Chapter Summaries

Thrall sought a way to please the Moon Goddess’s divine envoy after the envoy rejected Jaina, but Magni secretly manipulated Thrall with a fabricated Void Lord dream. Thrall received orders to prepare Tauren and Pandaren for the envoy, and mistakenly thought the envoy simply wanted a feast.

• Aegwynn promised Jaina that she would become her student if she married the divine envoy, and Jaina agreed.
• The divine envoy publicly declared he would never marry a human, leaving Jaina shocked and secretly delighted.
• Thrall dreamed that a Void Lord chose him as its representative and ordered him to cooperate with its followers.
• Magni revealed that he had created the dream to deceive Thrall and secure an alliance between the Orcs and Night Elves.
• Thrall received secret orders to prepare three hundred healthy Tauren and three hundred well-fed Pandaren for the divine envoy.
• Vol'jin translated the orders, and Thrall concluded that the envoy only wanted to eat Tauren and Pandaren.

Thrall sent Rokhan and Vol'jin to demand that Rastakhan surrender the Zandalari queen, while Rastakhan debated resistance with the dark prophet Zul. After Zul left Zuldazar, Vol'jin and Rokhan arrived, and Vol'jin revealed he had arranged for the Burning Legion to assassinate Zul.

• Thrall ordered Rokhan to bring the Zandalari queen to Orgrimmar and threatened to destroy the Zandalari Empire if Rastakhan refused.
• Vol'jin warned Thrall that Rastakhan might jeopardize their plans and joined Rokhan as an envoy.
• Rastakhan rejected the demand as an insult, while Zul blamed him for ignoring earlier chances to strengthen the Trolls and warned that Zandalar faced destruction.
• Rastakhan dismissed Zul, who urged him to resist to the end before leaving Zuldazar.
• Vol'jin and Rokhan arrived in Zandalar, and Vol'jin said he had asked the Burning Legion to send an assassin after Zul.

Vol'jin pressured King Rastakhan into sending the Zandalari queen to Orgrimmar by pretending Thrall had sacrificed Cairne Bloodhoof's son and Taran Zhu's daughter as food. When the queen appeared, Vol'jin became captivated by her and believed he had found true love.

• Vol'jin learned that Zul had left Zuldazar and decided to present Rastakhan with a grand gift.
• Vol'jin and Rokhan entered Rastakhan's palace, where the king had armed men waiting to attack them.
• Vol'jin presented a hot pot and claimed its ingredients were Cairne Bloodhoof's son and Taran Zhu's daughter, frightening Rastakhan into agreeing to send the queen to Orgrimmar.
• Rastakhan summoned the queen, and Rokhan and Vol'jin were both struck by her beauty.

Vol'jin, Rokhan, and Thrall were captivated by the queen of Zandalar, whom Thrall arranged to present to the divine envoy during negotiations. When Vol'jin went to fetch her, he found her and her maids dead, with the queen having taken her own life rather than surrender her honor.

• Vol'jin and Rokhan escorted the queen of Zandalar by ship to Orgrimmar, where Thrall welcomed her.
• Thrall prepared a lavish banquet for the divine envoy and praised ruthless rule while discussing Emperor Thoradin and the trolls.
• Thrall told the divine envoy that he expected the Zandalari Empire to join the Horde, and the envoy praised him as a true hero.
• Vol'jin went to fetch the queen and found her maids dead and the queen lying in a pool of blood.
• Vol'jin saw the queen's final message in ancient Trollish: "Honor above my life!"

Vol'jin replaced the dead Queen of Zandalar with an impostor during a feast where Thrall and a Night Elf divine envoy negotiated an alliance. News that the Night Elves had devastated Archimonde’s forces derailed cooperation, and Thrall ended by demanding to know how the Queen had died.

• Vol'jin found the Queen of Zandalar dead and arranged for a female Troll to impersonate her at the feast.
• Thrall and the divine envoy discussed cooperation between the Orcs and Night Elves, but an Orc scout announced that the Burning Legion had been defeated.
• Thrall killed the scout after demanding an explanation, while the envoy and Thrall doubted the report and the banquet ended with negotiations stalled.
• Vol'jin studied reports describing the Night Elves’ surprise attack, the destruction of the Legion’s Magic Shield, and Archimonde’s retreat with only around thirty thousand soldiers remaining.
• Vol'jin reported that the envoy in Darnassus had discovered an impostor posing as the Moon Goddess’s divine envoy had organized the attack.
• Thrall dismissed the dispute over the false envoy and asked Vol'jin how the Queen of Zandalar had died.

Thrall ordered the Zandalari queen’s soul captured and her reputation destroyed, but her soul vanished. Robbie later met the queen’s spirit, who asked for rest, revenge, and a final chance to see Rastakhan.

