wow The Return of Arthas in 9.1 and Beyond (Speculation)

[Starym 3,800]

 

We've recently talked about the 9.1 leaks and the continuation of the Shadowlands story, specifically what happens with Anduin in Torghast, but today we're looking at another blonde human and where he might fit in. There will be spoilers for 9.1 from yesterday's leaks.

Where is Arthas now?

First off let's start with what we actually know about Arthas Menethil before the events of 9.1. The only thing we know for sure is that he was in the Maw at the time of his death on Azeroth, which is quite some time before the events of Shadowlands, as pretty much everything relating to the main plot of the expansion happened after that, including the Arbiter shutting down, the Forsworn faction/resistance developing etc. As we know time works differently in the Shadowlands it could have been a LONG time since Arthas' arrival in the Maw, and Blizzard have hinted that he's been staying in Torghast for at least some of that time, as far back as the Shadowlands announcement and as recently as the new Battle.net app.

So if we ignore the whole hearthstone, portal and basically any other means of teleport Maw exit player nonsense, theoretically no one should be able to escape the Maw, so Arthas can only be there, whether it's in Torghast or not.

Why he might be coming back

It seems pretty certain that Arthas will be coming back at some point in the Shadowlands. His sister Calia recently arrived in Oribos and has been getting some more screen-time, we saw many characters talk about him specifically, and this is what Lead Narrative Designer Steve Danuser had to say on the matter:

Quote

At the conclusion of the first act of the Shadowlands arc, there is a scene in which several of our main characters discuss the legacy of Arthas Menethil. They note that his specter hangs over all of them like a shroud - an apt metaphor for an expansion focused on Death.

The story of Arthas from Warcraft III to its conclusion at the end of Wrath of the Lich King is one of the most iconic tales of our canon. We do not invoke his name lightly. At the same time, Shadowlands allows us to explore the origins of the darkness that consumed the heart of the young prince. In the process, we just might learn more about him and the others whose lives were forever impacted by the choices Arthas made.
- Excerpt from a ScreenRant interview

Then there's Uther's story, as he was basically a glorified cameo outside of the Kyrian Covenant campaign, and the Bastion Afterlives short was one of the bigger deals pre-launch. It makes sense that he would get some closure to his story, and facing Arthas is only way to do that. But there's one more reason we'll be seeing Arthas again, and it's directly connected to the 9.1 leaks.

The three Lich Kings

The events of 9.1 will most likely be focused around Anduin turning into the new Lich King. The Jailer almost certainly turned him against his will, as Sylvanas explained he might in the cinematic, and with the runeblade and his new armor, that's clearly the role he's playing.

The Jailer mentioned how Bolvar was resisting him and messing up his plans, which is why the plot of Shadowlands happened, as he sent Sylvanas in to deal with him. So the Jailer clearly needs a Lich King, as he has plans for Azeroth (the "Death comes for the soul of this world" pre-patch event quote comes to mind), and now Anduin is filling that role. It seems pretty clear that Anduin didn't just die and he will be brought back eventually (whether it's to the "alive" version or his new LK self remains to be seen), so who could possibly accomplish that?

We also know that the Lich King has a connection with the Jailer and that connection does not go away when they stop being LK, as Bolvar has been spying in on the big bad throughout Shadowlands via the Helm of Domination. Arthas has a much greater connection to the Jailer, as he seemingly didn't resist his plans as much (at least as far as we know) and he's been in the Maw all this time and probably got some serious face time with old chest-hole, either being tortured for his failure or having a chat about his plans. The actual mindset Arthas has is an entirely different topic, as we don't really know what he's like since his death. He did say the fog has lifted, implying he was free of the Helm of Domination/Frostmourne's control for a few seconds before his death, and we know that he was corrupted immediately after taking the runeblade. We also know that even under all those corrupting influences, he still held the Scourge at bay and prevented them from flooding Azeroth, so there's definitely still good in him, we just don't know what his personality is looking like these days, after quite a while in the Maw/Torghast. Also, speaking of the Scourge overrunning Azeroth, it seems that after all this Shadowlands stuff gets resolved, we'll be needing a new Lich King unless we want a zombie apocalypse. There's plenty of candidates now though, from Bolvar resuming his duties, to Anduin after we free him, Arthas, and even Sylvanas if they go the redemption route there.

