Recaps

Robbie and Krasus discovered a Titan palace beneath Zangarmarsh and destroyed the vengeful spirit calling itself Grond. Robbie then activated the device inside the metal heart, starting Draenor’s World Life Evolution Device.

• Robbie used the Node Key to take Krasus to a vast underground Titan palace beneath Zangarmarsh.
• Robbie and Krasus found an ancient metal heart being corrupted by Orc flesh and blood, and Krasus sensed a vengeful spirit inside it.
• Robbie summoned the spirit, which identified itself as Grond and claimed a Titan’s lightning had destroyed its body.
• Robbie used the Node Key to activate the Titan defenses, and nine pillars purified Grond’s spirit.
• Robbie inserted the Node Key into the metal heart and pressed its red button, activating the Draenor World Life Evolution Device.

Robbie and Krasus discovered that the Titans had designed Orcs to destroy civilizations, then redirected the device toward modifying the Fungal Giants. In Mushroom Cave, Gai Laya’s Orcs faced the altered Fungal Giants, and she ordered another assault while withdrawing her trusted overseer troops.

• The Titan device revealed that Orcs were created to eradicate civilizations, and Robbie refused to initiate their uplift plan.
• Robbie and Krasus forced a reassessment that classified the Orcs as substandard, prompting the device to begin modifying Fungal Giants with Orc flesh and blood.
• Gai Laya managed the Orc campaign outside Mushroom Cave as her forces suffered heavy losses while clearing out the Fungal Giants.
• New, faster Fungal Giants with steel-hard bodies emerged from deep in the cave, and Gai Laya ordered the Third Legion to attack.
• Eitrigg warned Gai Laya to keep the overseer troops from being caught in danger, and she sent them retreating as Orcs charged into the cave.

After a disastrous defeat by the Fungal Giants, Gai Laya redirected the Orcs toward the Angrath Ogre, while Imperator Mar'gok urged King Gorfis to wage a mobile war against them. The Ogres vanished from their camp and began striking the Orcs repeatedly, leaving Gai Laya's army anxious and its morale wavering.

• After the Fungal Giants routed the Orcs, Gai Laya counted just over five hundred thousand survivors, and Eitrigg urged her to recover and focus on the Lost Ones and Angrath Ogre.
• Gai Laya imposed strict discipline by killing the first Orcs who had fled, then set out to eliminate the Angrath Ogre.
• Imperator Mar'gok persuaded King Gorfis to avoid fixed battles and attack the Orcs on the move, using their shortage of food against them.
• Gai Laya's army found the Angrath Ogre camp deserted and turned its attention toward the Lost Ones.
• A subordinate suggested occupying the Ogre lands, but Gai Laya rebuked him before a scout reported that the Ogres had killed three thousand Orcs in a surprise attack.
• The Angrath Ogre continued launching concealed raids for several days, spreading fear among the Orcs and weakening their morale.

Eitrigg secured Jaina’s help so the Orcs could win a battle, then told Gai Laya that Thrall had sent their million-strong host to die. Gai Laya accepted the brutal logic of power and thanked Eitrigg as he prepared to recommend her to Thrall.

• Eitrigg pleaded with Jaina for one victory for the Orcs, and Jaina gave him the Horn of Courage while warning that someone was aiding the Angrath Ogre.
• Gai Laya sounded the horn and led the Orcs in a surprise assault that destroyed the Daggerfen Lost Ones’ camp.
• Eitrigg told Gai Laya that Thrall had ordered the million Orcs into Zangarmarsh to die, and warned her that questioning Thrall was forbidden.
• Gai Laya concluded that Thrall could act without restraint and recognized the appeal of wielding such power.
• Eitrigg offered to recommend Gai Laya to Thrall, and she thanked him while he considered retiring.

Gai Laya led five hundred thousand Orcs to die in Serpent Lake to satisfy the Savior, then faced a Sporeling attack with Eitrigg. As her forces collapsed, Eitrigg summoned Jaina and insisted that she save Gai Laya along with him.

