Chapter Summaries

After leaving his guild and losing repeatedly in battlegrounds, Lin Yu fell asleep and dreamed he had become a ranger company commander serving Sylvanas. He took her orders to block the Darkpine Trolls but angered her by asking about quest rewards and NPC reinforcements.

• Lin Yu left his guild, then lost every battleground match until he fell asleep during an Alterac battle and woke to a victory.
• Lin Yu dreamed he was Yu Lin Bloodhawk, leading a company of elf recruits to report to Sylvanas.
• Sylvanas ordered Lin Yu to establish a blocking line between Zeb'Sora and Zeb'Tela while she attacked the Darkpine Trolls at Zeb'Sora.
• Lin Yu called Sylvanas a general and asked about quest rewards, prompting her to rebuke him for treating the military like a marketplace.
• Lin Yu asked for NPCs to help him fight, and Sylvanas explained that he had to rely on his own company before ordering him to leave.

Lin Yu accepted Sylvanas's mission, but his uncertainty about whether his troops would obey him enraged her and made her dismiss him from the battle. Sylvanas then offered him a test of his ability, and she and Lor'themar went to watch him put his soldiers through it.

• Lin Yu loudly accepted Sylvanas's mission and asked whether the rangers would follow his commands in battle.
• Sylvanas, alarmed that Lin Yu did not know whether his troops would obey him, ordered him to leave and condemned the nobles who endangered soldiers.
• Lin Yu calmly asked where to go next, and Sylvanas softened after seeing that her insults had not angered him.
• Sylvanas challenged Lin Yu to prove his ability by taking his soldiers on thirty laps around the camp, and Lin Yu accepted the quest.
• Lor'themar laughed at Lin Yu's behavior, then followed Sylvanas as she went to see whether Lin Yu could command his troops.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk lectured a hundred Ranger recruits and argued that High Elves were too young to serve in the army. He exposed his own age-based reasoning as inconsistent, then changed the subject to announce that he had been looked down on.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk gave the Ranger recruits a long speech, then scolded them for enlisting before they were old enough by human standards.
• A recruit told Yu Lin that she was thirty, the minimum age for enlistment, and Yu Lin criticized the Military Department and Council for allowing younger-looking recruits to serve.
• Yu Lin said he was thirty-five and justified his own enlistment by claiming he was mentally twenty years older than the recruits.
• Yu Lin tried to change the subject by offering good and bad news, but the recruits cheered when he began saying he had been looked down on.
• Sylvanas and Lor'themar watched the recruits mock Yu Lin's self-praise and noted that he seemed to get along with them.

Lin Yu tried to teach his rookie Rangers team pride and cooperation, but his talk turned into a promise to settle the score with Sylvanas. He forgot their mission until Sylvanas announced it was complete and accepted his challenge to fight her someday.

• Lin Yu scolded the rookies for laughing when someone looked down on him, then lectured them about team pride until they gathered around him beneath a tree.
• Lin Yu used wolves as an example of unity and cooperation, telling the rookies a story about a pack working together to hunt deer.
• When a rookie asked who had insulted Lin Yu, he called Sylvanas a queen-tier boss and promised that the squadron would defeat her once they grew stronger.
• Lin Yu realized he had forgotten their mission, and Sylvanas told him it was complete before walking away and saying she would await his challenge.
• Lor'themar laughed at Lin Yu's predicament, and Sylvanas threatened to put him in front of her when the rookies came to settle the score.

Sylvanas revised the raid plan and ordered Lin Yu’s rookie squadron to scout near Zeb'Sora and warn the attackers through the Tower of the Stars. Lin Yu accepted the assignment, then remembered the tower’s connection to Dar'Khan and asked whether the archmage was there.

• Sylvanas rejected Lor'themar’s proposal to divert the Third Battalion and changed Lin Yu’s squadron’s role to scouting and intercepting messengers.
• Sylvanas ordered the Bloodhawk Squadron to reach the Tower of the Stars in secret and coordinate with its arcanists while keeping the Farstriders out of the raid.
• Sylvanas visited Lin Yu and instructed him to march to Dawnpeak Mountain, enter the tower before daybreak the following night, and gather intelligence.
• Lin Yu reluctantly promised to carry out the assignment, though he believed he might wake from his dream before the raid began.
• Lin Yu recalled that the Tower of the Stars was connected to Dar'Khan and asked Sylvanas whether the archmage was there.

Lin Yu warned Sylvanas that Dar'Khan would betray Quel'Thalas and bring about its ruin, while also revealing that the Trolls' planned attack would fail after their leaders died. Sylvanas was shaken by his account and was left with a warning to keep Lor'themar from revealing the Sunwell's secrets.

