Chapter Summaries

Nazgrel led a hundred thousand Horde adventurers to Magtheridon's Lair under the pretense of fighting Kargath and Magtheridon, but he had arranged for them to be processed into Tough Jerky. After three days, the adventurers had all disappeared into the lair, and corpses hung around Hellfire Citadel to dry.

• Nazgrel struck Nazgrel for questioning whether Kargath could be trusted, then told the army they would defeat Kargath and Magtheridon.
• Robbie told Krasus that the Horde adventurers would never doubt Thrall, while Nazgrel sent groups of five thousand into Magtheridon's Lair to be turned into Tough Jerky.
• Adventurers dismissed rumors of betrayal, and Nazgrel ordered the Blood Elves and Undead to leave after a Fel Orc revealed the plan.
• Fel Orcs hung processed corpses on poles, and Nazgrel's guards killed adventurers who escaped the lair warning that it was a trap.
• The remaining adventurers realized Nazgrel had sold them out but stayed silent, and all one hundred thousand were processed over three days.

Nazgrel, Kargath, and Akama freed Magtheridon by sacrificing twenty-five adventurers, but Magtheridon escaped Kargath’s attempt to bind him and swallowed him. In the Void World, Magtheridon revealed that a Draenei vanguard vanished in Mardum, and Illidan offered to help Magtheridon evolve in exchange for more information.

• Nazgrel and Kargath sacrificed twenty-five adventurers to break Magtheridon’s five seals, freeing the Pit Lord.
• Kargath tried to bind Magtheridon with a black sphere, but Magtheridon broke free and swallowed him; Nazgrel teleported away, while Akama knelt before Magtheridon.
• Magtheridon ordered Akama to warn Illidan, then opened a portal and took Kargath to the Void World, where Illidan met them.
• Magtheridon told Illidan that the Draenei vanguard had reached Mardum twenty-five thousand years earlier and then disappeared.
• Illidan asked Magtheridon to share everything he knew and offered to show him a path to evolve beyond Mannoroth.

Sylvanas traded the Horde’s cooperation to Illidan to free Nathanos and agreed to send him intelligence. After the Horde captured Hellfire Citadel, Eitrigg pushed the Cenarion Expedition to supply Thrallmar and threatened Ysiel Windsinger when she could not comply.

• Sylvanas met Illidan in the Black Temple and offered the Horde in exchange for Nathanos’s soul.
• Illidan freed Nathanos and instructed Sylvanas to send him Horde intelligence using Fel Fire.
• Nazgrel received praise for taking Hellfire Citadel without casualties, while the surrendered Fel Orcs created a costly supply problem.
• Eitrigg decided the Horde should target Zangarmarsh to address the supply shortage.
• Ysiel Windsinger struggled to provide supplies for Thrallmar, and Eitrigg slapped her and threatened to eat every Druid in Cenarion.

Eitrigg forced Ysiel Windsinger and the Cenarion Expedition to prepare an all-meat dinner for Thrall, and Ysiel turned the demand into a call for Druids to volunteer as food. The banquet began with Hamuul Runetotem and Guardian Remulos presented to Thrall, who told everyone to start eating.

• Eitrigg threatened Ysiel Windsinger and ordered her to serve Thrall an entirely meat-based dinner.
• Ysiel and Hamut discussed how to feed the Orcs, and a Tauren Druid killed himself so the camp could prepare him as food.
• Ysiel called on the Druids in the Emerald Dream to volunteer, and several Horde Druids joined her.
• The Cenarion Expedition slaughtered Druids and filled its stores with bear pelts before Thrall and the Horde leaders arrived.
• Ysiel presented Hamuul Runetotem and Guardian Remulos to Thrall, who approved and called for the meal to begin.

Vashj's army attacked the Cenarion Expedition's camp while Thrall and the Horde leaders were dining. As Vashj cornered them, the badly wounded Hamuul and Remulos tried to help Thrall escape, but Remulos carried both Thralls into the sky.

• Eitrigg forced Ysiel Windsinger to feed Druids to the Orcs and ate one himself.
• Thrall dined on Hamuul Runetotem and Guardian Remulos until a sentry warned that Vashj's army was attacking.
• The Horde leaders volunteered to fight, but Vashj shattered the tent and surrounded them with Naga.
• Vashj recognized Thrall despite his attempt to hide beneath the table and disguise himself with a lookalike guard named Gudan.
• Hamuul transformed into a giant bear and attacked Vashj while Remulos became a giant eagle and carried both Thralls away.

Vashj defeated the Cenarion Expedition and captured the Horde’s leaders, while Kael’thas chose to keep them alive as he waited for the one who could break Destiny. The prisoners were locked in the Slave Pens, and news of the battle spread secretly across Azeroth.

