Chapter Summaries

Diakum questioned Freya about the Wild Gods, the Tear of Elune, and Life’s influence on Azeroth before preparing to confront Yogg-Saron. Freya joined the other Keepers to open the way to the prison, while Diakum realized Lady Elune had been courting Azeroth’s Star Soul far earlier than he had known.

• Diakum entered Ulduar’s Garden of Life and found Freya recovering after her brothers had restored her sanity.
• Freya explained that Wild Gods were chosen for their purity, elevated with the Tear of Elune, and that the artifact had helped establish the Emerald Dream.
• Freya told Diakum that new Wild Gods could theoretically arise, but the Shadowlands’ disruption of the cycle of life and death had made it impossible.
• Diakum sent Freya to join the other Keepers and open the path to Yogg-Saron’s prison while he prepared to free the Supreme Star Soul.
• Freya suggested that Eonar’s escape from Sargeras might reflect her opposition to Aman’Thul’s ideals, and Diakum inferred that Elune had influenced Azeroth long before he realized.

The Keepers opened Yogg-Saron’s prison, and Diakum entered to execute the Old God while the others prepared to stop the activated Alpha Code from triggering the Origin Engine. Diakum confronted the terrified Yogg-Saron and began to absorb it with his shadowed powers.

• Hodir, Mimiron, and the other Keepers entered their authorization codes and opened Yogg-Saron’s prison, while Heimdall and Eir led the Stormforged and Valkyries inside to clear the way.
• Diakum refused the Keepers’ gifts, asking instead that they share Titan technology with Azeroth’s inhabitants and shut down the Ulduar node and Everything Unification Field.
• Mimiron sounded the alarm that Yogg-Saron had activated the Alpha Code, summoning the Star Saint Observer and threatening to start the Origin Engine’s world formatting.
• Ra-den and the Keepers headed to the observatory to stop the Origin Engine, while Diakum continued into Yogg-Saron’s prison.
• Diakum broke through the Titan prison with a Solar Fist, overwhelmed Yogg-Saron’s Void forces, and faced the pleading Old God.
• Diakum drew the Soul-Reaping Battleaxe and raised the Eclipse Illusion, telling Yogg-Saron to help him bear the pain of An’she’s eclipse.

Muradin Bronzebeard entered Yogg-Saron’s prison to reforge Val’anyr, but Diakum remade it and then trapped Muradin after he witnessed the Old God being turned into kindling. Outside the observatory, the Incarnate Dragons kept the Keepers back as Iridikron prepared to face the arriving Star Saint with a light-devouring sword.

• Heimdall and Eir refused the Bronzebeard Brothers and Earthen entry because Diakum was executing Yogg-Saron, but Muradin charged into the prison with Val’anyr’s fragments in their mold.
• Muradin encountered Kael’thas in a dark illusion filled with ash-like remains, and Kael’thas sent him back to his body.
• Diakum reforged Val’anyr’s hammerhead and blessed it, then restrained Muradin after he saw Yogg-Saron being consumed as kindling.
• Fyrakk, Vyranoth, and Raszageth blocked Ra-den and the Keepers from entering the observatory while Freya warned that Iridikron carried a dangerous power.
• Iridikron waited for the Star Saint Observer, summoned a black sword that devoured light, and greeted the arriving giant as something delicious.

Iridikron defeated Algalon after seeing the civilizations the Star Saint had erased in the name of Titan order, then brought him to Diakum for judgment. Diakum sent Algalon into the Seven Sha Trial as he prepared to return home and promised the Void a coming great extinction.

• Algalon judged Azeroth irreparably chaotic and prepared to send a formatting directive, but Iridikron attacked him with the Dim Light Blade.
• The blade infected Algalon, and Iridikron witnessed memories of the many worlds and civilizations Algalon had helped erase.
• Iridikron condemned Algalon and dragged the corrupted Star Saint from the observatory to Yogg-Saron's prison.
• Diakum explained that Algalon's claimed neutrality had been indifference, then sentenced him to undergo the Seven Sha Trial.
• Diakum illuminated Yogg-Saron's prison, prayed to the Light, and declared that he would soon return home as the Sea of Darkness faced a great extinction.

Kael'thas and the Saviors defeated N'Zoth with the Heart of Azeroth's power, while the Swarm attacked the Void creatures spreading through the seas. The victors left Nazjatar as the Circle of Stars began to close, and Lothar prepared to return to the living world while Admiral Daelin stayed behind to see off King Daelin and aid Derek.

