I may be in the minority here but I like Nathanos as a character. I think Nathanos is an interesting character, not nearly as annoying as most people are always saying. People call him a simp but it's a really "modern/IRL" way of viewing things. Nathanos is Sylvanas' champion, her right hand and most trusted Forsaken. Of course he's dedicated to her and is actively working with her to enact whatever evil she's up to. I found that some character traits they added to Nathanos with his body swap and follow up storyline in Shadows Rising was quite interesting. Forsaken are rarely explored this in-depth in the game apart from Lillian Voss during Cataclysm. I have a bunch of Forsaken characters (and most of them loyal to the Banshee Queen), so I may be biased.
I don't really understand why people hate him so much. There are so many characters in the game right now that fail to feel different or unique from one another. I'm all fore having good original characters, even if they're despicable, sometimes annoying for players. It add substance to the game and its lore.
On topic : I'm really glad Nathanos has the opportunity to continue to serve Sylvanas after being sent to the Shadowlands. I actually think it's a good narrative idea to have Tyrande kill him on Azeroth only to have him being a new threat in the Shadowlands (if this is what happens in the cinematic). It's an interesting way to have Tyrande's demons keep following her, and her struggling to really put an end to Sylvanas/Nathanos one and for all. It's really disheartening for her to think she got rid of Nathanos and it's not the case.
The ending of Shadows Rising implies Sylvanas is done with him because he failed to kill Bwondsamdi. It's probably not what's going to happen, but I almost expect the next we'll see of Nathanos is him wandering around the Maw as a sad, lost soul.
I only dislike him in relation to Sylvanas. Their romance is unnecessary and yucky and frankly, rather forced. For Sylvanas to be giving anyone the heart eyes while she wages a war on reality itself doesn't feel... appropriate. Aside from that I don't think there's anywhere for this relationship to go. She can't offer him anything at this point and vice versa. Tbh, their relationship has always felt very tacked on. Obviously I'm very biased but these are my honest feelings. I know people joke about the whole "she's a strong independunt wahman who don't need no man" but in this case I really do believe that lol.
Aside from that Nathanos is a very amusing character. I don't hate him per se.
I mean. Everyone ends up there when dying. So I guess yeah.
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At this point I am wishing that fake 8.3 leak -- with the "Siege of Stormwind" ending with all of us dying and "waking up" in the Shadowlands with Sylvanas proclaiming, "Now... we are ready... for the real battle for Azeroth!" -- was actually true.
Oh hum... what could have been!
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From the space that is everywhere and nowhere, the crooked shitposter feasts on memes.
He has no eyes to see, but he dreams of infinite memeing and trolling.
I kind of agree with you that the relationship between them is not very developped in the game. Overall, I think Blizzard always had difficulties telling romance and it's even more obvious with characters like Sylvanas that is so invested in her main drive (protect and grow the Forsaken, find a way to live forever and, now, control her destiny beyond death itself). There is not a lot of place for romance there and it feels weird to have that, I agree. The fact that Nathanos character came back out of the blue is a bit disconcerting as well, as he wasn't really important from TBC to Legion. Even in BFA, we saw a lot of Nathanos but Sylvanas was never there with him.
In my mind, their relationship became a lot more one-sided when Sylvanas became warchief and started to put in motion the Jailer's plan. I agree with you that she doesn't need Nathanos anymore because of her immense power. He has nothing to offer anymore and that's what so tragic about it. While he gave everything to her in the past, he can only go so far by her side now that she's engaged in this cosmic war by the Jailer's side. It's kind of heartbreaking. He was her champion and he's more her minion now.