Chapter Summaries

Robbie read Magni Bronzebeard’s damaged diary and learned that Talanji was Thrall’s daughter, Moira had become entangled with Prince Anduin, and the Moon Goddess had guided Magni toward a dangerous ritual. He decided to return to the moment Archimonde descended on Dalaran and fight beside Arthas against the Burning Legion.

• Robbie read Magni Bronzebeard’s diary, which described Thrall’s secret relationship with the queen of Zandalar and the birth of their daughter, Talanji.
• The diary revealed that Magni had taught Moira to scheme, intended her to inherit Ironforge, and suspected trouble surrounding her relationship with Prince Anduin and a Moon Goddess oracle.
• Robbie concluded that Magni had served as the Moon Goddess’s hidden guardian and decided to seek another path to Nordrassil through Teldrassil.
• Robbie told Black Cat he would return to Archimonde’s descent on Dalaran and fight alongside the Lich King Arthas against the Burning Legion.
• Robbie visited Vanessa, entered Mount Hyjal to look over its scarred land, and set out after completing his preparations.

Robbie entered the period of Dalaran’s destruction and joined Arthas’s retreating Scourge after Archimonde invaded Azeroth. He offered to use a spell to hold Archimonde back, and the Scourge gathered to help him as the demon advanced.

• Black Cat warned Robbie that Azeroth lacked the strength to defeat the Burning Legion and told him not to interfere too much with history.
• Robbie entered the time portal to Dalaran’s destruction, intending to defeat Archimonde and buy time for the Scourge’s rise.
• Archimonde ordered the Orcs to spare Dalaran’s mages, then began gathering strength while the Scourge retreated with Frostmourne.
• Robbie reached Arthas and said he could hold Archimonde back with the Scourge soldiers’ help.
• Arthas ordered the Scourge to gather, and Archimonde rose and strode toward them.

Robbie used Old Gods Transformation to confront Archimonde, who tried to lure Arthas into joining the Burning Legion and attacked the Scourge. Archimonde mistook Robbie’s transformed manifestation for Queen Azshara and withdrew, while Robbie learned new spells but recognized that he could not hold the form for long.

• Robbie cast Old Gods Transformation, combining the power of hundreds of thousands of Scourge soldiers into a temporary Old God manifestation.
• Archimonde tried to tempt Arthas with vengeance against the Orcs, but Arthas refused and denounced the demons.
• Archimonde summoned Dalaran’s tallest spire as a weapon, but it crumbled after a few swings, and he attacked Arthas.
• Robbie’s tentacles caught Archimonde, and Robbie absorbed his Doomfire attack through a black hole before repairing the damaged space.
• Archimonde mistook Robbie for Queen Azshara, warned him against returning before the time was right, and left.
• Robbie’s transformed body vanished, and the Scourge withdrew from the Dalaran Kingdom.

Archimonde’s Legion destroyed Dalaran and used its mages and residents to fuel the invasion, while Thrall protested that the Orcs had been reduced to peons. He challenged the Legion’s treatment of the Orcs through a duel, but Saurfang was swiftly killed by a Felguard, leaving Thrall to confront the Legion’s technological advantage.

• Archimonde had the Legion build Portals with captured Dalaran mages, then ordered Varimathras to sacrifice them and erase Dalaran while the Orcs slaughtered its people.
• Thrall discovered that the Orcs were performing manual labor for the Legion and protested to Varimathras that they deserved respect as warriors.
• Varimathras offered the Orcs equal status if their strongest warrior defeated a Legion soldier, and Thrall chose Saurfang to fight a Felguard.
• Saurfang attacked the Felguard, but Fel armor and speed let the demon kill him almost instantly.
• Thrall accused the Legion of making the duel unfair, but Varimathras said its Fel technology was part of its strength and declared the Orcs fit only to be peons.

