Chapter Summaries

Arthas told Robbie how he had arranged Orgrimmar's exposure to Medivh's tracking beacon and decided to visit his father before leaving Lordaeron. Medivh tested Thrall by making him decide how to handle Jaina and a group of vulnerable Orcs, then introduced a monstrous test subject.

• Arthas explained that he had used the spirits to influence Orgrimmar and arranged for a fawn to cross his path, then said he wanted to see his father.
• Medivh told Thrall that his defeat had cost him his value and challenged him to handle a difficult situation to regain his trust.
• Thrall decided to treat Jaina according to Orc noble custom and led her to a dungeon full of vulnerable Orcs.
• Thrall told the Orcs to arm themselves and attack Jaina, leaving her to face them as he shut the dungeon door.
• Medivh praised Thrall and opened a portal to reveal an octopus-like monster he called test subject 012.

Medivh taught Thrall to rule through fear by having him brutally attack Jaina and then heal her with a test subject. Jaina submitted to the lesson, and Medivh prepared to test whether fear had made her obedient.

• Test subject 012 healed Thrall and was revealed to produce a toxin that could incapacitate people.
• Medivh urged Thrall to rule the Orcs with ruthless cruelty, arguing that fear endured longer than glory.
• Jaina was brought before Medivh after killing the dungeon's Orcs with precise magical strikes.
• At Medivh's direction, Thrall bit off Jaina's hand, then test subject 012 restored it and left a strange eye on her skin.
• Medivh explained that Jaina and her mentors had helped the Orcs recover, and warned her that the Orcs would otherwise devour Lordaeron.
• Medivh declared that Jaina's fear had made her a useful ally and told Thrall to test her obedience with an order.

Medivh manipulated Jaina into becoming his agent and arranged for Thrall to take control of the Orcs. Thrall confronted Orgrimmar Doomhammer after a toxin felled the chieftain’s soldiers, then struck him down over his past betrayal of Blackhand.

• Medivh stopped Jaina from obeying Thrall’s humiliating command, promised to spare some humans and make her their queen, and recruited her to lead the Peace Dove using Alterac’s nobles.
• Medivh told Thrall to spread romantic rumors about him and Jaina, then warned that Orgrimmar had returned and left Thrall to decide what to do.
• Thrall welcomed Orgrimmar, who explained his plans for the Orcs and admitted he intended to massacre Tirion Fordring’s people after taking their provisions.
• Thrall questioned Orgrimmar about the Holy Light and accused him of plotting against him as a toxin felled the soldiers in camp.
• Thrall condemned Orgrimmar for betraying Blackhand and brought his hammer down on him.

Thrall slaughtered Orgrimmar and other Orcs, formed the Kor'kron under Medivh's guidance, and prepared to unite the Orcs before war with Lordaeron. After Orgrimmar died, Medivh identified Kel'Thuzad's hiding place in Andorhal, while Robbie and Arthas reached the quiet, battered capital of Lordaeron.

• Thrall brutally killed Orgrimmar's guards and other Orcs who had shown him contempt, then formed the Kor'kron from Orcs who swore loyalty to him alone.
• Medivh praised the Kor'kron and directed Thrall to unite and reform the Orcs in the internment camps before attacking Lordaeron.
• Thrall planned to win over Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan through fear, while Medivh predicted the clan would become an ally.
• Orgrimmar endured ten days of torture before dying, and Medivh examined his body with grave concern.
• Medivh received Jaina's secret letter, learned Kel'Thuzad was hiding in Andorhal, and resolved to send him a gift.
• Robbie and Arthas arrived at Lordaeron's worn and nearly deserted capital, where Arthas looked upon the walls with emotion.

Arthas and Robbie found Lordaeron City starving under the rule of the undead, where a young man revealed that families relied on a harmful substance called soakwater. King Terenas awoke from a nightmare about Thrall and asked a palace attendant whether she agreed that he was an old bastard.

• Arthas told Robbie that the entrance to the world of the dead was in Lordaeron City and that Medivh would face vengeance from the departed if he died.
• Robbie and Arthas walked through Lordaeron City and saw its starving, weakened residents receiving magic bread from two former Mage Apprentices.
• A young man explained that most of his family had become Undead and that scraping white frost from their exposed heads produced soakwater, which staved off hunger but caused severe problems.
• The young man and the surrounding people cursed King Terenas, while Robbie reflected that the people could not resist the powerful forces ruling Azeroth.
• King Terenas woke from a nightmare in which Thrall attacked him and asked an attendant whether she agreed that he was an old bastard.

