This week we’ll be talking about the Forsaken, who they are, what they’ve been up to, and where they’ll be fitting into Cataclysm. The Forsaken for the uninitiated are the Undead, the Horde’s ghastly looking ghoulish might. They’ve recentlyfallen out of the Horde’s good graces and are in a bit of a sticky spot.

No ladies, this isn't a new WoW race, but the leaked upgraded Cataclysm model.

The Forsaken are a lot easier to talk about than the Blood Elves or any Elves really because they’re an invention of Warcraft III. We don’t have 10,000 years of history to go over. We simply have to look at Arthas’ long trek to catch them all and become king idiot of the Scourge to see what happened.

Essentially, Kel’thuzad placed the Lich King's/Ner'zhul’s plague of undeath inside of the grain in the outlaying areas of Lordaeron. This grain turned many of the inhabitants into undead soldiers directly commanded by the Lich King and began to spread the plague turning the living into the, well, un-living. Arthas, being a good guy at the time, tried to stop it but somehow found Team Rocket the Scourge to be his new ally after he found a Master Ball and caught Mew’thuzad Frostmourne.

The Burning Legion and the Scourge spread the disease around and turned a good portion of the population into the undead. This kept going on until Illidan, angsty as usual and trying to obey the commands of his master, tried to melt Northrend and destroy the Lich King. He failed, like any do gooders would before the stories end, but he did weaken the Lich King considerably. Enough that many of the undead were given their free will back and were no longer direct servants of the Lich King.

Sylvanas, being the cunning Pokemon trainer general she was, rounded up all of the newly freed undead and assaulted the Dreadlords who were trying to reestablish control along with the remaining Human forces trying to hold onto their lands. Thus, purging Lordaeron of any enemies and securing it as the new home for the “Forsaken.” They built the Undercity in the ruins of Lordaeron and have since established it as their base of operations.

She's waving to the guy up there. Oh Sylvanas, you card you.

In World of Warcraft, the story picks back up with the Forsaken essentially trying to develop this super plague to attack the Scourge with. They eventually succeed in doing so two expansions later and unleash it during the Pokémon battle between Arthas and the forces of the Alliance and Horde at the Wrathgate. This destroys the majority of the northern forces and throws the Forsaken into a really bad light. Well it seems like it was subterfuge from within. The blame was with Grand Apothecary Putress and Varimathras, a dreadlord that Sylvanas has successfully caught.

Well, that issue was dealt with and Undercity is now locked down by elite Orc soldiers. In Thrall’s absence it is all but assured that the Forsaken whose storyline has all but ended (vengeance against Arthas has been done) will be third-rate citizens in the new new Horde. We know that they’re going to be the warm bodies rushing against the walls of Gilneas, but what else can be in store for them?

Well, they’re still going to be a playable race so we must expect some kind of respect (and not outright Forsaken internment camps like the one in Alterac) given to them and their starting zone. Yet, at the same time, we have to assume that they and the Blood Elves aren’t going to be getting any preferential treatment. They also probably won’t be seeing Undead only cities again without Orcs breathing down their back.

Which leads me to a prediction: If you screw with the Forsaken too much then they’re surely going to revolt. I bet one of the plot lines may be them against Garrosh’s leadership. With all this talk of phasing it wouldn’t be hard for them to phase out Orgrimmar between Garrosh’s leadership and that of someone else (heck raids could be against the same boss who appears differently to different people). It’d make sense, really. I don’t really see Sylvanas as the type to bend knee that easily.

Well that’s the “Forsaken for Dummies” version of the lore along with my predictions. Join us next week as we take a look at the upcoming invasion into Gnomeregan. You can also join us on our forums and have a chat about what you think about the Forsaken.

Lore Theorycrafting - Sylvanas vs. Garrosh

The future of the Forsaken, chasing after SSJVegeta in Gilneas.

This week’s topic is a what-if, or more specifically what if Sylvanas kills Garrosh and takes over the Horde? I think it’d be possible and an interesting twist in the plot for some players. If you think about it, she is exactly the kind of person who is perfect to rule the Horde. She isn’t soft like Thrall but she’s smart enough not to go around destroying everything without reason. She also has a cool theme song, something all great leaders should have.

For instance, like Garrosh she’d pretty much see war as the perfect option. Yet, unlike Garrosh, she wouldn’t walk into Dalaran and instantly try to gank all of the Alliance there because she felt like it. She’d wait until they were on their boat home and then sink it. In other words, you could expect a bit more style in the way she’d operate.