In a game like WoW, you need bad guys to fight. In recent expansions, we've had a fair number of established lore figures as end-raid bosses. (One could be forgiven for forgetting that such figures as Yogg-Saron were actually only introduced in the expansion where we killed them.)
Shadowlands has a unique opportunity for us to face individuals we've seen before. While there are some possibilities that there are other things going on - for example, I don't know exactly what the deal with the Drust is - almost all the villains in Shadowlands seem to be working for the Jailer. So let's go through the list of bad guys and talk about what role they might ultimately play in the expansion.
Spoilers ahead.
The Jailer:
Ok, this guy is very clearly set up to be the ultimate big bad of Shadowlands. An ancient evil locked away in the Maw by the other Eternals, he seems a lot like the Sargeras of the Shadowlands - the godlike being that turned evil and became the enemy to his former allies. We don't know what caused Zovaal's turn, or what he was like before. But while I'm certainly not ruling out a twist in which he winds up as anything other than the expansion's final boss, that's currently what I'm expecting.
Sylvanas Windrunner:
Sylvanas, at least post-living-high-elf Sylvanas, was never a "good guy" per se. But at least to start with, there was a sense that she was just a practitioner of realpolitik and ruthless in her pursuit of safety and stability for the Forsaken. Her actions, particularly following her ascent to Warchief, put her in the firmly villainous camp - the destruction of Teldrassil, the contamination of Undercity, and ultimately her alliance with the Jailer (which apparently has been going on since the end of Wrath) has put her firmly in the bad-guy camp. Is there something redeemable left within her? Perhaps - but one wonders if she deserves a shot at redemption after all the terrible things she's done. I think it would be bleak and bold for Blizzard to have her grasp at but ultimately decline redemption and have us take her out. But I'll wait and see what they actually do with her. Whether or not we kill her, though, I do think a raid fight against her seems more likely than not.
Helya:
Helya was brand-new lore in Legion, but fit so interestingly into the grand scheme of Warcraft lore that I don't think anyone minded her addition. In a sense, she died too soon, but the good thing is that now that we're in the land of the dead, we can see more of her. We still don't know exactly the deal she made with Sylvanas. Again, Helya is played as a fairly moustache-twirling villain, but her background - the fact that Odyn more or less murdered her so he could use her to make his Valarjar, makes me want to see a side of her that's less shouty and more thoughtful.
Mueh'zalla:
I think we might have handled Mueh'zalla in De Other Side dungeon, but it's cool to have this extreme deep-cut from Vanilla come up, and also give us a bit more background on Bwonsamdi's origins (also Bwonsamdi seems to have gone in my mind from True Neutral to more Chaotic Good, especially as he seems to have been saving troll souls from the Maw - Saurfang might have been sent there, but I think Rastakhan might be ok.) I could imagine Mueh'zalla breaking out again, but I suspect he won't.
Sire Denathrius:
Well, he's the first raid endboss, so you can't say he's been given short shrift. This guy's brand-new lore, but pretty awesome (I think Revendreth in general is awesome) and, it would seem, isn't quite dead-dead (despite what the Tithelord and that Maldraxxi guy say in the Venthyr story quests from this week) so we might find something else to talk to him about. The real thing I'm curious about is whether we'll get any explicit confirmation of his connection to the Dreadlords/Nathrezim. Obviously, we know that there's a Legion world named Nathreza, which is presumably theirs, but there are way too many hints at a Dreadlord connection in Revendreth for me to think it's just a coincidence (in particular, The Accuser's line "You were once the lord of dread," which is the kind of "subtle" thing that anyone who pays attention to how Blizzard lays these breadcrumbs will immediately notice.) In fact, other than Aliothe's enthusiasm for the part of the Night Fae introduction play in which you reenact the defeat of the Burning Legion, there's been very little mention of the Legion in this expansion. Surely we'll need to find out how it was that the Jailer got the Helm of Domination and Frostmourne to Kil'jaeden (perhaps involving those Dreadlords?)
Kel'thuzad:
Well, it's officially in-game (though it has been spoiled by a world quest in Maldraxxus since launch,) but Kel'thuzad is in the mix. It seems he's the unnamed "new House of Rituals Baron" and, I'd wager, the ally that Denathrius offered the Medallion of Dominion to (by the way, did you know that Renethal's official job in Revendreth is Harvester of Dominion? I wonder if he's supposed to be addressed as "The Prince"). Anyway, what hasn't come up in-game yet is that Kel'thuzad seems to be taken prisoner by the Mawsworn at the end of the 9.0 covenant campaign (at least some of them - I'd guess Venthyr and Necrolord) so I don't know if he's been his own rogue agent or somehow an agent of the Jailer. Kel'thuzad was, of course, the founder of the Cult of the Damned, and sort of Arthas' dark mentor and later majordomo to him as Lich King. It seems that, as the learned and most powerful lich in the Scourge, Kel'thuzad might have had some insights into the origins of the Scourge's power - perhaps he was even in contact with the Jailer all along? (Though given that he seemed to have a genuine friendship with Arthas as buddies in undead evil, it seems unlikely he wouldn't share that with Lich King Arthas.) Speaking of...
