In the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm end-game world event, Garrosh Hellscream will unleash mayhem upon Theramore.
Most of the lore will be played out in Christie Golden’s World of Warcraft: Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War
Many speculate on who the next Warchief of the Horde might be. Initially, it was thought Thrall would return as the Warchief, until Zarhym hinted it might be other character who would take the mantle of leadership.
Zarhym: I know what was said during the press tour, but don’t be so sure yet that you know who the next warchief will be. The information provided during the press tour was… not entirely accurate.
Some say it might be Baine Bloodhoof. He learned a lot of wisdom from his father Cairne over the years, and his experiences after his father’s demise have greatly given him a mature-vibe in comparison to the pup we helped rescue from the Centaur back in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. In World of Warcraft: The Shattering
Vol’jin is another prospect for the Warchief title. Vol’jin finally recovered back the Echo Isles, and took decisive steps to engage the Amani and the Zandalari in Zul’Aman, and the Battle for the Undercity — just to name a few.
Saurfang has once and again proved his mettle and loyalty to Thrall and to the Horde overall. Worthy of becoming the new Warchief.
One thing I’d bet many would never see coming though is Lady Jaina Proudmoore taking the Warchief of the Horde title. The first reason: She is human. Would be totally off to see Jaina commanding Horde forces against the Alliance — considering Chris Metzen has spear-headed the idea that Mists of Pandaria is ramping up the war between the Alliance and the Horde.
I’m not totally buying Jaina as Warchief of the Horde, I’m skeptic; but I’m not narrowed-minded either. I am always open to listen to the others’ side even if it makes no sense.
Jaina, Warchief of the Horde
Garrosh will do something terrible against Theramore. The specifics are yet unknown. The suffering Jaina will experience will draw her beyond her threshold limit. Her hair turns white, and her eyes color change too. From a pacifist, she’s to become a warmonger driven by revenge. Theramore will be razed to the ground, and all her friends and followers will be slaughtered.
This is the woman who stood side by side with Thrall and the Horde at the top of Mount Hyjal to defend all of Azeroth from the onslaught brought forth by the demons of the Burning Legion.
This is the woman who helped Thrall and the Horde survive her own father’s machinations. Jaina chose to side with the Horde and not her father: Admiral Daelin Proudmoore.
This is the woman who even with the rising tensions in Dustwallow Marsh maintained a pact of no aggression against the Horde — World of Warcraft: Cycle of Hatred
Jaina always sacrificed her loyalty toward the Alliance and weighed more toward her ideals and morals. Admiral Daelin Proudmoore was her father, but his hatred against the orcs blinded him. She saw the orcs’ bravery and self-sacrifice standing side-by-side with the Night Elves and the Humans to defend the world of Azeroth. That outweighed anything else she knew about the orcs who years earlier invaded and slaughtered Stormwind and Lordaeron forces.
We know the Horde and the Alliance will raid Orgrimmar to take down Garrosh Hellscream. We don’t know yet the details surrounding that.
We don’t know if Garrosh will die or be forgiven and exiled for his transgressions against the Horde and the Alliance. Ultimately, it would be logical for King Varian Wrynn to be disgusted against Thrall after whatever fate awaits Garrosh. Varian would undoubtedly blame Thrall. He was who assigned Garrosh as new Warchief of the Horde to depart to Outland to delve into his ancestral shamanism.
A clash between King Varian and Thrall right after Garrosh’s defeat would trigger Lady Jaina Proudmoore to take a decision. Would she let King Varian slay Thrall? Would she side with Varian?
That’s tricky. Would her father’s demise be in vain after all, or would she take a proactive stance to defend what’s rightful?
I’m not a writer, but I have read thousands of Marvel comic book stories; all the Warcraft novels, RPG books, and comic books. Chris Metzen is likewise a comic book geek. If anyone could spin around things with a awesome story, and an awesome reasoning that’s him and the Creative Team.
King Varian Wrynn has shown to be a stubborn person fueled by hatred. As a child, Varian witnessed his father King Llane’s assassination. Garona Halforcen, one they thought to be an ally betrayed them. The orcs destroyed Stormwind, and his people had to flee aboard ships toward Lordaeron. He was captured by the Horde and enslaved to fight in Gladiator arenas. To Varian, the Horde slaughtered the Alliance forces at the Wrathgate. The Horde kidnapped his son Anduin in Pandaria.
This is a Varian who would no doubt wish to slay Thrall for the mere act of assigning Garrosh as succeeding Warchief of the Horde.
Jaina will have her share of hatred toward Garrosh and the Horde members who carried out his orders, but how far will her change in Jaina, Tides of War be? A reckoning against Garrosh’s actions sounds plausible. If Varian attempts to slay Thrall, however, Jaina would be forced to relive the experience of Admiral Daelin Proudmoore’s hatred and bigotry against the Horde all over again.
Only this time, King Varian shouldn’t necessarily die in the aftermath. As a writer, I have no clue how the dialogue would be written, but I can see potential here — in this controversial situation.
If Thrall isn’t able to take back the Warchief title, someone would have to serve as temporary Warchief until Thrall is able to. King Varian in his fury would instantly call Jaina out as a traitor for taking Thrall’s side over his.
What if King Varian hurt Thrall during this fight? It would prevent Thrall from leading after Garrosh’s dethroning. This could be a motive for Lady Jaina to serve as Warchief until Thrall can decide whether to take leadership or name a new candidate.
This could be a good time-frame for Thrall and Aggra to raise their child, and live a happy life.
For Jaina, it would be a great challenge. Not everyone on the Horde would love to be led by a Human, or even a female. She would be branded a traitor by some Alliance factions.
