Recaps

Rowan's group defeated the Necropolis's Ironclad Souls and found an inactive shrine beyond the fog. As they rested at camp, Rowan's homesickness overwhelmed him, and Jaina comforted him.

• Talanji warned Rowan that the Ironclad Souls grew stronger whenever one of them fell, but Rhonin and Jaina chose to fight rather than retreat.
• Jaina bound the six Ironclad Souls in a frost formation, and Rhonin destroyed them with Arcane Rupture, clearing a patch of fog.
• Ellen found a bronze shrine in the clearing, but Jaina detected no remaining energy, and Rowan stopped Talanji from touching it.
• Rowan ordered the group to rest before continuing, and the Archmages dried damp firewood so everyone could gather around a campfire.
• While eating roasted yams, Rowan remembered his parents and cried, and Jaina sat beside him and comforted him.

Talanji secretly contacted Bwonsamdi through the shrine and demanded that Rowan’s team be trapped on the island, while Bwonsamdi warned that her political gamble could backfire. The next morning, Rowan pretended to sleep against Jaina and paid for it when she attacked him with a Fireball.

• After the camp fell asleep, Talanji slipped free of her bonds and used wood ash to enter the Necropolis through the shrine.
• Talanji confronted Bwonsamdi, demanded that Rowan’s team remain on the island, and threatened to unite Zandalar against the Necropolis if he refused.
• Bwonsamdi agreed only to do his best and privately declared that he wanted weak, devout followers rather than a stronger Zandalari Empire.
• Talanji returned to camp, tied herself up again, and went back to sleep without anyone noticing.
• The next morning, Rowan pretended to sleep while pressing against Jaina, but she exposed him and scorched his eyebrows and eyelashes with a Fireball.

Rowan’s party continued across the mist-shrouded island while Zul, Zuluhed, and Yazir followed, hoping to rescue Talanji and defeat the landing party. The three discovered that Naga led by Matriarch Sathis were also pursuing the party, putting their plans in doubt.

• Jaina singed Rowan’s clothes during their roughhousing, and Talanji laughed at his bedraggled appearance.
• Rhonin led the landing party onward along a definite route, leaving Talanji wondering why she was being kept in the dark.
• Yazir learned that Talanji had followed Rowan onto the island, and Zul and Zuluhed decided to pursue the landing party and try to defeat it.
• Zul saw that three shrines had been cleared and their Ironclad Soul guardians destroyed, making him suspect Bwonsamdi’s motives.
• Zul, Zuluhed, and Yazir hid from a group of Naga led by Matriarch Sathis, who ordered the guards to pursue Rowan’s party.
• Zuluhed worried that the Naga threat would force them to change their plans while Talanji was still ahead.

Rowan’s team reached the temple at the heart of the island, where they found the Scepter of the Abyss and were ambushed by Hajatan and Mistress Sassz'ine. As the battle erupted, Rowan crept toward the scepter but ran into Zuluhed, who threatened him.

• Rowan revealed that Talanji had inadvertently helped him find the temple, leaving her devastated as the team entered the ruins.
• The team explored the undefended temple, collected gold, and discovered the Scepter of the Abyss in its final chamber.
• When Jaina took the scepter, Hajatan attacked, and Mistress Sassz'ine joined the fight against Rhonin while Brannon and the landing team faced the Naga Royal Guard.
• Rowan urged Talanji to take cover, then crept across the chaotic battlefield toward the scepter.
• Rowan reached the shrine, but Zuluhed appeared and threatened to kill him.

Rowan manipulated the battle in the Troll temple, then used the Scepter of the Abyss to dispel the island’s soul mist and turn it against the Naga. With the mist gone and Hajatan driven away, Rowan’s faction prepared to return to the fleet and sail home.

• Rowan redirected the Archmages and Naga against Zuluhed by claiming a third party had stolen the Scepter of the Abyss, then helped Rhonin fake a defeat to make the other factions reconsider their alliances.
• Sathis ordered Hajatan to attack Zuluhed, but Talanji and Zul withdrew with their Troll forces when the Naga sided with the humans.
• Rhonin and Jaina resumed fighting the Naga while Rowan tried to claim the Scepter, and the system taught him the equipment unbinding skill in exchange for 300 Emotion Points.
• Rowan claimed the Scepter of the Abyss and dispelled the soul mist surrounding the island, revealing clear skies after nearly two months.
• Rowan used the Scepter to trap Hajatan in mist, and Rhonin sent the disoriented Naga flying from the temple before urging the others to return to the fleet.

