What if the Alliance executed Saurfang?

[Xar226]

But he does seem to have some wicked mood swings at the moment.

That actually doesn't bother me at all. It's a pretty natural issue when you're confronted with a country (or faction) you love and a leader you despise. He has a pretty clear vision of what the Horde is, and should be, and the leader he is sworn to is not acting that way. You'll notice in your examples, all instances of his pride and warrior spirit are triggered by thoughts of the Horde, and all his "mood swings" triggered by actions of its leader. The idea of "can you still love your country and hate its leader" is something with rather obvious real-world parallels, exacerbated by both his warrior culture and the more dictatorial aspects of the in-game world. (There's no "wait a few more years to elect a new Warchief" option.)

I'm bothered by his "noo, I struck from behind!" emo episode but that's an issue with the entire concept of tying honor to death rather than life.

[Rhaide]

Tyrande only just spared him.

After she said the only reason was because he spared Malfurion. She threatened to kill him on the spot if he got off his knees before she left.

[Evilfish]

After she said the only reason was because he spared Malfurion. She threatened to kill him on the spot if he got off his knees before she left.

Try as hard as they might, that character never looks "powerful" or "badass". Just a woman acting like a pubescent emo boy.

[Rhaide]

Try as hard as they might, that character never looks "powerful" or "badass". Just a woman acting like a pubescent emo boy.

To be fair, that's basically all night elves unless they undergo a drastic aesthetic alteration a la demon hunter or archdruid

[Triptych]

Has there ever been an execution in a Warcraft game? I'm talking about a proper execution, like a government-ordered, capital punishment sort of thing.

I don't think that there has, and I don't think that Blizzard would take that sort of route with their story, in a game that they want to remain moderately "family friendly".

It's one thing for a character's death to be ordered by a quest giver, and then the player has to go and carry out the sentence, by defeating and killing them in combat. And yes, I know that there are probably gallows and scaffolds portrayed at various locations around the world, and in-game items with a name like 'Executioner's Axe' ... but that's a far cry from making an execution (of a beloved character no less) take centre stage in the plot.