We know that won't happen since Varian plays a role in Cataclysm.

Somehow, the more I think about it, the more I doubt Bolvar will be an encounter (we're probably going to save him from his own personal torturer, Saurfang Jr aka the Deathbringer). Folowong that train of thought, he'll somehow put aside his Alliance loyalties and participate in the Council of Theramore, maybe even being branded as a traitor by Varian and a threat by Garrosh.

He is highly respected by Thrall and Saurfang, and he still has supporters in the Alliance, which would possibly help coagulate the Coucil. Given the circumstances, he's one of the few people who could bring some of the disgruntled, less radical elements of the factions together for a common cause - maybe to ensure nothing like this will ever happen again.

Well there are no sound files in today's build but Icecrown Citadels map was added and several new models. I am putting the raid map together right now and will get it up when I am done.

New Fleshbeast model (there was a concept art of this in the credits):



Winged Horse (Invincible?)



Putricide:

The winged horse is quite awesome, and while I would love to have it drop, I'd also like to see it as a gimmick for one of the fights (Deathbringer, most obviously)

So we are actually going to kill the lich king

YouTube - The Lich King's Death in ICC 3.3 PTR

Was posted on mmo and it's Arthas' death animation. Let the speculation begin on who will be the next lich king (or queen)

I would think Bolvar would be prime candidate for the next Lich King looking at the video. I am thinking it would be someone on the alliance side in any case, looks like Horde will be going through enough turmoil already.

It would also make sense that another Paladin takes Arthas's place.

Animation very much reminds me of Lord of the Rings, regarding Sauron and Isildur when he severed his hand. Oh, how tempting: that an object of such tremendous power can so innocently rest on the ground.

It's ironic that Arthas' body lays next to the Lich Kings helm in death. Whether we can take that as some sort of implied liberation (in death) for Arthas' soul to be finally free, remains to be seen.

Is there some inside info that the Lich King (essence or armor, etc) will live on in some form? It just seems a bit cheesy of an ending; like something out of the Leprechaun series ;p I would think Blizzard is looking forward to moving the storyline forward in coming expansions. I mean, beyond Deathwing you have the Emerald Dream which we know Blizzard has intended to visit as we've had the game files present since initial release. You also have the Maelstrom, the Burning Legion home worlds themselves; I can even see an expansion where we finally meet some actual titans and participate in some direction action against Sargeras and at that point, do we really want to go back to kicking this rusty old armor around?

BlizzCon Day 2 WoW Lore and Quests panel liveblog

From the Blizzcon 2008 lore panel, about halfway down the page, right before the fake screen shot of the Frostmourne legendary. They could easily change their minds, but that's what we're basing most assumptions that the Lich King will persist from.

If you guys are on to anything with the whole Bolvar/Saurfang/Deathbringer encounter concept, I would see it playing out like this:

The raid gets off their gun ships to witness Arthas on the verge of breaking Bolvar. Arthas says something to the effect of "Cant stop now, deal with them Deathbringer Saurfang." Horde drama: Saurfang has to defeat his son for a chance at quelling the up coming war. Alliance drama: In order to save their own champion they have to defeat a former horde champion which could escalate horde motivation for war.

When you defeat Saurfang you interrupt Arthas and save Bolvar's life. Or perhaps Bolvar will be killed in the process anyway, but at least you saved his soul from corruption.

Perhaps the crown falling like that is a homage to the way Terenas' crown fell when Arthas killed him. Or it might be a placeholder, I suppose we'll see.

Ugh.. I think they tried to wrap a winged horse around the gryphon skeleton. I agree it looks a bit odd. Although winged horses are a cool idea for future mounts, for sure.

MMO-C has some info on Shadowmourne: Hallow's End Issue, Shadowmourne, Comics

Basically, we're going to take Arthas's old paladin hammer, and reforge it into an axe using various items and spells from Icecrown bosses. It only becomes Shadowmourne after taking several boss-specific spell attacks, and reaping 1000 Icecrown souls. The interesting thing story-wise are the Frozen Throne shards that are used in its construction, from that and Darion's quest text you'd think that it would be all too easy to become corrupted by this weapon. I wonder how that will play out.

The Splintered Throne - Quests - Sigrie and A Feast of Souls - Quests - Sigrie seem like the major cockblock factors for getting Shadowmourne. If they're looking to limit how many of these show up, I would have to assume that the Shadowfrost shards are the same as or similar to [Fragment of Val'anyr].

The Final Descent - Quests - Sigrie is likely the last part of the quest-line where you have to do some sort of hard mode encounter to complete the axe, with Shadowmourne, Blade of Legends - Quests - Sigrie simply being a "Return to Darion Mograin at Mograin's Runeforge in Icecrown Citadel."

It also seems reasonable that Primordial Saronite - Items - Sigrie, Festergut's Acidic Blood - Items - Sigrie, and Rotface's Acidic Blood - Items - Sigrie are limiting factors. The Shadowfrost may just drop from every boss you defeat after attaining that quest (though I doubt it). Primordial Saronite is the renamed "Icecrown Crafty Thing of Crafting Things," so the supply is already limited, and both of the Abomination's Blood are epic quality rather than normal white quest items. They're probably like [Head of the Broodlord Lashlayer] used to be: one per kill.

