Chapter Summaries

The battle for The Lich King's Gate began, but Arthas confronted the armies and challenged the younger Saurfang before Princess Cariath and Jaina attacked him. Cariath and Jaina fought Arthas to a standstill as the armies watched.

• The Alliance and Horde opened their assault on The Lich King's Gate while the Argent Crusade, Scarlet Vanguard, and Lordaeron Restoration Army held the rear.
• Arthas attacked the younger Saurfang, but the Titan's newly established ten-year pact saved him and left him with a scar as a mark of glory.
• Cariath charged Arthas with Dawn's Light and clashed with Frostmourne, while Arthas said she could become a powerful Death Knight.
• Jaina arrived and declared herself the Daughter of the Sea, vowing that Arthas would pay for the suffering of Lordaeron, Dalaran, and Kul Tiras.
• Cariath fought Arthas at close range as Jaina unleashed spells and Water Elementals, turning the siege into a duel before the armies.

At The Lich King's Gate, Putress attacked both the Alliance and the Lich King with plague bombs, but the Alliance survived and the plague devastated the Scourge. Sylvanas captured Putress after he tried to escape, while Cariath wedged the gate open with her artifact sword.

• Jaina and Cariath fought the Lich King as the Northern Expeditionary Alliance cheered and defended its positions.
• Putress and his apothecaries revealed themselves and launched plague bombs at The Lich King's Gate.
• Draenei Soulbinder Priests and other priests raised a Dawn's Light barrier, while Cariath used Divine Shield and Jaina took refuge in Ice Block.
• The plague destroyed the Scourge forces and injured Arthas, and Cariath wedged the closing gate open with her artifact greatsword before retreating with Jaina.
• Sylvanas confronted Putress and his apothecaries, shot Putress with a Shadow-infused arrow, and ordered the traitors killed.

After the Lich King retreated behind The Lich King's Gate, the allied forces cleared the plague and forced the gate open, preparing to push deeper into Icecrown. Cariath recovered Dawn's Light and focused on destroying the Scourge's facilities, while Vivianka arrived at the Northern Expedition camp.

• Cariath jammed Dawn's Light into The Lich King's Gate, and the Red Dragonflight purified the plague while Sylvanas took Putress and his alchemists to Naxxramas.
• Alliance and Horde engineers used levers and steam engines to pry The Lich King's Gate open for the allied armies.
• Tirion returned Dawn's Light to Cariath, who said she was determined to destroy the Lich King and showed no hesitation about fighting Arthas.
• Cariath considered the Restoration Army's plans to destroy Gundrak Mine and the Soul Forge, both vital Scourge facilities.
• Vivianka arrived at the Northern Expedition camp and noticed Jaina and Cariath, but continued speaking with Tirion without greeting them.

Sylvanas witnessed the traitorous apothecaries trapped in Cthulhu’s Call, where their bodies faded as their minds suffered endless nightmares. After experiencing one apothecary’s torment herself, she released Kel'Thuzad and left him terrified of ever returning to the Call.

• Cthulhu revealed that Putress and the other apothecaries were trapped in his Call, their bodies fading as their minds endured eternal torment.
• Sylvanas asked to enter the Call, and Cthulhu brought her there with her body intact.
• Cthulhu showed Sylvanas an apothecary reliving a grotesque nightmare involving his distorted family.
• Sylvanas stopped the vision and returned to reality, then praised Cthulhu’s command of madness.
• Sylvanas warned Kel'Thuzad not to give her a reason to send him back to Cthulhu, and he said he would rather fight the Lich King.

A dispute over leadership of the Watchers drew Cordana into Sylvanas's faction and helped trigger a wider struggle for influence in the Empire. As factions maneuvered and others stayed neutral, Cenarius and Maiev warned that the Crusaders and God-Emperor Sarodar might soon intervene.

• Cordana allied with Sylvanas to secure her leadership of the Watchers, while Sana's supporters continued to oppose her.
• Cordana and Sylvanas won Fandral Staghelm's favor by recommending his son Valastann for a senior post in the Silver Fleet, and Elisande approved the appointment.
• Blackrock abruptly ended his gifts and aid to Sylvanas, despite public pressure from her faction.
• Cenarius advised Malfurion and Tyrande to keep the Druids and Priestesses of the Moon out of the factional struggle, and Jarod followed Maiev's advice to record Sylvanas's supporters without intervening.
• Illidan and Maiev discussed the danger of renewed Crusader action, and Maiev warned Illidan to stay out of the Empire's politics.

After Sylvanas’s actions involving Turalyon and the Silver Fleet provoked Sarodar’s anger, the Crusaders arrested her and escorted her to the Eternal Night Palace. Sarodar arrived at the Assembly Hall and began confronting the Empire’s leaders, leaving Sylvanas kneeling before his throne.

