Chapter Summaries

Diakum and Illidan discussed the Death Force, the Nathrezim, and plans to attack Mardum before an ambush intercepted a Legion fleet. Kil'jaeden recognized Velen and ordered a meeting, leaving the brothers face to face after more than twenty thousand years.

• Diakum told Illidan that the Death Force was behind Governor Toserin’s murder and urged him to train more Demon Hunters to fight threats from death.
• Illidan explained that Nathrezim could not be permanently killed with known methods and described the Cursed Maw as a weapon that might devour them.
• Diakum and Illidan agreed to prepare an attack on Mardum and moved to intercept a Legion scouting fleet after Voros the Exalted tracked its course.
• Diakum and the Army of the Light joined the battle, but Kil'jaeden ordered the demons to stay when he recognized Velen aboard the opposing ship.
• Kil'jaeden punished Talgas for arranging the meeting, while Talgas urged him to turn away from destruction and return to his people.
• Diakum brought Velen onto the command ship, and Kil'jaeden turned to face his brother after more than twenty thousand years apart.

Diakum defeated Talgas aboard the captured demon command ship and granted the dying Eredar a peaceful death. He recovered records about Eonar and the dead of Argus, then learned from Velen that the Burning Legion planned to send fel Lesser Gods against Azeroth.

• Illidan ordered Oturis to repair the captured demon command ship without damaging its identification codes so the Illidari could scout Mardum.
• Diakum fought Talgas through the wrecked ship, overcame its weapons and demonic beasts, and defeated it in close combat.
• Talgas asked Diakum to save the Conqueror and Kil'jaeden, then Diakum purified Talgas with the Holy Light and collected the Assassin Court emblem.
• Diakum opened the Legion document case and found information about Eonar, along with Talgas's record of thousands of Eredar who had died in exile.
• Velen told Diakum that the Legion planned to deploy fel Lesser Gods against Azeroth and that Kil'jaeden believed he could no longer be saved.

After the victory in the Sea of Stars, Diakum prepared the next moves against the Burning Legion and brought Helya to meet the World Soul. The chapter ended as he arranged for Helya to challenge the Star Soul Lord, believing the duel would earn her a place in the Hall of Valor.

• Diakum sent Velen back to Draenor, gave the Twins Talgas's encrypted intelligence, and planned to enlist the Army of the Light in the Illidari raid on Mardum.
• Diakum visited the new temple in Silithus, where Archaedas and Ironaya prepared to defend the Star Soul Lord's sanctuary.
• Aegwynn explained that the World Mother was sealing Tyrande's growing Moon Goddess wrath and sharing its excess with the Watchers.
• Ysera and Diakum settled their past conflict, and Ysera took charge of arranging the Guardian Dragonflight's future.
• Tyrande pledged the Kaldorei to the World Mother, while Talanji insisted that the Zandalar Empire had been the first among her guards.
• Diakum offered the World Soul the recovered World Essence, then presented Helya for a duel with the Star Soul Lord.

Helya learned the hidden history behind Odin and the Vrykul, then set out to test her faith by seeking Truthguard and challenging Odin. As the Saviors dispersed, Diakum and his allies prepared for threats from the South Seas, the elemental realms, and the Burning Legion.

• Aegwynn gave Helya records revealing the Vrykul's origins and how Odin had forcibly transformed Helya into a Val'kyr.
• The Star Soul Lord challenged Helya to ask Odin whether he would use his forged legion against a World Soul seeking freedom from the Titans.
• Helya resolved to visit Shieldrest Island, claim Truthguard, undertake the God-King's Challenge, and speak with Helya's Netherworld Val'kyr.
• Aegwynn warned Diakum that the World Mother's actions could unleash the Elemental Lords, and Diakum suggested releasing the Incarnate Dragons in response.
• Argus Lord revealed that he was prepared to take Sargeras's former body and fight the Burning Legion, while Diakum urged him to wait.
• Anveena told Diakum that the World Mother wanted her to learn to control the bugs, and Diakum invited her to train through an RTS game before traveling to Draenor.

Diakum trained Anveena to command the Shadow Chasing Swarm through war games, where she repeatedly lost and learned that she needed basic practice before leading a mature swarm. She began challenging mortal souls for experience, starting with Anduin Lothar, and prepared to make him pay for his confidence.