Archimonde planned to use the Orcs and other native races to attack the Night Elves and draw out Queen Azshara. In Lordaeron, Robbie urged the Scourge not to despair and began explaining the Undead’s greatest advantage.

• Thrall offered to lead the Orcs as the Burning Legion’s vanguard, but Varimathras ordered them to remain laborers.
• Archimonde decided to use the Orcs against the Night Elves, hoping their peril would force Queen Azshara to reveal herself.
• Varimathras proposed recruiting Trolls, Tauren, and Centaurs to join the Orcs, and Archimonde tasked him with the recruitment and Mannoroth with leading the Orcs.
• In Lordaeron, Kel'Thuzad blamed Antonidas for the Legion’s arrival, while Arthas blamed himself for failing to attack Dalaran sooner.
• Robbie asked Kel'Thuzad and Arthas to identify the Scourge’s strengths, then began explaining that the Undead were magical creations sustained by death.

Robbie explained that the undead had exceptional magical potential but lacked the education to use it, and proposed linking their minds to teach a hidden force of Scourge soldiers. The plan left Robbie, Arthas, and Kel'Thuzad needing to buy a month before the Scourge attacked.

• Robbie explained that undead relied on the power of death and had magical aptitude comparable to elemental beings, which Kel'Thuzad recognized.
• Arthas and Kel'Thuzad realized the Scourge’s soldiers could become mages, but most lacked the knowledge to understand magic.
• Robbie proposed using Old Gods Transformation to link undead minds and impart magical knowledge in a month.
• Robbie recommended secretly training fifty thousand talented human Scourge soldiers and keeping them out of the coming war.
• Kel'Thuzad refused to join the training plan because his growing strength would attract attention, and Robbie warned that they needed to buy time.

Robbie urged Arthas and Kel'Thuzad to spread a rumor that the Orcs intended to seize the World Tree, hoping to delay their advance for a month. Meanwhile, Alexandros Mograine sought help from King Magni Bronzebeard, who refused to send troops but enticed Mograine to stay in Ironforge with talk of dancers.

• Robbie told Arthas and Kel'Thuzad to spread rumors that the Orcs wanted the power of the World Tree so others would hinder their advance.
• Sylvanas destroyed Mograine's base and supplies, forcing him to scatter his troops and seek help in Ironforge.
• Mograine offered Magni the Rizebu Crystal in exchange for food, weapons, armor, and Dwarven troops to fight the Scourge.
• Magni claimed Ironforge could not send troops because of poor harvests and plague, though he coveted the crystal.
• Magni invited Mograine to a welcome feast and mentioned Stormwind City's sexy dancers, prompting Mograine to agree to stay for one night.

Magni Bronzebeard secretly replaced Mograine’s Rizebu Crystal with a cursed copy, then kept him in Ironforge until Ashbringer was forged. When news arrived that Dalaran had fallen, Mograine questioned Magni’s call to fight the Burning Legion and insisted their target was the Scourge.

• Magni Bronzebeard secretly used the Copying Balance to switch Mograine’s Rizebu Crystal with a cursed copy while Mograine slept.
• Magni kept Mograine in Ironforge with feasts and dancers, then persuaded him to help oppose the Scourge by forging a weapon stronger than Frostmourne.
• Magni and Ironforge’s craftsmen forged Ashbringer while Paladins and Priests infused the crystal with Holy Light.
• Mograine accepted Ashbringer and vowed to protect Azeroth and face any enemy.
• A Dwarven scout reported that Antonidas had summoned Archimonde, the Scourge had invaded, and Dalaran had fallen.
• Magni urged Mograine to go to Dalaran and join Thrall against the Burning Legion, but Mograine said their target should be the Scourge.

Magni regretted forging Ashbringer and acted on a rumor that Thrall planned to seize the World Trees, while Varimathras set out to manipulate Fisla and spark a war around the Echo Isles. The chapter ended with Varimathras offering Fisla a chance to become stronger.

