Chapter Summaries

Diakum received the newly forged World Rings, which could help protect Draenor, and prepared to enter Gorgrond to seek a cure for the Magic Plague. He left Neri and the K'ure Alliance to defend Shattrath while warning that he would force Draenor's Heart of Life to answer if it refused to help.

• Anzu warned Diakum about the Lightforged veterans' fanaticism and reported plague infections among the Shadowmoon Orcs and Talon Guards, so Diakum restricted Arakkoa from approaching Shattrath and ordered raids on the Demon Blood Horde's supply lines.
• Neri reassured Diakum that the plague victims could still be saved, while Diakum feared he had only seven days to awaken Draenor's Heart of Life and prevent their irreversible transformation into Broken.
• Diakum explained that Grom had survived because Annihilator had made him one of the God Chosen, and that his wounded soul would keep him out of the war for now.
• Ner'zhul and the exhausted shamans completed the thirty-five World Rings, and Matron Geyah gave them to Diakum and asked him to protect Draenor.
• Diakum sent Neri, Maraad, Yrel, Nubodon, and Eredath to defend Shattrath, then set out for Gorgrond with Rexxar, Garona, and Maraad; he also gave Neri the Eye of the Storm to offer Garrosh.
• As he flew toward Gorgrond with the World Rings, Diakum resolved to persuade Draenor's Heart of Life to help or destroy it if it refused.

The Unresonated Power of Draenor rings granted Titan-derived powers that functioned only in Draenor, with core rings controlling and strengthening subordinate rings through resonance. Further enhancement required resonance with Draenor's Heart of Life, which risked a hostile reaction because of its enmity with Titan divine power.

• Draenor Elemental Lords, Arakkoa Sun Empire, and K'ure Alliance forged the rings using Draenor's world-creating power and Aggramar's divine power.
• Aggramar's power granted ring holders different enhancements through the Defender's, Healer's, Punisher's, Destroyer's, and Avenger's paths.
• The core ring possessed full bonuses and could conditionally seal or release subordinate rings' powers, while subordinate rings provided 66% of the original bonuses.
• Master-servant resonance strengthened core and subordinate rings when more than three subordinate rings gathered near a core ring.
• Resonance with Draenor's Heart of Life offered further enhancement but carried a high risk of provoking its hostility.

After the K'ure Alliance received promises of support from the Army of the Light and the Illidari, Great Chieftain Blackhand confronted Gul'dan over the warlock's schemes and took steps to curb his power. Blackhand then questioned the Black Wolf God, Lycantos, about its motives and learned that it intended to lead him beyond Draenor to its own world and its archenemy.

• Archbishop Neri received news that Mida of the Army of the Light would seek help for Draenor, while Arantien reported that the Fel Hammer and three Demon Hunter packs were on their way.
• At the T'uurem camp, Blackhand inspected the demon dragons Gul'dan had obtained and questioned him about using the Red Scourge against Orcs in Frostfire Ridge and Nagrand.
• Gul'dan revealed that Orgrim and Eitrigg had secretly freed Blackrock Orcs, that Griselda led the Orthodox Blackrock Clan, and that Blackhand's daughter was involved.
• Brox exposed Gul'dan's secret portal project, and Blackhand ordered Brox and Varok to take over Orgrim and Eitrigg's posts while placing the Stormreaver Clan under Zuluhed and directing Gul'dan to build the portal.
• Blackhand met with Lycantos, who said the portal led to its homeland and urged him to travel there; Blackhand declared that he would never accept enslavement, and Lycantos promised to stand with him.

Gul'dan lost control of the Shadow Council and Stormreaver Clan but continued building the Dark Portal while plotting to use the Horde in a new world. The Shaper recruited him, assigned him a trial involving Dick, and arranged for Tichondrius and a demon legion led by Kazzak to support the coming conflict.

• Zuluhed took charge of the Stormreaver Clan and urged Gul'dan to preserve their alliance as they discussed plans for the world beyond the Dark Portal.
• Gul'dan told Zuluhed that the portal led to Azeroth and that they could exploit either victory or defeat in the war to take the Horde through it.
• Zuluhed learned from Lord Lethon that Gul'dan had acted independently of the Legion and was urged to pursue a divine artifact in Azeroth for the Nightmare Tyrant.
• Gul'dan encountered Sarkir, the Shaper, who offered him a demon legion from The Conqueror and approved his work on the Dark Portal.
• Gul'dan pledged himself to Sarkir and accepted a trial to bring Dick into Azeroth when the portal opened.
• Sarkir ordered Tichondrius to protect Gul'dan, and Tichondrius proposed sending Doom Lord Kazzak to confront Diakum.

