Chapter Summaries

As Stratholme succumbed to the plague, Arthas ordered the city’s purification, and his clash with Uther ended with the Silver Hand disbanded. Uther and Alexandros led the paladins into the city to save survivors, while Dick stayed with Arthas’s side and promised to defend the rear gate.

• On the road to Stratholme, Dick warned Jaina that Arthas was nearing madness and urged her to contact her father so they could prepare to reach Kalimdor if events turned worse.
• Marwyn recalled Arthas ordering Falric to gather soldiers from nearby towers, and resolved to follow the Prince’s orders despite his fears.
• At Stratholme, Arthas and the others saw undead hunting citizens amid smoke and chaos, and Arthas declared that he would purify the city.
• Arthas argued that the plague threatened the whole kingdom and ordered Uther to destroy Stratholme, but Uther and Alexandros objected and insisted that survivors could still be saved.
• Arthas dismissed Uther and disbanded the Silver Hand; Uther and Alexandros led the paladins into the city, while Dick held back Erigor, Darion, and other companions and promised Arthas they would defend the rear gate.

Dick defied Arthas’s orders by organizing an escape route for Stratholme’s refugees while Arthas began purging the city. As Dick and the paladins fought to open a path to the rear gate, they encountered powerful abominations, including Ramstein the Gorger.

• Arthas sent Dick and a group of young paladins to Stratholme’s rear gate, then killed a possibly infected girl and led his soldiers into the city to purge it.
• Jaina left Arthas and went to the rear gate, where Dick used a Holy Light barrier to screen refugees and assigned Darion and the paladins to rescue citizens and secure the route.
• Dick urged Jaina to prepare to take the refugees to Kalimdor and told her she would become queen of Theramore; she then rode toward Light’s Hope Chapel.
• Dick, Erigor, and the young paladins advanced through the undead, protecting refugees and clearing a route for Uther and Alexandros to reach the rear gate.
• Erigor warned Dick’s group about two greater abominations and Ramstein the Gorger, a powerful rare elite created by Kel’Thuzad.

Dick fought the Abominations with Strom'kar after throwing the Fire of Justice to save Erigor, but the artifact resisted his control and he was dragged toward a larger Abomination. Darion defended the wounded Erigor with Strom'kar, was badly injured, and encountered the sword’s former king in a vision, who questioned whether he was ready to become a Warrior.

• Dick threw the Fire of Justice at Erigor, knocking him clear of the Abominations’ hooks, then attacked them with Strom'kar and killed one with a single slash.
• Erigor warned Darion that Strom'kar did not suit Dick and sent him to return the warhammer while Dick struggled to control the artifact.
• Darion carried the Fire of Justice toward Dick, who caught it, but an Abomination hooked the hammer and dragged him toward a larger monster.
• Darion stood between a wounded Erigor and an Abomination, using Strom'kar to block its hook before the impact hurled him into a wall and severely injured him.
• Darion saw a battlefield vision of Strom'kar’s former king, who asked whether he would inherit the weapon and become a true Warrior, then told him to return because he was still a child.

Darion awakened Strom'kar as the blood-red Blade of Wrath and killed the abomination threatening him. Dick used holy water, his hammer, and Timmy's Toy Gun to batter Ramstein, but the abomination survived and dragged him toward a wall.

• Darion accepted the aged soul's challenge, awakened Strom'kar's Blade of Wrath, and charged Erigor's abomination.
• Darion's strike severed the abomination's head, marking the beginning of his new path.
• Dick drank his holy water to replenish his Holy Power and fought Ramstein with the Fire of Justice and Warhammer.
• Dick shot Ramstein in the face with Timmy's Toy Gun, then smashed its head until it seemed defeated.
• Ramstein hooked Dick's left leg with a chain and dragged him toward the opposite wall.

Dick survived Ramstein’s brutal assault as Erigor and the paladins fought to save him, then learned to channel the Holy Light in a new way. With a vast surge of Holy Power, he trapped Ramstein in burning Holy Light and summoned a giant hammer to strike it.

• Ramstein healed by devouring undead, then dragged Dick into walls until the knight lay gravely wounded.
• Darion attacked Ramstein with the Blade of Wrath while Erigor and the paladins freed Dick from the hooked chain.
• Darion fell, and ten young paladins charged Ramstein to buy Erigor time to revive Dick with Holy Light.
• Dick woke, drank holy water, and approached Ramstein after Erigor urged him to sense and cooperate with the Holy Light.
• Dick received a vast surge of Holy Power, turned the ground around Ramstein into burning channels of Holy Light, and formed a huge hammer to strike the monster.

Dick killed Ramstein with the Holy Light, then collapsed from exhaustion after the battle. Three days later, he woke stronger, received a repaired Dragon Hook, and went to meet Uther and Alexandros at Light's Hope Chapel.

