Deathwing(Speculation)

[GrinnersGrin]

We didn't see his body so he'll come back in 9.0 with Stannis riding him.

[Unholyground]

Next expansion is looking more and more like a Dragon one so who knows honestly.

[Irian]

Considering how he died, it's be extremely hard for even WoW's lore to justify him returning. He was pretty much obliterated.

I would actually love this idea though, because it gave me a great idea for an opportunity for Blizzard to show how twisted N'zoth is. Sure, bring Deathwing back, but he's a pathetic, writhing bloodied mess of a creature that lays prone and wails as you kill it. Even being ripped apart by the Maelstrom wasn't enough to break his contract with N'zoth.

But that's just wishful thinking. Blizzard could really do with showing rather then telling with the Old Gods, and that'd be a perfect opportunity to solidify N'zoth as something to be truly feared.

[Ielenia]

Yeah, short of some alternate timeline shenanigans like they did with Warlords, no way to bring him back. He's stardust.

Eh, not really. I mean, they could say something along the lines of "his soul got trapped within the Dragon Soul" or something like that, like they did with Illidan after he was allegedly killed at the end of the Black Temple raid back in TBC.

[A Chozo]

Y'all know what would be cool?

Remember how Deathwing kept calling himself the Aspect of Death? What if after his obliteration, his powerful soul managed to get a hold onto the Shadowlands, becoming some sort of Death Dragon Lord residing there? But now, instead of in the service of the Old Gods, he would be in control of his actions - so, not exactly an antagonist this time. Maybe even make him redeem himself to Malygos!

[Domixux]

When did they retcon illidan's death? He's a (powerful) demon, their soul can't be killed outside of the twisting nether.

The whole thing about demons not dying and going into the nether was a retcon in itself. Also Illidan wasn't really becoming a demon back in WC, he just absorbed/gained demonic powers. The explanation about demon hunters absorbing a demon soul and thus to an exctent becoming a demon was much later introduced in legion, especially in the illidan book. Yeah you can basically tell us blizzard planned this all along, but c'mon at the end of tbc everyone and their mothers would think that he was dead for good.

[Fahrenheit]

If he makes an appearance in the future, it'd likely be as a spirit in his original Neltharion the Earth Warder form. Deathwing is dead, but it's possible his soul (pre-corruption) is intact somehow, somewhere, on some realm of existence. Now that I'm thinking of it, I wouldn't mind seeing a reunion of sorts between Neltharion and Alexstraza, they were always at each other's throats in Cataclysm, wouldn't mind seeing them converse like the old friends (lovers?) they were.

[vertigo12]

Onyxia got a level 80 rehash

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The whole thing about demons not dying and going into the nether was a retcon in itself. Also Illidan wasn't really becoming a demon back in WC, he just absorbed/gained demonic powers. The explanation about demon hunters absorbing a demon soul and thus to an exctent becoming a demon was much later introduced in legion, especially in the illidan book. Yeah you can basically tell us blizzard planned this all along, but c'mon at the end of tbc everyone and their mothers would think that he was dead for good.

Not me. I was expecting it was merely a setback.

[Ohmmega]

nothing is definitely dead in a high magic world like warcraft, there are unlimited ways to bring back a dead character not to mention the use of a parallele universe.

[formerShandalay]

In Wow 'dead' never was 'gone from existence'. I mean, not even mortals are actually unreachable after their death and can be brought back in a number of ways.
Deathwing might be sent back to make up for his crimes as a light ghost for all we know.

[Grumpy Old Man]

If anything made me think that the Prepfoot may be right in at least one thing and that Deathwing may be back in one form or another it's this guy: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Obsidian_Deathwarder, who was already kind of stealthily added in Legion. ^^

Yeah the Prepfoot tribe got me thinking as well. I thought of 3 possibilities:

1. They're just there for comic relief and Deathwing won't return at all. (most likely)
2. They're there as a hint that maybe Blizzard can or not bring Deathwing back at some point in the future.
3. They're half right and half wrong; all their chat about the future they saw and Deathwing will return and burn the world and so on... is actually truth, but what if it's not Deathwing... what if the future they "saw" was another black dragon they mistook as Deathwing, maybe a certain black dragon we saw a lot in past expansions and that's been mysteriously absent...

[Phantombeard]

Deathwing should not have been killed at the end of Cata. He was just too good of a villain and the Dragon Soul raid really hurt him. It made him look weak and the final fight really sucked. IMO, the worst was when you beat him and the Dragon aspects used the Dragonsoul to finish him off. It looked like a squirt from a water gun hit him and he pop'ed like a half deflated balloon. I think I actually laughed. So yeah, it was bad. They should have imprisoned him at the end of cata, stripped him of his armor (I know, it helped hold him together, but still) and chained him back down in Deepholm. It would be cool to visit deepholm in current live and see him chained. Maybe even have dialog if you clicked on him. Each expansion updating what he says. Like in BFA he could be calling out to N'zoth. Anyways, yeah I hope he does come back. With new tech and the way wow is always improving itself graphically, we could get the deathwing battle we deserve. We just have to wait and see.

[Darknessvamp]

Well unless there's a sudden retcon that the dragon soul actually absorbs the dragon it's shot at rather than outright kills them, I doubt ole lava wings is coming back any time soon... Also unless Blizzard just says "Screw it" and does it anyway.