The plague-stricken Frostwolf Clan prepared for a final battle against Fenris, but a Gorian Empire expedition arrived with an offer to evacuate them to Nagrand. Durotan and Drek'Thar accepted the rescue, and learned that Sorcerer-King Mar'gok also wanted to meet Leoroxx.

• Durotan and Drek'Thar chose to fight Fenris rather than retreat into the barren Ice Valleys, and they rallied the Frostwolf Clan for battle.
• Durotan gave Dranosh Saurfang the coldsteel axe Glory of Frostfire Ridge, which he had meant as a gift for his son Go'el.
• Durotan rejected Fenris's offer of surrender and felblood, killed the leading envoy, and sent the last messenger back with the Frostwolf Clan's defiant answer.
• Durotan and Drek'Thar met Tomok, who announced that Sorcerer-King Mar'gok had sent the Gorian Empire fleet to evacuate the Frostwolf Clan to Nagrand in exchange for tribute.
• Tomok explained that Mar'gok intended to reclaim Ogre Magi Fortress and meet Leoroxx to discuss the Mok'Nathal Clan's return to the Gorian Empire.

Fenris led the Thunderlord Clan in an attack on Worgol, but Durotan’s alliance with Mar'gok’s ogres and Leoroxx’s Mok'Nathal forces trapped and defeated him. After Fenris was captured, Mar'gok offered Leoroxx a place for the Mok'Nathal in the Gorian Empire and proposed that they help reclaim Ogre Magi Fortress; Leoroxx agreed to return there as an ally.

• Fenris marched his wolf riders on Worgol, believing the plague had weakened the Frostwolf Clan enough for him to destroy it.
• Durotan’s warriors and Mar'gok’s ogre forces ambushed the Thunderlord riders, while Lelan and Dranosh fought alongside the defenders.
• Fenris tried to provoke Durotan into a Mak'gora, then ordered a retreat when Drek'Thar’s blizzard and the ogre attack turned the battle against him.
• Leoroxx and the Mok'Nathal intercepted Fenris outside Worgol, defeated him, and delivered him to Durotan for treatment and later judgment by the K'ure Alliance.
• Mar'gok offered to help the Mok'Nathal overcome their breeding lock and join the Gorian Empire, then granted Leoroxx a claim to Ogre Magi Fortress in exchange for joining its conquest.
• Leoroxx accepted Mar'gok’s invitation to return to Ogre Magi Fortress as an ally.

Orgrim Doomhammer was ordered to the Talador front, where Shadow Council assassins attacked him and Kargath rescued him. Meanwhile, Diakum’s party discovered threats in Gorgrond and split up to pursue Evergrowth Woods and an artifact sought by Orc warlocks.

• Orgrim gave Brox Saurfang a roster of untainted Blackrock Orcs to protect and warned him that the Shadow Council was undermining the Horde.
• Orgrim’s Laughing Skull escorts attacked him in Thunder Pass with a fel-poisoned dagger, but Kargath arrived and treated his wound.
• Diakum killed Shadow Council assassins and learned from their remains that Eitrigg had been their intended target, but chose to continue searching for Evergrowth Woods.
• Kalash Goldmane reported that local Tiger-Men had found a mysterious oasis and Orc warlocks digging for a legendary artifact, so Diakum sent him with Maraad and Garona to pursue it.
• Diakum urged Goldmane to unite the Tiger-Men and promised them a greater role in the K’ure Alliance, while Maraad asked whether Orcs could undergo Lightforging and Diakum warned against it.
• Garona told Diakum that Yrel was hiding something, and he said he trusted her to reveal it herself.

Diakum and Rexxar encountered the hostile guardian of Evergrowth Woods, while Eitrigg and Nazgrel joined Maraad and Garona’s fight over the Heart of the Magnaron. The artifact ended up with the Draenei, and Eitrigg and Nazgrel continued toward Talador as Nazgrel urged an end to Blackhand and Gul'dan’s corruption.

