Recaps

Med'an learned that Aran was his surname as Jiang Jie led him and Meryl into Medivh’s warded library. There they encountered an echo of Nielas Aran, whose memories of Meryl seemed genuine until hearing Aegwynn’s name drove him into a violent frenzy.

• Med'an asked whether Aran was his surname, and Jiang Jie urged him to meet the figure in the sealed room.
• Meryl opened the warded library door, and Jiang Jie and Med'an followed him inside.
• Meryl recognized the purple-clad mage as an echo of Nielas Aran recreated from Medivh’s memories.
• Nielas recognized Meryl Winterstorm and recalled his history with the Tirisgarde.
• When Meryl mentioned Aegwynn, Nielas became crazed, declared that he had power of his own, and attacked the intruders.

Nielas unleashed a vast array of powerful spells, but Meryl fought him alone and emerged with Medivh’s diary and equipment. Med’an learned about his parents and inherited Nielas’s possessions, while Jiang Jie comforted him before Meryl prepared to take them to another battle.

• Nielas’s eight illusions overwhelmed the room with spells, turning Med’an into a sheep and trapping the others.
• Meryl sent Med’an outside and told Jiang Jie and Anveena to leave the fight to him; a minute later, Nielas had vanished and Meryl held Medivh’s diary.
• Meryl told Med’an he would explain his origins, then emerged with him ten minutes later after the library had been wrecked.
• Med’an wore Nielas’s Tirisgarde Set and carried his wand, sapphire, and pendant as he struggled with the truth about Medivh and Garona.
• Jiang Jie calmed Med’an and explained that his parents were extraordinary people bound by their circumstances, while Garona avoided meeting her son.
• Meryl said the magic circle was ready and offered to take Jiang Jie to see the battle.

Meryl used the Song of Aegwynn and a powerful spell to find Medivh’s vision of Aegwynn’s battle with Sargeras, bringing the group to a dangerous, lifelike Northrend scene. Jiang Jie saw demons hunting dragons and discovered Aegwynn standing nearby, as the vision’s events began to unfold.

• Meryl cast a spell to locate Medivh’s vision of Aegwynn fighting Sargeras, using the Song of Aegwynn as its medium.
• The spell transported Meryl, Jiang Jie, Med’an, and the others into a freezing Northrend landscape, where Meryl and Xiao Feng warned them to remain silent observers.
• Jiang Jie recognized the region as northern Dragonblight and saw a wounded demon army carrying a dragon’s head as it trekked through the snow.
• Jiang Jie noticed Aegwynn standing behind him on a cliff, radiating immense arcane power.

Aegwynn revealed her overwhelming power when she faced a vast demon army in Dragonblight. She destroyed over a hundred demons with one strike and blocked their next assault with a wall of blue fire, while more demons continued to charge.

• Jiang Jie recognized Aegwynn’s staff as Aluneth, the Guardian’s Staff, which drew power from an ancient Arcane spirit.
• Aegwynn killed over a hundred demons with a single strike of elemental lightning.
• The demon commander sent flying demons and a volley of enchanted arrows toward Aegwynn and her companions.
• Meryl judged the assault too powerful to withstand, Med’an tried to flee, and Garona and Anveena prepared to act.
• Jiang Jie stopped Med’an as Aegwynn raised a wall of blue fire that swallowed the arrows and burned many of the charging demons.

Aegwynn slaughtered the demons gathering in Dragonblight and summoned the Dragonflights to join the battle. As the dragons attacked, she unleashed Aluneth's power in a massive spell that erased more than three thousand demons, leaving Jiang Jie astonished by her near-divine strength.

• Aegwynn killed hundreds of attacking demons with effortless spells, then destroyed the fleeing survivors.
• Jiang Jie saw thousands more demons gathering, including Legendary commanders, while a demon leader threatened Aegwynn and revealed that Sargeras had come to the land.
• Aegwynn explained that she had summoned allies, and hundreds of blue and red dragons arrived, including the Red Dragon Queen.
• Aegwynn killed the demon leader, and the Dragonflights attacked the demon army with fire and Arcane magic.
• Aegwynn wielded Aluneth and cast a devastating spell that killed over three thousand demons across the battlefield.
• Xiao Feng declared that those who commanded the power of heaven and earth were Great Grandmasters.

Jiang Jie watched Aegwynn confront Sargeras’s summoned avatar and learned that beings on the Titans’ level could rival Martial Arts Myths. Sargeras sensed the distant spectators, but Aegwynn shielded them before ordering Alexstrasza’s dragons to leave and preparing to fight him alone.

