Chapter Summaries

Diakum and Zovaal clashed over their opposing visions of how to bring peace and perfection to the cosmos. Diakum survived Zovaal’s killing blow through Light-Shadow Twinborn rebirth and gained the upper hand, leaving the Jailer caught in his attack.

• Diakum merged the Sunstrider Warhammer and Twilight Hammer with his light-and-shadow powers, then challenged Zovaal’s belief that he could create a perfect order by removing freedom.
• Zovaal revealed that he planned to erase his own emotions and selfhood after reshaping reality, becoming an impartial Arbiter who would bear everyone else’s flaws.
• Diakum and Zovaal began their duel, and Zovaal unleashed the Chains of Domination while Diakum countered with Eclipse.
• Zovaal bound Diakum with a hidden chain and cut off his head with Zovastam, but Diakum’s spirit body dispersed and then rebirthed with light and shadow swapped.
• Diakum struck Zovaal with a barrage of attacks and drew him into a storm of light and darkness, declaring that Zovaal had lost.

Diakum defeated Zovaal and revealed that Azeroth’s resistance had doomed the Jailer’s attempt to remake reality. He judged Zovaal to live countless mortal lives until he understood the order he sought, then rejected Zovaal’s prediction that he too was destined to become a martyr.

• Diakum outmatched Zovaal in hand-to-hand combat and knocked him onto the Creator’s Holy Platform, where Zovaal activated the Grand Blueprint.
• Zovaal tried to use the cosmic Energy Well to reshape reality, but Azeroth’s furious power struck him and withdrew, extinguishing the Blueprint’s energy.
• Diakum broke through Zovaal’s Chains of Domination, severed his arm, and explained that the First Ones had left the future’s choice to living beings and Azeroth.
• Zovaal accepted that his plan had failed and asked Diakum to kill him, but Diakum used the Arbiter Heart-Core’s Judgment power to sentence him to countless mortal lives.
• Diakum cast Zovaal’s soul into the star-sea to begin his mortal journey, and Zovaal warned that Diakum was also preparing to sacrifice himself.
• Diakum denied that martyrdom was his path, saying that people were still waiting for him.

Diakum uncovered how the First Ones had seeded the cosmos with worlds that might eventually birth world-souls, then joined Azeroth in destroying the Grand Design’s reality-reshaping power. He left the collapsing Sepulcher, convinced that the remaining Zereth sites still had to be destroyed.

• Diakum claimed the Jailer’s weapons and Chains of Domination as spoils, then sensed Zereth Mortis beginning to collapse.
• Diakum realized the Grand Design’s Energy Wells connected worlds created as potential incubators for world-souls and concluded the First Ones had shifted from rigid control to a more dynamic system.
• Azeroth told Diakum that Argus and K’aresh were also connected to the Grand Design, while Diakum warned that the remaining Zereth sites had to be destroyed.
• Diakum asked Azeroth to reactivate the Grand Design, then rejected its tempting power and let the world-souls’ resistance destabilize it.
• Diakum recited scripture and left the collapsing temple, heading into the Sepulcher as yellow sands swept across the sky.

Medivh and the Nether-Stalker watched Zereth Mortis collapse while Azshara secretly arranged for Pokopok to smuggle the Creation Platform into the cosmos. As the group escaped, Azshara was summoned back to her own time, and Diakum urged her to reclaim her empire and open the door for an army of the dead.

• Medivh admitted he would have used the First Ones' Grand Design to kill Sargeras and master its power, while the Nether-Stalker confessed he would have wished to regain his former curiosity.
• Azshara created a magical cap for Pokopok, appointed it guardian of the Creation Platform, and concealed it inside the machine so it could be found in the future.
• Azshara left the spire with Medivh and the Nether-Stalker as Zereth Mortis collapsed, but suddenly weakened and collapsed before they escaped through the gate.
• Medivh determined that Azshara was being summoned rather than suffering a soul collapse, and the Primus realized Frostmourne's power of Domination was pulling her spirit away.
• Diakum told Azshara to act cautiously after returning, reclaim her empire, and open the door for the army of the dead waiting to return to the sea of stars.

