In this new expansion Sylvanas has subdued Bolvar Fordragon the current Lich King and destroyed the helm of domination and opening a rift between Azeroth and the Shadowlands not knowing this action in itself could be the cause of her downfall. Yes Bolvar was not as strong as the former Lich King Arthas Menethil… seeing as he didn’t possess Frostmourne and wasn’t willing to fully utilize the power that was available to him and if he was it would of been a completely different scenario as Arthas has proven to be the only person Sylvanas was not willing to fight in open combat. Even going as far to try and kill him alongside the Horde and Alliance alike outside the gates of ICC. In the Shadowlands expansion there seems to be a pretty dramatic power imbalance with there being the Jailer and Sylvanas still running around going unchecked… however the Jailer has already been imprisoned obviously and even if he does turn out to be unkillable he could likely be imprisoned again… the only outlier in this situation is Sylvanas still being a variable and not seemingly having an equal… which leads me to the reason I’ve been excited all this time. With Sylvanas destroying the helm of domination not only did she open a a rift but she destroyed the only thing binding Ner’Zhul the true Lich King… The source of power for all the Lich Kings that ever bore the helm of domination… the entity that made Sylvanas what she is now… the one who single handedly turned Dreanor into the floating clump of rock they now call Outlands and this is before he turned Lich King… We’ve all seen the alternate timeline version of Ner’zhul in WoD however the only time the Ner’zhul from our timeline is mentioned is within lore and cinematics and he’s never made an appearance… Even if he couldn’t just manifest himself a new physical form how fitting would it be that she defeats Bolvar so effortlessly just to gain access to The Maw which could serve as the opportunity Ner’Zhuls been waiting for all this time. If the power he holds created the thing she is now it only stands to reason he could also take that power away. Bolvar continuing to lead the Ebon Blade wouldn’t make much sense seeing as he’s no longer possesses the helm of domination and isn’t even a death knight but the real Lich King? This situation wouldn’t even change the power dynamic in game seeing as Ner’zhul was openly willing to defy the legion to begin with leading to him becoming the Lich King as well as the reason Arthas was decieved into finding Frostmourne in order to taint him and overthrow Ner’Zhul who wasn’t doing what they expected him to do. To be honest this whole idea kind of gives me a nerd-on and this was the first thing I thought of when I saw the Shadowlands opening cinematic like… ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THAT?!? YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE OTHER GUY. Current timeline Ner’zhul is more or less just looked at as a source of power rather than an actual being. Sylvanas remarked after taking down Bulvar that he doesn’t deserve something so powerful but in all reality the only thing of power even remotely connected to the helm of domination is Ner’zhul being bound to it by Kil’jeadan. And because of this disposition and inability he’s always been sidelined and played more of a background character but with Sylvanas severing his connection to the helm Ner’zhul is limitless. It would be so satisfying to watch Thrall and Anduin try and fight Sylvanas… a clearly losing matchup just to see Bolvar silently listening to a familiar whisper coming from deep within the Maw… then getting to watch Ner’zhul resurface and clap her since she’d be unsuspecting and would probably underestimate him. To sum up this idea this is the most powerful form of Ner’zhul we have and he’s played a vital role in the character development of both Arthas and Bolvar while also being used as a tool to achieve their goals… Arthas was to bolster his forces and to unleash the scourge on whomever he saw fit and Bolvar was to control the army of the dead and confine them in to the shores of Northrend. I feel as though the intention might be to have Bolvar sacrifice himself in order to kill Sylvanas and if that were to happen there would need to be someone to fill that void and control the army that lay wait in Northrend and Darion Mograine can’t be that… Some players may just need to be reminded of what The Lich King really is. Terenis Menethil said it the best “There must always be a Lich King”