The white-quality faction tabards from Exile’s Reach weren’t faction locked. Truthfully, I have no idea if they hotfixed it later or not, but when they first got added to the collections you could wear an alliance tabard on an orc or a horde tabard on a human.
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I think you are confusing the groups described in the book. The book is about the similarities in groups that succumbed to the Curse of Flesh, and those that resisted it (in whole or in part). The Earthen of Khaz Algar are the group that resisted the curse of flesh, and the dwarves are the group that succumbed. Both groups were infected, but not all of them changed.
The book is positing that despite resisting the curse of flesh, it is responsible for part of their shared identity and cultural norms (like the naming convention which doesn’t seem to be titanforged in origin).
Cairne died before Cataclysm.
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Agreed. Anduin Lothar i think is “one of the last people of arathi blood” if i recall or something. His heritage is from arathi but he himself i think is from the south either from birth or from an early age.
To share a last name with this new character who has had no contact with the EK for generations…i think this piece of lore is meant to link the arathi in TWW with the OG arathi, as a means to bring credibility to the claims that they are the actual last arathi. Like a pedigree or whatever
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The Kirin Tor are only neutral because Khadgar was neutral.
If Khadgar’s dead, the Kirin Tor will become a firmly Alliance-oriented Organization.
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It’s hard to say really. It depends on who survives the dalaran crash and if they support going alliance or remaining neutral and open to everyone
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I imagine it will also depend on who shows up to help.
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I honestly suspect not, it is more likely to me they remain neutral and are absorbed into the Blue dragonflight as their mortal branch. Sort of like how the Bronze flight has its timewalkers, and (TBH) how the Emerald flight has the Cenerion circle.
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Kind of depends on how many other members of the Council of Six survived, and who the new Head of the Council of Six will be.
If the entire council was wiped out, well, there’s probably a legitimate question as to whether or not Dalaran would even rebuild.
Were faction conflict still a thing, that could have been set-up for an interest Civil War of sorts. Two groups with two different ideas on how the Kirin Tor should function. How does the Council of Six get reformed from nothing? Who’s to say someone isn’t a member of the Council of Six? If half the population supports one person, and the other half another, who claims the seat?
However, we’re well past the point of faction conflict where this couldn’t have been used as a proxy war of sorts, so I imagine the next Head of the Council of Six will be very neutral, assuming there even is another.
Or it could be Jaina, but I imagine Dalaran would be firmly Alliance again if that were the case.
Aethas is the only confirmed member of the Council to survive (or ex-member, depending on whether he is replacing Kalec next month). Meryl Felstorm isn’t a member but is present and would make sense for the new Council (if there is one).
But I think the status of the rest is up in the air. They might keep it vague specifically so later on they can bring back who they want later in the expansion.
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The fact that big K is the only Council of Six member whose death would even register with players might be an argument in favor of further, er, retirements. I can appreciate that a human kingdom should have human majority leadership, but when two thirds of it are virtually interchangeable…
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Last I checked, he’s not a member of the Council of Six, only a former member.
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This is a very strong argument on both factions and I heard even among devs sometimes…
I do wonder what is the thought process when the teams sits down to draft the story and its characters in it… I mean (IMO) THEY HAVE thought of these constant arguments… its been going on for literal years now.
IMO maybe its easier to write in OLD establish characters than develop new ones… but then I think of the argument: “Then why kill/write off so many of the other faction, kind of wrote themselves in a corner (IMO)”
I do hope this saga “retires” the old and are able to establish new cool NPC, though.
However if they have to use Old characters I do wish and hope they give them the right screen time and story their old WC RTS legacy deserves… instead of a Raid piñata to fill off the raid boss quota.
NOTE: I say retire because killing off and bringing them back to life is a old story troupe that works sometimes in the comics, but it dosen’t work as well in game stories. (IMO)
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I don’t disagree here at all, but I wanted to add that I think one problem with it is when Blizz does decide to try and build characters, they start with the same general trends. ‘Oop-- Big Character is dead now, so meet this newbie/previously totally irrelevant character 
’. The way they should be going about it from a writer’s standpoint would be to develop this side character and build them up first, and then toss them into the spotlight front and center. They did this really well with Xal’atath going from the priest’s Legion weapon to our next big baddie, but she’s an exception rather than the norm when it comes to their writing.
I wouldn’t mind some newbies taking the spotlight-- and the lore definitely needs some shiny, new characters from time to time-- but, in my own opinion, it’s hard to like this newbie taking some long-loved lore character’s spotlight when we haven’t really had a chance to truly meet them yet.
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Fleshy magni
I would sell my soul or that beard to be available to players
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Jaina can have the lead. Umbric would just straight up bully the Sunreavers.
Ansirem was the last survivor til wotlk came.
Magni recovering his flesh form was not in my list
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For context on how and why he’s fleshy again
TL;DR The Earthen High Speaker turned to the void and became Skardyn and then corrupted the Awakening Chamber in the ringing deeps, where Earthen go to recharge and also where new Earthen are made - in an attempt to make it so any current and any future Earthen all become Skardyn
Magni sacrifices his titan power to cleanse the corruption from the chamber
Here’s what the text from the placeholder for the cinematic says
Magni sacrifices his infused crystaline energies to cleanse the void corruption of the Earthen within the awakening chamber.
In the Aftermath, he appears as a lifeless statue.
Moments later the shell breaks.
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That gives me very little hope for playable Skardyn options lol, but it does make for an interesting story.