King Terenas struggled to keep Lordaeron functioning amid famine and the kingdom’s approaching collapse, while clinging to his hope that the Orcs would spare his son, Arthas. He recalled how his ambition to use the Orcs as a conquering army had led him to consider poisoning them, and the chapter ended as Medivh offered him a choice.

• King Terenas heard that other kingdoms would send food only to help Lordaeron’s people, not the Orcs, while the Sunstriders demanded Stratholme.
• Kilwinter urged King Terenas to flee, and Terenas agreed after admitting he feared for Arthas’s future.
• King Terenas recalled how he had established Orc internment camps to build an army that could conquer Lordaeron’s enemies and unite the human kingdoms.
• After the Orcs grew too weak to support his plan, Kilwinter proposed secretly poisoning their food and blaming a plague.
• Medivh arrived after meeting with Orgrimmar and gave King Terenas a choice.

Medivh offered King Terenas a choice, and Terenas kept the Orcs in internment camps in hopes of exploiting them. Baron Rivendare’s victories exposed the Orcs’ weaknesses and ruined Terenas’s ambitions, leaving the king watching Lordaeron’s darkened sky with a pot of black tulips.

• King Terenas chose to keep the Orcs rather than kill them, and neighboring nations prepared for their threat.
• Medivh and Dalaran’s mages discovered that Orcs needed meat, while Kilwinter warned Terenas that Lordaeron could not feed them and urged him to destroy them.
• Baron Rivendare defeated the Orcs by exploiting their lack of supplies, then drove the Warsong Clan into retreat with carefully chosen tactics.
• News of Rivendare’s victories spread, shattering the Orcs’ reputation for invincibility and ruining Terenas’s ambition.
• Medivh revealed his true nature as Terenas stood on the palace balcony and set down a pot of black tulips.

Arthas returned to Lordaeron and urged his father, King Terenas, to let him defend the kingdom, but Terenas told him to survive and prepare for vengeance. When Uther arrived, Arthas and Robbie hid in the study, leaving Terenas to face his old friend.

• Arthas and Robbie inspected the ruins of a magical duel, and Arthas learned that Guardian Medivh had lost to a mysterious black-robed mage.
• Arthas told Robbie that black tulips on the palace balcony meant his father was in despair, then entered the throne room and reunited with King Terenas.
• Arthas insisted that he had to help Lordaeron, but Terenas urged him to flee, conceal his identity, and live long enough to seek vengeance.
• Kilwinter warned that Uther was approaching, so Arthas and Robbie hid in the study as Uther entered and mocked Terenas.

King Terenas struggled to decide how to handle the Orcs, while Uther condemned every option and later helped Thrall gain power in Lordaeron. After Uther drafted a decree ordering Baron Rivendare to die, Robbie intercepted it for Arthas, who planned to visit the baron the next day.

• King Terenas asked Uther how to deal with the starving Orcs, but Uther rejected every proposed solution and offered no practical advice.
• After the Orcs escaped and Thrall became notorious, King Terenas adopted him as heir, and Uther trained him in combat and tactics.
• Uther declared that the Order of the Silver Hand would serve Thrall, then pressured King Terenas to seal a decree ordering Baron Rivendare to kill himself.
• Arthas said Baron Rivendare was Lordaeron's last hope, and Robbie disguised himself as an Orc to take the decree from Uther's guard.
• Robbie gave the decree to Arthas, who told him to rest before they visited Baron Rivendare the next day.

Robbie stayed with Arthas as they explored the secrets surrounding Lordaeron and its royal family. Arthas revealed that House Menethil’s throne began with a bowl of Silverhead Trout Soup given to the Guardian Aegwynn, then warned that Lordaeron was cursed.

• Robbie heard a voice warn him of a conspiracy involving the Burning Legion, Sargeras Void Academy, and Medivh’s Admission Letter.
• Robbie spotted a woman entering Arthas’s room and recognized her as the female corpse from the tomb, whom Arthas calmly revealed was beneath his bed.
• Arthas told Robbie that House Menethil’s history was hidden and that his grandfather had once been a fisherman in Menethil Harbor.
• Arthas explained that his grandfather used his family’s ability to speak with the dead to find fish near Dead Fish Island.
• Arthas recounted how his grandfather served Silverhead Trout Soup to the mage Aegwynn, who teleported him to Lordaeron and made him king.
• Arthas told Robbie that his grandfather had not known Lordaeron was a cursed royal city.

