Recaps

Varian persuaded Azeroth’s leaders to flee to Outland and secretly massacre Stormwind’s people for supplies, claiming the Kobolds would eventually die out. Thrall, Tirion Fordring, and Varian carried out the slaughter, while a few survivors escaped to Elwynn Forest or Westfall.

• Varian convinced the Emissary and the other leaders to escape to Outland, and Thrall and Sylvanas demanded Stormwind’s people and remains as provisions.
• Stormwind’s citizens debated whether Varian, Thrall, or Tirion Fordring was Azeroth’s greatest hero while guards marched toward Northshire Abbey.
• Thrall and the Orcs attacked the crowded square, and word of their massacre spread through Stormwind City.
• Tirion Fordring and the Argent Crusade slaughtered people fleeing at the city gates, while Varian and the Guard Legion attacked those seeking refuge at Stormwind Keep.
• After three days of killing, the Orcs made jerky from the corpses and the leaders seized food and wealth for their escape to Outland.
• A few survivors fled to Elwynn Forest and blamed the Scourge for Stormwind’s destruction, while others escaped to Westfall and kept silent.

Robbie witnessed Stormwind City’s destruction and the slaughter of its people, while the Peace Dove concealed the truth and Sylvanas’s Forsaken attacked Elwynn Forest. Marcus Jonathan kept Stormwind’s forces from returning to defend the city, and the leaders gathered their plundered supplies and crossed the Dark Portal.

• Robbie arrived at Stormwind City after it had been destroyed by Thrall, Varian, and Tirion Fordring, and saw the massacre hidden from history.
• A Peace Dove speaker in Goldshire blamed the Scourge, silenced a survivor who accused Thrall’s Orcs, and persuaded farmers to return home.
• Sylvanas used the bones and souls taken from Stormwind City to raise Forsaken in Elwynn Forest, then ordered the hunt to begin.
• When Hammond Clay urged Marcus Jonathan to defend Stormwind City, Marcus questioned who the enemy was and ordered his officers to fight Kobolds instead.
• Thrall, Tirion Fordring, Varian, and Sylvanas sent their supplies toward the Blasted Lands, where Jaina, Rhonin, King Magni Bronzebeard, and the Emissary awaited them by the Dark Portal.
• After Jaina and Rhonin kept the Dark Portal open, the assembled heroes began crossing it.

A'dal ordered Akama to ambush the Azerothian convoy entering Outland, using resurrected Black Temple soldiers to attack it on the Path of Glory. The leaders fled as their forces fought, while Prince Kael'thas vowed that none of them would escape.

• A'dal told Akama that Azeroth's heroes threatened Outland and persuaded him to mobilize the Ashtongue Deathsworn and retrieve corpses for resurrection.
• Jaina, Thrall, Sylvanas, and the others traveled across Hellfire Peninsula toward Nagrand, where Sylvanas learned the Draenei souls were beyond her reach.
• The Emissary stopped the convoy in a canyon after sensing danger, and Supremus the Infernal attacked with a wave of blue fire that Jaina blocked with ice.
• Resurrected Black Temple commanders and soldiers appeared on the cliffs, and Gurtogg Bloodboil led their charge against the convoy.
• Thrall and Jaina ordered their forces to hold off the attackers while they fled, and Akama asked Prince Kael'thas whether he would let them escape.
• Prince Kael'thas declared that none of the fleeing heroes would escape.

Kael'thas defeated the Alliance and Horde leaders who had fled to Outland and imprisoned them in the Black Temple. In Orgrimmar, Vol'jin tried to claim the Warchief title, but Garrosh Hellscream arrived and declared himself Warchief.

• Kael'thas captured Jaina, Antonidas, Sylvanas, and Thrall, then defeated Varian, Magni Bronzebeard, and Tirion Fordring; only the Emissary escaped.
• The returners from the Black Temple won and imprisoned the fleeing Alliance and Horde leaders in the Black Temple's dungeon.
• Vol'jin urged Eitrigg to support his claim to the Warchief title and asked him to tell Thrall's troops that Thrall was dead.
• Eitrigg agreed to make the arrangements, and Vol'jin celebrated his coming rule with him.
• Garrosh Hellscream and Saurfang the Great entered Vol'jin's tent with a crowd behind them, and Garrosh knocked Vol'jin down and claimed the Warchief title.