Kil'jaeden's invasion of Azeroth and Draenor suffered escalating losses as three distinct Swarms, a Night Warrior, and other defenders revealed new powers. In Suramar, the Magic Plague and Elisande's purge sparked a political revolt, with Etraeus calling for council rule and Queen Azshara's awakening.

• The Saviors Swarm evolved and counterattacked across Azeroth, while Kil'jaeden learned that the Swarm was incubating an Insect Saint: Leviathan in Kul Tiras.
• Kil'jaeden discovered a third Swarm on Draenor, blessed by the White Lady, and ordered his fleet to launch a final offensive using Garothi Worldbreakers.
• A Black Corrosion World-Ender transformed the Shadow Realm Swarm into a mad dragon swarm and destroyed three Garothi Worldbreaker formations, while Archbishop Nali's Night Warrior power devastated the formations on Draenor.
• Kil'jaeden recognized that the other cosmic forces were entering the war and ordered a fel ritual, a report to the Dark Titan, and a full conscription of the Twisting Nether.
• Elisande ordered the slaughter of supposed Troll spies in Suramar, but Oru'ruel and Lord Etraeus insisted they were plague-stricken elves and demanded that the city accept outside help.
• Etraeus declared temporary council rule, urged Suramar to seek aid from the other elven branches, and called for Queen Azshara to be awakened.

As Elisande lost Suramar’s support, a shadowy visitor persuaded her to see Queen Azshara as the true threat and consider using the undead to kill her. After Etraeus told Elisande that Azshara would soon return changed, Elisande remained doubtful and prepared to defend herself.

• The Mooncounty Family defected after its sisters contracted the Magic Plague, and commoners gathered at Nightwell Fortress to beg Queen Azshara for help.
• Vashj sent the Queen’s Guard into the market district to shield the infected Nightborne, while Etraeus declared his loyalty to Azshara and Elisande lost her authority.
• A shadowy figure calmed Elisande and urged her to identify Azshara as her real enemy and use the undead to assassinate the sleeping Queen.
• Elisande hesitated over betraying Azshara, but the shadow argued that she could regain control by helping the undead enter the city and then appearing to save it.
• Etraeus found Elisande speaking alone and told her that Azshara’s spirit was in the Shadowlands and that the Watchers could bring her back at midnight; Elisande responded with a pale smile.

Toserin led the Scourge into Suramar after the Nightwell shield fell, while Vashj discovered Elisande’s plan to infect the sleeping Azshara with the Magic Plague. As Toserin attacked Nightwell Fortress, Sylvanas and Liadrin defended the fleeing civilians, and Toserin struck Sylvanas down and threw her into the sea.

• Toserin led the Scourge through Suramar after its shield collapsed, intent on reaching Nightwell Fortress and delivering Frostmourne to Azshara.
• Vashj sent Varo'then to defend the market district while Sylvanas stayed to help protect the fortress and its bridge.
• Vashj found the Queen's Guards defeated and learned that Elisande had tried to infect Azshara with the Magic Plague to turn her into a Troll.
• Toserin broke through the defenders at the bridge while Sylvanas and Liadrin fought to protect the civilians fleeing toward the fortress.
• Toserin stabbed Sylvanas with Frostmourne and cast her into the sea after she spat at him.

Sylvanas survived Frostmourne’s fatal wound when her Rebirth Medallion burned away death’s influence, but she sensed the sword racing toward Azshara and urged Liadrin to stop it. Toserin broke through the defenders and stood over the sleeping queen, raising Frostmourne as he called it her coronation.

• Sylvanas’s Rebirth Medallion revived her and drove away Frostmourne’s deathly power, though the sword had taken part of her soul.
• Sylvanas warned Liadrin that Toserin was nearing Azshara and insisted they go after him; Liadrin revealed she had borrowed a relic that could summon her patron.
• Zul and the Golden Guards confronted Toserin while Princess Talanji moved Azshara from the Nightwell, but a demon’s attack let Toserin press onward.
• Liadrin summoned Diakum’s radiant incarnation with the severed-hand relic, and it clashed with Frostmourne’s sword spirit.
• Toserin broke through the defenders, froze Princess Talanji, and raised Frostmourne over the sleeping Azshara, calling it her coronation.