• Alleria scolded Sylvanas for involving Turalyon and Fandral Staghelm in her attempt to gain influence, then ended their communication.
• The Crusaders stormed Naxxramas, overwhelmed Sylvanas’s forces, and ordered her to return to the Eternal Night Palace for trial.
• Sylvanas saw that former Twilight’s Hammer allies were helping the Crusaders stabilize the Forsaken and realized her power and supporters had never been truly hers.
• The Firstborn of the Gods escorted Sylvanas into the Assembly Hall, where she knelt before the assembled leaders and waited for Sarodar.
• Sarodar entered the hall, ordered Sylvanas to crawl aside, and commanded a Firstborn who challenged Blackso to slap himself one thousand times.
• Blackso cleared Sarodar’s path with his sleeves and body, and Sarodar took his throne and warned the Empire’s leaders against seeking power or mistaking him for merciful.

The God-Emperor punished officials involved in the Silver Fleet incident and nearly condemned Sylvanas before Hexos persuaded him to spare her. Afterward, Sylvanas apologized to Turalyon and promised the God-Emperor she would stop targeting her and abandon her faction.

• Fandral Staghelm confessed to biased judgment, and the God-Emperor ordered the execution of Dawn Druids involved in the Silver Fleet incident.
• The God-Emperor imprisoned Cordana Shadowsong and ordered executions for Watchers and Sylvanas's associates who had helped her or contacted her.
• The God-Emperor declared Sylvanas a traitor and ordered her execution, but Hexos argued that schemers had manipulated her and asked for mercy.
• The God-Emperor ordered a nationwide investigation, confined Sylvanas to the Eternal Night Palace, placed the Forsaken under Crusader and Kel'Thuzad oversight, and promoted Hexos.
• Sylvanas apologized to Turalyon, then promised the God-Emperor she would stop targeting her and give up her faction.

The Silver Fleet incident officially ended, and the Night Empire reshuffled its power as officials scrambled to regain the God-Emperor’s favor. Sylvanas escaped serious punishment but lost her place in imperial affairs, while Hekso and the factions that stayed out of the incident gained influence.

• The Crusaders arrested and publicly executed the low- and mid-ranking participants in the Silver Fleet incident, while senior figures replaced them quickly to keep the Empire running.
• Hekso pleaded for Sylvanas, giving the Titan God-Emperor an excuse to spare her; she was confined in name but allowed to roam freely.
• Sylvanas was permanently barred from imperial internal affairs and the Chancellor’s Council, and the other participants saw their power curtailed.
• Cenarius formally joined the cabinet, strengthening the Druids and their allies, while Azshara gained a higher seat after her faction stayed out of the incident.
• Hekso became Count Hekso and joined the Chancellor’s Council, boosting his standing and the Blackrock Syndicate’s influence.

The chapter compares factional politics in the Horde, Ironforge, Gnomeregan, and the Stormwind Kingdom, explaining how each society manages internal divisions. It leaves the Alliance’s many competing interests in place, with Stormwind’s nobles controlled rather than removed because the kingdom depends on them.

• Thrall reviewed the Horde’s factions and found them united despite minor disagreements and competition for positions.
• The chapter explained that Thrall could not rule like the Eternal Night God-Emperor because the Horde required cooperation among its member races.
• In Ironforge, the Bronzebeard, Dark Iron, and Wildhammer Dwarves competed for influence, while Moira rallied the Dark Iron Dwarves around her cause.
• The Gnomes followed Mekkatorque in engineering and research without engaging in factional politics.
• Stormwind’s major factions—Bolvar’s royal cabinet, Benedictus’s Holy Light faction, and the Black Dragon Princess’s allies—followed Varian’s orders on state affairs but competed for influence and benefits in ordinary times.
• The chapter described how Stormwind’s Royal Court controlled the nobles, arguing that removing them would destabilize the kingdom.

Kruzz led his Greenskin Boyz through a chaotic battle in northern Hellfire Peninsula, then prayed at a Waagh Tower for a mighty war machine. His prayer unexpectedly summoned a crude mech, and he took it to seize territory as other Greenskin Bosses reacted with envy.

• Kruzz and his Boyz survived a truck crash and defeated a rival group of Greenskins, making Kruzz Boss of both crews.
• Kruzz's Boyz scavenged the wreckage and built a Waagh Tower wired with flashing lights and loud music to attract Gog-King and Mog-King.
• Boss Hu felt divine power answer a prayer and return to him denser than before.
• The Boyz' fervent prayer summoned a crude mech, which Kruzz named Big Beauty despite mistakenly expecting a Gog-King Kong.
• Kruzz piloted Big Beauty and led his Boyz to claim territory, prompting other Greenskin Bosses to fight harder for a divine gift.