Sathis planned to use Black Tides Rift against the Kul Tiras fleet after she and Hajatan fled their defeat. Aboard the Thunder of the Wind, Rowan outmaneuvered Lord Ashvane at a drinking gathering, defended his engagement to Jaina, and pressed his rival over fleet officers and Lillard’s execution.

• Sathis and Hajatan escaped after their defeat, and Sathis devised a plan at Black Tides Rift to attack the Kul Tiras fleet.
• Sathis ordered Hajatan to open the rift and wait for her command, while he discovered that the Giant Shark’s corpse had rotted away.
• Rowan used the gathering aboard the Thunder of the Wind to warn Lord Ashvane that he intended to build a foothold in the Kul Tiras Navy.
• Lord Ashvane tried to embarrass Rowan by discussing marriage and questioning his engagement to Jaina, but Jaina publicly affirmed that she would marry him.
• Rowan told Lord Ashvane that he had borrowed William’s fleet, invited Kainings to join the Second Fleet, and revealed that he had executed Lillard.

Rowan identified the black oil covering the sea as petroleum and led the Combined Fleet across it with precautions, hoping to claim the resource for Morris Industries. The oil suddenly ignited around the fleet, and as Rhonin, Brannon, and Jaina tried to hold back the flames with magic, Rowan began proposing a plan to save the ships.

• Rowan tested a sample of the black oil and confirmed that it burned, then ordered the fleet to stop its engines and ban open flames while crossing the contaminated waters.
• Rowan marked the petroleum-covered waters on his chart and explained to Jaina that the oil could become an industrial energy source.
• Rowan and Jaina argued about her magical ambitions, reconciled, and went out on deck together beneath the twin moons.
• Jaina spotted flames racing across the horizon, and Rowan ordered Brannon, Rhonin, and Jaina to raise waves rather than blow the fire away.
• Rhonin, Brannon, and Jaina combined their magic to raise seawater and form an ice wall, but three ships remained in grave danger as Rowan began suggesting a way to fight the inferno.

Rowan’s insight helped Rhonin, Jaina, and Brannon extinguish the burning sea and save the fleet, drawing suspicion from some officers and respect from the spellcasters. Beneath the ice, the naga accepted their failure and reported Rowan as a dangerous new enemy to Azshara, who received a mysterious young woman brought by Xanesh.

• Rowan proposed isolating the burning oil from the air, and Rhonin, Brannon, and Jaina raised seawater and froze a barrier that contained the fire.
• The fleet’s senior officers praised the spellcasters, while Halliwell and Ashvane doubted Rowan’s role; Jaina and the other advanced spellcasters understood his contribution.
• Beneath the ice, Hajatan wanted to restart the fire, but Mistress Sassz'ine and Sathis told him the attack had failed and that Rowan had helped defeat them.
• Sathis returned to the Eternal Palace and reported the defeat to Azshara, who sent her to the Broken Isles.
• Xanesh brought a young woman with an insubstantial form to Azshara in the Ring of Stars.

Faye found a sail from the Combined Fleet and sailed into the stormy Great Sea in search of Brannon, while the returning fleet helped Marshal Valentin pursue the Iron Tide Pirates. Rowan arrived in Boralus to a hero’s welcome, where Jaina publicly linked arms with him ahead of Lucille and Illucia.

• Faye discovered oil-covered waters and dead fish, then found scorched sailcloth bearing the Combined Fleet’s wind-rune sigils.
• Faye sailed south into the Great Sea, where a storm struck on her first night and towering waves swallowed her small boat.
• The Iron Tide Pirates fled west after the Combined Fleet returned, and Lord Ashvane joined Marshal Valentin in pursuing them.
• Rowan declined to join the pursuit, choosing instead to return to Morris Town and consolidate his resources.
• The fleet reached Boralus, where crowds praised Rowan and a few critics disparaged him as he entered Tradewinds Market.
• Lucille and Illucia greeted Rowan, but Jaina linked arms with him, prompting outrage from onlookers.

Mrs. Leonard and Bunian visited Leonard in prison, where the family discussed waiting for Young Master Rowan or fleeing to Lordaeron if he failed to return. Lashius arrived and confronted Mather for letting them into the dungeon.

