Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsJarod Shadowsong, the biggest hero you've never heard of
by Mike Schramm 
May 7th 2009 at 9:00AM
Call me a lore noob (and that's fine, Alex will heartily agree with you), but like Loregy.com suspected, I had never before heard of Jarod Shadowsong. We pretty much all know about his sister Maeiv, thanks to her little tirade against Illidan and the big part that played in the last expansion. But Jarod might be Azeroth's biggest unsung hero. And considering that all of the rumors point to the next expansion diving into the Maelstrom and/or the Emerald Dream, not to mention an eventual showdown with Sargeras, he could also play a very important part in Azeroth's future.Jarod led the charge in the War of the Ancients, a huge battle thousands of years ago in Azeroth's past that culminated in Jarod's taking full command of the Kaldorei Resistance, a one-on-one battle with Archimonde (players have faced him, too), and eventually the collapse of the Well of Eternity. An event that led directly to, you guessed it, the creation of the Maelstrom. See how it's all coming together?
Loregy has more speculation: just like during Jarod's time, the Horde and Alliance are growing apart, and if Sargeras decides to bite back after what happened in the Burning Crusade, we'll need a leader to combine the troops. Thrall and Wrynn are each powerful leaders in their own right, but Jarod is the big daddy of generals. And if big trouble goes down in the next expansion, he could be the key to saving the world again. And the guy doesn't even have a picture on WoWWiki!
Filed under: Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, The Burning Crusade, NPCs
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Tal May 7th 2009 9:36AM
The creation of the Maelstrom was merely a setback.
peagle May 7th 2009 9:37AM
It was JARED from Subway, not Jarod you nimwits.
/worked for the ad agency
vocenoctum May 7th 2009 9:44AM
I don't know who he is, but I personally vote for him being a new BAD GUY!
He has fallen to demonic influence, simmered all these millenia, and is now an Uber Naga Demon Dude!
"Come back with 24 of your friends and we'll see how tough you are."
J May 7th 2009 9:45AM
The Horde and the Alliance weren't at each other's throats in Jarod's time... there was no Horde and Alliance. Apart from Rhonin and Brox coming back through time, there were no orcs & humans. There were loads of Night Elves, Tauren, furbolgs and Earthen, but I'm pretty certain that those are the only mortal races specifically mentioned.
That article pumps up Jarod to be somebody much larger than the only portrayal of him actually depicts. Malfurion and Tyrande are likely to be the only two leaders who might have any clue who he is (the Dragons had bigger problems with Deathwing to worry about, as opposed to who was finally organizing the mortal armies properly).
I highly doubt that they'd back seat Thrall, Jaina, Wrynn et al in favour of a character in a book that has been completely non-existent in WoW so far. At best, he'll get a Rhonin like nod as leader of an x-pac faction who stands around somewhere.
But Jarod's absence is slightly more telling than Rhonin's has been. Rhonin has apparently been in Dalaran which is why no one has seen him. If Jarod is such a great hero and general, where's his lazy butt been? If he's the answer to the Burning Crusade, why wasn't he at Hyjal?
Drahliana May 7th 2009 10:05AM
All we know for sure is that sometime after the dust settled from the War of the Ancients and Illidan had been sealed up for his crime, Jarod had simply walked out of the scene. What is very clear that the war had a major personal cost in his once close relationship with his sister. Shadowsong had never wanted to be the center of attention it was clear that he did not want to spend a possibly endless existence as a "Hero of the Sundering". It may even be debatable whether or not he was even included with the general blessings given to the Night Elves to seal the pacts of Nordrassil. If not, he may have died the quiet mortal death he would have preferred.
RogueJedi86 May 7th 2009 9:56AM
" And the guy doesn't even have a picture on WoWWiki!"
If the guy doesn't have a picture, who is the picture in this blog post of?
purifico May 7th 2009 10:13AM
Just your random night elf warrior. Might as well be Jarod, for he was a warrior and definitely a night elf =)
NovaDeez May 7th 2009 12:52PM
According to the WoWWiki page, Jarod was in the game during beta but removed, though he is still in the game files. He has the same model as the NE in the picture, hence why they chose that picture.
Quark1020 May 7th 2009 10:01AM
Can't wait!
el ranchero May 7th 2009 10:46AM
No, please. No more of this "putting aside our differences" crap. No more common foes. No more truce. Install Garrosh as Thrall's successor and let he and Varian Wrynn put the WAR back in Warcraft!
