Chapter Summaries

Thrall and his companions followed Blackhorn’s trail into a cavern where Anachronos uncovered hidden Time Fragments. Their vision of Tauren history revealed the Goldenhoof Emperor meeting a mysterious being that Anachronos recognized as N'Zoth.

• Thrall persuaded Jianjiao Heiti to help pursue Blackhorn, and Anachronos located a cave behind the palace ruins.
• Jianjiao Heiti sent his High Priest and clansmen into the cave, where they reported finding an ancient tomb filled with treasures.
• Morchok told Thrall the treasures were illusions, and the group entered the cavern to find Anachronos identified them as Time Fragments.
• Anachronos wove the Time Fragments into a vision of ancient Yaungol and the Goldenhoof Emperor, whom Jianjiao Heiti identified as the first Tauren emperor.
• The vision showed the Goldenhoof Emperor confronting a tentacled figure, and Anachronos recognized its voice and form as N'Zoth.

Thrall and the Heizong Tauren entered the tomb of Mulgore Goldenhoof and heard a jade book recount the emperor’s life and his struggle against N'Zoth. Jianjiao Heiti revered Goldenhoof, while the book revealed that the emperor had sought the Earth Mother’s help and saved the Yaungol from a plague.

• A historical vision showed Mulgore Goldenhoof rejecting N'Zoth and declaring his intention to unite the Yaungol.
• Anachronos noted the Yaungol’s former prominence, prompting displeasure from Jianjiao Heiti, who then realized Blackhorn might be inside the tomb.
• Thrall ordered Morchok to open the sealed stone doors, and Hagara cleared the foul air before Jianjiao Heiti led the Tauren inside.
• Hagara illuminated the tomb, where the group found a jade book that Anachronos identified as a Titan relic.
• The jade book recounted Goldenhoof’s rise, his efforts to defeat N'Zoth, his alliance with the Earth Mother, and the plague that killed more than half the Yaungol.
• Jianjiao Heiti knelt before the book and thanked Goldenhoof for his sacrifices.

Thrall and the Heizong Tauren entered the burial chamber beneath the throne, where Blackhorn revealed a hidden history of Mulgore Goldenhoof’s banishment. The Time Fragments showed Goldenhoof beginning his revenge by bargaining with the Earth Mother, as Blackhorn prepared to give the group an “interesting gift.”

• Thrall ordered Morchok to move the stone throne, revealing a dark entrance beneath it.
• Jianjiao Heiti sent more than fifty Tauren scouts into the entrance, and Thrall claimed corpse poison had killed them before Hagara cleared the cave with wind.
• Jianjiao Heiti led his people into the burial chamber, where Blackhorn appeared and used the Time Fragments to reveal the past.
• The image showed Mulgore Goldenhoof’s rebellion exposed, his people spared, and him banished by the black-maned Yaungol and the other chieftains.
• After settling near Thunder Bluff, Mulgore Goldenhoof prayed to the Earth Mother for revenge and agreed to pay everything.

Blackhorn’s vision revealed how Mulgore Goldenhoof used dark power and poisoned water to deceive and destroy the Yaungol tribes, then claimed to have saved them. When Jianjiao Heiti called the visions false, Blackhorn began revealing another truth about the weakened Mulgore.

• Mulgore Goldenhoof followed the Earth Mother’s instructions, drank from the Moonwell, and gained dark power before corrupting his nephew Mosuola Jinti.
• Mosuola forced the Goldenhoof tribe to drink from the white branch’s water, stripping survivors of their magic, while Mulgore killed a tribesman who challenged him.
• Mulgore poisoned the other six tribes with the black branch, blamed their plague on N'Zoth, and persuaded the Yaungol to help him destroy the tribes and seize their lands.
• After the vision ended, Jianjiao Heiti called it false and accused Blackhorn of slandering Emperor Goldenhoof.
• Blackhorn showed another vision of an aged, weakened Mulgore asking the Earth Mother why he had deteriorated before turning forty.

