Sylvanas is about to become the next Illidan

[Draeth]

People have been debating what "I will set us all free," means, why she's going to the Shadowlands, etc. since the trailer dropped. I think I know.

Sylvanas made a pact with The Jailer for the same reason Illidan made a pact with Sargeras - to gain his powers with the intention of using them against him.

Her end goal is to kill the Jailer, take his place as one of the lords of Death, end the concept of Hell as it exists in the Warcraft universe, and become the God-Queen of the Shadowlands.

Then, her dark and terrible powers over Death will be instrumental in defeating the Void Lords in 10.0.

And she's the current Game Director's favorite character, so she has enough plot armor to make it happen.

[DemonHunter18]

Sylvanas made a pact with The Jailer for the same reason Illidan made a pact with Sargeras - to gain his powers with the intention of using them against him.

this is the only thing they have in common.

[Draeth]

this is the only thing they have in common.

Yes, this, the fundamental, defining moment of Illidan's origin story, which set the stage for everything he would do and become, is what they have in common.

[Seradi]

Has Ion ever claimed Sylvanas was his favorite character or is this just some internet bs that’s gotten thrown around?

[Combatbutler]

The word you are looking for is kerrigan, she was modeled quite a bit after that character after all

[GreenJesus]

They are pretty similar. Illidan held his plans from even his closest advisors and contradicted his goals on Outland just so that Kil'jaedan wouldn't be able to read his mind for his end goal. Sylvanas makes him an amateur though. She was able to hide her thoughts from the writer herself.

[LarryWithTheWeatherReport]

Whatever happens, one thing is certain. Both of them will become far more powerful and important in the future just you wait and see. Sylvanas broke her limiter and is still getting stronger and stronger. What we saw in the Shadowlands trailer wasn't even her full powers. We'll see just how much more she can go within the expansion. Illidan's limiter will be broken the next time we see him. He's in constant battle with Sargeras so expect him to be many leagues above what he was in legion. I don't think they'll be exactly the same in goals. Illidan is more of a good guy currently but Sylvanas will something that'll surprise us.

[Newname1234567890]

No Slyvannas is as evil as they come

[Gurahk]

Has Ion ever claimed Sylvanas was his favorite character or is this just some internet bs that’s gotten thrown around?

No, he hasn't said that at all. He's not even the lore dude, so he doesn't really handle the story.

[Combatbutler]

Illidan was widely liked, so making him a franchise hero worked. Sylvanas isn't, so it won't. Blizzard aren't that dumb

Sylvanas has quite a bit of a fanbase.

From what I remember, most Starcraft players hated the Kerrigan arc and meme it to this day, I doubt Blizzard would repeat that

Considering their writing skills, I'd say the chances are quite likely

[Combatbutler]

Yeah, but it's not as big as her detractors

No character really fulfills that criteria to be honest.

[DemonHunter18]

Plus, Sylvanas is clearly far more evil than Illidan ever was

don't know about that.

if they didn't more or less retcon TBC with Illidan novel, he was way more evil than her.

[CrawlFromThePit]

Has Ion ever claimed Sylvanas was his favorite character or is this just some internet bs that’s gotten thrown around?

It's internet BS. Not to mention he has very little say in what each characters do. The story is driven by the content, if we go to shadowlands then the writers make some bullshit up to make this happen, complete disregard to how things should happen in a logical and natural way that's why the story is so bad.

[Eazy]

She'll be redeemed and Blizzard will say something like "Oh! You guys didn't believe that after ALL we forced her to do, did you?" and they'll all gather in their own office and everyone will cheer, saying something like "we're master of the plot twist!".

Has Ion ever claimed Sylvanas was his favorite character or is this just some internet bs that’s gotten thrown around?

No, but Senior Narrative Designer is treating her like her own waifu.
https://imgur.com/r/wow/FX4poT6

[Zulkhan]

Yeah, but it's not as big as her detractors

Pretty sure there are a lot of people who don't like Illidan either, myself included. The only reason why Sylvanas may have more "detractors" it's because she's constantly been within the eye of the storm, unlike the first. Conversely, though, that also means she clearly acquired a likely bigger fanbase than Illidan ever had.

[Kaichu]

The things Sylvanas lacks in that comparison are stability and composure. Even at the smallest inconvenience, she tends to get extremely fickle and volatile, and drops (and consequently messes up) her whole shtick. We have seen it in the reckless change of plans in Teldrassil. We have seen it in the "the Horde is nothing" lash-out upon her apparent failure to kill hope. Sylvanas does not seem to have 1/10 the mental fortitude Illidan's left nut does, so I hope she either gets shafted by the Jailer or ends up being a loot piñata.

[TheFirstOnes]

"I will set us all free" Doesn't mean anything. She thinks Azeroth is a prison for life, and she wants to release us all in Death, hence the phrase "Death claims us all". She's evil, and acts about as Sargeras as they come. Illidan wanted to save everyone in the end, even if it was for selfish reasons. Sylvanas however, commits mass genocide, tortures people for immortality, and does other shitty things so that they could give the Maw more power, as well as give everyone an eternal "rest" from the world/universe. She's evil.

Bolvar is our "Illidan", as he's going to be the guy by our side here. Sylvanas is the Garrosh/Gul'dan of the expansion, and Blizzard knows this more than anyone. She has NEVER done anything for the good of Azeroth. This has been established since WC3.

I'm not defending Sylvanas or anything here, but she's not Kerrigan. Stop. Kerrigan at least had an excuse.

[DemonHunter18]

You can't seriously believe Sylvanas has more fans than Illidan, Illidan is arguably the most popular Warcraft character - competing with Arthas, he's certainly more iconic than Sylvanas

Illidan WAS the most popular alongside Arthas.

they were the best back in WC3.

WoW butchered them, at least Illidan.

[Zulkhan]

You can't seriously believe Sylvanas has more fans than Illidan, Illidan is arguably the most popular Warcraft character - competing with Arthas, he's certainly more iconic than Sylvanas

Sylvanas has always been a fairly popular character. She was lower in the graduatory as long as she remained a character in the background, but that has started to change since WotLK all the way to...well, now. On the other hand, Arthas is dead by ages and Illidan made a heavily forced anti-heroic come back, only to then dissapear again from the story.

[Seradi]

Plus, Sylvanas is clearly far more evil than Illidan ever was

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Yeah, but it's not as big as her detractors

She was rated the 3rd most popular character recently. Even after the hatchet job Blizz did to her this expac.