• Dick used Consecration, Judgment of Order, and the Fire of Justice to kill Ramstein and recover its damaged Dragon Hook.
• Dick collapsed after seeing the five fallen knights, and Erigor ordered the surviving Paladins to keep the route open for civilians.
• Dick woke three days later, discovered quest rewards of Strength and Agility, and received a Stratholme dungeon key.
• Residents of Light's Hope Chapel welcomed Dick as a hero, and Erigor told him the fallen knights' funeral would be held that afternoon.
• Erigor gave Dick the repaired Dragon Hook, and Dick entered the chapel to meet Uther and Alexandros.

Dick addressed the Silver Hand after Uther revealed that Arthas intended to disband the order, arguing that the Dreadlord’s influence posed a more urgent threat. He left the assembly with its members listening to his warning and with Alexandros confirming the demon’s appearance.

• Uther told the assembled Silver Hand leaders that Arthas planned to disband the order after the burning of Stratholme.
• Dick rose to argue that the order’s disbandment was not the most urgent issue and explained that a Dreadlord had attacked Arthas’s tent.
• Duau confirmed that Dalaran’s records described Dreadlords as demons skilled at infiltration and corruption.
• Renault challenged Dick to provide evidence that a demon had appeared beside Arthas.
• Alexandros confirmed that he and Uther had witnessed the Dreadlord, silencing Renault’s objection.

Dick warned the Silver Hand that the plague and Kel'Thuzad’s dark power signaled a larger threat, then proposed turning Stratholme into an outpost and rapidly training more Paladins. His plans were interrupted when Falric arrived with royal guards and arrested him on Arthas’s orders, stripping him of his status as a Paladin.

• Dick presented Kel’Thuzad’s Cursed Staff and argued that Arthas, Stratholme, and the Silver Hand were caught up in a demonic plot.
• Dick asked Alexandros to send Whitemane and Priests to serve at Light’s Hope Chapel; Renault’s outraged reaction led Alexandros to suspect Renault and Whitemane were romantically involved.
• Dick urged the Silver Hand to expand Paladin training and proposed using Eastweald and Andorhal as training grounds while moving reserve bases to Stormwind.
• Dick predicted another attack within three months and asked the Silver Hand’s leaders to preserve the order until then.
• Falric and Marwyn entered with Royal Guards and announced that Arthas had ordered Dick Tang’s arrest and that he was no longer a Paladin.

Dick agreed to accompany Falric to meet Arthas after preventing the Silver Hand from clashing with the prince’s soldiers. After attending the burial of the fallen knights, Dick met Arthas at the coast and learned the prince had arrested him because Dick had done what Arthas wished he could do.

• Alexandros, Uther, and the Silver Hand knights confronted Falric and Marwyn over Arthas’s order to arrest Dick, while soldiers armed with crossbows surrounded the chapel.
• Dick agreed to go with Falric on the condition that he could speak with Arthas, and Falric promised his life was not in danger.
• Dick attended the burial of the knights who died at Stratholme and vowed to make their sacrifices meaningful.
• Falric told Marwyn that Arthas was not himself and that Dick might help him, while revealing Arthas planned to sail to Northrend to kill Mal'Ganis.
• Dick met Arthas at the Darrowmere coast, where Arthas thanked him and bowed for doing what the prince himself had wanted to do.

Dick failed to dissuade Arthas from traveling to Northrend, and Nozdormu warned him that changing Arthas’s fate would threaten the timeline. Arthas left Dick in command of Stratholme’s defenses, where Dick prepared to contain Rivendare’s undead.

• Dick urged Arthas to stay in Lordaeron, but Arthas revealed he intended to claim Frostmourne and use it against the Scourge.
• Nozdormu stopped time and warned Dick not to change Arthas’s decision to go to Northrend.
• Arthas gave Dick authority to defend Stratholme and hold back the undead until his return.
• A week later, Arthas sailed from the Eastern Kingdoms with three thousand soldiers and more than twenty ships.
• Dick’s forces and Saidan Dathrohan’s knights fortified two defensive lines, confining Rivendare’s undead to the deepest part of Stratholme.
• During a night patrol, Dick found Lady Whitemane crying over a letter, but she dismissed him and returned to her room.

Dick survived another failed duel with Rivendare in the Stratholme Dungeon, then continued training himself and the paladin recruits as he prepared for Arthas’s return. In Northrend, Arthas found the runeblade he believed could save his people and refused Muradin’s plea to leave.

• Dick lost his seventeenth duel against Rivendare, but escaped when the Black Knight’s runeblade shattered and the dungeon projection ended.
• Dick used the three remaining entries on his Stratholme Dungeon key as a training ground and went out for morning exercises among the city’s elite undead.
• Dick described how his harsh live-combat training had rapidly strengthened the paladin recruits, while his own attributes and combat strength also increased.
• Dick kept pushing himself because he expected Arthas to return soon.
• In the Forgotten Ice Cave, Muradin read the runeblade’s sinister inscription and warned Arthas to leave, but Arthas insisted the sword was his destiny and screamed as he tried to claim it.

