Could Anduin become the next Lich King? <Potential Spoilers>

[Thrillhouse918]

I mean...it HAS been awhile since an Ally character really fell from grace. Sure Tyrande and Mal-TyrandeINEEDYOU-furion have been off having a huff about the ol' Tree, but we've made mega enemies out of how many Horde characters now? We have yet to see that with the Alliance. If we make Anduin the Lich King it would be an interesting plot piece BUT effectively would cause political upheaval for humanity in Stormwind as the Wrynn line would no longer be the leading Monarch. The Greymane line could take over but I feel it far more likely Anduin takes Tess or Taelia down to Bonerock Mountain (if you know what I mean) to make the next heir. Given that in Shadows Rising its alluded to that Flynn and Shaw become Brokeback bros, it opens the door for Taelia to pursue other love interests. Although she's pissed at Andy for holding back her father was alive it was like a state secret. Anyways. An ally leader becoming the next Lich King would be interesting, but I don't see it happening. Far more likely that when we get back from SL we have to fight the scourge since they have no leader. There must ALWAYS be a Lich King...and right now we don't has one. Unfortch.

[Belloc]

why is it so important that there is always a lichking? i mean the scourge can't be that hard to terminate right now when our heroes are titan killer/old god killer. just wipe out all of the scourge and then we dont need a lichking right?

In WoW, there are millions of heroes. In the WoW lore, there are not. The Scourge would run rampant over the world and our hero/heroes would not be able to cover enough ground to stop them in time.

Indeed, if the timey-wimey shenanigans play out as some people are suspecting, the Scourge may well be wiped or by the time we get back... or they may have devastated a significant chunk of the world. We shall see.

[FuujCraft]

The helm of domination is in pieces, I don't think there's gonna be another Lich King.

It will be repaired though so I think there'll certainly will be a new Lich King at the end of Shadowlands. Because you know, there must always be...*lightning strike* a Lich King.

[GrimReaper673]

Could he? Yes. In theory, even the player character can become Lich King.

Will he? Time will tell. Most likely not. But it's possible.

Yeah, I for sure admit it's a stretch. What got me thinking about it was the change to the faction leader achievements. They made the achievement for killing Anduin a feat of strength and put Turlayon in as the new achievement for faction leaders. Which I realize is easy enough to revert, but made me wonder.

[AwkwardSquirtle]

The Lich King is dead. Sylvanas killed him. Bolvar Fordragon is no longer the Lich King.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

If anything, the ending of Shadows Rising where he starts seeping Void is far more teklling of where he is going.

[AlmightyGerkin]

The Lich King is dead. Sylvanas killed him. Bolvar Fordragon is no longer the Lich King.

Bolvar was only the lich king cause of the helmet and becoming the jailer of the damned but if the helm was repaired by some oogy boogie magic than the lich king comes back. Most likely kill the Jailer and Bolvar or someone will become the Jailer and one will become the Lich King.

[Mestalis]

Life is the opposing cosmic force.
The opposing cosmic force for Light is the Void.

Yes I know, that's why I said "an" opposing force and not "the" opposing force. It appears that all of the cosmic forces have a place in the Shadowlands, even life in Ardenweald. That being said, on the cosmic chart, Light is adjacent to Life, and Void is adjacent to Death. While they aren't the most opposing forces, I think it's safe to assume that infusing a powerful artifact of Death with Light would damage it sooner than aiding it.

[Dellis0991]

I doubt it.

[Ryonas]

Sorry you wasted that giant heap o' words, but the plain, short answer is "no".

[Grumpy Old Man]

Given he is just a normal human old man when leading the army of the light.

It's a strong evidence, however nothing will stop Blizzard if they just decide to retcon it to oblivion.

[Usagi Senshi]

It's a strong evidence, however nothing will stop Blizzard if they just decide to retcon it to oblivion.

Yup, anything is always possible with Blizzard's generous use of retcons and nothing is ever guaranteed.

[Harbour]

Doubt it would be Anduin, he will have big arc in the next expansion.

Lets look at the global narrative.

