Chapter Summaries

Three months after Alleria gave birth to Belore'dorei, Rommath visited her with news that Nathanos Maris had become Undead. Sylvanas's silence confirmed that she had learned the truth in Kalimdor, leaving Alleria demanding answers as Rommath departed with Kael'thas's decision about Silvermoon City.

• Rommath visited Alleria and congratulated her on the birth of her son, Belore'dorei, before warning that he carried catastrophic news.
• Rommath told Alleria that her husband, Nathanos Maris, had become Undead and had led an Undead army against Kael'thas's camp in Dalaran.
• Sylvanas arrived and denied Rommath's claim, but Alleria questioned her about the clues she had found in Kalimdor.
• Sylvanas stayed silent under Alleria's demands, and her grief revealed that Rommath's news was true.
• Rommath left, telling Alleria she could decide what to do and adding that Kael'thas wanted a capable leader to handle Silvermoon City's affairs.

Stephen visited the Pig and Whistle with Harf, where tavern owner Rys Langston warned him about the dangers of Old Town. A stranger named Mathias Shaw revealed he had investigated Stephen and his cousin Nathanos, then pressured Stephen to speak with him elsewhere.

• Stephen followed Harf into the Pig and Whistle and saw drunken Dwarves filling the tavern.
• Rys Langston told Stephen that Old Town was a haven for thieves, gangs, and talented people, and warned him to guard his purse and his life.
• Stephen became drunk while Harf passed out, and a dagger-wearing stranger offered him a strong beer.
• The stranger identified Stephen as Jonathan Maris's son and Nathanos Maris's younger brother, and said he had investigated both of them.
• Stephen resisted talking with the stranger, who urged him to move somewhere private and introduced himself as Mathias Shaw.

Alleria returned to Silvermoon City and met Vareesa, while Rommath, Lor'themar, and Astalor discussed Kael'thas's plan to appoint her Regent. The chapter ended as Alleria joined their meeting, just as they began to reveal the test Kael'thas had set for her.

• Rommath told Vareesa and the others that Kael'thas had chosen Alleria to lead in his place, and Vareesa decided to make Alleria's return known to raise the survivors' spirits.
• Alleria arrived in Silvermoon City in secret and embraced Vareesa, then listened to survivors complain about her late return and their hardships.
• Alleria asked Vareesa to take her to Rommath and the others after hearing the survivors' concerns.
• Rommath explained that Kael'thas wanted Alleria to hold concentrated authority as Regent while he focused on Outland, and Astalor questioned whether a political system would be better.
• Rommath began to explain that Kael'thas had set Alleria a test, but Lor'themar noticed footsteps outside, and Alleria entered the meeting.

Nathanos defended Marius Farm from repeated attacks and tried to remain hidden from the world. Veronalara and Enya arrived with a bloodstained emblem that Nathanos recognized as belonging to SI:7.

• Nathanos repelled five attacks by Crimson Crusaders, killing the attackers in the last two encounters.
• Nathanos returned to Marius Farm and reflected on his guilt and desire to be left alone.
• Veronalara and Enya appeared near the farm, then vanished as scouts and signs of Elves emerged in the area over the following days.
• Veronalara and Enya returned and warned Nathanos that assassins had appeared in the Eastern Plaguelands.
• Veronalara showed Nathanos a damaged, bloodstained emblem, and Nathanos recognized it as SI:7's.

At Quel'Danil Lodge, Mathias Shaw asked Alleria to help Stormwind deal with Nathanos, who had become Undead. Alleria struggled between her love for Nathanos and her duty to her people, then agreed to hear Shaw's plan, which required her to confront Nathanos in person.

• Saldo Shallowstream welcomed Alleria to Quel'Danil Lodge, where she met Mathias Shaw, the leader of Stormwind City's SI:7.
• Shaw gave Alleria a letter from Varian asking him to gather a force and put Nathanos to rest.
• Alleria questioned why Stormwind was concerned with Nathanos, and Shaw explained that Nathanos had helped build Stormwind and could become a dangerous enemy.
• Alleria recalled Rommath's warning that protecting Nathanos could cost the Windrunner family its place in Quel'Thalas, and she thought of her newborn son, Belorell.
• Shaw revealed that his agents had tracked Nathanos to his farm in the Eastern Plaguelands and that they held Nathanos's younger brother, Stephan.
• Alleria asked what Shaw wanted, and he said she should confront Nathanos because her presence might make him abandon resistance.

