and the Lich King is growing thinner. Indeed, when Garrosh (of all people) asks her what difference there is between her and Arthas, she responds that she serves the Horde. Now that she's in charge of the Horde, that distinction becomes almost meaningless.
The Forsaken are starting to look more like the Scourge. What does the Lich King think of that?
Consider that Bolvar's self-appointed duty was to essentially regulate the undead. He doesn't want the Scourge to break off and sew mayhem across the world.
And what is Sylvanas if not a rogue Scourge agent sewing mayhem across the world?
Bolvar and Sylvanas are on a collision course. Each are becoming more powerful with each passing day. Sylvanas has the Horde at her back, but a Horde that is worried about the direction that she is taking them. Bolvar has been far quieter in his actions, first establishing an alliance with the Ebon Blade, yes, but how much else is he doing behind the scenes? Is Darion Mograine, who was re-killed and then re-raised and is thus, presumably under the Lich King's control once again, just the tip of the iceburg?
The spirits that pushed Jaina to raise her father's flagship from the depths could simply be metaphorical, as the folks at Blizzardwatch have suggested, but what if they're not?
Are we going to see Sylvanas forced to reckon with the Scourge proper as she attempts to become the ultimate undead badass on the globe? And if Sylvanas and Bolvar do begin a war, who wins, and who amongst us survives?
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