Chapter Two: Indifference of the Lich King

Jaina and the Council of the Alliance listened carefully to Bolvar Foredragon. He talked on and on about how the recent incursions by the Lich King meant they needed unity. How clearly there was only one man fit for the job. What Jaina didn't understand was how they could think she'd buy into this nonsense?

"...and so, King Varian Wrynn should be made the head of the Alliance," said Bolvar.

Jaina looked to Tyrande and Tirion Fordring, then back to the messenger. "No."

Bolvar halted, taken off guard by that one word. "What?"

"No, we refuse to acknowledge Varian Wrynn as head of the Alliance," said Jaina with a shrug. "Next item on the agenda."

"But why?" said Bolvar.

"Do I really need to explain why?" asked Tyrande. "Varian Wrynn has no accomplishments."

"Yeah," said Jaina, "I mean I know he means well. But the only things he's done is drive his nation into civil war. He completely mismanaged the Stonemason situation."

"He killed Onyxia," said Bolvar.

"No, fifty bold adventurers killed Onyxia," said Jaina. "Varian Wrynn took credit for it after I put him back on the throne. Do you think we don't know how he came to power? Besides, I faced down Archimonde. And Tyrande Whisperwind has millennia of combat experience. You don't see us trying to make ourselves High King in all but name."

"He did send Garithos to help the Kirin Tor against the scourge," said Tirion.

"And we all know how well that turned out," said Jaina.

"But Stormwind is of symbolic significance," said Bolvar.

"No it isn't," said Jaina. "Lordaeron founded the Alliance. Stormwind didn't even exist when it was founded. If you wanted to pick someone of symbolic significance Khaz Modan would be better."

Bolvar fell silent and sat down. Tirion looked around. "Why don't we move on to more pressing matters."

"Right," said Jaina. "Well, I am now convinced that Arthas is fighting from the inside to try and contain the darkness."

Tirion facepalmed. "Lady Proudmoore, is this a joke?"

"No, it's the sad truth," said Jaina. "His invasion of Azeroth was slipshod at best. Say what you want about Arthas, but he's a tactical genius. If he were trying to kill us off, he'd have done it. I couldn't stop him."

"The Ashbringer-" said Tirion.

"Yes, I know you drove him off on holy ground." said Jaina. "But that strategy itself was out of character. Arthas as a death knight always led from the front. He wouldn't send Darion to die, he'd lead the charge and slaughter his way through the armies of his enemies.

"I suspect that he allowed the Ebon Blade to break free. Probably as a measure of defiance against the spirits possessing him. It's the only explanation for what is happening."

Tirion considered this. "...That would explain why he has been dormant so long. But if he has launched an assault it must mean the powers of darkness are winning. We must press our advantage before he can muster more forces."

"Alternatively he might be trying to feed his forces to us gradually to cull the scourge," said Tyrande.

"Or perhaps he is deliberately trying to make a small group of heroes much stronger gradually," said Bolvar. "So that when he eventually kills them and resurrects them, he'll be even stronger."

Dead silence as everyone stared at Bolvar.

"Bolvar, that is absurd," said Tyrande. "The armies he lost in this expedition are worth far more than any set of heroes."

"In any case, we must go into the heart of darkness itself," said Tirion. "We must enter Northrend and slay the Lich King. Once and for all."

At that moment, there was a flash of light. They recoiled back as the fairest of all creatures touched down before them. Alexstrasza, the Lifebinder herself, stood before them. "If only it were that simple, noble paladin."

"Alexstrasza? What has brought you here?" asked Bolvar.

"I bear news," said Alexstrasza. "The armies of the Lich King are massive beyond compare. Only Arthas is preventing them from washing over the world and wiping it out. If you were to slay him and leave no one in his place, the scourge will be free to rampage unchecked. All life will be extinguished."

"Wow," said Jaina, "I'm glad you told us this information right away. Can you imagine if you'd kept it secret till the last minute? Now we can plan a strategy around this new information."

"Indeed," said Tirion. "We must replace him."

"That's a good idea," said Jaina. "We can have someone don the Helm of Dominion and just order the scourge to walk into a lava pit."

"The nature of the Helm of Dominion is such that the Lich King cannot destroy the scourge," said Alexstrasza. "It was a precaution put in place by the Legion.

