Interesting. Guess Grim Batol will actually have a point after all someday... seems like this probably isn't what the devs originally wanted to do with it, but hey.

I doubt we'll see Grim Batol in the WotLK cycle though... partially because the WotLK cycle is already pretty well-known (Ulduar, then Azjol-Nerub, then Arthas, then the next expansion) and partially because Deathwing deserves way more development than a single content patch could give him.

Also, it's interesting to note that the latest Blizzcast confirmed that Turalyon (and presumably Alleria as well) are on a "legion home world." Maybe they'll make a cameo when the Dreadlords show up to face Arthas...

Blizzard said a long time ago that we would be fighting an Old God in WotLK... I don't have the exact quote onhand, but unless Yogg-Saron is in Ulduar (exceedingly unlikely imo) and they've just abandoned the idea of having an Azjol-Nerub raid, 3.2 being Azjol-Nerub would be a safe bet. It's odd that they declined to reconfirm it as Blizzcon, but I really doubt they'd add a Deathwing raid out of the blue.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The new lich king could be so powerful that it has totally corrupted him. So, no semblance of his former humanity from either the Arthas or Nerzhul's side exists anymore. I mean, he now has control of countless undead minions, the whole of northrend (or claims to). And he himself is now mobile, no longer an imprisoned spirit within a block of ice.

Why would he care for such things as morality, or any past motivations? He is effectively immortal too (as long as nobody kills him). So, time doesn't really matter to him either.

Its like, say you suddenly gained absolute godlike powers, become something like a god. Then, would it matter what you were doing before this? None of it would matter anymore.

I do think it might be a possibillity. After completing the questline with Thorim in storm peaks the tentacles that trap him do look old god'ish, and while you kill Loken in the halls of lightning, you never find out what happend to Thorim.

Well for Grim Batol, I am thinking a CoT raid, where we go back in time and rescure Alexstrasza? It makes perfect sense to me, with the new found importance of Kirin Tor and Rhonin in Dalaran. I think Blizzard's specific purpose with CoT is to allow us to relive important lore moments, and rescure of Alexstrasza makes most sense in terms of the current expansion.

There is a group of Yogg-Saron type (like the last boss of the ancient city) beneath Icecrown Citadel, along with a ghost of a small boy next to a oval portal and some inaccessible structures. Just speculating but maybe the old god encounter hinted at is going to be inside Icecrown somewhere.

How is is unlikely that Yogg-Saron isn't in Ulduar? All the Storm Peak quests indicate that he's in that zone if not specifically in Ulduar.

i.e Loken - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft and other entries.

That questline, I believe, involves the capture and destruction of Arthas' heart?

Seeing as how the boy's name is an anagram for Arthas Menethil and he gives you several (kick ass, might I add) quests involving the LK's background.

Yup, thats the quest line. But the fact that Yogg-Saron's influence from his underground chamber has spread accross so much length, would make any fight with him rather interesting.

Also, does anyone know the Lore behind the Sunreavers? They are BE faction that want to join the Kirin Tor. Is the corresponding alliance faction already a part of Kirin Tor (they actually have someone present next to Rhonin)?

Thanks

I hit 80 just from BT/HF/DB, so I haven't gotten into the story/questlines of Storm Peaks yet, but I couldn't help but notice the thorny tentacles wrapped around some of the structures at Ulduar. Co-incidence? I haven't seen them present at any other titan structures.

Azjol Nerub spans so much of Northrend the entrace to the instance (if it is the unamed 3.2 instance) could literally be in almost any zone. It is possible Sholazarr might have escaped the influence due to the protection of the titans, we saw similar effect with C'thun and his armies unable to settle in ungoro moving straight on to Tanaris. But you get whispers from him as far south east as Howling Fjord and you can see parts of the structure of Azjol Nerub under Icecrown in the north. We also know he has extensive influence in the Storm Peaks. Crystalsong Forest is smack in the middle of where we know hes had influence and currently is an empty zone ala v1 Silithus with the exception of the cooking daily and a couple of Icecrown quests.

My hope is that they will open up a huge underground portion of the cavern as non-instanced and make it Sunwell Isle v2 with lots of quests, dailys and new stuff to do. I was pretty disappointed that the Nerubians had such a minor cameo when their empire is meant to be vast and spanning the entire continent.