No joke. With Anduin currently not serving as King and Turalyon first leading the Vanguard of the Light in Silvermoon and then going missing, who is running Stormwind and by extension, the Alliance at this moment?
And may I also suggest this is a time for High Tinker Mekkatorque to show his baddassery and quality?
[puts on crown]
Heavy is the mantle of leadership, but I-
Awww.
But really, I imagine Anduin and or the winner of the Worst Dad Ever coffee mug put together a group of counselors who can manage in their absence. Like the House of Nobles-
Oh.
Oh no.
Oh, this is worse. How did we make it worse than just Turalyon? Human nobles are only a few degrees marginally better than sinādorei nobles, and this is not a compliment.
in the public face? Probably Genn and Mia. They dont need to be on the warfront anymore. But Shaw and Flynn likely are doing the heavy lifting behind the screen
Well, as long as Flynn is being supervised by Shaw, I suppose the Alliance will survive. 
it probably kind of doesnāt matter because the world (of Warcraft) got really big and Blizzard doesnāt want to allocate the resources to accounting for what could or SHOULD be accounted for like where is the Horde right now
granted also kind of an MMO thing in general but i think itās a fair critique to levy since for the last couple of expansions now theyāve REALLY wanted to go harder into more meaningful storytelling than just raid motivations (granted that kind of started to shift even back in Mists)
The Alliance was only ever a plot device created to further along Horde stories, so Alliance is not needed at this time.
Also, Norman has barricaded the Dwarven district and is holding the quarter ransom.
WHAT!!! How much? The dwarvern district you saidā¦. The only thing worth anything in there is the shady lady
Ideally, I think the House of Nobles is running things right now, which is its own can of worms.
In regards as to why neither the Alliance nor the Horde have shown up, remember that when Dalran got asploded by Xalāatath, it took down Azerothās biggest, oldest and most stable Portal Network with it.
It is why we see a long line of Sinādorei fleeing to Orgrimmar, one at a time. It is why the Horde and the Alliance havenāt shown up en-mass, because currently all of our standing forces are still in Dornogal, which means they have to come via ship all the way from the south-east corner of the map, navigate around the Maelstrom, and then sail all the way up the coastline of the Eastern Kingdoms to get to Silvermoon.
Thatās a trip that could take months, even with magical assistance to ensure the sails are constantly full of wind to propel the ships at their full speed.
It took a miracle of the Light to call the Vanguard to Silvermoon, and that mostly seemed to only grab Paladins and Priests, who were already full of the Lightās energies and thus more easy for it to connect to. The kind of magical power to open up a Portal large enough for an army to march through is staggering, and without the Sunwell to power it, I doubt the Vanguard of the Light could have shown up at all.
The thought that Xalāatath went after the Black Blood in Dornogal precisely because it would allow her to A) drag all our forces to one area on the far side of the planet B) take of Dalaran and cripple our magical transportation abilities and C) get us so angry that weād follow her relentlessly and could be led to Kāaresh to fulfill her objectives when faced with a āgreaterā enemy, is rather concerning.
What if the Sunwell/Darkwell isnāt her objective? What if it is just a bonus prize? The essence of the World Soul, mingled with the power of the Light, which can be turned to Void with the right push, which in turn could be used to corrupt the World Soul directly with enough power applied in the right places ā¦
If I had a nickel for every time Anduin was forcibly whisked away from Stormwind by an extramagical force I would have two nickels, which isnāt a lot but itās weird itās happened twice.
That is to say, he spends a lot of time not being on his throne seeing to the people of Stormwind.
Anduin has been finding himself these last years, which I support, considering how young he was when the role of regent and later King was thrust on him, how he had to lead the entirety of the Alliance through the Fourth War, and fraught as Shadowlands storytelling was, he had a horrid time under the influence of Dominance magic against his will. His family/support system (Jaina, Genn, likely Faerin to a degree now, and while laughably so, even self-obsessed Wrathion has mentioned worry and trying to check on him) is strong, but each of them also seem to recognize that he needs to make his own way instead of forced, especially since his whole life essentially has been railroaded onto a singular path up to the point he broke and hid himself for some years.