Cenarius’s altered vision showed the Goldenhoof Emperor being corrupted and resurrected as a monster, who killed Jianjiao Heiti and submitted to Thrall. Murozond then revealed that the history shown in the mausoleum had been falsified, leaving Blackhorn to face the truth about the cruel past.

• Cenarius revealed that the Earth Mother was Elune and forced the Goldenhoof Emperor into the dark Moonwell, where he became a tentacled corpse.
• The Shadow of Blackhorn told Jianjiao Heiti that the Emperor’s seal had been broken and that he was about to awaken.
• The resurrected Goldenhoof Emperor killed Jianjiao Heiti and the other Tauren, then absorbed a Shaman’s soul and memories.
• Thrall offered the Emperor a choice between serving him and dying, and the Emperor reluctantly submitted.
• Blackhorn recovered in the basin where Robbie, Vanessa, and Murozond examined a piece of Y'Shaarj’s flesh.
• Murozond admitted that he had altered the historical images to deceive Thrall, saying the real history was too cruel to reveal.

Hagara learned from Mulgore that Fel Bulbs were used to fatten Highmountain Tauren for a hidden Black Dragon, and that Mulgore served Elune. She allied with Morchok to resist the Enslavement Scroll, while Mulgore urged her to persuade Tirion Fordring to refuse joining the group.

• Hagara studied Fel Bulbs and Mulgore warned her that Highmountain chieftains would silence her because the bulbs helped keep their victims' corpses fresh for a Black Dragon in Neltharion's Lair.
• Mulgore revealed that he had betrayed six Yaungol tribes, served Elune, and had been sent to watch the group; he advised Hagara to ally with Morchok against Thrall and Anachronos.
• Hagara approached Morchok, who said he knew how to break the Enslavement Scroll, and they began experimenting to avoid its worst effects.
• Thrall and Anachronos returned with captured Highmountain Tauren, unaware that the group had split into three factions.
• After the ship reached Dragonblight, Mulgore told Hagara that Elune wanted Tirion Fordring kept off the team and instructed her to convince him the adventure was too dangerous.

Morchok and Hagara plotted to keep Tirion Fordring from joining Thrall’s party, while Hagara used the expedition’s dangers to convince Tirion that he was being sent to die protecting Thrall. Tirion left during the night, and Thrall woke the next day unaware of why he had gone.

• Morchok told Hagara that Tirion’s loyalty would strengthen Thrall’s alliance, and Hagara agreed to make Tirion refuse to join the party.
• Thrall arrived at Tirion’s refuge, bit him to eat his flesh, and recruited him for the mission to the Hour of Twilight.
• Hagara praised Tirion while describing the mission, then secretly warned him that Benedictus could suppress the Holy Light and that someone would need to die covering Thrall’s retreat.
• Tirion declared his willingness to die for Thrall and left during the night.
• Thrall woke the next day and learned that Tirion had rushed off over an unexplained crisis.

Thrall decided to replace the missing Tirion Fordring by resurrecting Dazar, the founding emperor of the Zandalari, whose tomb held immense treasure. Robbie and his companions entered King's Rest to reach the treasure before Thrall, but sensed its formidable defenses.

• Thrall killed an Argent Crusade general after learning Tirion Fordring had fled to Outland, then ordered Anachronos to find a replacement for him.
• Mulgore Goldhoof proposed resurrecting Dazar using 108 Trolls, and explained that a golden Wind Serpent guarded King's Rest.
• Thrall agreed to revive Dazar after hearing that King's Rest held enough treasure to help him reclaim Orgrimmar from Garrosh.
• Robbie, Vanessa, Murozond, and Warmaster Blackhorn entered the Zandalari royal tombs and sneaked into King's Rest.
• Blackhorn warned that the tomb was dangerous, while Murozond insisted they had to secure its treasure before Thrall.

Robbie, Murozond, and Blackhorn entered the treasure vault beneath King's Rest through N'Zoth's parallel Black Empire and encountered First Emperor Dazar. Murozond questioned Dazar about his memories of the Trolls' dark age and whether he intended to submit or resist if resurrected.