Azshara awakened after Frostmourne pierced her heart, reclaimed control of the Nightwell, and sent Remornia to destroy the invaders threatening Suramar. As her people began to rally, Vashj brought Elisande to the Queen and was summoned to her side.

• Gul'dan used Toserin to deliver Frostmourne to Azshara, but Bwonsamdi held the blade back while Talanji struck Azshara awake.
• Azshara healed her wound, removed Frostmourne's Domination power, and Remornia severed the Lich King's control of the sword.
• Azshara ordered Remornia to slaughter the enemies in Suramar, and the blade tore through the undead and demons as the elves counterattacked.
• Azshara restored the Nightwell barrier, trapping the invaders inside the city and blocking more from entering.
• Vashj brought the defeated Elisande to Azshara, who called her beloved maidservant to come closer.

Azshara reunited with Vashj and judged Elisande and Toserin for Suramar’s decline, promising to cure the Nightborne’s Magic Addiction and plague. Zul and Talanji then urged her to abandon rebuilding the elven empire and rule the Zandalar Empire, claiming trolls were destined to evolve into elves.

• Azshara accepted Vashj’s transformed combat form and thanked her for protecting her over ten thousand years.
• Azshara restored the Vigilant incarnation’s connection to Diakum, who urged it to go to Northrend and open the Veil of Life and Death with the Helm of Domination.
• Azshara restrained Elisande and Toserin and condemned them for failing to protect Suramar and its people.
• Elisande and Toserin accused Azshara of causing the empire’s ruin, while Toserin warned that the Magic Plague was rapidly changing the Nightborne.
• Azshara promised to cure the Magic Plague and Magic Addiction and make Elisande and Toserin help atone to their subjects.
• Zul argued that the Magic Plague could redeem the elves, and Talanji urged Azshara to rule the Zandalar Empire as Zul claimed trolls were fated to evolve into elves.

Azshara faced pressure to abandon her dream of restoring the Elven Empire and rule the trolls, but Diakum urged her to seek an answer among her people. In Suramar, she found a Nightborne child transformed into a troll by the Magic Plague and comforted her by rejecting the idea that elves were noble and trolls savage.

• Tyrande warned Azshara that the Kaldorei and Sin'dorei would resist any attempt to rebuild the empire, while Bwonsamdi and Talanji urged her to unite the troll and Naga empires.
• Azshara lost her temper and dismissed everyone except Diakum after effortlessly forcing the Nightwell's magical surge back into the well.
• Tyrande and Diakum told Azshara to accept that her empire was gone, and Diakum advised her to visit her loyal Nightborne subjects.
• Azshara teleported to Suramar and rescued a Nightborne girl who had tried to drown herself after the Magic Plague transformed her into a troll.
• Azshara comforted the girl, explained that she had once had fangs too, and told her that elves were not noble and trolls were not savage by nature.

Azshara discovered that the Magic Plague spores had cured the Nightborne’s mana addiction by irreversibly turning them into trolls, and she chose to accept them as her people. She joined the battle for Suramar with troll allies, while Vashj urged Varo'then to love Azshara for her soul and protect her.

• Azshara confirmed that the spores had permanently transformed the little girl into a troll and cured her mana addiction, then gave her rabbit meat to eat.
• The girl defended Queen Azshara and revealed that the transformed Nightborne were hiding in the city sewers, so Azshara promised they could stay in their home.
• Azshara transformed herself into a troll and told the girl that trolls with noble souls were elves, then set out to bring the hidden Nightborne to the battlefield.
• Azshara arrived with Remornia, the transformed Nightborne, and troll forces from Zandalar, turning the tide against the demons and undead attacking Suramar.
• Azshara’s transformed subjects revealed themselves and joined the fight, while Vashj gave Varo'then Devolution Spores and urged him to protect Azshara and be more confident in his love for her.

Azshara ended the defense of Suramar, declared the city part of the Zandalar Empire, and began uniting elves and trolls under her rule. Meanwhile, the Shadewalkers prepared for Dymus’s return as Kil'jaeden faced the Dark Titan’s refusal to join the final assault on Azeroth.

