Chapter Summaries

At Deren’s residence in Theramore, Jaina and the others celebrated the defeat of the Blackrock Orcs and learned that Alleria was preparing to return from Outland. The Windrunner sisters looked forward to reuniting, though they wondered why Turalyon would not come with her.

• Jaina confirmed that the Blackrock Orcs had been eliminated, and Sylvanas drank liquor while warning Vereesa that battle was no place for her.
• Deren told the group that Alleria was preparing to return and that Shattrath had sent the sisters’ necklaces and accessories through the Holy Light to arrange her teleportation.
• Sylvanas and Vereesa questioned why Turalyon would not return with Alleria, and Onyxia criticized the nobility and paladins while recalling how she had helped nobles cheat the Stormwind City Stonemasons' Guild.
• Jaina redirected the conversation into a toast for Alleria, and the Windrunner sisters shared their hope of being reunited.
• Sylvanas reflected on how Deren had changed her fate, while Onyxia silently added another name to her whitelist.

Deren’s shopping trip with Stellagosa was interrupted by Ysera, and the two women ended up competing for his attention. He then brought Sylvanas to Elune, whose help he secured for a secret plan involving Sylvanas’s hands and a portion of her soul.

• Deren shopped with Stellagosa until Ysera appeared and asked him to spend the day with her.
• Ysera briefly controlled Stellagosa with Void Energy, but stopped when Deren objected; Stellagosa and Ysera then both took Deren shopping.
• Deren and the two women went to the fruit tea shop, where Sylvanas later confronted him about the visit.
• Deren brought Sylvanas to the Temple of the Moon and asked Elune to regenerate her hands and remove part of her soul for his plan.
• Elune agreed to help and offered to use her divine power to stabilize Sylvanas’s soul, while warning that severing it could have unpredictable consequences.
• After Deren and Sylvanas left, Elaseth and Elune discussed Deren’s secret plan and Elaseth’s important task.

Thrall negotiated with Rustwater and Venture Company to launch an economic attack on Theramore and support the Horde’s war in Ashenvale. The Goblins agreed to exploit Theramore’s food shortages and disrupt its trade, while Thrall remained gravely ill and distrustful of Jaina.

• Thrall persuaded Rustwater and Venture Company to join forces against Theramore by manipulating its grain supply and blocking shipments with their fleets.
• Venture Company’s representative proposed attacking Theramore’s water sources and sending drugged Ogre slaves to provoke violence, and the other Goblins approved trying the tactics.
• After the Goblins left, Thrall told Saurfang that Rustwater and Venture Company would send supplies and mercenaries to Ashenvale and attack Theramore.
• Saurfang suggested seeking treatment in Theramore, but Thrall rejected the idea and accused Jaina of conspiring against him.
• Thrall defended using the Goblins’ commercial war as a low-risk way to weaken the elves’ supply lines, while Saurfang worried over Thrall’s failing health.

Deren discovered that Theramore’s grain prices had more than doubled and worked with Jaina and the Goblin Guild to uncover a scheme involving grain stockpiling and risky loans. The city prepared to secure its food supply and investigate the conspiracy, while Deren considered asking Chromie to help transport grain.

• Deren noticed that fried rice cakes had doubled in price and paid the vendor for information about Theramore’s grain market.
• Deren and Stellagosa visited the Goblin Guild, where Marawiz and Bablo found that grain prices had risen by 122 percent in half a month.
• Jaina arrived and authorized an investigation, which revealed that grain was being stockpiled and shipped to Ratchet, while grain-backed loans were being repeatedly recycled through the Goblin Bank.
• Deren advised Jaina to suspend large loans, verify grain collateral, and buy grain through multiple routes, while Jaina arranged for the Kul Tiras fleet and her father’s help.
• Deren proposed gathering grain in Stormwind under Varian’s protection and suggested that Chromie could handle an airlift if necessary.

Venture Company and Rustwater Goblins engineered a grain crisis in Theramore, while Jaina and Deren devised a response to punish the speculators. Grain prices kept climbing, and Jaina was left facing a boycott by the city’s major trading families.