• Gai Laya told Eitrigg she would follow the rules and do what Lord Savior liked, then persuaded the Orcs to charge into Serpent Lake and drown while trying to kill the Swamp Hydra and Vashj's Naga.
• Robbie and Krasus watched the Orcs die, and the Sporelings, Fungal Giants, Ogres, and Draenei of Telredor gathered to recover their bodies for food.
• Gai Laya kept her elite troops and traveled with Eitrigg toward Shattrath City, but Sporelings attacked their camp that night and overwhelmed the demoralized Orcs with poison darts.
• Gai Laya and her followers fought to protect Eitrigg as their comrades fell, and she was wounded and weakened by poison.
• Eitrigg summoned Jaina, who denied causing the attack, and asked her to rescue him and Gai Laya; he declared that Gai Laya was the one he loved most and that he would give everything for her.

Eitrigg brought Gai Laya to Orgrimmar after rescuing her, where she learned that the Horde had erased the deaths of millions of Orcs and credited a fabricated Black Temple victory to Thrall’s celebrated warriors. As Thrall prepared a victory banquet, Eitrigg put Gai Laya forward to take over his role in spreading propaganda.

• Jaina’s apparition opened a portal to Shattrath, and Eitrigg and Gai Laya escaped as Sporelings overwhelmed the supervising troops.
• Eitrigg comforted Gai Laya, who blamed herself for the million Orcs who died in Zangarmarsh, and told her that he had written to Thrall about her.
• Eitrigg and Gai Laya traveled to Orgrimmar, where he explained that he had invented the false story celebrating Thrall and three hundred warriors for defeating Illidan.
• Gai Laya recognized that the celebrated warriors had taken credit for her comrades’ sacrifices, while Eitrigg warned her never to mention the dead to Thrall.
• Dranosh Saurfang appeared to recover miraculously from his supposed wounds, and the crowd resumed cheering after being told the healing proved he was blessed.
• Eitrigg secured Gai Laya a place at Thrall’s victory banquet and decided it was time for her to take over his propaganda work.

Eitrigg learned that Gai Laya was to be served as the banquet’s main course and rushed to warn her, but his fear of Thrall kept him from speaking plainly. Gai Laya revealed that she admired Thrall and wanted to become like him.

• Eitrigg asked Vol'jin to look after Gai Laya if he lost Thrall’s favor, and Vol'jin promised to help.
• As the victory banquet guests gathered, Eitrigg hid to watch Thrall before leaving for his secret palace.
• Eitrigg discovered that the Pandaren chefs planned to cook the Blue Dragonflight-powered ingredient he had recommended, and learned it was Gai Laya.
• Eitrigg hurried to Gai Laya’s dressing room but struggled to warn her because he feared Thrall.
• Gai Laya told Eitrigg she had resolved to become like Thrall, the peerless hero she admired.

Eitrigg tried and failed to dissuade Gai Laya from seeking power at Thrall’s side, then returned to his duties as Thrall’s adviser. At dinner, Thrall arrived as the chieftains and representatives waited, and the Troll chefs brought in living Tauren as walking dishes.

• Eitrigg warned Gai Laya that Thrall would eat her, but she admired Thrall and hoped to earn the honor of dining with him.
• Eitrigg asked Gai Laya to leave Orgrimmar with him, but she rejected him and sent him away.
• Eitrigg started to tell Gai Laya the truth again, but instead ordered a guard to increase patrols around her and went to prepare for Thrall’s dinner.
• Vol'jin asked Eitrigg whether he had failed with Gai Laya, and Eitrigg said his heart hurt but he would be fine after that night.
• Cairne Bloodhoof, Vol'jin, Lor'themar, and the Undercity representative attended dinner, where Thrall arrived and Troll chefs brought in living Tauren as dishes.

Jaina's apparition tortured Thrall, divided him into two bodies, and forced Eitrigg to choose between his love for Gai Laya and protecting Thrall's reputation. Eitrigg killed Gai Laya and returned to Vol'jin, while Jaina watched from above Orgrimmar.