For the naysayers, the Blood Elves were formerly Alliance. A Blood Elf named Valeera is one of Varian’s best friends and allies. Gilneans are Alliance once more after two decades. A Goblin faction is now Horde. a class can choose to be Horde or Alliance (Death Knight). A race can choose to be Horde or Alliance (Pandaren). Tauren Paladins? Night Elf mages? None of it makes sense, until there is a purpose of weight spicing things up.
I’d like to hear your own thoughts in favor and against the idea of Lady Jaina becoming the new Warchief of the Horde at the end of Mists of Pandaria.
PS: Eldorian will soon gather questions from the community to interview Christie Golden concerning World of Warcraft: Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War
I love Jaina, but she could never pull this off in a million years. The orcs in particular would never let a human – let alone a human woman – lead. And Sylvanas would probably outright attack her if she tried.
As for Thrall vs Varian, I know Varian is a powerful warrior and has the whole Lo’gosh thing going for him, but Thrall is World Shaman! He would definitely win that fight. I think at this point, the only one who has power on a global scale like Thrall is Malfurion.
Wait … Medivh (human) opened the Dark Portal for the orcs to enter. Of course, I fail to mention a dark titan lingered somewhere within his host body, but ….
In Hyjal we had Malfurion and Tyrande leading the Humans, Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and Dwarves.
In Cataclysm, Thrall led Alliance to the Deathwing campaign. Hint! So, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see Jaina, who he trusts with his life, to lead “temporarily” in his absence. Not saying it would be easy-cake though.
The Tauren might accept such thing, the orcs, trolls, undead, blood elves — would rather put a knife through her throat.
It would be an interesting dynamic from the point of view of a writer to pull off all the layers of support and hatred among the ranks of the Horde having a human leading them.
It certainly would, although I don’t think Jaina would be a good candidate. I think it would need to be someone who is absolutely ruthless, a Sylvanas- or Kerrigan-type character who could show them she’s strong and take power by force.
Honestly, I can’t guess what is going to happen to Jaina in Tides of War (although a recent article on joystiq.com spoiled some of it for me – don’t read “Theramore: A short history” -_-), but it sure is going to be exciting; Jaina is one of my favorite characters from Warcraft 3. I can’t wait for the book to come out! 🙂
Eldorian will be interviewing Christie Golden soon (Jaina: Tides of War) — so we’ll find out pretty soon. Stay tuned for gathering of questions by fans.
I find it probable to see Jaina being accepted as a Warchief – at least until the son of Go’el (Thrall) is of age, and this why I think so:
Since it’s foundation, the Horde Warchief have always been a symbol of strength and authority – traits that the keeper of this title have always had (or appeared to have had, in the case of Blackhand). Jaina have, since the battle of mount Hyjal aswell as the battle for Kul’tiras, shown the authority and wisdom of command, her actions displaying well her sense of justice often concur with that of the Horde. In terms of strength, one have to keep in mind she was described already in Warcraft 3 as “One of the most talented sorcerers in the land”. Her character have always shown restraint to violence. Thus it seems probable that she never have tried her full strength against any foe. In the coming campaign against Garrosh, it is probable that she will display more of her powers than ever before, this due to the fact that the destruction of Theramore have stirred a great hatred for Garrosh, thus most likely also inspiring her to make use of her arcane arts with greater ferocity than she have ever done so far in the story.
The question that remains is of how the members of the Horde will react to a human leader. In all my honesty, I do not doubt Vol’jin nor Baine would mind. Vol’jin is a wise leader, and Jaina will have Ro’khan (A Shadow Hunter who fought with her against her father at Kul’tiras vouching for her on behalf of the Trolls. With Baine knowing her for having stood along with his father against the might of the burning legion, it makes sense for him to respect her strength aswell as her loyalty to the Horde.
Next we can discuss the allegiance of the Blood Elves, the Forsaken and the Goblins. Blood Elves have previously sided with humans, the only reason of them switching sides being their unfair treatment among the ranks of the alliance since the destruction of Quel’thalas. In addition to the history with humans, one has to recognize the affinity to magic they share with Jaina. A sorcerer Warchief? That if anything would be a worthy candidate to vouch for. This is a double edged blade however, since fractions of the elves have always regarded the humans sorcerers with the eyes of a tutor – thus making it probable that some of the elves might not have complete faith in Jaina’s powers. I would say their standing in this matter depends on her coming display in the conflict at hand.
The Forsaken are a different matter however. Led under Sylvanas, they hold firmly to have the right to the lands previously making out the Kingdom of Loarderon. While it’s unlikely that Jaina would have the intention of questioning this claim, it is plausible that Sylvanas herself would view Jaina an unfitting leader. Then again, the forsaken will most likely remain passive in the question of who is elected Warchief. All they want is the support to further secure their place in Azeroth. The politics of the Horde are to the forsaken seemingly irrelevant as long as this condition is met. My thoughts on the matter of the Forsaken would thus be that they would support the candidate most supportive to their wellfare.
This leaves only the Goblins, a faction hardly known for their hand in politics. They will most likely follow anyone, as long as commerce is good and their engineers can work freely. Goblins look to the Horde for protection and little more. It is unlikely Jaina would have less tolerance for the goblins than her predecessor.
So – would Jaina be a suitable Warchief? I’d say there are other options, but a badass sorcerer with her background would’nt be a bad pick. Not bad at all.
Because the leader of the horde and alliance both being human will sit well with fans. The books/lore seem to come second to the game and this is something that could potentially destroy the game
Jaina no. Rexxar, Last Son of the Mok’Nathal, Champion of the Horde….absolutely!
https://wow.joystiq.com/2007/06/14/know-your-lore-rexxar/