The world soul is a trap. Always was. In order for it to be the LAST titan…Sargeras must die.
Illidan merges/consumes/defeats Sargeras, and becomes the last titan in TLT, as the world soul has been corrupted by the Void and cannot be saved as a titan, only returned to a world core.
Furthermore he accepts the gift he denied before…
Becoming a light forged Demon Hunter he is given the power to defeat Iridikron using Xalatath and the Void against him.
Bringing an end to the infinite Dragonflight’s schemes, mending the rift between the Titans and the elements, and healing Azeroth.
A clean slate so to speak…
A redemption arc for Illidan, and perhaps the Stormrage Twins….
Forging a new Azeroth.
I’m pressing, “F” to doubt, because there’s no way they’re sacrificing a female World Soul to Illidan; the Chud-king of all Chuds. It ain’t happening.
There’s also zero percent chance Illidan decides to get lightforged, because it’s completely against his identity. Yeah, he’ll take powers of the enemy to use against the enemy, but does he ACTUALLY need to? Fel seems to work just fine against the light and the void, if 20 years of Warcraft has taught us anything.
Illidan’s greatest power isn’t actually about HIM even being that powerful in the first place - it’s his charisma and ability to draw people in to fight against a life-extinguishing crisis. He has charisma in spades - and honestly, why does he need a power up?
We’ll all be fighting whatever big-baddie it is, in the end, anyway, WITHOUT Illidan’s help, just like we ALWAYS DO in end-game fights. He’s just gonna gab about how much the Titans suck, and how much Sargeras sucks. Maybe he’ll hint at the fact he has a smol thing for Xal’atath - as in, “I admire her strength for conquest and unwavering will!” or something.
But no, Illidan ain’t gonna go lightforge doohicky himself for power-up levels for absolutely no reason. He doesn’t need to. He has the entire playerbase of Azeroth at his back, and ~80% of them adore him. He doesn’t need to power up. He’s already our strongest Edge Lord, and honestly, one of a giant portion of the WoW population’s favorite. He’s gonna stick to edgy edge-lording, slapping the light-confident idiots in the back of the head, and tell people we have to make the hard choices. That’s Illidan.
I just REALLY hope he stops simping for Tyrande, ffs. Bro, she ain’t for you. Lady Vashj woulda been a great fit for you. 
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Or maeiv
Like he has 2 ladies obessed wiht him, sitll chases the girl that rrejected him
I actually think Illidan could go even further than simply wielding the Light. If he realizes the cosmic forces themselves are the threat to Azeroth, he’d use anything necessary. Light. Death. Fel. Void. Whatever gets the job done. That’s always been Illidan’s defining trait.
I could even see him reclaiming the soul fragment Frostmourne tore from him and using it to forge a new weapon—or, knowing Illidan, becoming the weapon himself.
Primus: “No one should wield this power.”
Illidan: “Then don’t make me wield it. Forge me into it.”
That also opens the door to some amazing DH Hero Talents themed around Death magic, Wardens, Shadow Hunters, or even Dreadlord techniques.
TLT feels like the expansion where Blizzard can finally go completely over the top. If there’s ever been a time to reunite old allies, introduce new cosmic powers, and let Warcraft embrace its wonderfully ridiculous side… it’s now.
Besides… in Warcraft, everything eventually becomes a loot piñata. Why should cosmic gods get special treatment? 
All roads lead to Illidan?
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Stands up from their chair
I have never cared for Illidan. Even when his fandom was at its peak during the ROC/TFT days
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Hahahah! I know; there’s definitely people that outright dislike Illidan. That’s why I said 80%!
As a whole, I mean, I’m not going to lie that Illidan’s pretty cool, most of the time, in my book. I loved the whole introduction questing in Legion when you play as a Demon Hunter. I loved the scene when he comes back by incinerating Ghouly Dan AU (Gul’dan) into ash, much the same way Gul’dan killed Varian.
There are absolutely a portion of the playerbase that hates him. There’s a big portion of the playerbase that loves him. I tend to like him because all of Warcraft 3/TFT/DotA; but I think what I’m trying to say is yeah, he’s absolutely a popular stable character for Warcraft - even if his Tyrande obsession gives me the “ick”.
I’m no scaly, but what was likely the prettiest hand-maiden ever, for the prettiest Night Elf, ever (Azshara). I mean, you mutated yourself into a Fel-Hooved-Goat-Night-Elf-Thing. Your choices are absolutely the pretty snake lady, or the armored but absolutely pretty Night Elf underneath said armor that’s obsessed with you and has hunted you for thousands of years, all the while smoking a pack of camels a day for 9000 years.
I’m not even sure where the rumor of Illidan returning came from… I even heard people saying Kil’jaeden is coming back?
I won’t lie though… I’m usually not driven by nostalgia. I’m the type of player who’s always looking toward the horizon. Give me new ideas and new lore that actually enrich the world, and I’m happy. That’s why I got excited about the Almami Trolls and loved the NPC reactions to the Harranir reveal. They were so naive about everything that’s happened in the world above. I genuinely love little details like that. 
BUT…
If Illidan, Kael’thas, and Lady Vashj came back as a team during the Worldsoul Saga… just like at the end of WC3 when they were trying to stop Arthas?
…I’m losing my sh** like I’m 12 years old again playing WC3 for the first time!
That said, I’m really not expecting it, especially with the datamined leaks. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check. 
Illidan is going to be told this by Sargaras, realize that Xera was right and it was his destiny to become Lightforged, so he can kill Xalatath. putting an end to the Light and Shadow conflict once and for all.
He and sargeras have always been propped to be a fully sacrificial character (Brox/Grom) except the stakes have never reached a point where they’re willing. Which makes it seem very egotistical/ironically selfish. Like someone who preaches how good they are and you’re just waiting for them to actually do something so you can go “damn I guess they were actually prepared to put it all on the line”.
Maybe blizz does end them on a proper note… regardless I really don’t see them going the “we want full sized drakonid models, we want troll muscles, we want light infused cherry flavoured illidan” dragon ball z fantasy writing being the play.
Not so much of a rumor but an educated guess. Given that one of the big things being teased about TLT is Iridikron punching Aman’thul in the face. And currently Aman’thul and the other Titans are keeping Sargeras imprisoned with help from Illidan. Therefore something has to happen for the Titans to return in TLT, which means Illidan might return also.
Then again this is Blizzard we are talking about and they might just forget Illidan exists because #notthestorytheywanttotell
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This would be so hilarious for one big reason.
“Lordship over this world was never my goal” in wc3 line legitimately grows actual stink lines if this happens.
Illidan was only depicted as self-sacrificial in Legion. But it was like 10 years after most his lore was written, so unless they fully retconned everything, they couldn’t fully get around it. He never sacrificed anything. he had stuff taken from him, but conveniently never gave up any power. Which made sense in old lore, because he was addicted to magic itself and had a lust and obsession for power on it’s own.
Illidan isn’t self-sacrificial for the first half of his existence in terms of IRL writing conception. He’s an arrogant junky pretending he’s deeper than he appears.
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Its the “Last titan”. Which means Sargeras is involved and by extension, his Jailer, Illidan will as well.
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This actually comes from the VA himself on Instagram telling someone in a video he was brought back in that week to voice Kil’jaeden. We have zero idea in what capacity, i imagine he’s prolly just a flashback for Nashabor content down the line.
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Not really. It’s likely related to Azeroth being the Last Titan if anything. Especially considering the entire saga is centered around Azeroth
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In an interview around the time TWW launched Metzen said “You are not prepared” when asked about the fate of the Whatsword.
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