• Remulos fell after Naga arrows struck him, and Hamuul risked himself to catch the real and fake Thralls before collapsing from his wounds and poison.
• Vashj challenged Nazgrel, Cairne Bloodhoof, Lor'themar, and Vol'jin; each surrendered after weakness, curses, or fear overcame them.
• The Naga defeated the Cenarion Expedition and took its leaders prisoner as their forces looted the camp.
• Kael'thas emerged, revealing that Shadowlands power had changed him, and told Vashj to keep the prisoners alive until the one who breaks Destiny appeared.
• Vashj confined the prisoners in the Slave Pens, but secret channels carried news of the battle across Azeroth.

Vashj and Kael'thas kept the captured Horde leaders under control by scattering the Orcs and making Thrall indistinguishable from the others, while Medivh failed to find him. Thrall used the Orcs' rivalry to increase their work output and became an overseer captain.

• Kael'thas persuaded Vashj to scatter the Orcs among the Broken and publicly claim that Thrall would receive special treatment, encouraging impostors.
• Vashj sent the captured Druids to Musel'ek in the Underbog to be turned into hunters' pets and enslaved the other Horde leaders.
• Medivh secretly approached Lor'themar, but Lor'themar could not identify Thrall among the Orcs, so Medivh left without rescuing him.
• Thrall endured forced labor as the Orcs complained and slowed their work, then approached Mennu the Betrayer under the name Gudan.
• Thrall advised Mennu to threaten execution for Orcs who failed to match sixty percent of the highest worker's output, and the Orcs' productivity soared.
• Mennu rewarded Thrall by making him an overseer captain with twelve Naga under his command.

Thrall built a reputation as the cruel overseer Gudan while the Horde secretly sought a way to rescue him. The Holy Light called on Nobundo to save Thrall, but Nobundo recalled the Draenei’s slaughter and rejected the request.

• Thrall personally executed Orcs who failed their quotas, earned Mennu’s praise, and was promoted to chief overseer.
• Orcs privately recognized Gudan as one of Thrall’s body doubles and vowed to repay his cruelty when Thrall led them to freedom.
• Saurfang and Sylvanas discussed the difficulty of rescuing Thrall and concluded that Telredor was the only viable base for an attack on Coilfang Reservoir.
• Nobundo remembered how the Holy Light healed the Orc general who had fought him during the fall of Shattrath City, then how the elements and Fel answered him after the Draenei were slaughtered.
• The Holy Light asked Nobundo to save Thrall, but he refused and recounted his memories of Shattrath’s fall.
• The Holy Light told Nobundo that the Draenei had wandered for twenty-five thousand years for the sake of the Orcs.

The Holy Light revealed that the Draenei had been shaped to help the Orcs and threatened to strip them of its protection unless Nobundo rescued Thrall. Nobundo persuaded the Earthen Ring to fund the mission and began recruiting adventurers for a search in Zangarmarsh.

• The Holy Light told Nobundo that the Draenei had been intended to help the Orcs and demanded that he rescue Thrall or his people would lose the Light.
• The Holy Light explained that Durotan was alive in Nagrand and that Nobundo could find him because the Light that had saved him belonged to Nobundo.
• Nobundo agreed to help for the Draenei’s survival and went to the Earthen Ring for support.
• Nobundo told Muen Earthfury that Vashj had captured Thrall and warned that Saurfang might threaten the Earthen Ring’s wealth; Muen pledged half his fortune to hire rescuers.
• Nobundo hired Watcher Jhae to post a generous quest for adventurers to enter The Slave Pens and search for companions.
• Nobundo and Muen hired adventurers to enter Zangarmarsh and prepare to rebuild the Cenarion Expedition Camp.

Nobundo’s attempt to reach Thrall through Bloodline Connection was disrupted by Saurfang’s forces, so he led the Earthen Ring to Durotan’s secluded home in Nagrand. The chapter ended with Durotan asking Nobundo who he was.

• Nobundo told Muen Earthfury he wanted to find Durotan and use Bloodline Connection to locate Thrall, while secretly planning to obtain adventurers’ blood.
• Orgrimmar wolf riders attacked the Earthen Ring’s camp, killed the hired adventurers, and ordered the Shamans to relocate to Telredor.
• At Telredor, the group found Saurfang’s notice demanding that visitors surrender their possessions and bodies for entry, so they traveled to Sporeggar instead.
• Nobundo used the Holy Light to locate Durotan, whose secluded home was in the mountains of Nagrand; the couple’s snow camellia withered and their aged Frostwolf died as the visitors approached.
• Nobundo and Muen discussed taking Durotan and his wife’s blood, then arrived at their stone house, where Durotan failed to recognize Nobundo and asked what he was.

