Recaps

Rend led the Blackhand Orcs against the Holy Light Clerics but was killed by their gunfire after a spell slowed his troops. Durotan watched the losses mount as the Frostwolf launched another assault, and the Blackhand Orcs rallied to fight again.

• Rend charged into the Holy Light Clerics’ gunfire to rally his troops, but their bullets battered his shield and wounded him.
• A Priest cast Slowness on the Orcs, and the Holy Light Clerics’ gunfire killed Rend as his forces struggled to advance.
• The Blackhand Orcs panicked and turned on comrades while fleeing, and Durotan watched in disbelief.
• Bluntan ordered the Frostwolf to attack, and Durotan’s clan charged the Holy Light Clerics from the forest.
• Shamed by their retreat and the blood on their weapons, the Blackhand Orcs rallied and charged again for the Horde.

The Holy Light Clerics held off Durotan’s Orcs long enough for the civilians to escape, then withdrew on Holy Light Wolves. Durotan was left furious at the losses and at the Clerics’ retreat.

• The Holy Light Clerics stood their ground as Durotan and the Orcs attacked their Barrier, while the Clerics fought back and treated their wounded.
• Durotan broke through the Barrier, but an immense force crushed the Orcs charging ahead, and the Clerics raised a fresh Barrier.
• Durotan ordered Khadgar to find a way to break the Clerics’ defenses, but the shamans’ Darkness Spears barely affected them.
• As the exhausted Clerics continued holding off the Orcs, the Captain decided they had bought enough time and ordered a withdrawal.
• The Clerics summoned Holy Light Wolves and fled through a path cleared by War Stomp, leaving Durotan enraged by their escape and his clan’s losses.

Rich’s report on the orcs led Llane to call for an all-out war, but the nobles blocked him until orc raids devastated their territories. After the nobles returned to demand mobilization, Llane rebuked them and anticipated the arrival of reinforcements.

• Rich showed Llane and Lothar a video demonstrating the orcs’ strength, and Llane summoned the kingdom’s nobles and ministers to prepare for war.
• The nobles resisted placing the kingdom on an emergency war footing because they feared losing taxes, troops, and control of their lands.
• Orcs bypassed Spineback Mountain and slaughtered people across more than twenty noble territories, while Holy Light Clerics evacuated many local residents.
• After the attacks, the nobles returned to the meeting room and urged Llane to muster the kingdom’s forces and seek aid from other human kingdoms.
• Llane condemned the nobles for obstructing mobilization and revealed that Holy Light Clerics were holding Spineback Mountain against at least a hundred thousand orcs.

The nobles argued over Llane’s treatment of them as the Old Duke urged them to commit their private soldiers, while the defenses at Spineback Mountain slaughtered the orcs. After four days of heavy losses, Durotan proposed bypassing the pass, but Blackhand refused to abandon the attack.

• The nobles condemned Llane’s departure, and the Old Duke ordered them to commit their private soldiers while warning them about the Holy Church’s growing influence.
• The nobles worried that commoners and the king were turning away from their rule, though Marquis Camron dismissed the danger.
• Lothar witnessed the defenses at Spineback Mountain destroy waves of orcs with machine guns and devastating artillery.
• Durotan confronted Gul'dan over the loss of nearly twenty thousand orcs in four days and proposed that the army bypass the pass.
• Blackhand rejected Durotan’s proposal, insisting that the orcs continue attacking despite the other chieftains’ reluctance.

As the orc assault on Spineback Mountain faltered, Gul'dan promised Blackhand that the attack would continue for two more days. In Stormwind City, Llane welcomed the Holy Church's arriving Sky Carriers and their powerful Silver Armor troops, leaving the kingdom's defense in their hands.

• Orc losses at Spineback Mountain fueled growing discontent among the tribes, and Blackhand confronted Gul'dan over the failed attacks.
• Gul'dan said a god had ordered two more days of attacks and promised it would take care of the rest, while Blackhand warned him to answer to the chieftains if they still failed.
• Llane waited with his wife and young son as Stormwind residents gathered to see what the king was welcoming.
• Dozens of Sky Carriers arrived in a V-shaped formation and stopped above a clearing outside Stormwind City.
• Holy Light Clerics in Silver Armor marched from the Sky Carriers and formed ranks before Llane, who felt reassured by their presence.

