Recaps

Saurfang swore eternal loyalty to King Terenas before the Orc ancestors, and Emperor Saurfang prophesied that Terenas would rule for ten thousand years. Convinced by the oath and prophecy, Terenas placed Saurfang in charge of the Tirisfal Glades Internment Camp despite Amnennar’s suspicions.

• Saurfang offered King Terenas the Orcs as his private army and swore to prove his loyalty before the ancestors.
• Saurfang summoned the spirits with a skull, and Emperor Saurfang questioned whether Terenas deserved the Orcs’ loyalty.
• Emperor Saurfang praised Terenas’s imperial aura, foretold his immortal ten-thousand-year reign, and asked him to protect the Orcs.
• Emperor Saurfang ordered Varok and his descendants to remain loyal to Terenas, and Terenas promised the Orcs a place in Azeroth.
• Terenas appointed Saurfang to command the Tirisfal Glades Internment Camp and dismissed Amnennar’s warning to keep watch on him.

King Terenas armed fifteen thousand orcs, while Saurfang the Great recruited Eitrigg as an adviser and plotted to take Lordaeron. Saurfang captured Terenas and used a loophole in his oath to justify humiliating him, leaving Medivh unwilling to intervene.

• King Terenas sent weapons, armor, and grain to the internment camp, arming fifteen thousand orcs.
• Eitrigg killed his wife, then told Saurfang the Great a fabricated story blaming Tirion Fordring and the High Elves for her death.
• Saurfang appointed Eitrigg as an adviser after discovering his talent for military strategy.
• Eitrigg urged Saurfang to seize Lordaeron and prevent Terenas from escaping; Saurfang agreed to capture the king and disgrace him.
• Orcs dragged Terenas from his bed to the throne room, where Saurfang claimed his oath only covered a great king and ordered Terenas thrown into a latrine pit.
• Medivh heard of Terenas's humiliation and decided to watch events unfold rather than intervene.

Medivh sensed Shadowlands death magic in Lordaeron and urged Saurfang to eliminate Blackmoore, but a mysterious Black-Robed Man ambushed and gravely wounded Saurfang. Uther used Lay on Hands to heal him, sacrificing ten years of his life and leaving Saurfang fully recovered.

• Medivh sensed death magic in Lordaeron, learned the Undead had gone to Northrend, and ordered Moroes to tell Saurfang to kill Blackmoore.
• Saurfang rallied his officers to prepare to slaughter the humans and other peoples of Lordaeron, but a mysterious Black-Robed Man attacked and severely injured him.
• Uther learned Saurfang was wounded and offered to heal him, but Eitrigg suspected him of plotting to kill the Warchief before Saurfang's guard admitted him.
• Uther cast Lay on Hands, instantly healing Saurfang while aging ten years himself.

Saurfang punished Uther despite his having saved the Warchief’s life, then turned on Lordaeron’s people and nobles while a letter bearing Orgrim Doomhammer and Grom Hellscream’s signatures warned him not to harm commoners. The chapter ended with Saurfang slaughtering Peace Dove officials and renaming their headquarters the Warchief’s Canteen.

• Saurfang woke stronger after Uther treated him with the Holy Light, then had Uther beaten and nailed naked to the city gate as his supposed reward.
• After recovering, Saurfang received Blackmoore’s warning, signed by Orgrim Doomhammer and Grom Hellscream, and ordered his forces to leave the common people of Tirisfal Glades alone.
• Eitrigg suggested targeting nobles instead, so Saurfang led the Orcs to the Agamand estate and had Deverin Agamand’s family tortured and turned into Tough Jerky.
• Eitrigg tortured Deverin for seven days, and the Agamand family’s screams gave Weeping Woods its name.
• As people fled Lordaeron to seek refuge with Blackmoore, Saurfang slaughtered those who still trusted the Orcs and attacked Peace Dove’s headquarters.
• Saurfang devoured three Peace Dove officials in public and renamed the headquarters the Warchief’s Canteen.

Saurfang received Medivh’s demand to deal with Blackmoore but held back while awaiting Eitrigg’s investigation. Blackmoore learned that Lordaeron’s people still revered Terenas and Saurfang, while Terenas’s despair over his imprisonment and Uther’s fate left him vulnerable to a voice urging him to embrace darkness.