• Thrall accused the dead queen of threatening the Orcs and ordered Vol'jin to make Bwonsamdi find her soul for torture.
• Thrall made Rokhan name one of his daughters as the queen’s heir, then had the queen’s corpse cooked and fed to Orc laborers.
• Eitrigg spread fabricated rumors about the queen, and Zandalari people turned against her family while praising Thrall.
• The Legion Forge and Bwonsamdi could not find the queen’s soul, enraging Thrall.
• Robbie led Night Elves and the Firelord in a raid that damaged the Burning Legion’s camp, then secretly left after the real divine messenger returned.
• The queen’s spirit found Robbie and said she wanted peace, revenge if possible, and to see Rastakhan once more.

Rastakhan heard a warning from his dead queen about the Loa, Thrall’s plan for the Zandalari throne, and the need to protect the empire. In Darnassus, a divine emissary demanded punishment for the Night Elves’ attack on the Burning Legion, and Tyrande threatened Shandris Feathermoon for questioning Elune’s judgment.

• Rastakhan grieved over his queen’s disgrace and his inability to resist Thrall’s influence.
• The queen’s shadow warned Rastakhan that the Loa limited the Zandalari and that Thrall intended to install Rokhan’s illegitimate daughter as heir.
• Rastakhan vowed not to let the throne pass to an outsider, and the queen told him never to make a deal with a god before she departed with Robbie.
• At the Temple of the Moon, the divine emissary demanded that Tyrande and Malfurion arrest everyone involved in the Night Elves’ unauthorized attack on the Burning Legion.
• Shandris Feathermoon questioned the punishment, and Tyrande threatened to send those who blasphemed a god into the abyss of nightmares.

The divine emissary ordered the Night Elves to stop fighting without Elune’s permission and announced that they must attack the Firelord Ragnaros. Fandral Staghelm warned that the plan would betray the alliance protecting Mount Hyjal, but Cenarius and Hamuul Runetotem arrived as apparent candidates to lead the attack.

• The divine emissary punished the Night Elf officers and soldiers who had attacked the Burning Legion, while Maiev questioned how they could respond to a surprise attack.
• Tyrande and Malfurion rebuked Maiev for doubting Elune, and the emissary declared that Elune had ordered an attack on Ragnaros.
• Fandral Staghelm burst into the Temple of the Moon and warned that attacking the Firelands would betray the pact protecting Mount Hyjal from the Burning Legion.
• The emissary mocked Fandral and said that other leaders would command the attack on the Firelands.
• Cenarius, restored to his physical body, entered with Hamuul Runetotem, the Druid leader from Thunder Bluff.

Fandral Staghelm secretly contacted Ragnaros and, after learning that the Scourge was Azeroth’s defense against annihilation, chose to trust Arthas. He summoned his resurrected son Valstann, who urged him to believe Arthas and the Scourge.

• The divine emissary drove Fandral Staghelm from the council and told Tyrande and Malfurion that he should not be allowed to remain.
• Fandral Staghelm slipped away from his watchers and contacted Ragnaros from the Flame Druids’ secret laboratory.
• Fandral Staghelm and Ragnaros discussed Elune’s influence, the danger facing the Night Elves, and Ragnaros’s belief that Arthas and the Scourge were Azeroth’s hope.
• Fandral Staghelm decided to take the risk of trusting Arthas and rang the bell Valstann had sent him.
• Valstann appeared as an Undead Druid, and Fandral Staghelm tearfully welcomed his son.
• Valstann told Fandral Staghelm that Arthas was worthy of trust and that the Orcs had killed him after he mistakenly believed Thrall was a savior.

Fandral Staghelm secretly helped Night Elves opposed to the Orc alliance flee Mount Hyjal while Tyrande celebrated the pact with Thrall. After Orcs took over guarding the Heart Spring, the Ancients of War weakened, and unease spread as the Moon Goddess's priesthood day approached.

• Fandral Staghelm recognized that Arthas was still human and learned that the Scourge wanted to help the Night Elves escape Mount Hyjal.
• Cenarius, Malfurion, and Hamuul Runetotem abandoned their failed Firelands expedition, angering Ragnaros and ending the Firelord's cooperation with the Night Elves.
• Thrall and Tyrande formally allied the Orcs and Night Elves, prompting widespread celebration in Darnassus and on Mount Hyjal.
• Fandral Staghelm gathered Night Elves who opposed the alliance and secretly helped them flee Mount Hyjal as their concerns went unheard.
• Tyrande arranged for Orcs to guard the Heart Spring, and Shandris Feathermoon and Maiev failed to persuade her to reverse the decision.
• The Ancients of War grew weaker after the Orcs took their post, reports to Tyrande went unanswered, and the Moon Goddess's priesthood day arrived.

