The Woobie is Neltharion

Well, it's official, I think we're about to hit rock bottom with Nel.  I gotta show you guys this and why I'm going ahead with the whole Malygos thing.  And the good reason why Neltharion needs it.

As we speak, though the Old Gods can't possess Neltharion anymore, it doesn't mean they can't erode away the already fractured mind that Neltharion has.

So, the Math Nut and I have come up with something.  Let me show you what very well can happen.

1) Eroded Away

The Old Gods' plans were to erode both personalities away. 

It's possible that if Nel remembers too much too fast he may be hit with memories of a lot of the Old God's attacks at once. If that happens and he doesn't have very solid emotional & psychological support, it's possible that 10K years attacks landing all at once will be too much, and the Old Gods succeed.

In general, if Nel is consistently mentally / emotionally loaded past his breaking point, he could end up here.

The end product of eroding Nel's personality away likely looks like somebody in a persistent vegetative state.

Most people on Azeroth would be quite happy with this outcome, since it'd eliminate the threat Nel poses. Unfortunately, this would also deprive Azeroth of it's Earth-Warder, dooming everyone.

2) Psychotic Break

It's possible that the stresses are too much, and Nel suffers a psycotic break of some time.

This can have many different manifestations.

One possibility looks like "Blarg! I'm a dragon!". That'd be superficially similar to Deathwing's world flyover, or Nel's actions after the mana bomb, but much more "ravening monster" in appearance. That appearance doesn't necessarily mean that Nelis unthinking. But he'd be somebody that's been pushed off the deep end and is acting out / striking out at the world in response.

The collateral damage from this state is massive for everyone on Azeroth.

3) Despair Event Horizon

It's possible Nel is pushed over the despair event horizon and enters a semi-permanent BSOD. This would look a lot like Malygos's 10K years of suffering in the Nexus, with Nel retreating from the world and eternally trapped in his suffering.

Most characters in-universe don't care if Nel enters these states, and many would be quite happy if he did. However, there are a few characters would fight these outcomes with every fibre of their being-- largely due to their caring for Nel. Malygos and Deathwing are the obvious examples, though Alexstrasza and Ysera would also try to help, at least at present.

Nel is seriously mentally ill and under enormous pressures, so keeping him from succumbing to these possibilities is a HUGE load on whoever would be trying to help him.

Ironically, Garrosh probably wouldn't want any of these outcomes either. In that case it boils down to Garrosh's pride. He'd much prefer Nel be conscious, resistant, but at his mercy-- an indication of his & the Horde's power and dominion over Azeroth. 

So, yeah, someone hug the squishy.  And if no one else is offering, the only one who can hug the Squishy is Malygos.

Do you get why I'm doing this?



Neltharion needs someone to take care of him.  Malygos is the only one for now.


What is required now of the person who is going to take care of Neltharion.  Basically this is what is required now of Malygos...

• Provide emotional & psychological support to Nel.

• Guide Nel through his complex past and broken memory, as well as present and future challenges.

• Help Nel recover his memory in a safe, non-destabilizing manner. Help Nel with any unpleasant reveals, or shocking memories.

• Provide therapy with Nel, to try and restore & heal him.

• Help Nel learn to be a leader again.

• Support Nel's decisions.

• Help mitigate the poor decisions Nel makes: minimize the damage to Nel, the flights' interests, and Azeroth

• Lead the flight in Nel's absence, when Nel is "stuck" on a decision, or when Nel "runs away"

• Go after Nel when he's hurt or runs away, comfort him, and bring him back to the flight.

• Defend the flight's dragons, as well as their long term interests.

• Protect the eggs, whelps and young, ensure they grow up strong and capable.

• Be the second strongest network connection, help reconnect the flight with itself.

• Help empower the flight, safely buffer Nel's power.

• Provide the deep knowledge of Neltharion needed to enable the flight to effectively assist Nel with his issues, and lead them in Nel's therapy.

• Make the flight more coherent, help them work as one unit 

• Keep the flight from disbanding or falling apart.

• Repair the connections between the black dragonflight and the other flights.

• Act as an ambassador to other factions, represent the flight's interests.

• Soothe over the anger of other factions, avoid conflicts and war the flight cannot handle--especially if Nel makes mistakes that anger other factions (e.g. Ironforge)

• Teach the flight how to be Earth-Warders again: the techniques and experience they (and even Nel) have lost.

• Teach the flight about their old culture, help them recover who and what they once were.

• Reconnect the flight with their ancient duty and role, and convince the other factions the black dragons are in that role. That they are neutral but friendly; not monsters.

• Find more black dragons, try to heal the corrupt.

• Try to connect Nel to the Netherwing flight.

• Find a way to cure the Twilight Flight, if possible.

• Provide strategic and tactical decision-making, and teach it to other dragons.

• Try to resurrect the bond between the Aspect of Earth and Aspect of Magic.

• Ensure Nel & Deathwing successfully merge, but ensure Nel "wins" the merger.

• Help uncover what happened to Nel & why: why was Nel 1.0 sundered, and to what end?

• Help uncover the Aspects & dragon's true purpose.

Right now, I think Malygos is the only one who is willing to do that given how he feels Nel's current state is his fault.

Someone hug the Squishy!