• N'Zoth watched Diakum's vision of Yogg-Saron's destruction, then fought the demigods despite his weakened state and Diakum's influence.
• Kael'thas joined his magic with World Mother's Creation Power through the Heart of Azeroth and struck N'Zoth, while Nightsworn stopped a Void Lord from intervening.
• N'Zoth burned to ash, and his tendrils were destroyed as the World Heart sealed the tunnels they had made.
• Farodis warned that the Circle of Stars would close, while Nightsworn reported that Tidehunter and the water elementals were moving to claim Nazjatar.
• The group saw Anveena's Saviors Swarm battling Void creatures in the sea, then returned to Dalaran, where Lady Blue Moon reassured Antonidas that World Mother would protect them.
• Lothar prepared to leave the lucid dream, but Admiral Daelin stayed behind to see King Daelin off and hurry to Derek, who was fighting Farwynd's fleet.

The Lightforged and Helya’s Vrykul withdrew from Ny’alotha as the Waking Dream returned to reality, while the Saviors Swarm settled into the Void dream. As Boralus emerged from the nightmare, Derek’s beleaguered fleet remained trapped in battle until Daelin arrived with an unexpected fleet.

• Archbishop Saloras ordered the Lightforged and Helya’s War Bear Valkyries to evacuate Ny’alotha, and Helya promised a dying Vrykul warrior that she would rescue the Vrykul souls held in Helheim.
• Saloras explained that the Saviors Swarm would live and hunt in N’Zoth’s Waking Dream, which might also become a place to exile dangerous criminals.
• The Waking Dream returned to reality as Boralus, and the Saviors Swarm advanced into the ruined city to consume the corruptive remains.
• Derek Proudmoore ordered his outnumbered fleet to fight to the death after losing half his ships to Farwynd’s forces.
• Daelin’s strange fleet appeared through the sea mist, and Daelin called out to Derek while bringing his younger siblings to reunite with him.

Daelin and his family broke the Kul Tiras fleet’s encirclement, exposed the void creatures, and defeated Farwynd aboard the Devil Shark. King Daelin returned to N’yalotha, leaving the Sea Sovereign and the duty of hunting down pirates to the admiral and his children.

• King Daelin’s arrival and the purifying sunlight exposed the void creatures among Kul Tiras’s forces, throwing Farwynd’s fleet into chaos and allowing Derek to break out of the encirclement.
• Daelin’s family charged the Devil Shark, while Farwynd forced Lord Ashvane to swallow a void bug and prepared to fight rather than flee.
• Admiral Daelin and Farwynd leaped between their ships and fought as the vessels collided, and the assault on the Devil Shark ended with Farwynd and Ashvane dead.
• Derek received the Kingdom Regent’s seal from King Daelin, who announced that he would return to N’yalotha and establish a city for the Shadowkin.
• Admiral Daelin agreed to send ships and prisoners to N’yalotha as rent for the Sea Sovereign, while King Daelin departed and reunited with his Naga lover.

Daelin returned to Menethil Harbor aboard the Void-corrupted Sea Sovereign and reunited with his family after learning that his split-off self and N'Zoth were now separate beings. Meanwhile, Aegwynn and Diakum confirmed that Azeroth was beginning to awaken, though her recovery would take centuries.

• Daelin and the wounded soldiers arrived in Menethil Harbor aboard the Sea Sovereign, whose crew warned the dock guards about feeding and avoiding the warship.
• Daelin mistook Diakum's human disguise for a lover of Katherine and Gina, but his attack broke the disguise and exposed the Vigilant.
• Diakum appraised Daelin's Abyssal Trident and explained that Daelin and his brother N'Zoth were now separate individuals despite sharing an identity and past life.
• Daelin embraced Katherine and said he no longer felt guilty about returning to his family, while they discussed Gina's place in their lives.
• Aegwynn reported that the Circle of Stars node had been shut down and Ulduar's shutdown was progressing, allowing Azeroth's activity to rise as she began recovering.
• Diakum and Aegwynn affirmed that Azeroth would awaken but needed at least five hundred years to recover, and Diakum heard the Supreme Star Soul thank him.