• Blackhorn objected to fighting King's Rest's guards, so Robbie led him and Murozond through a Portal into N'Zoth's shadowy parallel world.
• Murozond explained that First Emperor Dazar had built 999 mortuary chambers, where 733 Zandalari rulers had been buried, and had ordered their goods gathered in a deep vault.
• Robbie and his companions crossed into the real world and examined the treasure, which revealed waves of rise and decline in Troll civilization.
• A golden ghost made of Troll souls appeared and identified himself as First Emperor Dazar, demanding to know how the intruders had entered his vault.
• Dazar offered Murozond any treasure he wanted, then admitted he had devoured the souls of rulers buried at King's Rest to learn their memories.
• Murozond asked Dazar whether he wanted resurrection in order to submit or resist.

Robbie exposed the weakness in First Emperor Dazar’s Golden Soul and shattered it with corrupted Holy Light, revealing a hidden soul that looked more like a Night Elf than a Troll. The chapter left Dazar’s true identity exposed before Robbie and the Dragon Kings.

• First Emperor Dazar admitted he planned to submit to Thrall and offered to play both sides to survive.
• Murozond warned that Thrall could devour Dazar’s Golden Soul, and Robbie agreed to test its stability.
• Dazar summoned countless buried souls and fused them into two enormous raptor spirits to fight Robbie.
• Robbie used Holy Light to break apart the raptors and explained that soul creations had weaknesses he understood.
• Robbie’s corrupted Holy Light pierced Dazar’s defenses, and a snap shattered the Golden Soul.
• The souls of hundreds of crowned Troll kings spilled out, revealing a white-haired figure with Night Elf-like features at the center.

Robbie, Vanessa, and Murozond learned that First Emperor Dazar’s memories of Zandalar’s dark past had been erased, and Dazar agreed to seek his lost memories while hiding among Thrall’s followers. Meanwhile, Thrall forced his way into King’s Rest and reached Dazar’s tomb, where Mulgore revealed that Dazar had called himself the last emperor rather than the first.

• Robbie realized that Dazar’s appearance did not match a Night Elf’s, and Murozond explained that Elune had concealed the truth about the Trolls’ transformation.
• Dazar said he wanted to recover his erased memories, and Robbie and Murozond proposed changing his appearance and turning him into an Undead creature so he could approach Thrall unnoticed.
• Thrall forced entry into King’s Rest, intimidated High Priest Yazma, and demanded the Blood of G’huun after learning it would let him pass the Golden Wind Serpent’s trial.
• Yazma gave Thrall twenty-four vials of the Blood of G’huun, allowing his group to pass the serpent and the tomb’s constructs without incident.
• Thrall’s group reached Dazar’s tomb, and Mulgore noted that Dazar had told him he was not the first emperor but the last.

Mulgore and his companions entered the tomb of First Emperor Dasa, who overpowered them with magical artifacts and forced Thrall and Anachronos to submit. Dasa then revealed a golden coffin and prepared to return to his body.

• Mulgore explained that Dasa was the oldest Troll emperor known, while Thrall and Morchok disparaged the Draenei and their leader, Prophet Velen.
• The group found Dasa’s golden soul meditating on a throne, and he greeted Mulgore while claiming the Wheel of Destiny had foretold their arrival.
• When Thrall threatened Dasa, Dasa burst Thrall’s legs below the knees, then used the Wind-Settling Pearl to cut Hagara off from wind magic and a mirror to banish Morchok.
• Dasa injured Thrall’s right arm and tormented him with insects until Thrall begged for mercy, then made Anachronos kneel by threatening Thrall’s life.
• Dasa said he would not enslave Thrall, revealed an enormous golden coffin, and announced that he was ready to return to his body.

First Emperor Dazar resurrected and showed the group his treasury before leading them toward the Hour of Twilight. At a blood-red altar, Thrall's plan to use a dark entity against Dazar began when a shadow leaped from Hagara to him.

