And this theory particularly relates to Nozdormu because lore has it that he was shown the moment of his own death by the titans when he was made the aspect of time, and the titans told him that the moment of his death could not be changed. To keep him humble, or something.

But what if the certain, specific knowledge of his end caused him to go a little crazy and he decides that the titans were wrong and he can avoid his death. If he just makes the right changes in the timeline.

This, Nozdormu trying to cheat fate, is one of the common speculated origins for the Infinite dragonflight.

I have a tendency to overthink the reactions of time travel, so bare with me with what I am about to say.

If you are a being that has full perception of time, it's beginning and it's end, as well as your own, then quite frankly, what would trigger a reaction from this being? Why would the shepard of time "suddenly" decide that he needed to alter things in order to preserve his own life? Why wouldn't he take the defensive stance from the very instant he knew the outcome of his existance?

For me, the theory that his knowledge of his death has driven him to alter time falls on it's face because of this. A being that knows all cannot be affected by events during his life time. He plans for them. There is no reaction.

However, things BEYOND his death are another matter. The death of the aspect of time would lead to a lack of control. His very death would allow his own flight to steer away from it's own path.

@ Paul

This. I, personally, like the theory that the Infinites purpose is not REALLY to actually alter time, but to train and prepare the Bronze dragonflight to face the challenges of the future after Nozdormu has passed on. The Infinite's supposed "goals" often SEEM noble. "Prevent the horde from coming to Azeroth, and save countless lives!" If anything, in the face of such a goal, it almost seems wrong to STOP them. There in lies the test. The Bronze flight must maintain their commitment to their duty and protect the time line, even against attempts to change history "for the better". IF they cannot maintain that commitment, then they will eventually stray from their path, and who knows what the consequences could be.

That, and I'm mostly keeping my fingers crossed that this DOESN'T turn into another "Go kill this important lore figure because they're crazy". Honestly, if it comes to the point where we DO kill Nozdormu, I hope he's perfectly sane and fully aware that this is how he's suppose to die. I want him to go along with it as the ultimate act of "preserving the timeline". (He doesn't need to lay down and let us kill him, in this situation. After all, perhaps the difficulty of the fight allows us to walk away with valuable combat experience that we will need in the future.)

Well, Paul, we can't really answer your questions without a deep understanding of how time works in the setting and how time is perceived by beings with a super-human perception of time.

And the creators of fictional settings and stories usually don't really think things through that deeply when they include time travel, unfortunately. Having time travel in your story and really thinking about the implications tends to lead to a recursive line of "yeah, but what about..." questions and never actually writing your story. In general, worldbuilders are strongly advised to not have time travel in their settings, no matter how cool the timey wimey stuff seems.

So what I'm getting at is, I think Bliz will end up being superficial and hand-wavy about how Nozdormu and his flight operate.

My obligatory theory as to the origins and purpose of the Infinite Dragonflight is slightly less glamorous as most people's. I think that they are, like the chromatic, twilight, and netherwing flights before them, a species created by the fell meddling of the deranged black dragonflight.

I believe that Deathwing creates the Infinite flight using the eggs of bronze dragons, and appoints them the task of reversing his inevitable death. It would make sense given the black flight's obvious obsession with breeding new species of dragons, as well as having the benefit of being able to tie into the Cataclysm theme.

Maybe just maybe Norzdormu will travel forward in time and kill Norzdormu before Norzdormu gets killed by Norzdormu.