Recaps

Tirion Fordring persuaded Sylvanas to resurrect his children and sent Thrall a plan to lure adventurers into an arena, where their remains would feed the Orcs and strengthen the Forsaken. Thrall accepted the scheme and began plotting to remove Bolvar, leaving the Alliance at risk of becoming the Horde’s source of provisions.

• Tirion Fordring asked Sylvanas to resurrect his children as Forsaken, and she agreed after reading his letter to Thrall.
• Tirion Fordring described his plan to restore the Ashbringer and attract adventurers, then celebrated with the Undead soldiers.
• Thrall faced famine and political pressure in Orgrimmar as Saurfang, Doras, Dranosh, and Garrosh held power and provisions.
• Thrall received Tirion Fordring’s proposal to use an arena to draw adventurers to Northrend and turn the fallen into food and Forsaken recruits.
• Thrall decided to send a trained child back to Stormwind and secretly work with Jaina and the Peace Dove to drive Bolvar out.

Robbie returned to Northrend and learned that Azeroth’s rejection was aging the Scourge, leaving them less than a year before they had to leave the world. Arthas planned to remove the threat of aetrite ore and find a way to restore the Undead using the Moon Goddess Elune’s power, while Robbie turned his attention to stirring trouble in Stormwind City.

• Arthas told Robbie that Elune had opened a rift to Argus, drawing the Scourge into war with the Burning Legion and preventing them from dealing with the Orcs.
• Arthas explained that Azeroth rejected the Scourge because their rapid growth threatened the World Soul, and that they had less than a year before they had to withdraw.
• Arthas revealed his plan to remove the threat of aetrite ore and use Elune’s power of nature and life to find a way to turn the Undead into humans.
• Arthas proposed threatening the Orcs to provoke Elune into acting, and Robbie suggested working with Tirion Fordring so he could gain Elune’s attention and support.
• Robbie and Arthas discussed their plans, and Robbie turned his attention to causing trouble in Stormwind City.

Robbie warned Duke Bolvar and Onyxia that a claimant to Stormwind’s throne was returning, while Jaina brought the man she believed to be Varian Wrynn to Theramore and prepared to secure his return. The chapter ended with Jaina leaving him under Valeera and Broll’s protection as she sought help negotiating with Stormwind’s leaders.

• Eitrigg learned that Rehgar had failed to train the human called Ghost Wolf and ordered him to arrange the man’s secret escape with Valeera Sanguinar and Broll Bearmantle, then send them to Theramore to meet Jaina.
• Robbie told Duke Bolvar and Onyxia that the false king was about to return and advised them to obstruct his entry into Stormwind, then preserve their strength once Varian regained power.
• Jaina told the middle-aged man that he was Varian Wrynn, king of Stormwind, and instructed him to obey Thrall as his master.
• Jaina decided to test her own ability to persuade Bolvar and Onyxia to accept Varian’s claim, using Peace Dove’s connections and Guardian Medivh’s influence if needed.
• At Stormwind’s harbor, Jaina arranged for Valeera and Broll to guard the man while she entered the city to contact Peace Dove and seek Reginald Marshal Windsor’s help.

Jaina visited Lady Windsor and learned that Marshal Windsor had been captured by the Dark Iron Dwarves in the Burning Steppes. She began assembling prisoners and a guide to help rescue him, promising Landuofei Moluo Ke his freedom in return for his help.

• Lady Windsor told Jaina that Marshal Windsor had led troops to Lakeshire to bring Stormwind City into the Horde, but the Dark Iron Dwarves had captured him and imprisoned him in the Black Iron Prison.
• Jaina promised Lady Windsor that she would rescue the marshal, and Lady Windsor offered the estate as a contact point.
• Jaina met Sai'erwote in the Stockade and asked him to recommend powerful prisoners for the rescue mission.
• Sai'erwote recommended Tata'er and three Blackrock Orcs, whom Jaina chose to recruit.
• Sai'erwote identified Landuofei Moluo Ke as a guide familiar with the Burning Steppes and Blackrock Spire.
• Jaina exposed Landuofei Moluo Ke's identity as His Highness Qiaoluo and offered him freedom and a chance to serve Thrall if he helped her.