• Mather let Mrs. Leonard and Bunian enter Leonard's cell despite the order barring visitors.
• Leonard greeted his son and spoke with Inee about their hardship and his hopes that Young Master Rowan would return.
• Leonard told Inee to take Bunian to Lordaeron and find his cousin Faria if Rowan did not return.
• Lashius kicked Mather to the ground and demanded to know who had allowed unauthorized visitors into the dungeon.

Rowan returned to King's Bay, rescued Leonard and his family from Lashius, and forced Lashius to surrender coastal defense authority. He arranged for Leonard’s family to settle elsewhere and quietly gave Inee money for Bunian before departing with Lucille.

• Lashius had Leonard beaten and threatened to keep him imprisoned, while Bunian challenged him and Lashius struck the child.
• Rhonin arrived and used a Translocation Spell to remove Lashius from the dungeon, allowing Leonard and his family to escape.
• Rowan confronted Lashius at the prison and ordered William, Ellen, and David to beat him until Lashius agreed to transfer coastal defense authority.
• Rowan left the prison with Leonard’s family and Mather, then discussed arranging work and housing for Inee and Bunian.
• Rowan privately gave Inee money for Bunian, and Lucille appeared behind him as the boat carrying Inee and Bunian sailed away.

Lucille apologized to Rowan over the marriage proposal, but he clarified that he loved Jaina and would not marry her. After Rowan left, Lucille and Jaina talked about their feelings, and Jaina affirmed that she would give everything for Rowan.

• Lucille told Rowan that Arthur had explained the marriage proposal, and Rowan said political marriages between noble families were normal but that he and Lucille could not marry.
• Rowan urged Lucille to look elsewhere and left for town, while Lucille remained at the harbor.
• Jaina joined Lucille, and the two friends teased each other about Rowan and Lucille’s unrequited feelings.
• Lucille asked Jaina whether she had any chance with Rowan, and Jaina suggested he would not divide his love between them.
• After playfully fighting, Jaina told Lucille she would give everything for Rowan and called him another Kul Tiras in her heart.

Rowan rewarded Ellen with an alchemy laboratory and a monthly budget, then went with Jaina to Boralus to make their engagement official after Rhonin urged them to stop delaying marriage and children. In Boralus, Rowan consulted Floyd about a bold postwar economic policy and asked for his opinion.

• Rowan gave Ellen a large alchemy laboratory and a monthly budget of 500 gold coins, while telling him to keep Byron from overspending and to encourage him to find a girlfriend.
• Jaina confronted Rowan after overhearing his teasing, and the two exchanged affectionate banter in front of the factory workers.
• Rhonin said he missed his wife and son, then criticized Rowan and Jaina for dating without marrying or having children.
• Rowan and Jaina traveled to Boralus, where Rowan declared that they were making their relationship official.
• Rowan visited the Norwington Family merchants' guild and asked Floyd for advice on a bold postwar economic policy.

Rowan decided against launching a broad economic war against Kul Tiras’s nobles, but he still sought to profit from their weakened merchants’ guilds without placing the costs on ordinary people. Floyd proposed buying land and building small markets, leaving Rowan impressed by the plan.

• Rowan weighed the risks of challenging Kul Tiras’s nobles and told Floyd he would avoid spearheading reform for now.
• Floyd reviewed the guild reports and explained how rival guilds had resisted Norwington goods while Illucia’s Barov Merchants’ Guild resold them at a markup.
• Rowan realized that the nobles were passing the economic pressure on to ordinary people and expressed concern about the harm to their livelihoods.
• Floyd proposed buying land and building small markets, and Rowan praised the idea.

Rowan approved Floyd’s plan to build small marketplaces across Kul Tiras and promised substantial funding to win over local nobles. After discussing the coming grain delivery, Rowan met with Jaina and Illucia, agreeing to meet Illucia that night to discuss business.

• Floyd explained that the marketplaces would build support among local nobles and create a trade network centered on the Norwington Family.
• Rowan approved the initiative and allocated two hundred million gold coins for buying land and establishing small markets.
• Rowan told Floyd that grain from the Norwington Estate would reach Boralus the next day, and Floyd agreed to give lesser nobles an early taste of the benefits.
• Jaina waited with Rowan as Illucia visited, and she clung to Rowan’s arm while trading pointed remarks with Illucia.
• Illucia arranged to meet Rowan at the Starry Inn that night to discuss business.

Rowan secured Daelin’s approval to marry Jaina and learned Daelin wanted him to consider becoming Kul Tiras’s next Admiral. After celebrating with Jaina’s family, Rowan met Illucia to discuss business, but her drunken confession left him trying to escape.