Shaper Sargerei and Kil'jaeden discussed the Shadow Chasing Swarm's expansion through the Twisting Nether and the Burning Legion's coming conflicts. Sargerei planned simultaneous invasions of Azeroth and Draenor, intending to confront Diakum and Velen personally on Draenor and leave Azeroth in Kil'jaeden's hands.

• The Shadow Chasing Swarm spread across demon worlds, and its Insect Saint Leviathans enabled it to resume its attacks despite the Burning Legion's destruction of numerous planets.
• Sargerei proposed containing the Swarm in a designated region and letting wild demons fight it, but Kil'jaeden warned that the Swarm could eventually escape and devastate the Twisting Nether.
• Sargerei told Kil'jaeden that Velen and Diakum were assembling an Eredar restoration army, while Xe'ra's fleet headed toward Draenor.
• Sargerei announced that he would invade Azeroth with two fallen Titans and launch a simultaneous Burning invasion of Draenor, focusing the campaign on Draenor to challenge Diakum and Velen.
• Kil'jaeden accepted that Sargerei would lead the campaign personally, and Sargerei left Azeroth's defense in Kil'jaeden's hands.

After the war ended, Great Chieftain Hogger prepared to lead his War Horde to the Dragon Isles and attack the Gnoll Kingdom in Bramblefur Valley. Learning that the enemy numbered at least fifty thousand, he sought reinforcements and funding, and Malin Noggenfogger offered him a war loan.

• Great Chieftain Hogger gathered his gnolls and orc allies at Flamestar Post to board a Kul Tiras fleet bound for the Dragon Isles.
• Maim questioned why they were sailing from the Badlands, and Hogger explained that Booty Bay was under lockdown amid conflict among the goblin cartels.
• Scale Commander Sarkareth offered Dracthyr and Blue Dragon support, warned that the Gnoll Kingdom had at least fifty thousand fighters, and advised Hogger to recruit more allies.
• Hogger decided to seek help from the Golden Guards in Stranglethorn and his Dark Iron Dwarf friend, while Sarkareth suggested offering the dwarves access to Bramblefur Valley's mineral veins and seeking the Church of the Holy Light's help against possible Void corruption.
• Captain Cyrus offered to arrange more ships and artillery, but Hogger admitted that he had no money to fund the expedition.
• Malin Noggenfogger offered Hogger a war loan in exchange for managing the Gnoll Kingdom's trade with the outside world after its conquest.

Great Chieftain Hogger arrived in the Azure Span to conquer the Gnoll Kingdom, but worried that his forces were too divided and outnumbered. After seeking advice and aid from Anveena, Lycantos, and several Loa, he summoned the courage to contact Vigilant Diakum, who answered.

• Hogger arrived in the Azure Span with a fleet and a mixed army, intending to seize the isolated Gnoll Kingdom in the mountains.
• Sarkareth advised Hogger to capture a valley from the Gnolls to win the Blue Dragons' support, and Rend volunteered to lead a night raid with Gnolls and Orcs.
• Hogger inspected his poorly coordinated forces and asked Anveena for advice, so she urged him to seek help from local Loa and unite the Gnolls' enemies.
• Lycantos told Hogger that the war was a chance to establish the Gnolls as a true race and urged him to become their Wolf King.
• Hogger received promises of aid from Akunda, Jibul, Hir'eek, Old Gani, Ohn'ahra, and Grol, including blessings, fighters, and Tuskarr support.
• Hogger used the Holy Crest to contact Vigilant Diakum, and the Vigilant answered him.

Hogger received Diakum’s blessing to fight the Void-corrupted Gnolls of Bramblefur Valley and began pursuing the Holy Light. As the war reached a decisive duel with Corrupt Matriarch Nu Yan, Hogger unleashed a Holy Light-powered attack and appeared to become a gnoll Saint.

• Hogger met Diakum in High Heaven, and Diakum promised the Holy Light’s aid against the corruption in Bramblefur Valley while explaining that gnolls could follow the Holy Light through good deeds.
• Hogger woke with a warmed Holy Crest, obtained a Holy Flame Canon, and learned that Centaur clans would help trap the Bramblefur gnolls.
• Hogger led its allies into Bramblefur Valley, where opposing gnolls joined its campaign to overthrow Corrupt Matriarch Nu Yan and purify their homeland.
• Maim advised Hogger to accept Nu Yan’s duel so the Blue Dragons could strike her forces, and Hogger risked its life believing the Holy Light would watch over it.
• Hogger charged Nu Yan and unleashed Most Holy Slash, astonishing the onlookers as Little Star declared that a gnoll Saint had appeared.