The Memory of the Wrathgate

I also recently talked about a new item datamined on the 9.0.5 PTR, which seems to trigger a cutscene. I presumed it would be related to Bolvar, as the Jailer recently interacted with him and might have seen him as a threat, but it might be about Arthas instead. The Wrathgate was where the two Lich Kings faced off and where Bolvar started his journey to becoming what he is today, with the red dragonflight's flames engulfing him. It was also where Arthas had to retreat for pretty much the first time, and Bolvar may be learning the memory extraction trick from the Jailer, so the memory might be aimed at Arthas as we take a look into his psyche because we need him (or it might be the connection needed to find him in Torghast).

Why he might be coming back in 9.1 specifically

Anduin's turning is the biggest indication here, as he basically went through a very similar process to Arthas, albeit less covertly. It's safe to assume he rejected Sylvanas' offer of joining the Jailer and was corrupted the same way Arthas was, with the Shalamourne runeblade. Sure Arthas' process was different, as he wasn't even aware of it, but it was still unwilling, despite some questionable decisions he made before/during it. Bolvar did not go through this at all so he would be unable to help with the situation. All of the above would imply that we'll need Arthas to save Anduin, but this definitely won't happen in 9.1, as we're just now getting the reveal of Anduin the Lich King. However, the new Maw/Torghast raid actually has Sylvanas as the endboss, which changes things. The raid is called the Sanctum of Domination, which sure sounds like a place where you, uh, dominate things. Blonde things.

The Sanctum of Domination (source)

Raid the Sanctum of Domination - Brave treacherous, unexplored reaches of Torghast in a new 10-boss raid: the Sanctum of Domination. Encounter the true Eye of the Jailer, turn the tide against the Tarragrue, and come face-to-face with the Banshee Queen herself in a fateful confrontation.

We don't know when exactly during the patch Anduin turns, but it's looking like it's an immediate thing. One of the reasons we might be heading into the Maw is specifically to find Arthas because we need him to save Anduin (although we don't really need a better reason than "kill Sylvanas ASAP, and we also might need whatever is in the Sanctum - or that might be where the big Anduin reveal happens at the end of the raid). I'm picturing something like we walk in on Sylvanas torturing Arthas, as she has been since she arrived in the Maw, taking her revenge out all this time, and then the fight starts.

It doesn't seem likely Arthas will be a big part of the patch story, if anything he'll come in at the end and set things up for 9.2, with Anduin being the big bad there as we fight to save him with Arthas' help.

Why he's definitely coming back in Shadowlands

There are simply too many story threads going on at the moment that involve Arthas and that almost require him to wrap them up:

• Uther's arc
• Calia's presence
• Sylvanas history and regret during Anduin cutscenes
• Anduin's current fate
• Arthas' connection with the Jailer (and Bolvar)
• Arthas potential redemption arc, set up in Afterlives: Bastion (all else aside, he was wrongly thrown into the Maw)
• We're literally walking around the place he's in (whether it's the Maw or Torghast)
• Memory of the Wrathgate (still speculative)
• Henry Cavil and the Arthas movie that needs to happen.

Conclusion

The return of Arthas simply opens up too many opportunities for storytelling, even outside the old "break glass in case of emergency" like we saw with Illidan. While Legion was the perfect place to bring old Mr. Prepared back, he didn't quite add that much depth to the story (but did have some awesome moments) in terms of characterization and closure. But with Arthas, we get so many options to revisit key moments and characters of Warcraft, from his father who is also somewhere around the Shadowlands, Tirion showing back up to team up with Uther and save Arthas soul, bring him back to the good side to help Anduin and plenty more. There's just no way Blizzard pass this opportunity up, whether they make Arthas a redeemed character who saves Anduin, or just rehash him as another villain to be used later (which seems incredibly unlikely).

Sure there will be criticisms that they're just bringing back fan-favorites and Arthas is THE favorite, but it just makes too much sense narrative-wise, and this is really one of those rare moments when the popular thing to do is also the right one for the story, for the players and, well, for Arthas himself.

Also, we clearly need him back for the rematch when Illidan returns, possessed by Sargeras to destroy Azeroth in about 3-4 expansions, so...

 

[Ragingwolf 310]

Lich King 2.0

But on a side note I'm surprised that we have yet found any clues on Nathanos whereabouts in the Maw after Tyrande killed him on Azeroth.

[Laragon 269]

3 hours ago, Ragingwolf said:

I'm surprised that we have yet found any clues on Nathanos whereabouts in the Maw after Tyrande killed him on Azeroth.

Nathanos, Garrosh, even Morgrain showed up huge for the first 5 minutes then has been completely ignored. You could list endless major characters that haven't been shone (Grom Hellscream?) that would have interesting story beats, but those 3 jump to mind as stunningly missing.

