Chapter Summaries

Heklar developed the explosive war machine Iron Star for Divine Venerable while expanding the Heklar Consortium’s weapons production and planning a second machine, Iron War Scorpion. Oscar Flashdrill was bailed out of prison by Alleria, then fled after his goat collided with Countess Prestor’s carriage, leaving Prestor newly arrived in Stormwind and wary of Divine Venerable.

• Heklar increased production of bombs and Rocket Launchers and continued building the Iron Star war machine for Divine Venerable.
• Heklar began designing a new weapon called Iron War Scorpion.
• Oscar Flashdrill was released from Stormwind City Prison after Alleria requested bail from the king.
• Oscar retrieved Unbreakable Might and rode out of Stormwind on his black goat.
• Oscar’s goat rammed a horse pulling Countess Prestor’s carriage, and Oscar escaped into Elwynn Forest.
• Countess Prestor ordered her attendant not to pursue Oscar and warned that Divine Venerable could discover her presence.

Oscar Flashdiamond fled from the Alliance’s Divine Venerable and sought bounty money by killing Orcs in the Arathi Highlands. After Orc scouts drove him off, Brox accused the Alliance of the attacks, and the Alliance leaders struggled to remember why the allegations seemed familiar.

• Oscar escaped into the Arathi Highlands and planned to collect bounties for Orc heads.
• Oscar ambushed Orcs while they were relieving themselves, killing them with his wooden hammer and taking their heads.
• Brox sent scouts to find the killer, who spotted Oscar and forced him to flee on his black goat.
• Brox ordered a message sent to Orgrim condemning the Alliance for the attacks.
• King Llane rejected the Horde envoy’s accusation, while Sylvanas, Alleria, and Hu Feng wondered why the incident seemed familiar.

Oscar escaped the Orcs and fished an ancient weapon called Dustbringer from a lake in Stratholme Territory. Meanwhile, Lubos Evilflame survived a shadow crystal’s blast and appeared near Oscar, who charged at him with the newly found artifact.

• Oscar woke beside a lake, fashioned a fishing rod, and caught a blood-red dagger he identified as the legendary Dustbringer.
• Lubos Evilflame fled the Horde with the Rizebu Crystal, but Alexandros Mograine cornered him at a cliff in Silverpine Forest.
• Lubos activated the crystal, causing a violent shadow blast that made him vanish and left the land scorched.
• Mograine picked up the crystal and resolved to gather paladins to purify it and forge a Holy Light blade.
• Lubos awoke near Oscar, who charged at him while shouting about Dustbringer and the Fiery Landlord.

Hu Feng forced Soul Grinder to submit after half a month of beatings and promised him the chance to become stronger than Gruul. With all twelve gronn under his control, Hu Feng planned to equip them with armor and build a stronger force against the Burning Legion.

• Hu Feng repeatedly beat Soul Grinder while the other eleven gronn submitted in exchange for food and relief from their shackles.
• Queen Sylvanas and Alleria discussed their feelings for Hu Feng while drinking Potential Development Potion.
• Hu Feng healed Soul Grinder after each beating and offered him an Enslavement Rune Contract in exchange for strength and a chance to kill Gruul.
• Soul Grinder agreed to serve Hu Feng, and the Enslavement Rune sank into his eye.
• Hu Feng decided to arm the gronn with armor based on Horde blueprints and the Heklar Consortium goblins' expertise.

Llane and Hu Feng discussed Nethergarde Keep and precautions against undead, while Hu Feng gave Varian an enchanted sword. Meanwhile, Gul'dan opened the Tomb of Sargeras, where demons killed him and Cho'gall escaped with his skull.

• Llane agreed that the Alliance should fund and guard Nethergarde Keep, and Hu Feng warned him to inspect northern food and wine because Kel'Thuzad was secretly researching necromancy.
• Varian returned from hunting Kobolds with Alleria and Sylvanas, and Hu Feng gave him King's Will: Heart of the Berserker, a sword powered by a fragment of Gul'dan's soul.
• Sylvanas demanded a gift too, and Hu Feng promised to modify her Quel'Thalas Golden Bow.
• Gul'dan reached the Tomb of Sargeras in the Broken Isles and ordered his warlocks to raise it and open its gates.
• Demons poured from the Tomb and overwhelmed Gul'dan, while Cho'gall escaped by boat carrying the last fragment of Gul'dan's corpse: his skull.

The Tomb of Sargeras briefly stirred, alarming Maiev and Illidan, while Hu Feng dismissed the danger as contained. As the Orc war neared its end, Durotan’s Frostwolf Clan helped the Night Elves defeat the centaurs, and the northern kingdoms unleashed Heklar’s explosive Iron Stars against the retreating Horde.

