Prince Kael'thas had power and influence, but he was politically naïve. After Silvermoon City fell, he ignored the undead still running rampant back home and shamelessly went begging to the humans like a lapdog. Grand Marshal Garithos tormented him mercilessly and even threw him into prison.
With no other choice, he turned to Illidan, only to be thoroughly duped by him. Then he turned to the Burning Legion, and Kil'jaeden deceived him into squandering his elite troops and even losing his own life. From the moment he took power, his luck had been one disaster after another.
But in all fairness, Yu Lin Bloodhawk did not think Prince Kael'thas had done anything wrong. Everything he had done had been for his people; he had given them everything. From the perspective of the High Elves of Quel'Thalas, Kael'thas was their undisputed hero.
His political methods were simply too naïve.
He had been wrong from the very beginning. He trusted the Alliance too much. If he refused Illidan's aid, his entire army would be wiped out, but if he accepted it, he would be branded a traitor. In the end, Dalaran would imprison him, perhaps even sentence him to death.
From the day he joined the Alliance, his death had been sealed. Whatever he chose, he could not escape it.
The queen, however, was different. In life, she had been the Ranger-General; in death, she had become a banshee. Yet she had broken free of the Lich King's control, nearly killed Arthas, and established her own Forsaken kingdom in Undercity. She had even seized little Arthas's territory and eventually become the Horde's Warchief.
How capable did someone have to be to pull that off? She was practically another Wu Zetian!
If those two got together, and Sylvanas could be kept alive during