Chapter Summaries

Vanessa and Robbie infiltrated the Vulgol Ogre Mound and found the heavily guarded area where Thrall was imprisoned. As Cho'gall confronted Thrall, Thrall realized that escape alone would not solve the danger he faced, leaving him searching for a way to turn the situation around.

• Vanessa carefully mapped the cave's traps and stopped when the Old Gods' corruption made further infiltration too dangerous.
• Robbie used the Eye of C'Thun to see Cho'gall, who was wavering between his own thoughts and the Old Gods' influence.
• Cho'gall went to Thrall, who was imprisoned with a monstrous mouth fused around his lower body.
• Thrall taunted Cho'gall about Varian's rescue, but Cho'gall argued that Thrall might only be freed from the waist up and mocked his future prospects.
• Thrall considered bargaining with Cho'gall, then recognized that returning to the Horde could leave him vulnerable to Saurfang or Sylvanas and sought another way out.

Robbie uncovered Cho'gall and Thrall's conspiracy and sent Varian a warning, then met the king to discuss the intelligence. Varian demanded to know whom Robbie served, leaving Robbie unable to answer.

• Thrall agreed to help Cho'gall trick the Alliance into supplying the Orcs and breaking the seal of Ahn'Qiraj in exchange for help removing the Old Gods' power from his body.
• Robbie and Vanessa left Vulgol Ogre Mound, and Robbie explained the conspiracy he had overheard.
• Vanessa admitted she had long suspected a painful truth but had been afraid to verify it.
• Robbie sent Varian a forged urgent intelligence letter warning him of Cho'gall and Thrall's plot, and Varian traveled to meet him.
• Robbie refused to reveal his source and challenged Varian's reasons for fighting alongside the Orcs.
• Varian asked Robbie whom he served, and Robbie froze, unsure how to answer.

Robbie captured King Varian after defeating him and fled toward the Green Hills of Stranglethorn Vale. Jaina and Garona planned to pursue them, while Varian claimed his attempt to rescue Thrall concealed a scheme for the Alliance.

• Robbie refused to release Varian, drew a genuine High Elf divine sword, and defeated the king with a blast of Holy Light.
• Robbie tied Varian to a horse, scattered the guards’ mounts, and escaped with the king toward the Green Hills of Stranglethorn Vale.
• Jaina identified Robbie Capor and warned Garona that he was a powerful opponent, but Garona dismissed the warnings and decided to pursue him with Ogre allies and Varian’s elite troops.
• While riding through the mountains, Varian told Robbie that his apparent attempt to rescue Thrall was only part of a hidden plan for the Alliance.
• Robbie became interested in Varian’s explanation and agreed to hear more.

Robbie led the sick, captive Varian through Stranglethorn Vale while Jaina and Garona struggled to track them, then released him near Thrall’s approaching Orc army. Varian returned to find most of his soldiers had deserted after Vanessa spread the truth about his plans, and he ordered an attack on Cho'gall to rescue Thrall.

• Robbie refused to believe Varian’s oath, kept him captive, and said he would release him when Jaina found them.
• Varian and Jaina both fell ill after eating roasted wild meat, while Garona tracked Robbie and tried to keep pace.
• Robbie found Eitrigg’s thousand Orcs, showed them to Varian, and then let him go as Jaina and Garona closed in.
• Jaina opened a portal to take herself, Garona, and Varian back to Rotgrass Farm, where priests treated their illnesses.
• Varian learned that Vanessa’s rumors had prompted most of his hired adventurers, guards, and private soldiers to desert, many fleeing to Westfall.
• Varian ordered his remaining forces to attack Cho'gall and rescue Thrall.

Varian led a depleted force to rescue Thrall, endured an Old God’s attempt to enthrall him, and reached the cave after a costly battle. There, he joined Thrall’s Orcs as they slaughtered the surviving Alliance soldiers and offered Thrall a bargain: Varian’s help against Arthas in exchange for power.

• Varian ignored his adviser’s plea to retreat and led the remaining soldiers toward the Vulgol Ogre Mound, where Cho'gall hastily prepared a defense.
• Varian and Jaina’s allies fought through traps and fifty corrupted Ogre bodyguards, losing more than three hundred soldiers; Jaina used a potion to free Varian from the Old God’s enthrallment.
• Varian reached Thrall’s prison, but Cho'gall escaped through a mouth-like altar as a prepared array brought Eitrigg and Thrall’s Orc guards into the cave.
• Thrall ordered the Orcs to kill the exhausted Alliance soldiers, and Varian crossed over to the Orcs’ side before the massacre began.
• Varian told Thrall that the Orcs needed his help against Arthas and proposed a bargain involving human soldiers charging at the front in exchange for power.