• Aegwynn’s powerful magic destroyed the surrounding demons, but Sargeras emerged from the clouds as a massive Titan avatar.
• Xiao Feng told Jiang Jie that Sargeras could rival Martial Arts Myths and that the gaming pod was meant to cultivate Jiang Jie into one.
• Sargeras examined Med’an, Anveena, and Jiang Jie, sensing Med’an’s nature, Anveena’s Azerothian blood, and something strange about Jiang Jie.
• Aegwynn appeared before the spectators to protect them after Sargeras noticed them across time and space.
• Aegwynn told Alexstrasza to take her dragons away, then raised her staff and challenged Sargeras to fight.

Aegwynn tried to stop Sargeras’s avatar, but Aluneth refused to lend her power, forcing her to take up Atiesh. At the same time, the Chicken Leg Staff fragments Jiang Jie carried resonated with Atiesh, and Sargeras summoned a demon armed with the legendary swords Andonisus to attack Jiang Jie and his companions.

• Aegwynn began an unprecedented spell to fight Sargeras’s avatar, but Aluneth shut herself away and refused to help.
• Aegwynn put away the Guardian’s Staff and took out Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, to draw on its accumulated power.
• Jiang Jie sensed the Chicken Leg Staff fragments resonating with Atiesh and took the fragments out of his platinum ring.
• Sargeras’s power formed a demon from the staff fragments, then summoned Andonisus, Reaper of Souls, and gave the swords to it.
• Jiang Jie realized Sargeras had sent the demon to kill him, Anveena, and Med’an, and ordered Anveena to merge.

Jiang Jie defeated the incomplete demon Atiesh while Aegwynn brought down Sargeras’s avatar and the Chicken Leg Staff’s shaft was restored. Back in the library, Jiang Jie offered the staff to Med’an and asked him to decide whether he would take responsibility for it.

• Anveena joined Jiang Jie, who defeated the incomplete Atiesh with Strom’kar, but the two divine swords vanished with the demon.
• Aegwynn struck Sargeras’s avatar with the Chicken Leg Staff, causing it to fall, and then used magic to reassemble the staff’s forty-one fragments.
• Jiang Jie returned to the library with the restored staff shaft and realized that Sargeras and Aegwynn had noticed him.
• Jiang Jie told Meryl he planned to retrieve the staff’s head from Kel’Thuzad and offered the staff to Med’an.
• Meryl argued that Med’an should not bear the Guardian’s responsibility, but Jiang Jie asked Med’an to choose for himself.

Jiang Jie and his companions climbed through Karazhan, where Med'an and Anveena fought its Spell Shades and the group encountered hostile Ethereal thieves. After Meryl gave up trying to capture an Ethereal, they entered another room and found an enormous, illusory blue dragon.

• Jiang Jie offered Med'an the Chicken Leg Staff, but Med'an hesitated because Meryl opposed the gift.
• Jiang Jie and the others continued up Karazhan, discovering its vast, magically distorted library and the dangerous Spell Shades within.
• Meryl made Med'an's fight against the Spell Shades part of his mage-apprentice graduation examination, and Jiang Jie had Anveena help him.
• The group encountered Ethereals who had looted the library's books, and the Ethereals attacked them when Jiang Jie tried to approach them.
• Meryl joined the fight to capture an Ethereal for study, but the Ethereals refused to surrender, so he gave up.
• Jiang Jie and his companions entered another large room and saw an enormous, illusory blue dragon.

Jiang Jie and his companions defeated Netherspite in Medivh’s Observatory and claimed the dragon’s corpse, but Jiang Jie could not figure out how to operate the telescope. They continued through Karazhan and reached an enormous hall.

• Jiang Jie found Netherspite guarding Medivh’s Observatory and recognized the telescope as a possible way to observe the Twisting Nether and locate Draenor.
• Netherspite attacked, and Jiang Jie identified the effects of its red, green, and blue beams as the group moved to block them.
• Jiang Jie and his companions killed Netherspite after a five-minute battle, and Jiang Jie claimed its valuable dragon corpse.
• Jiang Jie tried to operate the telescope but could not work out how to use it.
• Jiang Jie and his companions killed dozens of Ethereals along the way and reached an enormous hall.

