It didn’t, though? It implied that Thrall plus all the air elementals he could summon could have defeated one specific spell if she hadn’t had the iris. IIRC it also said that the water elementals in that wave were unwilling and were probably resisting. That’s apples and oranges, because we don’t know how Thrall + Elementals would do against Jaina’s strongest purely arcane spell. Thalyssra vs Jaina is apples and apples (arcane power).
I consider that to be just a long-distance arcane duel, or at least, competition (apples to apples). It’s still putting Thalyssra and Jaina into direct competition, and I can’t picture Blizzard doing that again.
And even if they did, it’s also not combat magic, so people would still be able to say that Jaina outclasses Thalyssra in a direct fight.
I guess it depends on how you interpret this line:
Jaina was a powerful mage, but she shouldn’t have been strong enough to stand against him - especially not when it was the will of the elements themselves to resist her.
I interpret it as a general statement that Jaina, in general, should not have been strong enough to stand against Thrall. The part about the elements is positioned as sprinkles on top of that particular sundae. However, I agree that it is possible to read it in a narrower sense as only applying to that particular situation.
With respect to your second point, if the only thing that works for you is a demonstration that Thalyssra is more powerful than Jaina by her beating Jaina in a combat magic duel then, I agree that is unlikely to happen.
It’s not that it’s the only thing that works for me, personally. I actually don’t believe that Blizzard intended to make Thalyssra look weak by having her run away from Jaina–just as I never believed they intended to make Tyrande look weak by not having her kill Nathanos. But in both cases, the perception has gotten out into the fanbase, and it will stand unless Blizzard does something to fix it.
I think, however, that if Blizzard tries to find the perfect solution that works everyone, a) They won’t find it; b) They will further screw up the situation with their attempted solution; and c) They will discard good enough solutions which while they don’t please everyone, please enough fans that they largely undermine the bad perceptions.
Talanji probably has the most power in the Horde. Especially if we consider Bwonsamdi’s actions in Dazaralor. He made it pretty clear that he was not using all his power to help Rastakhan, and he was OK with him dying so that Talanji could be his partner, instead. If one considers Talanji powered by Bwonsamdi at his full capacity, as well as the rest of her Loa, in defense of Dazaralor… she probably dwarfs the rest of the Horde’s power levels. She even comes close to the power level of an Alliance Character! Which no Horde Character could ever hope to attain. But she is new. She will learn to submit to the Alliance in all things, soon enough. Baine will show her the way.
However, if we count sheer competence, forgiveness, and the ability to charm as powers… Kiro wins. He solves all their problems without officially being a member, after Baine makes me hate him even more by rejecting the Vulpera. And his little face and flute are adorable. And he usually says nice things. Though, I find his disdain for books somewhat troubling.
I disagree. His reasons for not being able to use the Elements are entirely personal. He says it’s cause of Garrosh, but he was still a capable shaman during Broken Shore, so it’s entirely his choice to not use shaman powers. His own self doubt and distraught at how Garrosh ended up made him feel unworthy.
A warrior that puts down their sword for a time is still a warrior. A mage that gives up using the powers doesn’t just forget all they learnt, they are still a mage. Thrall’s still a shaman, even if he doesn’t use the powers.
For me to not consider him a shaman he’d have to become deaf to the Elements, like all non-shamans.
Though, it’s my own opinion. I can get why you would say he’s not a shaman anymore, but he still shown to be capable of using the Elements post-Garrosh, still has mana, and still is able to use the powers in Shadowlands. He’s still a shaman.
Considering Bwonsamdi literally created an army of undead soldiers as well as a gigantic zombie gorilla during the Battle for Dazar’alor, a Talanji that’s been “fully empowered” by the Loa of Death would be absolutely terrifying.