• Rowan asked Daelin for Jaina’s hand, and Daelin approved but said their parents should meet to formalize the engagement.
• Daelin hinted that he wanted Rowan to succeed him as Admiral and warned him to treat Jaina well.
• Rowan called Daelin Father before Daelin fell asleep after drinking with the family.
• Rowan met Illucia at the Starry Inn, where she drank wine while he drank tea.
• Illucia told Rowan she hated him, then admitted she wanted to talk about something besides business and embraced him.
• Rowan pulled away and tried to leave, but Illucia stopped him, saying she had something to tell him.

Illucia confessed her loneliness and feelings to Rowan, who spent the night at the inn without taking advantage of her. The next day, Rowan organized the Outer Sea’s resources and appointed Hammer to oversee Morris Energy before learning that Brannon wanted to see him.

• Illucia told Rowan she was waiting for someone to save her, then drunkenly murmured about her father and finding him; Rowan tied her up and slept on the rug beside her bed.
• Illucia ate breakfast with Rowan and watched him leave the inn reluctantly.
• At the merchants’ meeting, Rowan assigned Earl Terry to consolidate Outer Sea resources, Kande to restructure factories, Floyd to oversee Norwington’s finances and trade, and Hammer to manage Morris Energy.
• Hammer tried to refuse the position, but Rowan explained that he valued clean management and steady supply, then encouraged Hammer to court Jasmine.
• Rowan stayed in Boralus, where Valeera arrived and reported that Brannon wanted to see him.

Brannon persuaded Rowan to lend him a warship so he could search for Faye, offering his father’s Seabreeze staff in return. Meanwhile, Faye recovered on a remote island, where she learned that Sataia had been rescued and raised by the orc Drak'Sool; Drak'Sool sent them south toward Kul Tiras, and they left together on a raft.

• Brannon asked Rowan for a warship to search for Faye and offered him the Seabreeze staff, and Rowan agreed to send a ship that afternoon.
• Faye woke in Sataia’s hut and learned that she had been stranded on an island in the Great Sea for about ten years.
• Faye reacted with hostility when Drak'Sool arrived, but Sataia explained that he had rescued her and was a good person.
• Drak'Sool warned Faye to avoid the power Gul'dan had sought and gave her a route back to Kul Tiras.
• Drak'Sool urged Sataia to leave with Faye, and they departed southeast on a raft as he watched them go.

At the Zanchul Defense Conference, King Rastakhan directed Zandalar to treat Kul Tiras as its hypothetical enemy, and Zuluhed privately argued that Zandalar should help revive the Horde instead of fighting Kul Tiras alone. Rastakhan remained wary but considered Zuluhed’s proposal as the chapter ended with the orc adviser asserting the Horde’s strength.

• After recalling the disastrous Blood Troll war, King Rastakhan convened the Zanchul Defense Conference, where Talanji and the council considered the threat from Kul Tiras.
• King Rastakhan ordered Iroti to change the empire’s hypothetical enemy to Kul Tiras, and the assembled councilors and religious leaders supported the decision.
• After the conference, Zuluhed told Rastakhan that Zandalar had no chance of victory against Kul Tiras and proposed changing the course of the war.
• Rastakhan questioned whether Zuluhed truly supported Talanji and challenged his claims about the orcs’ former honor.
• Zuluhed argued that helping the Horde would serve Zandalar’s interests, and Rastakhan asked why he should believe the Horde could become powerful.
• Zuluhed insisted that the Horde had the strength to revive once the internment camps were liberated.

Rowan negotiated with Illucia for the Barov Merchants' Guild to supply grain for his plan to undercut Kul Tiras's merchants, agreeing to spend one evening a week keeping her company. After Jaina's engagement brought him ten thousand emotion points, Rowan spent them through the system on Engineering and a Modern Internal Combustion Engine.

• Floyd urged Rowan to secure a grain order from the Barov Merchants' Guild, and Rowan visited Illucia at the Starry Inn.
• Illucia rushed to meet Rowan after his long wait, and he teased her about her sheer dress before they turned to business.
• Rowan explained that he wanted to sell grain cheaply to weaken rival merchants' guilds, and he threatened to give away the Norwington Estate's grain rather than lose a price war.
• Illucia agreed to the grain deal in exchange for Rowan spending one evening a week chatting with her, and she asked him to bring President Floyd to sign the agreement.
• Rowan used 9,999 emotion points to buy Engineering and 2,333 points to purchase a Modern Internal Combustion Engine.