At the Moon Goddess ceremony on Mount Hyjal, Thrall denounced the Night Elves and revealed the Orcs’ hostility, shattering their trust just as the Burning Legion attacked. Tyrande and Malfurion fled through the burning forest as Mount Hyjal fell into chaos.

• Fandral Staghelm and Valstann learned from the Scourge that the Burning Legion would attack that night, but the Night Elves were unprepared and only those willing to retreat could use the Scourge’s Teleportation Array.
• Thrall began his speech by recounting the Orcs’ history, then declared that the Orcs had helped the Burning Legion destroy their enemies and insulted Tyrande, Malfurion, and the Night Elves.
• Thrall punched Tyrande off the platform and proclaimed the Night Elves doomed, but a disguised divine messenger knocked him unconscious and claimed evil magic had controlled him.
• The divine messenger’s covering fell away and revealed an Orc, while Infernals descended on Mount Hyjal and Fandral Staghelm and Valstann accused Tyrande and Malfurion of betraying their people.
• An Infernal smashed the platform, and Malfurion pulled Tyrande from the wreckage as Fel Flame set the forest ablaze and the Night Elves fled in terror.

The Burning Legion devastated Mount Hyjal as Malfurion and Tyrande watched Night Elves die and blamed Elune for their plight. White lights carried away some despairing Night Elves, while Fandral Staghelm and Valstann considered their people’s fate; at the Heart Spring, Tyrande prayed as a corpse stirred in the water.

• Infernals and the Burning Legion’s forces overran Mount Hyjal, while Malfurion and Tyrande hid and saw Cenarius captured and tortured.
• Malfurion and Tyrande considered surrendering to the Legion, but white lights carried away some Night Elves, which they believed was Elune’s intervention.
• Fandral Staghelm and Valstann realized that the rescued Night Elves had lost faith in Elune and worried about whether Malfurion and Tyrande would accept them.
• Fandral Staghelm decided to go to Nordrassil, and Valstann gave him a banner Arthas had provided.
• Malfurion and Tyrande reached the Heart Spring, where Saurfang’s Orcs boiled Night Elf corpses and made them into rations.
• Tyrande prayed at the Heart Spring, Malfurion warned her to be quiet, and a corpse in the spring moved.

The divine messenger lost his body after Thrall’s Orcs mistook him for Scourge flesh and ate him, so he turned his thoughts to having Medivh intervene. At Nordrassil, Tyrande and Malfurion found the Night Elf generals, and Malfurion defended Elune’s devastation as a test while a general asked where the Moon Goddess’s rescued people were.

• Robbie’s sneak attack knocked the divine messenger unconscious, and he later awoke powerless in a spring among Night Elf corpses as Thrall and Saurfang argued over their failed plot.
• Thrall and Saurfang mistook the divine messenger for an Undead spy, then let hungry Orc soldiers devour his body; the messenger resolved to call on Medivh after resurrecting elsewhere.
• Tyrande and Malfurion reached Nordrassil, where the generals expressed relief at their survival and claimed Thrall’s Orcs had eaten the other Priests of the Moon Goddess.
• Malfurion recognized that the generals resented Tyrande and him, but chose to preserve his leadership by describing Elune’s destruction of hundreds of thousands of Night Elves as a purge of heretics.
• A general asked Malfurion where the Night Elves saved by Elune were.

After the Night Elves suffered devastating losses, Maiev showed Tyrande and Malfurion their people’s despair and the destruction of the Ancients of War. Fandral Staghelm proposed reviving them with water from Nordrassil’s roots, and Maiev left to fetch it as the Burning Legion began its assault.

• Tyrande and Malfurion failed to offer the commanders a plan, so Maiev led them through the fortress and exposed them to their furious, grieving people.
• Maiev showed Tyrande and Malfurion that the Heart Spring’s destruction had withered the Ancients of War, leaving the soldiers preparing for a final stand.
• Fandral Staghelm arrived and learned that General Feathermoon had taken the secret mage corps away and that the Ancients of War had died.
• Fandral Staghelm argued that water from Nordrassil’s roots could revive the Ancients of War, and Maiev led Watchers on Hippogryphs to fetch it.
• The Burning Legion began its full assault shortly after Maiev left.

Fandral Staghelm hung Valstann’s banner on the fortress wall, causing Archimonde to halt the Burning Legion’s advance because he recognized it as Queen Azshara’s royal standard. After Maiev returned with lake water that revived the Ancients of War, Fandral strengthened the Night Elves’ defenses, but the Legion’s Cenarius soon challenged them outside the fortress.