Nathanos helped Mekkatorque capture intruders in a Stormwind City warehouse, then remembered his past encounter with SI:7 and Mathias Shaw. Veronalara and Enya asked him to join the freed undead, but he refused and chose to remain alone, waiting for revenge against the Lich King.

• Mekkatorque and Nathanos heard intruders in the warehouse, and Nathanos subdued the three thieves inside.
• Nathanos found an insignia on the intruders, and Mekkatorque recognized it as belonging to SI:7 and said they had to go to Old Town.
• Nathanos recalled his past dealings with SI:7 and Mathias Shaw, then crushed the insignia while thinking of Veronalara and Enya.
• Veronalara and Enya urged Nathanos to join them and lead the undead who had escaped the Lich King's control.
• Nathanos rejected their invitation, insisted he wanted revenge and solitude, and affirmed that he had made his choice.

Nathanos was hunted down by Alleria and SI:7, who tried to end his undead existence, and he emerged from the burning ruins of Marius Farm. The chapter left his fate unresolved as he rose from the fire.

• Nathanos remembered his life and built a snowman at Marius Farm while playing with his Undead Hounds.
• Mathias Shaw and SI:7 agents arrived with Alleria and subdued Nathanos and his hounds with arrows.
• Alleria revealed herself and told Nathanos she had come to help him find release, then shot him after he pleaded with her to stop.
• Alleria and the others burned Nathanos's body, but his Undead Hounds escaped and returned to dig through the ruins.
• Nathanos burst out of the burning wreckage, alive again, as the hounds watched.

Nathanos reached Karazhan and met Morose, the tower’s Undead butler, who said Medivh had left something for him. Morose led him to the chess room, where Nathanos had to win a deadly game to claim it.

• Nathanos explored the grounds of Karazhan and found the tower’s entrance open.
• Morose greeted Nathanos by name and invited him into Karazhan on Medivh’s orders.
• Morose led Nathanos through the tower, where Nathanos suspected it was fixed at a point in time.
• Morose showed Nathanos a chest in the chess room and explained that he had to command either the Orcs or the humans to kill the opposing leader.

Alleria met Sylvanas in the royal court, where they argued over Alleria killing Nathanos and Sylvanas blamed her for abandoning him. Sylvanas left to take Nathanos's belongings, while Nathanos continued to fail Medivh's trial at Karazhan and wondered what it meant.

• Alleria agreed to meet Sylvanas privately after Vareesa urged her to stop avoiding her sister.
• Sylvanas confronted Alleria with Quel'delar and accused her of killing and abandoning Nathanos.
• Alleria said she had killed Nathanos because she could not bear for him to remain among the dead in pain, but Sylvanas blamed her for letting him die in despair.
• Sylvanas refused to stay in Quel'Thalas and left with Nathanos's bow and arrows, while Alleria admitted she had already lost him.
• At Karazhan, Nathanos failed Medivh's chess trial for the twenty-sixth time and asked what Medivh was trying to teach him.

Nozdormu struggled to control a crisis that sent him visions of altered history and led him back to the Well of Eternity. There, he discovered a monstrous force beneath the lake and, unable to escape, roared a plea toward the future.

• Nozdormu's power surged out of control, showing him strange visions of altered events and a dark version of himself at the end of time.
• Nozdormu traveled ten thousand years into the past to investigate the source of the crisis and approached the Well of Eternity.
• Whispers from the Well drew Nozdormu closer, and tentacles seized him and dragged him toward the lake's vortex.
• Nozdormu reversed time to confirm the attack, then repelled the tentacles with Time Sand.
• The Well revealed a vast, tooth-lined mouth and a barbed tentacle, and Nozdormu roared toward the future as it reached for him.

