WotC has misled us...?

[DracoKnight]

So, during the lead up to Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Wizards of the Coast released a statblock for Vlaakith, the Lich Queen of the Githyanki (http://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/dragon/19/DRA19_LichQueen2.pdf). In Tome of Foes, we got an entire chapter on Githyanki. Y'know who was absent from the Bestiary chapter, though?

Vlaakith.

We have an adventure coming out later this year (Codenamed Broadway, IIRC), what if the sly foxes at WotC weren't teasing Tome of Foes when they released her stats, but instead the adventure to come?

Mind you, all of the other statblocks the released are (to my knowledge) in the book. But the matriarch of a race that had an entire chapter in the book is completely absent.

[SaintRidley]

Considering her presence in Dragon+ is entirely in the D&D Classic section updating some classic stuff, I don't see why it was expected she'd be part of the book other than the fact that there was a chapter on Gith.

[Armored Walrus]

Given the theme of the stream (http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/events/some) in which they will be announcing the new adventure, I'm thinking it will be something more, let's say, eye-opening than a githyanki queen.

[GandalfTheWhite]

Considering her presence in Dragon+ is entirely in the D&D Classic section updating some classic stuff, I don't see why it was expected she'd be part of the book other than the fact that there was a chapter on Gith.

A couple things:

1) They had an entire chapter on the gith, which you already pointed out.
2) I don't see them going to the trouble to stat her out and make the statblock pretty for Dragon Mag.
3) It wouldn't have been a lot of trouble to include it in the Tome of Foes.
4) The chatter has been that we're getting a planar adventure next. With Mordenkainen's focusing on the planar wars, it would make sense if we step back and look at the last couple of books:

Volo's gave us Tabaxi as a race and several monsters that feature within the Tomb of Annihilation. Then in Xanathar's they gave us a bunch of subclasses focused on planar powers. And again, Mordenkainen's is focused on planar conflicts...so to have a big NPC important to one of the races in covered in Mordenkainen's not appear in the book makes me think that the next adventure could be related to Vlaakith in some way.

On the other hand, Stream of Many Eyes is a thing that's coming out soon. But (going back to Xanathar's) it could be possible that you're working for the Many Eyes since Xanathar's humorous side turned out to be pretty popular. So I could see him enlisting a party of adventurers to slay the might Vlaakith.

The downside there, would be that that would make the last two BBEGs souped-up Liches. Which could make it feel a little repetitive.

[Requiemforlust]

Considering her presence in Dragon+ is entirely in the D&D Classic section updating some classic stuff, I don't see why it was expected she'd be part of the book other than the fact that there was a chapter on Gith.

It's an interestingly pointed exclusion either way.

[Armored Walrus]

On the other hand, Stream of Many Eyes is a thing that's coming out soon. But (going back to Xanathar's) it could be possible that you're working for the Many Eyes since Xanathar's humorous side turned out to be pretty popular. So I could see him enlisting a party of adventurers to slay the might Vlaakith.

Ah, now that makes sense.

[DracoKnight]

Considering her presence in Dragon+ is entirely in the D&D Classic section updating some classic stuff, I don't see why it was expected she'd be part of the book other than the fact that there was a chapter on Gith.

Others've already pointed out why they think she should've been in Tome of Foes, but I for one did not realize she came out in Dragon Mag. Her statblock was shared with me in the context of being a spoiler for Tome of Foes.