Durotan, Grom and Ner'zhul will be the new Orc leaders

[Deleted]

At Blizzcon it was revealed that Metzen and co. haven't entirely decided who the new Orc leader will be. It almost certainly won't be Thrall though. So I was thinking, what if the Warlords who survive the expansion come into our timeline and take up leadership of the Horde as a trio (kind of like the Horde equivalent to the Council of Three Hammers.)? Durotan is the obvious choice as he's the only definite good guy. Both Grom and Ner'zhul are more morally ambiguous, but both have an honourable side. I believe Garrosh will take Grom's place in killing and being killed by Mannoroth which will sobre Grom a bit, and I believe Gul'dan will survive meaning no skull of Gul'dan to corrupt Ner'zhul. Thoughts?

[Imnick]

Ner'Zhul and Vol'Jin could potentially be pretty friendly to be honest.
He was basically tricked by the Eredar and took up his mantle of evil as necessity rather than by choice.

[Hyde]

Let them live peacefully in their own timeline once the expansion is over.

[Galbrei]

Well, we already know Grom will be the end boss of this expac, so I don't think he'll be the orc leader. Also, it was said w/e happens in that new timeline won't affect ours, we could very well have Gul'dan stepping though the Dark Tarids Portal and grabbing hold of his own skull to get double corrupted into some sort of mega übber demon fiend for all we know.

I also wouldn't want Ner'Zhul as an orc leader, I'd love to see him confronting Bolvar a.k.a. Lich King2. It's his soul pecking Bolvar's brain in that helmet after all.

[Imnick]

Grom's not the end boss of the expansion.

[Falu]

Ner'Zhul and Vol'Jin could potentially be pretty friendly to be honest.
He was basically tricked by the Eredar and took up his mantle of evil as necessity rather than by choice.

I hoped for Ner'zhul to be a good guy as well, but apparently, from what I got from the devs, he's gonna be a power-hungry douchebag....
They said clearly that we will work on stopping him from joining with his clan to the Iron-Horde, although he really wants to and will stop at nothing..

Shame...

[Astalnar]

As I recall, they said they are not sure about Thrall, and are considering Eitrigg and Saurfang. This was explained with them wanting Thrall back in action. Along with this, they said as well, Thrall will be using his hammer a lot more. I am not sure if the armour part is figment of my imagination, but the intention, for now at least, seems to be to have Thrall on the frontlines interacting with us and others. Basicly a throwback to Warcraft RTS.

They also said Thrall and Garrosh will not reveal their true identity to the habitants of Draenor.

In short, no. Durotan, Grom, and Ner'zhul will not be anywhere near becoming leaders of the Azeroth's Orcs.

[Imnick]

I hoped for Ner'zhul to be a good guy as well, but apparently, from what I got from the devs, he's gonna be a power-hungry douchebag....
They said clearly that we will work on stopping him from joining with his clan to the Iron-Horde, although he really wants to and will stop at nothing..

Shame...

Well like, The Iron Horde looks like a pretty good deal.
Ner'Zhul wanted to make a unified Orc nation and someone has now appeared to help him do that. They're also helping him fuck over his treasonous apprentice Gul'Dan, who in this timeline only managed to convince himself and a couple of his followers to drink demon blood.
Garrosh can make him feel entirely vindicated for now, but it's possible we can talk him round later rather than killing him.

He was pretty easily swayed into thinking that the Draenei were out to kill him the first time and took a lot of proving before he doubted enough to go ask the spirits in Osu'Gun. Garrosh could pretty easily just tell him the same thing, especially because in Garrosh's timeline they are out to kill him.

Knowing Blizzard's past it's perhaps premature to hope that we'll end up not just using the Warlords as a hitlist and kill them all, but there's always a chance!

[Galbrei]

Grom's not the end boss of the expansion.

You sure? I could've sworn I heard the devs saying he would be the end boss. I hope you're right though, I wouldn't want him to be the final boss.

[tankbug]

Grom's not the end boss of the expansion.

They said so at the Q&A, but that was so bluntly put out there, so I think it might have been a joke.

[Deleted]

There would be the problem of not being able to forgive them for crimes they have yet to commit. Ner'zhul will be, by most people, viewed as the Lich King. From their point of view, family and friends had died by his hand. Its the same as Arthas. He just wanted to do right by his people and fell into the corruption, but surely if he came back we would still accuse him of his crimes?

[Deleted]

Well, we already know Grom will be the end boss of this expac, so I don't think he'll be the orc leader. Also, it was said w/e happens in that new timeline won't affect ours, we could very well have Gul'dan stepping though the Dark Tarids Portal and grabbing hold of his own skull to get double corrupted into some sort of mega übber demon fiend for all we know.