• After Mograine left Ironforge with Ashbringer, Magni learned that Thrall would lead the Orcs to Kalimdor, and the news briefly eased Ironforge’s fears.
• A rumor spread that Thrall intended to take the World Trees’ power and ally with the Darkspear Trolls and Tauren, prompting Magni to use the Dream-Making Hammer on Fisla’s image in the Orrery of Azeroth.
• Varimathras sailed to the Echo Isles, planning to control Fisla and provoke conflict among the Murlocs, Darkspear Trolls, and Kul Tiras.
• Varimathras captured the Murlocs in a village and summoned an apparition of Fisla, who recognized him as a Dreadlord and asked why he had imprisoned his people.
• Varimathras realized someone had warned Fisla and tried to entice him by offering him a chance to become stronger.

Varimathras failed to tempt or threaten Feisila into joining the Burning Legion, and Feisila unleashed a massive wave against the Legion’s forces. Archimonde grew suspicious that someone was guiding Feisila, while Varimathras planned to seek out more persuadable targets.

• Varimathras offered Feisila Fel power in exchange for serving the Burning Legion, but Feisila refused and accused the Legion’s allies of eating other peoples.
• Varimathras threatened Feisila, who defied him and claimed that his will would endure even if the world perished.
• Varimathras sensed danger and flew away as Feisila sent a mountain-sized wave crashing through the Burning Legion’s soldiers while the captured Murlocs protected themselves with water bubble magic.
• Varimathras reported Feisila’s resistance to Archimonde, who suspected Queen Azshara might be behind it and chose not to act rashly.
• Varimathras decided to seek clever people, whom he believed would be easier to tempt and deceive.

Varimathras infiltrated the Darkspear Tribe as Heijin while Robbie arrived on the Echo Isles to plant traces of Highborne magic and disrupt the Burning Legion’s plans. Robbie learned that the island marked as taboo was Vol'jin’s exile, and that Vol'jin was rumored to be the son of a Zandalari Troll.

• Varimathras killed Heijin, absorbed his memories, and entered the Darkspear village disguised as Sen'jin’s illegitimate son.
• Robbie linked the minds of fifty thousand Scourge soldiers and gave them magical knowledge from Queen Azshara’s era before setting out for the Echo Isles.
• Robbie traded goods for herbs and bribed the village chief to learn about dangerous creatures near the Echo Isles.
• The village chief warned Robbie away from a nearby island where Vol'jin had been exiled by Sen'jin.
• The village chief claimed Vol'jin was not Sen'jin’s son and said his father had been a Zandalari Troll.

Robbie heard the tale of Vol'jin's ominous birth and learned that Bwonsamdi had protected him, while Sen'jin exiled him with his mother to a remote island. Suspecting Vol'jin's parentage and Sen'jin's motives, Robbie decided to contact Vol'jin secretly after completing his own mission.

• Robbie gave the old village chief tea ware and asked him to recount Vol'jin's story.
• The old village chief described how a blood-red moon and resurrected corpses appeared at Vol'jin's birth, and how a vision of the Darkspear Lady stopped a Witch Doctor from killing his mother.
• The old village chief said Chief Sen'jin spared Vol'jin and his mother but exiled them to an island, where Vol'jin survived after his mother died.
• The old village chief recounted tales of the island's dangers and said Vol'jin sometimes visited the Echo Isles, calling himself Sen'jin's son.
• Robbie suspected that Vol'jin's father and Sen'jin's motives were tied to his survival, and decided to contact Vol'jin in secret.
• Robbie chose a Deep Sea Giant from the crude map as the target for his secret mission.

A mysterious figure’s effortless defeat of a Deep Sea Giant led Varimathras and Archimonde to suspect Queen Azshara had returned to Azeroth. Archimonde then examined Varimathras’s plan to manipulate Sen'jin with a dream and pointed out that Sen'jin would consult his priests and subordinates.