• Lin Yu told Sylvanas that Dar'Khan was a traitor and hinted at a secret threatening Quel'Thalas.
• Lin Yu recalled that the Trolls were planning a large-scale attack, but their leaders would die before they could launch it.
• After Sylvanas promised not to ask how he knew, Lin Yu described Dar'Khan's betrayal, the destruction of the magical barrier, and the high elves' grim future.
• Sylvanas trembled at the fate Lin Yu described and failed to notice him secretly kiss her cheek.
• Lin Yu told Sylvanas to warn Lor'themar not to reveal the Sunwell's secrets, since his actions would help cause the disaster.

Lin Yu urged Sylvanas to test the effects of losing the Sunwell on varied high elves, then openly praised and flirted with her until she fled. The next morning, he realized he was trapped in Azeroth and, unable to kill himself, ordered his recruits to shoot him; the chapter ended as he stood in front of their drawn bows and commanded them to fire.

• Lin Yu advised Sylvanas to test several high elves from different backgrounds rather than severing her own Sunwell connection.
• Lin Yu confessed that he liked Sylvanas and praised her as the most beautiful, talented, and powerful woman in Azeroth, leaving her flustered and fleeing to her command tent.
• Lin Yu woke in the military camp, realized he had not returned to reality, and panicked about living in Azeroth and suffering mana addiction.
• Lin Yu considered killing himself with a saber but could not bring himself to do it, so he demanded that his recruits kill him; they refused.
• Lin Yu assembled the recruits in full gear, ordered them to aim at a bull's-eye on a tree, stood in front of it, and commanded them to loose.

Lin Yu tried to die after concluding he was trapped in a dream, but his recruits could not bring themselves to kill him. Sylvanas mistook his behavior and his accusation against Nozdormu as proof of a dangerous secret, then ordered him kept under her watch as she redirected the troops to Tranquillien.

• Lin Yu stood in front of the recruits' target, but their arrows all missed him and struck the tree behind him.
• Lin Yu decided to seek death among the Trolls, then reasoned that Sylvanas might have trapped him because he had revealed something forbidden.
• Sylvanas heard the recruits' report, sealed the camp, and went to Lin Yu's tent, believing a powerful organization had discovered their secret.
• Lin Yu blamed Nozdormu for trapping him, and Sylvanas took his outburst as confirmation that the secret came from the Timekeeper.
• Lin Yu snapped Sylvanas out of her daze, and she ordered him to stay within her sight.
• Sylvanas canceled the troops' scheduled assignments and ordered them to hurry to Tranquillien.

Lin Yu marched with Sylvanas’s troops to Tranquillien, where she questioned him about the future of Azeroth. He revealed details of the coming wars and the First War, then began telling her a secret about Medivh.

• Sylvanas ordered Lor'themar to retrieve a Memory Crystal and Lin Yu to take his troops to Tranquillien instead of raiding the troll camp.
• Lin Yu marched with seven hundred soldiers to Tranquillien, where Sylvanas kept him under close watch.
• In her office, Sylvanas asked Lin Yu about the future, and he said Arthas would kill Terenas before undead forces invaded Quel'Thalas during the Third War.
• Lin Yu explained that orcs came from another world and that the First War began when they invaded Azeroth through the Dark Portal.
• Lin Yu told Sylvanas that Medivh had opened the Dark Portal, then offered to reveal a secret about the Guardian.

Lin Yu told Sylvanas about Sargeras possessing Medivh and described the Second War and the future of Azeroth. He urged her to prepare Quel'Thalas for the undead invasion by building ties with Thrall and the orcs, and Sylvanas promised to remember his advice.

• Lin Yu revealed that Medivh shared his body with Sargeras, and he argued that capturing or killing Medivh would not solve the threat.
• Lin Yu recounted the Second War, the High Elves' withdrawal from the Alliance, and his view that humans and High Elves had never truly trusted one another.
• Lin Yu advised Sylvanas to secure practical concessions from the humans, preserve High Elf strength, and use orc prisoners as labor and future allies.
• Lin Yu told Sylvanas that Thrall would escape the internment camps, establish the Horde, and could become a secret ally against the undead.
• Sylvanas thanked Lin Yu sincerely and said she would remember everything he had told her.

Lin Yu joked with Sylvanas about how the high elves should survive the undead invasion, then revealed the fates he believed awaited Alleria and Kael'thas. Still desperate to return to his own world, he jumped from a cliff, but Sylvanas found him alive and poisoned, leaving his survival uncertain.