• Jaina's apparition carved at Thrall with the Soulblood Blade while a vine kept him alive, and Gai Laya and Eitrigg watched helplessly.
• Jaina split Thrall's flesh and soul into a second Thrall, turned the new one into a squirrel, and ordered Eitrigg to decide what to do with the original.
• Jaina used the vine to repair Gai Laya's heart, then warned Eitrigg that revealing the night's events would damage Thrall's dignity.
• Eitrigg offered Gai Laya the choice of killing Thrall or dying, and when she could not kill Thrall, he twisted her neck and killed her.
• Eitrigg carried Thrall back to the chieftain's tent, told Vol'jin to burn Gai Laya's body, and walked away into the night.
• Jaina watched Eitrigg from above Orgrimmar and declared that love was too fragile to withstand a test.

Robbie and Krasus returned through time after learning that Jaina could resurrect Thrall, while Velen bargained with Azeroth’s leaders to avoid being exposed as a Burning Legion collaborator. In Rustwater Port, Naruk Xil confronted a mysterious man and revealed that he was Medivh.

• Robbie found a piece of Thrall’s flesh infused with Holy Light and death, and he and Krasus concluded that Jaina would resurrect Thrall before returning through a portal opened with a Time Beacon.
• Khadgar, Mar'gok, Anachronos, Durotan, and Velen debated Velen’s collaboration with the Burning Legion, and Velen offered them the coordinates of habitable planets in exchange for their silence.
• The four leaders accepted Velen’s deal, and the group traveled through a portal to Thunder Bluff, where Chen Stormstout and Taran Zhu faced off.
• A mysterious human man spent his days indulging in Rustwater Port’s private club, favoring Lightforged female Orcs and driving away anyone who tried to investigate him.
• Naruk Xil appeared before the man and told him he could choose a different life because he was Medivh.

Medivh negotiated with Naruk Xil, accepting the Army of the Light’s offer of a Naaru Core and agreeing to help restore Thrall to power. Back in the present Timeline, Medivh declared that Stormwind’s land would belong to the Orcs.

• Medivh demanded Thrall’s soul in exchange for giving Azeroth to the Army of the Light, and Naruk Xil said they had created a new Thrall after failing to find the original soul.
• Naruk Xil recounted how his disciples imprisoned him for three thousand years and how he later sold his civilization to the Army of the Light, earning promotion to a Naaru.
• Naruk Xil gave Medivh the Holy Light’s Heart, and Medivh consumed it, gaining immense Power of the Holy Light.
• Medivh reluctantly agreed to help Thrall rise to power and proposed giving him land from Booty Bay to Lordaeron.
• Robbie returned to Stormwind City, where Vanessa maintained the usual routines as life improved and taxes fell; that night, Medivh announced that the Kingdom of Stormwind had ended and its land belonged to the Orcs.

Medivh fled Stormwind City after Kel'Thuzad canceled his Holy Light and then went to Ironforge to demand that the Dwarves serve the Orcs. Aemora tried to negotiate, but Medivh rejected her offer and struck Muradin down, leaving Ironforge under threat.

• Medivh attacked Stormwind City with a Holy Light Orb, but Kel'Thuzad's prohibition dispelled it and the Holy Light's Heart inside Medivh went out.
• The Praise of Queen Azshara music frightened Medivh into fleeing, and Robbie predicted that he would target Ironforge.
• Robbie, Kel'Thuzad, and Vanessa discussed Ironforge's politics and unusual magic beneath the city, then realized the Dwarves' reverence for their ancestors might be useful.
• Aemora urged Muradin Bronzebeard and Falstad Wildhammer to negotiate with Medivh and give up land to protect the Dwarves.
• Medivh arrived in Ironforge and demanded that it become an Orc city and rear base, with the Dwarves forging weapons and armor for the Orcs.
• When Aemora offered to share Ironforge, Medivh called her a half-breed and declared the Dwarves would be slaves; Muradin rose to oppose him, and Medivh knocked him down with a glance.

Medivh threatened the Dwarves of Ironforge until the Furnace Soul of Mountain King Modimus Anvilmar intervened and drove him away. After Medivh escaped to a Burning Legion base and learned Kil'jaeden wanted him dead, he traveled to Silithus, where a voice accused him of harming its daughter.

