Maybe Draenor had dragons (or proto-drakes, whatever) long, long ago and the Dragonmaw were responsible for genocide. Ivory from Elephant tusks, why not a market for Dragon teeth, hence Dragonmaw?

Or, alternatively, they had some small fuzzy creature like a squirrel that in Orcish sounded like the word "Dragon." In Azeroth they chose the closest fit (and stole unearned honor - Bunnykillers to Dragonkillers).

They can explain it if they want.

You might be right on that one. The thing is, its master is Ner'zhul, who's a disembodied spirit right now. Who's to say he won't give us the slip when we take down Arthas? And then there's the little detail of it being imbued with part of NZ' essence. It might just as well allow him to come back and claim a body even if we defeat him. Time will tell...

True enough, but this situation hasn't really come up before. Until now, I don't recall that the Lich King has ever been defeated in any capacity. Ner'zhul spent his reign subject to the will of the Burning Legion. The closest he came to being "defeated" was his combination with Arthas, but that only yielded a joint being more powerful that Ner'zhul alone.

Now, just about every force of good in the world is assisting in the push toward Icecrown, from Tirion's Argent Crusade to Mograine's turncoat Scourge, Alexstrasza's Red Dragonflight, and even the Naaru. If foreshadowing means anything, Tirion Fordring and Darion Mograine are definitely going to play a major part in the events leading to the downfall of the Lich King, and I wouldn't put it past Tirion to deliver the final blow himself with Ashbringer to nicely bring that story full circle. Considering that Tirion managed to instantly cleanse the Ashbringer just by his pure awesomeness, I wouldn't call it unlikely that some crazy metamorphosis would happen to Frostmourne upon its master being defeated in such a way (possibly including explosions, fireworks, and/or huge beams of light).

In any case, there's a lot of possibilities, and you are very correct in that only time will tell.

Let's keep in mind that right now, the connection between Yogg Saron and Ner'zhul/Arthas is pretty tenuous. We know they are somehow connected but don't have a good idea of how/where/when. Whatever 3.2 brings is sure to include the "second chapter" of the WLK storyline, definitively link the two threats, and provide an introduction to a reinvigorated campaign against the Frozen Throne that will conclude the expansion.

I think it is pretty likely he will give us the slip. Although they may have changed plans since then but I do remember Metzen mentioning at Blizzcon that Arthas will die but Ner'zhul not so much.


Retconning lore and putting in confusing lore that makes no sense is what the comics seem to be good at.

It seems that everything awesome we're responsible for is slowly being stolen from us by those scene-stealing NPCs.

Isn't Dathrohan (Balnazzar) dead after Stratholme as well? Looks to me like the major retcon was having Naxxramas finished before Scarlet Monastery instead of after Ahn'Qiraj. That throws the timing of a lot of different events off.

Eh a few clarifications. The blade itself was created by the Legion, much like the actual armor, and Ner'zhul's soul was bound to both, it was far more then his personal cell phone to contact Arthas with. When he thrust the blade from the Frozen Throne he in turn thrust out a bit of his own power/soul, hence why there were rumors of a powerful artifact floating around, Frostmourne provides an actual portion of the Lich King's power. There was no actual period where Ner'zhul himself could craft something from nothing, he had the plague, and the power to raise the dead, crafting weapons wasn't an option for him. The Armor/Sword itself were part of Kil'Jaeden's total Frozen Throne package, from the official site:

"Ner'zhul's spirit was magically shackled to a suit of ancient armor and bound to the mighty runeblade Frostmourne. To ensure Ner'zhul's obedience, Kil'jaeden sealed the armor and blade within a specially crafted block of ice collected from the far reaches of the Twisting Nether. This frozen crystal was then cast into the ripe and unsuspecting world of Azeroth, settling in the desolate, snowy wastes of Northrend."

Muradin didn't detect the essence of Ner'zhul, he read the dais that said "This is an evil sword, taking said evil sword will have evil consequences, PS: This is an evil sword." or something like that. >.> :p

I don't think you can compare Ashbringer/Frostmourne in that way. I agree with your assessment that somebody more in tune with the Light can wield Ashbringer better then one who is not, however Frostmourne is a Runeblade, it has it's own set rules, most of which involve it being evil, and them making it's wielder evil in an evil wild orgy of evil.

Hmmm, my bad. I can't remember where/when I read it, but for some reason I have vague memories of Ner'Zhul taking credit for the creation of the sword (I always wondered how exactly he would have accomplished such a feat... but nevermind), and I also recall reading somewhere that when Illidan attempted to shatter The Frozen Throne, the quakes provided Ner'Zhul with the opportunity to thrust the sword from it's perch? It's been a long time since I recall stumbling upon the information, so for all I know it was just an uninformed wiki/forum post. *shrug*

Either way, thanks for the clarification! I just presumed that the sword was merely "just another blade", in which it's power was magnified by the evil presence of the wielder. I think I need to research more about runeblades. There's obviously alot about them I have yet to discover! I had always assumed that the sword itself was nothing more than a means of communication for Ner'Zhul, and a way for him to distill a taste of his necromantic powers unto Arthas, leaving him craving for more.

I've spent the last few days playing through WarCraft III again, just to re-visit the story as it's been so long... It really is quite fascinating how much stuff you pick up on.

It's still going to be wielded by players. It may be "purified" or "a shade of its original power" or some nonsense, but we're going to see people running around with it.

Blizzard would be crazy not to have it obtainable. The same applies to the Ashbringer.

It is not inconceivable to me that what we'll get is "fragment of the shattered Frostmorne", or "fragment of the shattered Ashbringer", as something we can equip in our trinket slots.

Possibly even both from the same encounter...