I was skimming over WoWPedia and it said that Thrall’s Horde began to include Jungle Trolls and Goblins into the Shattered Hand. Does anyone have an idea of how rare it might be for a non-Orc to join the clan? Like 1 in 10 or the seemingly single goblin of SI:7? I wonder if any Horde rogue could join The Hand.
Also I was wondering if the Orcs would accept maybe a Darkspear into the clan formerly and if they’d theoretically be allowed to participate in something similar to the Orc Heritage questline.
The Shattered Hand adopting non-orcs into the clan has been something in the game since vanilla. In fact I distinctly remember some trolls as apart of the group. Though I don’t remember if it was ever mentioned they were full members of the clan or they were simply spies working with them in service to the Horde.
The Shattered Hand up until Dragonflight, existed more as an organization rather than a Clan, serving as the Horde’s version of SI:7.
However with the return of the Kosh’harg Festival/Celebration it seems like the clans are becoming a much more important part of Orcish identity. It’s not currently clear if that means the Shattered Hand will become an Orc only thing and a new intelligence organization for the Horde will be formed to replace it, or if the Shattered Hand Clan will exist alongside the Shattered Hand organization.
I was under the impression from the Orc Heritage questline that the Shattered Hand Clan/the Shattered Hand Organization were the same thing, based on Thega Graveblade replacing Gordul as the leader of the Shattered Hand.
Actually the spy organization is a whole different thing. The real clan stayed with Kargath in Outland. And the players helped to kill most of them. It is quite cynical of Thega to declare they are the only one now.
In Vanilla, the Shattered Hand was an intelligence organization that inherited the name of the old clan but basically nothing else. There was no suggestion anywhere that they saw themselves as a “clan” in the same sense as the Frostwolves or the Warsong.
Over the expansions, the Shattered Hands’ role trended downwards. While the Alliance has pretty much always had SI:7 as its intelligence end, the Horde side seems to suggest that each Warchief basically relied on their own loyalists to handle that stuff. Garrosh used the Kor’Kron, Vol’jin used his shadowhunters, Sylvanas used her Dark Rangers and the Deathstalkers. The Horde Shattered Hand barely existed.
Then the heritage quest comes along, and suddenly they’re back as both an intelligence organization and an Orc clan.
And… that’s it. That’s pretty much everything. We have no idea what the status of non-Orc members is, if they even still exist.
Read Warcraft Chronicles. Kargath and his members stayed behind on Draenor when it exploded and the Warsong were stranded on Azeroth. It kept that way until Magtheridon rose to power and they could take back Hellfire citadel. The real Clan was made of Fel Orcs from that moment on. Including the tradition to chop your hand off and replace it with a weapon.
To be honest, even the Warsong seemed to be functioning as a mere Horde organization/military branch rather than as a proper clan until the last Kosh’harg. As ‘Outriders’, they really were just the force stationed by the Horde in Ashenvale to conduct the logging and local defense operations. In WoW we never got to see them function as an autonomous society the way the Frostwolves or Dragonmaw do.
As for the question of an ‘Orcish’ clan with a multiracial composition, it’s not something that’d be unheard of. There are Trolls in the Rageroar clan, which makes sense since it’s a clan that was founded on Azeroth. The AU Mag’har nation (which can be understood as a ‘pan-clan federation’) has Ogres, Ogron, Gronn and Goren.
The Shattered Hand can absolutely have non-Orc members and yet still follow a typical, traditional Orcish clan structure. Doesn’t strike me as particularly ridiculous
The Shattered Hand clan was originally an orcish clan that dwelled in the Spires of Arak. Formed from outcasts and liberated Highmaul gladiator slaves, the clan was named after its gruesome self-mutilation practices. The clan was left behind on Draenor during the First and Second Wars, but later rallied under Ner’zhul’s banner. Following Draenor’s transformation into Outland, many Shattered Hand transformed into fel orcs, with their founder and chieftain, Kargath Bladefist, becoming the Warchief of the Fel Horde in service to the Illidari.
In the modern day, the Shattered hand is also known as the Order of the Shattered Hand[2] (or simply the Hand for short)[3] and is a secretive multi-racial Horde organization of spies, assassins, and rogue trainers. They value ruthlessness, cunning, and the nerve to do what must be done to ensure peace for the rest of their people; seemingly fulfilling a role similar to that of the Alliance’s SI:7. It is still considered a clan, and took part in Azeroth’s first Kosh’harg.[4]
On Azeroth, the Shattered Hand have become an integral part of Thrall’s New Horde and now accept various other races into their ranks, including jungle trolls and goblins. Based out of the Shadowswift Brotherhood in Orgrimmar’s Cleft of Shadow, they are responsible for watching the Horde’s enemies[21] and for training aspiring rogues from various races in the ways of stealth, deception, and the brewing of deadly poisons.[22][23][24] Thrall acknowledged that the Hand was necessary to ensure orc and troll safety.[25] “The great Shenthul” appeared to be considered a high-ranking member of the organization.[23] The ForsakenDeathstalkers have allies within the Shattered Hand.[22]
It’s unclear if the Shattered Hand organization will remain separate now that the Clan has been effectively reborn thanks to the Kosh’harg.
All the clans except Frostwolf basically lost their identities in Thrall’s Horde up until this questline reinvigorated them, probably because of the lethargy and internment camps. Meanwhile in Outland, everyone living together in Garadar while sick from red pox had basically the same effect.
If I had to guess an in-universe reason as to why the clans suddenly all see themselves as distinct clans again, the appearance of the AU Mag’har who still held onto their identities probably encouraged them to do so.
Because they aren’t. It is really that simple. They never made it to Azeroth if we follow the events of Beyond the dark portal. Idk where those who followed Thrall came from but they are just a bunch of glorified rogues.
Life on Draenor was stark for Draenor’s orcs, as the world continued to die and the orcs continued being consumed by bloodlust and violence. The Warsong and Shattered Hand clans, in particular, had insatiable needs for violence. Following the Horde’s defeat on Azeroth at the end of the Second War, Ner’zhul rallied the clans still left on Draenor, the Shattered Hand among them, under his new banner with the intent of opening portals to new worlds for the Horde to conquer. The gathered chieftains easily agreed to Ner’zhul’s plans; having sat out the entirety of the First and Second Wars, they thirsted for battle, and any chance to escape their dying homeworld was worth taking.[16] Almost immediately after Ner’zhul reopened the Dark Portal, the Warsong chieftain Grommash Hellscream led the Warsong, Shattered Hand, Thunderlord and Laughing Skull in an invasion of the Blasted Lands. Teron Gorefiend led a group of orcs and death knights away from the Blasted Lands in search of the artifacts that would allow Ner’zhul to open portals to new worlds.[17]
A force of Shattered Hand orcs defended the Azerothian side of the Dark Portal during the last days of the Invasion of Draenor. They were left stranded after the Portal was destroyed by the Alliance.[20]
