Is The Scourge Going to Just Disappear after Shadowlands.
At one point the scariest army we had ever faced. Now with the Lich King gone for good what exactly will happen with them? We know about the pre-expansion assault, but if the Lich King were to return after Shadowlands would the Scourge still be a thing or just a scary reminder of the past? The Scourge is one of the most iconic enemies in all of Warcraft history.
To many, they felt like the toughest villain thus far, but in-game they really weren't that big of a deal. That is of course because it is 'in-game, the same game where the large town of Goldshire is 3 buildings and 10 NPCs. In the lore the Scourge is actually massive, we don't really know the EXACT numbers but they are very large.
You have most of the Northrend Vrykul, the Nerubians, the Trolls, a significant portion of dead elves as well as casualties from all the fallen human kingdoms. Of course we destroyed quite a large number of them, but they have also regained their strength by resurrecting our forces.
Still, if you actually observe the quests and the things we have done in Wrath of the Lich King you realize that most missions were in one way or the other a type of sabotage, incursion or some sort of destroying the brain behind the operation. We never really had many massive battles against the undead out in the open which of course is smart, as not only would it be incredibly deadly but also very stupid.
Ultimately we invaded the Icecrown Citadel and killed Arthas, but that was only because his plan failed. He lured us in and wanted to resurrect us, it was essentially the peak of Lich King's arrogance. If he really wanted to fight us directly and go to the last man we would have had a much tougher time.
The point is that the Scourge remained which was evident with Bolvar taking the throne as the jailer. The undead didn't just burst into non-existence - a large number of them remained and they were put under control by the fallen paladin. Now as the Lich King was destroyed we already know what will happen.
The scourge will just be set loose which is kind of scary as even when we faced them at full strength they would always attack in planned waves under control of a commander. How this will happen no one will really know. The reality is that the bulk of the undead army is contained in Northrend and the other hotspot is in the plaguelands but even that has been significantly weakened throughout the years since the fall of Arthas.
Seeing as they can't exactly swim to our capitals I can see maybe the frost wyrms and the gargoyles attacking the towns while the rest of the Scourge will most likely attack our Northrend outposts and just completely overwhelm them. Blizzard confirmed that the scourge attack is masterless, which means there is no main brain but that doesn't mean that the Scourge is just brain dead.
Sure we got rid of most of the liches, the necromancers and the commanders but some definitely still remained and I can see them being coordinated in some fashion. Regardless of how it happens once they get unleashed we won't really have anything else to do other than to just destroy them.
We'll definitely have to either utilize some machinery, spells or even terrain against them. Or maybe as the rift broke where the Lich King's throne was, the portal will be there and somehow a part of them will get sent to the shadow realm and we will face them there, or they might even get coordinated by the Jailer, no one really knows at this point.
Still the questions is as we will no doubt destroy them we don't really have any other choice, what is the future of the undead army? If the Lich King returns, will they be recreated or will the Scourge just stop being a thing? This a very difficult thing to answer as it will 100% depend on what happens in the Shadowlands.
Many speculate that after we go to the realm of the dead and fight together with Bolvar that the Lich King will be reestablished as an entity and that he will once again play a new role. Now unless he is just there to hold the rift that we had just patched, I don't see what exactly would be his point if there was no Scourge and how would he even really recreate it, I don't see him destroying half of the mortal kingdoms again.
Previously it was mentioned that most of the undead originate from Maldraxxus, we don't really know how - most likely not summoned directly from there but instead only the energy was tapped and their souls returned from the realm. I could see something happening with Maldraxxus as we don't know how the Shadowlands will end and that Bolvar will control the remnants of the minions from that realm possibly.
The other also very likely prospect is that the Lich King will simply cease to exist. If we destroy the Scourge and Sylvanas broke that connection with the helmet, the Lich King would have no purpose. We still don't know how exactly that connection was established in the first place but it was definitely planted there by Kil'Jaeden and the Burning Legion.
Maybe this would be for the best not only for all those that suffered and became a part of the Scourge but also for the lore, as the Scourge was a significant and the most iconic part of the story in Warcraft 3 and also an excellent continuation in Wrath of the Lich King.
Now we are facing the remnants of them again and if Blizzard recreated them once more I think they would just cheapen the story and it would make them lose their significance. Anyway, my conclusion is that the Scourge will most likely cease to exist as they have overstayed their purpose although there is a possibility that they can be recreated in a new fashion.
