What would have happened to the Thrall had died while he was warchief ?

[Terrorthatflapsinthenight]

What would have happened if Thrall had been killed by the Lich King during WOTLK or if he had been assassinated by the Twilight Hammer or other assassins during or before the Cataclysm, though without having named Garrosh or a potential heir to become warchief should he die ?

What would have been the situation for the Horde ? How would have they tried to find a new warchief ? Could have there been a civil war because of it ? How could have this changed the overall story of WOW ?

[aceperson]

1. wouldn't have made garrosh warchief
2. wouldn't have stole our kill in dragon soul
3. wouldn't have stole (then lost) our kill in siege of orgrimmar
4. his story would've had a satisfying end instead of randomly popping up every now and then when the writers can't think of how to move the plot in an interesting way
5. voljin wouldn't have been warchief and subsequently killed by a no name felguard
6. the goblins wouldn't be part of the horde
7. etc, etc. thrall is basically responsible directly or indirectly for everything happening on azeroth in post wrath wow.

[Jester Joe]

Honestly it probably would have been better for the Horde.

I doubt Garrosh would have came to power at that point, since Garrosh himself even hesitated when Thrall first named him the next Warchief, saying he belonged on the battlefield more than anything. Garrosh would have probably stayed as one of the Horde's most valuable champions on the frontlines in that regard.

But it does depend on who would have replaced Thrall in the situation. Saurfang would be pretty logical as a temporary fill at that point, but he was also pretty opposed to being Warchief. I'm not quite sure on that front, maybe Cairne actually since he would have still been alive too.

[Aucald]

Depends on the "when" concerning Thrall's death or assassination. I don't think there would be a civil war, so to speak; but there may be some contention and probably more than one Mak'gora attempt under the old leadership structure. If this happened early on, I would say Cairne would've been the most senior leader and probably would've succeeded Thrall. Garrosh was ill-suited to be a leader and knew it, I doubt he would've challenged Cairne's claim without Thrall convincing him to do so. If it happened later on in WotLK, after the events of Heart of War I'd say the scales might tip more toward Garrosh still, with both Cairne and Vol'jin potentially challenging him in Mak'gora.

What Warchief Cairne or Warchief Vol'jin might've done in WotLK going forward is anyone's guess. I can speculate that things would've gone quite differently, with probably fewer faction conflicts and possibly more internalized strife (e.g. orcs dealing with a non-orc leader of the Horde).

[Piamonte]

What would have happened if Thrall had been killed by the Lich King during WOTLK or if he had been assassinated by the Twilight Hammer or other assassins during or before the Cataclysm, though without having named Garrosh or a potential heir to become warchief should he die ?

What would have been the situation for the Horde ? How would have they tried to find a new warchief ? Could have there been a civil war because of it ? How could have this changed the overall story of WOW ?

if thrall is gone then deathwing wins and the story ends in the Cataclysm expansion

[Myradin]

Garrosh might have ended up in power anyway. With Thrall dead with no heir, and Garrosh having 'completed the mission' of defeating the lich king, I could see the Horde choosing to put him that position anyway. While garrosh wasn't popular with the other leaders, he was very popular with the average person.

[Aucald]

Garrosh might have ended up in power anyway. With Thrall dead with no heir, and Garrosh having 'completed the mission' of defeating the lich king, I could see the Horde choosing to put him that position anyway. While garrosh wasn't popular with the other leaders, he was very popular with the average person.

I don't think Garrosh would've survived a Mak'gora challenge from Cairne, though; and perhaps not from Vol'jin either. His popularity wouldn't matter overly if he was defeated in ritual combat by a legitimate challenger to the position.

[Triceron]

Alliance crushes the Horde leadership, enslaves them all, and over generations slowly opens up more rights to them. Horde rises up again with new leadership, Thrall 2.0 creates a new Horde out of any sympathists. Both Factions are now open to all races, but divided by purpose.

[McNeil]

It would have been a proper ending for his character. A new leader could rise up and make the next move on making the Horde more of a nation while settling and establishing more land in Kalimdor. It could have been Garrosh without his personality change in MoP that he suddenly wants to conquer the world. We would have no Aggra which lets be real is no real loss. Most events would just play the same.

[uuuhname]

if the plan wasn't to use Garrosh as a way to bring back Gul'dan and the burning legion I think Thrall dying would have been better for the horde overall. I do like the idea of a warchief that's ambivalent to being friendly with the alliance and rubbed the other horde racial leaders the wrong way every now and again. keep the inter faction drama going from time to time but still overall be a decent leader who cares about the horde over creating peace.

[Life-Binder]

if thrall is gone then deathwing wins and the story ends in the Cataclysm expansion

this .

[Myradin]

I don't think Garrosh would've survived a Mak'gora challenge from Cairne, though; and perhaps not from Vol'jin either. His popularity wouldn't matter overly if he was defeated in ritual combat by a legitimate challenger to the position.

That's assuming his weapon wouldn't end up poisoned like it was in the real timeline.

[mickybrighteyes]

if thrall is gone then deathwing wins and the story ends in the Cataclysm expansion

Naw. WE still beat deathwing with the power of McGuffin just in someone else's hands.

If before Wrath is completed... then Garrosh doesn't take charge because he didn't want the job. Voljin or Cairne take over as the primary leadership of the faction. Goblins are left to be enslaved by Galywix and don't join the horde. There's no full on invasion of Gilneas or world wide mobilization for the factions to push to war so hard.

Unless Thrall's death is at the hands of Varian in the Undercity... Then, sorry... but everyone in the horde, including the Tauren, would bum rush Stormwind and sack it again

[rayvio]

if thrall is gone then deathwing wins and the story ends in the Cataclysm expansion

well they already sent us back in time to get the Dragon Soul, they'd probably just do the same to grab Thrall too

[Kralljin]

Civil war, because that's what happens when a leader suddenly dies without having named any successor.

At best, there would've been a Mak'gora between Garrosh (likely candidate for the spot) and Cairne (not wanting to see Garrosh become Warchief).
At worst, you'd have some coalition fighting Garrosh and probably a lot of Orcs following him, considering Thrall felt the urge to specifically name an orc as Warchief - and that's before Garrosh went nuts and was broadly seen as a hero due to his success in Northrend.

Come to think of it, the timeline would've likely played out pretty similiarly if Garrosh "won", as Thrall wasn't exactly that relevant in his post Warchiefs years outside of the Dragon Soul shenanigans.

[Piamonte]

Naw. WE still beat deathwing with the power of McGuffin just in someone else's hands.

No, we cant, because we need someone to take the mantle of earth warder for enough time so that person can use the dragon soul against deathwing and without the dragon soul deathwing wins.

This is a very important plot that is set up since Vanilla with the cavern of time dungeons.

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well they already sent us back in time to get the Dragon Soul, they'd probably just do the same to grab Thrall too

you need world shaman thrall to make it work.

[Aucald]

That's assuming his weapon wouldn't end up poisoned like it was in the real timeline.

Magatha may not have interceded, or been able to intercede, in a circumstance where she didn't already have an "in" with Garrosh and his retinue. It's possible, though.

[Mehrunes]

well they already sent us back in time to get the Dragon Soul, they'd probably just do the same to grab Thrall too

Kinda hard to get back in time to grab a Thrall that went on his spirit-finding mission that led him to become the super duper World Shaman in a timeline where he died before that happening.

[StationaryHawk]

if thrall is gone then deathwing wins and the story ends in the Cataclysm expansion

Assuming Thrall was the only shaman capable of fulfilling the role.

[Piamonte]

Assuming Thrall was the only shaman capable of fulfilling the role.

he was, thats the whole point.