Nobundo and Muen Earthfury found Durotan and Draka, who revealed that Orgrim Doomhammer had betrayed them after their son was born with powerful Fel. They learned Thrall had been kidnapped and asked his parents to give their blood for a spell, though it could cost them both their lives.

• Durotan insulted Nobundo and the Draenei, then mistook his visit for a revenge attempt until Muen explained they needed a favor.
• Draka revealed that a trusted friend had betrayed them and forced them to fake their deaths and live in seclusion.
• Durotan recounted that Thrall was born green-skinned and shrouded in Fel, and that Orgrim had sent a Stormreaver Clan assassin to kill the family.
• Muen explained that Thrall had abandoned Fel and become a benevolent Shaman, but Durotan and Draka doubted that an Orc chieftain could be kind.
• Nobundo told Durotan and Draka that Thrall had been kidnapped and that Bloodline Connection Magic required their blood, which would kill them.

Griftah told Anachronos, Imperator Mar'gok, Durotan, and Velen that Saurfang sought the Heart of Zangar, a Titan relic that could transform Zangarmarsh into a giant plant and destroy Outland. As the four planned to locate Durotan through blood magic, Durotan and his wife sprang a trap on Muen and Nobundo.

• Griftah revealed that Saurfang was hunting for the Heart of Zangar and warned that it could turn Zangarmarsh into a monstrous plant life-form.
• Griftah explained that Durotan had found and hidden the relic, and Anachronos proposed using the connection between versions of the same person to find him.
• Velen offered to use forbidden blood magic that tracked someone through a relative, and Anachronos welcomed the plan.
• In Nagrand, Durotan refused to sacrifice himself and his wife to help Muen and Nobundo obtain blood, then asked to bury his dead frostwolf.
• Durotan and his wife dug a large pit, revealed that it was meant for their enemies, and unleashed black vines from the frostwolf's body at Muen and Nobundo.

Nobundo and Miu'en pursued Durotan and his wife after they escaped, while Anachronos and his companions retrieved the Heart of Zangar. Jaina stole the Titan relic and vanished, and Miu'en caught up with Durotan and his wife.

• Nobundo and Miu'en escaped the poisoned vines, revealing that both secretly wielded forbidden powers: Fel and Blood Magic from G'huun.
• Durotan and his wife fled toward the Burning Legion camp as Nobundo transformed into a Ghost Wolf to chase them and Miu'en took flight as a vampire bat.
• Anachronos, Mar'gok, and Prophet Velen emerged and recovered the Heart of Zangar, sealing the seed inside a stone.
• Jaina transformed the four companions into sheep, took the Heart of Zangar, and said she intended to use it to revive Zangar and become a planet-like being.
• After the four returned to normal, Anachronos suggested checking on Durotan and his wife, while Miu'en descended before the fugitives and confronted them.

Miu'en and Nobundo used Blood Bond to confirm Thrall was Durotan and Draka’s son, then prepared to teleport him from the Slave Pens. Leotheras recognized that Thrall’s inner demon controlled his body, while the rescue message reached Gudan, Thrall’s disfigured double.

• Miu'en subdued Durotan and Draka, and the Earthen Ring brought them to Bloodmaul Outpost to perform the blood ritual.
• Miu'en and Nobundo cast Blood Bond and traced a bloodline to Coilfang Reservoir, confirming Thrall’s parentage.
• Thrall continued abusing Orc prisoners in the Slave Pens, earning a fearsome reputation as Gudan while failing to find Eitrigg, Vol'jin, and the others.
• Leotheras questioned Thrall about his cruelty and revealed that Thrall was not Gudan but that his inner demon controlled his body.
• The Earthen Ring’s blood qi reached Gudan, who heard that they had come to rescue Thrall and was told not to resist.

Gudan was mistaken for Thrall after Blood Magic teleported him from the Slave Pens, and the Earthen Ring tried to rally support for his return. Medivh exposed the deception but spared Gudan, who revealed that he was Durotan’s son and Thrall’s double.

• Gudan was teleported from the Slave Pens to Bloodmaul Outpost, while Saurfang sealed the entrance to Blade’s Edge Mountains and ordered suspected impostors executed.
• Nobundo and Miu'en mistook the unconscious Gudan for Thrall and hid Durotan and his wife; Gudan played along after waking.
• Miu'en announced that Thrall had been rescued, and Nobundo urged the adventurers to support his return and seek Medivh’s help.
• Medivh arrived and declared that Gudan was not Thrall, explaining that Thrall’s parentage had been fabricated, but ordered the Earthen Ring to spare Gudan.
• Miu'en and Nobundo confronted Gudan, who admitted that he was Durotan’s son, named Gudan by Orgrim, and later became Thrall’s double.

Gudan confronted Durotan and Draka over the abuse and betrayal he had suffered, revealing that Durotan had knowingly handed him to Orgrim to protect his own power. Durotan then disclosed that Gudan had an ordinary twin who was lost during the Orcs’ retreat and sent as a captive to Karazhan.