Thrall and Jaina revealed that Varian had been manipulated and killed, replacing him with a prepared double meant to serve the Horde. Robbie and Vanessa reported the truth to Stormwind’s leaders and planned to resist the false king while pursuing a way to create a new body for Prince Shadow Anduin.

• Jaina, Thrall, and Garona mocked Varian’s attempted deal, and Garona stabbed him with the Kingslayer dagger.
• As Varian died, memories revealed how Garona had used him to kill King Llane and how the dagger clouded Varian’s mind.
• Jaina revealed a near-identical young man prepared by Medivh as a replacement king, and Thrall ordered Eitrigg to condition him into an obedient puppet.
• Robbie watched through the Eye of C'Thun as Orc soldiers ate Varian, then learned from Vanessa that the Brotherhood had long suspected the king was serving Thrall.
• Robbie and Vanessa informed the Black Dragon Princess and Duke Bolvar, who agreed to build strength secretly and avoid the false Varian if he returned.
• Robbie and Vanessa set out to find Black Cat and White Cat, while Robbie resolved to seek a new body for Prince Shadow Anduin in Karazhan.

Robbie and Vanessa met Black Cat and White Cat in the Stormwind City Subway, where Black Cat explained Azeroth’s lost civilizations and warned of a future crisis. The cats sent them back to their own timeline, with White Cat urging them to seek answers in Karazhan.

• Robbie and Vanessa found Black Cat and White Cat roasting mouse meat in the subway.
• Black Cat described the subway as a relic of the Old Gods’ civilization and lamented that Azeroth had squandered chances to advance.
• Black Cat asked Robbie to predict what would happen after the Iron Horde was defeated, offering to reveal some truths if he guessed correctly.
• Black Cat warned that the Burning Legion would appear to be destroyed, leaving Azeroth vulnerable to the Old Gods’ temptation.
• White Cat told Robbie and Vanessa to go to Karazhan for answers, and Black Cat opened a door that returned them to their timeline.

Sylvanas consulted her deity after Medivh's fall and received orders to resurrect Anduin Wrynn and stop Medivh's legacy from reaching the interfering powers at Karazhan. She prepared helpers for her plans and awakened Grom Hellscream and Antonidas.

• Sylvanas considered how Medivh's fall could destabilize the Horde and Alliance, and suspected that the Burning Legion would support the Orcs.
• Sylvanas prayed through the necklace from Alleria, and her deity told her to leave Vol'jin as Warchief for now because Archimonde had joined forces with the Orcs.
• The deity ordered Sylvanas to have Varian collect Anduin's shattered soul and bring him back to life, and to take helpers to Karazhan on the full moon and kill the powers interfering with Azeroth.
• Sylvanas entered a hidden chamber beneath her throne and planned to capture Thrall's and Saurfang's souls for revenge.
• Sylvanas chanted over two coffins and awakened Grom Hellscream and Grand Archmage Antonidas.

Sylvanas sent Antonidas to open a portal to the Land of No Shadows, where Thrall, Saurfang, and Garrosh arrived as dead souls. After the three began fighting, a Faceless One tried to enforce peace in the strange realm.

• Sylvanas ordered Antonidas to open a portal to the Land of No Shadows so she could confront Thrall and Saurfang.
• Thrall followed an Orc Val'kyr through the ocean and regained his memories, realizing he had died and lost his powers.
• Thrall reached the Land of No Shadows and discovered that its blood-red moon was a gigantic eye.
• Garrosh and Saurfang confronted Thrall over their grudges, and the two attacked him together.
• A slender Faceless One told the three that everyone in the Land of No Shadows was equal and ordered them to live in harmony.
• When the three ignored the warning and kept fighting, the Faceless One threatened to punish them.

Thrall, Garrosh, and Saurfang learned that resurrection was possible in the Land of No Shadows and accepted resurrection slots from three Orcs. A supposed Spirit Healer resurrected them, but Sylvanas Windrunner revealed that she had tricked them into signing contracts that claimed their souls.

• A Faceless One brought Thrall, Saurfang, and Garrosh to the ruined tree-city and explained that it had once been home to a civilization destroyed by war.
• An Orc told Thrall that resurrection slots appeared when the blood moon vanished and could be transferred, and the Orcs pledged their slots to their leaders.
• When the blood moon disappeared, three Orcs received resurrection slots, and Thrall urged Garrosh and Saurfang to unite after they returned to life.
• The three leaders accepted the slots and signed contracts presented by a figure they believed was the Spirit Healer.
• Sylvanas Windrunner revealed herself as the supposed Spirit Healer, declared that the contracts gave her their souls, and the coffins began pulling them in.

