Recaps

Deathwing fought Gruul high above the burning Ogri'la Highlands, using his power over earth to destroy Gruul’s attacks and drag him away from the ground. As Gruul neared death, Dick hurled a Solar Lance that freed the Gronn King, who tore off a third of Deathwing’s wing before falling.

• Deathwing hauled Gruul into the sky, where he could no longer draw strength and healing from the earth.
• Gruul summoned rising stone spires, but Deathwing’s Elementium Arrows shattered the assault and split the Ogri'la Highlands with a massive fault.
• Deathwing weakened Gruul with Shadowflame, his claws, and his tail spike, while his tentacles strangled the Gronn King and drained his life.
• Dick threw a Solar Lance at Deathwing, breaking his Shadowflame shield and severing the tentacles around Gruul’s neck.
• Gruul seized Deathwing and tore away a third of his wing before Deathwing slashed his neck and Gruul fell toward the ground.

Gruul was captured and sent to Shadowmoon Valley, while Deathwing faced the gathered Dragon Aspects at Ogri'la. The Aspects and Dick badly wounded him and drove him into the ground, but the battle’s outcome remained uncertain.

• Gruul crashed into the ground and was teleported to Shadowmoon Valley for imprisonment and later modification in Ulduar.
• Deathwing confronted Dick and the Dragon Aspects, taunting them about their past and threatening to bring about the Hour of Twilight.
• Malygos attacked Deathwing, and the two dragons traded severe wounds as the other Aspects joined the fight.
• Alexstrasza and Ysera tore away Deathwing’s left wing while Dick cut through its joint with the Greatsword of Order.
• Nozdormu struck Deathwing and drove him down into the ruined ground, while Dick sensed danger and heard someone yell for him to move.

Deathwing turned Ogri’la’s gravity and terrain into weapons as Dick and the Dragon Aspects fought him at close quarters. After they tore away his Elementium Armor, Deathwing unleashed his hidden form, revealing himself as the Chaos Dragon Aspect.

• Dick dodged Deathwing’s Elementium Arrow as it destroyed part of a distant mountain, and Deathwing twisted Ogri’la’s gravity to attack the Dragon Aspects from the ground.
• Malygos, Nozdormu, Ysera, and Alexstrasza plunged into close combat with Deathwing while Dick joined them as a Holy Light Giant.
• The Dragon Aspects and Dick ripped away Deathwing’s Elementium Armor despite his counterattacks and powerful regeneration.
• With his armor removed, Deathwing’s body unfurled into a vast mass of crimson flesh and tentacles, shattering Dick’s Holy Light Giant.
• Dick evaded the engulfing flesh and saw Deathwing reveal his true form as the Chaos Dragon Aspect.

Deathwing shed his Elementium Armor and unleashed a chaotic flesh form that began consuming Ogri'la and destabilizing the Blade's Edge Mountains. As the Dragon Aspects fought to contain him, Dick entered Deathwing's body to strip away his earthen power, and Nozdormu coordinated the others to help him.

• Deathwing abandoned his Elementium Armor and revealed a sprawling Chaos Dragon Aspect form made of crimson, corrosive flesh.
• Malygos, Alexstrasza, Ysera, and Dick recognized that Deathwing had become much like an Old God, while earthquakes and his expanding flesh devastated Ogri'la and threatened the surrounding land.
• Dick charged through Deathwing's attacks and cut into his flesh, intending to defeat him from within rather than risk the Dragon Aspects in a combined attack.
• Malygos unleashed the Focusing Iris, and Nozdormu used his powers to strengthen the Aspects and restrain Deathwing's claws.
• Nozdormu told Malygos to restrain Deathwing's growth and instructed Ysera and Alexstrasza to provoke his earthen power so Dick could locate and strip it away.

As the mantid overwhelmed the ogres in Blade's Edge Mountains, Kel'Thuzad evacuated them when the mountains began collapsing. Inside Deathwing, Dick found Khaz'goroth's Stone and invoked his authority as World Manager to strip Neltharion of the Earthen Power.

• Kil'ruk led the mantid assault on Bloodmaul Hold, killing the ogre warlord and ordering his forces to capture the survivors as vessels for larvae.
• Kel'Thuzad watched the battle with Shek'zara, the Klaxxi elders, and the paragons, then ordered Kil'ruk to evacuate as an earthquake shattered Bladespire Canyon.
• Dick pushed through Deathwing's chaotic flesh, using lances of light and lightning to destroy the tentacles blocking his way.
• Dick entered Deathwing's heart chamber, split an Elementium Arrow, and found a black Titan tablet identified as Khaz'goroth's Stone.
• Dick declared Neltharion unworthy to wield the Earthen Power and invoked his authority as World Manager to strip it from him.

