Wrathion is kind of a failure, isn't he?

[JustRob]

They clearly had no idea what to do with him in WoD, so they just sent him off to the Ogre continent and forgot about him, and hoped everyone else would, too. I suspect he's Metzen's creation, and he never got around to filling out a story arc for him past the end of Pandaria. He's like Jaina - no story, so they shove them offstage until needed again.

Actually I believe he's Kosak's creation, and Kosak was really enthusiastic about him. Not sure what happened.

[Tiwack]

Someone pointed out he's stealing the spotlight from the players and blizz can't have that...

[Theoris]

Since MoP, this guy has been preaching about the Legion's inevitable return... His modus operandi was "Strengthen Azeroth as much as possible before that happens, no matter the cost". But instead of doing that, he actually caused the Legion to invade Azeroth quicker than planned.

You summed it up pretty nicely with this. Wrathion deserves a sword to the face.

My guess is he's hiding somewhere in shame.

[mrsohta]

Maybe he just started to prepare for old gods/void lords instead of legion, he could have found something to see what was going to happen and legion was going to be defeated by us anyway etc... we will see

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

I don't have any inside scoop, but I'm guessing they're setting him up to do something in 8.0? At the end of every Nelth run, we hear Ebyssian say "I have other family business to attend to." Given that he doesn't have a lot of family left, this must be a reference to Wrathion. Given that it doesn't seem to lead to anything in Legion, I'm thinking it's something that will play out in the next expansion. Here's hoping they follow through!

[Planetdune]

Totally forgot about that guy... then again.. my interest in lore is about nill.

[Gank Sinatra]

He's setting us up to become the big bad in possibly the next expansion.

[Zandalarian Paladin]

I kind of hope they did not forget him. He was a great character.

[Pony Soldier]

I don't understand the point of the character in the first place. There was all this mystery surrounding him in MoP and ever since he's been forgotten. I mean unless Blizzard has plans for him soon he seems like a waste of a character.

[rhorle]

What was the point of this character again? Everything he's ever done has been either completely pointless or endangered Azeroth even more. Yay purified black dragon.

How do you know that we didn't defeat the Iron horde and become more powerful? Access to that Draenei tech, information, and troops certainly helped us back on Azeroth. We also took out Archimonde. Wrathion may have wanted a different out come from going through the time ways but we can't call his plan a failure since we succeeded and we can't tell how much his actions prepared us.

[huth]

He's setting us up to become the big bad in possibly the next expansion.

Well, i for one look forward to being your new robot Overlord.

- - - Updated - - -

How do you know that we didn't defeat the Iron horde and become more powerful? Access to that Draenei tech, information, and troops certainly helped us back on Azeroth. We also took out Archimonde. Wrathion may have wanted a different out come from going through the time ways but we can't call his plan a failure since we succeeded and we can't tell how much his actions prepared us.

That we managed to cobble together something halfway passable from the burning remains doesn't make his plan any less of a failure.

[rhorle]

That we managed to cobble together something halfway passable from the burning remains doesn't make his plan any less of a failure.

What if his plan was to make us strong enough to defeat the legion and the details didn't matter as much as the end result. Were we strong enough to defeat the legion?

[huth]

What if his plan was to make us strong enough to defeat the legion and the details didn't matter as much as the end result. Were we strong enough to defeat the legion?

To much "if" when we already know it wasn't.

[lightofdawn]

i can see wrathion returning as a lore character in an old gods expansion. yeah his end goal was to stop the legion, but i'll be really surprised if he doesn't sample the old god corruption like his daddy

[Trollokdamus]

What if his plan was to make us strong enough to defeat the legion and the details didn't matter as much as the end result. Were we strong enough to defeat the legion?

Highly unlikely. I believe despite him being a dragon and his gigantic ego, he's still young and inexperienced and thus is bound to make mistakes.
On topic, I believed his character is still salvageable. Blizzard just have to come with a plausible explanation for his disappearance and let him loose. It would be even fitting to see him fighting the Void since it was Void manifestations (the Old Gods) that had driven his father insane and corrupted his entire race.