• Saurfang read Medivh’s letter about Blackmoore, boasted that he could kill him, but delayed action until Eitrigg’s investigation was complete.
• Blackmoore and the Black-Robed Man questioned people in the Hillsbrad Foothills and found that they praised Terenas and admired the Orcs and Saurfang.
• The Black-Robed Man explained that Terenas used faith in the Holy Light to establish authority, so Blackmoore accepted that it was not yet time to seize Lordaeron.
• A dark voice confronted imprisoned Terenas with the suffering he had caused and revealed that Saurfang had hung Uther at the city gate.
• Terenas broke down after hearing about Uther, and the shadow urged him to embrace darkness and take revenge on everyone.

Terenas’s soul merged with Tirion Fordring’s remnant soul, creating a new Lich King who then subdued Saurfang and recruited Eitrigg. The Lich King left with Eitrigg, while Saurfang became an Undead servant.

• Restless Orc souls tore at Terenas until his soul merged with Tirion Fordring’s remnant soul and dark power transformed him.
• Saurfang woke from a nightmare and heard Eitrigg falsely report that Blackmoore had enslaved Orcs who would rise up when their army arrived.
• Saurfang decided to target the high elves near Lake Darrowmere and planned to capture Stratholme, Zul'Aman, and Silvermoon City.
• A guard alerted Saurfang that something had happened to Terenas, and Saurfang found the newly formed Lich King floating above the latrine.
• Terenas used dark magic to subdue Saurfang, who became an Undead servant and pledged loyalty to the Lich King.
• Eitrigg reminded Terenas of their past connection, and Terenas spared him and ordered him to follow.

King Terenas turned the Orcs into an Undead army and forced Lordaeron’s people to praise him, while Medivh arrived to stop him. Medivh’s attack failed when he discovered Terenas had linked his life to the Undead, leaving the fate of Lordaeron uncertain.

• King Terenas transformed the Orcs into Ghouls and other Undead, and Eitrigg made them swear loyalty to the Lich King.
• Eitrigg threatened Lordaeron’s people into praising Terenas after they condemned him for what he had done to the Orcs.
• Medivh took the Scythe of Elune and teleported above Lordaeron, intending to end the kingdom and make it a breeding ground for Spellstealer Wyrms.
• Medivh struck Terenas with Full Moon, Starfire, but the attack killed more than a hundred Orc Undead instead of harming the Lich King.
• Terenas told Medivh that his life was linked to the Undead army, so any damage to him would be transferred to them.

Medivh fled from Terenas after discovering that the newly crowned Lich King could wield death magic, then consulted Meryl Winterstorm about how to defeat him. Meanwhile, Anachronos and his companions decided to rescue the Orcs at Lake Darrowmere and put Thrall in command of them.

• Terenas attacked Medivh with Saurfang the Great’s axe, and Medivh retreated rather than risk killing the Undead Orcs linked to Terenas.
• Medivh rescued Uther from the city gate and took him through a Portal to Winterstorm Academy, where Fel weakened the death magic affecting him.
• Meryl Winterstorm questioned whether Terenas’s supposed Life Link was real and advised Medivh to oppose him indirectly by uniting Azeroth’s forces.
• Medivh and Meryl decided Uther could serve as the spokesperson to rally the Alliance’s races against Terenas.
• Anachronos, Velen, Rend, and Thrall discussed the new Lich King and agreed that he had to be stopped.
• Anachronos led the group toward Lake Darrowmere to rescue the Orcs at a Barov Family internment camp and place Thrall in command.

Anachronos, Velen, and Rend sent Thrall to Caer Darrow Island to unite the starving Orcs, but Thrall tried to escape and was captured by Professor Krastinov and Illucia. Krastinov took the silenced Thrall through a dark Portal in the Barov Family’s ruined castle basement.

• The Barov Family’s history was recounted: King Terenas seized its fiefs to support the Caer Darrow internment camp, and the family declined amid hunger and hardship.
• Anachronos and the others found that only about three thousand of the camp’s original seven thousand Orcs remained, starving and fighting among themselves.
• Rend and Velen urged Thrall to lead the Orcs, and Anachronos hurled him onto Caer Darrow Island.
• Thrall landed safely, transformed into a Ghost Wolf, and tried to sneak back to the shore so he could escape.
• Illucia caught Thrall, and Professor Krastinov gave him a potion that stopped him from speaking or using magic.
• Krastinov carried Thrall into the ruined Barov castle’s basement and approached a dark Portal.

Thrall was tortured and interrogated at Scholomance, where Gandling and Lady Barov chose him to lead the Orcs against Terenas. Gandling brought Thrall to a secret chamber to join the Cult of the Damned and challenged what Thrall believed about its origins.

