Illidan - Dead?
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It was a great shock to a lot of fans of WoW’s lore that Illidan actually dies when you defeat him at the end of Black Temple. This was doubly surprising when taking into account Chris Metzen at Blizzcon 2005 who said we’d only be “slowing him down”.
So there’s the question? Is Illidan really dead? Is his active participation in Warcraft’s lore over?
I don’t think so, and it simply comes down to this… from a storytelling standpoint, his arch is not yet complete and he is a character primed for redemption. Corruption and redemption are two exceptionally prevalent themes in Warcraft’s lore and I can’t believe Metzen would waste utilizing that theme on such a popular character who was ready for it.
As far as Illidan’s arch goes, remember, Illidan is THE demon hunter the same way his brother Malfurion is THE druid. Illidan is also the reason for the well of eternity and therefore substantially responsible for Azeroth’s most recent confrontation with the Burning Legion. Kil’Jaeden leads the Burning Legion for Sargeras and is the lore’s most powerful demon.
Demon Hunter & Demon
Cause of the Invasion & Leader of the Invasion
See where I’m going with this?
It only makes sense that Warcraft’s most powerful demon hunter would be the one to defeat the most powerful demon; especially now that the lore has made it personal.
As far as Illidan’s death goes, as a writer I can tell you that bringing a character back to life is one of the easiest retcons imaginable. And it doesn’t even necessarily require a retcon. Is Illidan dead, or is his soul now a prisoner of Kil’Jaeden as Ner’zhul’s once was?
So what would the context and catalyst be for such a fight?
Remember, Illidan has done hideous, horrible things, but there is one element of his being that has always remained pure, selfless, and true, his unquestioning love for Tyrande.
If Kil’Jaeden hurt Tyrande, Illidan would kill him. Simple as that. Dead or not. The rest is just filling in the blanks.
And by killing Kil’Jaeden, Illidan would finally reach redemption and complete his character’s arch. Because of this, I don’t think Illidan would survive the fight either and this would be his real end.
Such a battle would likely rival even Grom vs. Mannoroth.
You are not prepared!
-C-
Popularity: 61% [?]
November 13th, 2007 at 7:23 am
I too hope Illidan is not dead. Though… I don’t like the idea that Tyrande has to die for him to be redeemed. I like Tyrande.
November 13th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Now I didn’t say “die”, I said “hurt”.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:17 am
[...] Teckâ??s Blog wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt It was a great shock to a lot of fans of WoW’s lore that Illidan actually dies when you defeat him at the end of Black Temple. This was doubly surprising when taking into account Chris Metzen at Blizzcon 2005 who said we’d only be “slowing him down”. So there’s the question? Is Illidan really dead? Is his active participation in Warcraft’s lore [...]
November 13th, 2007 at 9:21 am
It drives me crazy that any really important character in the Warcraft story must be redeemed, and I really hope the trend has some breaks in it somewhere. I know the Warcraft universe is supposed to have actual good and evil as forces, but does Metzen really have to have people flick between them so frequently?
I’d like to see a character fall into darkness and stay there for once. True tragedy tugs at the heart strings more than a lame redemption, same as leaving some people dead is far better than having their ghosts return for some trivial thing (Uther, for example, would perhaps be better off dead than being summoned in Western Plaguelands for trivial matters).
Now that Illidan’s dead, I’m waiting to see what happens to Arthas and I’d love to hear what you think about his predicament. If he’s redeemed that could be lame. If he’s released from the grip of Ner’zhul and left to fend for himself in a world hostile to him that’d be interesting. If he’s killed as the depraved individual he is and damned for all eternity for his choices, with a large fanfare and enough story to make us feel sorry for him, that’d be awesome. Not because I’m some evil person that likes to see others suffer, but because it’d be a reality check; while demons are pure evil and Naaru are pure good, mortals can be both and have to deal with the consequences of their evil choices.
There was a thread on the US general forums where people were debating how Arthas would die, whether it’d be one of the following or a mixture:
Uther the Lightbringer (as a death knight)
Sylvannas Windrunner (as revenge)
Jaina Proudmore (as pity)
Thrall (as necessity)
A few others were mentioned, and the whole discussion was fairly interesting. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on what would be the most emotionally moving end for Arthas’ crusade.
November 13th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Fine, hurt.
I still don’t want to see her hurt.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi Cocles,
interesting discussion here.
I firmly believe Illidan is not dead, he is one of the most influent characters in the current history of Azeroth and Outlands, his path to corruption started back in the time when the War of The Ancients took place. Then he was condemned and spent 10.000 years plotting his revenge, I’m sure he figured out everything.
Illidan already knew about the portal being reactivated, the “invasion” of warriors from Azeroth wasn’t unexpected for him, he knew this Azerothians were after his head and also knew there might be a possibility for Maiev to be released (via treachery or maybe the NEs doing it) so he could make some arrangements to avoid being defeated at all.
As you said, one of the major themes of WoW is redemption, we saw that with Meidvh, Grom, and other less important characters.
Bruce says this is kind of repetitive, this could be true, but lets no forget the powerful one hasn’t redeemed yet (and probably never will). I’m talking of Sargeras.
Regarding Arthas’s defeat probably would involve Tirion and Ashbringer (Frostmourne v/s Ashbringer maybe?).
February 19th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I too agree with the fact that Illidan- a major, and often favorited lore character- would be killed so undramatically, so meaninglessly. He might be somehow involved in Wrath of the Lich King… maybe revenge on Arthas? Joining the players as an NPC, maybe?
Maiev was resurrected, Kael’thas and Kel’Thuzad will be resurrected… so why not Illidan, who is stronger than any of them?
July 30th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
if you want him back please sign this petition to blizzard
http://www.petitiononline.com/iiiidan/petition.html