Chapter Summaries

Herad put on the Helm of Domination and discovered that it was an artifact that raised his mental power to demigod level. He used it to survey undead across the Eastern Kingdoms, finding a growing population in Lordaeron as the kingdom worked to make undead creatures acceptable to the public.

• Herad used Icy Veins to endure the helm’s cold and put it on despite Alleria and Sylvanas’s worries.
• The Helm of Domination greatly increased Herad’s mental power, and Alleria and Sylvanas realized he had reached demigod level.
• Herad surveyed Quel’Thalas and found wisps and troll soulbound corpses, then detected a small number of undead in the Eastern Frontier.
• Herad found more undead in the Western Frontier, including over a thousand ghouls in Andorhal and countless undead beneath Lordaeron’s Royal City.
• Herad noted that Lordaeron’s public efforts to normalize undead creatures were reducing residents’ fear and could legitimize their use in war.

Herad scanned Azeroth and found that Lordaeron’s widespread use of undead served King Terenas’s ambitions, while Tirion Fordring’s rebellion had produced a tense military standoff in the Western Frontier. Herad remained focused on locating the Dreadlords hidden in Lordaeron, suspecting that the confirmed emissary was only one part of a much larger Legion presence.

• Herad scanned Azeroth with the Helm of Domination and found that Lordaeron used undead extensively, unlike the other regions and troll territories.
• Tirion Fordring rallied much of the Western Frontier against King Terenas, but Lordaeron’s loyal forces at Andorhal prevented him from taking the region outright.
• Tirion Fordring strengthened his army with Holy Light training and budget Lightforged armor, forming more than a hundred Holy Infantry.
• Lordaeron displayed its undead forces by having abominations and ghouls fell trees, while Tirion Fordring’s Holy Infantry stood ready across the lines.
• Herad dismissed the small arms deals and focused on locating Lordaeron’s Dreadlords, suspecting the bald Divine Emissary was training powerful undead in the Underground City.

Herad located six Dreadlords in the Kingdom of Lordaeron and dispatched Ulthalesh to Lordaeron City and Xal'atath to Andorhal. Xal'atath attacked the Dreadlord's hideout in Andorhal, but the demon fled after revealing its true form.

• Powerful nobles secretly planted fern treants across Lordaeron, allowing Herad to identify six Dreadlords: five in Lordaeron City and one in Andorhal.
• Herad sent Ulthalesh to hunt the five Dreadlords in Lordaeron City and assigned Xal'atath to deal with the one in Andorhal.
• Xal'atath flew to Andorhal and attacked the inn where the Dreadlord was staying, killing two Necromancers along the way.
• The Dreadlord escaped through a window and fled west, and Xal'atath pursued it into the sky.
• The Dreadlord revealed its demonic form and flew away while nearby residents and soldiers watched in confusion.

Xal'atath defeated a Dreadlord outside Andorhal, captured its soul, and returned to Lordaeron City, where Ulthalesh was already battling through the royal city. Xal'atath avoided the palace’s chaos and headed for a secret passage into the Underground City to approach from behind.

• Xal'atath brought down the fleeing Dreadlord with the Full Moon Scimitar and destroyed most of its bat forms with shadow missiles.
• Xal'atath chased the Dreadlord to the Undead Creature camp and killed it just short of the corrupted ground, then sealed its soul inside a demonic horn.
• An Abomination dragged the Dreadlord’s corpse into the camp to eat it after Xal'atath had left for Lordaeron City.
• Xal'atath arrived in the royal city and found Ulthalesh demolishing buildings while fighting Dreadlords.
• Ulthalesh entered the palace on its way to the Underground City, while Xal'atath went to use a secret passage to approach from behind.

Ulthalesh and Xal'atath infiltrated the Underground City beneath Lordaeron, where Ulthalesh drew the defenders into battle while Xal'atath waited near a secret passage. After Ulthalesh cut through Ghouls and Abominations with ease, Tichondrius fled.

• Xal'atath entered the Underground City through a guarded passage, while the royal guard let it pass under pressure.
• Ulthalesh bypassed the slow elevator by cutting through its steel platform and jumping down into the Underground City.
• Ulthalesh attacked near the lift to draw attention while Xal'atath hid beside the secret passage and waited.
• Tichondrius sent Ghouls and then Abominations against Ulthalesh, which slaughtered them with its Crimson Greatsword.
• Tichondrius fled after witnessing Ulthalesh destroy the squad of Abominations.