• Lin Yu advised Sylvanas to evacuate civilians, preserve most of the Sunwell's waters, and avoid aiding the humans against the undead.
• Lin Yu told Sylvanas that Kael'thas would fall for Jaina and Alleria would elope with Turalyon, upsetting her and making her resolve to stop her sister.
• Lin Yu left the barracks at midnight and jumped from a cliff on Morning Mist Mountain, hoping to die and wake up in his own world.
• Sylvanas, who had followed Lin Yu, saw him fall and searched below the cliff after he vanished from sight.
• Lin Yu crashed through a giant spindleweb spider's web and onto the spider, which bit him before dying.
• Sylvanas found Lin Yu alive but badly injured and poisoned, then carried him to the barracks, where the apothecary warned that his survival was uncertain.

After waking from a six-day coma, Lin Yu grieved that Yu Lin Bloodhawk had survived while his original self had died, and he clashed with Sylvanas over her insistence that he help protect Quel'Thalas. Sylvanas confined him and then questioned Lor'themar about severing the high elves’ connection to the Sunwell and their alliance with the human nations.

• Lor'themar returned with the memory crystal, and Sylvanas ordered him to store it safely in Silvermoon City for the council in case she died.
• Sylvanas investigated Yu Lin Bloodhawk’s past while Lin Yu remained unconscious, and the healers warned he might never awaken.
• Lin Yu woke, learned he had slept for six days, and lamented that his original self had died while Yu Lin Bloodhawk lived.
• Sylvanas demanded that Lin Yu live and help the high elves, but he argued that he was only a powerless bystander and resented her saving him.
• Sylvanas ordered Lin Yu to remain in his room, then asked Lor'themar about severing the high elves’ connection to the Sunwell and the alliance with the human nations.

Sylvanas tasked Lor'themar with investigating whether Quel'Thalas and humanity considered each other indebted from the Troll Wars, and asked him to gather information about warships. Lor'themar left on a month-long extended leave to begin the investigation, while Sylvanas considered how a future war and negotiations might benefit Quel'Thalas.

• Sylvanas questioned Lor'themar about whether Quel'Thalas owed humanity for help during the Troll Wars, and Lor'themar found ten soldiers who shared his view that it owed nothing.
• Sylvanas told Lor'themar to investigate the opinions of people in Quel'Thalas and human nobles, warning that a future war might make the old agreement important.
• Sylvanas suggested Lor'themar visit human leaders discreetly as part of a diplomatic delegation, and he welcomed the chance for extended leave.
• Sylvanas asked Lor'themar about Quel'Thalas's shipbuilding, and he explained that its warships were costly, slow to build, and less suited to combat than human ships.
• Sylvanas asked Lor'themar to gather information about ships and privately considered seeking warships in future negotiations and getting Yu Lin Bloodhawk into the delegation.
• Sylvanas granted Lor'themar a month to investigate, and he quickly left to begin his leave.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk accepted Lin Yu’s death, honored his former self with a funeral, and told Sylvanas he wanted to change the future so he could survive. The two began discussing how to prevent the coming disasters, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk refused to let Silvermoon City know he had warned Sylvanas.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Sylvanas that Lin Yu was dead and asked her to help arrange a gravestone.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk held a funeral for Lin Yu, then told Sylvanas that he liked women and had shared his revelations partly to steal a kiss.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk said he wanted to change the future and avoid becoming a Betrayer, and Sylvanas invited him to discuss their plans in her office.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked how Sylvanas would report their knowledge to Silvermoon City and insisted that he would deny telling her anything.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk advised Sylvanas to avoid changing history before the Second War ended and to keep Quel'Thalas from sending its elite forces on the later expedition. After agreeing to enter the Windrunner family's patronage, he rejected Sylvanas's proposed fief because it was the future site of Deatholme.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk warned Sylvanas that reporting his knowledge of the future could make him a target in Silvermoon City's political struggles, and he advised her to let events unfold until after the Second War.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk suggested spreading rumors that the Guardian carried Sargeras's soul and using the troll threat to prevent Quel'Thalas from sending an expeditionary force.
• Sylvanas teased Yu Lin Bloodhawk about wanting her sister and offered to help them meet, while he joked about getting involved with both Windrunner sisters.
• Sylvanas pointed out that Yu Lin Bloodhawk had never claimed the fief due to his barony, and he agreed to seek the Windrunner family's patronage.
• Sylvanas proposed a remote fief near Tranquillien, but Yu Lin Bloodhawk recognized it as the future site of Deatholme and refused, asking whether he could choose a place himself.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk chose Shalandis Isle for his fief despite its Murloc population and lack of residents, and he and Sylvanas devised a secret experiment there to solve the costs of developing it. They planned to use Falthrien Academy to fund the arcane addiction research and considered staging a dramatic falling-out to secure the grant, but Sylvanas’s proposed scheme put Yu Lin Bloodhawk in danger from Alleria Windrunner.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk selected Shalandis Isle, and Sylvanas warned him about its Murlocs, lack of residents, taxes, and military obligations.
• Sylvanas explained that the kingdom might lend Yu Lin Bloodhawk money and allow him to bring up to a hundred guards, though he would still need residents to repay the loan and collect taxes.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk suggested building a prison, prompting Sylvanas to consider using the island for a secret arcane addiction experiment.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk proposed involving Falthrien Academy so the Windrunner family could obtain research results while avoiding blame and costs.
• Sylvanas agreed to help secure Shalandis Isle and suggested staging a falling-out with Yu Lin Bloodhawk, then proposed drugging him and Alleria Windrunner to make the rift seem convincing.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk refused Sylvanas’s plan, fearing Alleria Windrunner would kill him.

