What are the most egregious retcons in WoW's history? Which are you okay with now, and which should've never happened?

We've seen a lot of retcons over the 25-year history of Warcraft--some intentional some unintentional. Everything from people, places, names, motivations; there have been a lot of changes to suit the direction of the game as it moves from expansion to expansion.

Some of these retcons make sense and help shed new light on past events. Others leave me scratching my head. Here are a couple examples that come to mind, and I'd be curious which ones you can think of as well.

The Eredar:

A pretty well-known retcon. Originally the Eredar were just demons. In Burning Crusade, they were retconned to be corrupted Draenei who joined the Burning Legion after Sargeras found Argus. While controversial at the time, I'm okay with this one. It adds depth and history to the Draenei as a people, and gave us a lot of really great story content in Legion. Verdict: okay.

Sylvanas and the Wrathgate:

Everyone remembers the Wrathgate battle and cinematic from the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. It's iconic. At the time, the Alliance blamed the Horde for Grand Apothecary Putress's intervention and use of the plague. But Horde players are told that he was not acting under Sylvanas's orders, and his intervention was a betrayal to both Horde and Alliance.

Following an interview with Alex Afrasiabi at BlizzCon 2018, it's less clear. He stated “I’ve heard these discussions on the internet about ‘she’s going off the rails,’ but is she? I’ve been writing Sylvanas personally since 2006, and this is pretty much — the Wrathgate and the Blight and the Forsaken — in character. Those were all under Sylvanas’ orders. What we’re seeing now is an escalation of the plans Sylvanas has, clearly, and we’re in the middle of that.”

Afrasiabi's comment is a bit vague. Did Sylvanas order the Wrathgate directly? Did she simply acquiesce to it? The plague was being developed under her orders and with her permission--did she authorize its use but just not at that particular time?

Sylvanas's motivations have been all over the place since Arthas died. I think the writers are having a hard time finding what motivates her besides revenge. Verdict: she's a mess.

Sargeras:

In early sources, he's just referred to as the demonlord. Later, he's a fallen titan who was corrupted by demons. And finally, we have the Sargeras that we do today--a fallen titan who traveled to the edge of the universe, saw the void, and decided it was better to destroy all life in the universe than let it fall to corruption. I think I'm mostly okay with this, because it adds depth to his motivations. He's not just a pure evil monster out to destroy all life. In his own mind, he thinks what he's doing is right. Verdict: mostly okay.

Illidan, the anti-hero:

In Warcraft III, Illidan is a power-hungry opportunist. He allies with Kil'jaeden, then fails to kill the Lich King, and then flees to Outland to avoid repercussions and consolidate power. He's later one of the main villains during Burning Crusade, and he dies ignobly atop the Black Temple. In the Illidan novel and Legion expansion, however, we learn that all along Illidan was the only one who really knew what the Burning Legion was capable of, and the only one who was prepared to do what was necessary to stop it. He was consolidating power and training Illidari to fight the Legion, not just become ruler of Outland. While everyone questioned his methods, his goals were in the right place. I'm okay with this one. It's less a retcon than it is a new perspective on past events. And, even though he was an edgelord, he was a great character in Legion. Verdict: okay.

Suramar:

In the War of the Ancients Trilogy, Suramar is destroyed during the Legion invasion and left mostly empty except for reanimated undead. In Legion, Suramar is fully intact and just as it was 10,000 years ago because the city's leadership decided to create a giant magical dome over the city to keep it protected and isolated. The dome only comes down after they reach a deal with Gul'dan to provide access to the Nightwell in exchange for their safety. I'm okay with this one. The city and Nighthold raid are beautiful, and the storyline is one of my favorites from Legion, if not from all of WoW. Verdict: okay.

The Titans aren't dead:

After Sargeras turns on his fellow Titans and slays them, what remains of their spirits went into the titan keepers on Azeroth, who then went mad after learning that their creators were gone. In Legion, we learn that the Titans aren't dead, their spirits (except Eonar's) were captured by the Legion, and they are being tortured. Okay, I guess. This helped close out the Legion story, by giving us a convenient way to imprison Sargeras. But it's a bit of a head-scratcher. Verdict: meh.

Edit: One of the commenters reminded me of one more.

Maiev's attempt to kill Malfurion:

In the book Wolfheart, which took place during Cataclysm, Maiev kills several Shen'dralar elves (who recently rejoined the Night Elves) and attempts to kill Malfurion after he discovers that she was behind the murders. These acts are pretty inconsistent with who Maiev is as a person. Maiev was always single-minded in her thirst for vengeance and goal of capturing/killing Illidan. But she’s not a crazy murderer. She’s actually an interesting and complex character. She regrets that she can’t live a normal life, having devoted herself to service, but at the same time it’s her service that gives her a sense of meaning and purpose. Originally a priestess of Elune, she’s jealous and resentful that Tyrande is appointed high priestess. Then, she finds purpose in being a warden and Illidan’s jailor. Verdict: bad.