Illidan and Arthas are two the most prominent Blizzard characters. Illidan was mistreated in TBC and Blizzard fixed him and his arc, and he ended up with what he supposed to become - the jailer for Sargeras.

Arthas has died, but i guess Blizzard didnt finish with him. It seems Blizzard wants to complete the story between him and Sylvanas, him and Uther, him and Jaina, him and Death business.

They wouldnt bring him up just to tell simple story of dead Uther. Arthas will certainly return in 9.1 or 9.2. Arthas for Shadowlands imo will become what Illidan was for Legion.

Shadowlands will certainly end with Zovaal being defeated and replaced by either new Jailer or by Lich King.

Repaired Helm of Domination essentially backs it up.

There are few candidates for Lich King:

1) Anduin. The lowest chance since he will certainly play the role in the next expansion after SL.

2) Calia. Its an A B C theory. Arthas. Bolvar. Calia. There is certain possibility that Calia will become the Lich Queen, but its not that big. She just appeared, it would be weird to end her story like this.

3) Sylvanas. Ironic one. This is self-explanatory.

3a) Uther as Lich King. Highly unlikely, but wont be surprised.

4) Bolvar. Unlikely, but possible.

5) Arthas. I think this is the most believable scenario. Arthas was THE Lich King. He was killed. Since then Blizzard might re-evaluate his arc like they did with Illidan. They may bring him back, push him through new arc and make him the Jailer or Lich King again. That way he will end up in the same role Illidan ended up in Legion.

Thats how i see it.

[gcsmith]

People saying there doesn't need to be a lich king forget that there will likely need to be someone to keep the rift closed/in check after the expansion.

- - - Updated - - -

I think people are treating that trailer where Anduin's an old man fighting the Legion as something that can never ever be changed or retconned
So I wouldn't really that's the only reason he couldn't become the next Lich King

That comic scene was literally a vision Velen had. And Velen has been wrong. One of the big plot points of Legion was the fact prophecy can be wrong. The Naruu was wrong when she said only a child of light could beat the legion. And First Arcanist was wrong when she "saw the timelines" and there wasn't one where the legion lost.

[Vrinara]

Well god damn, my bad then.

All good!

10 characters

[Kyphael]

He's too soft and devout. Arthas showed signs of being brutish and even had a crisis of faith before all of the trials that set him on the path of no return even happened.

[GrimReaper673]

He's too soft and devout. Arthas showed signs of being brutish and even had a crisis of faith before all of the trials that set him on the path of no return even happened.

Possibly. But I wonder if he hasn't been headed in a darker direction since Varian's death. The Anduin of old never would've justified void torture as a means to an end. That obviously doesn't mean he'll go full on Lich King, but I think the soft part of him is starting to be overcome by the weight of the crown.

[Powerogue]

I'm still convinced the parallels have nothing to do with genetics but more to do with being a "spiritual successor" to Arthas. What he could have been had he not taken taken his dark turn down the road into being the Lich King. Anduin is definitely Varian's son, they've hammered that in repeatedly.

Be careful with datamining. Some things get discarded, tossed in their for the lulz, or misinterpreted. Remember Sargeras's purified model? used in a flashback cutscene of him deceiving the eredar.

[Kyphael]

Possibly. But I wonder if he hasn't been headed in a darker direction since Varian's death. The Anduin of old never would've justified void torture as a means to an end. That obviously doesn't mean he'll go full on Lich King, but I think the soft part of him is starting to be overcome by the weight of the crown.

Maybe, one would hope he would undergo that kind of progression to come out the other end a more interesting character and king. Sylvanas showed he's too soft to rule in a world swarming with sharks. She outsmarted, embarrassed, and nearly killed him. Through it all, he spent BfA making his best Kate Winslet impression and preaching peace and goodness. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Faction War story emphasis as much as the next person, but if you're going to do a Faction War story, put two leaders face to face that are going to crack some skulls. Not an instigator vs. a pacifist.

[Schattenlied]

There were several callbacks in the BfA cinematics that likened Anduin to Arthas. Enough of them to cause some to theorize that Anduin may not be Varian's son, but Arthas'.

Which is ridiculous...

They were easter eggs, they were just easter eggs.