Merely A Setback is a World of Warcraft catchphrase pulled from a Kael'thas Sunstrider speech added in the March 2008 patch Fury of the Sunwell[2]. After Kael'thas was killed by raiders in Tempest Keep and then returned as a boss in Magister's Terrace, his opening line about the earlier defeat being merely a setback became the community's go-to joke every time a dead boss came back in a later expansion.
Origin
The line comes from Kael'thas Sunstrider, the exiled Blood Elf prince who was the final boss of the Tempest Keep raid in The Burning Crusade expansion[1]. Patch 2.4.0, Fury of the Sunwell, launched in March 2008 and brought him back as the final boss of the five-man Magister's Terrace dungeon, this time as a wretched creature trying to summon the demon lord Kil'jaeden[2]. He opens the encounter with 'Tempest Keep was merely a setback,' and players lifted the line straight into their own vocabulary[3].
- Platform: World of Warcraft (video game)
- Creator: Blizzard Entertainment
- Date: 2008
Overview
The format is a fill-in-the-blank on Kael'thas's opening line, with players swapping in whichever dungeon or raid a resurrected boss originally died in[1]. Any villain who got a second life in a later patch is fair game: Kel'Thuzad, Onyxia, Anub'arak, Edwin VanCleef, Arugal. The joke lands because WoW's rotating-door approach to killing off major antagonists made the pattern obvious to anyone who had raided for more than one expansion[5].
Tone is affectionate ribbing rather than genuine complaint. Players kept firing it off whenever datamined boss lists leaked ahead of a new expansion, treating any familiar name as a punchline waiting to happen. Blizzard eventually acknowledged the running gag inside the game itself by writing a version of the line into an Icecrown Citadel boss encounter[4].
How It Spread
The template caught on because Kael'thas was a prominent early example of a boss coming back after being killed in a raid, and the pattern worked cleanly on anyone who followed[5]. Kel'Thuzad and Onyxia both got the treatment when their level-60 encounters were rebuilt as level-80 fights in Wrath of the Lich King, and Anub'arak drew it after dying in Azjol-Nerub and then again in the Trial of the Crusader raid[1].
Blizzard turned the joke into a canonical callback in the Icecrown Citadel raid. Blood Prince Valanar, an undead Blood Elf killed earlier in a Wrath of the Lich King quest chain, opens the Blood Council fight by shouting 'Naxxanar was merely a setback!'[4]. Once Cataclysm was announced, players were already applying the line to previewed bosses like Edwin VanCleef and Arugal before the expansion shipped[3].
How to Use
Follow the 'X was merely a setback' template, where X is whichever dungeon or raid a returning WoW boss originally died in. Common convention is to fire it off whenever a new expansion or patch preview reveals that a familiar villain is coming back for another rerun[1].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Merely A Setback?
A World of Warcraft catchphrase drawn from a Kael'thas Sunstrider boss speech added in Patch 2.4.0 in March 2008[2].
Where did Merely A Setback come from?
Kael'thas Sunstrider says 'Tempest Keep was merely a setback' when players fight him in the Magister's Terrace five-man dungeon[1].
What does Merely A Setback mean?
Among WoW players it is a joke about how bosses killed in earlier content keep coming back as recycled encounters in later patches[3].
How do you use Merely A Setback?
Fill in whichever dungeon or raid a resurrected villain originally died in, following the 'X was merely a setback' template[5].
Is Merely A Setback still popular?
It stayed a classic reference among WoW players well after the Wrath of the Lich King era, and Blizzard cemented it by scripting a callback for Blood Prince Valanar in Icecrown Citadel[4].