Jiang Jie and his companions entered Medivh’s chess hall, where an echo of Medivh assigned them roles and transported Jiang Jie into the First War as Lothar. Reginald Windsor told him that Medivh and King Llane were dead and Stormwind City faced an all-out Orc assault.

• Jiang Jie saw echoes of figures from the First War, including Lothar, Llane, Blackhand, and Gul'dan, while Garona trembled at the sight of Gul'dan.
• An echo of Medivh told the group to choose roles, then chose for them and sent them from the chess hall to First War-era Stormwind City.
• Jiang Jie found himself on the city wall in Lothar’s golden armor, able to use Strom'kar but unable to access his other powers and equipment.
• Reginald Windsor identified himself as Lothar’s guard captain and said they had just killed Medivh and returned from Karazhan.
• Reginald told Jiang Jie that the Elwynn defensive line and Northshire Abbey had fallen, King Llane had been killed by Garona, and Orcs were assaulting Stormwind City.

Jiang Jie discovered that Stormwind City was surrounded by the Orcs under Orgrim Doomhammer, while the Chess Hall had placed him in Lothar’s role alongside Meryl, Anveena, and Med’an. After learning that death in the illusion was real, he decided to abandon the city and focus on killing Orgrim to complete his mission.

• Jiang Jie realized Llane was dead and that Orgrim had replaced Blackhand as Warchief, making the Orc assault on Stormwind City far more dangerous.
• Jiang Jie identified the young, white-haired mage as Meryl and recognized Anveena and Med’an among those beside him.
• Meryl tried to locate Garona with a spell but failed, leaving Jiang Jie unsure whether she was absent or acting as herself.
• Jiang Jie saw that hundreds of thousands of Orcs surrounded Stormwind City and concluded its defenders could not hold them off.
• Jiang Jie asked Xiao Feng whether the world was real and learned that dying there meant dying for real.
• Jiang Jie rejected evacuating or defending Stormwind City and chose to seek out and kill Orgrim so he could complete the mission.

Jiang Jie sent Reginald to protect Prince Varian while he and his companions launched a second raid to kill Orgrim and disrupt the orc leadership. They teleported into the besieged mountains, where Meryl’s interrogation of captured orc souls revealed the location of the orcs’ main base.

• Jiang Jie ordered Reginald to take Marcus and Gavinrad and secretly protect Prince Varian instead of joining the raid.
• Jiang Jie, Med'an, Meryl, and Anveena teleported to the mountains outside Stormwind City as the orc assault raged.
• Jiang Jie warned Med'an that they could not waste time fighting the overwhelming numbers of orcs and asked Meryl to make them invisible.
• Meryl captured and interrogated the souls of slain orcs, and the group learned where the orcs’ main base was located.

A mysterious white-haired woman entered Karazhan, restored its ruined rooms, and sought out the Shade of Sargeras to destroy a contingency left there seven hundred years earlier. Meanwhile, Jiang Jie and his companions weighed how to confront Orgrim’s elite Orc camp and feared Medivh’s plan had gone wrong.

• A white-haired woman evaded Dalaran’s magical surveillance, broke into Karazhan, and passed through its defenses without resistance.
• She restored Karazhan’s rooms and library as she climbed, then found the Shade of Sargeras in a hidden library and prepared to destroy its contingency.
• Med’an considered attacking the Orc camp but recognized that four weakened companions could not safely face its thousands of elite warriors and Shamans head-on.
• Jiang Jie worried that something had gone wrong and urged Medivh not to fail them.

Jiang Jie disguised his group as orcs to find Orgrim, but discovered that Gul'dan, Grom Hellscream, Kilrogg Deadeye, and Cho'gall had gathered at the war chief's headquarters. Their disguises were exposed, leaving them surrounded by powerful orc leaders.

• Jiang Jie asked Meryl to disguise the group as orcs so they could find Orgrim and kill him.
• Meryl used orc body tissue to disguise them, and the group located Orgrim's headquarters.
• Jiang Jie used Xiao Feng's live feed to see Grom Hellscream, Kilrogg Deadeye, Gul'dan, and Cho'gall gathered with Orgrim.
• Kilrogg's magical eye saw through the group's disguises, and Gul'dan dispelled them.
• Gul'dan identified Lothar and Khadgar and ordered the orc champions to kill them.

Jiang Jie and his companions fought to escape Orgrim’s council hall after Gul’dan exposed their identities, but Grom’s assault left them badly outmatched. Medivh’s echo apologized for the danger caused by Sargeras’s altered chess game and promised that reinforcements would arrive soon.