• Diakum healed Halasa and learned from Rexxar that the hostile grove concealed a place filled with violent Life Force.
• Diakum entered the grove with Rexxar and faced Eternal Tarlna, a demigod guardian that demanded a trial by combat.
• Eitrigg and Nazgrel discovered Maraad, Garona, and the Tiger-Men battling Shadow Council warlocks and gronn over the Heart of the Magnaron.
• Nazgrel fought alongside Maraad, while Eitrigg shot down the fleeing warlock who had thrown the artifact to Garona.
• Garona and Goldmane lured the gronn away with the artifact, and the Tiger-Men captured several young gronn as the battle ended.
• Nazgrel told Eitrigg that Maraad had saved his life, then urged him to stop tolerating Blackhand and Gul'dan’s actions.

Diakum and Rexxar entered the Evergrowth Woods to seek the Spriggans’ help against the Burning Legion and demand an end to the Red Scourge’s Plague Spores. After Rexxar chose to swallow a Spriggan seed and enter the sacred woods, Diakum confronted Lord Nalagor, who rejected his demand, leaving Diakum threatening him with the Twilight Hammer.

• Diakum defeated the Thornbeast Lord Nalta while Rexxar and Rukhran burned the parasitized creatures attacking them.
• Rexxar realized that Life Force had both wild and harmonious aspects, and Diakum explained that every primal force carried opposing principles.
• Diakum presented Nalta’s seed to the Spriggan elders and persuaded them to let him enter the Evergrowth Woods; Rexxar swallowed a seed after Anzu urged him to seek balance between life’s two paths.
• The Spriggans welcomed Diakum into the woods, where he reached the Pool of Life and met Lord Nalagor, the Evergreen Father.
• Diakum demanded that Lord Nalagor recall the Red Scourge’s Plague Spores, but Lord Nalagor refused, so Diakum raised the Twilight Hammer and warned him to choose between peace and destruction.

Diakum persuaded Nalagor to let him seek an audience with Draenor’s Heart of Life and urged the Spriggans to help fight the fel plague. The Heart of Life confronted him with its ancient hatred of the Titans, while Diakum sent Anzu to seek his wife in Ardenweald.

• Diakum threatened to unleash Void corruption unless the Spriggans helped contain the contaminated Red Scourge, and Nalagor agreed to purify it with Holy Light.
• Diakum presented the Titanforged rings and argued that the Heart of Life should decide whether they could help heal Draenor; Nalagor agreed to arrange an audience and consider cooperation with the K'ure Alliance.
• Nalagor praised the Draenei as friends of nature, then left Diakum to meet the Heart of Life and spoke with Withered Wood about fighting demons.
• The Argus Star Soul protected Diakum as he entered the Heart of Life’s domain, and it eased the pressure on the secretly following Old Anzu.
• The Heart of Life mourned how the Titans had interrupted its ascension, and Diakum explained its grievance to Anzu before telling him to seek his wife in Ardenweald.

Draka and Hutton encountered Spriggans preparing a possible cure for the Magic Plague, while Anzu found Rukhmar’s soulseed in Ardenweald and learned Sethe’s was nearby. Diakum persuaded Draenor’s Wild Heart to join the K’ure Alliance by embracing the world and pursuing vengeance against the Titans, and the Heart empowered him to fight for Argus’s freedom.

• Hutton admitted that corruption was turning him into a Broken, then drank the Spriggans’ experimental medicine for the infected.
• Anzu touched the Wild Heart and entered Ardenweald, where he called on Bwonsamdi for help locating Rukhmar’s soulseed.
• Bwonsamdi fled after noticing Argus, but he gave Anzu coordinates that led him to Rukhmar’s soulseed and Sethe’s nearby.
• Anzu returned determined to defend Draenor so Rukhmar could someday return, while Diakum warned him that Bwonsamdi would eventually collect his favor.
• Diakum urged the Wild Heart to merge with Draenor and become its World Will, and Argus promised the world vengeance against Aggramar.
• The Wild Heart accepted the K’ure Alliance, granted its children ancient fury, and empowered Diakum to fight demons, Titans, and anyone who threatened Argus’s freedom.

Diakum received Draenor’s blessing as the World Rings awakened, then prepared to defend the Heart of Life from the Burning Legion. He sent Garona and Maraad to escort the rings to Shattrath City, leaving them to face their trial as the demons gathered.