Varimathras corrupted the Primordial Emissary’s soul to interrogate him about Elune, learning that her followers did not know the secrets of her power and that she wanted Azeroth filled with death. In the Black Temple, Jaina used charm to persuade Akama to help her escape, but Kael'thas caught them and dispelled the spell.

• Varimathras brought the Primordial Emissary’s soul to Winterstorm Academy and used Fel to restore it enough for interrogation.
• Varimathras corrupted the Primordial Emissary until he became deranged, then used Dark Hypnosis to extract information about Elune.
• Varimathras learned that Elune’s Emissaries and favored ones did not know the secrets of her power, and that she wanted many people across Azeroth to die.
• Jaina, imprisoned and tortured in the Black Temple, charmed Akama and persuaded him to help her escape.
• Akama used a stolen key to open Jaina’s cell, but Kael'thas appeared and dispelled Jaina’s charm on him.
• Akama said he did not have a partner, leaving Jaina and Kael'thas bewildered.

Jaina offered Kael'thas a deal involving Thrall's plan to restore Outland by drawing on Azeroth's elemental powers, and Kael'thas agreed to hear the details. After Thrall was given a new body and joined a disturbing feast, he prepared to explain his plan to Kael'thas.

• Akama abandoned his feelings for Jaina after Kael'thas pointed out how brief her human lifespan was.
• Jaina proposed saving Outland by using Azeroth's elemental powers, and Kael'thas agreed to speak with Thrall after A'dal ordered him to accept her terms.
• Kael'thas showed Jaina the Soul Casket, revealed its purpose, and had the Broken make Thrall a new body from Draenei, Tauren, and Pandaren flesh.
• Jaina and Thrall ate a feast whose main course was a Fel Orc named Jarnal, Durotan's younger brother.
• Thrall asked Kael'thas to hear his long-planned scheme to save Outland.

Kael'thas heard Thrall's plan to save Outland and agreed to A'dal's broader proposal to investigate the green-haired Kobolds, while A'dal sent him to Northrend to seek Arthas and ensure Azeroth had a Lich King. Akama found Icecrown Citadel empty, then met Vindicator Maraad in private and spoke bitterly of Velen.

• Thrall explained that he planned to exploit Azeroth's elemental weak points to channel power through the Dark Portal, but Kael'thas exposed his success estimate as less than five percent.
• Jaina and Thrall proposed involving Dalaran, Ironforge, Aegwynn, Tirion Fordring, the Alliance, and the Horde, and A'dal approved the plan.
• Jaina and Thrall told Kael'thas about the green-haired Kobolds, and A'dal ordered Akama to investigate them in Northrend.
• A'dal told Kael'thas to visit Arthas at the Frozen Throne and warn him that Azeroth needed a Lich King.
• Akama found Icecrown Citadel empty, sent followers back with the news, and traveled to the Exodar to meet Vindicator Maraad.
• Akama asked whether Velen had forgotten him, and Maraad said Velen still admired Thrall and had never repented.

Akama exposed his accusations against Velen and recruited Maraad to copy the Argus Reconstruction Plan so they could sabotage Thrall and A'dal's plans. At the Black Temple, Thrall gathered support from his former captives for the reconstruction of Outland, which he said would destroy Azeroth.

• Akama told Maraad that Velen profited from Draenei deaths and recounted how Velen had abandoned the Draenei during the Orc invasion and punished Akama for helping civilians escape.
• Akama warned Maraad that A'dal and Thrall planned to rebuild Outland at Azeroth's expense, and Maraad agreed to copy the Argus Reconstruction Plan's designs with a Scrying Gem.
• Akama privately considered using Jaina to learn more about Thrall's plans.
• At the Black Temple, Varian raged over the green-haired Kobold's disappearance, while Sylvanas considered whether the Kobold had destroyed himself or been destroyed by the Scourge.
• Thrall demanded that the gathered leaders support his plan to destroy Azeroth; Magni fell silent, while Tirion Fordring and Rhonin pledged support, and Thrall urged everyone to reclaim their rights.

