A new (but kind of old) world boss in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands reveals the fate of one of the game’s most divisive characters, as Nathanos Blightcaller takes center stage ahead of the launch of the game’s next expansion. Blizzard regularly adds world bosses to the game, usually in advance of a big event or expansion, and they’re often used to help segue players from the previous narrative to the next by providing some extra context for the shift in focus that often comes with a new World of Warcraft release.

For those unfamiliar with Nathanos Blightcaller, he has his origins in some of Warcraft‘s deep lore, which means many didn’t become acquainted with him until after he was resurrected as a member of the Forsaken by Sylvanas, that faction’s leader. He’s actually been in the game since Classic, featuring into the “Order Must Be Restored” questline for Alliance members as a boss then. Nathanos eventually became Sylvanas’ right-hand man, and he became reviled by many because of his condescending attitude and complete devotion to the Banshee Queen, even after her descent into outright villainy.

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That’s changed with the newest World of Warcraft: Shadowlands world boss, which was added ahead of the expansion this week. Nathanos Blightcaller appears in a world event and, on top of being a cool character to fight against once more, his fate has finally been sealed. There’s even an in-game cinematic, documented by Wowhead, that makes it very clear what happens to Nathanos Blightcaller – and just where Tyrande Whisperwind’s state of mind is ahead of Shadowlands.

It’s a fitting end to a villain many players had heard give lengthy monologues detailing all of their shortcomings – mid-way through yet another long-winded speech, he’s simply murdered by Tyrande with barely a whisper from her. Fans generally either outright hate Nathanos or are appreciative of his villainy (Polygon does an excellent job breaking this down even further), but he does seem to be much more reviled than loved. It’s also not a guaranteed end for Nathanos – he even mentions himself that Sylvanas is currently in the realm of the dead, and there’s a chance that he’ll be reunited with her in some way during the events of Shadowlands.

If he’s not, though, the return of Nathanos Blightcaller as a world boss in Shadowlands and his subsequent fate represent some of the game’s long-term storytelling at its finest. It’s also the end of an arc that’s been going since very early into the game’s history, and it’s likely that the longer he’s absent, the more fans will realize they came to appreciate just how good Nathanos Blightcaller was at being bad.

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Source: Wowhead

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Cody Gravelle
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Cody is Screen Rant’s Game Reviews Editor. He joined the team in 2018 and has been reporting on games pretty well every day since – except on weekends, where he’s typically playing them instead. Despite being in a field ostensibly about critiquing and enjoying quality games, his most played game of 2019 was Fate/Grand Order – something unlikely to change in 2020 and beyond.

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