Jaina recruited five prisoners to help rescue Marshal Windsor and restore King Varian, then brought them to Windsor Manor to seek the marshal’s family’s cooperation. After Tata'er killed the marshal’s youngest son, Jaina coerced young Windsor into serving her.

• Jaina recruited Tata'er, Landuofei Moluo Ke, and the three Blackrock brothers, while Robbie confirmed that Sai'erwote's task was complete.
• On the road, Tata'er attacked Landuofei, who overpowered him and drained his blood before Jaina ordered him to stop.
• At Windsor Manor, Jaina told Lady Windsor that King Varian had secretly entered Stormwind City and asked for the family’s help rescuing Marshal Windsor.
• Tata'er went into a frenzy and killed the marshal’s youngest son, and Jaina defended the Orc and threatened Lady Windsor.
• Young Windsor returned with officers and guards, then agreed to serve Queen Jaina after she pressured him to choose sides.

Jaina agreed to disguise herself as a green-skinned female Orc to trade for Marshal Windsor, then traveled with Randolf to the Burning Steppes to arrange access to Blackrock Depths. Randolf secured a pass to The Grim Guzzler and proposed using proof of a real female Orc to draw Emperor Thaurissan into negotiations.

• Jaina ordered young Windsor to arrange Gryphons, travel permits, and an army on standby, then discussed the rescue plan with Randolf.
• Randolf warned that invisibility would not overcome Blackrock Depths' defenses and proposed trading a beautiful female Orc for Marshal Windsor.
• Jaina agreed to the dangerous plan and instructed Valeera and Broll to protect King Varian before leaving for the Burning Steppes with Randolf and their companions.
• At Morgan's Vigil, Randolf befriended the Firegut Ogre Tribe and obtained a pass to The Grim Guzzler.
• Randolf explained that the pass allowed entry only to the bar and suggested Jaina obtain a real green-skinned female Orc through her connection to Thrall.

Randolf tricked Jaina into entering Blackrock Depths, where Emperor Thaurissan tried to force her to become his queen. At Morgan's Vigil, Randolf collected his payment and Robbie revealed that he had sold Jaina to Thaurissan, then assigned Randolf one final task.

• Jaina agreed to accompany Randolf into the Grim Guzzler, believing she could keep his dealings with Emperor Thaurissan under control.
• Randolf and Jaina traveled in a Dark Iron transporter, but Jaina emerged alone in Blackrock Depths and discovered Emperor Thaurissan had trapped her.
• Thaurissan demanded that Jaina become his queen, and she tried to escape but found her teleportation magic blocked.
• Thaurissan transformed into a Fire Elemental lord, but Jaina summoned shadow magic and warned him that he did not understand true power.
• At Morgan's Vigil, Randolf accepted a bag of gold from Robbie and learned that Jaina had been sold to Thaurissan for an astronomical price.
• Robbie told Randolf to terrify Tata'er and the three Blackrock Orcs, who were probably hungry.

Randolf sent Tagar the Terrible and the three Blackrock brothers back to Lakeshire, where they revived their plans to prey on travelers. Meanwhile, Varian Wrynn disappeared from Stormwind City and was captured by Tagar’s group near a human settlement.

• Randolf warned Tagar and the three Blackrock brothers that Jaina no longer needed them and prompted them to return to Lakeshire by suggesting Varian’s return would restore their raiding permits.
• Tagar led the three brothers toward Lakeshire, planning to gather Gath'Ilzogg’s remnants and become the new Blackrock warlord.
• Valeera found the king’s room empty and discovered her money pouch was missing; Broll suspected Varian had gone out on his own, while Valeera went to search for him.
• Varian regained consciousness near a lake, headed toward a nearby town, and was caught in barbed nets set by Tagar’s group.
• Tagar knocked Varian unconscious and ordered the others to prepare a campfire, pleased that they had caught a man they could eat.

