Speculation: Arthas' fate & Bellular Clips

Lore Story
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For better or worse, Arthas’ story has seen a retcon and it will probably have more to come.

Now I’m of the opinion that Arthas story ended with the ICC raid, and the frost DK legion artefact glimpses were just a sweet little bonus, that kept the haunting memory of Arthas’ legacy alive.

Enters shadowlands… probably don’t need to say much more here. I was watching Michael and Matt nerding out over at their clips and they spoke about some possibilities of how they might implement Arthas back in this story.

Just wondering what the community would see as an acceptable final chapter to Arthas’ story?
In the clip, they explore Arthas essentially becoming a Kyrian under Uther’s tutelage, giving him a redemption arc and a second chance at Uther to become the great teacher that he once was. This scenario makes me want to hit my head against a wall made from the bulwark of Azinoth…

Hope some of you got better ideas. Either way I doubt they’ll find a way to please everyone, but maybe there’s a path that’s more logical than the others?

Not going to leave you hanging, going to throw my probably awful idea in the nerd rage arena. We defeat the Jailer to some extend, his defeat upsets the stability of the maw with potentially catastrophic results. As Bolvar offers to stay behind just like he once did at top of Ice Crown another soul steps in… Arthas! In his years of torment in the Maw he had been studying the Jailer and his domination magic closely, he knows how to keep control. He once again becomes the jailer of the damned, Bolvar and the rest of us gtfo there, Jaina is sad, nobody gets closure. It’s sinister and foreboding. “It’s like poetry, it rhymes” geddit? :woozy_face:

is Arthas forgiven? No. Has he become an anti hero? Who knows! Join us on patch 13.0 when we’re so creatively spent we got to bring Arthas back, AGAIN!

Either way that was my probably terrible input, what do you guys all think? What would make you rage unsub? Or to finish in a positive note, what would make you say “hey blizz, you managed it, I’m surprised!”

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Last time we saw him he was thrown to the maw, most possible outcome is that he serves the Jailer. In Edge of nigh he is referred as “The boy who would be Lich King”, i think he is the boy king of prophesies.

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Juist save him from the Maw, throw him into the Revendreth purgatory for the chance of eventual redemption, and be done with it. No need to confirm or deny the success of his endeavors there, or to pick out a final destination for his soul, since getting over the sins he commited is supposed to take ages anyways. He can do some heroic act before we leave him with the vampires for all I care, just leave his final fate open enough.

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what happened 12 years ago; he is defeated atop ICC, dies, and goes away forever because he is dead

i wish Blizzard would be less precious about their characters. let some of them die for reals.

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I hate all of this new “lore” so much.

Nothing means anything. Everything is the Jailers “fault”. Everyone “can be” forgiven, even Arthas. It’s such a stupid change, destroying over 20 years of lore, I can’t understand those writers. Such changes are terrible to a story.

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Having not played back in Wrath and hearing how great it was yes im not gonna lie i do want to see Arthas and interact with him in the game and what not,as he is considered one if not the most iconic character in the franchise,BUT i also can see why other people dont want it,and frankly i understand it even myself that when someone has a good closing story just let it be…but seeing it from Blizzards side this is a perfect chance to show him again since it is the Afterlife after all (kinda how Legion was for Ilidan) They know Arthas is big and they will milk him even if it destroys his lore/story that was built for a few decades

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Amen to you both.

Though that cow is getting milked, and it’s going to get milked hard. So you better all brace for catastrophic lore impact!

I’m genuinely hoping that whatever happens in this expansion, it’s the last we’ll hear of him. Leave some sort of mystery ambiguous mystery if they have to.

Absolutely, the helmed figure of the Lich King is practically as famous as freaking Master Chief, Scorpion, and I dare say even Kratos at this point! Not going to lie, my first reflex upon hearing Arthas might be explored further is one of excitement, until reality comes crushing and I remember that it involves modern Blizzard writing. I just hope they won’t poo* on the legacy they’ve created further…

*apparently the expected word here isn’t allowed on this forum.

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Yeah, I dunno.
On the one hand, I’m also not a fan of the Frostmourne souls splitting retcons and the Jailer as the one behind everything, especially as he’s just such a bland, uninspired figure.

On the other though- since Blizzard is handing out redemption arcs left and right, I don’t know why Arthas shouldn’t get one, too.
And I quite like the idea of putting him under Uther’s wings again ( literally lol ). After a reasonable amount of time in Revendreth of course.

( btw my absolute favourite part of the video are the subs. Could Arthas become a “good Korean” ? :rofl: )

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This this this

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I mean, I see your logic here, but that’s what myself and by the sounds of it, everyone else who’s commented on this thread want to stop “bliizard handing out redemption arcs” like they’ve gone out of fashion!

What else? Oh turns out Sargeras, after spending a bit of time on the naughty stool guarded by Illidan and the rest of the Titans, saw the error of his ways, and he’s a good boy again.

Malygos spent some quality time the psychiatric ward of the dragon afterlife, and is now sane again, he’s enjoying eternal retirement teaching magic to young orphan souls.

Azshara attended multiple meetings with a “vain tyrant anonymous” group, she is now leading a charity program that helps little girls that have been bullied at school across the void.

I could come up with more nonsense of the sort but I’ll stop here. :sweat_smile: :woozy_face:

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Oh I agree completely.
Shadowlands the expansion should never have happened. It cheapens the meaning of death and disregards about everything we thought we knew about the afterlife. Alas, it is what it is :roll_eyes:

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Can’t wait for N’zoth and the Old Gods to be forgiven because Anduin appeals to their hidden good nature after all, making everyone and everything else look like idiots because all the Old Ones needed was a good sit down and a sympathetic hug.

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i dont want steve danuser going anywhere near arthas.

cant wait to see what mess they retcon him into

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Depends on the specific dev team. With the current one - to keep him as a topic to discuss, maybe some memories / parallels with newer situations.

But nothing more. And nefinitely not him appearing again.

The only thing I can see these people doing would be to use Arthas as a tool for Anduin’s story. Ever since they gave a free pass to “Jaina could not affect anything if she would stay” in BfA, there is no way they can make a complex story with multiple ways to see / interpret it.

The current team did not manage to do a good finale for like any story they touched. It’s all either a cliff hanger, or “wait, how in this world could it be that orcs did not appear in Legion or at least KJ chapters of the story”.

:+1:

There are always some, but it’s one thing to discuss what could be, and another - what are the tools avalable, aka what / how the current dev team does.

So, IMO, the best in our current case is to have as little of it as possible. And even that migh be too much.

Better story than how they handled the night warrior stuff.

With Arthas - not much, I can always consider post TFT story as a “fanfiction”.

Overall I re-subbed because of the switch to “we’re listening to the feedback”, so I’ll wait through Shadowlands to see if they were honest or a load of liars.

What would make me instantly unsub - Calia in the horde.

As usual, I focus more on the details than the “big picture”, so my personal detail I would want to see - Arthas rejecting Jaina like she left him at Stratholme.

But that is not going to happen since in BfA the current devs depicted their stance on the topic.

gl hf

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I honestly don’t see how they can bring Arthas into all this mess without messing it up completely.

It wouldn’t be a point that made me unsub (for as long as they kept it in this expansion), but i really can’t picture any positive outcome to be had here.

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