Chapter Summaries

Diakum prepared the Shadowlands covenants to enter the material worlds when the Veil of Life and Death collapsed, intending to use the Mawsworn against the Burning Legion. After assigning Medivh an Eternal Sigil and granting Blackhand permission to pursue Gul'dan, Diakum welcomed Azshara into the Argus Restoration Army.

• Diakum told Medivh to summon the covenants and prepare their forces to enter the material world when the Veil of Life and Death collapsed.
• Medivh suggested using an Eternal Sigil to free death from destiny, and Diakum let him decide how to use the Primus's sigil.
• Blackhand arrived seeking permission to lead Maldraxxus against demons and execute Gul'dan, and Diakum granted both requests.
• Azshara asked Diakum about Zereth Ordus and the ghost hidden in the Pantheon of Order.
• Diakum revealed that Sargeras had captured the ghost and invited Azshara to join the Argus Restoration Army.

Hogger delivered the Saviors’ report of the Burning Legion’s attacks to Diakum, who advised them to delay Tyrande’s power release and promised reinforcements. Diakum then learned that K’aresh had awakened as a Star Soul inside Draenor, and sent Velen onward to Azeroth while he prepared for his own return.

• Hogger told Diakum that the corrupted Titan Gogonas and the Legion’s forces were devastating Azeroth, while the Saviors hesitated to unleash Tyrande’s power.
• Diakum told Hogger that Azeroth’s World Soul was helping its people adapt, promised reinforcements, and advised the Saviors to delay Tyrande’s unsealing.
• Hogger relayed Diakum’s message to Little Star, then organized help against a new storm threatening the Azure Span.
• Diakum told Velen that the Legion was probing Azeroth’s defenses and urged him to hurry; Velen explained that Draenor’s teleportation had been delayed because K’aresh had awakened as a weakened Star Soul within the planet.
• Diakum ordered Velen to keep K’aresh’s existence from the Ethereals, bring Draenor’s forces to Azeroth, and have the Twins use the Void Song Staff to summon Dymus for Diakum’s return.

Garrosh and the people of Draenor arrived in Azeroth to aid the war against the Burning Legion. The Argus Lord and Draenor’s forces joined the battle against Fallen Titan Gogonas, while Kil’jaeden launched the Legion’s elite warbands and Xal’atath appeared in Silithus.

• Garrosh rallied the Mag’har for Draenor’s transfer to Azeroth, and Durotan stopped him from revealing the planet’s secret Star Soul.
• Nali and the Twins prepared to reach Azeroth and carry out the Great Prophet’s orders as Draenor passed through a phase rift and settled into orbit around Azeroth.
• Vilara spotted Gogonas attacking the Star Soul Temple, and the Argus Lord crossed the stars to join the battle in Silithus.
• Kil’jaeden ordered 1,773 elite demon warbands into battle and dismissed concerns about sacrificing Gogonas, while refusing to summon the Dark Titan yet.
• The Argus Lord struck Gogonas and called on Tyrande to fall back as Draenor’s Orcs, Ogres, arakkoa, and other forces poured through Dream Gates to attack the demons.
• Yrel and the Argus Lord staggered Gogonas, while Xal’atath arrived as a Lightforged Entropy Demon and insulted the astonished Tyrande.

Kil'jaeden launched the Burning Legion's elite assault on Azeroth as the Restoration Army prepared to defend the world, while Diakum learned that Eonar was being escorted toward Azeroth and that Sargeras had noticed the fleet. The chapter ended with Diakum accepting that he might have to face Sargeras when Eonar arrived.

• Velen warned the Saviors that Kil'jaeden's elite demon fleets were approaching, and Aegwynn sent them back to their defense zones before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Aegwynn asked Velen to summon Veilara and questioned whether he was ready to face Kil'jaeden; Velen affirmed his resolve to defeat the Conqueror before challenging Sargeras.
• Lothar's forces faced Kil'jaeden's disciplined Wrathguard army, whose fel cannons and mechs devastated the defenders as the demons advanced.
• A Kyrian messenger told Diakum that Azeroth's rising casualties were straining the Shadowlands, and Diakum encouraged the Nether-Stalker to become The Merciless K'aresh's guardian.
• The Nether-Stalker decided to gather guardians and seek the First Ones Runes to protect K'aresh, while Diakum offered the Shadowed Heart as a future link to the world soul.
• Lady Elune told Diakum that a Light fleet carrying Eonar was heading for Azeroth and that Sargeras had noticed it; Diakum accepted that he might have to face the Dark Titan.