• Draenor’s Heart of Hatred empowered Diakum with immense strength, regenerative abilities, and new talents, while the World Rings resonated with the world’s wild power.
• Old Anzu warned that the Annihilator and demon forces were advancing on the Evergrowth Woods, and Diakum identified the threat as the Polluter’s attempt to seize Draenor’s life force.
• Nalagor accepted the Blood Drinker ring and summoned Gorgrond’s forests, Spriggans, Podlings, and sporefolk to defend the Evergrowth Woods; he also sent a ring to Rexxar.
• Diakum entrusted Garona and Maraad with artifact rings for Shattrath City, gave them rings of their own, and declared their recruit trials complete.
• As Corrupted Cenarius appeared above the forest, Diakum told Garona to deliver the rings while he stayed to fight the Polluter and defend Draenor’s Heart of Life.

The Burning Legion attacked Evergrowth Woods and pursued the World Artifacts as Diakum fought the weakened Annihilator. Rexxar and Garona escaped toward Shattrath with the rings, while Maraad was rescued after a desperate stand by Kalash Goldmane and the tigerfolk, who marched with summoned Gronn to join the siege.

• The Polluter tried to recruit Draenor’s Heart of Hatred, but Diakum rejected him, and the demon lord unleashed a Withering Curse and sent the Annihilator against the forest.
• Diakum fought Lycantos and discovered that the Annihilator had lost much of its strength, while Lycantos urged him to kill it and warned him not to squander the Argus Heart’s remaining power.
• Rexxar, Maraad, and Garona split up under attack: Maraad drew pursuit away while Rexxar and Garona fled through the awakened forest carrying the artifacts.
• Lord Lethon persuaded Zuluhed to stop pursuing the artifacts, while Maraad was shot down and fought alone against a vast force of demons.
• Maraad purified his crystal relic with his own Holy Light and used it to slaughter hundreds of demons before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Kalash Goldmane and the tigerfolk found Maraad and brought summoned Gronn to join the march toward Shattrath City.

Garrosh led the Mag'har in reclaiming the Warsong ancestral lands, then entered the ruined fortress alone to destroy the demons summoned by the remaining warlocks. Facing Lord Hakkar, he found the principle that would guide his life and launched his coming-of-age attack.

• Garrosh ordered the execution of Felblood Orcs who tried to surrender, while Griselda and the Mag'har forces fought through the fortress.
• Garrosh, Gaiara, and Griselda discovered that the warlocks had sacrificed Orc civilians to summon demons, and Griselda led Gaiara away so Garrosh could face the battle alone.
• Empowered by the Heart of Fury, Garrosh fought through the demons and warlocks in the fortress ruins despite his grief and injuries.
• Lord Hakkar emerged from the collapsing portal and boasted that Garrosh should submit to the Legion.
• Garrosh vowed to fight demonic corruption in Orc civilization, then leaped at Lord Hakkar with his battle-axe and shouted, "Lok-tar ogar!!!"

Ner'zhul, Drek'Thar, and the Mag'har fought as demons invaded Draenor and its plants awakened to defend the world. As Kazzak attacked Shattrath City, Velen and Mar'gok rallied the Alliance forces to hold the city until the World Artifact arrived.

• Ner'zhul told Drek'Thar that Grom had survived his fight with the Vigilant and warned that the Black Wolf Annihilator was cultivating faith among the War Horde.
• Draenor's plants awakened across Nagrand as Kazzak entered through a fel gate and unleashed a demonic invasion.
• Gaiara and Griselda led the Mag'har into battle, and Garrosh joined them after killing Hakkar the Houndmaster.
• Ner'zhul planned to send Drek'Thar to Shattrath City for the healing ring and said he would accept responsibility for the War Horde's crimes.
• Kazzak battered Shattrath City's barrier while Velen and Mar'gok gathered Draenei, ogres, and Arakkoa to defend the city until the World Artifact returned.

Shattrath City faced a massive Burning Legion assault as Velen and Mar'gok struggled to hold back Kazzak and Magtheridon. Neri delivered the World Artifacts, and Mar'gok claimed the All-Seeing ring, gaining enough power to drive Kazzak back as the battle continued.

• Kazzak and Magtheridon battered Shattrath City's defenses while Velen and Mar'gok fought to hold them back, and the Legion poured through the breached walls.
• Ner'zhul summoned the elemental lords, and Terokk led the Talon Guards into battle, but the defenders remained overwhelmed.
• Neri arrived with the World Artifacts, carrying the unconscious Rexxar and Garona, and offered Mar'gok a choice of rings.
• Mar'gok chose Nisamys the All-Seeing, whose power awakened all four Titanforged Runes and let him summon arcane aberrations that devastated the demons.
• Mar'gok's empowered attack forced Kazzak back, and the Doom Lord recognized the World Artifact and feared that Diakum's victory on Argus might be repeated.