Arthas took Frostmourne, which split his soul and transformed him into a Death Knight, then killed Mal'Ganis and agreed to return to Lordaeron. Thirteen days later, he arrived at Southshore with Falric, Marwyn, and his pale-faced soldiers, announcing that the prince had returned to save the kingdom.

• Muradin tried to stop Arthas from taking Frostmourne, but dark magic pushed Arthas to grasp the Runeblade.
• Frostmourne split Arthas's soul, and his dark half killed the golden figure representing his better qualities.
• Arthas defeated Muradin and then stabbed Mal'Ganis, trapping the Dreadlord in ice and killing him.
• Ner'zhul spoke to Arthas through their new bond and offered him control of the Crypt Fiends in exchange for helping Kel'Thuzad ascend.
• Arthas walked into the blizzard and, thirteen days later, arrived at Southshore with Falric, Marwyn, and his soldiers.
• Arthas ordered the dockmaster to tell Lordaeron that its prince had returned to save the kingdom.

Arthas returned to Lordaeron carrying Frostmourne and revealed his turn to darkness by killing King Terenas and launching an undead assault on the capital. Jaina and Rhonin escaped the collapsing palace and set out to save someone who could rebuild Lordaeron.

• Arthas entered Lordaeron to a citizens’ welcome, while his presence drained the life from the Court Steward and withered the red petals he touched.
• Jaina and Rhonin sensed the dark power within Arthas, but King Terenas dismissed Rhonin and embraced his son.
• Arthas killed King Terenas with Frostmourne, claimed the throne, and froze his father’s corpse and the throne in ice.
• Arthas summoned dark champions and creatures beneath the palace, forcing Jaina and Rhonin to fight their way out as Rhonin’s attack brought a meteor down on the palace.
• Undead soldiers and Crypt Fiends slaughtered people across Lordaeron, and Rhonin rescued a little girl from an undead attacker.
• Jaina resolved to return to the palace with Rhonin to save someone who could rebuild Lordaeron.

Uther and Dathrohan learned that Arthas had destroyed Lordaeron and faced the threat of a vast undead army advancing toward Tirisfal. Uther accepted Dick’s defensive plan and mobilized aid, while Dick’s regiment prepared to assault Stratholme.

• Wildhammer Gryphon Riders bombed Andorhal with holy water as Uther and Dathrohan discussed the campaign and Dick’s harsh training methods.
• A messenger reported that Arthas had ambushed Alexandros Mograine’s relief force and slaughtered nearly all six hundred thousand people in Lordaeron.
• Uther sent for reinforcements and ordered Dathrohan to join Isillien and hold the border against the approaching undead.
• A messenger delivered Dick’s plan to defend Chillwind Camp and the Bulwark, seek aid from Dalaran and Gilneas, and contain the war within Tirisfal and West Darrowmere.
• Herod declined Uther’s offer to fight at Andorhal because the Stratholme Regiment’s assault on Rivendare was due to begin at midnight.
• Uther appealed to Dalaran, Gilneas, and Alterac, summoned Dathrohan to Chillwind Camp, and ordered a thousand recruits transferred to the Stratholme Regiment.

Dick led the Stratholme Regiment in a decisive assault against Rivendare’s undead, then defeated Rivendare before he could complete his transformation into a Death Knight. With the battle won and the historical node completed, Dick gained new attributes, talents, and a higher template rank.

• Dick rallied 2,600 soldiers and led the Stratholme Regiment in a charge against the undead inside Stratholme.
• Dick and the regiment overcame Rivendare’s forces by coordinating their squads, using holy water, and destroying the abominations.
• Dick discovered that Rivendare was only partially undead because Kel’Thuzad’s death had prevented the Death Knight ritual.
• Erigor distracted Rivendare while Dick blocked his runeblade and struck him down with the Fire of Justice.
• Dick purified Rivendare’s remains and received rewards for completing Arthas’s request and the Stratholme historical node.

After the Stratholme Regiment reclaimed the city and killed Rivendare, Dick accepted Uther's request to preside over an urgent alliance meeting. Brigitte Abbendis explained the ideological dispute dividing the Silver Hand, and Dick asked whether it might split the order.

• The knights celebrated their victory as sunlight reached Stratholme, while Dick recovered from his wounds and gave Rivendare's sword to Erigor.
• Dick praised Herod and promoted him to champion of the Stratholme Regiment.
• Brigitte Abbendis arrived with a thousand recruits and told Dick that Uther had invited leaders from several powers to a meeting at Light's Hope Chapel.
• Brigitte revealed that Uther wanted Dick to preside over the meeting, and Dick agreed.
• Brigitte explained that General Abbendis and his allies favored making the Holy Light more offensive, while Uther defended its purity; Dick asked whether their disagreement could split the Silver Hand.