Dick took control of Khaz'goroth's Stone, expelled Deathwing's presence, and stabilized the collapsing Blade's Edge Mountains. He then joined the Four Dragon Aspects to unleash the Five Great Powers against Deathwing, ending the chapter as their judgment struck.

• Dick entered Khaz'goroth's Stone and rejected Deathwing's attempt to overwhelm him with the earth's pain.
• Dick drew the Earthen Power from Deathwing, expelled his image from the stone, and stabilized the Blade's Edge Mountains.
• Dick returned to the battle and told the Four Dragon Aspects to combine the Five Great Powers against Deathwing's chaos form.
• The Red, Blue, Green, Bronze, and Black Dragonflights agreed that Deathwing should face final extinction.
• Dick pronounced judgment on Neltharion, and a rainbow pillar of light struck down toward him.

After Deathwing’s defeat freed the black dragons from the source of chaos, Sinestra accepted Dick’s offer to lead their rebuilding. Dick crowned her the Black Dragon Queen and ordered her to guard a new base in Netherstorm while the black dragonflight’s bloodline was restored.

• Sabotmain, Mazielan, and Blackhorn felt the black dragons’ corruption recede after Deathwing’s death, and Sinestra confirmed that Neltharion was dead.
• Blackhorn argued that the black dragons needed a respected leader to rebuild their flight, and Sabotmain asked Sinestra to take the role.
• Dick and the Dragon Aspects arrived, and Dick welcomed Sinestra’s leadership while Malygos promised that Wyrmrest Temple would welcome the black dragons’ return.
• Alexstrasza and Nozdormu urged Sinestra to lead, and she agreed to accept the responsibility.
• Dick bestowed Khaz'goroth's Stone upon Sinestra, naming her the Black Dragon Queen and ordering her to establish the flight’s base in Netherstorm until its pure bloodline was restored.

Dick traveled to the Stormspire, where he found the surviving Twilight Dragon egg and agreed to raise it as Alduin in Ulduar. After Nexus-Prince Haramad warned him that the Burning Legion’s vanguard had reached a nearby planet, Dick prepared for the coming war.

• Dick went to the Stormspire with Sinestra after Haramad reported a strange discovery in the void.
• Haramad showed Dick and Sinestra a Twilight Dragon egg that had survived the destruction of Ogri'la and Deathwing.
• Sinestra explained that she had cared for the egg and argued that it had its own soul, despite Deathwing’s plans for it.
• Dick sensed the egg’s timid consciousness, accepted it, and named it Alduin, deciding it would grow up in Ulduar.
• Dick returned Haramad’s gift, but Haramad described it as an investment in Azeroth’s potential to become a super-civilization.
• Haramad revealed that the Burning Legion’s vanguard had reached a nearby ecological planet, and Dick set out carrying the Eye of the Storm.

Dick and Illidan learned that Kil'jaeden’s vanguard planned to invade Draenor with two hundred thousand demons, and Dick argued that the conquered world’s people could become useful soldiers and allies. Three days later, the Legion attacked Draenor and met the prepared armies of Azeroth and Outland.

• Oritus’s report revealed four World Portals, a conquered civilization, and a vanguard of two hundred thousand demons led by forces including Mannoroth and Tichondrius.
• Dick told Illidan that Azeroth and Draenor needed more soldiers, so they would recruit the conquered world’s people as subordinates and cannon fodder.
• Soulreaper Alaeli reported that the captive prince agreed to offer his world and its people if they could be saved from the demons.
• Dick returned to Ulduar to prepare its weapons, while Illidan ordered the prince placed in an army and kept alive for the war.
• Three days later, the Burning Legion opened four Giant Portals and attacked Draenor, where trained and armed defenders were ready to fight.

Major Gamon and the Third Burning Legion’s veterans held the Third Defensive Line after the first two lines collapsed to a demon assault. With undead forces disrupting the demons and Genn’s worgen and Gamon counterattacking, the battle turned in their favor as black dragon reinforcements arrived, while the greater Demon War’s climax still approached.