Robbie observed Elune’s agents slaughter the survivors of Elwynn Forest, then witnessed Elune restore Stormwind City and populate it with more than two hundred thousand humans. The chapter ended when the Emissary showed Varian another man identical to him sitting on Stormwind Keep’s throne.

• Robbie read Akama’s secret letter and concluded that Thrall had initiated the Cataclysm, while Deathwing’s role in history concealed a different outcome.
• Survivors hiding in a mine prayed for rescue, but Varian arrived and ordered his soldiers to kill them all and turn their bodies into jerky.
• The Emissary told Thrall, Jaina, and Rhonin that Elune knew about Thrall’s plan to restore Outland, then had Stormwind City rebuilt in minutes.
• Robbie saw that sea creatures had moved an existing city into place, and Elune brought more than two hundred thousand humans to live there, altering their memories.
• Thrall asked the Emissary to help him reclaim the Warchief position, but she told him to make the effort himself.
• The Emissary showed Varian another man identical to him sitting on Stormwind Keep’s throne.

The Emissary turned Varian into an immortal puppy and left the leaders to decide whether to pursue the plan to restore Outland. Thrall persuaded them to unite in pursuit of elemental power, but Tirion Fordring found Icecrown Citadel already ruled by a new Lich King.

• The Emissary transformed Varian into a puppy and sent him to Stormwind Keep's back garden before departing, while the others debated the Outland plan.
• Thrall revealed that he wanted to control elemental power and gain immortality, then persuaded Jaina, Rhonin, Sylvanas, Magni Bronzebeard, and Tirion Fordring to support him.
• Thrall assigned Jaina to deceive the new King Varian, Sylvanas to help him reclaim the Warchief position, and Tirion Fordring to seize Icecrown Citadel.
• Tirion Fordring returned to Northrend with the remaining Argent Crusade and found Icecrown Citadel's gates shut.
• Duke Bolvar Fordragon appeared and told Tirion Fordring that the Scourge already had a new Lich King.

Robbie watched Bolvar take control of the Scourge and met Vanessa, who arrived from another timeline with news that a new Dark Portal was forming near Theramore. A recording from Deathwing revealed that powerful Orcs from another world were preparing to invade Azeroth.

• Bolvar defeated the Argent Crusade's attack, while Tirion escaped and Robbie allowed him to flee.
• Robbie returned to Icecrown Citadel, where Kel'Thuzad studied the endlessly multiplying green-furred Kobolds until Black Cat explained they could only be controlled by eating them faster than they divided.
• Black Cat brought Vanessa through a portal from Robbie's original timeline, and Vanessa told him the Horde had fallen, Teldrassil had burned, and the Draenei had disappeared.
• Vanessa reported that a new Dark Portal was forming near Theramore and showed Robbie a recording found with one of Deathwing's scales in Neltharion's Cave.
• Deathwing revealed that the Black Dragonflight had fought Orcs from another world for ten thousand years and warned that their destruction would leave Azeroth vulnerable to invasion.

Robbie and Vanessa studied Deathwing’s warning about a hidden enemy that had destroyed the Black Dragonflight, and Kel'Thuzad began plans to monitor Thrall and other leaders. At Mount Hyjal, Garrosh prepared for his wedding to Agna by demanding extravagant gifts from Horde leaders, while Nathanos announced that Sylvanas wished to see him.

• Robbie, Vanessa, and Kel'Thuzad watched Deathwing’s scale reveal a world ravaged by powerful Orcs and pondered the Black Dragonflight’s mysterious enemy.
• Vanessa and Robbie reasoned that Deathwing had deliberately withheld the enemy’s identity, and Kel'Thuzad wondered whether Aman'Thul had returned.
• Kel'Thuzad announced the Endless Undead Plan to watch Thrall, and Robbie added Varian, Jaina, Rhonin, Garrosh, and other leaders to the surveillance list.
• At Mount Hyjal, Garrosh boasted to Agna and the Horde leaders about defeating Archimonde, while Eitrigg exaggerated his achievements.
• Garrosh demanded five thousand adult Tauren from Cairne Bloodhoof, accepted Rokhan’s captured Loa as a wedding gift, and heard that Sylvanas wanted to see him from Nathanos Blightcaller.