Hexia used his Sacred armor ability to trap Medivh in a dark void, forcing the hidden enemy to retreat. After Hexia exhausted his holy power, Rich restored him, and they prepared to rejoin Llane and the others.

• Medivh watched the warship through a magical water mirror and recognized that its technology threatened his invasion of Azeroth.
• Hexia confronted Medivh through the mirror and used Five Senses deprivation to seal him in a dark space, where Medivh panicked before escaping.
• Medivh returned to the water mirror, feared Hexia's power, and heard a warning before the mirror shattered.
• Hexia weakened from draining his holy power, and a Legion Commander caught him as he stepped off the Mothership.
• Rich transferred holy power to Hexia, who explained that he had briefly trapped Medivh's soul and would need Rich's help to fight him again.
• Rich reassured Hexia, and they headed back toward Llane and the group.

Rich brought Hexia to meet Llane as tens of thousands of Holy Light Clerics entered Stormwind City, strengthening the people’s sense of safety and alarming the nobles. At a palace meeting, Llane rejected Duke Vilga’s appeal for noble support and confronted him over his son’s abuse of the common people.

• Rich introduced Hexia to Llane, who welcomed him and arranged for the Holy Light Clerics to stay in prepared barracks.
• Tens of thousands of Holy Light Clerics marched into Stormwind City as residents greeted their arrival with excitement and nobles watched in fear.
• The old duke ordered the nobles to seek an audience with Llane after realizing the king had not consulted them about the clerics’ arrival.
• At the palace, Duke Vilga offered the nobles’ support, but Llane told them to manage their territories while the kingdom handled its own wars.
• Duke Vilga knelt and claimed the nobles upheld Llane’s rule, but Llane rebuked him over his son’s so-called right of the first night.

Llane condemned the nobles’ abuse of power and the dispute with them collapsed, while the Holy Light Clerics swept orcs from the kingdom and arrested oppressive nobles. At Spineback Mountain, Durotan challenged Blackhand for leadership, and Hexia chose to wait and see whether the new leader would pursue peace.

• Llane denounced the nobles’ arrogance, rejected their claims of superiority by blood, and left the palace after negotiations broke down.
• The old Duke Vilga slapped the noble who had provoked Llane, warned him his family might be ruined, and hurried home to prepare for the king’s response.
• The Holy Light Clerics cleared orcs from Stormwind Kingdom and arrested nobles who had resumed oppressing their people.
• Durotan and the Frostwolf blocked Blackhand, and Durotan challenged him to become the Horde’s new leader.
• Durotan exploited Blackhand’s fel-driven frenzy, pinned him down, and beat him in their fight.
• Hexia watched the duel with Lothar and decided to give the new orc leader a chance to pursue peace before attacking.

Hexia used two Victory rockets to force the Orcs to surrender after Durotan defeated Blackhand and became their Chieftain. Durotan submitted on behalf of the Orcs in exchange for peace and help finding a sustainable way to survive.

• Hexia ordered the rocket unit to launch two Victory rockets near the Orc Horde as a warning.
• Durotan defeated Blackhand and was hailed as the Orcs’ new leader, but the rockets’ blasts terrified the Horde and devastated the ground near their camp.
• Hexia arrived by aircraft, demanded to speak with the new leader, and told Durotan that the Orcs could survive without waging war.
• Durotan explained that his people needed food and territory, and Hexia offered to teach them farming and let them settle in the land.
• Durotan knelt and submitted on behalf of the Orcs, and the Horde followed suit as Hexia promised them a new era.

After the war, Hexia urged Lothar to set aside hatred, and the Stormwind Kingdom and Durotan’s Orcs agreed to a peace settlement. Meanwhile, Medivh-Sargeras planned revenge in Karazhan, only for a Giant Golden Skeleton to attack the tower.

• Hexia told Lothar that the Orcs had paid for their invasion and that Holy Light clerics had a duty to release their hatred after victory.
• Lothar reconsidered the Holy Light’s purpose and left the walls with renewed resolve.
• Llane and Durotan signed an agreement granting the Orcs territory and self-government in exchange for obligations and repayment, after which they would be treated equally as citizens.
• Llane reflected on the kingdom’s gains and learned that the Holy Church had sent the Uchiha to Karazhan to deal with Medivh.
• Medivh-Sargeras vowed revenge for the disruption of his plans, but a Giant Golden Skeleton attacked Karazhan with strange blades as the tower’s magic struck back.