Sylvanas bound Thrall, Saurfang, Garrosh, and Grom Hellscream to resurrected bodies and began using the Orcs’ fear and desire for revenge to secure her rule in the Land of No Shadows. She sent Antonidas to Stormwind to enlist Varian in an assault on the Draenei and recover Anduin’s soul, planning to resurrect the prince and seek two more Horde heroes at Karazhan.

• Sylvanas forced Thrall, Saurfang, and Garrosh into their prepared bodies and bound them with runes.
• Garrosh pleaded to serve Sylvanas and learned that she had secretly helped him merge with the Heart of Y'Shaarj.
• Sylvanas brought Grom Hellscream before Garrosh and ordered father and son to torture Thrall and Saurfang.
• Grom Hellscream and Garrosh carried Thrall and Saurfang to the torture chamber, where their screams echoed throughout the Land of No Shadows.
• Sylvanas listened as the Orcs submitted and praised her, then ordered Antonidas to urge Varian to attack the Draenei in Shadowmoon Valley and collect Anduin’s soul.
• Antonidas opened a portal to Stormwind City as Sylvanas planned to make Anduin a human body and travel to Karazhan on the full moon.

Varian questioned his own identity as Stormwind Keep’s generals and staff resigned and the Alliance conquered Shadowmoon Valley. Antonidas asked him to recover Anduin’s soul for resurrection, but Varian revealed that the Draenei had already been wiped out.

• Varian reflected on his indifference toward Anduin’s death and his growing doubts about who he was.
• Varian ordered all prisoners in Shadowmoon Valley killed, then regretted that Yrel had already been executed before he could summon her to Stormwind.
• Stormwind’s generals, advisers, and servants resigned, leaving Varian feeling isolated in the keep.
• Antonidas arrived on Sylvanas’s behalf and gave Varian a Soul-Calling Crystal, asking him to retrieve Anduin’s soul and pressure the Draenei to perform a ritual.
• Varian told Antonidas that he had already wiped out the Draenei in Shadowmoon Valley and showed him a battle report.

Varian discovered that Stormwind’s war council and guards had turned against him, leaving him unable to muster troops or contact allies. As he realized he was effectively imprisoned, Sylvanas learned that the teleportation beacon in Stormwind Keep had gone silent and decided to retrieve Varian.

• Varian found the war council chamber filled with nobles gambling, drinking, and ignoring their duties, and ordered the guards to arrest them.
• The guards and nobles defied Varian, and the old marshal told him he had to submit a request to muster soldiers for Shadowmoon Valley.
• Varian considered asking his allies for help, but discovered the Soul-Calling Crystal Antonidas had given him was missing and realized he was under surveillance.
• Aboard an airship headed for Karazhan, Antonidas told Sylvanas he could no longer sense the teleportation beacon in Stormwind Keep.
• Sylvanas concluded that Medivh’s accident had shifted power in Stormwind City and resolved to bring Varian back.

Sylvanas prepared to assault Karazhan, while Grand Duke Alpha and Prince Malchezaar assembled the tower’s defenders and searched for a cunning commander. They opened a hidden Fel-filled cellar and discovered someone alive inside a black coffin.

• Sylvanas decided to prioritize taking Karazhan and prepared Undercity royal guards and heavy coffins for the assault.
• Grand Duke Alpha divined that Sylvanas was coming with a powerful force behind her, and Malchezaar assessed Karazhan’s defenses.
• Grand Duke Alpha explained that Karazhan’s servants and hidden inhabitants were formidable beings gathered by Medivh from other worlds.
• Malchezaar listed Karazhan’s commanders, but Grand Duke Alpha said they needed someone more cunning to lead the defense.
• Grand Duke Alpha led Malchezaar through a hidden passage into a cellar, where a coffin rose from a pool of Fel energy and revealed someone alive.

Sylvanas and Antonidas attacked Karazhan, only to discover it was a vast, dangerous city protected by magical barriers and apparently haunted by Medivh. After Karazhan’s champions confronted them, Antonidas summoned the undead Dragon Slayer Gruul and his seven sons to charge the front gate.

• Sylvanas ordered plague dropped on Karazhan, but a voice said “True” and the tower transformed into a vast city.
• Antonidas explained that mana storms, spatial rifts, and Fel had sealed off much of Karazhan, leaving only its front and back gates accessible.
• Medivh’s apparition appeared above the gate, frightening Sylvanas and Antonidas before Sylvanas chose to proceed with the attack.
• Prince Malchezaar and Karazhan’s other champions appeared, and Malchezaar taunted Sylvanas.
• Antonidas summoned Dragon Slayer Gruul and his seven sons, and Gruul charged Karazhan’s front gate.

