what will happen:

mega final uberbattle: garrosh is defeated. the raiders are about to strike the killing blow.

thrall steps in and says 'we should have honor, and show this fallen soul mercy.' and garrosh is spared.

as thrall turns away after telling garrosh that knowing the dishonor he has brought himself and being deposed and banished is punishment enough, garrosh grabs his axe and snarls something about mercy and weakness(typical stuff for him back in wrath) and tries to cut thrall down.

thrall goes all earthwarder, turns garrosh to stone and smashes him to pieces.

cut to DRAMATIC close up of thralls face as he contemplates what has come and happened here.

cut to post-raid, chris metze- *ahem* thrall has saved azeroth! yay!

punch and pie are served for the horde. the alliance marches off to their respective cities.

fade to black.




we all know in the depths of our collective hearts that that's how it's going to be.

The bigger question: Who is going to ninja our kill in the final raid?

Personally I think it's Vol'jin's time to shine. Hell, Blizzard already had some foreshadowing in the Elemental Invasion world event:

Vol'jin: "I know exactly what I'll be doin' about it, son of Hellscream. I'll be watchin' as ya people slowly become aware of ya ineptitude. I'll laugh as dey grow ta despise ya as I do. And when tha time comes dat ya failure is complete and ya "power" is meaningless, I will be dere to end ya rule, swiftly and silently. Ya will spend ya reign glancin' over ya shoulda and fearin' tha shadows, for when tha time comes and ya blood be slowly drainin' out, ya will know exactly who fired da arrow dat pierced ya heart."

Do we still get *phat* loot if he gets spared?

@Boz: Heck yea! I loved that cutscene and love Vol'jin... even if Garrosh doesn't die by his hand, I would still love to see Vol'jin take part in the final battle.

I hope we get Thorie's idea, with Thrall having us spare Garrosh, but as he is leaving Vol'jin fulfills his promise and puts an arrow in his back. Maybe Thrall will try to comfort Garrosh as he dies, maybe Garrosh will laugh that he underestimated the troll, or maybe he'll just die instantly (unlikely). Regardless, Thrall will then have some harsh words for Vol'jin, who'll state something about although he respects Thrall and is his friend, he will stand up for his own beliefs in spite of his loyalty to Thrall.

Of course this will all be a cinematic like Arthas or Deathwing. I really hope something like this happens so Vol'jin will get some spotlight time. And I haven't forgotten about Varian, I just don't really know how he'll fit in.

Admittedly, I play Alliance. I'm very excited to see how they're planning on developing Varian.

I would absolutely be thrilled if instead of Thrall enacting Haggi Battlecrows seen above, if Varian were given the opportunity to be merciful instead. Even potentially binding Garrosh, and turning him over to the Horde leadership - Cairne, Voljin, etc.

I know that might not make all the ally "Raze Org to the Ground" fanboys happy, but as an alliance member, I want a leader that I can fall in behind, somebody that I can be proud of. Let Varian show restraint, wisdom, and mercy.

I wouldn't object too loudly if Voljin still wanted to take a shot though....

Where can I watch that cutscene?

*MEANWHILE IN BLIZZARD HEADQUARTERS*

'HOLY FARK! who the hell leaked the end of the garrosh fight to this haggi guy?!?!?'


i swear, it's like i have a crystal ba-

*gets yanked out of his chair by a rogue and dragged kicking and screaming into a blizzard van that peels out down the street*

Following that train of thought down the "what if" road - after the siege, Garrosh is defeated, defiant and broken. Varian has a chance to turn Garrosh over to the Horde, but a now unforgiving Jaina Proudmoore isn't going to accept the beast who destroyed Theramore going free. One brutal explosion of magic and Garrosh drops dead while his dream of Orgrimmar burns around him.

I'll be honest, I quit WoW already, and it will take a major storyline-driven Alliance victory written into the game before I'll come back. I just got sick of 3 expansions of kicks to the jimmies as penned by Blizzard. (and neither Pandaren monks nor pet battles are enough by themselves to interest me)

After 6 years spent playing though, I do still hope for the best for Azeroth and all the awesome folks still truckin' around on the ol' server.