Azshara questioned how to earn Sarodar’s trust after witnessing his ruthless judgment and devotion to Sylvanas, while Vashj urged her to offer sincerity rather than rely on her old ways. Meanwhile, Kruzz’s greenskins accidentally made Boss Hu manifest as Gork, and their attempt to create a warship ended in a disastrous explosion.

• Azshara admitted to Vashj that Sarodar’s mix of ruthlessness and affection had left her unsure how to win his favor and become Divine Queen.
• Vashj suggested that Azshara change her approach and offer genuine affection, since Sarodar had answered Sylvanas’s sincerity with devotion.
• Kruzz led his Scarface Gang in praying to Gork for his Goblin technicians to understand the wreckage of a Fel warship, drawing Boss Hu’s attention and divine power.
• Boss Hu discovered that the greenskins’ collective faith had made him Gork and could manifest greenskins and other things through their beliefs.
• Boss Hu directed Kruzz’s followers to manifest an intact warship, but they produced a heap of scrap that exploded and killed many greenskins.
• Boss Hu told Kruzz to prove himself through battle, then returned to Eternal Night Palace and told Alleria to call him Gork.

The Alliance and Horde won a brutal air battle over Icecrown Glacier but lost most of their airships, leaving survivors stranded near Ymirheim. As the Scourge closed in on both camps, ground forces raced to locate and rescue them.

• The Alliance and Horde air forces destroyed the Frost Dragons and Gargoyles but suffered devastating losses, with only the Skybreaker and Orgrimmar's Hammer surviving.
• The surviving airmen became scattered around Ymirheim, surrounded by Scourge forces and hunted by Undead Vrykul.
• Alliance scouts located Saurfang and his survivors holding a defensive camp west of Ymirheim among two airship wrecks.
• Horde scouts found General Nazgrel and his survivors defending a camp east of Ymirheim, where Nazgrel also organized patrols to find survivors and attack small Scourge units.
• The Alliance and Horde slowed their advance and sent scouts to pinpoint the survivors as the Scourge converged on both camps.

Adventurers helped the Alliance and Horde survivors in Icecrown Glacier fortify their camps, surround Immol'thar City, and counterattack Ymirheim, allowing the main forces to resume their planned march. In Dragonblight, Wyrmrest Temple approved an assault on the Spider Kingdom, and a Dragon legion set out with Onyxia’s Black Dragon faction among its forces.

• Grand Duke Bolvar and Little Saurfang offered adventurers one hundred gold coins each to reach and defend the stranded air force survivors.
• Adventurers reached the Alliance and Horde defensive lines, built fortified camps, and expanded their territory until the two lines linked.
• Adventurers surrounded Immol'thar City and launched a counterattack against Ymirheim, prompting the main forces to abandon their rescue march and resume their original offensive route.
• Wyrmrest Temple approved a full-scale assault on the Spider Kingdom, and Alexstrasza warned Onyxia that her Black Dragons had one final chance to prove themselves.
• Onyxia pledged her faction’s support to Sarodar’s will, drawing a rebuke from Nozdormu for her grandiose slogans.
• A massive Dragon legion marched from Wyrmrest Temple toward the western entrance to the Spider Kingdom.

Hu Feng led the Titan army into Ulduar’s Halls of Stone, where they fought corrupted Titan creations and he searched the complex for Titan technology. The sweep uncovered Life Forge blueprints and a working Life Forge, while Ulduar’s main structure and Loken remained ahead.

• Hu Feng sent the Titan army to clear the Halls of Stone, where Iron Giants and Tinkers attacked the invading forces.
• Jaina supported the assault, apologized for her past disrespect, and secured permission for mages from Theramore and Kul Tiras to study in Suramar.
• Hu Feng activated a Titan console, was mistakenly registered as Creator Saro, and copied the Life Forge blueprints before locking the console.
• Hu Feng killed the mad Sorrowful Maiden and burned her head with divine flames.
• Jaina and the Firstborn of the Gods blasted open a chamber containing a completed Life Forge, guarded by a Vrykul and his army.

Boss Hu seized the Life Forge and its Vrykul production line for the Silver Fleet, praising the Old Gods’ Curse of Flesh as a form of freedom. Jaina received permission to take a Titan holographic projector to Dalaran for research.

• Boss Hu watched the Life Forge manufacture Vrykul and ordered the Firstborn of the Gods to move the forge and its creations to the Tower of Slumber.
• Boss Hu learned that the Life Forge could mass-produce customizable steel beings using chosen memories, knowledge, and personalities as templates.
• Boss Hu considered the Old Gods’ Curse of Flesh a gift that gave rigid Titan creations emotion and freedom, despite the Old Gods’ appetite for flesh.
• Jaina asked to take a holographic projection device to Dalaran, and Boss Hu readily agreed.
• Boss Hu reflected on Azeroth’s uneven mix of magical and mechanical technology, including the elves’ Arcane-powered projections and Energy Cannons.