• Gudan accused Durotan of giving him to Orgrim to destroy his talent and protect his position as chief.
• Gudan revealed that he had overheard Durotan tell Orgrim he feared Gudan would become the Orcs’ leader, and explained that Gul'dan later rescued him and sought a cure for him.
• Durotan admitted that he and Draka had regarded Gudan as a monster and never felt familial affection for him.
• Gudan declared that he would someday refuse to save the Orcs when they begged him for help, while Nobundo and Miu'en discussed his limited usefulness as a substitute for Thrall.
• Durotan revealed that Draka had given birth to twins and that the ordinary child had been lost during the retreat through the Dark Portal.
• Durotan told Nobundo and Miu'en that the Kingdom of Stormwind had sent some captured spoils to Karazhan, where the lost child might have been taken.

Saurfang the Great arranged for an Orc to impersonate Thrall, easing tensions with the adventurers and directing them against Vashj's forces. More than a hundred thousand adventurers assembled at the Coilfang Reservoir, where Vashj and Fathom-Lord Karathress readied their Naga for battle.

• Nobundo and Miu'en used Durotan and his wife's bloodline connection to successfully lock onto Thrall, but extra guards made it difficult to reach him.
• As adventurers and Naga disrupted Orc supply lines, Saurfang the Great rejected publicizing Thrall's past actions and accepted an adviser's plan to install a fake Thrall.
• Saurfang the Great presented the imposter as the returning Savior, claiming he had defeated Gruul and declaring his friendship with Saurfang.
• The fake Thrall urged adventurers to attack the Coilfang Reservoir, and more than a hundred thousand gathered there.
• Vashj and Fathom-Lord Karathress prepared to feed the Naga with the adventurers, and Karathress awakened the Naga hidden beneath the reservoir.

Horde adventurers attacked Coilfang Reservoir, but its magical shield stopped their advance while Orc forces destroyed their camp and blocked their escape. Trapped at Serpent Lake, they faced executions for questioning Thrall and were ordered by an image of "Thrall" to continue fighting underwater.

• Guild leaders planned to destroy Coilfang Reservoir's exposed apparatus and worried that earlier battles had left their companions missing.
• The adventurers sailed crude rafts toward the apparatus, but its Magic Shield vaporized those who approached and forced the survivors to retreat.
• High Overlord Saurfang watched the retreat and ordered the Orcs to fight, while the adventurers discovered that Orcs had burned their camp and cut off their way back.
• Horde wolf riders drove the adventurers away from shore, and adventurers who accused Thrall of betrayal were executed.
• An image of "Thrall" appeared above Serpent Lake and ordered the trapped adventurers to fight Vashj underwater rather than retreat.

The adventurers were lured into Serpent Lake and slaughtered by its freezing, high-pressure defenses and the Naga. Thrall, disguised as Gudan, led Orcs and Vol'jin's Trolls against them, while Vashj offered survivors a chance to surrender; the battle ended with the adventurers hearing another command from the false image of Thrall.

• The adventurers jumped into Serpent Lake, where Vashj's defenses froze, crushed, and exposed them to Naga attacks.
• Thrall, disguised as Gudan, led five hundred Orcs underwater after they took pills that let them breathe but prevented them from surfacing.
• Thrall recognized Vol'jin among the fighters and competed with him to kill adventurers and collect their ears.
• Vashj agreed to accept surrendering adventurers as prisoners, and Karathress opened whirlpools as escape routes.
• Many adventurers jumped into the whirlpools, but the image of "Thrall" called on the rest to keep fighting and warned them not to trust the enemy.

Fathom-Lord Karathress trapped the adventurers at Viper Lake, and those who escaped through the Portals were arrested and executed in Shattrath City. After Saurfang’s forces celebrated a fabricated victory, Akama questioned two Forsaken survivors in the Lower City, where one began to expose Thrall’s deception before being shouted down.

• Fathom-Lord Karathress closed the vortex after fifty thousand adventurers entered, while the fake Thrall mocked those left behind and more than a dozen Portals opened to Shattrath City.
• Saurfang the Great ordered the fake Thrall to keep taunting the survivors, and the adventurers who reached Shattrath City were arrested, paraded through the streets, and executed.
• After the lake’s defenses were deactivated, Zangarmarsh creatures devoured the adventurers’ corpses, while the media falsely reported Saurfang’s overwhelming victory and Shattrath City celebrated.
• Akama gathered powerful figures in a Lower City basement to question two Forsaken survivors who had escaped the lake by freezing in a rocky crevice.
• One Forsaken said Thrall had set a trap, but a scar-faced Fel Orc shouted that the Savior Thrall was merciful, and the other survivor claimed Thrall had saved them.