• Diakum brought Anveena to the Great Divide and explained that she would have to cultivate the Qiraji swarm herself.
• Anveena lost several war games against Diakum, including battles in the Antoran Wastes and Silvermoon City, and then lost again against Orgrim Doomhammer's forces in an easier scenario.
• Diakum gave Anveena a path to train against mortal souls and promised her the Shadow Chasing Swarm's Overmind egg after ninety-nine victories.
• Anveena left the mental space determined to become a qualified Queen of Blades and began her first challenge against Anduin Lothar.
• Anduin Lothar entered the war trial while preparing a speech, dismissed it as an easy victory, and prompted Anveena to control Orgrim Doomhammer against him.

Anasterian and the other leaders gathered in Nar'thalas City to discuss elven unity as Elisande worked to divide the Highborne. In Northrend, Gul'dan raised Toserin as Frostmourne's first wielder and began putting a plan to seize Suramar into motion.

• Kael'thas and Lothar told Anasterian about their war-game trials, and Anasterian warned Lothar that Terenas was pursuing a rival empire and demanding the return of refugees.
• Anasterian outlined plans to support Mordant Evershadow as governor and build unity among the elven peoples while Elisande launched a counterattack in Suramar and Azsuna.
• Elya Blue Moon learned that Elisande had ordered Suramar students to return home, then proposed a ten-year study tour to Quel'Thalas, Eldre'Thalas, and the Stormwind Kingdom.
• Gul'dan used Frostmourne to raise Toserin as a deathlord and told Sarkir that he planned to use Toserin's influence to recruit undead and eventually place Frostmourne in Azshara's hands.
• Sarkir approved Gul'dan's plan, and Toserin accepted his first task: defeating the resisting Nerubians in Azjol-Nerub.

Lothar returned to Stormwind and learned that Lordaron was using dragon-made potions to transform people into Dragonborn while imposing a brutal new social order. With demons, worgen, trolls, and other forces contesting the Northern Borderlands, he resolved to launch a northern campaign and seek Kul Tiras's support.

• Lothar returned to Stormwind with Daenerys, White Pawn, and Diakum, while Garona traded Rezan-fang throwing knives for some of White Pawn's gifts intended for Arthas and Jialiya.
• Khadgar showed Lothar evidence that Lordaron's Dragonborn were humans transformed by potions made with black dragon involvement, and that upper Dragonborn could take draconic forms.
• Khadgar reported that Lordaron had retaken Tyr's Hand and Avalon Town but was mass-producing Dragonborn and forcing ordinary humans to serve them.
• Khadgar described demons occupying Alterac, worgen fighting in Hillsbrad, and trolls and Loa followers seizing territory in the Northern Borderlands.
• Lothar called for a northern campaign and asked Khadgar to contact Prince Derek and Queen Katherine so he could secure Kul Tiras's support.

Lothar responded to signs of a black dragon conspiracy in Lordaeron by organizing aid and protection for the Northern Borderlands, while preparing to travel to Draenor with the King and Queen of Kul Tiras. On Draenor, Diakum and the Twins began speculating that the sun might symbolize a forgotten cosmic power connected to the Holy Light.

• Khadgar told Lothar that King Terenas had refused to meet Rhonin, and reported suspicious dark magic surrounding the king’s court; Lothar concluded that black dragons were conspiring to divide humanity.
• Lothar sent Khadgar to Quel’Thalas with Garona, then asked Archbishop Faol to bring the purified Holy Book and Brother Fuding’s Silver Hand Holy Hammer to Light’s Hope Chapel.
• Lothar and Faol agreed to seek dragonflight assistance and send Rhonin to Wyrmrest Temple, while Captain Fareeya offered Hand of Argus veterans to protect Light’s Hope Chapel.
• Derek told Lothar that Daelin and Katherine Proudmoore were secretly traveling to Draenor to retrieve Jaina, and suggested Lothar use the journey to discuss Kul Tiras joining his cause.
• Lothar met Daelin at the Dark Portal and traveled to Draenor with him; after arriving, Diakum wondered whether the suns among the stars represented a cosmic power and connected the idea to An’she and the Holy Light.

Diakum explained how the Flame Blade was damaged and compensated Samuro with a scroll of Titan swordsmanship, then showed the Twins Draenor’s divine construct. On the Nagrand Plains, Arthas met Jaina while she was fleeing White Ghost Orcs, and a one-armed Orc rescued them and invited them to the Mountain Guardian’s Cabin.