• Venture Company and Rustwater Goblins celebrated disrupting Theramore’s grain supply, despite Gazlowe’s warning that Jaina might retaliate.
• Jaina discovered that pirate attacks had cut off a major grain route and asked Deren for help; he warned that the hidden forces might target other shipments too.
• Jaina chose to strike hard at grain speculators, and Deren explained his plan to her and Onyxia.
• Theramore’s residents panicked as grain grew scarce, while trading families bought up supplies; City Hall took over the grain shops and published reserve figures to calm the public.
• Harvit and Little Bruen sought loans to buy more grain, using their assets and trading license as collateral.
• Jaina summoned the major trading families, but most refused to attend, leaving her furious.

Jaina gathered food from Theramore’s supporters and, with Chromie’s help, secretly brought in enough supplies to defeat the Goblin-backed speculators. Just as the citizens celebrated the renewed food distribution, Jaina learned that someone had sabotaged the city’s water pipes.

• Jaina persuaded several merchants, including Katas and Jonna Borowei, to sell food to Theramore, while Katas warned her that speculators would buy up supplies.
• Gazlowe and Venture Company agreed to keep borrowing money to drive up food prices and disrupt shipments from the Eastern Kingdoms.
• Deren, Jaina, and the dragons arranged for Chromie to transport food to Theramore, and she ultimately brought in several hundred tons.
• Little Bruen tried to borrow Katas’s proceeds, but Katas had placed the money in fixed-term deposits at Blacktail Financial, prompting speculators to take out collateral-backed loans to buy food.
• Jaina revealed warehouses full of food and assured citizens they could buy supplies, leaving speculators such as Harvit facing ruin.
• A guard told Jaina that someone had sabotaged Theramore’s water pipes, and the city guard and engineers began emergency repairs.

After discovering Gnoll sabotage of Theramore’s water pipes, Deren proposed isolating Ratchet and targeting Venture Company through a joint wanted notice. Meanwhile, grain speculation devastated Ratchet’s Goblin investors and Theramore’s speculators, and the chapter ended with Jaina ordering Little Bruen punished for armed resistance.

• Jaina arranged stronger patrols and emergency mage support after Gnolls sabotaged a water pipe, while Deren identified their tracks and Lezi Long traced them to Goblins.
• Deren proposed blockading Ratchet by land, sea, and air and having the Alliance and Elf Council issue a wanted notice against Venture Company, and Jaina approved.
• Ratchet’s Goblin speculators faced heavy losses, and Gazlowe agreed to ask Thrall for help before his airship malfunctioned during the journey.
• Little Bruen drew weapons to resist Blacktail Finance’s repossession of his estate and trade license, but Jaina refused to spare him and ordered the guards to enforce the law.
• Little Bruen’s servants surrendered and handed him over to the guards, and Jaina ordered him dealt with for armed resistance against the city guard.

Gordok led his armored Ogres to defeat Ratchet’s mercenary army, then Rivendare arrived to negotiate the city’s surrender on Theramore’s behalf. The Ratchet Goblins agreed to punish the main culprits, but hesitated over whether to sever ties with the Venture Company.

• Gordok’s Ogres routed the Gnoll slaves and lured the Goblin Ogres into a chaotic fight before his hidden reinforcements attacked.
• The Goblin commander fled into Ratchet, abandoning the mercenary army, and more than a hundred enemy Ogres surrendered to Gordok.
• Ratchet’s influential Goblins debated breaking out and blamed Gazlowe for provoking Theramore.
• Rivendare met with the Ratchet Goblins as Theramore’s representative and offered lenient terms if they punished the main culprits.
• The Ratchet Goblins agreed to hand over Gazlowe if he survived, then considered Rivendare’s demand that they cut ties with the Venture Company.

Rivendare secured Ratchet’s surrender to Lady Vashj’s terms, turned the Rustwater Goblins against the Venture Company, and returned to Theramore with new influence over the port. Thrall learned that Gazlowe was missing and his grain scheme had failed, while Deren and Jaina met Vashj in Zandalar and were introduced to Mar'jano.

