Upon reflecting on Cataclysm, I realized there was quite the future foundation laying for Demon Hunters.

1. Achievement for finding Demon Hunter in Darkshore "Ghosts in the Dark"
2. Long quest chain with Blood Mage which has you bring a Demon Hunter back from the dead, which nobly makes a big sacrifice right afterwards.
3. Felwood, Demon Hunter named Feronas Sindweller is a kill target for a quest, only to find that he has been killing demons, rather than druids. He then proceeds to show you what most NPCs and all of BC seem to ignore, Illidan sought power, but not to conquer or lord over others, but rather to help his people and prove himself to Night Elves, in particular Tyrande. He did these things, however, with a reckless attitude (poor Lord Blackforest).

So all of these were added in Cataclysm, which makes me wonder about the possibility of a Demon Hunter class in the next expansion. HOWEVER, I find that there are a couple of things in the way of that.

1. Demo Warlocks are becoming more and more like WC3 Metamorphosis Demon Hunters (Book in Stormwind explains a warlock learned the secrets to Illidan's transformation)
2. The Warlock challenge set in Mists of Pandaria is extremely Illidan themed, which going along with the Demo Warlock changes, makes me wonder if the lore is trying to peg Illidan and Demon Hunters into the Warlock class. This would be an alternative to having Demon Hunters having their own theme and class(with the obvious exception of not using warglaives).

So what does this evidence point to? Illidan is likely coming back, but will Demon Hunters be a new class? Or will their theme be absorbed into Demo Warlocks? What was the purpose of laying all this foundation in Cataclysm?

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"I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self."