• Dazar merged with his body, revived the two raptors, and showed the group his vast treasury.
• Dazar said he would open a Historical Passage to summon the ancient Zandalari Empire's forces for their mission in the Hour of Twilight.
• Anachronos led the group through dark Timelines toward the Hour of Twilight, and Thrall secretly recruited Hagara and Morchok to help kill Dazar.
• Thrall told Hagara and Morchok to run toward Dazar when a shadow appeared, warning that otherwise it would possess them and devour their souls.
• At the blood-red altar, a shadow appeared beneath Hagara, and she ran toward Dazar as it leaped from beneath her feet to his.

Thrall betrayed Anachronos to summon a powerful being, but Ultraxion took possession of the Dragon body instead and flew away. Dazar ensnared Thrall in an illusion and opened a portal to the Hour of Twilight, where he summoned the ancient Zandalari army to attack Wyrmrest Temple.

• Thrall summoned a shadowy being that possessed Anachronos's Dragon body, while Anachronos escaped into a newly formed body.
• Ultraxion revealed his identity to Thrall, then flew away, leaving Thrall without the ally he had hoped to gain.
• Dazar used magic to trap Thrall in an illusion of the group entering the Hour of Twilight, while Mulgore warned Hagara and Morchok not to interfere.
• Thrall entered the portal and found a frozen world where Wyrmrest Temple was occupied by the Twilight's Hammer.
• Dazar opened a golden portal and summoned a vast army of Golems and Loa, which engulfed Wyrmrest Temple.

Thrall led the golden army through Wyrmrest Temple, seized Xal'atath, and revealed his plan to use it to unite the Trolls. After Dazar returned them to the real world with the Gem of Greed disguised as the dagger, Xal'atath spoke to Thrall and warned that everyone would die if they stayed.

• Archbishop Benedictus attacked the Golems with Holy Light and Shadow before they overwhelmed him, and the golden army wiped out the Twilight's Hammer cultists at Wyrmrest Temple.
• Thrall entered the temple's treasure vault, dismissed the Demon Soul, and took Xal'atath from a magically sealed chest.
• Thrall told First Emperor Dazar that he planned to use Xal'atath to command the Trolls and become their first emperor, but grew confused when the dagger did not acknowledge him.
• Thrall promised Dazar rule over Outland as part of a future alliance before the group left the Hour of Twilight.
• Dazar revealed that the apparent dagger was the Gem of Greed, which transformed into Xal'atath in Thrall's illusion.
• Xal'atath spoke to Thrall and warned him to flee because the meeting of true Shadow and Holy Light would kill everyone there.

Thrall brought the Blade of the Black Empire to the Emissary, who narrowly escaped being manipulated into suicide by the weapon. She sent him to Gadgetzan to question Yeh'kinya, and Thrall’s group finally gained entry to the archaeologist’s estate after First Emperor Dazar uncovered the secret behind its cooling magic.

• Thrall handed the Blade of the Black Empire to the Emissary, and its taunts nearly drove her to kill herself before it dismissed her suffering as a joke.
• The Emissary warned Thrall that the blade could bring glory or ruin and told him to find Yeh'kinya in Gadgetzan to learn how to communicate with Xal'atath.
• The chapter recounted how Yeh'kinya hired adventurers for dangerous tasks, later claimed to have defeated Hakkar, and became a celebrated, wealthy hero in Tanaris.
• After Yeh'kinya kept Thrall’s group waiting outside his estate for six hours, Thrall threatened to storm the gates, but Hagara sensed powerful magic there.
• First Emperor Dazar identified an ancient pyramid beneath the estate as the source of its cooling magic, prompting Yeh'kinya to open the gates and welcome the group inside.

Thrall used the Blade of the Black Empire to steer Yeh'kinya toward seeking an ancient Zandalari weapon capable of devastating Azeroth, while Dasa suspected Thrall’s real goal was to obtain it. Meanwhile, Robbie and Vanessa warned Archbishop Benedictus about Thrall’s plan, and Benedictus decided they might need to question Xal'atath.

