Questions About Sylvanas' Involvement in the Wrathgate Finally Answered

wowhead.com:

Ever since it happened, the Wrathgate has been a source of great controversy. One question has always been about Sylvanas' involvement — how much did she know, and was she behind it all along? World of Warcraft: Sylvanas, the new novel by Christie Golden, finally answers this question.

In a 2018 interview, Alex Afrasiabi (of Cosby Suite infamy) made the claim that the Wrathgate was under Sylvanas' orders. While he said this merely in passing — as an example that Sylvanas' character development wasn't going «off the rails» — it caused a great deal of controversy at the time, as this had never been officially stated before. The Sylvanas novel does not technically contradict this claim. However, by showing exactly what happened, it does portray it in a slightly different light. During the novel, Grand Apothecary Putress approaches Sylvanas with an experimental weapon that he has been working on — something that can be used against both the living and the undead: Blight. Sylvanas agrees to allow him the space and resources he needs, including both human and Forsaken test subjects — though of the Forsaken, she orders only «criminals and the disloyal who deserved such a fate» be used. Once the war in Northrend begins, Sylvanas gives Putress an order to use Blight specifically if he has a chance of destroying the Lich King, emphasizing that he must not hesitate should this opportunity present itself. As she gives this order, she notices a flicker in Putress' eyes — hinting at the way he would choose to go on to interpret this order.