• Robbie’s adventurers struggled against the Deep Sea Giant while the old Troll village chief prepared to exploit their defeat.
• A hooded figure shattered the Deep Sea Giant with one palm, and the old village chief spread rumors that a powerful Troll expert protected his village.
• Varimathras examined the giant’s corpse, detected fused Shadow, Arcane, and Fel energy, and reported the discovery to Archimonde.
• Archimonde concluded that Queen Azshara had returned and asked Varimathras about his plans for the Darkspear Horde.
• Varimathras proposed planting a dream in Sen'jin promising an Orc alliance, victory over the humans and Murlocs, and eternal life.
• Archimonde warned that Sen'jin would seek advice about the dream and asked how many sons he had.

Archimonde ordered Varimathras to use a dream to influence Sen'jin’s heirs, but Varimathras’s nightmare vision failed to deceive Sen'jin. Sen'jin summoned his people and heirs to share the dream and ask what they should do.

• Archimonde told Varimathras to support whichever of Sen'jin’s four legitimate sons or seven powerful illegitimate sons believed the dream Varimathras devised.
• Varimathras infiltrated the palace as Heijin and used drugs and magic to give Sen'jin a vision of the Darkspear Tribe’s destruction and Thrall offering him an alliance.
• Sen'jin recognized Thrall’s promises as a performance, and Varimathras realized that Sen'jin had already received a revelation.
• Sen'jin summoned the palace’s people, officials, nobles, and heirs, then recounted the dream and invited them to speak freely.

Sen'jin rejected an alliance with the Orcs by executing Prince Ming, thwarting Varimathras's efforts to influence the Darkspear Trolls. Meanwhile, Robbie approached Vol'jin's island and heard the mysterious being tell Vol'jin that his chance had come.

• Prince Ming interpreted Sen'jin's dream as a warning to join forces with the Orcs, but Sen'jin accused him of coveting the chieftain's position.
• Sen'jin ordered Prince Ming boiled alive and warned the assembled Trolls that anyone advocating cooperation with the Orcs would share his fate.
• Varimathras realized Sen'jin had blocked his plans, left the palace, and tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the Murlocs before wandering the Echo Isles.
• Robbie left his ship and used magic to approach Vol'jin's island in secret.
• Vol'jin challenged the mysterious being about its changing stories of his father, and it admitted to lying before declaring that Vol'jin's chance had come.

Vol'jin listened as the mysterious voice urged him to use his hatred and the upheaval caused by the Orc invasion to seize leadership of the Darkspear Trolls. The voice revealed that Sen'jin's ancestor had betrayed Bwonsamdi and allied with the Murlocs to take power, leaving Vol'jin reconsidering the Darkspear's history.

• Vol'jin admitted that he hated his people, and the mysterious voice called his ill omen and isolation advantages that could help him become king.
• The voice argued that the Orc invasion offered Vol'jin a chance to help the Orcs defeat the Darkspear Trolls and replace Sen'jin as chieftain.
• Vol'jin rejected the idea of betraying his people and said he would rather earn leadership by helping them defeat the Orcs.
• The voice warned that Sen'jin might brand Vol'jin a traitor even if he fought for the Darkspear, and claimed that traitors often became celebrated leaders.
• The voice revealed that Sen'jin's ancestor had secretly colluded with the Murloc lord Fisla, banished Bwonsamdi with a dark scroll, and then become chieftain.
• Vol'jin condemned the ancestor's betrayal but said that making peace with the Murlocs could still be the right choice for a chieftain.

Bwonsamdi persuaded Vol'jin to challenge Sen'jin and seek power, while Robbie secretly discovered Bwonsamdi's involvement and watched Vol'jin spread his message. The chapter ended with Sen'jin and an old priest discussing the Orcs and the Burning Legion.