• Yeh'kinya welcomed Dasa and Thrall at his estate, where the Blade of the Black Empire revealed that Yeh'kinya was Hexxer Jin'do.
• Xal'atath offered Yeh'kinya guidance but warned him that seeking help from the gods was a mistake.
• Thrall told Yeh'kinya that an ancient Zandalari weapon could destroy much of Azeroth and enable the Trolls to reclaim the world.
• Xal'atath confirmed the weapon could help the Trolls flourish, and Yeh'kinya asked how to find it.
• Xal'atath directed Yeh'kinya to ask Hakkar the Soulflayer about the weapon.
• Robbie and Vanessa told Archbishop Benedictus about Thrall's plan, and he considered asking Xal'atath for the truth.

Robbie and the Twilight's Hammer opened Xal'atath's sealed chamber, where he contained the Void energy she released and asked about the ancient Zandalari Empire's superweapon. Xal'atath offered a Time Beacon and revealed that the Old Gods had wrongly opposed her, demanding that Robbie tell them so in person.

• Benedictus warned Robbie about Xal'atath, but Robbie insisted on speaking with her and helped the Twilight's Hammer open her seals beneath Wyrmrest Temple.
• When Xal'atath released Void energy, Robbie captured it in a sphere and stored it as Shadow Source Liquid.
• Xal'atath recognized N'Zoth, C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, and Y'Shaarj in Robbie and agreed to provide a Time Beacon so he could witness the ancient Zandalari Empire.
• Xal'atath claimed the Old Gods had devoured most of her consciousness after opposing her treatment of the Trolls, and argued that their rule had left the Trolls miserable.
• Xal'atath explained that Zandalari emperors maintained power through long lifespans and intellectual suppression of a vast slave population.
• Xal'atath demanded that Robbie tell the four Old Gods in person that they had all been wrong.

Yeh'kinya recounted Zul'Gurub's destruction, and Thrall revealed that his disastrous attempt to cure his ailment had led to the attack that ruined the Gurubashi Empire. After Dasa urged them to set aside their feud, Yeh'kinya summoned Hakkar and asked him a question in exchange for any price.

• Yeh'kinya described how Zul'Gurub had been sealed, reopened, and destroyed by adventurers and the Alliance and Horde.
• Thrall revealed that Vol'jin had given him a flawed medicinal formula, prompting him to send forces against High Priest Mar'li and Zul'Gurub.
• Thrall said the potion had left him ill, with hair loss and fake tusks, while Yeh'kinya accused him of destroying the Gurubashi Empire.
• Dasa urged Thrall and Yeh'kinya to put their past conflict aside, and Yeh'kinya agreed to settle his score with Vol'jin later.
• Yeh'kinya summoned Hakkar at Zul'Gurub's altar, and Hakkar asked whether Yeh'kinya hated him for refusing to descend during the city's fall.
• Yeh'kinya said he still hoped to revive the empire and offered to pay any price to learn what he wanted to know.

Hakkar gave Yeh'kinya a Time Beacon to the Zandalar Great Empire, and Anachronos opened a portal that sent Dasa and the others into its past. Their arrival at the vast City of the Sky began restoring Dasa’s memories, and he prepared to meet his father, Emperor Ata.

• Hakkar gave Yeh'kinya a golden Time Beacon and told him that witnessing the Zandalar Great Empire’s history would help him reclaim a powerful weapon.
• Anachronos confirmed the Time Beacon’s authenticity and opened a portal, which Dasa, Yeh'kinya, Mulgore Goldenhoof, Hagara the Stormbinder, Morchok the Elemental Lord, and Thrall entered.
• The group arrived on a terrace beside the City of the Sky, where Dasa recognized the immense structure as the Zandalar Great Empire’s unfinished capital.
• A Zandalari priest welcomed the travelers and invited them to a guesthouse, while Dasa explained that the priest was a Troll and said he would soon meet his father, Emperor Ata.