Diakum discussed the Dragon Isles Gnoll victory and the coming challenges posed by Xe’ra as Lothar prepared to become Emperor. At Stromgarde, Lothar gave the Arathi Empire Thoradin’s crown-era sword before his coronation, entrusting his brother nation with a symbol of human unity.

• Diakum told Nali that Hogger had slain the decayed Rage-Eye Matriarch, while Nali described the gifts planned for Lothar’s coronation and warned of tensions with Xe’ra’s fanatical Army of the Light.
• Nali urged Diakum to reject Xe’ra’s prophecy and uphold his creed of defying fate, and he asked her not to embrace Elune’s dark moon if he departed into darkness.
• Lothar’s allies prepared Stromgarde for his coronation with ceremonial regalia, a golden throne, lavish food, and red maple trees.
• Lothar told Daenerys that he would send Strom'kar, the Warbreaker, to the Arathi Empire to help resolve its succession troubles.
• Lothar gave General Stittek the sword and asked her to convey his goodwill to the Arathi Emperor.

Anduin Lothar was crowned emperor under a succession law requiring future rulers to be chosen from the Saviors of human civilization and make a pilgrimage to the World Temple. Diakum left for Draenor after blessing Lothar and Daenerys with a pregnancy spell, then prepared to face the coming Legion invasion and help the Eredar return home.

• At Lothar’s coronation, Varian Wrynn carried the ancient crown, and Lady Aegwynn announced that future emperors must be chosen from the Saviors and undertake a pilgrimage to the World Temple.
• Lothar accepted the new succession law, was crowned by Archbishop Faol, and celebrated with Daenerys and the gathered guests.
• Diakum told Lothar he was leaving Azeroth, then used Power Word: Pregnancy on Daenerys before his Faith Incarnation dispersed and the real Diakum departed for Draenor.
• Aboard the Exodar, Diakum examined the Judicator Armor forged by Tyr and Archaedas and found he could wear it, though his power could melt it.
• Yrel reported that Light Eaters were ready to confront Xe'ra, while Diakum said Draenor should prepare for a true Burning Legion invasion and predicted the Eredar would eventually return home.

Mar'gok returned to Draenor as a powerful graduate of Nathrezim Academy, carrying Pillars of Creation for Diakum and planning to rebuild the Ogre Empire. Diakum received the relics and hinted that the Shadowlands’ rules might soon change, leaving Mar'gok eager to pursue the arcane path.

• At Northshire Abbey, Kael'thas praised Mar'gok's talent and asked what he had traded to Dalaran for the Gatanon Scroll blueprint.
• Mar'gok explained that he planned to build Highmaul as a floating city and reshape Ogre inheritance, while keeping his method for increasing the clan’s numbers secret.
• Before Mar'gok crossed the Dark Portal, Kael'thas sensed powerful relics in his crates, and Mar'gok said he was delivering them for someone else.
• After arriving in Draenor, Mar'gok signed an Apexis Crystal supply contract with the Steamwheedle Prince and brought the crates to Diakum the Saint.
• Diakum identified the crates’ contents as Khaz'goroth's Hammer, the Tear of Elune, the Shield of Aggramar, and the Tidal Stone, then ordered the relics sent beneath Tayara.
• Mar'gok told Diakum he planned to spend three thousand years reforming the Ogre kingdom and had obtained a lich transformation ritual, while Diakum hinted that the Shadowlands might soon change.

Sargerei redirected the Burning Legion fleet from Azeroth to Draenor, where he planned to kill Diakum before he could ascend. He secretly sought the Void Lords’ cooperation, arguing that Diakum’s growing swarm threatened them as well.

• Sargerei learned that the demons under his command hoped Diakum would ascend and leave the material world, and he warned them that the Ashbringers would multiply instead.
• Sargerei rejected the fleet’s invasion plan for Azeroth and ordered it to attack Draenor, where Diakum and the Light Weaver Warband were stationed.
• Sargerei explained that Azeroth was prepared for invasion and that killing Diakum could also curb the Shadow Chasing Swarm’s expansion.
• Malchezaar suggested using the Fallen Titan aboard the fleet to defeat Diakum, but Sargerei rebuked him and dismissed the Man’ari Greater Demons.
• Sargerei secretly contacted the Void Lords and urged them to cooperate against Diakum, warning that the growing swarm would consume them if they refused.