• Bwonsamdi told Vol'jin that the Darkspear chieftains had secured their power through betrayal and urged him to oppose Sen'jin and build support for cooperating with the Orcs.
• Bwonsamdi revealed that his price for helping Vol'jin was to marry Vol'jin's future daughter, and Vol'jin accepted the bargain.
• Bwonsamdi urged Vol'jin to look beyond the Echo Isles and set his sights on Kalimdor and Azeroth.
• Robbie arrived on the island, recognized Bwonsamdi's deathly presence, and saw Vol'jin directing resurrected Murlocs to carve messages criticizing Sen'jin and supporting an alliance with the Orcs.
• Robbie found Bwonsamdi watching Vol'jin from the island's highest point, while Bwonsamdi remained unaware of Robbie.
• Sen'jin and an old priest privately discussed whether defeating the Orcs would leave the Darkspear Trolls able to face the Burning Legion.

Sen'jin prepared the Darkspear Tribe to fight the Orcs while refusing Vol'jin's call to unite with them. Varimathras found Vol'jin in exile and offered to build support for him, asking for a letter in Vol'jin's hand.

• Sen'jin told the high priest that he intended to replace the Orcs as the Burning Legion's servants and ordered him to monitor Feralas and the Murlocs.
• Sen'jin dismissed the high priest's proposal to eliminate Vol'jin and ordered the Darkspear to seek Murloc and Kul Tiras support against the Orcs.
• Rumors spread through the Darkspear Tribe about Vol'jin's origins as Sen'jin ignored his opposition.
• Varimathras, disguised as Heijin, traveled to Vol'jin's island and found him with a handful of followers.
• Varimathras pledged loyalty to Vol'jin and offered to gather support, then asked Vol'jin to write him a letter.

Varimathras manipulated Vol'jin into claiming Zandalari noble ancestry and used the claim to win the Kukan Family's support. Vol'jin planned to frame Sen'jin for Tide Lord Feralas's death, while Bwonsamdi offered a way to exploit Feralas's fear of strong liquor.

• At Varimathras's urging, Vol'jin wrote a letter claiming he was the son and heir of a Zandalari noble, and Varimathras took it to recruit supporters.
• Bwonsamdi warned Vol'jin that his ally was a dangerous, powerful fish, while Robbie watched through the Eye of C'Thun and recognized Varimathras's disguise.
• After Sen'jin executed Mingwang, Varimathras used Vol'jin's letter to persuade the embattled Kukan Family to support Vol'jin, giving him the backing of three thousand members.
• Varimathras proposed secretly killing Tide Lord Feralas and blaming Sen'jin, and Vol'jin agreed to use the plot to turn the Murlocs against the chief.
• Vol'jin said he would hand Sen'jin's family over to the Murlocs, and Bwonsamdi suggested using strong liquor against Feralas and named Chen Stormstout as a brewer visiting the Echo Isles.

Rokhan deceived Chen Stormstout into bringing hundreds of Pandaren scholars to the Darkspear Tribe, claiming they would civilize the Trolls. After using the Pandaren to gain wealth and status, Rokhan threatened Chen with disgrace unless he helped provide more Pandaren for Chieftain Sen'jin, and Chen reluctantly gave in.

• Vol'jin said he could handle Chen Stormstout, who had earned a fearsome reputation among the Darkspear Tribe.
• Rokhan befriended Chen by pretending to be a noble's son and claiming he wanted to reform the Trolls through education.
• Chen returned to Pandaria and gathered hundreds of scholars and apprentices to teach the Darkspear Tribe.
• Rokhan kept Chen occupied while the Pandaren entered the Trolls' palace, then returned days later as a wealthy, powerful noble.
• Rokhan revealed that he had exploited the Pandaren and threatened to blame Chen for their deaths, leaving Chen unable to act for fear of ruining his reputation.
• Rokhan urged Chen to bring more Pandaren, including young cubs, to satisfy Sen'jin's appetite, and Chen helplessly agreed.