[formerShandalay]

Yeah the Prepfoot tribe got me thinking as well. I thought of 3 possibilities:

1. They're just there for comic relief and Deathwing won't return at all. (most likely)
2. They're there as a hint that maybe Blizzard can or not bring Deathwing back at some point in the future.
3. They're half right and half wrong; all their chat about the future they saw and Deathwing will return and burn the world and so on... is actually truth, but what if it's not Deathwing... what if the future they "saw" was another black dragon they mistook as Deathwing, maybe a certain black dragon we saw a lot in past expansions and that's been mysteriously absent...

The Prepfoot were definitely on to 'something' insofar that they kind of got all their survival tricks exactly wrong, hoarding all the wrong food and drinks. It was kind of like something told them to prepare for 'the end' and then told them to keep only stuff that would get them killed. They are so mad, I could not see a way they had not fallen prey to some kind of 'whispers'. And well... from what we've seen in the Highmountain recruitment quest, this is highly possible.
I didn't think they'd be right about Deathwing and thought they may have simply used the name Deathwing to describe what they've seen (like, a world breaking apart, the Hour of Twilight coming and all the other doom-prophecies we also heard from other people). When I first saw the Obsidian Deathwarder I thought maybe the Old Gods are bringing him back, as a real slave this time, not only as a creature gone mad and simply going along with their plans 'by accident'.
We'll see what really happens, I just don't think that 'death' means anything in a setting like WoW's ;D

[Grumpy Old Man]

When I first saw the Obsidian Deathwarder I thought maybe the Old Gods are bringing him back, as a real slave this time, not only as a creature gone mad and simply going along with their plans 'by accident'.

That's an interesting possibility.

We'll see what really happens, I just don't think that 'death' means anything in a setting like WoW's ;D

Yeah, I think the same. I mean, I can see Blizzard retconning anything if they decided that's the direction they want to steer the story. (not saying I'm ok with it, I just think they're more than able to do it if they want to)

[vertigo12]

Thanks for bringing up a topic like this. Works perfectly harmonious with whatis happening in WoW and what I have discussed so far.

[Hack-Attack]

Ive had this speculation for a long time.

I had this theory about the dragon soul and Deathwing that could really tie into this. And I know people are going to tell me that he's disintergrated, yet we have parts of his chin so that's not evident. I think that the dragon soul split Deathwing (like how onyxia split varian into two parts) into a de-empowered Neltharion and broken husked Deathwing. Nzoth could retrieve the broken husk and re empower Deathwing once again. As for Neltharion, it could make interesting plot development with Wrathion and trying to attone for his mistakes. It's far fetched yes but I think it could definitely work.

[formerShandalay]

That's an interesting possibility.

Yeah, I think the same. I mean, I can see Blizzard retconning anything if they decided that's the direction they want to steer the story. (not saying I'm ok with it, I just think they're more than able to do it if they want to)

I don't think bringing back people from the dead is bad per se. What I don't like is if they actually have been dead and their death didn't affect them. Like, bringing them back as undead is completely fine, bringing them back in a 'shadowlands-void-version' is fine too and also having them sent back as spirits by more light aligned entities is ok too (like Medivh in WC3). Being 'reborn' the way Torga was is also fine, because it's not like nothing happened. And while a baby loa may be powerful it's surely not as powerful as it used to be when it had grown thousands of years.

The futility of trying to get rid of something by simply killing it is something that kind of fits the story of an 'eternal war' and everything just going in cycles or circles. And unless you find some other way, you're just postponing the next fight and nothing else.
This is something not everyone may like and even I think they should not go overboard with this, because at some point it just gets boring for a player, even if the character may hold on and say 'I don't care how many times I need to sent you to hell, I'll do it for all eternity if I must'. Because we as players may then wish for our characters to come up with something more than killing, but we can't force that, because it's Blizzard's story and we're just along for the ride.

[wanax]

Thanks for bringing up a topic like this. Works perfectly harmonious with whatis happening in WoW and what I have discussed so far.

Of course I mean that’s what brought it to mind with all the Nzoth stuff

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I don't think bringing back people from the dead is bad per se. What I don't like is if they actually have been dead and their death didn't affect them. Like, bringing them back as undead is completely fine, bringing them back in a 'shadowlands-void-version' is fine too and also having them sent back as spirits by more light aligned entities is ok too (like Medivh in WC3). Being 'reborn' the way Torga was is also fine, because it's not like nothing happened. And while a baby loa may be powerful it's surely not as powerful as it used to be when it had grown thousands of years.

The futility of trying to get rid of something by simply killing it is something that kind of fits the story of an 'eternal war' and everything just going in cycles or circles. And unless you find some other way, you're just postponing the next fight and nothing else.
This is something not everyone may like and even I think they should not go overboard with this, because at some point it just gets boring for a player, even if the character may hold on and say 'I don't care how many times I need to sent you to hell, I'll do it for all eternity if I must'. Because we as players may then wish for our characters to come up with something more than killing, but we can't force that, because it's Blizzard's story and we're just along for the ride.

Agreed, if you’re rezzing a dead character with something you can back up then more power to them. If all we can do is kill the war never ends

[Ooid]

Well considering there are Dark Irons trying to bring back Ragnaros I wouldn’t put it past Blizzard to undo our previous victory by bringing Deathwing back.