In SoD he says that the Jailer is his true master but… how the hell did he start serving him to begin with? When did he actually get into contact with him? And how?
Now I know the actual answer is “Danuser just wanted to make the Jailer seem more important without putting any actual work into making an interesting villain” but I’m curious to see what people can come up with.
We don’t know. Honestly it is just another example of new blizzard willing to assassinate characters in order to build up the Jailer as this Sargeras / N’zoth level threat without any proper build up.
Sargeras had the RTS games, TBC, WoD and Legion building up to him and we don’t even face him. The final threat of the Legion was Argus, another Titan. Sargeras’ backstory and how he became the Dark Titan has been retconned over the years. But he still remained as the ultimate villain of Warcraft throughout all of that.
N’zoth was first name dropped at Blizzcon 2010 and has been built up since Cata as the man behind the curtain. Basically N’zoth was designed to be Warcrafts secondary antagonist. While things had been retconned to build N’zoth up, they were done so before N’zoth got his in game reveal with BFA. Deathwing working for the Old Gods was first set up in the WotA trilogy as an example. Then we got the charge of the aspects short story that explains that Neltharions reason for siding with the Old Gods is because he came to see his “gift” from Khaz’goroth as nothing but a curse and he wishes to be free from it. How Azshara and her fellow Highborne turning into Naga was also retconned with the WotA trilogy where the Old Gods did it. In BFA with the Harbringer’s Azshara video we finally got confirmation that it was N’zoth who did it. As that was hinted at since Cata as well. But neither of these retcons damaged the Characters. In fact imo they strengthened them. Azshara calling N’zoths bluff will always be a great moment and totally in character for her. She would rather die a Queen than live as a slave.
Kel’thuzad serving Zovaal all this time ruins his character imo. His curiosity into necromancy knowing it was forbidden? Throw it into the trash! Kel’thuzad getting disgusted at the scourges experiments in Naxx when he had a tour of the place with Anub’arak when he sailed to Northrend? Throw it in the trash. Walking up the frozen spire naked to reach Ner’zhul? Throw it in the trash! His bromance with Arthas? Throw it in the trash!!!
I believe this happened
I think the most likely time for it was when Arthas killed Kel’thuzad, back when he was still a living human. Kel’thuzad spent some solid time in the SL before he was resurrected as a lich.
That could have been a good chance for the Jailer to make contact with him and tell him the truth, as insurance to keep the Lich King on track. That way it doesn’t remove his original history. His dabbling in necromancy, problems with the Kirin Tor, eventual pursuit and interest in the Lich King. That’s all still things he did and he seemed pretty genuine about. There’s no reason he’d know about the Jailer while still in the Kirin Tor.
But after his first death would have been probably the most likely opportunity to learn about Zovaal. Especially since it seems Ner’zhul and Arthas rebelled against him so they wouldn’t have told Kel’thuzad if they knew.
I heard Kel’thuzad and Jailer were strangers in the night exchanging glances…
Personally I feel the best time would’ve been after his defeat in Naxx during Wrath. He revives to find out that Arthas is dead and now a non pro scourge Lich King is well… the Lich King. Zovaal could’ve pulled the “do what I say or the cat gets it” with Kel’thuzad.
That would make some sense except for the fact that we’re still hanging out with Kel’Thuzad’s ghost during WC3, he was advising Arthas during the invasion of Quel’Thalas.
And if a soul is still on Azeroth, there’s no way it can be in the Shadowlands at the same time unless they were killed by a Mourneblade, which he was not. He got a good ol’ hammer to the skull.
Considering Ner’zhul’s lines in his Raid Encounter indicate that he was serving Zovaal loyally but was being punished for abysmal failure to prevent Arthas from usurping him I would say Kel’Thuzad joined Zovaal the very moment he joined Ner’zhul.
Kel’Thuzad’s treachery against the Legion logistically could have only happened because there was another Boss to the Lich King more preferred than the Legion and that was Zovaal.
Why would a knowledgeable Human Necromancer who was once a member of the Council of Six side with a primitive Orc Shaman over his more knowledgeable Boss unless said Boss was not the Boss but a pawn of the real Boss who is even more knowledgeable about the subject that Kel’Thuzad studied?
Even Blizzard doesn’t know because the Jailer didn’t exist when Warcraft 3 came out. He didn’t exist until after Legion when he was just an Idea.
