Vilification of American states aside, this new installment of the Plaguelands theories has got me thinking of something: grindable Scarlet Crusade reputation.

Consider this: what with most of its corrupted leaders (Mograine, Isilien, Dathrohan, Westwind) done away with, and with the brunt of Argent Dawn forces concentrated in Northrend to keep a watchful eye on the remainder if the Scourge ('cause remember, the Lich King isn't TRULY dead until YOU kill him), and now considering how the Alliance is going to be trying to reclaim the parts of Lordaeron that are slowly being cleansed of the Plague, the Scarlet Crusade would be able to go back to serving its original and rightful purpose: assisting Humanity in reclaiming their lands from the walking dead. The only reason why they were so distrustful of non-Human races of the Alliance was due to the paranoia instilled in them by the disguised Dreadlords, who wanted an all-Human strike force for the purpose of hiding their true identities as much as possible. Now those Dreadlords are either dead or hiding somewhere in the north and plotting their revenge that they'll unfurl God knows when. Thus, the Crusade forces still active in places such as Hearthglen and Tyr's Hand could undertake a Reformation of sorts, becoming friends of the Alliance in good and due form; remember how the original Scarlet Crusade used to welcome Elves and Dwarves, now that they're no longer subjected to the Dreadlords' mindgames, the Scarlets could be convinced of the wisdom of collaborating with the other Alliance races against the vile Forsaken, backed by the untrustworthy Horde. The Argent Dawn can keep mediating between the goat and the lettuce by sending both Alliance and Horde against Scourge-infested spots like Stratholme; meanwhile, the Scarlet Crusade becomes a faction affiliated with the Alliance whose main mission is to press forward into Tirisfal Glades and reclaim the beloved city.

After the less-than-stellar role the Scarlet Onslaught had in WotLK, you'd think Blizzard seems hell-bent on eliminating the Scarlets from lore, however this new Plaguelands scenario breathes new life into the patient thought dead. And despite how Blizzard kept trying to push their moralistic mantra of "You MUST hate them, they're zealots, so they're eeeeeevil" down everyone's throats, them zealots DO have fans, the same way the Forsaken, Naga, Defias Brotherhood and even Twilight's Hammer have fans. So just because the Scarlets have a checkered track record, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be foolish for the Alliance to refuse to mediate with an obvious potential ally in the Plaguelands. And plus, it's an excuse to attempt to resurrect Brigitte Abbendis from the dead for the seventeenth time, seeing as most of the female characters in the game can hardly hope to hold a candle to her sheer awesomeness, not to mention hotness. But I'm going off on a tangent here so I'll shut up. =)

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