• Medivh demanded that the Dwarves surrender Ironforge and threatened to burn the city, so Aemora knelt and agreed to his decree.
• Anvilmar emerged from Ironforge's forge, used Mana Burn against Medivh, and declared that Ironforge would be his burial ground.
• Medivh escaped with the aid of a Titan relic, and Anvilmar declared Magni Bronzebeard a traitor forbidden from entering Ironforge.
• Muradin Bronzebeard questioned Aemora about why she had concealed that her father was alive.
• Medivh fled to a Burning Legion base, where a Dreadlord told him Kil'jaeden had ordered his death but offered to discuss a deal.
• Medivh traveled to Silithus and followed a mysterious voice, which accused him of causing misery and harming its daughter.

Medivh repeatedly attacked Magni Bronzebeard before Naruk Xil brought them together to awaken Thrall and plan his return to power. Thrall and Magni began recruiting in Silithus, and Magatha Grimtotem joined them after escaping prison.

• Medivh found Magni Bronzebeard in the Titans Ruins and attacked him three times, but Magni's diamond soul reformed each time before he escaped underground.
• Magni met Naruk Xil at the Naaru's tent, and Naruk Xil took the unconscious Thrall and Magni to meet Medivh.
• Naruk Xil explained that Magni would serve as Azeroth's Spokesman and work with Thrall to unite the Orcs, while Medivh agreed to cooperate and learned that Thrall's treasury was hidden in Silithus.
• Naruk Xil revived Thrall, who remembered his wedding to Agna but had forgotten what followed, and told him that Azeroth needed him to save it.
• Thrall and Magni began recruiting followers in Silithus; Peace Doves and adventurers arrived, and Magatha Grimtotem later joined them after escaping prison in Orgrimmar.

Chen Stormstout and the others persuaded Velen to stay at the Temple of the White Tiger, then watched a recording showing Jaina's apparition killing Thrall. The group feared Thrall's return and discussed how his legacy had shaped Azeroth, while Anachronos remained silent about the Caverns of Time's past support for him.

• Khadgar and Anachronos separately told Chen Stormstout and Taran Zhu about Velen's promised planet, prompting them to welcome Velen while arranging to keep him in Pandaria.
• Taran Zhu, Khadgar, Anachronos, Imperator Mar'gok, and Durotan pressured Velen to stay at the Temple of the White Tiger, and Velen reluctantly agreed.
• A guard brought Chen Stormstout an image gem, and Khadgar verified and played its recording for everyone.
• The recording showed Jaina's apparition cutting into Thrall's flesh and soul, creating two identical Thralls before turning one into a squirrel and taking him away.
• Anachronos identified Jaina as a visitor from the future, and Khadgar feared Thrall would return; Taran Zhu described Thrall as Azeroth's greatest hero and warned that he could make lies become accepted truth.
• Chen Stormstout and Khadgar condemned Thrall's years as Warchief, while Anachronos stayed silent about the Caverns of Time having supplied Thrall with Orc soldiers.

Chen Stormstout and his allies formed a coalition against Thrall, but Vanessa and Robbie used the media to make their leaders publicly condemn him and trap them in their pledges. Thrall declared that he was Azeroth, and Illidan answered that he would destroy Azeroth if it was Thrall.

• Chen Stormstout, Khadgar, Anachronos, Mar'gok, Durotan, and Velen agreed to unite against Thrall, and Chen sent a messenger to seek an alliance with Illidan.
• Khadgar helped build permanent portals linking Orgrimmar with the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Winterspring, and Gadgetzan as Thrall's return spread across Azeroth.
• Vanessa and Robbie planned to use media coverage to discourage the uneasy coalition from secretly joining Thrall.
• Thrall recruited forces in Silithus, while Chen Stormstout, Taran Zhu, Mar'gok, Durotan, and Velen were reported as publicly denouncing him, leaving them alarmed and trapped by the reports.
• Velen secretly pledged loyalty to Thrall, but the media reports exposed him and prompted him to panic.
• Thrall declared that he was Azeroth, and Illidan responded that he would destroy Azeroth if it was Thrall.

