@halondrus You're absolutely right. Their most grievous error was retconning Literally Everything to be apart of his big grand cosmic scheme. The only possible way that could've worked is if it had been the plan from the start, and we all know WoW does not and cannot plan that far ahead in their own writing. Otherwise, you have a dude that no one's ever heard of before coming out of left field and taking credit for both the players' and NPCs' accomplishments (and failures).
I see what they were going for but it completely falls flat. Most people playing a video game do not want to feel like the narrative for the past 15+ years has not mattered at all. It eliminates all the stakes of the previous expansions - why does it matter that we defeated Sargeras and the Legion against impossible odds? Apparently that was the Jailer's plan all along, so jokes on you for thinking that you actually achieved something!
That is not even mentioning how that reasoning makes absolutely no sense if you think about it for more than a few seconds. Why on earth would Zovaal put all his chips down on Arthas/Sargeras/Ner'zhul/Whoever the fuck, INTENDING for them to be defeated. Its a waste of time and also creates a character who is somehow incapable of making mistakes; after all, his failures were ACTUALLY his plan the whole time.
They also did not have the sauce to follow through with this narrative. We never learn what the Jailer's huge cosmic plan actually was. He leaves us with a nebulous "there are FAR GREATER threats......" scene which is like. Okay. Yeah, we are playing world of fucking warcraft. Thats not a surprise or huge revelation, that has been the story for the entirety of the games existence.
His design also was just the final nail in the coffin. He just looks dumb. And it didn't help that his blue nipples were front and center on the battlenet launcher for so long. I actually dont think he looks that bad when hes wearing his armor - its a somewhat bland Generic Edgy design, and doesn't have the iconic silhouettes that wow villains are known for, but it at least doesnt look TERRIBLE.
I think he couldve been a perfectly fine antagonist if they had just done away with his "i planned all of azeroths history from the very beginning" shit and kept his motivation as being resentment towards the first ones who banished him for questioning his purpose.
I still wouldve preferred denathrius to be the main antagonist but thats because I have eyes and a brain.