Nathanos touched Atiesh and was swept into a vision of an immense hourglass and roaring dragons before vanishing from Medivh’s chess hall. In Orgrimmar, Thrall and the shaman Karthal asked Broxigar to investigate the unknown danger, and he agreed.

• Nathanos touched Atiesh, became unable to let go, and experienced visions of scenes across time as he was carried through the sky toward a vast hourglass in a desert.
• Nathanos heard dragons roaring from inside the hourglass and vanished, leaving the chess hall in disarray; Morose retrieved Atiesh and complained about the mess.
• Broxigar arrived at Thrall’s fortress in the Valley of Wisdom and found Thrall sitting with the elderly shaman Karthal.
• Karthal told Broxigar that he had seen an immense hourglass and heard strange warnings, prompting Thrall to ask Broxigar to investigate.
• Broxigar agreed that he was the right choice for the mission.

Broxigar was swallowed by a strange vortex while searching for the Red Dragon Krasus and Rhonin. Nathanos and Broxigar then awoke together in a peaceful forest, both weakened and ready to treat each other as enemies.

• Krasus flew to a mountain with Rhonin after sensing a magical disturbance, while Broxigar followed their tracks toward the same destination.
• Broxigar found a monstrous purple vortex surrounded by tentacles and was swallowed after trying to flee.
• Nathanos awoke in a lush forest far from Karazhan and realized his weapons, including Atiesh, were gone.
• Broxigar awoke nearby, mistook Nathanos for a dead man responsible for the trap, and collapsed as both men felt strangely weak.

Broxigar and Nathanos tried to learn where they had been transported, but Night Elves discovered them and subdued them. The chapter ended with both collapsing under elven attacks and magic.

• Broxigar recovered enough to crawl to his battle-axe, then confronted Nathanos, who questioned him about who he was.
• Broxigar and Nathanos separately decided to investigate the unfamiliar land, and they recognized it as territory ruled by Night Elves.
• Nathanos hid when two Night Elf riders on Night Sabers passed, but an elf in a silver robe spotted him and raised the alarm.
• Night Elves surrounded the pair, and Broxigar fled before turning to fight when they blocked his escape.
• A Night Elf in a blue pearl robe cast moonlight magic on Broxigar, weakening him until he collapsed.
• Nathanos fought off some attackers but was pierced by an arrow and bound by a silver ribbon of magic before he fell unconscious.

Sargeras opened a portal with the Queen’s permission, and Azshara contacted a powerful being who promised to send a guide. The Hound King Haka emerged as the being’s messenger and vanguard, tasked with helping open the way for his master.

• Sargeras ordered the High Elf mages to increase the portal’s power, but Perotharn warned him that the work was risky and hidden from the Queen.
• Azshara confronted Sargeras, then agreed to see his surprise when he promised it would bring glory to her kingdom.
• Azshara heard a voice from the portal, saw its vision of a world destroyed by a giant, and agreed to strengthen the portal so the being could enter her world.
• Azshara ordered Sargeras and the mages to draw more energy from the Well of Eternity and prepare to welcome the being’s representative.
• The Hound King Haka emerged from the portal with monstrous hounds and announced that he had come to help open the entrance for his god.

Azshara welcomed Haka and prepared for the High God’s arrival, then learned that her patrols had captured two unfamiliar creatures. After inspecting Nathanos and Broxigar in Suramar, she ordered Nathanos taken to her bedchamber and demanded a gold cage for him.

• Azshara welcomed Haka, ordered Sargeras to provide everything needed for the portal, and told him to report its progress.
• Varos reported that patrols had captured two unknown creatures, and Azshara went to see them in Suramar City.
• Tyrande entered the marketplace and found a crowd gathered around cages holding Broxigar and Nathanos.
• Azshara examined Nathanos, recognized that he was a moving corpse, and ordered him taken to her bedchamber in a gold cage.