If we go to the Maelstrom or the Emerald Dream, fine, but no temporary alliance in pursuit of a common enemy; each faction should go for their own ends and fight the other one every step of the way. The only cooperation should be through back channels, say Jaina and Thrall working behind the scenes to influence their respective camps.
ShamanHealer May 7th 2009 10:22AM
Not too keen on the name Jarod though. Very poor.
Gorevinor May 7th 2009 10:23AM
He does not drink beer often… but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis
Terrant May 7th 2009 10:30AM
I'm sure all this popular acclaim for Ja-Rod will disappear when he admits to using steroids.
*yoinked off stage*
rai May 7th 2009 5:39PM
baldy, balderdan, balderanerdingdong
Ja-Rod won't appear unless it helps him in his quest for perfect hair forever.
Drahliana May 7th 2009 1:13PM
There is however, a monument to the Night Elf general that Jarod took the reins from when the former fell in battle, Lord Ravencrest one of the few noble leaders of the old Kaldorei army who wasn't a dead weight political appointee. The remains of the statue are in Azshara, presumably it was originally a commeorative statue made before the war to commeorate his victories. (presumably against the Trolls or the bug folk?)
Mecer May 7th 2009 11:11AM
Im okay with lore figures being given nods in game, but lets hope the next expansion has leaders from the Horde races.
Kirin Tor: Human
Argent Crusade: Human
Knights of the Ebon Blade: Human
BC was more of a mixed bag of oldworld faction (CC), new races (playable and unplayable). Oh and Violet Eye: Humans
Old world was alliance heavy with leaders too.
Thorium Brotherhood: Dwarves
Raveholt: Human
Cenarian Circle: Nightelves/Tauren (but the leaders were all nightelves)
Dire Maul faction: Night Elves
Zul Grub: Trolls
I mean come on, throw us a bone here! One, and its the least played Horde race.
Myria May 7th 2009 12:57PM
To be honest it's debatable whether the KotEB leadership, what of it was human, can be considered human at this point. It's really more a "screw lorelol" move by Blizz that any of the alliance and most of the horde forces accept DKs into their ranks.
The Forsaken, after all, were human yet most of the alliance and some of the horde wants them put down like dogs-- there's a reason they call themselves Forsaken, after all. How are DKs, all of whom, died, were raised, and were actively involved in atrocities, any different?
I'm not really sure you can say the Cenerian Circle is led by either side. The Nelfs have their Arch Druid (a worthless fop) and the Taurens have theirs (more what you expect out of a wise leader). Presumably the two of them share authority over the rest of the Cenarian Circle.
Also, you forgot one -- Earthen Ring. Started by Taurens, but now includes space goats -- unsurprising that Taurens would be involved in more cross-faction groups then any other race. Earthen Ring doesn't show up a lot (Ahune wishes it were less), but they do seem to still be primarily run by the Taurens.
rai May 7th 2009 5:53PM
most of the factions you will find like this however, are old and established from a time before the horde really even invaded or became it's own faction (the later still being very recent in lore). With the facts that orcs were not really having positive interactions with other races until recently, the forsaken are a new force/race, tauren are largely isolationist (who only joined the horde because they were honor-bound through their leader, not because they had a good reason to get involved with the typical politics it brings or care about the world beyond their boarders), and trolls being relatively underdeveloped in their organizational capabilities (they are kind of tribal simpletons), you have to admit it makes sense that such factions are *rare.*
Chris May 7th 2009 12:22PM
I Agree With Knob
Broxigar beats Jarob anytime, Broxigar was responsible for the stop of the legion in the War Of The Ancients he also jumped into the portal that the Highborne opened and faced off against hordes of demons and Sagares himself and even damaged him Jarod may be unsung this is true i think he is totally cool to but i know a lot of people don't know who Brox is also.
Drahliana May 7th 2009 1:14PM
As to the Jarod vs. Broxigar nonsense. Again your're comparing apples and oranges. Sure, Brox can swing a mean axe and is an all around good guy. But the role that Jarod played did not call for muscles, or weapon play, it called for being the right person at the right time with the charisma, and sensitivity to actually lead a conglomeration of various species and even get the xenophobic Night Elves to accept the package, something not even Malfurion or Tyrande could have pulled off. And a major part of it was his humility, which is likely the major reason he made himself scarce when he felt he was no longer needed.