The combined forces broke into Ulduar while Boss Hu directed the assault from his new mechanical throne, Sluggard-002. He sent a top-secret Iron Maiden Plan to the Tower of Slumber, where Auriel began assembling Nightborne scholars to create Titan Keepers loyal to him.

• The Night Empire, Dalaran, and their allies entered Ulduar and attacked the iron creations guarding its plaza while searching for Loken.
• Boss Hu ordered the Black Dragon Riders to bombard the plaza’s towers and Jaina’s mages to help break through within a day.
• Hesuo presented Boss Hu with Sluggard-002, a spider-shaped walking throne that carried him above the battlefield.
• Boss Hu sent the Iron Maiden Plan to the Tower of Slumber and ordered it prioritized just below the Extermination Order.
• Auriel gathered Nightborne scholars and announced the plan to create devoted Titan Keepers, beginning with the Dawn Iron Maiden prototype.

Loken tried to force Yogg-Saron out of his prison so the returning Titans would mistake him for a loyal Keeper who had failed to contain the Old God. As Observer Algalon scanned Azeroth, Yogg-Saron resisted, but Loken kept hauling him toward the surface.

• Loken altered the prison defenses and dragged part of Yogg-Saron aboveground, while Yogg-Saron cursed him and begged the Titans for help.
• Loken overloaded the sealing system and strengthened the divine chains, determined to free Yogg-Saron before the Titans could judge him.
• The other Keepers largely ignored the struggle as Observer Algalon appeared in the Observation Hall and began scanning Azeroth.
• Yogg-Saron attacked Loken's mind with maddening illusions, but Loken turned his back to weaken them and kept pulling.
• Part of Yogg-Saron's body remained aboveground as the Titan approached.

The Night Empire and Dalaran advanced through Ulduar’s front plaza as Boss Hu confronted Mimiron’s Flame Beast and tried to capture it. Meanwhile, Thrall learned that the Horde and Night Empire both wanted to restrain their own extreme factionalists, and Elisande had already contacted him about doing so.

• The Night Empire’s artillery, Black Dragon Riders, and sticky bombs destroyed Ulduar’s towers and overwhelmed the Iron constructs in the plaza.
• A massive steel gate burst open, revealing Mimiron’s Flame Beast, and Boss Hu rushed toward it, ordering his forces to avoid damaging it.
• Thrall asked Vol’jin to confirm intelligence that the Night Warriors were stirring up anti-Horde sentiment within the Night Empire.
• Vol’jin reported that Horde envoys had been rejected by the Night Warriors and that Grand Vizier Elisande had already contacted the Horde to discuss restraining the extreme factionalists.

Tyrande Whisperwind led the refugees from the burned Teldrassil in declaring themselves Night Warriors and accepting the Night Empire’s rule. She headed to the Prime Minister Council with a proposal to expel Horde members and prepare an invasion of the Barrens.

• Tyrande smeared ash from Teldrassil around her eyes and resolved to protect this timeline’s homeland from the same fate.
• Tyrande declared that the Night Warriors would join the Chancellor’s Council and accept the Night Empire’s rule in exchange for pursuing revenge against their enemies.
• Tyrande passed her alternate self, Malfurion, and Cenarius, who did not understand her rejection of the moon goddess and nature’s gentle path.
• Tyrande became the Night Warriors’ leader and set out to propose expelling Horde members, fortifying the Ashenvale border, and preparing to invade the Barrens.

Boss Hu watched Goblin engineers secure the Flame Beast while considering the Night Empire’s growing conflict between Tyrande’s Night Warriors and its council. The Night Empire and Horde staged a military buildup and staged border attacks, but their everyday trade continued as usual.

• Blackrock Syndicate Goblin engineers worked to shut down the Flame Beast, which divine chains held in place.
• Tyrande proposed invading The Barrens, expelling Horde members, and killing those from the predetermined fate timeline, while the Night Empire’s Chancellor’s Council considered its position.
• After meeting Elisande, the Horde ambassador told Warchief Thrall that the council had not endorsed the Night Warriors’ proposal, though Elisande said the Empire needed a show of military action.
• The Night Empire and the New Horde deployed troops to their border, but soldiers let merchants cross and a secret invasion plan spread through Horde territory.
• Horde merchants staged an attack on an Ashenvale fortress, where elf soldiers treated them as trading partners and discussed the trouble caused by prisoners from the predetermined fate timeline.