Xal'atath and Ulthalesh defeated Tichondrius and sealed his soul in a Demons Horn. They then reclaimed Frostmourne from King Terenas, leaving him injured and furious.

• Tichondrius tried to escape the Underground City through a secret drainage passage, but Xal'atath intercepted him and trapped him in a fierce duel.
• Xal'atath unleashed a shadow torrent on Tichondrius as he transformed into bats, leaving him gravely wounded.
• Ulthalesh bound Tichondrius with a chain of flame, and Xal'atath sealed his soul inside a Demons Horn to learn what he knew about Kil'jaeden.
• Xal'atath and Ulthalesh stayed to reclaim Frostmourne after King Terenas arrived at the Underground City.
• Ulthalesh struck Terenas aside, took Frostmourne, and left as the injured king shouted after it.

After losing Frostmourne, Terenas rallied and prepared to march against Tirion Fordring, while an abomination-led horde attacked Andorhal. The chapter left the city’s defenders struggling to stop the undead as the abominations battered down the gate.

• Herad kept Terenas alive after taking Frostmourne from him, intending his defeat to warn others against siding with the Burning Legion.
• Terenas recovered his confidence and prepared his forces to march against Tirion Fordring.
• After Xal'atath killed several necromancers in Andorhal, an abomination whose master had died gathered uncontrolled undead and led them toward the city.
• Andorhal’s defenders sounded the alarm and lit the walls’ torches when the undead horde arrived after midnight.
• Two abominations battered Andorhal’s wooden, iron-clad gate with Logging Great Axes while the necromancers failed to calm the creatures.
• The defenders’ rifle fire barely slowed the ghouls and abominations, and the heavy infantry prepared to face them as the gate neared collapse.

An Abomination leader broke through Andorhal’s gate and led the Undead in slaughtering the city’s defenders. As the Knights counterattacked, their lances struck the Abominations in the rear, exposing them to toxic excrement.

• The Heavy Infantry fought the Abomination leader as it squeezed through the gate, suffering dozens of casualties before it broke free.
• The Abomination leader hooked and killed a fleeing Heavy Infantry soldier, then continued its pursuit as Ghouls and other Abominations poured into the city.
• The Undead overwhelmed the defenders, forcing the soldiers to use buildings for street battles while the Abominations backed up the Ghouls.
• The lordly Knights charged through the Ghouls and aimed their lances at the Abominations attacking houses.
• The Knights’ lances plunged into the Abominations’ assholes, spraying toxic excrement over the Knights and making them vomit.

The Knights of Lordaeron struggled against the Abominations until modified Piercing Explosive Lances gave them an advantage, but the battle turned against them when new Undead Creatures attacked the humans. After learning the Necromancers had likely been killed, the commander ordered Andorhal’s residents to evacuate.

• The Abominations hooked Knights and their warhorses with chains and killed more than a dozen Knights with their axes.
• The commander sent Knights back for modified Piercing Explosive Lances, which burned through the Abominations and left them badly weakened.
• Ghouls rushed to support the Abominations, preventing the Knights from focusing their attacks.
• Undead reinforcements arrived through the city gate and attacked the humans instead of the enemy.
• The Lieutenant reported that the Necromancers had likely been killed, and the commander ordered the residents to evacuate.

Andorhal's residents escaped by boat as fires held back the undead, while Kul Tiras and Alterac recruiters competed to attract the refugees. The commander drove the recruiters away, but the refugees still weighed the generous offers against returning to their ruined homeland.

• Fires stalled the undead assault, and a Kul Tiran warship sailed to Andorhal to evacuate civilians.
• The ship's crew ferried refugees away and promoted Kul Tiras's immigration benefits as the captain reported the crisis to Admiral Daelin.
• Duke Barov ordered the Barov Family to help evacuate refugees and draw them toward Alterac.
• By the latter half of the night, everyone had left Andorhal, where fewer than twenty thousand people had died despite the city's fall.
• The commander confronted and drove off the Kul Tiran and Alteraci recruiters, then left the panicked mayor to address the refugees.
• The refugees considered whether to return to their homeland or accept the other kingdoms' generous offers.

