Is Blizzard Planning A Cross-Game “Return of the Lich King” Event?

 

Back in February, Blizzard released their plans for Hearthstone’s “Year of the Mammoth”, the official name for Hearthstone’s content release schedule for 2017 (each new year of content for Hearthstone will have a theme/animal, much like the Chinese Zodiac). Inside that article, Blizzard revealed that their release cycle would include a ~130 card expansion at the start of the year (later revealed to be Journey to Un’Goro), as well as a ~130 card expansion in the middle of the year, and another ~130 card expansion at the end of the year… And based on a few deliciously convenient rumors floating around the series of tubes these days, many people (including your boy Papa Dom) are absolutely convinced of what the next expansion’s gonna be… But before I get into that any deeper, let’s talk about another relevant fan theory – the Return of the Lich King.

The rise and fall of both The Scourge and The Lich King has always been incredibly important to Warcraft’s rich history. Even though the series’ most iconic Lich King – Arthas Menethil – was laid low in World of Warcraft’s Wrath of the Lich King expansion, many fans are speculating that his successor – Bolvar Fordragon – is slated for an icy, glorious, badass return. Here’s a quick video explaining a few key points about why that very well could be.

In short, an even more powerful scourge powered by the Red Dragonflight could return to Azeroth – led by current Lich King Bolvar Fordragon. Since The Scourge were originally created and commanded by the Burning Legion (who are very much back in the Legion expansion), maybe the Legion has a hand in awakening Bolvar, a move that would undoubtedly cause the still-reeling Horde and Alliance to both collectively shit themselves. Alternatively, it’s possible that Fordragon, a formidable Paladin in a past life, didn’t completely fall victim to the Lich King’s possession, and maybe he helps the people of Azeroth by siccing the Scourge against the Legion, resulting in a war that would hopefully destroy both armies.

So what does Hearthstone have to do with all of this? Well, as a brilliant Redditor points out, there’s a few insanely convenient points that could support a Lich King comeback.

1.) Return of the Lich King was trademarked four months ago by Blizzard, and since the Lich King’s already been the focal point of a WoW expansion, it’d be weird that they’d make another revolving around him again. It’s gotta be Hearthstone.

2.) ReturnOfTheLichKing.com was parked by GoDaddy four months ago, and Blizzard’s got the domains for every one of their Hearthstone expansion titles since Whispers of the Old Gods – i.e.: JourneyToUnGoro.com. The fact that this was parked about the time that Return of the Lich King was trademarked makes this even more viable of a point.

3.) Last but not least (and this is a doozy), the last two ranked card backs were based off of places Arthas Menethil visited… In order (May: Sunwell, June: Dalaran, July could be Northrend-themed). Also, There were runes that looked a lot like frostmourne runes on a promotional year of the mammoth image released by Blizzard.

All of this could be just a crazy, kooky coincidence… But what if it isn’t? What if Blizzard is planning an incredible two-game event that encapsulates the fury and glory and… Well… Wrath of the Lich King? Blizzard loves their cohesion, and drumming up hype on two fronts could net even more players to BOTH games to sop up every single drop of frosty content as possible. Fuck, I’ll resubscribe right now if that’s actually the case.

What do you think about these rumors? Are you sold on this, or are you skeptical? Let us know, and while you’re at it – buy a shirt at the official WGG Shop right here! As always, for more Degenerate Journalism, follow us on Twitter and Twitch.