Sasuke attacked Karazhan, but Medivh fought back with overwhelming magic. Sasuke trapped him in an illusion, though the chapter left unclear whether Medivh’s ensuing rampage was real or part of the illusion.

• Medivh rushed out of Karazhan and hurled a lightning spear at Sasuke, who dodged with his golden Susanoo.
• Sasuke’s golden Mangekyō tracked Medivh as he used Flash and battered the Susanoo with compressed air.
• Sasuke cast God’s Dream, Ideal Land after locating Medivh, and Medivh believed he had destroyed Sasuke.
• Medivh imagined himself slaughtering Sasuke’s allies, empowering the Orcs, and reveling in the suffering of Azeroth’s people.

Sasuke and the Holy Light Clerics used the Holy Grail to seal Sargeras’s soul, but he escaped through a spatial passage into a new universe. There he discovered that the vast ball of light was the Holy Light, which prepared to devour him.

• Khadgar pleaded with the Holy Light Clerics to save him, and they promised to treat his curse after dealing with the demon.
• A Holy Light Cleric brought out the Holy Grail, and Sasuke tore out the eye containing Sargeras and dropped it into the cup.
• The Holy Grail trapped Sargeras’s soul and began burning it, but Sargeras escaped through a black spatial passage.
• Sargeras emerged in a new universe and declared that he would become its creator god.
• Li Ming revealed that the vast ball of light was the Holy Light, which opened its mouth and began to devour Sargeras.

Medivh awoke free of the demon and learned that he had truly harmed the kingdom and cursed Khadgar. Sasuke killed Khadgar to break the curse, and Miss Izumi began restoring his body as Medivh watched in shock.

• Medivh awoke and Sasuke told him the demon had possessed him and that the mission was complete.
• Medivh saw Khadgar’s cursed, withered body and apologized for what he had done to his apprentice.
• Sasuke explained that Khadgar had to die to escape the curse, and Khadgar agreed to trust the team.
• Sasuke killed Khadgar, and white flames reduced his body to ashes.
• Miss Izumi prayed and summoned golden light that began rebuilding Khadgar’s body.

After Medivh recovered from demonic control, he supported Llane’s transformation of Stormwind into a centralized, prosperous kingdom despite condemnation from the other human kings. The Orc Autonomous Region also became self-sufficient and developed into a major agricultural and livestock center.

• Medivh returned to the Royal Palace, learned how Llane and Lothar had handled the kingdom during his possession, and pledged to support Llane’s decision to remove the nobles.
• The kings of the other Six Human Kingdoms condemned Llane for imprisoning or driving out Stormwind’s nobles, but Llane ignored their letters as the Holy Church helped reform the kingdom’s government and infrastructure.
• Nobles in the six kingdoms publicly scorned Stormwind, even as they eagerly sought its new goods, while traveling merchants saw how far its cities and citizens had advanced.
• The Holy Church purged fel from the orcs and helped them reform, grow high-yield crops, and learn livestock raising, making the Orc Autonomous Region a major source of grain and meat.

Durotan struggled to balance his duties as great chieftain with his son Gul'dan's coming-of-age ceremony, while Kilrogg Deadeye plotted to resist the Holy Church's influence over the Orc Horde. The chapter left Kilrogg seeking a way to contact the imprisoned Duldan and rally more Orcs.

• Durotan learned that hundreds of documents and disputes still required his attention on the day of Gul'dan's coming-of-age ceremony.
• Durotan asked the Holy Church's position on the Bleeding Hollow clan, and its cleric said the Orcs should handle the matter fairly before the Church intervened.
• Kilrogg Deadeye complained that the Holy Church and the Horde's new laws had weakened his clan, while his old priest warned that the clan risked disappearing.
• Kilrogg ordered the old priest to find a way to contact Duldan, who was imprisoned in Orgrimmar and awaiting public execution.

Durotan confronted Kilrogg over the Bleeding Hollow clan’s theft from the Shattered Hand and forced him to return the supplies. He left Kilrogg with a final warning and ordered the clan to work on the Horde’s new city in the Swamplands.