Judging from the quest text, The Splintered Throne - Quests - Sigrie will reward you with Shadow's Edge. All the work until then is likely able to be done without doing heroic modes. I doubt they would make you defeat 1000 trash mobs on heroic, so The Final Descent - Quests - Sigrie definitely seems like it would be the last factor in changing your [Sulfuron Hammer] into [Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros].

I don't think the text is in the MMO-Champ post, but I recall a quest text in which Darion mentioned a weapon capable of meeting Frostmourne head-on might be craftable. Which is strange, because the itsy bitsy skull on Shadowmourne's final form is a tad too alike Frostmourne's. It seems the sword might shatter and we'll get to use its centerpiece to power-up the axe. But then, what's the purpose, if Shadowmourne is supposed to be at its fullest when fighting Arthas?

A simple crafting (symbolic) option by Darion, intended to play some mind games on those facing Shadowmourne's wielder?

Or do we steal some kind of "imprint" from Frostmourne in the Halls of Reflection so that Darion might use it on the axe?

Another thing: is there still a chance that Jaina or Sylvanas will be caught by Arthas in those same Halls of Reflection? Or are they confirmed to be at Icecrown Citadel? Cause the damsel in distress trope hasn't lost its appeal, in my opinion.

The itsy bitsy skull can be found all around scourge weaponry. It's a symbol of the scourge, not something exclusive to Frostmourne.

Actually, to my memory, it's used in banners and architecture, but not in weaponry. It's probably an "hommage" to Frostmourne itself, and the reason why I find it meaningful that Shadowmourne sports it as well.

As I said, it might just be a choice Darion makes when forging the axe, stressing the "it's OUR Frostmourne" feeling he intends for Shadowmourne.

Indeed, it doesn't make all that sense to have the axe completed only after the fight with Arthas.

Wasn't the helm held in "prison" by those shards we'd be collecting to forge the axe? Doesn't using them to forge the weapon act as a means of controlling the evil power or perhaps protecting the wielder from it?

Yes, that's what Darion said in another text which isn't at the MMO-Champs coverage: the axe needs to be encased in something that protects its owner.

My question is with the immense amount of shards needed. If their drop rate and ammount dropped is lower than that of Val'anyr's shards, we're bound to be "stuck" with the primal version for a long time. However, Darion said the shadowice shards were scattered throughout the Citadel, so maybe in some cases there 2 or 3 in some bosses' rooms.

Edit: "Immense" is too strong a word, but I was expecting something along the lines of Val'anyr's fragments, seeing as there's also the apparently long questline for Shadowmourne.

Not necessarily. The Frozen Throne, while Ner'zhul's prison, was also a conduit that expanded his mental powers and control over the undead. It was carved from a chunk of ice Kil'jaeden found floating around in the Twisting Nether, but I would assume any malevolence it holds is either due to Ner'zhul's presence or KJ's influence while he crafted it. After Ner'zhul vacated the crystal, it's hard to say what sort of powers it actually holds. There's not much in lore that describes it's nature other than the fact that when Ner'zhul's soul was placed into it, it increased his power.

I think it's more likely that being reforged from Light's Vengeance is what keeps Shadowmourne from being too corrupt to wield. Or maybe it's just the fact that, while innately an evil weapon, it's not forged by the Legion to be extra evil. It's kind of hard to say for sure.

edit: Never mind, Bierzkrieg's post above me is right. It's explained in the quest text.

The Splintered Throne - Quests - Sigrie

Strange...I thought the shards would be used to forge a shadowice encasing to protect the wielder...I know I saw that somewhere, but it seems the text was re-written, as I can't find the reference by digging through the MMO-Champ forums.

I liked it better when the Shadowice served as a protective container. Perhaps that's still implicit, seeing as Frostmourne, which is as powerful as Shadowmourne (probably more), doesn't require an ice encasing to contain its power. The wielder is clearly what sets the difference between the two weapons.

Edit: Erased a question that didn't really have to do with lore. Apologies ensue.

I'm pretty sure that's what's implied when he says it's to seal the power contained in the blade.

I found Shadow's Edge - Quests - Sigrie in Sigrie and it seems to be right before A Feast of Souls - Quests - Sigrie, with that one being a follow-up.

I would assume the collection of a thousand souls unlock's Shadow's Edge's powers, and the shards of the Frozen Throne then seals the power in the blade, protecting the wielder.

Though, considering the time Frostmourne spent locked inside the Frozen Throne as it traveled towards Azeroth with Ner'zhul, perhaps it really is just for enhancing the weapon's power (sealing the power in the blade referring to stopping the power from leaking out and going to waste). Hm.

Seems Chill of the Throne was a bug...a named bug with an icon, of all those.

Chill of the Throne | Raid | WoW Blue Tracker | World of Raids

I still hope they find some substitute to Sunwell' Radiance, it helps to convey a sense of loss and permanent threat to Icecrown, as Blizzard seems to be playing it all in WotLK's (supposed) last raid instance to give the fight against the Lich King the somber tone it should've had all along.

I liked the Throne effect, to be honest, it was more everpresent and "palpable" than Sunwell Radiance. A simple boss-empoweriment seems too impersonal and little to do with us.