• Diakum told Samuro that the Flame Blade had been damaged in a battle with the Night Warrior and that her techniques remained engraved in it.
• Samuro accepted Diakum’s explanation and took his scroll of Enemybreaker Swordsmanship as compensation for the Burning Blade Clan.
• Diakum brought the Twins to see the divine construct beneath Tayara and warned them that it could not defeat Sargeras on its own.
• Arthas wandered the Nagrand Plains at night and rushed to help Jaina, who was being pursued by White Ghost Orcs.
• Jaina and Arthas faced more White Ghost Orcs until a wolf pack drove them away and a one-armed Orc escorted the children toward the Mountain Guardian’s Cabin.

Dick sent Daelin, Queen Katherine, and Lothar to Oshu'gun Mountain after learning Jaina had been rescued by Arthas, then received his new Judgment armor and went to meet a mysterious guest. At the mountain, Jaina reunited with her parents, while Lothar discovered that the Mountain Guardian was Orgrim Doomhammer, now calling himself Garrosh.

• Dick told Daelin and Queen Katherine that Jaina was at Oshu'gun Mountain with Arthas, and sent them there with Lothar.
• Onyxia delivered Dick's elementium steel armor, which he named Judgment and consecrated for the Eredar Judgment Court.
• Yorin Deadeye guided the group to Oshu'gun Mountain, where Jaina ran out to embrace her parents.
• Arthas's elder sister arrived as Lothar reassured the young prince about saving Jaina.
• Lothar entered the Mountain Guardian's cabin and recognized the one-armed Orc as Orgrim Doomhammer, who now called himself Garrosh.

Jialiya learned that Lordaeron faced a black dragon conspiracy and a possible Dragonborn Empire, while Lothar wrestled with whether to fight for the human kingdoms. After Orgrim urged him to commit fully, Lothar demanded Kul Tiras join his cause and offered Daelin the role of grand admiral.

• Daelin, Katherine, Lothar, and the others shared a meal while Arthas envied the adults' appetites and resolved to join the Prosperity Ritual.
• Katherine and Daelin told Jialiya about Lordaeron's danger and Terenas's ambitions, and Jialiya decided she needed to return to Azeroth while Katherine urged her to stay away.
• Katherine advised Jialiya to write to Uther and warned her that the struggle over the Human Empire could engulf the entire Eastern Continent.
• Daelin told Lothar that Kul Tiras would remain neutral, while Orgrim challenged Lothar to stop treating the conflict as a limited campaign and fight to resolve its underlying causes.
• Orgrim urged Lothar to build a new empire for the people rather than revive Arathor's legacy, and Lothar changed his mind about the war.
• Lothar demanded Daelin's support, threatened to use goblin money and trade interests against Kul Tiras if he refused, and offered him the position of the Empire's grand admiral.

Diakum met with a Nether-Stalker to arrange an alliance against Dymus, offering the Shadewalker Cult’s support and entrusting it with the Twilight Hammer for reforging. Their discussion revealed Xal'atath’s Ethereal thieves and hinted that An'she existed and that the Void was involved in a larger plan concerning the Light and Void; Diakum left knowing he was not yet powerful enough to join it.

• Diakum entered a void fissure and met a Nether-Stalker, who agreed to recruit Ethereal allies for a trap against Dymus with Diakum as bait.
• Diakum explained that Dymus’s power had limits and gave the Nether-Stalker the Twilight Hammer to reforge in its Void Forge.
• Diakum invited the Nether-Stalker to join the Shadewalker Cult, and the Nether-Stalker accepted after witnessing the Shadewalker Hive and Agamaggan.
• The Nether-Stalker told Diakum that Xal'atath had recruited Ethereal thieves, including Prince K'a'vze, Azir, and possibly Rafaam.
• Diakum asked whether An'she existed, and the Nether-Stalker warned that the question touched a forbidden plan involving the Sea of Darkness.
• Diakum concluded that An'she was real and that the Void had meddled in the matter, then returned to Karabor Temple and wondered about Elune's role.

The Arcane Scholar Clan reunited with the Draenei on Draenor, and Ms. Vilara appointed Diakum Grand Chancellor and honorary principal of the Arcane Academy’s new Azeroth campus. The clans celebrated their reunion and renewed hopes of reclaiming Argus, while Malas and Yura reunited after three hundred years apart.