Thrall seized Garrosh’s wedding and tried to capture him, but Garrosh escaped with an unknown teleportation spell. Thrall then used the wedding to demand forces and divine essence from his allies and invited the Dragonflights and Night Elves to join his plan to destroy Azeroth and restore Outland.

• Thrall, Jaina, Sylvanas, and their allies ambushed Garrosh, but his body vanished in bubbles before Sylvanas could turn him into one of the Forsaken.
• Thrall demanded fifty thousand Tauren from Cairne Bloodhoof and ordered Rokhan to kill a turtle Loa and obtain its divine essence, along with that of two other Loa.
• Thrall sent invitations to the Dragonflights and Night Elves, promising ageless life to those who joined his plan.
• Alexstrasza decided to keep Thrall safe during his conflict with Garrosh but refused to help him otherwise.
• Nozdormu arrived at the Caverns of Time, read Thrall’s letter, and approved of the future it described.
• Kalecgos received the Blue Dragonflight’s invitation and prepared to attend Thrall’s wedding as its representative.

Ysera, Tyrande, and Jaina considered how to respond to Thrall’s wedding and his plan to destroy Azeroth to repair Outland. Tyrande and Malfurion arranged for Fandral Staghelm to oppose Thrall, while Aegwynn advised Jaina to involve King Varian in helping him.

• Ysera learned that the Red Dragon Queen planned to attend Thrall’s wedding and accepted that she would have to go too.
• Tyrande discussed the wedding invitation with Malfurion, and they decided Fandral Staghelm could act against Thrall while they stayed out of danger.
• Fandral Staghelm concluded that Tyrande and Malfurion wanted to use him against Thrall, transferred his informant to Feathermoon Stronghold, and vowed to make Thrall pay.
• Tyrande asked Fandral Staghelm to prepare a surprising wedding gift for Thrall, and he agreed to play the villain.
• Aegwynn told Jaina that unusual elemental activity had occurred at Mount Hyjal and advised her to have King Varian help Thrall rather than warn him herself.

Jaina manipulated King Varian into setting aside his hatred of the Orcs and agreeing to fight at Mount Hyjal, while Thrall prepared to claim Archimonde’s power and destroy the world. The chapter left Thrall declaring that he would become Archimonde and surpass him.

• Varian struggled with altered memories and questioned why Stormwind and Elwynn remained prosperous despite the wars he remembered.
• Jaina told Varian that kings were judged by ambition and urged him to embrace a chance to make history.
• Jaina persuaded Varian to fight at Mount Hyjal by claiming volatile elements threatened Azeroth and Thrall.
• Varian overcame his hatred and agreed to fight for Azeroth and achieve greatness.
• At Mount Hyjal, Thrall told Agna that the Dragon Aspects would help draw out Nordrassil’s destructive power.
• Thrall declared that he would inherit Archimonde’s power and desire to destroy the world.

At Thrall and Agna’s wedding, Thrall revealed that he intended to seize Archimonde’s power and forced the guests to help him by having the Earthen Ring torment Malfurion. After Tyrande and the Dragon Aspects yielded, Thrall began preparing an ascension ritual and ordered Cairne to serve the wedding guests as sacrifices.

• At Mount Hyjal, Thrall’s wedding drew prominent guests, while Cairne prepared five thousand Tauren and Jaina brought twenty thousand human soldiers under Varian through a Portal.
• Thrall interrupted Malfurion’s ceremony and demanded that Malfurion and the Dragon Aspects help him obtain Archimonde’s power.
• Muen Earthfury, Nobundo, and the Earthen Ring bound the guests with dark magic and tormented Malfurion until Tyrande agreed to Thrall’s demand.
• The Red Dragon Queen agreed on behalf of the Dragon Aspects, and Thrall ordered them to make the World Tree’s remaining power dissipate.
• Thrall began preparing an ascension ritual, then ordered Cairne to serve the wedding banquet and provide flesh-and-blood sacrifices.

Thrall’s Ascension Ritual consumed groups of Tauren to purge corruption from Archimonde’s remaining power, while Robbie, Fandral Staghelm, and Vanessa watched for a chance to intervene. As a fourth group was about to be sacrificed, the remaining Tauren fled, leaving the ritual’s next stage uncertain.

