"There must always be a Lich King" - But why?

[El Caballero de Olmedo]

There is something I've never quite understood from the Lich King's nature and purpose and it's the famous qoute that "there must always be a Lich King", because the Scourge must be controlled or they will ravage the world if unleashed.

But my question is, why? Why must the Scourge be contained/controlled? Why keep such terrible threat to the world remain? It makes no sense to me, if the argument is that the undead will consume the living if left unchecked, why does the new Lich King not destroy them himself? Does the Helm of Domination not have that power? Can't the Lich King just re-absorb the power that sustains every undead or something like that?

I suppose that it no longer matters now, after the shattering of the Helm, but for argument's sake lets discuss!

[TheRevenantHero]

The old lore was that without the Lich King to keep them in check, the sheer number of Scourge would run rampant and destroy all life on Azeroth. The Lich King was able to control them but wouldn't be able to just destroy them all himself.

But of course Shadowlands retconned that and we are somehow able to just simply fight off the Scourge even while they're rampaging across Azeroth. It's just further evidence that the story of the next expansion is abyssmal.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

It takes Bolvar most of his willpower just to hold the Scourge back, I don't think he could command them like you think.

[shuubu]

The old lore was that without the Lich King to keep them in check, the sheer number of Scourge would run rampant and destroy all life on Azeroth. The Lich King was able to control them but wouldn't be able to just destroy them all himself.

But of course Shadowlands retconned that and we are somehow able to just simply fight off the Scourge even while they're rampaging across Azeroth. It's just further evidence that the story of the next expansion is abyssmal.

I think they are implying that without the Lich king the Jailer is taking control of the scourge.

But in my opinion they just butchered the best parts of their own lore in Shadowlands and this horror that started with the nonsense Shadowlands trailer is just abysmal retconning.

[Nnyco]

Cuz bolvar is a budget lich king and he could barely hold em in check, let alone make em kill themself.

[Menolikeu]

The old lore was that without the Lich King to keep them in check, the sheer number of Scourge would run rampant and destroy all life on Azeroth. The Lich King was able to control them but wouldn't be able to just destroy them all himself.

But of course Shadowlands retconned that and we are somehow able to just simply fight off the Scourge even while they're rampaging across Azeroth. It's just further evidence that the story of the next expansion is abyssmal.

The story is actually well written if you go through and read all of the quests, which I am assuming you did not. Just the cinematics don't tell the whole story. We are able to kill the scourge, that was never a part of the story that we couldn't. While we are in the shadowlands the argent crusade will be recruiting members to deal with the scourge and hold them at bay until we can find a way to control them again. The Jailer is a huge part of the scourge's ability to run free. Dealing with him will fix the scourge issue, then later on in the expansion we will go after Sylvanas and we will get our revenge. The story is very well written if you take the time to read it, and actually research the story. Not everyone can follow the story line, but once you get a grasp of it. I doubt you could come up with a story like this on your own.

[Jonnusthegreat]

I think they are implying that without the Lich king the Jailer is taking control of the scourge.

But in my opinion they just butchered the best parts of their own lore in Shadowlands and this horror that started with the nonsense Shadowlands trailer is just abysmal retconning.

Doesn't the jailer want us all dead? So a guy that wants us all dead is now commanding a force, that, even without a commander, our deaths are assured?

[Shrouded]

It was always a huge plothole. There was no reason the Scourge couldn't just be destroyed one ghoul at a time once Bolvar took the Helm of Domination, but for some reason Alliance, Horde, Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade alike declared "mission accomplished" and returned home without actually getting rid of the threat to the world. No one in their right mind would leave the enemy nukes sitting on the launch pads once the war is won, but that's exactly what everyone on Azeroth collectively decided on doing.

[Tarba]

There is something I've never quite understood from the Lich King's nature and purpose and it's the famous qoute that "there must always be a Lich King", because the Scourge must be controlled or they will ravage the world if unleashed.