But while I recognize burnout, trauma, and some potentially dangerously untreated PTSD, I do agree that heās left Stormwind and the Alliance quite high and dry. Turalyon was always a choice to stand in his stead, but since Genn is the retired king of Gilneas, Bolvar the lead of the Ebon Blade, Jaina either running or helping run the KulāTirans and several mage things, and so few others (that we know of) up for the task, I suppose choosing an old war hero was the political play. Beyond that, I agree with Gentarnās assessment that the rest is up to Stormwindās nobles, which we donāt know as much about as the sinādorei or even shalādorei iterations.
That said, I appreciate when he appeared to bodily put himself between Umbric and potential executioners during the Silvermoon storyline. He refused to move and ardently defended not only Umbricās personal record, but the unwavering service of the renādorei to the Alliance. Having played a renādorei a number of years now and all the āwe canāt trust themā extra quest text flavor it brings, I felt an unexpected burst of pride and appreciation in Anduin as a moral leader and king, even if heās not wearing his crown at the moment.
Still, Iād like to see resolution on Anduinās story at some point or another, and hopefully on screen instead of resolved in a book. He deserves that, given all heās suffered in in-game cinematics and trailers, and Iām hoping for a well-written resolution and way forward as he finds a way to manage or start to heal.
The last time this happened, Benedictus was appointed temporary leader of the Alliance before he went all Twilight cult on everyone. So I assume the current leader of the Church of Holy Light is the current acting ruler, which would meanā¦
Itās most likely High Priestess Laurena! Neat!
My guess would be Genn or Velen, acting as a proxy for Anduin.
Last I checked, Anduin made both of them ātrusted advisersā, so maybe they take turns.
With Velen at the Sunwell, I suppose that makes it Genn, then. If thatās the case, Iād rather chance the High Bishop again and hope sheās not part of the Twilight cult like the last one.
i feel like this plays into the whisper of Nāzoth from BFA
āThe golden one claims a vacant throne. The crown of light will bring only darkness.ā
the second part, atleast. i think Turalyon is still the defacto leader of the alliance and as the expansion progresses we will see the full payoff of the second part of the whisper
it me
im crown
in the throne room straight up ārulin itā. and by āitā, haha, well. letās justr say.
My crown
I was originally going to needle Highwrath and say in pure warrior PvP fashion, Highwrath canāt spell without a mage giving Arcane Intellect first.
Heās since shown me the meme behind the post and now I must declare it brilliant. Galaxy brain, my good sir.
Also, while you two fight over an icky, icky, probably sticky crown, Norman has the Dwarven District and the Mage Quarter is now mine ā specifically the ice cream vendor. Theyāre a year-round treat now, no more ājust for Childrenās Weekā nonsense. 24/7 ice cream place, pls.
Immediately thought of The Ringer when I read this.
Also, Iām 100% here for it. Heroes need their ice cream too.
If the House of Nobles is in charge, i swear weāre gonna get a Fifth War. Iāmā¦probably joking. I hope. If theyāre in charge of Stormwind while the āKingā is fighting to save a Horde city, they could use that to legitimize their rule of the city over Anduinās. Sure, traditions and whatnot, but yāknow.
Genn is also a solid choice: despite being āretiredā heās probably smart enough to know when to help while everyone else fights the latest end of the world. He gets to sit back, deal with paperwork, and only turns into a big wolf monster as a neat party trick. I respect that.
As for Anduin, i think heās probably gonna call it eventually and justā¦end monarchies in Stormwind. No more Warchiefs in the Horde, no more Kings in the Alliance. Either that, or he gives the mantle of ruler to Faerin Lothar, as sheās also of noble blood which may help get her accepted into the Alliance. Her lack of history with the Horde other than their assistance in Hallowfall may give her a perspective necessary to move on with past hatreds. But thatās not right now, iām just bringing a prediction for fun since weāre talking about Alliance rule.
I would like to note i am an orc, and thus do not understand human politics. If i got anything wrong, please say āZug zugā out loud, mockingly.
Mekkatorque would be very funny though. Heād bring a machine called the āTaxfillinatorā, and it would incinerate half of the wealthiest nobles in the city. Wait, thatās kind of genius. Yeah! My vote for Mekkatorque! HE WOULD BE AN ACTUAL SHORT KING.