• Rivendare persuaded the Rustwater Goblins to accept Lady Vashj’s terms and grant The Sandbox dock berths, tax preferences, and shipping business.
• The Rustwater Goblins attacked the Venture Company goblins, captured their leaders, and signed debt agreements with Rivendare’s associates.
• Rivendare returned to Theramore, where he and Deren discussed Gazlowe’s disappearance and suspected Thrall had backed the failed grain scheme.
• Thrall received word that Gazlowe was missing, Ratchet had accepted Theramore’s terms, and the Venture Company had been expelled, so he ordered a rescue team sent.
• Saurfang arranged the search for Gazlowe and learned from the witch doctors that Thrall needed rest after the news worsened his condition.
• Deren and Jaina visited Vashj in Zandalar, discussed the region’s growth and its lack of an heir, and met the Draenei Broken One Mar'jano.

Deren investigated Mar'jano’s transformation from a Broken and discovered that a small dose of Fel Energy restored her to an Eredar, raising questions about the Draenei’s origins and missing memories. After the experiment, the twin Eredar demons secretly took samples from Deren while he was unconscious, and he left with the disoriented Mar'jano.

• Deren suggested that Vashj and Jaina send Mar'jano to meet the twin Eredar demons and test whether Fel Energy could help her.
• Deren theorized that Draenei and Eredar shared an origin and that some Draenei might have hidden connections to Fel Energy and Orc ancestry.
• Aurelia and Sacrolash exposed Mar'jano to Fel Energy, which restored her body to an Eredar form and revealed that her memories had been altered.
• The twins drugged Deren and secretly extracted experimental samples from him while he was unconscious.
• Deren awoke, learned that Mar'jano had lost much of her memory, and left with her after encouraging her to reclaim her sense of self.

Alleria returned to Azeroth as a Void Elf and reunited with Sylvanas, Vereesa, and Laras in Theramore. As she learned how the world had changed, Deren prepared to move ahead with his plan to attack the Twisting Nether, while Alleria discovered that her son Arator was in a strange condition.

• Velen transported Alleria to Zandalar, where Jaina and Deren welcomed her despite the Paladins' fear of her Void form.
• Jaina brought Alleria through a Portal to Theramore, where Sylvanas, Vereesa, and Laras embraced her and reassured her about her condition.
• Alleria met Ysiel Nightshadow, learned about the fate of Quel'Thalas, and told her family that Turalyon had rejected her after she absorbed Void Energy.
• Deren told Alleria that he was planning an attack on the Twisting Nether, and she worried about the Holy Light Legion and demanded to know what had happened to Arator.
• Alleria recalled her time fighting beside the Holy Light Legion and briefly experienced a vision of Voidwalkers, K'aresh, and Dimensius before Sylvanas explained Deren's role in her return.
• After leaving the family reunion, Deren learned from Jaina that the soul transplantation experiment had succeeded and discussed preparing Kael'thas's body for the plan; they also wondered why Aegwynn had returned to Karazhan.

Jaina and Deren sent Sylvanas’s controlled Elf clone into the Twisting Nether with Anasterian Sunstrider and a fel-corrupted squad to infiltrate the Burning Legion and seek the Crown of Domination. At Argus, Anasterian won Kil’jaeden’s permission to leave the squad behind while he pretended to defect to Azeroth’s heroes, giving the clone and its mission a chance to proceed.

• Arthas introduced Alleria to the Undead Arator, and Jaina explained why he had to remain in Northrend.
• Arthas prepared an Elf corpse as Sylvanas’s clone, and Sylvanas learned to control it through their shared soul.
• Jaina revealed the mission to Anasterian, who agreed to take the clone and a group of fel-corrupted volunteers into the Twisting Nether.
• Anasterian’s group reached Argus, where he brushed aside Desselock’s challenge and reported to Kil’jaeden.
• Anasterian asked Kil’jaeden for permission to pretend to defect to Azeroth’s heroes, while Archimonde demanded that his subordinates remain as hostages.
• Kil’jaeden approved Archimonde’s proposal, and Anasterian agreed to leave his subordinates behind.

An Undead elf tore open the Crown of Domination, connecting Argus to Shadowlands and exposing the Burning Legion to the laws of death. Kil'jaeden and Archimonde investigated the threat, while a hidden observer from another time and space watched their response.