But my question is, why? Why must the Scourge be contained/controlled? Why keep such terrible threat to the world remain? It makes no sense to me, if the argument is that the undead will consume the living if left unchecked, why does the new Lich King not destroy them himself? Does the Helm of Domination not have that power? Can't the Lich King just re-absorb the power that sustains every undead or something like that?

I suppose that it no longer matters now, after the shattering of the Helm, but for argument's sake lets discuss!

Because writers are retarded.
They watched pirate or the caribean and thought that "there must allways be a captain on the flying dutchman" sounded cool, and put that lazy shit in wow to preserve the Lich king as an entity.
It makes absolutely no sense, it's cringe and stupid. So pretty much adequate with Arthas in wotlk globally. That's just wow writing for you.

That's it.

[Chonar]

The story is actually well written if you go through and read all of the quests, which I am assuming you did not. Just the cinematics don't tell the whole story. We are able to kill the scourge, that was never a part of the story that we couldn't. While we are in the shadowlands the argent crusade will be recruiting members to deal with the scourge and hold them at bay until we can find a way to control them again. The Jailer is a huge part of the scourge's ability to run free. Dealing with him will fix the scourge issue, then later on in the expansion we will go after Sylvanas and we will get our revenge. The story is very well written if you take the time to read it, and actually research the story. Not everyone can follow the story line, but once you get a grasp of it. I doubt you could come up with a story like this on your own.

Can't expect people to read quest text, that's too much to ask from people with a 3 second attention span at most. It's much easier just to assume everything sucks, and Blizzard "forgot" everything about their own lore (And certainly not simply keeping things flexible enough to keep lore fitting if altered for the sake of fun gameplay).

[El Caballero de Olmedo]

It was always a huge plothole. There was no reason the Scourge couldn't just be destroyed one ghoul at a time once Bolvar took the Helm of Domination, but for some reason Alliance, Horde, Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade alike declared "mission accomplished" and returned home without actually getting rid of the threat to the world. No one in their right mind would leave the enemy nukes sitting on the launch pads once the war is won, but that's exactly what everyone on Azeroth collectively decided on doing.

That's exactly what I was thinking, there was something that just did not make sense.

[Knslyr]

The old lore was that without the Lich King to keep them in check, the sheer number of Scourge would run rampant and destroy all life on Azeroth. The Lich King was able to control them but wouldn't be able to just destroy them all himself.

But of course Shadowlands retconned that and we are somehow able to just simply fight off the Scourge even while they're rampaging across Azeroth. It's just further evidence that the story of the next expansion is abyssmal.

I'd argue that "There must always be a Lich King" they pulled at the end of WotLK was stupid. Now with the Jailer it can simply be explained away as him manipulating Uther and Terenas, which is a lot better imo.

And we should have been able to fight off the mindless scourge in WotLK, there was really nothing that suggested we wouldn't be able to except that one comment at ICC. If an organized attack against Lights Hope Chapel failed, even if the LK was holding back, I don't think a few random zombies walking in once in a while would have ended them.

Don't know how good Shadowlands will be lorewise, but I think its great it fixed some of the problems I had with the WotLK ending.

[El Caballero de Olmedo]

It takes Bolvar most of his willpower just to hold the Scourge back, I don't think he could command them like you think.

Well, I suppose it's true. But its a weakened Scourge, since throughout Wrath we eliminated many of its forces and their most powerful commanders, and even still the Scourge is a super threat? I don't know

[Varodoc]

It should be obvious why.

"There must always be a Lich King."

In BfA, we learn that the Lich King is not only the jailer of the damned, who controls the Scourge telepathically. He is also the guardian of the very veil between Life and Death, as said veil is located precisely at Icecrown Citadel.

Sylvanas Windrunner destroyed the Lich King, and as a result the veil between Life and Death was shattered, allowing the Jailer to invade the living world through his Mawsworn. One of the Jailer's heralds has taken over the Scourge and leads it in the name of the Jailer.