• An orc soldier told Kilrogg that Durotan had arrived with the Horde’s personal guards and surrounded the Bleeding Hollow clan.
• Durotan ordered Kilrogg to return the supplies stolen from the Shattered Hand and apologize, but Kilrogg defended his actions as orc tradition.
• When Kilrogg refused, Durotan struck him and challenged him to follow his own belief that the strong should prevail.
• Kilrogg yielded and agreed to return the supplies after Durotan threatened to replace him and warned that the Holy Church’s Enforcement Corps would come if he caused trouble again.
• Durotan ordered every Bleeding Hollow member to work on the new city in the Swamplands for standard wages, then left with his guards.

Kilrogg reconsidered the Bleeding Hollow clan’s resistance to change and agreed to help repair the new city. Meanwhile, Durotan learned that Gul'dan would pursue further training at Holy Church Headquarters, where students from many races and worlds were preparing for future expansion.

• After Durotan left, the Old Priest urged Kilrogg to adapt, and Kilrogg agreed to send the Bleeding Hollow clan to work on repairing the new city.
• At home, Draka told Durotan that Gul'dan was training for a chance to study at Holy Church Headquarters.
• Durotan became excited about the opportunity, believing it could open a larger future for the Horde beyond Azeroth.
• Durotan watched Gul'dan train and praised him for earning a place in the advanced training program.
• Gul'dan explained that students from humans, high elves, and other worlds would join the program to prepare for large-scale exploration of new worlds.

The Red Dragon Queen and Aegwynn investigated the fading fel eruption near the Dark Portal, then flew to Karazhan to find Medivh. He explained that the Holy Church had sealed Sargeras and transformed the Stormwind Kingdom, leaving Aegwynn and the Red Dragon Queen stunned by the Church’s power.

• The Red Dragon Queen reached the Dark Portal and found Aegwynn, who had also come to investigate the brief surge of evil power.
• The Red Dragon Queen and Aegwynn discussed recent eruptions of light and evil magic, then decided to ask Medivh about the green-skinned creatures.
• Aegwynn and the Red Dragon Queen noticed that Stormwind’s buildings resembled those of the faction they had investigated, and Aegwynn worried about Medivh.
• Medivh greeted Aegwynn and the Red Dragon Queen at Karazhan and explained that Sargeras had been hiding inside him.
• Medivh told them that the Holy Church had sealed Sargeras, lifted his apprentice’s curse, and brought the orcs under its control.
• The Red Dragon Queen doubted that Sargeras could have been sealed so easily, while Medivh insisted that the Holy Church was immensely powerful.

Medivh brought Aegwynn and the Red Dragon Queen to the Holy Church in Stormwind, where they were astonished by the people’s education and power of the Holy Light. After entering the branch and learning its ordinary warriors rivaled dragons, they were left wondering how powerful its elite forces were.

• Medivh promised Aegwynn and the Red Dragon Queen that he would take them to meet the Holy Church’s forces.
• Medivh brought the two women to Stormwind, where the Red Dragon Queen mistook the educated, well-mannered crowd for nobles.
• Aegwynn sensed that many people carried the power of the Holy Light, and Medivh explained that believers received it from the Holy Church’s own deity, not the Naaru.
• Medivh led Aegwynn and the Red Dragon Queen into the Holy Church, where clerics used Evil Detection to check everyone entering for demons.
• The Red Dragon Queen and Aegwynn learned that the impressive warriors guarding the hall were ordinary Holy Church soldiers, and Medivh confirmed it.

The Red Dragon Queen and Aegwynn learned that the Holy Church had twelve armies of twenty thousand powerful troops each and met Rich, whose strength they could not perceive. Rich revealed that the Holy Church came from another universe and promised that the holy light would protect Azeroth, leaving the Red Dragon Queen reassured and with a renewed sense of direction.

• The Red Dragon Queen was astonished to learn from Medivh that the Holy Church had twelve armies like the force in Stormwind Kingdom.
• Medivh brought the Red Dragon Queen and Aegwynn to meet Rich, whose power neither woman could sense.
• Rich told the visitors that the Holy Church came from another universe and had reached Azeroth through the holy light.
• The Red Dragon Queen asked whether the Holy Church intended to bring war, and Rich promised that the holy light would protect Azeroth.
• The Red Dragon Queen felt reassured by Rich's conviction and found renewed direction in her role as Azeroth's guardian.

