just because arthas' soul/ghost shows up in Shadowlands doesn't mean they are going to continue his story arc. him appearing, even in a cameo capacity, is just that. he just appears.
seeing him being tortured? dialogue with him that reflects on his past actions? big deal. this isn't going to be an Illidan in Legion level return
Since when characters getting ruined matters?
They always told me I would miss my family... but I never miss from close range.
I think the main difference is that bringing Arthas back as a tortured spirit (in the Maw) wouldn't require retconning his character. His character arc would remain intact, since he'd still be suffering the consequences of his zealotry and pride.
Redeeming him would be another task entirely, though -- and while I'm certainly interested in the idea of it, I no longer have any faith in Blizzard to do such a thing in a way that makes sense.
"Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint." - Alexander Hamilton
Say the what? What's left of him as a paladin? He were still young and a trainee when it came to the paladin order and since we met him we learn that he isn't in line with paladin mindset. He was a paladin because it was expected of him.
His story as a paladin was over quickly and meant as such.
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I'm fine with how the Arthas story ended. He's one of the few characters who actually had a very solid story arc from start to end, without being milked dry like they do with some of their other major characters like Illidan and Sylvanas. If they want to have a story for Arthas in Shadowlands, then I hope its about Jaina and Calia trying to reunite with him where he gets a chance for redemption. He doesn't have to be ressurected back to the world, but rather let his spirit move on to a better place. Interestingly enough we never knew what happened to his body after his fight.
Bringing characters back rarely goes well. I always liked Illidan before Legion, now they turned him into a generic good guy who gets a major power buff and battles the most powerful being there is. Talk about fan service alright. Same goes for Sylvanas who was an alright character who always had a clear goal of getting revenge on Arthas and make more forsaken, now all suddenly she is making deal with Death itself and goes trough all kind of shenanigans.
Its been happening already for quite some time. WoD itself was brining back WC1+2 characters. Legion brought back Illidan and completely whitewashed him despite being a tyrannical ruler in Outland who always cared more for himself, preferring more power rather than thinking of his own people. To this day its still mostly WC3 characters that are in the spotlight while WoW doesn't so a good job introducing new characters to care for.
I don't get why people want characters to be nothing more than vessels for specific stories. Like there is nothing more to their lives and ambitions than serving this one thing, then die off. As far as Arthas goes, his affiliation with Scourge-related stories are done, but otherwise he's still a notable character. Think of him like a former career politician; used to be a big player in the power game, now retired but still existing and maybe taking part into smaller activities such as organisations or endorsing a new candidate. They don't stop existing or being relevant in some way just because they no longer hold the office of power that was once their defining trait.
For Arthas specifically I'd argue there is value to look into the 'prince of Lordaeron' side of his character, as the final cinematic of ICC suggested there was still some of it left when he died, but we didn't get a good look at it. Also, Sylvanas's short story suggested Arthas was condemned to a sort of Hell (presumably the Maw). With a more detailed look into Shadowlands and how mortal souls are sorted there, especially with Revendreth as a sort of Purgatory and Kael being condemned there rather than the Maw, I think we definitely need a look into Arthas's current form of existence. He doesn't need redemption or anything, just a look into where he ended up to and if it can be judged as the right thing for him. That can be the extent of it, though I don't mind if he's a bit active otherwise as well, like taking part in the general campaign as a soft addition.
Now you see it. Now you don't.
I don't get it, arthas is already there, I see him every time I go into northrend and it's cool
Lich King Arthas is done, but human Arthas still has a lot to do. In his last moments we saw fear and regret, both could make for a good motivation for him to want to redeem himself by helping us. It would make complete sense, as a paladin he would despise what he became and even if he got free from the torment he's not doubt receiving in shadowlands as punishment, he wouldn't accept just resting. He'd want to redeem himself, so seeing Arthas would make perfect sense honestly. Seeing Lich King Arthas would be an issue though.
the fact that people care so much about lore is one reason the devs dont have enough time to create good class gameplay and systems
I think they could call back to him in interesting ways but any further true character development? No please.
They're going to build upon that, imo bullshit, thing they threw out way after Arthas was dead which was to say, "Arthas was holding back the true power of the Scourge" or some bullshit. They'll cross out the lore in crayon and say, "He was trying to hold back the Shadowlands from invading Azeroth!" or some bullshit and try to pretend he was doing something for the greater good.
Get ready for it everyone.
That whole throwaway line they mentioned during that lore Q&A where they said nobody knew why, but Arthas was holding back the true might of the Scourge will be used to have some Illidaneseque levels of retarded retconning.
Because nobody can come up with new ideas anymore.