• Julio reported that the Third Burning Legion had lost over half its forces and that demons had broken through the Second Defensive Line.
• Major Gamon ordered Julio to tell General Thassarian that the Third Burning Legion was ready to counterattack, using the fallen cowards’ bodies to strengthen the assault.
• The Demon Vanguard overran the Second Defensive Line, but Gamon and fifteen hundred veterans prepared to meet it at the Third Defensive Line.
• Thassarian raised undead soldiers and fifty-seven skeletal dragons, disrupting the demons’ advance.
• Gamon, Genn, and the veterans attacked the disordered demons, and Gamon battered a doomguard as black dragon reinforcements joined the fight.

Dick prepared to lead Ulduar’s forces to Draenor, where the Iron Giants called Lei Shen would help ordinary soldiers fight the Burning Legion. He departed through the Giant Portal with 3,500 activated constructs, leaving Jaina and Liadrin behind in sorrow.

• Das questioned whether the metal constructs could withstand demons, while Dick said he needed to give his soldiers the strongest weapons and bring them home alive.
• Jaina asked how Dick would power the constructs, and he explained that they would not use Soul Crystals.
• Dick asked Mimiron about producing more Lei Shen armor, and Mimiron said he needed vast quantities of raw materials and requested combat test data.
• Dick said farewell to Jaina and Liadrin, then left Ulduar through the Giant Portal toward the Dark Portal.
• The 3,500 Lei Shen constructs marched after Dick as Jaina and Liadrin watched him go and comforted each other.

The Burning Legion invaded Draenor in force to capture Illidan and reclaim the Sargerite Keystone, but Azeroth’s armies had prepared an ambush and overwhelmed the demons across Shadowmoon Valley. The battle remained fierce at the Black Temple, where Illidan confronted Mannoroth and Tichondrius and challenged them to a final fight.

• Kil'jaeden sent 200,000 demons to invade Draenor, concentrating three portals in Shadowmoon Valley to strike Illidan directly.
• Azeroth’s forces used 300,000 undead and coordinated attacks from Demon Hunters, Wardens, cavalry, mages, artillery, and other troops to suppress the invading demons.
• Thorim, the Valarjar, and the Stone Warriors helped turn the tide on the southern battlefield, while the Doomguard forces began to scatter.
• Mannoroth and Tichondrius attacked the Black Temple, forcing the Ashtongue Deathsworn to retreat inside as demon ships bombarded its defenses.
• Illidan fought Mannoroth and Tichondrius, healed from his wounds, and challenged them to a battle to remember.

Dick led Azeroth’s newly formed First Fleet on its first interstellar expedition, assigning the nine assault starships their roles for a surprise attack. The fleet entered the Sargerite Keystone portal under Operation Starting Point, while Elune watched over the departing force.

• Matthew Proudmoore reported that all nine assault starships were ready, and Dick asked him whether he feared the coming attack.
• Matthew said he was honored to fight beside Dick, and the assembled commanders vowed, “Here we die, here lies our glory!”
• Dick assigned the assault ships to fleet combat, ground support, landing-zone defense, and command duties, then named the mission Operation Starting Point.
• Tempest Keep and the nine assault starships departed Char Starport as the forces left behind saluted them.
• Dick led the First Fleet through the green Sargerite Keystone portal, and Elune blessed the expedition from afar.

The Burning Legion conquered Xakan, and Prince Maltai saw Azeroth’s forces arrive to liberate his world. As Azeroth’s fleet attacked the demon starships, Dick ordered the assault troops to begin landing.

• The Burning Legion destroyed Vels Royal City and conquered the Viertes Continent, enslaving its surviving humans.
• Maltai Soren Morris witnessed Major Gamon defeat a Doomguard and began to believe in Azeroth’s strength.
• The Warchief's Fist and the Azeroth First Fleet emerged through the Keystone Gate above Xakan.
• Thaurissan ordered the Hill to fire on a demon starship, and the Azeroth fleet opened fire across the sky.
• Maltai cried out that reinforcements had arrived, and Dick ordered the fleet to clear the skies and begin the landing.

Dick and the First Fleet crushed the demons’ starships over Xakan, while Colonel Ralters prepared the ODST assault. Garrosh and Anduin joined 3,500 Helljumpers as they launched toward the planet to begin the ground offensive.

• The First Fleet destroyed four of the demons’ seven starships, and Dick left Ralters in command while he pursued the fleeing ships.
• Dick destroyed one fleeing starship by striking its engine and disabled another by destroying its thrusters as it attempted a void jump.
• Ralters shot down the final fleeing starship with Tempest Keep’s main cannon.
• Garrosh and Anduin prepared their Lei Shen assault armors and entered their landing pods for ODST’s first operation.
• Ralters launched 3,500 assault pods from the First Fleet, sending the Helljumpers down toward Xakan.