Arthas Menethil:
I don't think Arthas is going to be a villain of this expansion. But the fact that we saw Uther and Devos toss him into the Maw really makes me wonder if we're going to find him there. After all, Arthas was certainly a horrible villain, but his worst acts were done after his soul was taken from him - was that soul even responsible for the acts that he committed as a death knight and as Lich King? I think Arthas seems like a perfect candidate for Revendreth, and may well have even atoned for his sins if given the chance. Now, perhaps his ultimate fate will remain a mystery, (similarly, while we saw Garrosh in Revendreth in the Afterlives short, I don't know if we'll actually see him there in-game, so perhaps Arthas being in the Maw is just all we'll get of him). But speaking of Arthas:
Uther:
Again, there's "subtle" and "subtle," and the fact that Uther's soul was split when he was stabbed by Frostmourne was the kind of subtle that anyone really paying attention should have spotted. So the one we see in Bastion as a member of the Forsworn, and the one that probably unjustly tossed Arthas directly into the Maw, is only part of him - clearly the part that contains his capacity for sorrow, anger, and the desire for vengeance. It also explains how we were able to interact with Uther during Wrath - that was the other part of him. Now, I suspect that we'll find a way to fix Uther's soul as part of the Kyrian campaign - though I don't know how long or short-term that will be (there are only a couple chapters left, though I think we're supposed to be getting more story with each patch.)
Lysonia:
Yes, Devos goes down pretty early as a dungeon boss, but her hand, Lysonia, introduced in the quests around the Temple of Purity, takes over as leader of the Forsworn after Devos falls. I think we're probably going to take her out by the end of the 9.0 Kyrian campaign.
Gharmal, Sin'dane, and Vyraz:
So, Gharmal is already dead if you're caught up with the Kyrian and Necrolord campaigns (oddly a week earlier for the Kyrian.) Sin'dane, oddly, looks like she'll be turning to our side, given that the world quest that spoiled the arrival of Kel'thuzad also has Draka telling us that Sin'dane requested aid in fighting back against Kel'thuzad's forces. I assume he usurps the House of Rituals from her. Vyraz, then, remains as the traitor who killed Krexus. I suspect that he could fall during the Necrolord campaign, though it's also possible they're saving him for later - either as a raid boss or for a future Necrolords campaign.
The Drust:
I believe Gorak Zhar might be defeated in the Night Fae 9.0 campaign. Actually, the Night Fae have a lot of different things going on, in contrast to the relative focus of the other covenants. Given how the Shadowlands actually work, I no longer think Thros is simply another realm of it (likewise Helheim,) which raises the question: what actually is Thros?
Tyrande Whisperwind:
Not a villain, per se, but definitely a person who needs some help, which seems to be the biggest thrust of the Night Fae campaign. And speaking of:
Elune:
What. Is. Elune? This might be the expansion in which we finally find out. I don't want them to just make her turn out to be evil all this time, and I don't think that's likely. But once we're able to learn more about the Night Warrior, perhaps we might learn more about the true nature of this moon goddess.
The Devourers:
There is every chance that the devourers are no more complex than what we've seen - they're mostly mindless, just devouring anima wherever they go. But it is pretty weird that they're a thing. In fact, more and more, it feels like the Shadowlands didn't come into being to house the souls of the dead, but were instead turned into such a place, and that perhaps the Devourers are some odd remnant of what the Shadowlands were before the Eternals... or the First Ones, changed things.
The Brokers:
They are shady as hell. But are they just regular, profit-oriented, greedy and aloof shady, or are they secretly sinister, having a massive hidden agenda? Why is Ve'nari an outcast? WHAT IS THEIR DEAL?
The First Ones:
The First Ones seem to be some kind of strange Shadowlands precursors that built, among other things, Oribos. I don't think they're the same as the Eternals (the Jailer going "a relic of the First Ones, responding to a mortal!?" would be odd if he could have just said "one of our relics... etc.") But what are the First Ones? Where did they go?
(I realize this post has sort of mutated from a "who do you think the bosses of future raids will be" into general lore speculation, so let me bring things to a close:)
We are in the first chapters of an expansion that is sure to expand the lore of Warcraft tremendously. So I'll just leave my theory here: I don't think the Shadowlands are supposed to be the land of the dead. I think the Arbiter and the Eternals are using it in a way it wasn't intended originally. Were those original intentions good? Maybe, maybe not. But it's clear that the system is not infallible, and it sits very strangely with me that, for example, a paladin's rightful afterlife would be a realm that, while very light-like in aesthetic, is devoid of the actual holy light. Could that flaw - the misuse of this realm - be what caused Zovaal to rebel?
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