Looking Forward

With Deathwing’s imminent demise in Patch 4.3 coming any day now, one has to wonder, what’s next. Where the hell do we go from here? It’s already announced that the Alliance vs. Horde war is the main “antagonist” in Mists, which basically means the horde and the alliance get to beat each other senseless in the next expansion. It’s also assumed that the Zandalari storyline will be wrapped up. What else is left to be resolved in (or before) Mists?

Come at me bro!

The War

In Lorderaon, the Forsaken war is still wide open. Gilneas is still occupied, the plaguelands are still a mess, and the Alliance will still want to retake Southshore, although there isn’t much left to retake… Oh and Sylvanas is still using chemical warfare. Regardless, this is the biggest open wound as far as the war is concerned, except maybe….

…the Southern Barrens. The Alliance has built a road to the Barrens through Dustwallow Marsh. They destroyed Camp Taurajo, and lay siege to the very gates of Mulgore. They brought in the weapons, soldiers, etc. from Theramore. Rumor has it Theramore is going to be destroyed in a future patch, and in the new Jaina book, Blizzard promises big changes for Jaina. I can’t think of anything bigger than losing her home to the very people shes been trying to form a peace treaty with.

Ashenvale is another serious point of conflict. The Horde is trying to gather supplies and the Alliance is trying to protect their lands. I was led to believe that this conflict is resolved in Wolfheart, but I haven’t read it yet.

A resolution in Eastern Kingdom (Alliance victory in Gilneas) and a resolution in Kalimdor (Theramore burns), would serve to escalate the war for both sides. I wonder again what is being planned for 4.4. And even then, we finish the war, dance with pandas, whatever the hell else happens in Pandaria, but where to then?

Important Characters/Groups At Large

Hawt!

Azshara – The biggest open plotline at the moment is Azshara and the Naga. They have kidnapped Neptulon, the Lord of the Elemental Plane of Water. What now? What is she up too? I can’t help but think the reason the War of the Ancients will feature her so prominently is to introduce her and offer some kind of clue about her motivations, which would allow them to continue her story at a later time. The largest mistake they made with deathwing was not introducing him in-game before he torn the world up. Having her in a dungeon should help to solve that issue. If the Naga get some play in Mists, all the better. I can’t help but think about portals when I think of her….

I'll huff and I'll puff..oh wait...

The BurningLegion – With portals in mind, I turn to the Legion. They want into Azeroth bad. The people of Azeroth have made fools of them more times than you can count. All they really lack is a good, welcoming portal. Azshara tried opening a portal for Sergeras once. You know, the guy who happens to lead the Legion. All these connections are astounding!

Nom Nom Nom Nom

 The Old Gods – How many are there? Three? Five? More? Wasn’t one of them behind the corruption of Deathwing? Yeah N'zoth. So wheres he hiding? We also know the faceless ones are allies/servants of the Old Gods, and we saw a lot of faceless helping the Naga to capture the Abyssal Maw. More connections. But why would the Old Gods want Azshara to have control of Neptulon. He was a servant of the Old Gods before the Titans imprisoned them all. Hmmmm. And can you kill an Old God anyway? 

Best. Wallpaper. Ever.

The Titans? – Remember the Titans? Not the football team, but the creators of life on Azeroth. If they were to make an appearance in the game, would they be friend or foe? Rumor is they think flesh is a curse. That could be bad.They are perhaps the biggest mystery in the game. If Algalon had sent them a message, would they even respond? I had a theory once that the Legion wiped them out but I have no direct evidence to support such an outlandish idea.

The Jesus of Azeroth?

Med’an – One of the more odd warcraft characters, Med’an thus far is only featured in the comics. He is the (New) Last Guardian. The son of Garona and Med’ivh. Part Human, Orc, and Dreanei. Also, he is the only thing that stands between Azeroth and the Legion if shit hits the fan.He has rediculous amounts of power and can stand toe to toe with most of the Legion. Makes him a tempting target. The Twilight's hammer tried to take him out, and got their clocks cleaned. Cho'gall got a beat down. It wasn't pretty. In the first days of the Alliance, Lothar was chosen to unite the people as the High Commander of the Alliance. This guy, with his mixed heritage, could be that guy. You know, if the Burning Legion were to.... come back and all. Just sayin'....

I'll be back?

Illidan? – Rumor also has it that this guy is coming back at some point. This is THE demon hunter. Wanna train some folks to fight the Burning Legion? Make this guy your drill sergeant. And If he does make a comeback, care to take a guess at what the next new or hero class will be? Yes, the demon hunter starter zone. Think Scarlet Enclave, but with Illidan in place of the Lich King. Speaking of.....

Return of the King?

The Lich King? – This one is the wild card. Put on your tinfoil hats guys, cause this is serious shit. We have the Horde and Alliance damn near destroy each other on Pandaria. Meanwhile, the Naga, led by Azshara, open a new dark portal to usher in the Legion. Only this dark portal leads to Argus. The legion homeworld. Med’an and the New Council of Trisfal know that this is THE chance to end the Legion, once and for all. But with the Horde and Alliance basically broken after the war, who would have an army big enough to lead a counter invasion? This guy. Bolvar would be more than happy to defend Azeroth again, and I’m sure Ner’zhul would jump at the chance to strike at Kil’jaeden. So we have plenty of motive and an entire army of undead warriors set on passive mode. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I have no clue what the folks at blizzard plan to do, and in some ways I think they may not either. But the clues are pointing in a very good direction.We have a storm brewing in what could be the greatest expansion or two in gaming history!