Jaina escaped Emperor Thaurissan’s trap with Moira Bronzebeard’s help, revealing that Moira had been secretly working with her and Guardian Medivh. The story left off with Moira showing Jaina that Marshal Windsor had learned Dark Illusion Magic.

• Emperor Thaurissan used a Holy Light net to bind Jaina and revealed that he wanted the power of the Old Gods for himself.
• Jaina revealed that Guardian Medivh had prepared for Thaurissan, and Moira Bronzebeard’s intervention caused the Paladins to abandon their posts and free her.
• Jaina’s tendrils attacked Thaurissan’s avatar while Moira admitted she had lived with him only to help save Azeroth and claimed he was not the child’s father.
• Moira stopped Jaina from killing Thaurissan, saying his death would be difficult to explain, and led her to ask about Marshal Windsor.
• Moira showed Jaina Windsor in prison, where his Dark Illusion Magic transformed a Dark Iron Dwarf jailer into a black Dragonkin.

Jaina recruited Marshal Windsor into Peace Dove and sent him to Morgan's Vigil before their planned move against the Black Dragon Princess. Windsor led soldiers toward Lakeshire to avenge himself on Mayor Solomon, but the Gnolls routed his force, leaving him alone as Tagar and the Lakeshire brothers spotted a human.

• Jaina disguised Windsor as a Dragonkin, promised him a future as Stormwind's regent, and recruited him into Peace Dove.
• Windsor asked Jaina to help him take revenge on Mayor Solomon, and she brought him to Morgan's Vigil to meet his son John.
• John told Windsor that an Orc named Tagar had killed and eaten Timmy, but Windsor called it an honor for his family.
• Windsor led fewer than thirty Stormwind guards and several dozen sentries toward Lakeshire, where a vast Gnoll force drove the humans into flight.
• Windsor became separated from his men while Tagar and the Lakeshire brothers hid nearby and spotted a human approaching.

Jaina rescued Marshal Windsor from Tagar and the Lakeshire brothers, then learned they had eaten King Varian and took his remains to seek Meryl Winterstorm’s help. Windsor returned to Stormwind City amid a show of support and confronted Onyxia in Stormwind Keep, declaring her reign over.

• Tagar and the three Lakeshire brothers captured Windsor and began roasting him, but Jaina found and rescued him.
• Jaina discovered the Orcs had eaten King Varian, collected his remains, and took them to Theramore to seek Meryl Winterstorm’s help.
• Jaina told Windsor to return to Stormwind City and stabilize the situation while she tried to revive Varian.
• Windsor and his son John returned to Stormwind City, where Marcus Jonathan and cheering citizens welcomed the marshal.
• Windsor entered Stormwind Keep and accused Onyxia of infiltrating the city, declaring that her rule was over.

Windsor accused Countess Katrana and her guards of being Black Dragons, but they were revealed to be his wife and Windsor Family relatives. He chose to uphold the accusation, and after Onyxia exposed herself and defeated Stormwind’s guards, Windsor escaped while Bolvar announced he would go to Northrend.

• Windsor ordered Marcus to assemble Stormwind’s city defense elites and accused Countess Katrana and her guards of being disguised Black Dragons.
• Bolvar revealed that the woman was Windsor’s wife and the soldiers were his relatives, but Windsor insisted they were illusions and used Dark Illusion Magic to turn them into apparent Black Dragons and Dragonkin.
• Marcus and the city guards killed Windsor’s wife and relatives, and Windsor accepted the destruction of his family as the price of becoming Regent.
• Onyxia revealed herself, mocked Windsor for being used by Jaina, and turned Marcus’s guards into black statues with her magic.
• Windsor escaped using Jaina’s magic scroll, while Onyxia asked Bolvar what he planned to do and Bolvar said he belonged in Northrend.

Windsor was summoned to Orgrimmar, where Thrall forced him to transform his daughter into a fake Black Dragon so the Horde could claim credit for killing the Black Dragon Princess, then had Windsor eaten. The chapter then introduced Meryl Winterstorm’s secret academy for Legion demons, where Jaina visited the necromancer.