• The Arcane Scholar Clan arrived at Karabor Temple, where Velen and Vilara reunited and their people welcomed one another.
• Diakum joked with Vilara about his unpaid wages, and Saloras and Oreses offered the Academy a campus in Azeroth and the Sunwell as a possible backup.
• Vilara’s assistants presented the Mark of Awakening, and Velen and Vilara joined it with the Draenei’s Eye of the Prophet and Crown of Knowledge to strengthen Karabor Temple.
• Vilara promoted Diakum to Grand Chancellor and appointed him honorary principal of the Arcane Academy’s external campus in Azeroth.
• Diakum celebrated the clans’ return and vowed to lead them back to Argus, while Yura punched Malas for leaving her alone and then learned Malas had resigned and bought them a home.

Archbishop Faol’s journey to Light’s Hope Chapel challenged Lordaeron’s ambitions, while Moira weighed a deal with Rend to carve out a kingdom of her own. Aegwynn then summoned Diakum back to confront the Fire Lord as elemental power rose and Pandaria neared its return.

• Archbishop Faol’s holy army set out for Light’s Hope Chapel, drawing concern from those who saw the Church of the Holy Light’s support for refugees as a challenge to King Terenas.
• Moira visited her captive, Emperor Sorissan, who warned that Dark Iron lords planned to summon the Fire Lord and tried to persuade her to help him regain Shadowforge City.
• Moira learned that Prince Brann had left to investigate Tauren ruins, then met Rend, who told her that he and Hogger were gathering Green Skin warriors in the Black Marsh.
• Rend told Moira that Hogger planned to build a Gnoll kingdom and seek weapons from the Dark Iron Dwarves, prompting Moira to propose hiring Rend’s warriors to help her claim Searing Gorge.
• Moira asked Rend to help break someone out of Ironforge prison and declared that she would found a kingdom of her own if she could not inherit her father’s throne.
• Aegwynn told Diakum that rising elemental power threatened the world and the Fire Lord might exploit it, so Diakum promised to return after his custom weapon arrived.

Moira Bronzebeard, Emperor Sorissan, and Rend raced to stop the Fire Lord’s return by helping the Thorium Brotherhood extinguish the runes in the Molten Core. Dagran sacrificed himself to halt Ragnaros’s summoning, but Vigilant Saint Diakum Zastinus appeared and destroyed the Fire Lord’s projection, then invited Dagran to join him in fighting Ragnaros.

• Moira left Dun Morogh with Sorissan and Rend, declaring that she would reclaim Searing Gorge and prove herself without her father’s approval.
• Sorissan revealed that the Dark Iron Dwarves’ summoning spell had enslaved them to the Fire Lord, and the eruption of Blackrock Mountain showed that the spell had been activated.
• Moira rallied Sorissan and the Thorium Brotherhood to enter the Molten Core and extinguish the runes sustaining the elemental rift, while Rend called for Hogger’s aid.
• The group split up to extinguish the runes, and Dagran revealed his true name to Moira before heading for the deepest part of the Molten Core.
• Hogger and his Orcs helped Moira and Rend defeat the fire demons, but the final rune remained, trapping Dagran beyond a wall of flames.
• Dagran extinguished the last rune and weakened Ragnaros’s arrival, but Diakum Zastinus appeared, shattered the Fire Lord’s projection, and asked Dagran to join him.

Diakum helped the Thorium Brotherhood drive Ragnaros from Molten Core and discussed the Dark Iron Dwarves’ reasons for opposing their patron with Emperor Sorissan. He invited them to join an expedition to the Firelands, then ordered the Light Weaver Warband to prepare for war and learned Kael'thas had a personal reason to pursue Ragnaros.

• Diakum cooled the rescued Dark Iron Dwarves and used Entropy to seal the rift against Ragnaros, while the Brotherhood celebrated its victory.
• Diakum reassured Moira Bronzebeard that the Holy Light could answer her again, then healed Sorissan and demanded he explain why he opposed Ragnaros.
• Sorissan admitted the Dark Iron Dwarves feared being dragged into a future elemental war, and Diakum invited them to join an expedition against the Fire Lord.
• Diakum asked Kazzak to fight Ragnaros in the Firelands and suggested giving the Fire Lord a chance to change rather than executing him.
• Yrel summoned the Lightforged for the campaign, and Lelan suggested inviting Kael'thas because he needed Ragnaros’s Creation Flame to complete his graduation project.