• Malicia sent Thrall to Professor Krastinov, who tortured him with elemental gems to study his shamanic resistance.
• Lady Barov told Gandling she wanted every Orc dead, and they agreed to use an Orc puppet to make the Orcs fight Terenas.
• Gandling exposed Thrall’s false identity through dark magic, and Thrall admitted his name and said he had escaped Karazhan.
• Lady Barov and Gandling offered Thrall leadership of the Orcs in exchange for joining the Cult of the Damned, and Thrall accepted the terms.
• Gandling led Thrall and Lady Barov into a secret chamber and said the Cult of the Damned was older than Dalaran.

Thrall joined the Cult of the Damned after killing an old Orc named Durotan, then led Orcs off Caer Darrow Island under orders to sabotage any attack on King Terenas. He reached Redpine Valley to recruit more Orcs, where his demand that they prove themselves by killing their neighbors sparked a massacre.

• Dean Gandling and Lady Barov brought Thrall through a Portal to an ice cavern, where the Cult of the Damned's High Elf master invited him to join.
• Thrall accepted membership and beheaded Durotan, whose death released black vapor that entered the ice coffin and strengthened Thrall.
• Dean Gandling ordered Thrall to command the Orcs on Caer Darrow Island, free Orcs from other internment camps, limit his force to two thousand, and sabotage anyone who tried to attack King Terenas.
• Thrall led roughly two thousand Orcs safely off Caer Darrow Island and told Anachronos, Velen, and Rend that he would rescue more Orcs.
• At Redpine Valley, Thrall ordered the starving Orcs to defeat one another and take three heads to qualify as soldiers, triggering a bloody slaughter.

The leaders of the Eastern Kingdoms gathered in Ironforge to discuss an allied army against the Lich King and argued over who should command it. After Uther proved unwilling to fight Undead Orcs, Kael'thas nominated Sylvanas, but Magni Bronzebeard hinted that he had another candidate in mind.

• Uther urged the gathered leaders to oppose the Lich King, while Kael'thas mocked his earlier defeat by Saurfang and Lady Ashvane demanded evidence of the Lich King's threat.
• Mekkatorque proposed forming an allied army, and the leaders debated who should lead it.
• Kael'thas challenged Uther on how he would fight Undead Orcs, and Uther admitted that he would refuse to attack them.
• Magni asked Bolvar Fordragon to lead, but Bolvar declined because Varian needed his help.
• The Black-Robed Man proposed Lord Blackmoore, but Uther and the other leaders rejected the suggestion.
• Kael'thas nominated Ranger-General Sylvanas, and Magni said someone else was better suited.

Meryl Winterstorm took command of a weak allied army that was meant to bait Terenas, while Uther learned that Medivh wanted Thrall eliminated. Thrall bypassed their fortress and established a camp behind it, cutting off the allied army’s supplies.

• The leaders accepted Meryl Winterstorm as commander of the allied army, with Uther as his assistant, despite doubts about Meryl’s experience and the army’s poor quality.
• Meryl told Uther that the allied army was bait intended to provoke Terenas into showing his strength, and revealed Medivh’s order to eliminate Thrall.
• Uther offered to kill Thrall, but a scout reported that Thrall’s Orc army was approaching the fortress.
• Thrall rode past the fortress and entered Silverpine Forest, leading Uther and Meryl to believe he was targeting Blackmoore.
• Thrall set up camp behind the allied army, and his two thousand Orcs built a fortress that cut off its supply line.

Uther met with Thrall, who demanded command of the allied forces so he could destroy the Lich King Terenas and Blackmoore. After Mal'Ganis manipulated events to make the allied camp vanish, Meryl Winterstorm predicted that Thrall would turn against the Kingdom of Gilneas.

• Meryl Winterstorm sent Uther to negotiate with Thrall, while Mal'Ganis revealed his plan to use the Helm of Domination.
• Uther recognized Thrall as Anachronos, drank a cup of orc blood, and heard Thrall demand leadership of the allied forces.
• Uther returned to the fortress and reported Thrall's demands as Meryl Winterstorm questioned Thrall's connection to Blackmoore and the Cult of the Damned.
• Mal'Ganis caused the allied camp to become deserted, and Thrall angrily confronted Uther about the missing forces.
• Mal'Ganis watched Thrall through the Legion Orb, and Meryl Winterstorm predicted that Thrall would target the Kingdom of Gilneas.

King Greymane drank the Blood of Goldrinn to gain Worgen troops after a mysterious priest warned him that Thrall would invade Gilneas with help from treacherous lords. Thrall's Orc army met the Gilnean elite, who transformed into Worgen, leaving him shocked.