Chen Stormstout sent Nazgrel and five thousand Lightforging Orcs into Silithus to establish a camp and avoid fighting Thrall, but Nazgrel defeated a night attack and captured over two thousand enemies. When Chen Stormstout and Khadgar arrived weeks later, Khadgar asked to see the prisoners after hearing Nazgrel’s account.

• Chen Stormstout ordered Nazgrel to build a defensible camp in Silithus and avoid engaging Thrall, but Nazgrel insisted he could defeat him.
• Nazgrel led five thousand Lightforging Orcs into Silithus, chose a sheltered campsite, and built a palisade.
• When enemy troops attacked at night, Nazgrel charged out despite his orders, broke through their ranks repeatedly, and captured more than two thousand while about a thousand escaped.
• Nazgrel tied the prisoners together and drove them into a wormhole, then remained in camp until his supplies ran out.
• Chen Stormstout and Khadgar arrived with the main army, and Nazgrel confessed that he had fought the attackers.
• Khadgar expressed surprise that stragglers were in Silithus and asked Nazgrel to take him to the prisoners.

Khadgar’s search through the insect tunnels uncovered Thrall alive and led to his capture. As Thrall was brought back to camp, Magni and Magatha fled the Titan ruins, while SI:7 revealed that it had thwarted the assassination attempt and began pressuring Chen Stormstout over Thrall’s fate.

• Khadgar and Nazgrel found evidence in the tunnels linking the dead prisoners and the recent attack to Thrall’s forces.
• Khadgar discovered that the surviving Orc was Thrall in disguise and placed him in magical shackles.
• Thrall explained that he had attacked after receiving a false signal that his assassins had killed the Lightforged Orcs’ officers.
• Magni Bronzebeard and Magatha Grimtotem prepared to abandon the Titan ruins, while Magni said Thrall’s defeat was only a setback.
• Vanessa sent the Hall of Fame Guild rogues away through a Portal and planned with Robbie to pressure Chen Stormstout, who was troubled by what to do with Thrall.

After Chen Stormstout captured Thrall, envoys across Azeroth pressured him to release the supposed Savior, so Chen set up a cauldron of boiling oil to test their resolve. Kaortes and Malkorok then manipulated a settlement into sending protesters to Orgrimmar, where people began leaping into the cauldron.

• Envoys from many peoples and factions warned Chen Stormstout against holding Thrall, and Khadgar explained their motives and advised him to demand proof of their support.
• Chen Stormstout announced that anyone who truly believed Thrall was Azeroth’s Savior should jump into a cauldron of scalding oil, causing most groups to fall silent.
• Kaortes persuaded Malkorok to exploit a settlement’s belief in Thrall by sending its people to protest in Orgrimmar, hoping they would earn credit if Thrall was rescued.
• Chen Stormstout saw more than a thousand protesters gathered outside Orgrimmar, and a Tauren jumped into the cauldron, followed by others every five minutes.

Chen Stormstout struggled to contain protests demanding Thrall’s release, while Gudan threatened the Highmountain Tauren into joining the demonstrations. Mela Highmountain arrived in Orgrimmar to demand Thrall’s unconditional release and Chen’s resignation, leaving Chen questioning whether he had become like Thrall.

• Chen Stormstout ordered the protesters demanding Thrall’s release to be killed, while Khadgar warned that people were willing to die for Thrall.
• Gudan pressured Mela Highmountain to protest in Orgrimmar and killed a young Highmountain Tauren who spoke against Thrall; Mela refused to contact the Black Dragonflight and chose to comply with Gudan’s demands.
• Mela Highmountain led the Highmountain Tauren to Orgrimmar and demanded Thrall’s release and Chen Stormstout’s resignation, praising Thrall as their savior.
• Chen Stormstout threatened to eat Mela Highmountain, but Khadgar calmed him and let her leave; afterward, Chen wept and said he was beginning to understand Thrall.

Rom Wildtotem was coerced by Gudan into leading Tauren protests demanding Thrall’s release, but he urged Chen Stormstout to kill the protesters rather than let them return to their former suffering. Meanwhile, Sylvanas and Jaina confronted Taran Zhu after escaping his attempt to enslave Sylvanas, and Sylvanas said they had something to tell him.