I also wouldn't want Ner'Zhul as an orc leader, I'd love to see him confronting Bolvar a.k.a. Lich King2. It's his soul pecking Bolvar's brain in that helmet after all.

What they said was nothing that happens in the Iron Timeline will affect our past. But our present can and will be affected.

I think this would be a lot more interesting than having just Saurfang or Eitrigg. I also feel that having some of the AU!Characters coming into our timeline at the end will be good for assuring players that this whole time travel adventure isn't inconsequential.

As an aside, I really hope Ner'zhul is at least somewhat sympathetic. His character profile on the site makes him out as sympathetic, and it wouldn't make sense if he were evil. He's only evil in our timeline because of the Skull of Gul'dan.

[Imnick]

They said so at the Q&A, but that was so bluntly put out there, so I think it might have been a joke.

Pretty much everyone reported it as a joke, and it seems really unlikely they'd have two hellscream endbosses in a row.
Can't say he might not be a boss though.

Also:

Though Ner’zhul is contemplative and forward-thinking, his vision of a united orcish culture has been eclipsed by the manipulations of his apprentice, Gul’dan, and the bloody reality of the rising Iron Horde. His clan, the Shadowmoon, has always looked reverently to the stars to guide their fellows. Today, the mysticism of these death-sages nudges Draenor closer to obliteration.

This does sound sympathetic enough that we're in with a shot!

[Galbrei]

There would be the problem of not being able to forgive them for crimes they have yet to commit. Ner'zhul will be, by most people, viewed as the Lich King. From their point of view, family and friends had died by his hand. Its the same as Arthas. He just wanted to do right by his people and fell into the corruption, but surely if he came back we would still accuse him of his crimes?

Do people know he's the Lich King though? In game that is. I thought Gorefiend was the only one who knew this and took the secret to his grave... 2 or 3 times.

- - - Updated - - -

What they said was nothing that happens in the Iron Timeline will affect our past. But our present can and will be affected.

I think this would be a lot more interesting than having just Saurfang or Eitrigg. I also feel that having some of the AU!Characters coming into our timeline at the end will be good for assuring players that this whole time travel adventure isn't inconsequential.

As an aside, I really hope Ner'zhul is at least somewhat sympathetic. His character profile on the site makes him out as sympathetic, and it wouldn't make sense if he were evil. He's only evil in our timeline because of the Skull of Gul'dan.

I don't think they'll paint Ner'Zhul as a totally evil dude either, I'm willing to agree on Imnick when he says the old shaman is just doing what seems to be the best thing for his people. We might still have to kill him, but if it comes to that I imagine it'll be another Nazgrim episode.

[Mage of Rage]

Ner'Zhul may be a shaman, but he is selfish and ultimately too dangerous to have as a leader
Grom is the greatest orcish war hero next to Broxigar, but in his heart he is a raider and would make a poor choice as leader.
Blackhand and the Blackrock, like the Warsong, are part of the backbone of the Orcish Horde, but they are too violent to lead the New Horde.
Kargath and Kilrogg would both be rough around the edges in the New Horde, but they would integrate better than the former.
Durotan is the only chief that seems like they would be immediately accepted as a leader in the New Horde.

[caervek]

Ner'Zhul should totally kill Bolvar and take the Lich King helm so he can merge with himself to become double Ner'Zhul

[Imnick]

If any Warlord is going to be entirely sympathetic and maybe take up a leadership position it is the Frostwolves because they're the only ones that essentially never became evil in any timeline, but that's boring so I'm hoping they take it a bit further than that :P

[tankbug]

Possibility:

Garrosh goes back to prevent the demon corruption and unites the clans as the iron horde.
Garrosh is now seen as a hero among that horde and a good friend of Grom.
We go back and destroy the iron horde and kill Garrosh.
Grom learns that it's his son, and wants revenge.
Grom and his remaining forces drink the demon blood to become strong enough to launch an invasion, this time for revenge, not conquest.

"Continuity"

[Mage of Rage]

Possibility:
"Continuity"

That's not how this time traveling works.
They are trying to follow new time travel theory where travelling creates a new tangent universe. Whatever Garrosh does will not affect Outland not because we will stop it, but because the Draenor he visits now exists in its own split dimension.

[Deleted]

I really hope they just stay in their own timeline. The moment they start pulling dead characters from other timelines an expansion filled with people we already killed in previous expansions will be inevitable.