• A surge of fel energy from the Tomb of Sargeras reached the Broken Isles, and Maiev sent a Warden to report the disturbance before telling Illidan that the world had changed.
• Tyrande informed Hu Feng about the Tomb, and he said Aegwynn’s wards would soon restore the seal unless Gul'dan returned.
• Durotan and Garrond celebrated their victory over the centaurs in The Scarlets and discussed whether Orgrim might join the Night Elves after the war.
• Orgrim recognized that the Horde was losing ground as the northern kingdoms used Rocket Launchers and Big Bombs to wear down its forces.
• Heklar’s Iron Stars entered the war as prisoner-operated suicide weapons, and Hu Feng urged Heklar to make his war machines even more destructive.

Hu Feng unveiled the first armed Gronn and warned Alliance leaders that they must prepare for a future war against godlike enemies. He reassured Alleria and Sylvanas that they would face that war together, leaving them resolved to stand beside him.

• Hu Feng showed the leaders a Gronn equipped with arcane and steam power, cannons, blades, and spiked armor, and demonstrated its speed and destructive power.
• Hu Feng announced that twelve Gronn would form an independent deterrence force and urged mortals to prepare to fight powerful enemies alongside him.
• Hu Feng told the leaders that the threat might arrive in decades or centuries, and said another Titan would soon come to Azeroth to help.
• Alleria and Sylvanas asked Hu Feng about the coming war, and he explained that the enemies sought to annihilate the universe and could not be reconciled with.
• Alleria and Sylvanas pledged to remain with Hu Feng, who regained his confidence and declared that he would defeat anyone who opposed him.

Hu Feng learned that Vareesa had joined her sisters for a ride on the gronn while the Horde’s advance drove King Aidenn to surrender Alterac. The surrender disrupted the war and intensified rivalries among the Alliance kingdoms, while Stromgarde began quietly seeking Alliance protection.

• Hu Feng discovered that Vareesa and her sisters had taken the gronn toward Westfall and let them continue after confirming they were safe.
• Orgrim redirected the Horde toward Alterac as Iron Star attacks forced the Horde to retreat across the northern front.
• King Aidenn surrendered Alterac to the Horde, becoming the first human ruler to surrender during the war.
• The Alliance revoked Alterac’s observer status and trade privileges, while the Horde fortified the Alterac Mountains and the Barov family seceded.
• King Terenas ordered an attack on the Horde, and Gilneas and Stromgarde weighed Lordaeron’s ambitions after the war.
• Stromgarde secretly contacted the Alliance to explore joining it or becoming a reserve observer state.

Orgrim dispersed the Horde’s clans and sent Gul'guro downriver, while Grom Hellscream led the Warsong Clan in a last stand before Lordaeron’s forces. Alterac fell, the Old Horde surrendered, and Lord Blackmoore took in the infant Gul'guro.

• Orgrim gave Hu Feng the Skullsplitter Clan and later the Lightning Blade Clan in exchange for refuge and silence, then placed Durotan’s infant son Gul'guro in a basket on the river.
• After the Dragonmaw Clan’s return to the Wetlands was discovered, the remaining Horde clans chose to defend Alterac rather than flee.
• Grom Hellscream entrusted the Warsong orcs who had not drunk demon blood to Orgrim, then led the others in a charge against the human army.
• Grom and the surviving Warsong warriors died after Uther offered them a chance to surrender, and Uther ordered them buried.
• Five days later, Alterac City fell; Kargath Bladefist and Neru Fireblade died, Orgrim was captured, and the Old Horde surrendered as Zul'jin fled with the surviving trolls.
• Lord Blackmoore’s attendants pulled Gul'guro’s basket from the river, and Blackmoore decided to raise the infant.

Blackmoore raised Thrall as a favored slave while planning to use him to command the Horde, and Lordaeron reluctantly agreed to transfer several Orc clans to the Alliance. Lothar arrived with an Iron Gronn to take custody of Orgrim and the other Orcs, who were unsettled by the strange armored machine.

• Blackmoore named the Orc infant Thrall and educated him for a future role as the Horde's commander.
• Lordaeron and the other northern nations accepted the Alliance's demands for Orgrim and several Orc clans after deciding they could not risk another war.
• Human soldiers bound Orgrim and brought him to a clearing, where he saw members of the Warsong, Stormwind, Burning Blade, and Shattered Hand Clans gathered.
• Orgrim calmed the Orcs as Lothar arrived with Alliance troops and an Iron Gronn.
• Lothar presented Lieutenant Drak with authorization documents, and Drak agreed to hand over the Orcs.