• Windsor arrived at the Delicious Time Hotel in Orgrimmar and asked to see Thrall.
• Thrall demanded that Windsor prove his willingness to sacrifice for Azeroth, and Eitrigg brought in Windsor’s daughter.
• Windsor used Dark Illusion Magic to turn his daughter into a Black Dragon, and Eitrigg cut off her head.
• Thrall praised Eitrigg, then ordered the Orcs to tear Windsor apart and eat him.
• Jaina entered Winterstorm Academy and met Meryl Winterstorm, who dismissed Arthas as an apprentice in Undead magic.

Jaina sought Meryl Winterstorm’s help in resurrecting King Varian, but Meryl claimed fate prevented him from intervening and told her to seek Elune’s aid. Robbie’s scheme sent Jaina to Moonglade, where she threatened its guardian Remulos.

• Jaina asked Meryl to resurrect King Varian and help stop Arthas, but he refused to intervene, warning that changing fate could destroy Azeroth or the universe.
• Meryl told Jaina to seek Elune’s help, then was struck by a storm of lightning after revealing the secret; Jaina escaped while the Legion stronghold collapsed.
• Robbie watched Meryl emerge unharmed from a hidden basement and revealed that his plan was to make Jaina seek Elune’s resurrection power so the Scourge could learn it.
• Jaina went to Moonglade to find a way to contact Elune and avoid facing Tyrande and Malfurion after destroying the Horn of Nordrassil.
• Remulos confronted Jaina and told her she was unwelcome, but Jaina threatened him and demanded his cooperation.

Jaina learned that resurrecting Varian required the Scythe of Elune and two powerful spellcasters, but she was tempted to replace him with an impostor instead. Meanwhile, Darion and Alexandros discussed their past schemes and grew wary of the Scourge’s approaching end.

• Remulos told Jaina that the Scythe of Elune could balance life and death, and that an Archdruid and a necromancer had to use it together to resurrect Varian.
• Remulos said the Scythe had last been seen in Duskwood and suggested asking the Explorers' League in Ironforge for help, while proposing that Jaina find someone to impersonate Varian.
• Jaina left Moonglade considering the replacement plan, while Robbie suspected the Scythe lead was a trap and decided Tirion Fordring could be a suitable candidate.
• Darion Mograine spoke with Alexandros Mograine about his failed scheme involving the Scarlet Crusade and the Argent Dawn, and Alexandros warned him against trusting Tirion Fordring.
• Alexandros told Darion that he had seen the real Baron Rivendare and believed the Scourge's end was coming, so they should prepare to escape.

Alexandros and Darion plotted to replace the Argent Dawn as the Scourge neared its downfall, and learned that Tirion Fordring and Sylvanas also planned to attack Light's Hope Chapel. After Kel'Thuzad placed Darion in command of Acherus, the conspirators met to plan their alliance, with Tirion offering Alexandros leadership of the resistance.

• Alexandros told Darion that the Scourge's core members were cursed and proposed taking down the Argent Dawn before the Scourge fell.
• Alexandros introduced Darion to Taelan Fordring, who revealed that Tirion Fordring planned to attack Light's Hope Chapel with help from Sylvanas.
• Darion agreed to cooperate with Tirion Fordring and Sylvanas, while Alexandros promised they would part ways after defeating the Argent Dawn.
• Darion requested duty at Acherus, and Kel'Thuzad made him commander of the fortress and let him select his trainees.
• Alexandros and Darion met Tirion Fordring and Nathanos Blightcaller at a secret stronghold, where Tirion offered to serve as Alexandros's deputy.

Darion and the Forsaken staged a Scourge attack on Light's Hope Chapel to help Alexandros and Tirion take control of the Argent Dawn, but the chapel's defenders barely responded. Tirion appeared to confront Darion, beginning the planned spectacle.