Arthas told Robbie that Undercity had followed Lordaeron’s royal family underground and revealed the Guardian had taken most of his siblings. A female corpse led Robbie through a secret elevator and into a hidden part of Undercity, where he was overwhelmed by a surge of power.

• Arthas explained Undercity’s mysterious history and said the Guardian had searched for a special bloodline to protect the throne from its curse.
• Arthas revealed that the Guardian had taken his six older brothers and five older sisters, leaving Calia and him alive, and mentioned House Wrynn’s unusual bloodline.
• A female corpse visited Robbie’s room, led him to a hidden elevator, and guided him down into Undercity.
• The female corpse passed through a symbol-covered wall in a dead end, and Robbie followed her through it.
• Someone shouted that a living person had appeared, and a powerful force struck Robbie, plunging him into darkness.

After waking in a hidden chamber, Robbie found that he had copied thirty-six Runes of the Dead while nine crowned figures fled as Azeroth’s power broke through their barrier. Arthas revived Robbie, discovered twelve surviving runes, and concluded that the living could use three of them.

• Robbie woke to find nine battered crowned figures and thirty-six black Runes of the Dead, then began copying the runes into his consciousness.
• As Robbie copied the runes, the crowned figures erased most of them and escaped through a black door when Azeroth’s power broke through the chamber’s barrier.
• Robbie collapsed from exhaustion and later woke as Arthas healed him with Holy Light.
• Robbie told Arthas he had followed the female corpse and passed out, withholding what he knew about the crowned figures.
• Arthas tried to use one of the twelve surviving runes, found that it drew his blood, and carefully examined the runes.
• Arthas put away the twelve runes and told Robbie that the living could use three of them.

Arthas and Robbie discovered that combining matching Holy Light and death runes created powerful abilities, and Arthas resolved to fight for Lordaeron alongside Robbie. They planned to kill Uther, who had secretly sought a royal decree to move Baron Rivendare and claimed he had done so to protect Thrall.

• Arthas combined Holy Light Runes with Runes of the Dead and discovered that their matching pairs created healing, control, and destructive abilities.
• Arthas declared that he would fight for Lordaeron, and Robbie vowed to stand with him, arguing that the conflict also concerned humanity's survival.
• Arthas and Robbie agreed that their first step would be to kill Uther, while Robbie kept Frostmourne's location secret.
• Uther learned that Thrall knew nothing about the stolen royal decree and suspected Orcs opposed to Thrall had taken it.
• Uther rebuked a young knight who questioned the decree to transfer Baron Rivendare, then said he had acted to protect Thrall.

Uther planned to draw Baron Rivendare away so Thrall could unite the Orc clans, while Arthas and Robbie prepared to ambush Uther and disguise the attackers as Orcs. Searching the palace armories for a weapon to counter Uther’s hammer, Robbie found a strange greataxe and named it the Axe of Tyranny.

• Uther explained that Thrall was too inexperienced to command the Warsong Clan and planned to seek a royal decree to draw Baron Rivendare away.
• Arthas and Robbie planned to attack Uther while he came to the palace, with Robbie carrying out the plan in an Orc disguise to protect their cover.
• Arthas and Robbie searched the palace storerooms for the Epic sword Destiny, which Arthas found and offered to Robbie.
• Robbie disliked Destiny and accidentally broke a wooden box, revealing a massive greataxe that Arthas could not lift.
• Robbie lifted the greataxe, learned it had been recovered from the Undercity, and named it the Axe of Tyranny.

Uther remembered how his Aura of Courage had driven Lordaeron’s inexperienced soldiers into slaughter and how the orcs had mocked him as the one who fed them. At the royal palace, he faced Robbie posing as Leonardo Brutalaxe, argued over Thrall and the supposed northern gods, and struck at him with Earthshaker.

• Uther recalled Baron Rivendare warning that his tactics sent soldiers to their deaths, but he had ignored the advice and continued seeking glory.
• Uther remembered realizing that the orcs had deliberately kept him alive because he supplied them with human soldiers, earning him the name Light’s Dead.
• Uther arrived at Lordaeron’s royal palace and challenged Terenas, but Leonardo Brutalaxe came out to confront him instead.
• Robbie, acting as Leonardo Brutalaxe, claimed he would replace Thrall, while Uther warned that Thrall would gain power through the gods of the north.
• Robbie suspected that the northern gods referred to Ner’zhul and argued that their emissary was a demon, but Uther dismissed his objections and attacked him with Earthshaker.