• Fandral Staghelm warned the Night Elf commanders that the fortress would fall soon and raised Valstann’s banner as a last resort.
• Archimonde recognized the banner as Queen Azshara’s royal standard and suspended the Legion’s attack, while he and Mannoroth discussed using Medivh to divide the Night Elves and Orcs.
• Archimonde ordered Mannoroth to bring the Fel-transformed Cenarius to challenge the Night Elves and force them to surrender.
• Maiev returned with water from Mount Hyjal’s lake, which revived the Ancients of War and helped the Night Elves assemble an army of around three thousand.
• Fandral Staghelm used the lake water and his magical knowledge to improve Night Elf healing, equipment, weapons, and strength.
• Fandral Staghelm received word that Cenarius was challenging the Night Elves outside the fortress.

Cenarius declared his allegiance to the Burning Legion, while Malfurion considered joining him before Medivh arrived and stripped Cenarius of Fel power. Mannoroth broke free of Medivh’s Rune chains and dismissed his magic as the confrontation continued.

• Cenarius appeared outside the Night Elf fortress corrupted by Fel and urged the Night Elves to surrender, while Malfurion insisted that the Legion had controlled him.
• Cenarius told Malfurion that he had joined the Legion willingly, and Malfurion briefly considered following him before agreeing to try to save him.
• Mannoroth appeared beside Cenarius, causing Malfurion to abandon his plan to contact his mentor in secret.
• Medivh arrived in a vast Arcane sphere, bound Mannoroth with Rune chains, and hurled him into the mountains.
• Medivh entered the fortress and drained the Fel power from Cenarius, restoring his original form, then asked where Tyrande was.
• Mannoroth rose from the crater, broke Medivh’s Rune chains, and mocked his magic.

Medivh tried to force the Night Elf commanders to submit, but Illidan disrupted his magic and publicly taught them how to counter it. Medivh left for Dalaran to study Illidan’s history and search for his weaknesses.

• Fandral Staghelm refused to let Medivh control the Night Elf race, and Medivh used an Arcane Puppet Spell to suspend and choke the commanders.
• Illidan appeared and shattered Medivh’s spheres, freeing the Night Elf commanders.
• Illidan demonstrated Puppet Magic and explained how it worked, prompting some commanders to learn the spell.
• Medivh warned Malfurion to tell Tyrande that the Night Elves had to ally with the Orcs, then escaped through a Portal.
• Medivh returned to Dalaran and searched the archives for information about Illidan’s weaknesses.

Medivh investigated Illidan’s power, then joined forces with Elune’s divine envoy to devise a way to distract him and restore Tyrande’s leadership. After Medivh turned to Gul’dan for help, Robbie remained wary of Medivh’s intentions while Tyrande took hope from his message.

• Medivh studied accounts of Illidan’s feats, grew afraid to return to Mount Hyjal, and contacted the divine envoy.
• The divine envoy remembered his mission, met Medivh through the communication orb, and told him that Maiev Shadowsong had once imprisoned Illidan.
• Medivh and the divine envoy decided to lure Illidan toward dangerous sources of power so he would be occupied away from the Night Elf race.
• Medivh visited the imprisoned Gul’dan and said he had made him a new body and now needed to borrow his head.
• Robbie recalled how he had disguised himself as Illidan to frighten Medivh at Mount Hyjal and stayed alert to Medivh’s plans.
• Malfurion relayed Medivh’s message to Tyrande, giving her renewed hope of reclaiming her position as leader.

Tyrande received a revelation from Elune showing that Nordrassil’s unchecked growth would spread across Kalimdor, transform the Night Elves into Dreadlords, and destroy the world. She told the elders that preventing this future required their support, since only the Burning Legion and Archimonde could destroy Nordrassil.

• After three days and nights of prayer, Tyrande received a miraculous descent of moonlight and announced that Elune had never abandoned the Night Elves.
• Tyrande showed the surviving elders a Tear of Elune and a vision of Nordrassil spreading World Trees across Kalimdor until other life died out.
• Tyrande explained that the Night Elves would become Dreadlords through their dependence on magical fruit, and that the transformation would eventually destroy the world.
• When an elder asked whether they should destroy Nordrassil, Tyrande said the Night Elves could not destroy it and asked the elders to support her in preventing the foretold future.

Tyrande gained the elders’ support to reclaim leadership and promised to gather an army, while Robbie decided to intervene in the Night Elves’ fate. In Silvermoon City, Illidan Stormrage searched for memories and killed two treasure hunters, finding a notice on one of their bodies.

• The elders agreed to support Tyrande against Fandral Staghelm, and Tyrande promised to raise an army to defeat the Burning Legion and destroy Nordrassil.
• Robbie witnessed Tyrande’s secret meeting and decided he needed to act against the Night Elves’ reliance on tradition.
• Illidan Stormrage examined Silvermoon City and used magic to relive its fall, wondering whether Dath'Remar Sunstrider could help restore his memories.
• A Gnome and a Goblin entered the ruined city with an Unstable Undead Shielding Device, hoping to steal treasure while avoiding Restless Souls.
• Illidan Stormrage killed the two intruders and noticed a notice that had fallen from the Gnome’s clothes.