The battle on Quel'Danas Island began far earlier than the one at Silvermoon City.
Thanks to the traitor Dalkhan's leak, the Scourge had long since uncovered the secrets of the High Elves' "Gatekeeper" defense system. After Ye Ting and Sylvanas fled, the undead immediately launched attacks on the temples at An'telas, Andalos, and An'owyn.
Although the three temples' defenders included many elites and even legendary powerhouses, faced with the Scourge's numerical advantage and a carefully planned surprise attack, all three temples fell before they could even send out a distress signal.
The three moon crystals that controlled the entire system also fell into Arthas's hands.
The High Elves had naturally left safeguards in place when designing this system. Dalkhan alone could never seize control of it in reverse, but destroying it and rendering it useless was more than possible.
Thus, at that moment, countless Quel'dorei mages felt their control over the "Gatekeeper" vanish, and the Three Moon Keys protecting Silvermoon City and Quel'Danas Island naturally failed as well.
Of course, Arthas knew that this alone would not be enough to defeat the Quel'dorei. The High Elves' foundations built over thousands of years, along with the legacy inherited from the Kaldorei ten thousand years ago, gave this race tremendous strength. Since the surprise attack on Silvermoon City had failed to achieve complete success, defeating Quel'Thalas head-on with the Scourge alone would be extremely difficult.
Under such circumstances, Arthas could only take a dangerous gamble.
On one hand, he continued to muster his army and march grandly toward Silvermoon City.
On the other, he personally led a small force of Scourge elites—including death knights, necromancers, and liches—around Silvermoon City to launch a surprise attack on Quel'Danas Island.
The former force was led by Baron Rivendare, foremost among Arthas's Four Horsemen of the