Diakum and the assembled Covenant forces prepared to enter The Maw, while the Shadowlands’ weakening barriers and changing alliances hinted at wider upheaval. Meanwhile, Gul'dan ordered Toserin to poison Suramar’s water to force the city’s surrender and turn Azshara into an undead ally.

• Diakum explained that Torghast had not grown toward Oribos; fate’s collapse had merely revealed the tower within the Interstice.
• Willow Wisp told Diakum that Lady Xe'ra had welcomed the fairies in High Heaven, and Lord Herne described plans for the Covenants to engage more actively with the material world.
• Diakum argued that the Shadowlands should punish the Scourge for profaning death, prompting Blackhand to demand that they attack Gul'dan.
• The Wild Hunt arrived with part of Marasmius’s body, and Diakum prepared to lead the group into The Maw as Azshara questioned the Winter Queen’s plans.
• Gul'dan warned Toserin that the Shadowlands had cut off contact and ordered him to use plague in Suramar’s water to bring down the city and turn Azshara.

Diakum met with the Jailer in the Maw and proposed sending sinners who defiled the Holy Light there for punishment. Meanwhile, Old Gani investigated a strange plague in Suramar and discovered that the Nightborne were transforming into Troll-like undead.

• Diakum told Azshara he wanted the Maw to punish those who committed evil in the name of the Holy Light, and the Jailer agreed to discuss the proposal.
• Azshara asked to see the Runecarver while Medivh questioned her about reaching Zereth Ordus, and she offered him information and a role as her assistant.
• Bwonsamdi told Diakum that Zandalar was under attack and that something was happening in Suramar, so Diakum ordered him to keep watch.
• Bwonsamdi sent Old Gani to investigate Suramar, where Old Gani detected a dangerous plague and searched the city with Phantom Raptors.
• Old Gani found a weeping Nightborne child and realized that the undead had spread Magic Plague, causing Nightborne to transform into Troll-like undead, so he urged Bwonsamdi to send Zul immediately.

Zul revealed his plan to make Azshara Empress of the Zandalar Empire by protecting Suramar’s Nightborne as they became trolls, and Bwonsamdi agreed to help. As the Golden Fleet sailed to Suramar, Odin confronted Helya in Stormheim, where she challenged him to enter the River of Souls and face The Maw.

• Bwonsamdi pressured Zul to lead the Golden Fleet through Helya’s blockade, but Zul explained that he had been waiting for events to unfold.
• Zul told Bwonsamdi that he intended to unite the trolls under Azshara by offering her Suramar’s transformed Nightborne and the Zandalar Empire.
• Bwonsamdi agreed to support Zul’s plan and warned that Zul would likely have to die to keep Azshara from holding a grudge against his clan.
• Zul accepted his likely fate and asked Bwonsamdi for a place in his underworld palace after his death.
• The Golden Fleet set sail for Suramar under Bwonsamdi’s death blessing as Odin led the Stormforged to confront Helya.
• Helya appeared before Odin, mocked his defeat, and challenged him to enter Gorgoa and go with her to The Maw.

Odin and Hela fought over the Broken Isles until Hela dragged them into the Maw, while Daelin led his fleet against the Kvaldir. In the Maw, Diakum persuaded Zovaal to strip Hela of her death-goddess privileges before the two prepared to negotiate over their Eternal Sigils.

• Odin and Hela clashed in the waters around the Broken Isles as their armies battled, while Daelin's ships carried Sylvanas and her forces toward shore on a mission to recover Azshara's body.
• Daelin gave Sylvanas a Rebirth Medallion from her mother, and the ships witnessed Odin and Hela being swept through a rift into the River of Souls.
• Jaina reported seeing Diakum beside Zovaal in the Maw, and Daelin turned his fleet toward the Kvaldir to aid the Stormforged.
• Diakum asked Zovaal to leave Odin and Hela to their conflict but end Hela's authority over death, and Zovaal agreed to strip her privileges.
• Diakum and Zovaal raised their Eternal Sigils and prepared to discuss their competing conditions and choices.