[JustRob]

What if his plan was to make us strong enough to defeat the legion and the details didn't matter as much as the end result. Were we strong enough to defeat the legion?

WoD didn't make us "stronger". Nothing happened during WoD to give us more battle power. The allies we did make were all left behind on Draenor, and in fact, we lost valuable fighters because of Draenor (Maraad, Admiral Taylor). We beat Archimonde partly because of Khadgar, Yrel, and Grommash. We can fight the Legion now because we've collected these powerful artifacts. But if the Legion hadn't invaded so quickly (thanks to Draenor Gul'dan, who exists thanks to Wrathion), we might have had more time to prepare and we might not have lost even more valuable fighters such as Tirion, Varian, and Vol'jin.

[Raetary]

we might have had more time to prepare and we might not have lost even more valuable fighters such as Tirion, Varian, and Vol'jin.

our power-level was irrelevant on the broken shore.

the entire scenario was a trap.

[Eapoe]

Since MoP, this guy has been preaching about the Legion's inevitable return... His modus operandi was "Strengthen Azeroth as much as possible before that happens, no matter the cost". But instead of doing that, he actually caused the Legion to invade Azeroth quicker than planned.

He wanted to use the Iron Horde as an army against the Legion, but instead, we had to fight and lose lives against the Iron Horde, lives that could have helped us fight the Legion. Instead, Gul'dan found his way to Azeroth and immediately jumpstarted the Legion's invasion. All thanks to our pal Wrathion. The guy didn't believe for a second that the quarreling Alliance and Horde would be able to stop the Legion. Yet here we are, Gul'dan dead, Kil'jaeden dead, and about to march on Sargeras himself... I'd say we've been pretty succesful, no thanks to him. And now that the Legion is finally here, the guy is nowhere to be seen... He's off taking roadtrips to Northrend, because, why the fuck not?

What was the point of this character again? Everything he's ever done has been either completely pointless or endangered Azeroth even more. Yay purified black dragon.

His plan failed, yes; but that does not make him a failure. In the grand scheme of things, he did something some people would call evil by breaking out a war criminal and setting him loose on an alternate dimension to kill (potentially) millions of people. If his plan succeeded, its very possible the Iron Horde could have walked right up on the Broken Shore and wiped out the entire Legion. Keep in mind, Iron Horde vs Legion would be army against army, and the Iron Horde's was greater than Horde and Alliance. The reason we won is because we attacked while the IH was still getting started and stopped its leaders before they could be a major threat.
Also, Wrathion knew that unless the Horde and Alli banded together for a common goal, we couldn't win against the Legion. Wra's actions were set in motion based off the events of MoP, when the Alli and Horde were still in outright conflict and the Horde itself was broken apart with infighting.
Wra's actions hastened the return of Khadgar, who in turn reunited the Kirin Tor, brought forth new heroes for the fight (Rexxar and Garona to name 2), and caused the 1st setting aside of differences between Horde and Alliance on a grand scale to focus on the Iron Horde. This also lead to the intro of Legion, where the Horde and Alli attacked together (even with tension amongst both sides over the separate factions).
Guldan being defeated on Draenor and rushing thru to resurrect the Avatar also led to the release of Illidan and his followers, both key instruments in stopping the Legion.
If anything, while his initial plan of making an unstoppable army that could stand up to the Legion failed with the Iron Horde, it did lead to temporary truces between the sides (a mostly unified front), the emergence of champions and protectors that haven't been seen in forever, and one of the Legion's greatest and powerful foes. While Wra failed with his idea, it ultimately succeeded in preparing Azeroth and getting ready to fight the Legion back, so much so that we are now invading them.

[bowchikabow]

This is why I believe the Ilgynoth whisper "the boy-king sits at the master's table, three lies will he offer you" refers to Wrathion.

He is young in dragon year... He is, for all intents and purposes, ruler of the black flight (king.. boy-king). And he has offered us... what was it? power, a chance to save the world, and prepare for the future? Three lies?

[mingarrubia]

Actually I believe he's Kosak's creation, and Kosak was really enthusiastic about him. Not sure what happened.

Kosak left WoW, that's what happened. Wrathion probably was some kind of pet project of his and nobody must have picked it up after his departure.