Having Kel’thuzad always serve Zovaal is just dumb. He always craved power and having him find out that the Lich King who he adored and worshipped was just a creation of someone else would have made any Necromancer drool. Having him join up AFTER would have been perfectly fine. He should have gotten a short story after the fall the the Lich King and what he was up do. They didn’t even bother explaining why or how he got into the Shadowlands since being a Lich they cant die…
We could have had Bolvar vs Kel’thuazd mini story that takes place during BFA where he tries to take the mantel for himself. He fails and is killed for real this time by Bolvar his placatory broken. Kel’thuzad is then sent to the Shadowlands where he is intercepted by Mueh’zala and offered the same deal as Helya. He is tasked with taking down the Houses of Maldraxxus. Any sort of backstory or quests would have been useful for that whole mess.
It wasn’t the entire time though. After his death Arthas went to Northrend to hunt Mal’ganis and was gone for months. Before returning as a death knight. It was a long trip.
He didn’t meet Kel’thuzad’s ghost until after all that when he fetched his remains. So it’s still a sizeable gap of time we didn’t see Kel at all or what he was doing.
Except he knew that Ner’zhul as the Lich King was created by someone else (The Burning Legion) yet he still supported Ner’zhul no matter what. Even if it meant dying as a test of his loyalty. As he knew that if Ner’zhul was right, he would be reborn stronger than ever. Which does actually happen.
I suppose that’s true and may make a bit of sense.
Though admittedly that only turns the plot point from “terrible garbage” to “ever so slightly less terrible garbage”
Yeah it seems odd that we never got a short story or even a comic book showing what KT was up to after the events of Wrath. Blizzard did one for Jaina, showing what she was up to after she left the Kirin Tor at the start of Legion when the council voted to allow the Horde to return to the city.
Ner’zhul was a primitive Orc Shaman! How would someone so low get support from an Archmage from the Council of Six seeking knowledge on Necromancy unless it turned out he was serving someone with even greater knowledge of Necromancy!?!
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Remnant_of_Ner%27zhul#Quotes
Rulkan… is that you? It has been… so long…
Cannot… see you. My eyes… devoured.
I opened… many doors. All led… to agony.
He said I… failed him. A flawed herald… usurped by another.
My fate… is torment. But I will not… bear this crown… alone!
Ner’zhul was fully under Zovaal’s command. Arthas and Bolvar on the other hand were not.
Kel’Thuzad would have had to have known this otherwise logically he would have just sided with Kil’jaeden and sold Ner’zhul out to him as Ner’zhul was a Primitive Orc Shaman whose knowledge of Necromancy would be inferior to Kil’jaeden’s.
Tinder. they met on tinder.
Its more viable that trying to explain a lich double agenting dread lords double agenting for Sire D double agenting for the jailor.
The interview Blizzard had with Bellular back in February says otherwise. As they said both Ner’zhul and Arthas retained their free will and were largely in control of their actions. And no amount of bolding the word fully will change that.
Blizzard pulling it out their rear.
That was a retcon of him being under Zovaals control thats why he is being punished. He failed at his end goal which was being free from everyone. All the Lich Kings were failures in Zovaal’s eyes because he couldn’t control them and they ignored him.
Kel’thuzad was likely only told by Ner’zul that he was imprisioned by the Legion and if he helped would grant him total control over Life and Death. Having 0 contact with Demons at this point or any other power that could compare to the LK. Kel not question or backstabing to the Legion is fine.
Just another Blizzard character assassination with only a few words of Dialog nothing to see here boys!
It’s like Danuser and co saw that whole “I never actually cared about the people, innocent or otherwise” line from GoT S8 and went, “That was gold! Really good character writing”.
Free will does not mean that Ner’zhul didn’t side willingly with the guy out of sheer fear. He let Deathwing push him around readily in the Beyond the Dark Portal Novel so him being too scared to defy an even bigger Villain than Kil’jaeden is understandable.
The Jailer didn’t need to dominate him to get him to do his job as the Jailer could simply send his agents straight to the Frozen Throne and kill him on the spot.
The fact that Kil’jaeden sent Illidan instead of having any Nathrezim guarding the Lich King immediately portal into the Frozen Throne(something they should have been capable of considering what we’ve seen of their kind) and shank him then and there indicates a an overly elaborate sense of Karma in using the same tool of betrayal used by Ner’zhul on the Legion against him.
A sense of Karma that shouldn’t have been expected by Ner’zhul who should have expected immediate death the second Kil’jaeden caught wind of Tichondrius’s demise due to the Lich King. Ner’zhul was not some reckless hothead who would betray his boss within minutes and get killed by said boss within days!
He logically should have expected almost immediate death instead of theatrics so his betrayal is illogical.
The only thing that should have logically compelled Ner’zhul to betray Kil’jaeden would have been the notion of someone pulling Kil’jaeden’s strings no matter flimsy with just as much capacity to cause Ner’zhul’s immediate demise for going out of line wanting Ner’zhul to betray Kil’jaeden.