1. #1

    [6.x Baseless Speculation] Illidan, and fighting fire with fire

    So, the lead up to an expansion is always exciting and, like many of you, I've been sitting around speculating away at what might be coming in Warlords of Draenor. A completely unlikely, baseless piece of speculation I made about the scourge being brought to Draenor and having to bring Bolvar/LK in to fight them has led to what I believe is a farm more likely baseless speculation - the return of Illidan.

    I'll try to keep this brief, as it's not too much of a stretch logically.

    Draenor is an Alternate Universe Expansion

    This seems to be widely accepted as fact at this point. It's kinda obvious - whether Garrosh went back in his own timestream, or whether Kairoz took himi back to an alternate timestream is almost irrelevant, as his going back in time created an alternate timeline anyway. We're working in a timeline whether most of the Orcs have not drunk the blood of Mannoroth and are not corrupted by the Burning Legion.

    Time being what it is, this also means that while we are on a version of Draenor 35 years in the past, that there is an timey wimey version of Azeroth out there. One where Deathwing still exists, Arthas has not yet turned (has he even been born?) and, most importantly to my point in this post, Illidan still lives.

    Illidan is coming back.

    A fan favorite character that was killed almost needlessly and unceremoniously, during Blizzcon 2010 and Blizzcon 2011 Chris Metzen has all but confirmed that Illidan will return at some point, due to the character's popularity. The single issue in bringing Illidan back is having it make sense within the story. Previously Metzen intimated that if Illidan was raised from the dead, his body would be significant, but what if they were able to bring him back without raising him from the dead? What better way to do so than when they are inside an alternate timeline already?

    The legion is a big player in WoD

    The base experience in the expansion is largely focused on Draenor and its denizens, the Orcs and Draenei. However, Blizzard has confirmed that as the expansion continues onward, the legion will become a larger focus in the expansion. From a story perspective, it makes sense that Kil'Jaeden would not simply let the Orcs off the hook after they kill Mannoroth. The reckoning of the Legion is coming.

    I'm gonna throw this out there, and it's not gonna be accepted by everybody - Illidan is one of, if not not the most effective foils to the Burning Legion. The Illidari were demons, yes, but they served Illidan, not the Legion, and they by-and-large kept the Legion at bay on Outland. If I were a character in WoW, and I needed to fight the Legion, I'd want to fight fire with fire and bring Illidan in on my side.

    In summation

    This is completely baseless, but I think there's a good chance that Illidan will be brought back during the course of WoD, as a force to help fight the Burning Legion. He's not going to be a goody goody, and it's not gonna be all sunshine and roses, but I can see Illidan coming back and leading a group of very grey Demon Hunters and by doing so, set the story up for continued Demon Hunter lore and perhaps even a playable class for Demon Hunters (something that I think is almost assured, given the popularity of Illidan and Demon Hunters. It would sell too many subscriptions for Blizzard to never put it in, if only purely for business purposes)


    Thoughts?
    Last edited by Monteverdi; 2014-10-24 at 03:55 PM.

  2. #2
    At the point in time that WoD takes place in, isn't Illidan still imprisoned? In order to bring him back you'd likely have to involve the rest of the past night elves as well and likely make even more of a mess than there already is. I think I'd prefer just outright raising him from the dead than rescuing him again, although performing another rescue would be a good excuse to get a dungeon or scenario to revisit the WC3 mission.
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  3. #3
    OP, your idea is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!

    But I would certainly buy it!

  4. #4
    Well, I did think Illidan might come back in Draenor.

    He can't die, he just goes to a demonic realm so the chance of him returning is quite high.

    I did think that the WoD was just a "pocket" version of Draenor, stuck in a timeless-isle type anomaly, and thus with Illidan being out of the usual dimensions then he could be summoned to either.

    ..but now it seems that there's an entire AU burning legion, which makes the entire thing far FAR more complicated then it needs to be.
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  5. #5
    Dreadlord Captainn's Avatar
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    I hope not. I had enough resurrections in Cataclysm. They mishandled his first death quite badly, I'd rather not see it happen again

  6. #6
    I thought the lore went that Illidan was enough of a demon that you only killed him on this plane, and he'd be able to reconstitute his body like other demons do with the right help from summoners.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Captainn View Post
    I hope not. I had enough resurrections in Cataclysm. They mishandled his first death quite badly, I'd rather not see it happen again
    That's the beauty of it... in an alternate timeline, we wouldn't have to resurrect him.

  8. #8
    Herald of the Titans Baine's Avatar
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    To be honest, it would spoil the character to tag him with an already ongoing story. Illidan deserves to be the center of the story from the start, not to be like a sudden appearance at the end of it. Besides, since it is an alternate universe, I would like some progression in "our" story progression in our real universe.

  9. #9
    Herald of the Titans Marston's Avatar
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    At that point in time Illidan is still imprisoned. And since Kalimdor was nout found, the Nightelves also have no reason to set him free. As for the Illidari Demons, did they serve him during the War of the Ancients? Or was it only in Outland? Also, Illidan doesn't have the Skull of Gul'dan in the alternative universe, beinge quite a bit weaker without it. I don't think he will return here. It's more reasonable to think he became so much a demon that he returned to the Twisting Nether.

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