Diakum and Zovaal negotiated over their sigils and agreed on conditions concerning the Burning Legion, the First Ones, and the cycle of life and death. When the five sigils opened a gate to Zereth Mortis, hostile constructs attacked, and a colossal Cosmic Disassembler threatened the Shadowlands and every other realm.

• Zovaal returned the Judgment heart-core to Diakum and demanded that High Heaven avoid starting wars between the Holy Light and other Forces.
• Diakum agreed to Zovaal's demand to destroy the First Ones' sepulchers and erase their traces, while asking Zovaal to free the great cycle of life and death from destiny if he reshaped reality.
• Diakum reserved his final request for Medivh and joined the five Eternal Sigils, opening a gate to Zereth Mortis.
• Constructs poured through the gate, and Zovaal warned Diakum that Force power could not harm them; Diakum destroyed them with physical strikes.
• Cosmic Disassembler Hylendus entered The Maw, and Zovaal warned Diakum that it could dismantle the Shadowlands, the material starsea, and the other Force Realms.
• Diakum called for Queen Azshara to join him and Zovaal in fighting Hylendus.

Hylendus poured into The Maw and began reclaiming mountains and living creatures as Genesis Motes, forcing Zovaal, Diakum, and Azshara to confront it. Diakum and Zovaal weakened the construct while Azshara learned the seventh-tier First Ones Runes needed to shut it down, and she collapsed from exertion after succeeding.

• Progenitors poured from Zereth Mortis and attacked the Mawsworn, while Hylendus disassembled parts of the Mountains of Pain and a drake cavalry unit into Genesis Motes.
• Diakum ordered the pursuing forces back to the Sanctum of Domination, and Medivh raised a barrier to keep them away from Hylendus.
• Zovaal warned Azshara that Zereth Mortis could produce more constructs like Hylendus, then taught her the seventh-tier rune sequence needed to break its defenses.
• Diakum damaged Hylendus and grappled with it, but the construct struck him down and began draining his energy.
• Zovaal struck Hylendus with a seventh-tier rune sequence, and Diakum pinned it down again after the blow released stored Genesis Motes.
• Azshara entered Hylendus's reclamation port and triggered another seventh-tier rune sequence, shutting it down before Diakum carried her away to recover.

Diakum discussed Queen Azshara’s coma and the First Ones Runes with Medivh, then brought Phantom Phosphor to the Runecarver to forge powerful but fragile armor and a sword. Azshara and Medivh’s attempts to record the runes left them incapacitated, while Diakum prepared to seek materials and take the next step toward confronting his destined enemy.

• An astral mage explained that Azshara had fallen into a coma from the overwhelming knowledge of the First Ones Runes, and Medivh estimated she might awaken within a day.
• Medivh urged Diakum to study the runes as a route toward becoming a true god, and Diakum agreed to pursue them while warning future Lesser Gods to take responsibility for cosmic threats.
• Medivh found Azshara awake and muttering rune formulas, began recording them, and collapsed from the strain; the Nether-Stalker also studied the formulas and became paralyzed.
• Diakum brought Phantom Phosphor to the Runecarver, who explained that he could use it to reinforce suitable weapons and armor into immensely powerful but short-lived creations.
• Diakum freed the Runecarver’s hands but refused to restore his memories or release him, warning him to act honorably in the Shadowlands and promising to use the Runecarver’s weapon against him if he did not.

Diakum and the Jailer led their allies into Zereth Mortis to confront the First Ones’ design, while the Winter Queen and the Primus prepared to join them. The chapter left Odin struggling to keep Helya alive in the River of Souls as the Primus set out for the coming war.

• The Runecarver forged Diakum a fragile creation-artifact weapon and armor, which Diakum sent ahead rather than bringing to Zereth Mortis.
• Diakum and the Jailer opened the gate with the five Eternal Sigils and led their chosen allies into Zereth Mortis.
• Lady Moonberry and Willow Wisp helped Marasmius summon the Winter Queen into the Maw, where she healed Odin and continued to the Sanctum of Domination.
• Odin dragged the dying Helya through the River of Souls toward her nest while protecting her from the frenzied dead.
• The Winter Queen freed the Runecarver from the Jailer's seal, restoring his memories and the Primus's power.
• The Primus accepted his Warstaff and agreed to accompany the Winter Queen to Zereth Mortis.