King Terenas backed Lord Prysto’s claim to Alterac and planned to use a marriage alliance to absorb the kingdom, unaware that Prysto despised the arrangement. In the Tirisfal Glades, Oscar insulted Prysto and struck him with goat droppings before escaping toward Lordaeron City.

• King Terenas received Lord Prysto, supported his claim to Alterac, and began planning to annex the kingdom through marriage.
• Princess Calia fell in love with Prysto, and Terenas arranged their political marriage while Prysto concealed his contempt.
• Prysto learned that Onyxia had infiltrated Stormwind’s nobility and ordered her to avoid drawing the attention of the Titan Divine Venerable.
• Oscar encountered Prysto in the Tirisfal Glades, declared himself the Fiery Landlord, and ran when he sensed Prysto’s danger.
• Oscar struck Prysto with goat droppings using his slingshot, then rode away laughing as Prysto roared and threatened to kill him.

Orgrim learned that the Alliance had rescued his group at the request of Durotan and the Divine Venerable, while Brox discovered that the Divine Venerable believed the world owed him a favor. At Mirror Lake, Hu Feng examined his growing Titan body, resolved to keep pursuing strength, and brought the Windrunner sisters to see it.

• Lothar told Orgrim that Durotan had arranged for the Divine Venerable to save him and Gul'guro, and explained why the Stormwind, Warsong, Shattered Hand, and Burning Blade clans were included.
• Lothar summoned Brox and said the Divine Venerable believed the world owed him a favor, speculating that Brox would one day accomplish a great deed.
• Hu Feng examined his developing Titan body and felt its immense power, but remembered Sargeras and the Void Lords and resolved to grow stronger.
• Sylvanas asked Hu Feng to show her the Titan Core, and Alleria and Vareesa eagerly joined them.
• Hu Feng shielded the three sisters and brought their consciousnesses to the World Egg, where they saw his enormous Titan body and learned he was still in the Titan Soul state.

Hu Feng tested whether his World Egg could absorb a planet’s core by draining one of Azeroth’s moons, while the spectacle triggered mass purges and political upheaval across elven lands. He learned the method worked, but not every planet had a planetary core to absorb.

• Hu Feng reassured Alleria and Queen Sylvanas that he would not drain Azeroth, then used Void Energy to absorb the moon’s planetary core.
• People across Azeroth watched the moon darken, and frightened mages began arresting and sacrificing those they considered insufficiently devout.
• The Crusaders of the Truth launched the Great Purge across Night Elf territory, arresting mages and druids and defeating Cenarius after he resisted.
• The Night Elves declared Titan Sargeras their supreme authority and began preparing to transform into an empire, while the Crusaders extended arrests and interrogations into Quel'Thalas.
• Hu Feng realized that absorbing the moon’s core had worked, but that not every planet possessed a planetary core.

Fandral witnessed the Crusaders torture Druids and force them to swear loyalty to Sargeras, while Anka revealed the golden power of the Dawn Druids. Ysera remained under Elisande’s guard as Azeroth’s wounded planetary core was confronted by a silvery light demanding repayment for a moon.

• Auriel tortured Fandral and other Druids, showing them Cenarius being tormented and threatening them with execution unless they pledged loyalty to Sargeras.
• A Druid broke under the torture and swore loyalty, while Auriel introduced Anka and the Dawn Druids as proof of the power loyalists could gain.
• Fandral recognized Anka and condemned his rejection of nature, but Anka transformed into a moonlit leopard and challenged Fandral’s faith in Elune.
• Elisande kept Ysera under house arrest and threatened her with Elune’s power, claiming the Divine Venerable was Elune’s only kin.
• At Azeroth’s planetary core, a silvery-white light accused the wounded body there of eating one of its moons and demanded repayment.

Hu Feng devoured a moon’s core essence, then stabilized the damaged moon and marked it with an Eye of Truth. As the Alliance elevated him to Grand Prince of Stormwind and Supreme Commander, he reassured Alleria of her importance and learned that two corpses had been secretly delivered to his harbor town.

• Hu Feng absorbed the moon’s core essence, refused to devour the other moon, and stabilized the damaged one with an Eye of Truth.
• The divine purge spread through the Eastern Kingdoms, while mysterious figures dug up the graves of Grom Hellscream and Kargath Bladefist and took their corpses.
• King Llane named Hu Feng Grand Prince of Stormwind and Supreme Commander of the Alliance, granting him the Golden Sands region as his fief.
• Alleria worried that she could not help Hu Feng, and he told her that her kindness and willingness to question him made her his conscience.
• Night Elf rangers brought two long bundles to a secret basement in the Golden Sands harbor town and reported that the goods Hu Feng wanted had arrived.