Moss learned of Jaina and Rowan’s engagement, then took on work reforming the Third Fleet as Lord Ashvane urged the family to adapt to Rowan’s growing power. Meanwhile, Byron left the farm for Boralus and reunited with Rowan, whose drunken wedding talk ended with Jaina pinching him.

• Moss accepted Jaina’s engagement and prepared to serve in the fleet, while Lord Ashvane tasked him with helping reform the Third Fleet.
• Lord Ashvane warned Priscilla that the Ashvane Family needed to realign itself with Rowan, and she acknowledged the consequences of her past actions.
• After recovering at Broll’s farm, Byron boarded a grain ship to Boralus with Ellen and Valeera, but neither would lend him money.
• Rowan welcomed Byron at Hook Point, and the group later gathered for dinner at the guild’s reception hall.
• Byron asked when Rowan and Jaina would marry, and a drunken Rowan teased his friends about courting before Jaina pinched him.

Byron submitted Lashius’s battle reports to the Military Tribunal, then traveled to Brendanna to oversee the Norwington Family’s grain sales. When House Stormsong’s deputy branch head, Tony Ma, tried to pressure the guild, Byron bluffed him with escalating offers and left him wavering.

• Byron delivered the Battle Reports to the Trial Office, where Eric reacted with shock after reading them.
• Byron traveled to Brendanna and helped Adrian unload the first shipment of grain into the guild’s warehouses.
• Byron instructed Adrian to sell grain to local small guilds as arranged by Guildmaster Floyd.
• Tony Ma confronted Byron and Adrian, demanding half the grain for House Stormsong’s branch.
• Byron pretended to offer Tony Ma five times his current pay, then laughed and admitted he was kidding.

Rowan sailed to Southshore to expand trade and let tensions over the Norwington Family's grain monopoly cool, while his Iron Battleships deterred pirates along the way. In Southshore, Mayor Maleb introduced him to Lieutenant General Blackmoore, who invited Rowan to visit Durnholde.

• Rowan paid Rhonin's three recruited Level Four mages for their work on steam engines and mechanical research in Morris Town.
• Rowan sailed toward Southshore aboard four Iron Battleships with Jaina, Lucille, and Illucia, who kept one another from spending time alone with him.
• Rowan asked Valeera Sanguinar to introduce him to Baron Sanguinar so he could pursue trade in magical materials, and Valeera agreed to go.
• Rowan's party arrived in Southshore, where Mayor Maleb introduced him to Lieutenant General Blackmoore, commander of Durnholde.
• Blackmoore praised Rowan's role in the Iron Tide Naval Battle and invited him to visit the castle.

Byron and Adrian refused Tony Ma’s attempt to block Norwington’s cheap grain sales and resolved to build their own distribution network. In Southshore, Rowan sent Valeera away, found Lucille a role gathering intelligence, and spotted a striking young paladin outside the Council Hall.

• Tony Ma threatened a boycott of Norwington’s grain trade, but Byron and Adrian chose to find new ways to reach Stormsong Valley’s people.
• Tony Ma left after Adrian accused him of exploiting the common people, and Byron vowed to create sales channels despite the boycott.
• Rowan gave Valeera travel money and sent her by ship, asking her to recruit mages if possible.
• Rowan offered Lucille work gathering information as a journalist, and she accepted despite his refusal to pay her a salary.
• Rowan noticed a handsome young paladin leading a squad of knights outside Southshore’s Council Hall.

Arthas inspected Durnholde Keep’s overcrowded orc camps and discussed their failing management with Blackmoore, while Rowan pursued business deals and teased Illucia about marriage. Jaina warned Rowan that Arthas had arrived, fearing Lordaeron might pressure her father into a political marriage.

• Arthas toured Durnholde Keep’s orc camps with Lieutenant Drak and saw their growing population and neglected conditions.
• Blackmoore told Arthas that the camps were short on supplies and that his plan to make Thrall lead the orcs had failed.
• Arthas agreed with Uther and Tirion’s proposal to exile the orcs and considered asking Kul Tiras to contribute more funding.
• Rowan’s envoy departed for Silverpine Forest with his proposal to build factories with the Agamand family, while Illucia argued against his business plans.
• Rowan suggested a marriage arrangement to Illucia, then clarified he meant their children might marry, prompting her to punch him and storm off.
• Jaina warned Rowan that Arthas had arrived and feared Lordaeron’s court would pressure her father into a political marriage, but Rowan reassured her.