Herad learned that Andorhal had fallen to the undead, then watched as Tirion Fordring’s rebel army retook the city with holy-powered troops and weapons. The rebels advanced toward Tirisfal Glades, leaving the Kingdom of Lordaeron with only Tirisfal Glades and part of Silverpine Forest.

• Herad learned that a few hundred undead had destroyed Andorhal and criticized the Kingdom of Lordaeron’s army for failing to use effective tactics against abominations.
• Tirion Fordring’s rebels arrived at Andorhal, defeated the undead near the gate, and entered the city.
• The rebels’ heavy infantry and priests used holy-powered shields and submachine guns to destroy ghouls and cripple abominations.
• Holy infantry searched the city and fought abominations head-on, while Andorhal’s commander despaired at their strength.
• Tirion Fordring led his troops toward Tirisfal Glades, and Herad noted that the Kingdom of Lordaeron had lost nearly all its territory under King Terenas.

Herad secured Frostmourne, the Helm of Domination, and other dangerous artifacts inside a Giant Arcane Golem, then turned his attention to the civil war at Tirisfal Glades Pass. Tirion Fordring seized the pass for the rebels, and King Terenas launched an undead assault to retake it.

• Herad sealed Frostmourne and decided the Helm of Domination needed secure containment rather than destruction.
• Herad hid the dangerous artifacts in a concealed compartment within a thirty-meter-tall Giant Arcane Golem in the Assembly Workshop.
• After learning that undead creatures had rioted in Andorhal, King Terenas hurried there with his army while Tirion Fordring advanced on Tirisfal Glades Pass.
• Tirion Fordring sent a small force to occupy Andorhal and led the main rebel army in a surprise attack that captured the pass.
• King Terenas arrived, drew his rune sword, and ordered the undead army to attack Tirion Fordring's troops at the checkpoint.

Herad restarted the gnome engineers’ Chainsaw Sword project after seeing how difficult the undead were to kill with ordinary weapons. The engineers tested and improved the weapons at the mountain pass, where soldiers began using them against the undead, while King Terenas blamed the rebels’ hidden supporter for his losses.

• Tirion Fordring ordered rockets fired at the undead army, and the blasts crippled many creatures before heavy infantry fought them on the wall stairs.
• Holy infantry killed ghouls more easily with lightforging iron weapons, while heavy infantry struggled to finish them with short swords.
• Herad watched battlefield footage and decided Chainsaw Swords were well suited to fighting undead resistant to firearms.
• Gnome engineers welcomed Herad’s decision to restart the Chainsaw Sword project and hurried to the battlefield to gather data.
• Gnome engineers supplied experimental weapons to frontline soldiers and refined the Chainsaw Swords as combat feedback came in.
• King Terenas watched the weapons tear through the undead and blamed the hidden supporter of the rebels for his lost authority.

Herad learned from Tichondrius how to break the curse imprisoning Draenor’s elemental spirits and brought the counterspell to Prophet Velen. With the Skull of Gul'dan cleansed and destroyed, Velen prepared to help free the spirits.

• The war in Lordaeron remained at a stalemate as the undead held off the Holy Light-backed rebels, while nobles quietly moved their assets out of the kingdom.
• Herad concluded that King Terenas’s reluctance to create undead through mass slaughter would let the rebels grow stronger and likely take power within six months.
• Xal'atath’s shadow spells forced Tichondrius to reveal that Kil'jaeden was hiding on Argus, so Herad paused the Broken’s scattered attacks there.
• Herad found in Tichondrius’s confession a counterspell that could break Gul'dan’s curse imprisoning Draenor’s elemental spirits.
• Herad informed Prophet Velen, who burned away the Skull of Gul'dan’s dark power and smashed it, then prepared to help free the spirits.

Herad recited the Cipher of Damnation and summoned the fel-corrupted Molten Giant holding Draenor’s Elemental Spirits captive. After Velen weakened the giant, the Moon Goddess’s power destroyed it, freeing the spirits and restoring Herad’s connection to Draenor’s elements.

• Herad perfected the incantation and caused the Altar of Damnation to disintegrate, summoning a fel-corrupted Molten Giant.
• Velen struck the Molten Giant twice with Holy Light, weakening it, while the Draenei’s attacks barely affected it.
• Herad tried to test his own offensive power, but a purple beam infused with the Moon Goddess’s presence disintegrated the giant.
• Velen praised Herad, who realized the Moon Goddess’s power had freed the Elemental Spirits.
• Herad sensed the joy of Draenor’s Elemental Spirits and felt the elements ready for him to use.