Nathanos recognized that he had been taken ten thousand years into the past and found himself imprisoned in Azshara’s bedchamber, where he became fascinated by her sword, Sulfuras. After Azshara left to meet Sargeras, Medivh appeared as a raven and explained that he had brought Nathanos to the past so he could understand the world’s history.

• Nathanos recalled the route through Azshara’s palace and realized he was living ten thousand years in the past.
• Nathanos spotted Sulfuras among Azshara’s treasures and focused on the sword.
• Azshara explained that the twin brothers who forged Sulfuras had presented it to her, then offered it to Nathanos if he knelt and bowed.
• Azshara heard the palace growing noisy and trembling, learned that Sargeras had received an envoy from a high god, and went to meet him.
• Nathanos examined Sulfuras after Azshara left, while Medivh appeared as a raven and told him he had brought him into the past.

Nathanos learned that he had been sent ten thousand years into the past, shortly before the Burning Legion’s invasion, and chose to keep the future secret. Meanwhile, Azshara confronted Mannoroth at the palace and spared him only out of respect for the High God.

• Nathanos questioned Medivh about why he had brought him ten thousand years into the past.
• Medivh told Nathanos that an Orc, a human, and a dragon had also returned to this era, and said they needed to leave before Azshara came back.
• Azshara arrived at the palace plaza and saw Mannoroth rallying the Doomguards for war.
• Azshara ordered Mannoroth to kneel, then stopped herself from attacking him after a voice warned him to ignore the Queen and complete his task.
• Azshara warned Sargeras that Mannoroth would live only because she respected the High God.

Nathanos arrived in Moonglade with Medivh, who urged him to search for another traveler and find purpose in his journey. As felhounds closed in on Cenarius, the demigod helped Broxigar and Malfurion create a weapon from oak.

• Medivh explained that Nathanos had arrived in Moonglade and that someone who had traveled into the past with him was being held by Cenarius.
• Nathanos questioned the point of his existence and asked Medivh for guidance; Medivh told him the journey could help him find an answer.
• Medivh vanished after warning Nathanos that a battle was beginning, and Nathanos drew Sulfuras and headed toward the sound.
• Felhounds pursued Broxigar into Cenarius's territory, overcoming the forest's traps and reaching him and Malfurion.
• Cenarius instructed Malfurion to connect with Broxigar's thoughts and shape a tree trunk into the Orc's desired weapon.
• Malfurion formed a battle-axe entirely from oak.

Malfurion, Cenarius, Broxigar, and the Sisterhood of Elune fought off Haka the Hound King and the Fel Hounds, with Nathanos helping save Tyrande. After Malfurion destroyed Haka with lightning, Cenarius called Nathanos aside for a private talk.

• Cenarius gave Broxigar an enchanted wooden axe, and the group fought off the first Fel Hounds with nature’s power.
• Malfurion unleashed a hurricane that destroyed the Fel Hounds, then joined Cenarius and Broxigar in facing a much larger pack led by Haka the Hound King.
• The Sisterhood of Elune arrived and attacked the demons, but Haka dragged Tyrande from her mount and lashed Malfurion when he tried to save her.
• Nathanos appeared, severed Haka’s whip hand, and helped Malfurion recover enough to call down lightning that killed the Hound King.
• The remaining Fel Hounds vanished, and Cenarius ordered Malfurion to tend to the wounded before taking Nathanos aside for a private talk.

Cenarius explained the Emerald Dream and guessed that Nathanos came from the future, stirring his hope that he might change his fate. After returning to the others, Cenarius named Nathanos their ally, and Malfurion recounted that Krasus and Rhonin had gone to seek the dragons’ aid.

• Cenarius told Nathanos that souls had places to go after death and explained how the Emerald Dream reflected Azeroth.
• Nathanos realized Cenarius had recognized him and the Orc because they did not exist in the demigod’s view of the world, and he wondered if history could be changed.
• Cenarius returned with Nathanos and introduced him to Malfurion as a new ally.
• Nathanos called himself Undead, while Malfurion thanked him for saving his life and asked about the missing visitors.
• Malfurion explained that Krasus had found his kin and gone to seek the dragons’ aid with Rhonin.