Dick urged Abbendis to help unite the Silver Hand’s younger commanders, then arrived at Light’s Hope Chapel for a prewar conference where Uther named him its true presiding officer. The conference began as Dick took center stage, while Princess Caliea remained in Dalaran recovering from her grief.

• Dick warned Abbendis that the Silver Hand could fracture if Uther were lost and proposed that mid-ranking commanders unite the order; she agreed to contact Taelan Fordring, Ashlam Valorfist, Madonniel, Lohan, Korfax, and Angela.
• Dick rode into Light’s Hope Chapel with Erigor, Whitemane, and Herod, where a cheering crowd celebrated his victory and he credited all who fought evil.
• Dick reunited with Jaina, who explained that she represented Dalaran and that her mentor supported Princess Caliea’s plan to rebuild Lordaeron; Caliea stayed in Dalaran to rest.
• Dick and Jaina entered the conference hall, where Uther welcomed representatives from several nations and introduced Dick as the commander of the Stratholme Regiment and the conference’s true presiding officer.

Dick confronted the Northern Frontier’s ambassadors, demanding aid against Arthas’s undead army and threatening to withdraw Lordaeron’s forces if Gilneas refused to help. After he forced the envoys to summon their leaders, Whitemane challenged his tactics, and Dick questioned whether the Order of the Silver Hand had any future left.

• Dick told the conference that Lordaeron had fallen and Arthas was assembling an undead army that could exceed two million, then asked the assembled powers for troops or supplies.
• The ambassador from Gilneas refused to intervene and began to leave, so Dick threatened to withdraw the Silver Hand and Lordaeron’s remaining troops to West Darrowmere.
• Dick declared that Lordaeron’s refugees would drag others down with them rather than die alone, silencing the hall and making the ambassadors sit back down.
• After receiving a quest to unite the Northern Frontier against the undead, Dick demanded that the Silver Hand follow his decisions, and Dathrohan’s arrival showed that Uther backed him.
• Dick ordered the envoys to bring leaders with authority to decide, and Antonidas opened portals for them to travel through.
• Whitemane accused Dick of risking the Silver Hand’s future, and Dick asked what made her think the Order still had one.

Dick confronted the young Silver Hand commanders over Lordaeron’s desperate situation, and Uther, Alexandros, and Dathrohan sent them to the battlefield to learn through fighting. At the conference, Dick secured military support from several nations and groups by exposing their secrets or bargaining with them.

• Dick told Whitemane and the young commanders that Lordaeron needed allies to protect its surviving civilians, then left them to reconsider their objections.
• Alexandros ordered Whitemane and the other young commanders to go to the battlefield, while Uther and Dathrohan explained why Dick had earned his authority.
• Dick resumed the conference with Uther, Alexandros, Antonidas, Lor'themar Theron, Falstad Wildhammer, Liam Greymane, Vincent Godfrey, and Aliden Perenolde present.
• Dick exposed Gilneas's plans involving the Greymane Wall and Arugal's summoned monsters, silencing Godfrey and alarming Liam.
• Falstad pledged the Gryphon Squadron after Dick revealed his knowledge of Toxic Fog Canyon, and Antonidas agreed to send Dalaran battle mages after Dick mentioned Daio and Ebonchill.
• Dick offered Stratholme as refuge for Aliden's Syndicate, then agreed to Lor'themar's request for the Silver Hand to train elven paladins in return for Quel'Thalas's Ranger Corps support.

Dick secured support for the Silver Hand as Gilneas adopted an isolationist policy, then found resolve in Little Pamela and reaffirmed his decision to protect the land. Three days later, while rescuing civilians and preparing a scorched-earth defense at Felstone Field, Dick discovered a death knight leading an undead attack and received a quest to prove the Barov Family’s destruction.

• Prince Liam announced that Gilneas would withdraw from commercial and diplomatic exchanges with the other nations and that the Gilneas Brigade would help defend Silverpine Forest alongside Dalaran battle mages.
• After the meeting, Dick reflected on the danger he had invited by threatening Gilneas and Alterac, but Little Pamela’s visit helped him decide that protecting the people of the land was worth the risk.
• At Felstone Field, Dick and his companions fought undead, found twenty-three farmers hiding in a cellar, and prepared to evacuate survivors as the Silver Hand withdrew and Dick pursued a scorched-earth strategy.
• Dick spotted an undead army advancing from Andorhal, led by a death knight, and received a quest to kill Alex Barov and bring his insignia to Uther.
• The quest revealed that a lich from Scholomance had joined the undead at Andorhal, prompting Dick to suspect Lethas Frostwhisper was behind the attack.