The First Fleet and 3,500 ODST suits overwhelmed the Burning Legion forces on Xakan, while Anduin and Garrosh led the armored assault. Kazzak fled into the void, where a silver-winged warrior waited to confront him.

• Kazzak ordered Krantor and the Abyss Fire Fiends to attack the human prisoners, then fled as black landing pods descended on the Portal staging area.
• Anduin survived his landing in Assault Armor, killed a Doomguard, and led the Second Assault Squad into battle.
• Anduin and his squad used Assault Rifles and heavy weapons to slaughter demons, while Garrosh tore through their lines with war axes.
• The ODST assault, Iron Burning Legion advance, and First Fleet bombardment routed the leaderless demons on Xakan.
• Kazzak emerged into the void, condemned the failed invasion, and found a silver-armored, six-winged warrior waiting for him.

Uther sent Anarell to unleash the Night's Watch against the demons in Shadowmoon Valley, while Thaurissan and Odyn revealed the allied forces’ trap and cut off the Legion’s escape. Illidan and the united forces of Azeroth and Valarjar overwhelmed the demon commanders, leaving the Burning Legion’s Third Invasion on the verge of total defeat.

• Uther warned Anarell to protect the gentleness in his heart, and Anarell charged into battle on Invincible, commanding the undead to tear apart the demons.
• Brutallus smashed through the Night's Watch formation and rallied the demons, believing reinforcements were arriving through the Legion portals.
• Thaurissan emerged from a portal with the Hand of Ragnaros, and Iron Vrykul poured through the relit portals to block the demons’ retreat.
• Heimdall intercepted Brutallus, while Odyn and the Valarjar emerged from the Gate of the Firmament and attacked the Legion’s starships and forces around the Black Temple.
• Illidan fought Mannoroth and drove his Warglaives into the Destroyer’s back as Odyn’s spear wounded Tichondrius, turning the battle against the demons.

After the Third Invasion collapsed, Dick and Illidan discussed how to use the captured demon souls and recruit Xakan’s elves as Demon Hunters. On Viertes, Maltai accepted Azeroth’s protection and urged the survivors to help rebuild Xakan under its influence.

• Brutallus died in the Northern Battlefield, and Uther took his corpse while Oritus claimed his soul for the Sufferer.
• Malchezaar and Varimathras fled the Southern Battlefield, while Dick returned to the Black Temple with Kazzak’s head and soulstone.
• Dick proposed that Illidan send his subordinates to hunt the escaped demons, using Kazzak’s soul as a prize, and suggested that Illidan recruit Xakan’s elves.
• Maltai considered Dick’s offer of Azeroth’s protection and concluded that Xakan’s dependence on a stronger civilization was fair.
• Maltai addressed the survivors of Viertes, declaring Xakan saved and urging them to celebrate their freedom and support Azeroth.

King Varian and Queen Valeera discussed the need for peace while the Horde and Alliance recovered, then learned that Anduin had helped win a victory on another world. At Ulduar, Dick prepared a plan for an invasion of the Argus Sector, signaling the start of a new era.

• Varian and Valeera discussed their son Anduin, the kingdom’s recovery, and the risk of war with the Horde.
• Valeera showed Varian intelligence indicating that the Horde also needed time and that Thrall was seeking a truce.
• Varian received a letter announcing the discovery of Xakan and Dick’s invitation for Azeroth’s leaders to meet at Ulduar.
• Varian and Valeera admired an image of Anduin after his victory on the new world.
• Dick finished a proposal marked “Codename: Invasion” with the Argus Sector as its target.

After a fragile peace settled over Azeroth, Dick oversaw training for Xakan’s army and prepared a major trade between the civilizations. An unexpected message from Das prompted Dick to return to Azeroth, leaving Maltai wondering what had happened.

• The Alliance and Horde reached a settlement after the 8-Day War, while the Night Elves dropped their plans to pursue the Blackrock Orcs further.
• Gavincente trained Xakan soldiers in Shadowmoon Valley, and Maltai said he would send all his loyal armies there for retraining.
• Dick and Maltai discussed a major exchange of resources and knowledge, with Xakan’s first shipment due to arrive in Netherstorm in three days.
• Dick assured Maltai that Azeroth would trade officially with Xakan only through his government, then reassured him that Xakan was an independent civilization and the two were friends.
• Das delivered an urgent message to Dick, who returned to Azeroth and left Demitier to protect Maltai.