Rich wondered why the Holy Church had kept its main forces in Azeroth as hidden threats gathered and the human kingdoms grew alarmed by the Church’s influence. In Lordaeron, Deathwing, disguised as Lord Prestor, tried to turn King Terenas and the nobles against the Church, then used Stormwind’s situation to inflame their fears.

• Rich wondered why his big sister had not withdrawn the Holy Church’s main forces, unaware that the Old Gods, Deathwing, and Kil'jaeden were preparing for future conflicts.
• Nobles across six human kingdoms discovered that the Holy Church had become deeply established in remote villages and that its clerics could defeat their private forces.
• King Terenas Menethil II heard Lordaeron’s nobles demand military action against the Church, while Arthas urged him to consult Archbishop Alonsus Faol.
• Lord Prestor accused the Church of threatening royal authority, but Arthas argued that hearing Faol’s response would reveal the Church’s intentions.
• Prestor reminded the nobles that the Holy Church controlled Stormwind, alarming them and prompting memories of the nobles who had been driven from the kingdom.

Nehil II summoned Archbishop Faol to answer accusations that the Holy Light Grand Cathedral was spreading Holy Churches across noble lands. Faol denied the Cathedral’s involvement and revealed that mysterious priests had once approached him, leaving the nobles and Prestor without grounds to blame the Church.

• Nehil II followed Arthas’s advice and sent him to bring Archbishop Faol to the palace.
• The nobles accused Faol of expanding the Church of the Holy Light across their territories, but he said the Holy Light Grand Cathedral lacked the priests to do so.
• Faol read the king’s report and learned that an organization outside the Cathedral had spread Holy Light Protection across the Seven Kingdoms and assimilated Stormwind.
• Faol recalled that unfamiliar priests had visited him years earlier and left without explanation, while Prestor tried to cast doubt on his account.
• Nehil II concluded the Holy Light Grand Cathedral was not responsible and had Arthas escort Faol back.

Menethil II sent Jaina to seek help from Dalaran and the Seven Kingdoms as Lordaeron faced a brewing rebellion. Meanwhile, Ner'zhul raised an undead army in Northrend, and a cultist in Lordaeron planned to offer Arthas as a vessel for the Lich King.

• Menethil II persuaded the nobles to seek a negotiated solution and chose Jaina to approach the Kirin Tor and the Seven Kingdoms.
• Jaina agreed to the mission, and Arthas accepted her decision despite his reluctance to involve her.
• Kil'jaeden turned his attention to Ner'zhul, who had been imprisoned within the Frozen Throne and wanted revenge.
• Ner'zhul raised armies of undead across Northrend and sent them marching toward Lordaeron.
• A black-and-red-robed cultist in Lordaeron rejoiced at the Lich King's coming and chose Arthas as a potential vessel for his master.

Jaina returned to Dalaran to report Menethil’s warning about the Holy Church, while Stratholme faced a plague and riots that sent Arthas there with elite troops. As Arthas traveled, Holy Church clerics investigated reports of a moving corpse, and Anthony and Jaina went undercover to inspect the Church’s territory in Dalaran.

• Jaina left Lordaeron for Dalaran, and Menethil learned that a plague had struck Stratholme and sparked riots.
• Menethil sent Arthas to Stratholme, and Arthas observed well-kept villages governed by the Holy Church before continuing onward.
• A Holy Light Cleric squad learned of a moving corpse near Back Mountain and set out to investigate.
• Anthony and Jaina disguised themselves as commoners and walked toward a village to inspect the Holy Church’s territory in Dalaran.
• A carriage driver offered Anthony and Jaina a free ride after they discovered they had no copper coins.

Anthony and Jaina rode a remarkably comfortable carriage and learned from its passengers how the Holy Church had improved village life. A boy’s holy power revealed how ordinary people embraced the Church’s clerics, leaving the two spellcasters unsettled by the contrast with how commoners viewed mages.

• Anthony and Jaina boarded a smooth, modern carriage and heard a woman praise the Holy Church’s comfort and plans for faster travel.
• The woman described how Holy Church clerics had eased village hardships, improved farming and animal care, and built roads and irrigation structures.
• When Jaina asked why the Church helped people, a young woman repeated a saying about passing the light of hope down through generations.
• A shy boy explained that education and knowledge helped children grow into people who could build a better life, then revealed his holy power.
• Anthony and Jaina watched the passengers praise the boy and realized commoners treated Holy Light Clerics with affection rather than the fear they showed mages.