Sylvanas's resurrected Horde champions attacked Karazhan, but the Opera House fighters held them back with tactics tailored to their weaknesses. Sylvanas exposed Karazhan's shadowy commander and discovered that he was Gul'dan.

• Gruul and his seven sons battered Karazhan's magical shield until Grandma Wolf used mind magic to pacify them, while the Tin Man stopped Grom Hellscream from attacking her.
• Sylvanas opened seven coffins and sent Cairne Bloodhoof, Thrall, Garrosh Hellscream, Saurfang the Great, Kargath Bladefist, Kilrogg Deadeye, and Blackhand into battle.
• Blackhand and the other resurrected champions fought the Opera House performers, but Karazhan's fighters exploited their weaknesses and pushed them back.
• Sylvanas asked Antonidas to send her to the balcony, then fired a moonlit arrow that knocked the hood from Karazhan's commander.
• Sylvanas recognized the revealed Orc as Gul'dan.

Gul'dan revealed that Medivh had restored him after the demons in the Tomb of Sargeras destroyed his body, while Sylvanas summoned a powerful divine envoy to break Karazhan’s defenses. The envoy departed with Gruul and his children, leaving Sylvanas ready to reveal what she had learned from the Frozen Throne.

• Gul'dan revealed his new body and explained how Medivh had saved him, while Sylvanas said she had prepared a special gift for him.
• Sylvanas opened a jeweled coffin and summoned a divine envoy, who ordered the people of Karazhan to retreat behind the Magic Shield.
• Blackhand blamed Gul'dan for the Orcs’ downfall and challenged him to a duel, but Gul'dan dismissed him and Blackhand submitted to Sylvanas.
• The divine envoy expanded a flaw in Karazhan’s Magic Shield until it broke through, then turned Gruul and his seven children into a golden bracelet as payment.
• After the envoy vanished, Sylvanas told Gul'dan she would show him her true strength and what she had learned from the Frozen Throne.

Vanessa and Robbie watched Sylvanas’s assault on Karazhan and used the chaos to sneak inside in search of information and a way to create a body for Shadow Anduin. As Gul’dan fought the Undead Vrykul, he began plotting how to exploit the grudges among Sylvanas’s servants.

• Vanessa and the Brotherhood stripped Varian of power, confined him in Stormwind Keep, and thwarted Sylvanas’s attempt to resurrect Light Anduin.
• Robbie explained how Gul’dan’s illusions had misled Sylvanas into attacking Karazhan’s main entrance, but a mysterious divine envoy had torn down its Magic Shield.
• Vanessa and Robbie took advantage of the battle and slipped into Karazhan, crawling through an abandoned chimney near Medivh’s bedroom.
• Antonidas opened a portal, sending Undead Vrykul into Karazhan, where they fought Prince Malchezaar’s forces.
• Gul’dan watched Sylvanas’s undead champions and began planning to use their old grudges against one another.

Cairne fought alongside Thrall’s forces in Karazhan while Gul'dan’s dark magic stirred painful memories and urged him to attack Thrall. Convinced that Thrall was approaching under the same influence, Cairne seized an opening and thrust his rune spear at him.

• Cairne fought cautiously with Thrall’s force, avoiding Karazhan’s strongest fighters as the battle advanced through the tower.
• Gul'dan’s magic reminded Cairne of his sons’ deaths, his torment after death, and his resentment toward Thrall.
• A voice claiming to be the Earth Mother tempted Cairne to kill Thrall in exchange for forgiveness.
• Cairne noticed Thrall approaching from behind and suspected Gul'dan had bewitched him too.
• Cairne turned and thrust his rune spear at Thrall.

Thrall died after Cairne killed him, then found himself in the Death Realm before Arthas Menethil. At Karazhan, Robbie and Vanessa encountered an illusion of Aegwynn questioning a blood race captive about a conspiracy tied to the Well of Eternity and Queen Azshara.

• Gul'dan urged Cairne to kill two more Orc generals in exchange for freedom from Sylvanas's control, and Cairne set out to find another target.
• Thrall entered the Death Realm and saw Arthas Menethil seated on a throne above a vast host of immortal beings.
• Robbie and Vanessa explored Karazhan's fractured spaces while searching for the true Book of Medivh.
• They encountered an illusion of Aegwynn holding a blood race man captive and threatening him with a Spellstealer Wyrm.
• The captive claimed that sinister forces had altered the world's magical order through the Well of Eternity and urged Aegwynn to stop Queen Azshara.