• Cairne Bloodhoof led five thousand Tauren to the ritual, where the first two groups of five hundred were corrupted and killed as their bodies purified Archimonde’s energy.
• Robbie and Fandral Staghelm observed the ritual and realized the Earthen Ring’s binding magic had limited uses, while Fandral explained how the Tauren sacrifices purified the energy.
• Cairne Bloodhoof used taunts to persuade a third group of Tauren to approach the altar and die in the ritual.
• Vanessa revealed that she had taken Nobundo’s glove, which had imprisoned the three Dragon Kings, and proposed stealing Archimonde’s power of destruction during the ritual’s next stage.
• Robbie warned that Thrall might need a Dragon’s body to contain the power, and Vanessa asked Fandral Staghelm to cover for her as she planned to claim it.
• As Cairne Bloodhoof prepared the fourth group, someone shouted for the Tauren to run, and the remaining Tauren scattered.

Thrall’s Ascension Ritual sacrificed five thousand Tauren and gathered Archimonde’s Power of Destruction, while Robbie secretly amplified Sathrovarr’s greed. As the power descended toward Thrall, a huge black hand seized it.

• Thrall and Muln Earthfury used the Dragon Kings to recapture the Tauren who tried to flee, and Cairne Bloodhoof begged Thrall’s forgiveness.
• Robbie warned Vanessa that the ritual’s mastermind might have prepared for interference, then chose Kalecgos as a potential test of the trap.
• Sathrovarr considered taking Archimonde’s power, but initially suppressed his ambition; Robbie used Y’Shaarj’s Flesh Essence to intensify his greed.
• The Tauren were sacrificed, and Muln Earthfury and Nobundo led the Shamans in gathering Archimonde’s Power of Destruction as many Shamans died.
• A huge black hand appeared and seized the transparent sphere of power before Thrall could merge with it.

Kalecgos, possessed by Sathrovarr, seized Thrall and the Earthen Ring leaders while seeking Archimonde's Power of Destruction, and Jaina and Malfurion were drawn into the struggle over the sphere. The battle at the altar escalated when Archimonde appeared in an enormous demonic form.

• Kalecgos bit Thrall in half and captured Muln Earthfury and Nobundo, while Cairne Bloodhoof charged him and was thrown aside.
• Jaina urged Varian to rescue Thrall, but Robbie altered Varian's emotions, causing him to retreat with his surviving soldiers after the Red Dragon Queen's attack.
• Muln Earthfury revealed how to fuse with Archimonde's Power of Destruction, and Robbie's spell drove Jaina to attack Sathrovarr for the sphere.
• Malfurion seized the sphere, prompting Jaina and Tyrande to clash while Malfurion fought Kalecgos at the altar.
• Archimonde appeared as a colossal Eredar Demon, and Robbie recognized him as the Defiler.

Archimonde revived and revealed that the Dragon Kings had arranged for Kalecgos to be weakened as an egg, while Archimonde sent Sathrovarr to corrupt him. Kalecgos concealed his anger by claiming to treasure his bond with Sathrovarr, and Archimonde then turned his attention to Jaina.

• Archimonde struck Sathrovarr unconscious inside Kalecgos, allowing the injured Blue Dragon to regain control of his body.
• Archimonde and the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza revealed that the Dragon Kings had feared Kalecgos's extraordinary potential and conspired to stop him from growing stronger.
• Archimonde admitted that he had sent Sathrovarr to corrupt Kalecgos while he was still an egg, destroying his natural power.
• Nozdormu offered Kalecgos the position of Aspect of the Blue, and Kalecgos hid his resentment by saying he valued his bond with Sathrovarr above power.
• Robbie and Vanessa suspected that Kalecgos was concealing his hatred, and Archimonde threatened Jaina for ruining his chance for revenge.

Archimonde failed to recover the Power of Destruction and collapsed, then Thrall attacked Agna, accusing her of stealing it. As a hidden figure stabbed Thrall, Archimonde’s demonic claw caught the attacker.