"Therefore, you must go into Northrend and defeat Arthas. Then a willing subject must make the sacrifice to contain the scourge. This person will be able to prevent the scourge from ever truly attacking the living though they will always be a threat. There must always be a Lich King."

Dead silence as everyone looked to Bolvar. "What?"

"We just... thought you'd have some input," said Tirion.

"I... guess I could volunteer," said Bolvar.

"Wait a moment," said Jaina. "Arthas already contains the scourge."

Alexstrasza shifted. "Well, yes, but um..."

"And Arthas is the most powerful wielder of necromantic magic on the planet," said Jaina. "What are the chances that some fighter, however loyal, will be able to do as good a job as him?"

"Well... we might ask Sylvanas," said Bolvar.

Everyone stared at him.

"I'll see myself out," said Bolvar, before standing and walking out.

Tirion looked to Alexstrasza. "So let me see if I have this straight, Queen Alexstrasza. You want us to bankrupt our treasuries, lose thousands of lives, and invade the Heart of Darkness. And then, just for an encore, go have a swordfight with a god.

"All so we can be right back where we started after we're done in a best-case scenario."

Alexstrasza looked suddenly, very nervous. "Well... we could keep the fact that the Lich King is alive a secret. So the world could live free from fear of the Lich King."

"But that would be a bad thing," said Jaina. "If nobody knows the Lich King is still a threat, they'll grow complacent. We'll be taken completely off guard if they invade again."

"Oh," said Alexstrasza.

"Well," said Tirion, "I think that just about sums things up. I'll cancel the plans for the invasion. We have literally no reason to fight Arthas at this point."

King Arthas,

The Silver Hand appreciates your heroic sacrifice in keeping the scourge at bay. We also appreciate you deliberately mismanaging the scourge so humanity could triumph. This was a deliberate strategy, wasn't it? There's no way that attack on Azeroth was actually meant to defeat us.

Because if it was, boy did it fail.

Sincerely,

Tirion Fordring

Arthas finished the letter, feeling very irritated. Lowering it he looked up from his dark throne to Kel'thuzad. "...Kel'thuzad."

"Yes," said Kel'thuzad.

"The next time I order an invasion while drunk, I command you not to obey the order," said Arthas.

"Yes, milord," said Kel'thuzad.

Arthas sighed. "I really should try and regain some credibility here."

"So what are you going to do?" asked Kel'thuzad. "I'll take an army down to Undercity and completely obliterate the Forsaken. Then we'll draw back to Stratholme.

"Hopefully that will provoke them into an invasion."

"I don't think anyone will care, milord," said Kel'thuzad.

"Well, fine, we'll do it anyway!" snapped Arthas.

Thus the Lich King descended on undercity. The defenses were overrun in minutes. All who stood before them were cut down, and none could stand against him. In the end, Sylvanas was seized and dragged back to Northrend in chains. This would have serious repercussions, however.

Without someone to rally against, the Scarlet Crusade collapsed. Without a clear and present danger from the undead, people joined the Argent Dawn en masse. Meanwhile, a major point of contention between Alliance and Horde was resolved.

Author's Note:

So yeah.

Wrath of the Lich King is one of the worst character defilements in the history of derailed villains. The Lich King bears absolutely no resemblance to Ner'zhul or Arthas in any way, shape or form. None of the traits of either character carry forth into Arthas as he is presented. The fusion of a scheming magnificent bastard who outgambitted Archimonde and the biggest badass in Warcraft History is portrayed as a bumbling, generic, evil overlord with no victories.

And what really gets to me is that it would have been so simple to salvage him. All you'd have to do is have Varimathras be working for the Lich King when he betrays Sylvanas. This instantly gives Arthas a clear victory. It turned Wrathgate into a curb stomp on his part that establishes very clearly that defeating the scourge as a whole is hopeless. It also allows Arthas to regain Lordaeron City, which would be a logical goal for him and makes the conflict less onesided.

Then, when Tirion confronts Arthas the second time, Arthas totally owns him. He would also totally own Sylvanas and Jaina in their respective fights, both at the same time. Your characters have to come to their rescue. This would give him very real credibility as a badass.

None of these changes would have altered the story beats in any significant way. All it would take is changing a few animations and a few different dialogue options.

For all their talk about the lore, it's blatantly obvious that no one who was writing Wrath of the Lich King made any attempt to make Arthas in character, a credible threat, or a compelling villain.

In fact, I've contemplated rewriting Wrath of the Lich King. Think I should do it?