• Kil'jaeden let an Undead elf play with his collection, and she unlocked and tore apart the Crown of Domination despite his warnings.
• The Crown of Domination released a pillar of light that opened a red rift above Argus, and demons who entered the connected realm died as their souls were absorbed.
• Aman'Thul, Eonar, and another imprisoned Titan sensed Shadowlands connecting to the Twisting Nether and argued over whether their plan had gone wrong.
• Kil'jaeden ordered Archimonde to send demons and Pit Lords into the rift to test its laws, and Archimonde forced Desselock to reveal that the realm was Shadowlands, domain of Arch-deacon Denathrius.
• Death Power killed Desselock as Archimonde tried to save him, and Kil'jaeden began examining Pit Lord remains after Archimonde reported that the Legion's Pit Lords had died or fled.
• A horned man eavesdropped on Kil'jaeden and Archimonde and observed that Zovaal had opened a passage to the Twisting Nether, exposing his Nathrezim.

Deren explained how Sylvanas’s duplicate destroyed the Crown of Domination and linked the Shadowlands to the Twisting Nether, setting the Burning Legion and the realm of death against each other. In the Shadowlands, Uther led a reconnaissance attack against the demons, then warned Griselda that the Legion could adapt and might overwhelm their defenses.

• Sylvanas recounted seeing the Crown of Domination destroyed, and Deren confirmed that their plan had connected the Shadowlands to the Twisting Nether.
• Deren, Jaina, and Onyxia explained how they had made Sylvanas’s duplicate and used her to destroy the crown, while Jaina reported that Azeroth’s Soul welcomed the conflict between the Legion and the Shadowlands.
• Archimonde sent demons through the rift to test their resistance to Death Power, and Uther led several Kyrian in an attack that initially routed the weakened invaders.
• Archimonde entered the Shadowlands and used Fel Energy to counter Death Power’s suppression, enabling the demons to kill three Kyrian before Uther led the survivors to safety.
• Uther told Griselda that the Burning Legion could regain its strength and urged her to involve the Arbiter and Maldraxxus; afterward, he worried that the demons would adapt to the Shadowlands’ defenses.

The Winter Queen learned that the Shadowlands had connected to the Twisting Nether and sought help from Griselda and Elune, while Archimonde and Kil'jaeden studied captured Kyrian. In Theramore, Deren saw the Windrunner siblings off and then discussed the crisis with Elune, ending by suggesting she find the Winter Queen a territory.

• The Winter Queen refused to commit Ardenweald's Night Fae until the other Shadowlands realms acted, then contacted her younger sister Elune for help against the demons.
• Archimonde brought a captured Kyrian and damaged corpses to Kil'jaeden, who began examining them in an Eredar laboratory.
• Sylvanas, Alleria, Vereesa, and Laras told Deren they planned to sail to Quel'Thalas, and Deren gave Vereesa gold before indulging Sylvanas and Lezi Long by calling them royal titles.
• Elaseth summoned Deren to the Temple of the Moon, where Elune revealed that the Winter Queen had asked for help and asked Deren for a solution.
• Deren argued that Elune should avoid becoming entangled in the Shadowlands conflict, then suggested she find the Winter Queen a territory in the manner of Bwonsamdi.

Deren told Elune that Frostmourne might house the Winter Queen’s divine kingdom and went with Jaina to Stormwind City to retrieve it. There, Brightwing reported a haunting, and the group discovered Valeera and Selina had staged it to scare her.

• Deren told Elune that Frostmourne could serve as a vessel for the Winter Queen’s divine kingdom, and Elune agreed to the plan.
• Deren and Jaina traveled to Stormwind City, where Sargathas handed Jaina the sealed Frostmourne.
• Brightwing told Varian that she had sensed someone following and whispering to her in the palace.
• Jaina dispelled the concealment on a wooded path, revealing Valeera, while Sargathas found Selina hiding in the bushes.
• Valeera admitted that she and Selina had pretended to be ghosts to frighten Brightwing.

Deren helped Elune give Frostmourne to the Winter Queen so she could use it to shelter Ardenweald and escape the coming war in the Shadowlands. He and Elune discussed a plan to keep the conflict away from Azeroth, and Deren returned home after deciding Frostmourne should be hidden on the White Lady.