• A mysterious priest warned King Greymane that Thrall might attack Gilneas and that lords within the kingdom could help him.
• Greymane visited Arugal, learned the Worgen Potion could turn humans into powerful fighters but had failed on Orcs, and drank the Blood of Goldrinn.
• Thrall used newspaper reports to build his heroic public image while secretly arranging with Gilneas's lords to invade the kingdom and kill its royal family.
• Thrall led the Orcs toward Gilneas and ordered them to attack an equal-sized Gilnean force.
• The Gilnean soldiers transformed into Worgen just before the armies clashed, shocking Thrall.

Meryl Dongfeng and Mal'Ganis watched Thrall's Orcs lose to the Worgen, then Mal'Ganis decided to exploit Thrall's envy by setting him against Eitrigg. A young Orc who doubted Thrall's claims was driven from his settlement and met Eitrigg, who shared his suspicions.

• King Greymane led the Worgen in a counterattack that routed the leaderless Orcs, killing about a thousand without pursuing the survivors.
• Mal'Ganis watched Thrall rally his defeated troops and devised a plan to provoke him with a rival.
• Mal'Ganis named Eitrigg in Lordaeron as the rival he would use against Thrall.
• A young Orc questioned how Thrall could feed more than a hundred thousand Orcs, but his settlement rejected him for refusing to join the Savior.
• The young Orc left alone and encountered a well-fed Orc group, where Eitrigg praised his independent judgment and introduced himself.

Nazgrim met Eitrigg, who explained the hardships facing ordinary Orcs and showed him the brutal conditions at the Home of the Orcs. Eitrigg then took Nazgrim to observe Thrall’s camp, where Nazgrim saw his former settlement’s Orcs welcomed and prepared for a bath.

• Eitrigg recognized Nazgrim’s talent for command and told him that Orcs needed to rise above others to escape poverty and hard labor.
• Nazgrim saw more than twenty thousand Orcs suffering in the filthy Home of the Orcs, where Undead Orcs supervised their labor.
• Eitrigg told Nazgrim that filthy, disorderly living conditions had long been common in Orc settlements, despite his failed attempt to teach the Orcs better habits.
• Eitrigg took Nazgrim to a hill overlooking Thrall’s camp, where Nazgrim saw tidy huts and well-fed Orcs, and wondered how Thrall supported them.
• Nazgrim spotted the more than two hundred Orcs from his former settlement arriving at Thrall’s camp, where they were warmly welcomed and sent to bathe.

Eitrigg revealed to Nazgrim that Thrall had been killing wandering Orcs and turning them into Tough Jerky, so Nazgrim blockaded the routes feeding Thrall’s camp. Thrall marched to crush Nazgrim’s forces, and the chapter ended as he charged into a narrow valley despite suspecting an ambush.

• Eitrigg told Nazgrim that Thrall’s followers had eaten more than a hundred thousand Orcs and warned that Thrall’s propaganda made him difficult to oppose.
• Nazgrim agreed to stop the wandering Orcs from reaching Thrall and took command of five thousand Orcs from the Home of the Orcs.
• Nazgrim’s forces blocked the routes into Silverpine Forest, capturing, turning back, or killing wandering Orcs and cutting off Thrall’s recruits.
• Thrall discovered Nazgrim was behind the blockade and led his two thousand followers to attack him at the border of Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest.
• Thrall’s charge broke Nazgrim’s formation, and Nazgrim retreated with his remaining troops into a narrow valley.
• A young Orc officer persuaded Thrall to pursue, and Thrall ordered his warriors to charge into the valley.

Thrall’s army was destroyed after Eitrigg and Nazgrim ambushed it, and Lady Barov forced Thrall to rebuild his forces from wandering Orcs. Sylvanas then burned down his new camp, but Thrall escaped to Tirisfal Glades and began gathering followers again.

• Eitrigg’s Undead Orcs and Nazgrim’s troops attacked Thrall’s army in the valley, wiping it out while Thrall escaped by teleportation.
• Lady Barov had Kirtonos capture and torture Thrall, then gave him seven days to gather two thousand Orcs or lose his head.
• Thrall recruited wandering Orcs around Lake Darrowmere, sacrificed many to make Tough Jerky, and quickly assembled an army of two thousand.
• Thrall proclaimed a call for Orcs to join him, drawing large numbers of wandering Orcs across Lordaeron as Sylvanas watched with concern.
• Sylvanas’s forces attacked Thrall’s camp at night with Dragonhawks, torches, and arrows, but Thrall escaped by teleportation.
• Thrall reached his hidden camp in Tirisfal Glades, and news of his return began attracting wandering Orcs again.