• Alexandros, Tirion Fordring, and Blightcaller agreed that Darion would stage an attack on Light's Hope Chapel, after which Alexandros would persuade Darion to join him and help defeat the Lich King.
• Darion led three hundred Death Knight trainees to the chapel, but its defenders shut the gates and refused to mount a real resistance.
• Blightcaller surrounded the chapel with three thousand Forsaken soldiers, and Darion and Blightcaller staged a loud charge without attacking.
• Darion summoned low-level undead and delivered a dramatic speech, while a voice inside the chapel called on the defenders to trust the Holy Light.
• Tirion Fordring descended in a blaze of Holy Light and knocked Darion to the ground with one punch.

Tirion and Darion staged a battle at Light's Hope Chapel, with Tirion’s exaggerated displays winning the adventurers’ admiration. Tirion then revealed Alexandros as a hostage and ordered Darion to bring him the Ashbringer, while Alexandros warned Darion that Tirion’s performance was a plot.

• Tirion knocked Darion into a crater, then used staged attacks to make the Death Knight trainees and many Forsaken fall while Goblin cameramen recorded him.
• Darion pretended to surrender and claimed Light's Hope Chapel’s Holy Light made the Death Knights powerless, but Tirion countered by insulting Darion and boasting about his own strength.
• Tirion revealed Alexandros bound in a cage of Holy Light and privately threatened to destroy him unless Darion brought the Ashbringer.
• Alexandros told Darion that Tirion had arranged the deception and that the Ashbringer was cursed so Tirion could not claim it.
• Alexandros gave Darion the Ashbringer in exchange for his safety, then crumbled into ash under the Holy Light.

Darion refused to surrender the Ashbringer and attacked Taelan, who was pretending to be Arthas, nearly exposing the deception. As Tirion and Taelan continued their staged confrontation, the innkeeper of Light's Hope Chapel arrived with an offer of wine.

• Darion told the Blightcaller he would keep the Ashbringer, the only weapon that might let him survive.
• Taelan appeared in replica Lich King armor, and his power seemed to revive the Death Knights and Forsaken at Light's Hope Chapel.
• Darion broke free of the Blightcaller and leaped at Taelan, pointing the Ashbringer at his chest.
• Tirion Fordring hurried over, and Taelan continued the act by accusing Tirion of exposing himself to the Lich King.
• The innkeeper walked onto the battlefield and invited Darion, Taelan, and Tirion to share wine.

Darion followed Tirion Fordring into Light's Hope Chapel and discovered that Eitrigg had been directing the Argent Dawn and had arranged his father's murder. Darion rejected Eitrigg's demand that he serve him and threatened to curse Tirion so they would both die if Darion was harmed.

• Darion kept Taelan under his sword and followed Tirion Fordring into the seemingly empty Light's Hope Chapel.
• Eitrigg entered with armed Orcs and revealed that he had sent the men who ambushed Alexandros.
• Darion recalled how he had uncovered the Argent Dawn's crimes against innocent people and planned to replace the organization before trusting Eitrigg had ruined his scheme.
• Eitrigg offered to spare Darion if he served him by slaughtering innocents and blaming the Scourge, but Darion refused to believe him.
• Darion demanded that he place a curse on Tirion Fordring, threatening that Tirion would die if anything happened to him.

Darion forced Tirion Fordring to claim the purified Ashbringer and present a staged victory over Arthas, while Nathanos Blightcaller accepted Sylvanas’s mission to retrieve a soul in Duskwood. There, a Firebloom stirred memories of the girl Lisa, whom Nathanos had met when he was young.

• Darion and Eitrigg had Tirion Fordring beaten and cursed, then sent him out with the purified Ashbringer to stage a victory over Arthas.
• Tirion Fordring used the staged battle to recruit for the Argent Dawn, while Darion returned to Acherus and focused on supplying Death Knights to whoever paid.
• Nathanos Blightcaller told Sylvanas that the Orcs were disregarding the Forsaken’s interests, and Sylvanas revealed her plan to target Gilneas instead of the Plaguelands.
• Sylvanas sent Nathanos to retrieve a soul in Duskwood, with Antonidas accompanying him as her assistant.
• At Vulgol Ogre Mound, Nathanos noticed an out-of-season Firebloom and told Antonidas how he had met a girl named Lisa in Darkshire.