• Jaina returned Frostmourne to Deren, then left Elune and Deren to speak at the Temple of the Moon.
• Elune contacted the Winter Queen, who confirmed Frostmourne could hold Death Power and serve as a vessel for Ardenweald, then asked Elune to help her leave the Shadowlands.
• Elune introduced Deren to the Winter Queen as her close mortal advisor, and the Winter Queen thanked him before Elune sent Frostmourne to Ardenweald.
• Deren warned Elune that the Shadowlands war could draw in the Burning Legion, the Titans, and the Holy Light Legion, and proposed stirring up a wider conflict to give Azeroth time to recover.
• Deren suggested hiding Frostmourne with the White Lady, and Elune agreed that the moon could shelter her sister and Ardenweald.
• Elune sent Deren home, where Onyxia asked what Elune had wanted, and Deren gave her a vague answer.

Alleria and her sisters traveled through Gilneas with the Goblin merchant Puzliko, learning that Quel'Thalas had changed and selling her Void-gem ornament for three thousand gold. In Gilneas, they confronted nobles who abused a Worgen waitress, then helped her and her employer as Puzliko arranged a possible business partnership.

• Puzliko told Alleria that Quel'Thalas had sold lumber during the war against the Trolls, and she agreed to sell him her ornament for three thousand gold coins.
• Puzliko led Alleria, Sylvanas, Vereesa, and Laras to a restaurant in Gilneas, where Vereesa curiously touched the Worgen waitress Liss's fur.
• A top-hatted noble burned Liss's hand with a cigar and insulted Worgen, so Alleria's group stopped him and Sylvanas used a recording crystal to expose his threats.
• The top-hatted man apologized to Liss and paid her compensation before Sylvanas ordered him and his companions to leave.
• Vereesa told the restaurant owner and Liss that they could seek help in Theramore, while Puzliko proposed partnering with the owner on a trade route between Gilneas and Theramore.

The Windrunner family confronted corrupt Gilneas guards, and Sylvanas advised Prince Liam Greymane to seek divine power as a way to strengthen royal authority. Meanwhile, the Burning Legion attacked the Shadowlands, and the Winter Queen revealed that Ardenweald’s inhabitants were preparing to flee as the war approached.

• Gilneas guards surrounded the Windrunner family at a restaurant, but Sylvanas wounded their captain and drove them away.
• Prince Liam apologized for the guards’ conduct, learned the Windrunners’ identities, and asked for Alleria’s advice on dealing with Gilneas’s nobles.
• Sylvanas told Liam that extraordinary strength could restore royal authority and suggested divine power as a path to it.
• Archimonde’s demons attacked Bastion, but Archon Griselda drove them back before Archimonde retreated to Kil’jaeden’s laboratory to study a captured Kyrian.
• Griselda asked the Winter Queen and other Shadowlands leaders to help defend against the Burning Legion, but they avoided joining the war.
• The Winter Queen’s realm began to fall asleep, and Griselda realized the Night Fae might be trying to flee the Shadowlands.

The Winter Queen and Archon Griselda escaped the besieged Shadowlands by compressing their realms into Frostmourne and seeking refuge with Elune. On the White Lady moon, Elune established Bwonsamdi’s divine kingdom as a bridge for their realms, leaving Griselda under Elune’s power.

• The Winter Queen persuaded Griselda to abandon Bastion and bring a small group of Kyrian to Ardenweald, where both groups were put into enchanted sleep.
• The Winter Queen used Frostmourne to compress Ardenweald and its sleeping inhabitants, while Griselda left an avatar behind as they departed the Shadowlands.
• After Griselda’s aura vanished, the Forsworn led by Devos seized Bastion, and Denathrius ordered Revendreth to prepare for the Burning Legion.
• Elune summoned Bwonsamdi to establish his divine kingdom around Frostmourne, creating a connection between the sword and the real world.
• The Winter Queen and Griselda emerged with their realms, and Elune placed several revived Wild Gods under the Winter Queen’s care.
• Griselda recognized Elune’s control over the arrangement and asked her to look after the Kyrian who had escaped with her.