Kael'thas prepared to join the Light Weaver Warband's expedition against the Fire Lord, while Diakum questioned Hogger and the Blackhand brothers about their plans. After warning Hogger about the powerful Gnolls of Bramblefur Valley, Diakum welcomed Hamul Runetotem and the Sun Druids to the campaign, which headed toward the Dark Iron Bar.

• Kael'thas received an invitation to join Captain Fareeya's operation against the Fire Lord and decided the trip might help him finish his long-delayed graduation assignment.
• Hogger and the Blackhand brothers assured Diakum that they would avoid provoking the humans and explained their plans for the Gnoll tribe and a truce with Marshal Lothar.
• Diakum warned Hogger that Bramblefur Valley's Gnolls were powerful and organized, and Hogger considered seeking an alliance with the Tuskarr.
• Hogger asked Diakum to help secure a truce with the Stormwind Kingdom, but Diakum told him to send an envoy to Marshal Lothar.
• Hamul Runetotem arrived with the Sun Druids to join the expedition against the Fire Lord and discuss their order's doctrines and power system.
• Dezco Dawnchaser told Diakum that his friend Leipi performed at the Dark Iron Bar, where the group planned to meet.

At the Dark Iron Bar, Commander Diakum learned more about the Tauren creation myth and confirmed that An'she existed. Yrel met Old Gani, who told her where to find a powerful warhammer the Thorium Brotherhood considered useless.

• Diakum and the Lightforged companions waited at the Dark Iron Bar while the Thorium Brotherhood worked to persuade Shadowforge City's lords to oppose the fire demon sages.
• Chieftain Leipi joined Dezco and Hamul Runetotem, and Hamul recounted the Tauren creation myth of the Earth Mother, An'she, and Mu'sha.
• Diakum declared that An'she truly existed, and Fareeya and Dick discussed the Dawnchaser Tauren's connection to the Holy Light and the origins of the naaru.
• Yrel decided she wanted to give Maraad a powerful hammer, then caught a tiny dinosaur secretly drinking her liquor.
• Old Gani told Yrel to ask the Thorium Brotherhood's quartermaster for a warhammer made to fight Ragnaros, explaining that the dwarves could never obtain the essence needed to complete it.
• Old Gani asked Yrel to bring him amusing trash in the future, offering extra payment for anything made by Diakum.

Yrel bought a warhammer from the Thorium Brotherhood and arranged a weapons contract for the Lightforged, while Sorissan prepared the Dark Iron Dwarves to rebel against Ragnaros. The chapter left Moira leading the push to unite the dwarf clans and claim a greater kingdom.

• Yrel bargained the Thorium Brotherhood down to cost price for a warhammer and arranged for them to forge equipment for the Lightforged.
• Yrel gave the warhammer to Great Uncle and advised him to wait until they could obtain the Fire Lord's essence to upgrade it.
• Sorissan urged the Dark Iron lords to resist Ragnaros, but Stilgiss demanded proof that Sorissan could be trusted and a concrete plan.
• Sorissan revealed that he had brought Orc allies to kill the fire demons, then introduced Moira Bronzebeard as his Grand Chancellor.
• Moira threatened the Dark Iron lords with death or service in the rebellion, and Stilgiss pledged his warlocks to her.
• Moira refused to take Thorisson's place but privately resolved to unite the dwarf clans and build a kingdom of her own.

Diakum led the expedition into the Firelands to challenge Ragnaros and help the Dark Iron Dwarves break their curse. The battle began at the Scorched Plains, where Diakum unleashed a newly transformed Dawn Lord against the Fire Lord.

• Kael'thas joined the expedition, and Vigilant led the group through Shadowforge City toward the Molten Core while Diakum refused to lift the Dark Iron Dwarves' curse for them.
• Ambassador F'larr opened a rift to the Firelands after Aegwynn invoked the World Soul's authority and promised the fire imps a role in governing the realm.
• Old Anzu secured permission to stay temporarily in the Firelands and flew ahead to claim a nest site, while Vigilant ordered the Dark Iron Dwarves to advance.
• Ragnaros summoned an army of fire elementals and meteors to repel the invaders at the Scorched Plains.
• Diakum hurled Kazzak's soul staff into battle, releasing the newborn Dawn Lord, who struck Ragnaros in the jaw as Yrel praised the Holy Light's strength.