When do you think we’ll deal with Iridikron?

As we get closer to BlizzCon 2023 the hype is building for the expected next expansion announcement for World of Warcraft. While Dragonflight isn’t over yet — patch 10.2 doesn’t have a release date and could conceivably be after BlizzCon — there’s a robust history of the development team revealing the next expansion before they’re ready to close the door on the current one. What makes this time different, though, is that there’s a very large question about where Dragonflight is going to end up, and it centers around the leader of the Primal Incarnates, Iridikron. Last seen escaping via portal with a shadowy figure at the end of the Dawn of the Infinite megadungeon, Iridikron is someone our heroes will have to deal with at some point — but the “when” is up in the air.

The first candidate is in a patch 10.3 complete with its own raid tier. This would be an interesting choice, as we don’t even know if there’s going to be another raid tier and it would be revealed (most likely) alongside the new expansion at BlizzCon. For this to happen, the story of Dragonflight would have to essentially end with Iridikron’s defeat and have minimal carryover with the future expansion. This isn’t out of the question, mind you, but it’d prevent a scenario like Warlords of Draenor where Gul’dan’s escape at the end is a huge factor in the Legion expansion.

There’s also the possibility like with Warlords of Draenor and Legion that Dragonflight and the next expansion will function as a two-parter for the main narrative thread. The next expansion would take us somewhere that Iridikron is pursuing his machinations against the Titans and the heroes have to stop him. This feels like the most likely scenario so far, but it will depend on how the developers want Iridikron’s story to end (if it’s with the long-theorized resurrection of Galakrond, that leans more towards a patch 10.3 and a final raid in Northrend).

Of course, there’s nothing to say that Iridikron has to be dealt with at all. He could pull an Azshara or Lich King and be offscreen for an expansion or two before he returns with a new force for us to fight. This feels the least likely possibility to me, though, as I don’t think Iridikron has earned the narrative heft of Azshara or Arthas to follow this route. It would also be weird for Alexstrasza to be willing to put thoughts of pursuing him aside for a few years.

What do you think? Will we get a patch 10.1.3 or will Iridikron lead us to the next expansion? And do you think we’ll get to fight a reanimated Galakrond along the way?