Eitrigg and Nazgrim arranged for High Archmage Antonidas to attack Thrall, while Thrall’s allies fled and Thrall escaped the camp. Disguised as a human, Thrall boarded a ship hired to find the Tidal Charm, unaware that Mal'Ganis had watched him leave.

• Eitrigg told Nazgrim that Antonidas would help them and tasked him with killing Thrall.
• Anachronos, Rend, and Velen confronted Thrall about his failure to stop Blackmoore, and Thrall admitted he needed guidance.
• Velen sensed Antonidas locking down the camp’s space, and he and Anachronos fled while Rend held Thrall behind.
• Antonidas mistakenly took Rend for the important Orc and made him vanish, then left Thrall behind.
• Thrall escaped to the Tirisfal Glades coast, disguised himself as a human with an Orb of Deception, and joined a ship seeking the Tidal Charm.
• Mal'Ganis watched from the dock as the ship carrying Thrall sailed away.

Thrall tried to find a way to escape his worsening predicament while helping the adventurers search for the Tidal Charm. At the Southshore shipyard, Herkula revealed that he recognized Thrall and greeted him as Warchief.

• Thrall heard that the adventurers were searching for the Tidal Charm near the Arathi Highlands and decided to help them before sailing to Kalimdor.
• Thrall fled from wanted posters in Gilneas, then learned Queen Doras barred male Orcs from Kalimdor and paid for their deaths.
• Murlocs searched the sailboat for Thrall after a five-million-gold bounty was announced, but Thrall escaped detection again.
• At Southshore, Herkula revealed himself as a Lich and Kel'Thuzad's disciple, then greeted Thrall as Warchief.

Thrall accepted Herkula’s offer to keep killing Orcs in exchange for Kel'Thuzad’s help against Antonidas and a future marriage to Doras. When bounty hunters and Dalaran Mages attacked Herkula’s manor, Herkula led Thrall into a prepared secret passage.

• Thrall recognized Herkula’s history and agreed to trust him when Herkula offered refuge from the bounty hunters.
• Herkula took Thrall to a manor near Southshore, where Thrall recovered and later overheard Herkula bargaining with Kel'Thuzad.
• Kel'Thuzad offered to help Herkula perfect his Lich body, and Herkula promised him Thrall in return.
• Herkula told Thrall to return to Lordaeron and continue killing Orcs, promising Kel'Thuzad would help stop Antonidas and that Thrall could marry Doras afterward.
• Thrall agreed to Herkula’s plan, but bounty hunters and Dalaran Mages attacked the manor, so Herkula led Thrall into a secret passage.

Herkula led Thrall through Alterac’s ruins to reveal a hidden source of magic, but Medivh tracked them there using a Rune concealed in Thrall’s shirt. Herkula hid with Thrall in a cesspit to evade Medivh, and the chapter ended as Kel’Thuzad arrived in response to Herkula’s signal.

• Herkula escaped with Thrall through a secret passage and a Portal, bringing him to the ruins of Alterac’s capital.
• Herkula told Thrall that he was born into Alterac’s royal family and explained his hatred of Orcs and King Terenas.
• Herkula led Thrall into the ruined Royal Magic Association headquarters and revealed that a source of magic like the Sunwell was hidden inside a statue of Sargeras.
• Medivh tracked them to the ruins after Herkula found a Rune concealed in a button on Thrall’s shirt.
• Herkula pulled Thrall into a cesspit to avoid Medivh’s detection magic and told him they would have to hide there whenever Medivh pursued them.
• Kel’Thuzad arrived after receiving Herkula’s signal, giving Herkula hope that they were safe.

Thrall watched Kel'Thuzad apparently die, then discovered the events leading him to the Helm of Domination had been staged by Herkula, a Dreadlord. Desperate to build a New World, Thrall put on the helm, surrendered his soul to a dark consciousness, and destroyed the Statue of Sargeras.

• Thrall and Herkula watched Antonidas and Medivh defeat and apparently kill Kel'Thuzad, then fled into the cesspit.
• Thrall learned that the Statue of Sargeras concealed a helm that had consumed the consciousness of a previous wearer.
• Thrall touched the helm and realized the recent events, including the battle and Kel'Thuzad's death, had been an illusion staged to manipulate him.
• Herkula admitted Thrall had seen through the scheme, and Thrall recognized him as a Dreadlord who had driven him toward the helm.
• Thrall put on the helm, allowing a dark consciousness to take over his body, and shattered the Statue of Sargeras.