Skoll Shorties

Varian had a long arc that sometimes came at the expense of other characters (like the many times he rescued Night Elves from Orcs). Vol’jin’s arc was largely in the background and was finally coming to the forefront... but then he died so Sylvanas could be Garrosh 2.

Vol'jin died in Legion not in Battle for Azeroth. So did Varian. It's somewhat annoying that people praise the crap out of Legion and lambast BfA when Legion is the one that starts these issues.

Varian dying was good for the Alliance narrative, IMO, but it was always criticized that Vol’jin died. Especially HOW he died. But many suspended judgment, waiting to see if there would be a meaningful payoff. Legion didn’t have a Horde story, so it was up to BfA.

So, in that sense you’re right, because BfA’s “pay off” retroactively makes Legion’s development for the Horde bad too. It also makes WoD and Legion both guilty of doing nothing with the Horde, since it meant waiting 4 years for a story repeat.

Legion to me felt far more problematic with its handling of the Horde than BfA's. At least with BfA you're shown with what the Horde is up to and what it's doing to sort through it's issues. With Legion, we don't get that.

I think people were also more willing to wait for a payoff in Legion because Greymane was the aggressor, which was a nice role reversal many wanted. Can you be more specific about showing what the Horde was up to?

Mainly with Saurfang and Baine. With Saurfang we see his journey from hopeless at Lordaeron to filled with hope and pride at the gates of Orgrimmar along with all his rebels he's gathered. With Baine we see him act out against Sylvanas and save Derek.

I can kind of agree. But if you think about it, to some degree they all focused on how characters are reacting to Sylvanas. Personally, I want to see smaller characters saying why they are fighting and what matters in their limited view without making it about a major NPC.