Diakum and Zovaal attacked the Forge of the Afterlife in Zereth Mortis, where Diakum’s power synchronized with the device and let him make it vanish into an eclipse-like darkness. After explaining that he had sealed the Forge away rather than destroyed it, Diakum agreed with Zovaal to delay their approach to the Sepulcher of the First Ones and let the Eternal Ones resist first.

• Azshara, Medivh, and the Nether-Stalker resonated with the Legacy Chord in Zereth Mortis until Diakum and Medivh broke the effect and Azshara proposed splitting up to seek the cipher device.
• Zovaal led Diakum and the Mawsworn toward the Forge of the Afterlife while Diakum flew ahead to fight the progenitors and First Ones’ guardians.
• Diakum’s Holy Light gave way to shadow as Zovaal’s Chains of Domination pulled at the Forge, and Diakum’s eclipse-like Voidform severed the Attendants of the Gods’ control and made the Forge disappear.
• Diakum killed an Attendant of the Gods prophet who called him An’she and The Seventh, then told Zovaal he had sealed the Forge away to keep it from falling into another’s hands.
• Zovaal accepted Diakum’s explanation, and they agreed to pause before entering the Sepulcher of the First Ones so the Eternal Ones could first demonstrate their resolve to resist.

Medivh, the Nether-Stalker, and Empress Azshara struggled against Zereth Mortis’s All Things Chord while Azshara prepared a device to reveal the First Ones’ creation secrets. Their first two performances failed, leaving them one attempt to succeed.

• The Nether-Stalker warned Medivh that the Broker scholars were being assimilated by Zereth Mortis, and Medivh used a burst of noise to briefly awaken them.
• Medivh urged the Nether-Stalker to study its Truth Shroud formulas, then joined it in answering Azshara’s call to inspect her cipher interpretation device.
• Azshara assigned the three of them separate cipher syllables and explained that they needed three performances to make the fourth syllable resonate and reveal the truth of creation.
• The Nether-Stalker insisted on participating despite its limited resistance to mistakes, and the three began playing to the tune of “Highborne Elegy.”
• Medivh’s incorrect note ruined their first attempt, and the fourth syllable’s uncontrolled resonance disrupted their second performance.
• Azshara promised to match the fourth syllable’s rhythm herself and ordered Medivh and the Nether-Stalker to try once more.

Azshara, Medivh, and the Nether-Stalker completed the Chorus of All Things in Zereth Mortis and received knowledge from the First Ones. Guided by Pokopok, they found the Creation Platform, and after Diakum demonstrated it, Azshara and the others gathered to decide who would use it first.

• Azshara, Medivh, and the Nether-Stalker completed twelve cycles of the Chorus of All Things and received knowledge tailored to each of them.
• Diakum revealed that he had guided their performance and warned Azshara that the First Ones had recognized them and granted them the possibility of surpassing their limits.
• Azshara found Pokopok, a lively creation of the First Ones, and played music for it until it led the group to a hidden valley.
• Pokopok guided Azshara and the others to the Creation Platform, which Diakum explained could create objects from a user's clear intention and suitable materials.
• Diakum used the Creation Platform to make popsicles, then warned Azshara not to take anything from Zereth Mortis before departing.
• Azshara and the others gathered around the Creation Platform, and she asked who wanted to use it first.

Diakum and Medivh entered the Genesis Keystone as Zovaal went to help the Primus and Winter Queen fight the Eternal One prototypes. Medivh then encountered Chief Architect Lihuvim, while Lihuvim addressed Diakum as An'she and questioned what had become of his cosmic radiance.

• The Jailer sealed the Sepulcher entrance and entered alone, only to find Diakum had arrived ahead of him.
• Diakum told Zovaal that Queen Azshara had deciphered the Chorus of All Things and planned to collapse Zereth Mortis by disrupting its resonance.
• Medivh arrived with a resonance device and invoked the group's outstanding request, demanding that Zovaal help his siblings defeat the prototypes.
• Diakum challenged Zovaal to protect the Shadowlands after his own possible defeat, and Zovaal went to the Eternal Ones production workshop.
• Medivh told Diakum about the wishes made by himself, the Nether-Stalker, Azshara, and Ve'nari before they entered the Genesis Keystone.
• Chief Architect Lihuvim revealed a cosmic laboratory, questioned Medivh about his soul's radiance, and then greeted Diakum as An'she.