Sarkir questioned Gul'dan about Xavius’s attempt to join the Legion and warned them that Diakum might already suspect their plans. Xavius then reported that Azeroth’s Pillars of Creation may have been transferred, leaving Sarkir with a warning to prepare carefully for the campaign on Draenor.

• Sarkir received Gul'dan’s report that Xavius had abandoned Helya and offered the Legion the Naga’s support in exchange for shelter.
• Gul'dan admitted that Xavius had offered knowledge of sunken wrecks and drowned Blue Dragons to help strengthen the Scourge.
• Sarkir warned Gul'dan that Diakum might have anticipated his plans and told him to assist Kil'jaeden before retiring from the material world.
• Sarkir summoned Xavius, promised him protection if he served the Legion, and threatened him with Torghast or Argus’s Demon Forge if he failed.
• Xavius warned Sarkir that the Tear of Elune was gone and that the other Pillars of Creation might also have been transferred, urging caution in the Draenor campaign.

Pasonia Shaw discovered that Sargerei’s demon fleet was likely bound for Draenor, warned Emperor Lothar, and traveled to Shattered Hand Abyss to confront Kargath Bladefist. She urged Kargath to take his wandering planet into the coming demon war before she killed him.

• Sargerei let Consortium cargo ships pass so they could spread misleading news that his fleet was heading for Azeroth.
• Pasonia Shaw inferred that the fleet was likely targeting Diakum the Saint and sent a warning to Emperor Lothar through the Azeroth intelligence network.
• Matthias Shaw questioned the costly communications invoice presented by goblin agent Razor Regik.
• Pasonia Shaw traveled to Shattered Hand Abyss, where Kargath Bladefist ran a wandering planet and arena for demon fighters.
• Pasonia Shaw confronted Kargath and told him the demon fleet was likely heading for Draenor, offering him a choice between dying immediately or joining another demon war.

Lightforged fleet commander S'fraelx entered the High Heavens during prayer and climbed its Faith Stairway, where the trial exposed her doubts about the Army of the Light's doctrine. She returned to her flagship shaken, while Xe'ra realized Diakum's trial had severed her influence over S'fraelx.

• S'fraelx reviewed her fleet's readiness before praying to Xe'ra aboard her flagship.
• S'fraelx arrived at the High Heavens and learned from Hogger that the Faith Stairway tested those who climbed it.
• S'fraelx climbed to the ninety-ninth stair, where the Archangel of Courage appeared and instructed her to reflect on her faith.
• S'fraelx reached the one hundred and thirtieth stair before the trial's doubts overwhelmed her and her spiritual form fell back to the flagship.
• S'fraelx withdrew from Xe'ra's radiance and ordered that she not be disturbed until the fleet reached Draenor.
• Xe'ra sensed that her mental protection over S'fraelx had been dispelled and wondered how the Army of the Light could fight demons without its current devotion.

As the Eredar Restoration Army prepared to call their scattered clans to reclaim Argus, Diakum learned that Xe'ra was arriving on Draenor and rejected a plot to have her killed. Vilara warned that the Eternal Ones might target Xe'ra, so Diakum resolved to save her and expose the conspiracy; aboard the Light fleet, Lothraxion inspected Xe'ra's landing craft under the pretense of ensuring its safety.

• The seven Eredar clans arrived on Draenor with a powerful fleet, and Diakum learned that their generations in exile had weakened their ties to Argus.
• Diakum urged Velen and Vilara to begin calling the scattered clans to join the Restoration Army, but they said they must first prepare for the coming wars and wait for Hutton to return with the Titan Soul.
• Yula reported that Xe'ra and Sfurax's fleet had entered the Draenor system and relayed Yuna's suggestion to shoot down Xe'ra's ship; Diakum refused and planned a private meeting with Xe'ra.
• Vilara warned Diakum that the Eternal Ones might use an infiltrator to kill Xe'ra and frame the Restoration Army, then urged him to save her and expose the plot.
• Lothraxion visited Xe'ra's landing craft aboard the Light fleet, claiming he needed to inspect it before she traveled to Draenor.