Neri distributed Draenor’s World Artifacts as the K’ure Alliance fought the demons, and Yrel chose the path of a guardian while Ner’zhul entrusted healing to Drek’Thar. As Blackhand prepared to attack Shattrath City, Oronok revealed the Black Wolf God’s plans and ordered two captives rescued for an approaching ritual.

• Neri gave secondary rings to the K’ure Alliance’s commanders and assigned the primary rings to Yrel, Ner’zhul, and the Talon King before joining Jaide’s forces against the demon portals.
• Ner’zhul chose Iserarus, Eternal Gift, and gave it to Drek’Thar to heal the plague-stricken in the city and restore the Orcs’ place in Draenor.
• Yrel chose Sactus, Mark of Stillness, and vowed to protect her people as the Draenei leader, while the Talon King took Heart of Stone.
• Blackhand ordered his forces to prepare to storm Shattrath City after Oronok explained that the Burning Legion had invaded and that the Black Wolf God expected the War Horde to lose on Draenor.
• Oronok told his apprentices to rescue two captives from Blackhand’s guards and prepare a Wild Hunt ritual in the jungle.

Doom Lord Kazzak broke Shattrath City's defenses, but Velen and the K'ure Alliance turned the battle with Holy Light and the power of their World Artifacts. As Yrel and her allies wounded Kazzak, Durotan and the recovered plague survivors joined the fight, preparing to confront Blackhand and the War Horde.

• Kazzak shattered Shattrath City's Holy Light barrier and ordered the demons to destroy the city while he sought Diakum.
• Jaide's coalition attacked the Legion's spellcasters, while awakened forests surrounded Shattrath and Kazzak ordered more forces summoned.
• Velen called on the Argus Heart to protect Shattrath and empower the K'ure Alliance, turning the defenders' counterattack into a rout of lesser demons.
• Yrel endured Kazzak's attacks with the Seal of Immovability, then teamed up with Mar'gok and Terokk to blind him and break his remaining demon horn.
• Durotan, Draka, Ner'zhul, and other survivors of the Magic Plague joined the battle, and Leoroxx sent them to hunt demons and stop Blackhand's attack.
• Durotan gave Draka the Heart of Stone ring and led the Frostwolf Clan to fight the War Horde.

Diakum defeated and burned Lycantos, but learned that the Black Wolf God had escaped fel corruption and become the death god of the Green Skin orcs. After helping the wounded Evergrowth Woods forces set out for Shattrath, Diakum flew toward the battle and received a warning from Bwonsamdi that Lycantos and its wolf pack would leave Draenor after the War Horde’s defeat.

• Diakum questioned the dying Lycantos, then beheaded and burned its demon body with Ashbringer.
• Bwonsamdi appeared and revealed that Lycantos had made a prior pact with the Death Realm, escaped fel’s control, and become the Green Skin orcs’ god of death.
• Diakum asked Bwonsamdi to tell Lycantos to protect the Green Skins from further corruption, and Bwonsamdi demanded ten powerful souls in return.
• Diakum gained the Legendary Talent [Titan's Grip], accepted repaired war armor from Nalagor, and asked the Spriggans and Thornbeasts to advance toward the demon front.
• Diakum warned Anzu that Bwonsamdi’s offer to revive Rukhmar was a scam, and Bwonsamdi raised Diakum’s soul debt to one hundred.
• Bwonsamdi relayed that Lycantos would take the Green Skin orcs away after the K'ure Alliance defeated the War Horde, while the wolf pack would withdraw wherever Diakum went.

Blackhand attacked the Mag’har leaders at Shattrath, but Durotan, Draka, and Yrel arrived to reinforce them. Meanwhile, Diakum confronted Kazzak above the battlefield, and their long-awaited duel began.

• Blackhand attacked Griselda and Gaiara, defeating them as he tried to execute the Mag’har leaders.
• Durotan, Draka, Old Whiteclaw, and Matron Geyah joined the fight against Blackhand, who summoned demon wolves and resisted their assault.
• Yrel crashed into the battle, declared herself Archon, and rallied the Draenei and Orcs against Blackhand’s War Horde.
• Diakum arrived on Sunwing, and Kazzak recognized him as his longtime enemy and challenged him to fight.
• Diakum entered his Seraphim form as Kazzak’s wounds healed and its fel power surged, and the two charged into battle.