Robbie fought Uther and discovered that Uther could repeatedly restore himself with overwhelming Holy Light. After noticing Uther’s unusual stance with Earthshaker planted on the ground, Robbie suspected the earth was the source of his power and challenged him about what he was hiding.

• Robbie used superior technique to dodge Uther’s first attack, disarm his balance, and batter him with repeated greataxe strikes.
• Uther unleashed Holy Light through Earthshaker, but Robbie’s runes overpowered the attack and left Uther bleeding.
• Uther invoked even greater Holy Light and clashed with Robbie again, but Robbie’s three pairs of runes overcame him and drained his strength.
• Uther restored himself to full health with another surge of inexhaustible Holy Light, leaving Robbie briefly despairing.
• Robbie noticed Uther’s repeated stance with Earthshaker touching the ground and suspected the earth supplied his power.
• Robbie asked Uther why he never rode a horse and what he was hiding, and Uther showed a moment of panic.

Robbie nearly killed Uther after weakening his Holy Light and convincing him that Thrall had ordered the assassination. Missrael, an elemental princess who loved Uther, intervened and teleported him away, but Robbie’s attack destroyed her physical form.

• Robbie taunted Uther by claiming that Earthshaker connected him to the Holy Light stored underground, then attacked him with his rune-infused greataxe.
• Uther grew weaker as Robbie pressed his attack, and Robbie falsely claimed that Thrall had ordered Uther’s death.
• Uther laughed at the claim and praised Thrall, but Robbie continued beating him after their weapons fell from their hands.
• Missrael emerged from underground, revealed herself as the source of Uther’s Holy Light, and began teleporting him away with Earthshaker.
• Robbie struck Missrael with his greataxe, causing her to dissolve into earth element as Uther vanished.

Arthas and Robbie recovered Missrael’s Holy Light crystals and traveled toward Baron Rivendare, while Arthas discovered that the repaired crystal bore a demon’s image. At Andorhal, Jaina strengthened the Orcs’ portal and helped Thrall sacrifice captives to summon Mal'Ganis.

• Arthas collected Missrael’s crystal fragments, and he and Robbie discussed Uther’s alliance with Thrall before deciding to seek Baron Rivendare’s help.
• Arthas and Robbie traveled by carriage toward Blackmist Fortress, where Baron Rivendare was holding his ground.
• Arthas reassembled the crystal fragments into a single Holy Light crystal and showed Robbie its image of a horned demon.
• Jaina improved the portal at Andorhal while Thrall prepared to summon Mal'Ganis with human sacrifices.
• Thrall’s Orcs forced captives, including a young woman carrying an infant, into the portal, and Jaina threw the infant into the green energy.

Thrall summoned Mal'Ganis through a sacrifice-powered portal and revealed his long-standing connection to the Dreadlord. Mal'Ganis discovered that the plague had been mixed with the power of the world of the dead, and Thrall blamed Kel'Thuzad for interfering with their plans.

• Thrall performed the Warsong Clan's demon-worship dance and told Jaina that Mal'Ganis had guided him since he was young.
• Thrall called Mal'Ganis through the stabilized portal, and the Dreadlord emerged from a world shrouded in pale green mist.
• Thrall and the Orcs knelt before Mal'Ganis, and Jaina knelt with them.
• Mal'Ganis spotted an intelligent Undead and realized that another power had been mixed into the plague.
• Thrall told Mal'Ganis that Kel'Thuzad had trapped Ner'zhul and was spreading the plague with the Cult of the Damned.
• Jaina condemned Kel'Thuzad, and Mal'Ganis asked Thrall how he planned to deal with him.

Mal'Ganis tested Thrall and helped him devise a plan to turn the Warsong Clan against Grom Hellscream. Meanwhile, Arthas and Robbie reached Blackmist Fortress, where Baron Rivendare revealed that he knew Arthas and called him Lordaeron's hope for the future.

• Thrall described his plan to unite the Warsong Clan with the Silver Hand, and Mal'Ganis urged him to use deception and slander to destroy Lordaeron's people and control Azeroth.
• Mal'Ganis gave Thrall an orcish artifact ring and identified Varok Saurfang as a powerful ally who would follow his instructions.
• Arthas and Robbie entered Blackmist Fortress as messengers and presented Baron Rivendare with a royal decree ordering him to kill himself.
• Arthas told Baron Rivendare that Uther had issued the decree under Thrall's orders and warned him that Thrall was bringing together the internment-camp orcs and the Warsong Clan.
• Baron Rivendare recognized Arthas, explained that he meant to preserve Lordaeron's last dignity, and called Arthas its hope for the future.