• Jiang Jie led his companions toward the exit as orcs charged them, while Meryl used Flame Wreath to blast back and kill or wound many attackers.
• Meryl cast Blizzard and Anveena called on Elune to drive back more orcs, while Med’an struggled to contribute without the Keeper’s power.
• Grom joined the fight and knocked Jiang Jie down with Gorehowl, leaving him unable to match the legendary warrior without his chi.
• Jiang Jie furiously called for Medivh and demanded to know why he had led them into danger.
• Medivh’s echo said Sargeras had changed the game in a way he had not anticipated, then told Jiang Jie that reinforcements were coming and urged him to hold on.

Jiang Jie demanded Mak'gora to stop the orcs from interfering, but Gul'dan redirected the challenge to Grom, forcing Jiang Jie to duel while he waited for the gaming pod to crack the chess illusion. As Grom unleashed Gorehowl's power, Jiang Jie called on Pyralis and prepared to fight at full strength.

• Jiang Jie demanded Mak'gora, and the orcs stopped fighting to witness the duel.
• Gul'dan declared that Grom would fight Jiang Jie first, and Orgrim accepted the ruling.
• Jiang Jie accepted Grom's challenge and used his swordsmanship to evade Gorehowl and wound Grom while buying time.
• Grom drew on Gorehowl's power, and Jiang Jie summoned Pyralis, the power of the phoenix.

Chromie arrived at Karazhan and found Jiang Jie’s soulless body and the others under attack by flesh beasts. After learning that Sargeras’s forces threatened them, she agreed to open a space-time passage to send their bodies into the chessboard world.

• Chromie entered Karazhan, got lost in its distorted corridors, and reached the chess hall.
• Chromie found Jiang Jie and several others lying there without souls while the Maiden of Virtue guarded them from attacking flesh beasts.
• The Echo of Medivh explained that Sargeras had altered the chess game and that an Eredar warlock was sending flesh beasts to destroy the bodies.
• The Echo of Medivh asked Chromie to send the bodies into the chessboard world rather than fight inside it.
• Chromie agreed to open a space-time passage, and the Echo of Medivh said an unknown power kept Nicholas hidden from Sargeras’s sight.

Jiang Jie endured Grom’s overwhelming assault until his original body and power returned, allowing him to defeat Grom in their Mak’gora. He left Grom alive and challenged the other Orcs to face him.

• Grom’s Gorehowl-enhanced attacks repeatedly sent Jiang Jie flying, but Jiang Jie kept charging until the Orcs began to respect his courage.
• Grom launched a decisive overhead strike, and Jiang Jie’s original body arrived from the Chess Hall, restoring his Chi and strength.
• Jiang Jie blocked Grom’s blow without retreating, then countered with a powerful strike that sent Grom and Gorehowl backward.
• Jiang Jie used Execute to knock Gorehowl from Grom’s hands and struck him unconscious with the flat of his sword.
• Jiang Jie spared Grom and challenged the surrounding Orcs by asking who would fight next.

Jiang Jie challenged Orgrim to Mak'gora after Gul'dan tried to kill him, and the orcs' demands forced their Warchief to accept. The chapter ended as Orgrim charged at Jiang Jie with Doomhammer.

• Gul'dan attacked Jiang Jie with fel energy, but Meryl shielded him as Meryl, Med'an, and Anveena regained their powers.
• Jiang Jie declared that he was not Lothar and challenged Orgrim to Mak'gora, while Strom'kar and Gorehowl resonated with Doomhammer.
• Gul'dan urged Orgrim to kill Jiang Jie and his companions, but Jiang Jie publicly called Orgrim out and Meryl amplified his words for the orcs.
• The orcs roared for Orgrim to accept, and Orgrim realized that refusing would undermine his authority and leave him vulnerable to rivals.
• Orgrim accepted Jiang Jie's Mak'gora and charged at him with Doomhammer.

Aegwynn reached the chess hall after defeating Sargeras’s powerful temporal echo and learned that Jiang Jie was stalling against Orgrim while waiting for help. When the High-tier Legendary Eredar warlock Malchezaar broke free, Aegwynn rushed to confront him to protect her grandson.