Sylvanas and Yu Lin Bloodhawk abandoned their scheme to provoke her family and marched to An'owyn Valley, where she planned to introduce him to her sister, the Windrunner Legion commander. After teaching him the basics of ranger skills along the way, Sylvanas brought him into the commander's tent.

• Sylvanas rejected Yu Lin Bloodhawk's suggestions and decided they would meet her sister before choosing another plan.
• Sylvanas explained that their troops had to return to An'owyn Valley and report to the Windrunner Legion commander.
• On the march, Yu Lin Bloodhawk saw a Ghostclaw Lynx and questioned Sylvanas about ranger skills.
• Sylvanas discovered Yu Lin Bloodhawk had never read the ranger training manuals and taught him the basics during their three-day journey.
• At An'owyn Valley, Sylvanas and Yu Lin Bloodhawk settled their troops and entered the legion commander's tent.

Sylvanas brought Yu Lin Bloodhawk to Alleria, who agreed to keep him with her rather than send him back to the Golden Mist Burning Legion. Assigned to guard Troll prisoners, Yu Lin studied the Ranger manuals for three days and learned how Quel'Thalas’s Rangers fit into its war against the Trolls.

• Sylvanas introduced Yu Lin Bloodhawk to Alleria and explained that his untrained recruits were not ready for battle.
• Alleria agreed to keep Yu Lin at her post after Sylvanas revealed that he had pledged allegiance to the Windrunner family.
• Sylvanas gave Yu Lin the Rookie Ranger Training Manual and the Ranger Training Manual, then assigned him and his hundred men to guard Troll prisoners.
• Yu Lin arranged the camp’s duties with help from recruits who spoke Trollish, and Sylvanas later visited to check on the camp.
• Yu Lin studied the manuals for three days and learned that Rangers helped the High Elves counter Troll numbers and jungle ambushes.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk discovered that his company had been given far fewer high- and mid-magic Rangers than standard units, leaving it badly disadvantaged. He decided to make up the difference by turning his Rangers into pet-supported fighters and began discussing how to train combat beasts.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk reviewed his unit's records and found its Ranger composition was 1:2:7, with no mage and too few high- and mid-magic Rangers.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk rejected the idea of transferring soldiers between units and resolved to train his ninety mid- and low-magic Rangers to fight alongside combat pets.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk held his first meeting with team leaders and proposed equipping every Ranger below the high-magic tier with a combat pet and revising their training around coordination.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk clarified that he meant large wild beasts, but his squad leaders pointed out that the unit had no methods for training large predators.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk realized Hunters and pet trainers did not exist in Silvermoon City, so he organized a search for ways to train combat beasts and redesigned Ranger training. After a seven-day debate over skill progression, he brought the gathered Troll Beast Tamer records to the meeting, with Sylvanas following the group back inside.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that no Hunter trainers existed and that raising a beast for combat could take years, so he ordered his soldiers to interrogate Troll Beast Tamers and find hunters with pets.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and his soldiers created the Bloodhawk Training Manual, assigning different combat roles by magical ability and requiring all Rangers to master Stealth and Sprint first.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk's company commanders failed to agree on skill order, so he invited Sylvanas to advise them, and their debate continued for seven days.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk interrogated more than thirty Troll Beast Tamers while the meeting continued, then organized the records with recruits into a summary.
• Sylvanas followed the group back into the meeting room after Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned with the organized information.