• Archimonde punished Malfurion and Tyrande, healed Thrall, and discovered that the Power of Destruction was missing.
• Archimonde’s energy tracking pointed to Agna, but she insisted she was innocent and had no sphere on her.
• Archimonde’s body collapsed after he threatened Robbie Capor and let his Corruptive Power seep into Nordrassil’s roots.
• Thrall struck Muln Earthfury and Nobundo, then accused Agna of hiding the Power of Destruction and beat her.
• Robbie stopped Fandral Staghelm from intervening, while Vanessa said Agna’s breasts and butt were real and Thrall was lying.
• A translucent figure stabbed Thrall from behind, and Archimonde’s demonic claw seized the attacker.

Archimonde’s trap revealed Garona, who stabbed Thrall before the Twilight’s Hammer appeared and abducted him. Malfurion uncovered that the intruders were Fandral Staghelm and the Flame Druids, but Fandral defeated Malfurion and Tyrande and escaped with his followers.

• Archimonde discovered that his captive was Garona, and Thrall attacked her after Archimonde healed him.
• Garona escaped Archimonde’s weakening grasp, stabbed Thrall, and vanished when Muln Earthfury and the Earthen Ring Shamans charged.
• Thrall mistreated Agna until the Twilight’s Hammer surrounded the wedding and bound him with flames.
• The cultists revealed that the elements would torment Thrall and took him away amid his pleas.
• Malfurion recognized Fandral Staghelm beneath the Twilight’s Hammer disguise and confronted him and the Flame Druids.
• Fandral defeated Malfurion and Tyrande with fiery spells, then escaped with the Flame Druids.

After Thrall vanished, Jaina pressured the Earthen Ring into using dark magic to search for him, at the cost of most of its Shamans. When they learned Thrall’s soul was scattered across the Elemental Planes, Jaina turned to Varian for an army.

• Malfurion transformed into an owl and left the wedding with Tyrande, while Agna insisted that Thrall could still be saved.
• Jaina threatened Muln Earthfury and Nobundo into searching for Thrall, and Nobundo discovered that his Elemental Gauntlets were missing.
• Muln and Nobundo used a dark ritual to turn Earthen Ring Shamans into Elemental Wraiths, while the Red Dragon Queen killed an Orc Shaman who protested.
• After three-quarters of the Earthen Ring’s Shamans died, Muln reported that Thrall’s soul was scattered across the four Elemental Planes and would require an army to recover.
• Jaina found Varian and reproached him for missing a chance to rescue Thrall, then told him that a new opportunity had arrived.

Jaina brought Varian and a Stormwind army to the Vortex Pinnacle to rescue Thrall, whose soul was being torn apart by wind elementals. After learning that saving even a fragment of Thrall’s soul would require three thousand soldiers to die, Varian threatened his men when too few volunteered.

• Varian agreed to rescue Thrall, while Robbie sensed a powerful hidden force within him and chose not to intervene.
• Jaina opened a Portal to the Vortex Pinnacle, and Varian led the vanguard through it despite Agna’s fear and the Dragon Kings’ mockery.
• Sek'kronas warned Jaina and Varian that Thrall’s body and soul had been torn apart in the storm, then carried them and several thousand soldiers to the Throne of the Four Winds.
• Varian sent soldiers toward Thrall, but the gales killed them; Sek'kronas explained that three thousand unarmed soldiers would have to endure the wind elementals’ fury to save a soul fragment.
• Fewer than a thousand soldiers volunteered, so Varian threatened to hang their families unless they obeyed his order to die for Thrall.

Varian and Jaina entered the Water Elemental Plane to recover another fragment of Thrall’s soul, where Varian sacrificed King Llane’s soul to satisfy Thrall’s desires. They recovered half of Thrall’s soul and prepared to travel to Deepholm.

• Varian sent three thousand soldiers into the storm to quiet the wind elementals, allowing Jaina to collect part of Thrall’s soul.
• Jaina and Varian traveled through the Portal to the Abyssal Breach, where Hydrolis showed them Thrall as a ravenous vortex.
• Hydrolis demanded repayment of Thrall’s enormous debt, and Varian pledged the people of Stormwind as payment if necessary.
• Hydrolis revealed that Thrall could be calmed only by devouring a soul, then offered King Llane’s preserved soul as the solution.
• Varian agreed to sacrifice his father’s soul, and Thrall devoured it, restoring another fragment of himself.
• Jaina announced that they had recovered half of Thrall’s soul and that they would next go to Deepholm.