Dick returned to Azeroth as trade flourished around the Dark Portal, while Azshara met Thalyssra and Elisande on the Broken Isles. After Azshara gave Elisande a final chance and offered help to Thalyssra, Dick identified a strange crystal as a warning of a terrible future and asked Azshara whether she believed in fate.

• Dick passed through the Dark Portal into the thriving settlement in the Blasted Lands and flew toward Azeroth’s central region.
• Azshara met Thalyssra and Elisande near Suramar and offered Thalyssra help if Suramar encountered trouble.
• Azshara ordered Elisande to garrison Coilfang Reservoir for ten years or find another home for the Naga, warning that she would get no further chances.
• Azshara and Thalyssra examined a golden crystal shaped like a longsword, and Dick warned that strange objects falling from the sky could carry vicious curses.
• Dick called the crystal a prophecy of a terrible future and asked Azshara whether she believed in fate.

Dick identified the mysterious crystal as a fragment of a Naaru containing important information and persuaded Azshara to accompany him to the Exodar. There, they witnessed Velen lead the Draenei in their Summer Festival prayers, celebrating the beginning of their new life on Azeroth.

• Azshara explained how her astrologers had traced a strange falling light to a crystal in the ocean, and Dick awakened its hidden Holy Light script.
• Dick recognized the crystal as a fragment of a Naaru and told Azshara that its contents concerned her, then instructed Thalyssra to suppress news of it.
• Dick and Azshara traveled to Azuremyst Isle, where the Draenei were celebrating their ancient Summer Festival.
• Velen led the Draenei in a blessing and declared that their new life had begun.
• Dick praised Velen as a wise and brave fellow traveler, while Azshara dismissed him as a charlatan.

Dick brought a sealed Heart of the Holy Light to Velen, who discovered that Xe'ra had hidden a prophecy inside it. O'ros broke the seal and showed them a vision in which Sargeras tried to change fate, leaving Azshara startled by the appearance of two children.

• Dick showed Velen the Heart of the Holy Light and explained that it had come willingly from a living Naaru and contained a hidden secret.
• Velen sensed that the crystal held a grand prophecy sealed by Xe'ra, the Mother of the Holy Light, and said O'ros could break it.
• Dick, Azshara, Velen, and Maraad went to O'ros, which activated the Heart and transported them into a vision of Azeroth from space.
• Xe'ra's prophecy described Sargeras falling into darkness and learning that a Child of Light and Shadow would defeat him.
• The vision showed Sargeras trying to change fate, then revealed two children among celebrating Night Elves, prompting Azshara to cry out.

Xe’ra’s prophecy showed Illidan’s supposed destined path, but Azshara shattered the vision when it depicted her as his lover. Dick challenged Velen to reject certainty about fate and then summoned him and Maraad to confront an approaching infiltrator near Azuremyst Isle.

• Xe’ra showed Illidan’s painful history and explained that Sargeras had twisted his fate, then displayed an alternate future in which Illidan and Azshara united to defeat the Burning Legion and became lovers.
• Azshara destroyed the prophecy in fury, and Dick used his authority to cut her off from her power before arguing that the future depended on their choices, not a Chosen One.
• Dick questioned Xe’ra about the Void’s absence from her prophecy, and Velen reconsidered whether he should trust it.
• Mimiron reported that an infiltration was nearing completion near Azuremyst Isle, so Dick invited Velen and Maraad to meet an old acquaintance beyond the stars.
• Dick ordered the Second Fleet to keep the infiltrators outside the star domain.

Dick brought Velen, Azshara, and Maraad to Azeroth’s secret starport, where the fleet intercepted four Eredar ships heading for the Exodar. He led Velen aboard a captured ship, where Velen discovered its wounded captain was his son, Rakeesh.

• Dick showed Velen, Azshara, and Maraad the secret starport and the Second Fleet battling four demon ships.
• Maraad and Velen recognized the attackers as Eredar ships, and Dick explained that they had found the Exodar using coordinates revealed when Velen gave the Heart of the Holy Light to O'ros.
• Dick stopped the demon ships from escaping through the void and sent Maraad and Azshara to deal with the Eredar Twins without killing them.
• Dick took Velen aboard a damaged demon ship, where they fought their way to its captain.
• Velen recognized the wounded Eredar captain as his son, Rakeesh.