Antonidas and the Blightcaller approached the Vulgol Ogre Mound to obtain a soul, but the Blightcaller charged in and was crushed by the Ogres. Antonidas resurrected him and devised a deceptive approach, then used a magical display to open negotiations with an Ogre sentry.

• The Blightcaller told Antonidas how he left Lisa to study Magecraft at Karazhan, where Medivh deceived him into serving as a stable hand, and how he later found Lisa forgotten in Duskwood.
• Antonidas speculated that an Old God-like being might have erased memories of Lisa, while the Blightcaller described meeting Sylvanas and feeling alive again.
• Antonidas warned that the Vulgol Ogres might possess an unknown advantage, but the Blightcaller ignored him and attacked their camp alone.
• More than a hundred Ogres trampled the Blightcaller, then threw his remains into Raven Hill because they would not eat Undead flesh.
• Antonidas rebuilt the Blightcaller's body from bones and proposed using deception to deal with the Ogres.
• Antonidas and the hooded Blightcaller returned to the mound, where Antonidas showed a sentry a magical vision of Azeroth and offered to discuss a deal.

Antonidas negotiated with Zhakeuer to purify the Vulgol Ogre Mound in exchange for training Ogre Mages, then discovered King Varian Wrynn’s soul and bargained with C’Thun to claim it. He captured the soul in a crystal ball and began considering how to use it.

• Antonidas persuaded Zhakeuer that a powerful source of magic lay beneath the cave and offered to purify it and train Ogre Mages in return for access.
• Antonidas prepared a ritual with the Ogres and summoned the restless souls haunting the cave.
• Antonidas discovered King Varian Wrynn’s soul among the spirits and was confronted by C’Thun.
• C’Thun demanded that Antonidas become his pawn, and Antonidas agreed to serve him in the distant future.
• C’Thun released Varian Wrynn’s soul, and Antonidas captured it in a crystal ball.

Sylvanas learned that she could use King Varian’s soul to gain leverage over Jaina and considered resurrecting him as a puppet ruler of Stormwind. In Theramore, Jaina abandoned her lookalike plan after learning Sylvanas had the soul and ordered Kalecgos to eat the candidate so she could pursue resurrection first.

• The Blightcaller presented King Varian’s soul to Sylvanas, who asked Antonidas how it could be used.
• Antonidas advised holding the soul as leverage over Jaina, but Sylvanas proposed putting Varian on Stormwind’s throne as a Forsaken-controlled king.
• Varimathras warned that the Legion could only resurrect Varian as a Demon and told Sylvanas that Jaina had sought Master Meryl’s guidance about Elune.
• Varimathras suggested using the soul to pressure Jaina and assured Sylvanas that his network of Dreadlords could keep her actions under surveillance.
• Jaina prepared a nobleman to impersonate Varian, but a letter informed her that Sylvanas had obtained the real king’s soul.
• Jaina ordered Kalecgos to eat the lookalike and declared that they had to resurrect Varian before Sylvanas could.

Jaina learned that the Scythe of Elune was last seen in Duskwood, where it might be connected to the sixth Old God, and went there with Kalecgos to seek it. Sylvanas also set out for Duskwood, while Kites began telling Jaina his story after Kalecgos left to find spider legs for him to eat.

• Jaina trusted Kalecgos and told him she needed the Scythe of Elune to bring King Varian back to life.
• Kalecgos relayed Sathrovarr's intelligence that the scythe was last seen in Duskwood, where the Thousand-Faced God, a suspected sixth Old God, might be hidden.
• Kalecgos told Jaina that a Darkshire resident named Kites had seen the scythe at Roland's Grave, and Jaina decided to investigate Duskwood herself.
• Varimathras warned Sylvanas that the sixth Old God was extremely dangerous, so she ordered Antonidas and Nathanos to accompany her to Duskwood and asked Antonidas to watch Jaina from afar.
• Jaina and Kalecgos found Kites at Raven Hill, where he refused to answer questions unless they brought him roasted spider legs.
• After Kalecgos went into the forest, Kites eagerly offered to tell Jaina about the Scythe of Elune and tried to take her hand.