• Gudan threatened to replace Rom unless he led the Tauren to protest at Orgrimmar for Thrall’s release and restoration as Warchief.
• Rom led more than a thousand Tauren to Orgrimmar, where they demanded Thrall’s release and prepared to jump into cauldrons of boiling oil.
• Rom begged Chen Stormstout to kill the Tauren protesters and turn them into Tough Jerky rather than send them back to Thunder Bluff.
• Rom told reporters that the Tauren would defend Thrall, praising him for making them food for the Orcs.
• Sylvanas and Jaina appeared in Taran Zhu’s magically sealed bedroom, and Sylvanas said they had been freed and had something to tell him.

Chen Stormstout responded to Taran Zhu’s expulsion order and the Pandaren protest by deciding to learn ruthlessness from Thrall. He took Thrall’s name and identity, declared himself Warchief, and left Azeroth arguing that Thrall was a Pandaren.

• Jaina and Sylvanas ordered Taran Zhu to expel Chen Stormstout and send Pandaren to protest in Orgrimmar within three days.
• After meditating, Chen Stormstout learned from Khadgar that Taran Zhu had denounced him and more than two thousand Pandaren were protesting outside Orgrimmar.
• Chen Stormstout told Khadgar that he would visit Thrall, whom he had kept chained in a water prison and subjected to torture.
• Chen Stormstout promised Thrall comfort if he taught him to be a Warchief, then declared that he was taking Thrall’s name and becoming Chen Thrall Stormstout.
• Big Candle Gagg published an account claiming Thrall had been Chen Stormstout all along, and Chen Stormstout publicly declared that Thrall was a Pandaren.

Chen Stormstout punished Cortes and Malkorok while declaring them enemies of Azeroth, and Mela Highmountain learned that her people faced an invasion after doubting the Savior. With Toff Stomphoof’s support, she prepared an ancestral ritual to summon Huln Highmountain.

• Chen Stormstout had Cortes tortured and condemned Malkorok after the gathered media agreed that the accused Destroyers deserved death.
• Mela Highmountain learned that Thrall the Savior was Chen Stormstout and feared that her people’s protests had condemned them.
• A scout reported that a hundred thousand Lightforging Orcs were marching on Thunder Totem and that wolf riders had attacked the Riverbend Tribe.
• Toff Stomphoof helped Mela Highmountain regain her resolve, and she ordered preparations for a ritual to contact Huln Highmountain.

Mela Highmountain performed a ritual to seek help from Huln Highmountain, but her ancestor confirmed that Thrall and Chen Stormstout were the same person and refused to save the Highmountain Tauren. She awoke from the vision facing Huln's demand that she surrender most of her people, then encountered Blackhorn.

• Mela Highmountain followed the Tears of Mu'sha through a realm of Burning Legion bones to a precipice where she called upon Huln Highmountain.
• Huln Highmountain confirmed that Thrall and Chen Stormstout were the same person and rebuked Mela for doubting him and failing as chieftain.
• Huln refused to intervene, saying it would defy fate, and told Mela to beg the Savior's forgiveness and offer four-fifths of her people as rations for the Lightforging Orcs.
• The Tears of Mu'sha went dark, and Mela awoke before the altar with the vision clear in her memory.
• Mela left the room in tears, and the spiritwalker Blackhorn asked why she looked so terrible.

Blackhorn challenged Mela Highmountain’s beliefs about the ancestor Huln Highmountain and took her through a shadow orb’s rift into Huln’s divine realm. After showing her that its dangers were illusions, Blackhorn offered to bring Huln to her.

• Blackhorn told Mela that Huln had advised surrendering and that generations of chieftains had received no help, angering her.
• Blackhorn opened a Spatial Rift with a shadow orb he said he had made, and Mela followed him into Huln’s divine realm.
• Blackhorn walked through the Burning Legion skeletons, revealing they were shadows, while Mela insisted they might be Huln’s magic.
• Blackhorn stepped off a cliff and climbed back up, showing Mela that it was only slightly taller than a person.
• Mela called Blackhorn a cunning devil and backed away, so Blackhorn said he would bring Huln to see her.