• Azshara helped end the invasion of Suramar by casting a Garothi Worldbreaker into a black hole, then proclaimed Suramar a frontier of the Zandalar Empire and demanded that the Kaldorei and Sin'dorei return occupied lands.
• Varo'then chose to remain an elf and serve at Azshara's side, while the queen promised Suramar’s people she would not force them to change their forms.
• Princess Talanji announced the trolls’ return, and Lady Vashj prepared to lead Azshara’s forces against the Naga and bring them under the queen’s command.
• Saloras, Oreses, and the Shadewalkers continued the ritual to summon the Devourer of Worlds, while warning that Dymus was in terrible condition and that void forces might attack.
• Oreses warned that Kil'jaeden would launch a final counterattack as Eclipse accelerated, and Saloras insisted that the dawn could no longer be extinguished.
• Kil'jaeden demanded that the Dark Titan join the assault on Azeroth, but the Dark Titan refused, citing a threat called Fel Zereth and promising Kil'jaeden power if he destroyed the Holy Land of Creation.

As Azeroth’s defenders struggled against Kil'jaeden’s overwhelming invasion, the Saviors prepared to make their final stand near the Star Soul Temple. Meanwhile, Azshara confronted Gul'dan at the Frozen Throne and learned that Sarkir’s promised escape was a trap.

• Kil'jaeden unleashed a massive assault across Azeroth, devastating cities and strongholds, killing defenders, and forcing the Swarm and other survivors to retreat or make desperate sacrifices.
• After eight hours of invasion, Kil'jaeden entered the battlefield in Tanaris and drove his forces toward the Star Soul Temple, where the Supreme Star Soul empowered the defenders.
• Kael'thas demanded to know when Diakum and the Army of the Light would arrive, while Velen said the fleet would reach Azeroth within two hours.
• A meteorite struck near Silithus, and Drek'Thar revealed that Kargath and his gladiators had shattered Shattered Hand Abyss to rain its fragments on the demons.
• Durotan rallied the Saviors to fight, while Lady Blue Moon told Lothar that Azshara had gone to welcome Diakum.
• Azshara confronted Gul'dan at the Frozen Throne, and Sarkir told him to surrender the Helm of Domination before listing the torturous fates awaiting him.

Azshara shattered the Helm of Domination, freeing the Scourge and breaking the Veil between life and death so the dead could enter Azeroth and join the war against the Burning Legion. As undead reinforcements descended across the battlefields, Blackhand began tormenting Gul'dan, while the Argus forces prepared for Dymus to arrive and confront Sargeras's power.

• Azshara removed the Helm of Domination from Gul'dan and tore it apart, freeing the undead from its control.
• Toserin pledged loyalty to Azshara, and undead armies across Azeroth turned on the demons they had been serving.
• The Helm's destruction shattered the Veil of Life and Death, revealing the Shadowlands and bringing its armies into the material world.
• Lothar, Kael'thas, and Varian rallied their forces as undead reinforcements descended on Azeroth's battlefields.
• Blackhand arrived beside Azshara and began breaking Gul'dan's ice, vowing to torment his soul with 999 fragments.
• Oreses learned that Dymus was nearing Azeroth and urged the Argus forces to prepare for the coming clash with Sargeras's power.

The Primus sent the Shadowlands’ armies raining down across Azeroth, turning desperate battles against the Burning Legion into counterattacks. In Silithus, Azshara ordered Diakum to retrieve his divine body while she challenged Kil'jaeden and called for Sargeras to appear.

• Mawsworn and Maldraxxus warriors fell across Azeroth, raising the dead and helping Marshal Windsor’s survivors drive demons from Stormwind.
• A necromantic knight revealed himself to Windsor as an old comrade called Colonel and led the living and dead in a counterattack.
• The Primus deployed more forces to Silithus, where they joined the battle among the Saviors, Greater Demons, and Lesser Gods.
• Azshara told Diakum that Sargeras could empower Kil'jaeden and sent him beyond the planet to retrieve his Solar Divine Body.
• Azshara ambushed Kil'jaeden, fought beside the two Night Warriors, and demanded that he bring Sargeras forth.
• Kil'jaeden called for Sargeras’s Divine Descent as the demon offensive faltered.