Herad restored Draenor’s rain and vitality, then discovered Deathwing attacking the Everbloom. He helped the Genesaurs by bringing a downpour, and Deathwing remained trapped as the plants grew stronger around him.

• Herad summoned rain infused with natural energy, and native plants rapidly reclaimed the fel-corrupted land around the Throne of Kil'jaeden.
• After an earthquake and a roar from the Everbloom, Herad used a spatial window to see Deathwing burning the forest and beating a Genesaur.
• Five Genesaurs surrounded Deathwing, binding him with vines and striking his armor with wooden spears.
• Herad summoned a torrential downpour that extinguished the fire and strengthened the Everbloom’s vegetation and Genesaurs.
• Deathwing struggled to break free, but the Genesaurs’ vines kept regrowing and entangling him.

Herad used the Holy Light Cannon to wound Deathwing while six Genesaurs restrained him, and Deathwing bled to death in the rain on Draenor. Herad returned to the Temple of Karabor, where the Broken celebrated the dragon’s unexpected defeat.

• Deathwing struggled against six Genesaurs, while Herad decided to attack him from a mountain with the Holy Light Cannon.
• Herad brought K'ure and X'era to power the cannon, and its golden beam struck Deathwing before he could react.
• Deathwing accused his unseen attacker of cowardice as magma-like blood poured from his wound.
• The Genesaurs kept Deathwing restrained until blood loss weakened him and he fell dead in the rain.
• Herad teleported back to the Temple of Karabor, where the Broken cheered at Deathwing’s death.

Herad and the Dragon Aspects searched Azshara’s bay for Azuregos’s missing blue shard and recovered it from a shark, allowing Anachronos to restore the Scepter of the Shifting Sands. The leaders hesitated to use it, knowing that opening the Scarab Wall would unleash the Qiraji and risk tens of thousands of lives.

• Herad considered the threats posed by the Old Gods and concluded that C'Thun in Silithus was the one they could safely attack.
• The Bronze Dragons’ time-rewinding spells revealed that the shark carrying the blue shard was still alive in the bay near Azshara.
• Dragon Aspects and Druids searched the bay, and Azuregos identified the unusually large shark and cut the shard from its belly.
• Azuregos gave the blue shard to Anachronos, who fused it with the red and green shards to restore the Scepter of the Shifting Sands.
• Anachronos, the Night Elves, and the Dragon Aspects hesitated to open the Scarab Wall because the Qiraji could cause enormous losses.

Herad showed the Druids and Dragon Aspects how the Plant Army fought the Burning Legion, then offered a million Fern Treants to help fight the Aqir. He opened Portals to send the Fern Treants into Silithus, where they overwhelmed the bugs and pushed into a Hive.

• Herad showed scenes of the Plant Army using rockets and mortars to overwhelm the Burning Legion’s armored and mechanical demons.
• Herad teleported a Fern Treant to the Druids, and Malfurion judged it a capable combat unit.
• Herad offered to provide a million Fern Treants, and Fandral Staghelm and the others agreed to open the Scarab Wall.
• Herad opened Portals from the Badlands forest to Silithus, and Fern Treants streamed out onto a Hive near the Scarab Wall.
• The Fern Treants battered demons and bugs with their fists, devoured the bugs’ corpses, and swept the Hive’s surface before advancing inside.

Fern treants devoured the Aqir across Silithus, while the night elves and Dragon Aspects prepared for the Second War of the Shifting Sands. The bronze dragons arrived to find the treants’ forest far larger than expected, and Anachronos gained confidence that they could defeat the Aqir and kill Ossirian the Unscarred.

• Fern treants hollowed out Aqir hives and drained sandworms, while a night elf sentinel watched them clear the desert.
• Druids at Cenarion Hold viewed the sentinel’s footage and reluctantly accepted the treants’ destructive resource-plundering.
• Night elves accelerated the railway south to bring the Scarab Wall’s breach within range of their railway guns.
• The Dragon Aspects began mustering troops, and the bronze dragons arrived in Silithus from the Caverns of Time.
• Anachronos saw the immense fern-treant forest and resolved to use the treants to hold back the Aqir while the dragons targeted Ossirian the Unscarred.