Now let me ask you: Remember who else tried to destroy the Lich King? Illidan Stormrage. Who was Illidan working for? Kil'jaeden the Deceiver. Was there any Death entity who made a pact with Kil'jaeden and even gave him Frostmourne and the Helm of Domination for war purposes? Perhaps a Death entity who'd benefit from the shattering of the veil? Hmm.

This is why there must ALWAYS be a Lich King. It's not just about keeping an undead throng at bay:

[Leyre]

There is something I've never quite understood from the Lich King's nature and purpose and it's the famous qoute that "there must always be a Lich King", because the Scourge must be controlled or they will ravage the world if unleashed.

But my question is, why? Why must the Scourge be contained/controlled? Why keep such terrible threat to the world remain? It makes no sense to me, if the argument is that the undead will consume the living if left unchecked, why does the new Lich King not destroy them himself? Does the Helm of Domination not have that power? Can't the Lich King just re-absorb the power that sustains every undead or something like that?

I suppose that it no longer matters now, after the shattering of the Helm, but for argument's sake lets discuss!

Lorewise, the scourge disease is virulent as fuck, the mere touch with the infection can turn you into an undead. now imagine an army of the undead attacking village after village, there arent enough paladins to go around cleansing everyone

[Bigcountry11782]

These are the kinds of posts that make me wonder how people like you go about your day with out constantly doing serious bodily harm to yourself lol You realize the Helm controls Bolvar at some level and it was Bolvar that struggled with this to keep the scourge in check.Its all there plain as day to see.

Infracted.

[Angrie]

Lorewise, the scourge disease is virulent as fuck, the mere touch with the infection can turn you into an undead. now imagine an army of the undead attacking village after village, there arent enough paladins to go around cleansing everyone

The paladins i get in my groups don't have cleanse on their bars... so i'd be fucked the moment it started. Good thing i got my social distancing mechanism:

[bloodkin]

The story is actually well written if you go through and read all of the quests, which I am assuming you did not. Just the cinematics don't tell the whole story. We are able to kill the scourge, that was never a part of the story that we couldn't. While we are in the shadowlands the argent crusade will be recruiting members to deal with the scourge and hold them at bay until we can find a way to control them again. The Jailer is a huge part of the scourge's ability to run free. Dealing with him will fix the scourge issue, then later on in the expansion we will go after Sylvanas and we will get our revenge. The story is very well written if you take the time to read it, and actually research the story. Not everyone can follow the story line, but once you get a grasp of it. I doubt you could come up with a story like this on your own.

so basically, the storyline they drop in at the end of WotLK with always needing a lich king was never really explained beyond 'the scourge would take over the world' thus intentionally leaving it with as little details as possible. So now blizz decided to work off of that storyline, and basically change te meaning to 'the scourge would run rampant over the world, under the leadership of the jailer, and the Lich King is the only person capable of holding back both the Jailer from accessing the scourge and keeping the scourge where it is.

gotta be honest, this isn't as bad as I though it would be. Doesn't excuse the cinematic where the crown is borken though, unless sylvanas was empowered by the deaths she caused via the Jailer up to the point that she was able to defeat the Lick King. Question is, how was the Jailer able to communicate with Sylvanas and empower her while being held back by the Lich King?

[valax]

Because it sounds cool with thunder sounds in the background

[erifwodahs]

I think the helm gives the control over, but undeath comes from the plague made by Maldraxxus house of plague. Scourge growth can be exponential while we only can defeat linear amount of forces.
In game it's obviously bs representation, but I am pretty sure it was stated that if Arthas was not holding back - we would have been long dead. Scourge invasions which we will get tomorrow would be something what would happen all over the world and don't forget, there were only so many people in lore who could fight it. Everyone and their mother now wields a power of a kamehame which fucked ninetail fox and their child is what our character is, but in lore we would take months to travel around, portals are very rare while scourge does not give a fuck. All it takes is just attack a village and increase your forces in twelve different directions.