Diakum returned to the starfield as the dying Dymus disrupted the demon fleet, then reclaimed his divine body and destroyed the Devourer of Worlds. He used his power to crush the demons and bring S'fraelx's fleet to the Army of the Light's besieged main fleet, leaving the combined forces ready to counterattack.

• S'fraelx's exhausted fleet struggled against Kil'jaeden's vastly larger demon armada while the Army of the Light's main fleet approached a suspected ambush.
• Dymus emerged behind the demon fleet and devoured many ships, but S'fraelx recognized that the Eclipse had assimilated it and that the creature was dying.
• Diakum returned to Dymus's black-hole stomach, reunited with his divine body, and caused the Devourer of Worlds to collapse and consume itself.
• Diakum claimed Dymus's Devouring power and Xe'ra's Light's Heart, then unleashed a Radiant Sun strike that devastated the demon fleet.
• Diakum opened a phase-collapse tunnel and transported S'fraelx's fleet to the edge of the starfield, where they joined the Army of the Light's main fleet and Eonar.

Diakum returned to Azeroth as the Holy Light joined the battle against Sargeras, who completed his descent through Kil'jaeden and overwhelmed Azshara. Diakum confronted Sargeras and declared that their final duel would take place on Argus.

• Diakum felt the material star sea reject him as he returned to Azeroth, and the Supreme Star Soul helped him overcome its force.
• High Heaven's Gate opened above Silithus, and Kyrestia led the angels into battle as the Holy Light declared war.
• Azshara battered Kil'jaeden with cosmic power, but Tyrande's attack triggered Sargeras's final takeover of the demon and left Tyrande near death.
• Sargeras fully possessed Kil'jaeden and defeated Azshara's assault, while the Supreme Star Soul shielded her and the other Children of the World.
• Diakum arrived with Ashbringer and Twilight Hammer, named Argus as the site of their final duel, and challenged Sargeras.

Diakum confronted Sargeras’s incarnation to keep it from reaching Azeroth’s Supreme Star Soul, and the two fought in a battle that devastated the world around them. After trading devastating blows, Diakum used Eclipse to recover uninjured and challenged Sargeras to continue, hoping to learn Starshatter Slash.

• Diakum met Sargeras’s incarnation in combat, and their clashing powers ravaged Silithus and unleashed deadly celestial upheavals across Azeroth.
• Diakum blocked Sargeras’s first strike and counterattacked with his weapons and passive Holy Light techniques, while Sargeras’s destructive sword blows repeatedly damaged Ashbringer.
• Sargeras acknowledged Diakum as a worthy opponent and abandoned his attempt to reach the Supreme Star Soul, choosing instead to test Diakum’s limits.
• Diakum and Sargeras struck each other with their strongest attacks, leaving Diakum cut in two and Sargeras’s incarnation gravely damaged.
• Eclipse extinguished the battlefield’s light and restored Diakum unharmed, and he challenged Sargeras to repeat Starshatter Slash so he could learn it.

Stonewright, Nali, and the other Night Warriors shared Tyrande’s Wrath of Elune and confronted Elune about the deadly flaws in the Night Warrior inheritance. Elune apologized and asked them to help reform the path and join Diakum’s final rescue of An’she as the battle reached its climax.

• Malfurion saw Tyrande being consumed by Wrath of Elune and rushed toward her, but Nali warned him away and began sharing the burden with her.
• Stonewright and the Care for the Night Warrior Association arrived, joined Nali in stabilizing Tyrande, and criticized Elune for letting the Night Warrior inheritance cause so many deaths.
• Elune explained the fates of Stonewright and Kalek, promised to improve the inheritance, and asked the former Night Warriors to guide new followers.
• Nali urged Elune to apologize, and Elune appeared before the Night Warriors, bowed, and asked them to help perfect the inheritance.
• Stonewright accepted Elune’s apology and called on her to prevent further tragedies; Elune invited them to help Diakum rescue An’she as the divine battle neared its decision.