[solitha 84]

12 hours ago, Laragon said:

Nathanos, Garrosh, even Morgrain showed up huge for the first 5 minutes then has been completely ignored. You could list endless major characters that haven't been shone (Grom Hellscream?) that would have interesting story beats, but those 3 jump to mind as stunningly missing.

Mograine? Alexandros is part of the Necrolord campaign and Darion is walking around Oribos.

[Ragingwolf 310]

2 hours ago, solitha said:

Mograine? Alexandros is part of the Necrolord campaign and Darion is walking around Oribos.

That's if you leveled more than one character and  placed in each Covenant to get the full story.  Some just decided to stick with one.  But I think they meant more screen time or player interaction from the others mentioned via quest chain, being involved more story wise, or other.  It will be a loose end to watch closely after the events of 9.1 are laid out and we see what is instore for us in 9.2.

 

[Laragon 269]

3 hours ago, solitha said:

Mograine? Alexandros is part of the Necrolord campaign and Darion is walking around Oribos.

Darion is the disappointing part to me. He charged head first into the shadowlands at the start... and now he's just chilling the whole time as we unite these factions and create a foothold in the maw?

[solitha 84]

On 2/20/2021 at 10:13 AM, Ragingwolf said:

That's if you leveled more than one character and  placed in each Covenant to get the full story.  Some just decided to stick with one.  But I think they meant more screen time or player interaction from the others mentioned via quest chain, being involved more story wise, or other.  It will be a loose end to watch closely after the events of 9.1 are laid out and we see what is instore for us in 9.2.

 

Well, we're the ones who rescued Alexandros, no matter what covenant we went on to join. Admittedly, the zone story gets confusing at the end... Draka calls out to both you and him when she snatches you away, but you don't see Alexandros escape.

So I checked on Wowhead and there he is. He's no more "missing" than Uther is, but you only see Uther's story if you're Kyrian. The poster I responded to also named Nathanos and Garrosh, characters who indeed have not been shown (that I know of), so I was assuming he meant truly missing characters.

Apparently he was talking about Darion who's not missing at all. *shrug*

Edited February 23, 2021 by solitha

[solitha 84]

On 2/20/2021 at 11:09 AM, Laragon said:

Darion is the disappointing part to me. He charged head first into the shadowlands at the start... and now he's just chilling the whole time as we unite these factions and create a foothold in the maw?

Well, that's not the same as completely missing, though. You named two others that definitely are. Remember that Darion was imprisoned in the Maw for half the leveling story. Before that, he agreed to go with us for what was essentially expected to be a suicide mission, and lost all his command protecting us and the kidnapped leaders. Upon his unhoped-for rescue, we then take him to discover his long-lost dad. On the way, he peppers Ve'nari with the questions we needed answers to.

He had quite a lot of story packed into those two stretches. I'm okay with him being quiet for a while. I actually kind of wish he was in Maldraxxus with Alexandros.

As far as uniting the factions, he carries no importance to them. He's just some random dude the Maw Walker dragged out.

Also, he was kind of messed up when we rescued him. I don't think he was actually tortured so much, but he was definitely shaken. Those we've rescued from Torghast itself have needed time to recover. Maybe Darion does too. We'll see if he steps back up to the plate in 9.1.

[Laragon 269]

11 minutes ago, solitha said:

He had quite a lot of story packed into those two stretches. I'm okay with him being quiet for a while. I actually kind of wish he was in Maldraxxus with Alexandros.

Also, he was kind of messed up when we rescued him. I don't think he was actually tortured so much, but he was definitely shaken. Those we've rescued from Torghast itself have needed time to recover. Maybe Darion does too. We'll see if he steps back up to the plate in 9.1.

I think that would make me feel better to his closure, if he was off with Alexandros rather than wandering the ring of Oribos. I hope he steps back up and the other "missing" people are somehow involved as we explore the maw in 9.1, with their hinting of Sylvanas being a heavy story point I expect we'll see Nathanos either now or never.

[solitha 84]

7 hours ago, Laragon said:

I think that would make me feel better to his closure, if he was off with Alexandros rather than wandering the ring of Oribos. I hope he steps back up and the other "missing" people are somehow involved as we explore the maw in 9.1, with their hinting of Sylvanas being a heavy story point I expect we'll see Nathanos either now or never.

Yeah I think they hinted Garrosh is gonna show up in 9.1 as well. We still have a lot of expansion to go.