Diakum met Lihuvim, who explained An'she’s sacrifice and offered to help if Diakum supplied a research subject. Meanwhile, the Primus and Winter Queen reached the Eternal Ones’ forging workshops and prepared to face their new prototypes, determined to end the cycle of replacement.

• Lihuvim recognized Diakum as An'she’s inheritor and offered to perfect his soul, but Diakum refused and asked about An'she.
• Lihuvim explained that An'she had sacrificed himself to contain the Sea of Darkness and that Mu'sha had kept him trapped between Radiant Sun and Eclipse.
• Lihuvim offered to solve Diakum’s problems in exchange for research cooperation, then agreed to hear Diakum’s plan if he found another suitable test subject.
• Roh-Kalo and the Attendants of the Gods fell defending the Eternal Ones’ forging workshops, allowing the Primus and Winter Queen to reach them.
• The Primus and Winter Queen opened four workshops, and the Primus said the new prototypes would replace them as the pair prepared to fight and end the cycle.

Primus and the Winter Queen fought four Eternal Ones Prototypes in Zereth Mortis as Elune, the Jailer, Diakum, and Kyrestia joined the battle. The chapter ended as the three Eternal Ones charged the prototypes and Sarkir arrived to help.

• Primus and the Winter Queen fought the Conquest, Absolution, Rebirth, and Dutifulness Prototypes while Elune's moonlight protected the Winter Queen and helped Primus damage Absolution.
• Chief Architect Lihuvim discussed leaving Zereth Mortis with Diakum, while Medivh declined its offer of help and asked Diakum to recover the Conquest Prototype's remains for Sindane.
• Diakum opened Heaven's Gate and summoned Kyrestia to support the battle, while the Jailer bound the prototypes and joined Primus and the Winter Queen.
• Primus, the Winter Queen, and the Jailer charged the prototypes together as Kyrestia blessed the battlefield and Sarkir arrived with King's Sorrow.

Sarkir joined the Eternal Ones’ battle against the Absolution Prototype, then left to decipher the First Ones Cipher while Diakum prepared for his final duel. As Azshara’s plan to collapse Zereth Mortis advanced, she and Medivh debated the Seventh and whether she should seek to become the Eighth.

• Sarkir arrived with King's Sorrow, and Sire Denathrius used the sword to help the Eternal Ones fight the Absolution Prototype and Dutifulness Prototype.
• After the battle turned in the Eternal Ones’ favor, Diakum left them to their final moments, and Sarkir went to study the First Ones Cipher.
• Sarkir warned Diakum about the powerful being that had taken a small part of him, then cautioned him against controlling the future as a god.
• Diakum sensed that Azshara had begun disrupting the Chorus of All Things and headed to the Sepulcher’s highest point for his final duel.
• The Nether-Stalker reported that Azshara’s interference would collapse Zereth Mortis within an hour, while Azshara studied a creation poem about the Seventh.
• Medivh told Azshara that the Seventh would mark a new beginning, and Azshara wondered whether becoming the Eighth could open new paths to godhood.

The Eternal Ones destroyed their replacement Prototypes, but Zovaal rejected the Primus’s offer to return and continued toward his confrontation with Diakum. Medivh helped Sin'dane claim part of an Eternal One vessel for her path to godhood, while Zovaal arrived at the Creator's Grand Design Temple prepared to die for his ideal.

• The Winter Queen killed the newly born Prototype with help from Elune’s Black Moon of War, while the other Eternal Ones held off the remaining Prototypes.
• Zovaal left the manufacturing chamber despite the Primus urging him to stay, and Denathrius mocked the Eternal Ones who remained behind.
• Medivh brought Sin'dane into the chamber to claim part of an Eternal One vessel, advising her to choose the newly born vessel’s power so she could wield both life and death.
• Sin'dane decided to follow Medivh’s advice and take the newly born vessel’s power, aiming to become a mechanics-focused Lesser God.
• Zovaal entered the Creator's Grand Design Temple and told Diakum that he had come to face him, accepting that only one of them would survive.