Hu Feng resurrected Kargath Bladefist and Grom Hellscream as Death Knights and recruited them and their clans to build an army against the legions of evil gods. After both clans pledged loyalty, Hu Feng led the orcs out of the basement and promised to show them his new weapons and equipment.

• Hu Feng used arcane energy to revive Kargath Bladefist and Grom Hellscream as undead warriors.
• Hu Feng explained that the Horde had been defeated and offered the orcs power and command of their clans in exchange for serving him.
• Kargath Bladefist agreed to serve Hu Feng and pledged the Shattered Hand Clan.
• Hu Feng swore to treat the Warsong Clan equally, and Grom Hellscream accepted the oath and pledged his clan's loyalty.
• Hu Feng led the two Death Knights out of the basement and said he would further strengthen them and show them his new weapons and equipment.

Orgrim reunited with the resurrected Grom and Kargath, then learned that the Orcs would split into two Hordes: the Stormwind Clan would sail to Kalimdor, while the other clans formed the Iron Horde in Westfall. The Iron Horde rapidly armed itself and established a fortress and military factory near Golden Sands.

• Orgrim reunited with Grom and Kargath, who explained their resurrection and warned him about the evil gods threatening the universe.
• Grom announced that the Stormwind Clan would join the Frostwolf Clan in Kalimdor while the Warsong, Shattered Hand, Firebrand, and Skullsplitter Clans remained to build the Iron Horde.
• The Stormwind Clan sailed for Kalimdor, leaving Orgrim to wonder how the two Hordes would coexist and how he would face Durotan.
• The Iron Horde equipped its warriors with powered armor, specialized weapons, and explosives, while Iron Star Artillery began remote-control training.
• Grom and Kargath surveyed the growing Iron Horde fortress as the Heklar Consortium built a military factory in the hills near Moonbrook.

Northern kingdoms sent envoys to Stormwind to investigate its new magic academy staffed by Highborne mages, while Arthas and Jaina condemned Hu Feng’s actions. In Stormwind, the Highborne grew close to human nobles, who eagerly copied their style and sought favors for their children.

• Dragon Riders attacked the northern human kingdoms, prompting them to contact the Dragon Aspects through Dalaran.
• Stormwind announced a magic academy staffed by Highborne and Nightborne mages, prompting kingdoms to send envoys; Kael'thas, Jaina, and Arthas joined the delegation.
• Kael'thas watched Jaina and Arthas together and wondered why she preferred Arthas, while Arthas and Jaina condemned Hu Feng’s purge and Iron Stars.
• Stormwind nobles showered the Highborne mages with gifts and enrolled in their Ancient Elven Aristocracy Training Course to gain favor for their children.
• Kaelar agreed to look after a noble’s son, and Hu Feng allowed the Highborne to continue their decadent social lives in Stormwind.

Grom practiced his Death Knight techniques while Kargath prepared the Shattered Hand Arena’s first tournament, where Lothar challenged the hundred-orc trial and fought Kargath. Days later, Lothar had earned the Shattered Hand Clan’s respect, and Stormwind City began allowing Iron Horde Orcs to visit.

• Grom trained with his newly acquired Death Knight techniques and urged Kargath to practice his Fel magic.
• Kargath opened the Shattered Hand Arena with a ten-thousand-gold prize for the team that defeated one hundred gladiators in succession.
• Oscar Flashgem and Xavius Mograine won their first match using grenades, then lost their next match after the Orcs brought muskets and Oscar ran out of explosives.
• Lothar and his guards fought through the Shattered Hand Orcs until Lothar stood alone, after which Kargath entered the arena to face him.
• Lothar earned Kargath’s respect and friendship, and Stormwind City began admitting Iron Horde Orcs under the Divine Venerable’s leadership.

Arthas and Jaina arrived in Stormwind City, where they clashed with Iron Horde Orcs and discovered that the city welcomed them as soldiers and neighbors. After a Spellblade accused Jaina of unbelief, the Crusaders of the Truth seized her, leaving Arthas furious and helpless.

• Arthas drew his sword when he saw two Orcs walking openly through Stormwind, and his guards surrounded them.
• The Stormwind guard captain explained that Iron Horde Orcs were accepted in the city and ordered the Orcs to report to the city defense department before leaving.
• Arthas’s guards tried to stop the Orcs, while Kael'thas watched the confrontation without intervening.
• A Spellblade accused Jaina of being an unbelieving mage and summoned the Crusaders of the Truth.
• Ten Nightborne arrived and took Jaina away after she fainted, despite Arthas’s protest.