• Aegwynn defeated Sargeras’s temporal echo in Karazhan’s private library and cursed the Kirin Tor for giving Aluneth to the blue dragons.
• Aegwynn reached the chess hall, where Chromie struggled to maintain the temporal passage and Medivh urged her to hurry.
• Medivh showed Aegwynn that Jiang Jie was balancing his duel with Orgrim to stall until reinforcements arrived, while Gul’dan took Orgrim’s place on the chessboard.
• Malchezaar broke through the magical barrier after Sargeras’s fel explosion had connected Karazhan to the Twisting Nether.
• Aegwynn learned that Malchezaar was a High-tier Legendary and ran toward the tower’s top to stop him before he could destroy the chessboard world.

Jiang Jie blinded Orgrim in Mak'gora and challenged Kilrogg, but Garona attacked him under Gul'dan's control. Jiang Jie repelled her and condemned the Orcs for violating their sacred duel, prompting them to demand justice and uphold their traditions.

• Medivh told Jiang Jie that Malchezaar had appeared, Aegwynn was fighting him, and Jiang Jie had to kill Gul'dan to escape the chessboard world.
• Jiang Jie increased his power and covered Orgrim with sword strikes, blinding him while keeping him alive to stall for time.
• Jiang Jie challenged Kilrogg, but Garona ambushed him with the Kingslayers before he could continue Mak'gora.
• Jiang Jie forced the toxin from his wound and blocked Garona's attacks until she vanished again.
• Jiang Jie denounced the Orcs for allowing Garona to interfere, and Orcs demanded that Gul'dan answer for the violation and that the duel's survivors be allowed to leave.

Jiang Jie broke Medivh’s chessboard world from within, saving the real people trapped inside and ending the conflict with Gul'dan. The survivors returned to the Chess Hall, where Medivh’s echo left Jiang Jie a reward before fading, and Aegwynn reunited with her grandson Med'an.

• Garona killed Orgrim, while Gul'dan killed Kilrogg and claimed the Warchief’s authority before ordering the humans attacked.
• Jiang Jie realized the chessboard’s flaws could be used to destroy it from within without harming those who were real.
• Meryl and Med'an held off Gul'dan and Cho'gall as Jiang Jie destroyed six spell nodes with Phoenix Arrows.
• The chessboard world collapsed, leaving Jiang Jie, Garona, Med'an, Meryl, and the others intact in the ruined Chess Hall.
• Medivh’s echo gave Jiang Jie a chest as compensation, then faded after looking at Garona and Med'an.
• Aegwynn returned after defeating an Eredar lord and hurried to greet Med'an, criticizing Meryl’s training.

Aegwynn took charge of Med'an's inheritance and agreed to recover the Chicken Leg Staff's head from Kel'Thuzad, while Jiang Jie collected Medivh's treasure and looted Prince Malchezaar. The chapter left Aegwynn setting out to contact the blue dragons and Jiang Jie sorting through his rewards.

• Aegwynn claimed the Chicken Leg Staff for Med'an and said the Keeper's responsibilities could be decided later.
• Jiang Jie told Aegwynn that Kel'Thuzad held the staff's head and the Book of Medivh, and she promised to kill him and reclaim Aluneth.
• Aegwynn opened a portal to Wyrmrest Temple to contact the dragons, while Meryl asked her to remove the Shadow Council's magic from Garona.
• Chromie returned to the Caverns of Time after lingering for two days, and Jiang Jie opened Medivh's chest, finding more than a dozen epic items, including the King's Defender saber.
• Jiang Jie had Anveena purify Prince Malchezaar's charred corpse and recovered an epic ring, an epic dagger, and a Nether Teleportation Stone.

Jiang Jie left Karazhan after helping arrange its restoration and returned to Lordaeron when Queen Calia summoned him over the Syndicate’s seizure of vital grain shipments. The chapter ended with him agreeing to handle the crisis threatening Lordaeron’s food supply.

• Aegwynn drove Archmage Ansirem and the Dalaran mages away from Karazhan, while she and Medivh decided to give the tower to Jiang Jie.
• Meryl studied Karazhan’s telescope, and more than a hundred Earthen arrived from Uldaman to begin restoring the tower.
• Jiang Jie received a message from Arcanist Doan and left Karazhan after failing to locate the Milky Way through the telescope.
• The Syndicate attacked Hillsbrad farms during the harvest, killed Silver Hand recruits and others, and stole at least half the grain.
• Baron Maxwell’s forces struggled to retake the Syndicate’s strongholds, leaving Lordaeron unable to recover the grain it urgently needed.
• Queen Calia summoned Jiang Jie, and he agreed to deal with the crisis.