MMOChamp is reporting that a Taiwanese website which interviewed Tom Chilton uncovered a scoop that the big event in 4.4 will be the destruction of Theramore, which apparently acts as the spark for an escalation of war between the Alliance and Horde in MoP. No word if it's just the city or if Jaina dies as well.

Garrosh has no love for Jaina, but Thrall considers her a close friend (and vice versa). It would no doubt piss off Varion. Curious to see how that goes over. I imagine Thrall would be pissed and maybe want to try to reclaim his leadership of the Horde, but Garrosh may not give back the reigns willingly.

If you read the Blue Tracker, you'll find that Zarhym pretty much confirmed the upcoming event.

Nuking Theramore (and maybe killing Jaina?) is a certified way to galvanize the Alliance playerbase against the Horde (and their leader, Chris Metzen). Getting rid of Jaina also removes the awkard duplicity in Alliance (or at least, Human) leadership. Any time Varian does something now, we're always left wondering what Jaina thinks of it.. with her out of the way, we can focus on one leader.

Now.. the thing that I'd like to see in retaliation.. turn the Arathi Highlands into a proper Alliance zone: rebuild the Thoradin Wall, retake Stromgarde, create a supply route to Aerie Peak. That would give the Alliance some front against the Forsaken, the Blood Elves and whatever mad forest trolls remain. And it fixes one of those odd zones that wasn't touched in Cataclysm (the other being Silithus, which is basically a pointless stretch of desert without the AQ story.

Zarhym's comment of "Who lives in Theramore again? Hrm. I wonder if they'll be put out by this..." seems to suggest that Jaina will be alive and go full-on hostile with the Horde. It also wouldn't make sense to kill her off immediately after a novel based on her comes out.

That didn't stop them from releasing the Arthas novel I don't think having your own book is a bullet-proof vest from ingame demise.

Or perhaps heading back to Kul Tiras to raise some Cain against Garrosh at sea.

With Metzen getting mega excited at the new Varian questline where we will be "his squire" as he journeys to epic proportions in the similar sense to Thrall, with the destruction of Theramore iminnent also do we expect to see Jaina being the new Garrosh in terms of faction leadership?

Theramore falling makes a lot of sense. The place was always rather vulnerable. It survived mostly because of Thrall's good graces. It is not built in the best location either. The island the city is on is defensible, but that would also make getting supplies in to it hard if it was blockaded during a siege. Being located next to a giant swamp is not exactly the best environment to place a city in either.

When the dust has settled a new harbor will likely pop up in the area, just to make up for loosing Theramore, even if it is there mostly to help players get around.

I am expecting Jaina to survive, it would just eliminate way too many potential stories for her to just up and be killed during the assault. This could also lead to some really interesting character development for her, something she has been really needing. All her major decisions are now coming back and biting her, and even worse the people she pledged to protect and lead are going to be dying cause of it.

Plus a tougher, more proactive Jaina like she was in WC3 is only a good thing. She does have this image these days of being "that annoying mage lady who cries too much". I would love to see her end up being the Alliance commander of Pandarian operations, or a similar role. She does have experience gaining ground and building defense on a completely new continent, and is also diplomatic enough to be able to try to work out relationships with the various new peoples the Alliance will meet there.

I'm still wondering what the end game will be on Jaina's development (and by virtue of that, Thrall).

Garrosh obviously has no love for Jaina, or the Alliance, so I could easily see Jaina putting aside her diplomat hat to unleash some combat magic. However, it should be noted that Jaina always has a mind to survival and the bigger picture (she did, afterall, heed Medivh's warning and got out of dodge before the Scourge came). However, she also doesn't strike me as a person that is ok with endless war or the "rawr crush to win!" style of leadership.

There are rumors floating around right now that indicate that Varion might die in MoP and his son will take over. However, all signs are still pointing to Garrosh as being the slaying hand. It is unclear if Garrosh dies, but other rumors have talked about Thrall coming back to lead the Horde. Unless Thrall or Jaina does something REALLY inexcusable to each other (like Jaina killing Agga or what have you), I can't see them not finding common ground. Likewise with Anduin...I don't see him being a pushover, but at the sametime I see him as a potentially more pragmatic person when his father in terms of exploring other options besides the ones that involve a sword.

The problem with Varian or Garrosh dying is that all their possible replacements as we know them are predisposed to rational thinking and realize that peace is the best option. For the Horde and Alliance to stay at war if both were to parish or be removed from power, it would take more than a personal grudge. A situation would have to occur that simply made peace impossible.

I'm doubtful that they'll be removed any time soon, despite both being shallow warmongering characters.

Concerning Pandaria itself, I'm quite looking forward to all the new lore. It appears each zone will have its own distinct pandaren clan, each with different architecture and a different focus. See here. I think the warrior clan pandaren, in full armor, will look pretty impressive (note that we didn't really see any pandaren in proper gear yet).

Also of note, the map of Valley of the Four Winds appears to reference 5.1 already? Alliance and Horde landing zones will possibly appear in that zone in 5.1. Could we expect an escalation of the war effort as the expansion ages?

Speaking of Pandaria and lore, we'll probably find out why Pandaria was shielded in the first place. That part of history might help to tie Pandaria into the rest of the lore (IIRC, the 10,000 year mark puts its 'disappearance' around the time of the War of the Ancients).