After completing the original Warcraft III, her characters continued on their way to MMORPG across this universe. However, the events of the WoW add-ons have changed many of them. Someone was enveloped in madness and hatred, others were finally able to achieve their goal, but Thrall … remained Thrall. We have prepared material for those who have missed the last 15 years of World of Warcraft history – this is what happened during this time with your favorite characters.
Jaina – a novel with a dragon and hatred of the Horde
At first, Blizzard practically did not use one of the most powerful witches of Azeroth in the plot of WoW. Before the battle with the Lich King, the players practically did not intersect with Jaina: you could see her in one of the towers of Theramore – the city to which she ruled.
In addition to the Wrath of the Lich King, Jaina not only fought the Lich King, but also tried to keep the Horde and Alliance from open confrontations. Together with her, players could go to Icecrown Citadel. There Jaina tried to the very last to find the soul of Arthas in the Lich King, but did not succeed. The broken heart after the final loss of her lover, the sorceress subsequently healed in the arms of the aspect of the blue dragons of Kalesgos.
Despite what happened, optimism and peacefulness did not leave Jaina – until the attack on Theramore. But when Garrosh wiped her city from the face of Azeroth with the help of a manabomb, Jaina changed. The sorceress was overwhelmed with hatred and desire for revenge. She was close to destroying Orgrimmar, and only Kalesgos could discourage her.
Throughout the expansion of the Mists of Pandaria, Jaina was filled with a desire to destroy the Horde and in every way pushed Varian Wrynn to do so. However, the ruler of the Alliance, after defeating Garrosh, did not want to continue the bloodshed and made peace. Jaina became the ruler of the magical city of Dalaran and for almost two updates ceased to participate in the events of the universe. In Legion, she could not come to terms with the decision of the magicians to accept the Horde in Dalaran and left the council.
“- Help me, please. We must destroy the Horde.
– This fierce enmity … It’s not you!
– You’re wrong. It’s me. And so did the Horde. ”
Jaina broke almost all contacts with the outside world and even abandoned Kalesgos. She returned to one of the leading roles in the plot only in the Battle for Azeroth expansion. On a magical ship, she flew to the Undercity and turned the tide of the battle with the Horde. Then she led the Alliance to her homeland, Kul Tiras. However, there, remembering her refusal to support her father in the war with the Horde, she was immediately sent to prison. After thinking, the mother of Jaina (the ruler of Kul Tiras) went to the Ethereal world to save her daughter, and the players at that time could observe the visions that tormented the sorceress.
After tauren Bane the Bloodhoof saved Jaina’s resurrected brother Silvana, the sorceress’s heart began to thaw. The split in the Horde contributed to this. Sylvanas arrested Bane for giving his brother Jaina to the Alliance, and then her pacifism finally returned to the former ruler of Theramore. Together with Thrall and Saurfang, she saved Bane and decided to bring peace to Azeroth, ending the feud between the Alliance and the Horde. As a result of the story arch, Jaina reunited with her family, and her hatred came to naught.
Illidan – From Antagonist to Savior of the Universe
In Warcraft III, we met Illidan Stormrage after Tyrande freed him from imprisonment to fight the demons of the Legion. He spent ten thousand years in prison and, as we know from memes, during this entire period he did not see women. World of Warcraft showed what led to this imprisonment. During the demon attack on Black Rook Hold in Val’sharah, Illidan led the elven advance squad. However, the balance of power was not in favor of his faction.
To repel the attack, Illidan took drastic measures and began to suck the force out of his own fighters. This allowed him to cope with the demons, but his relatives did not appreciate the feat. Illidan called them cowards, ironically offering them the next time to beg the Legion for mercy, since they are not ready to make sacrifices for the sake of victory. Stormrage knew that the magic he possessed was not enough: the Legion could be defeated only with his own weapon – Fel. Malfurion did not share his brother’s position and sent him to prison, but at the same time he got rid of his opponent in the struggle for the heart of Tyrande Shelest Wind.
Supplements The Burning Crusade and Legion talked about what happened to Illidan after the events of Warcraft III. First, he placed his forces in Outland. Despite the fact that his goal was still the fight against demons, the attack on civilians in Shattrath set the heroes of Azeroth against Illidan. He lost his allies from Warcraft III – the demon hunter betrayed Kael’thas. Illidan used the blood of Mannoroth to create an army of Fel Orcs to fight the demons, but again no one appreciated his radical methods. Soon, a team of 25 heroes, supported by Akama and Maiev, defeated Illidan.
The next few additions about the character were almost unheard of. The situation was corrected by Gul’dan, who intended to resurrect the Stormrage to use it as a vessel. Illidan’s soul, despite the fel, did not succumb to these manipulations, so, having returned to life, he first destroyed the warlock himself.
The full-scale invasion of the Legion began on Azeroth. Illidan, along with his hunters – the Illidari – finally took up what he had been striving for all his life: he began to crumble demons. The heroes of Azeroth tried to turn him to the light, but this failed. Naaru wanted to make Illidan believe, but religious beliefs were alien to him. Therefore, Stormrage destroyed the divine creature and dealt with the Legion without the help of light.
At the end of the expansion, the heroes destroyed the Legion, and Illidan became the jailer of the defeated Sargeras and went with him to distant distances. Tyrande and Malfurion received a crystal with a recorded audio message from a demon hunter. In it, Illidan revealed his feelings and explained the motivation for his actions.
“Know that everything that I did was done with one goal – to save our world. I could not allow half measures or compromises. ”
The story arch of Illidan largely repeats the story of Arthas. The demon hunter also sacrificed everything to achieve a higher goal, not caring about methods. Like Arthas, he entered into an alliance with dark power to gain greater power. However, Illidan did not lose his mind and still achieved his goal, becoming one of the most vivid and controversial characters in the history of Warcraft.
“Every step, every sacrifice – all in order to bring this moment closer.”
Legion Add-on Finals
Sylvanas – suicidal tendencies and insane cruelty
Back in Warcraft III, we were shown how Sylvanas Windrunner freed herself from the control of the Lich King and tried to kill Arthas, who turned her into undead. In World of Warcraft, she created a new faction that settled on the ruins of Lordaeron. To save her people, the Forsaken, Sylvanas sided with the Horde, as the Alliance considered all the living dead a threat that needed to be destroyed.
The death of Sylvanas at the hands of Arthas
The Banshee Queen destroyed nearby human settlements, but Arthas remained her main target. In World of Warcraft itself, Sylvanas initially did not pay much attention – her story arch was untwisted in books. During the expansion of Wrath of the Lich King, the banshee queen and the Forsaken went to Northrend. After Arthas was defeated, Sylvanas lost the meaning of life. She decided to commit suicide, but the Valkyries saved her and swore allegiance.
After that, Sylvanas set a new goal – to save her people. Since the Forsaken cannot continue the clan, she began to look for ways to extend their life and replenish their ranks. In the Horde, the Dark Lady gained the faction’s trust after helping Vol’jin fight Garrosh. The Alliance’s hatred of Sylvanas increased even more after the first battle on the Broken Isles, where she withdrew her army and thereby doomed Varian Wrynn to death. Although Vol’jin gave the order, people never forgave her for this betrayal. Sylvanas became the leader of the Horde, but while the factions fought with the demons, she was looking for a source of life for the Forsaken.
Sylvanas becomes Horde leader after Vol’jin’s death
In the Undercity, Sylvanas was idolized, however, the “Council of the Abandoned” arose there, which was eager to come to terms with people and restore their families. Sylvanas allowed the Forsaken to see their close relatives, but then she herself killed everyone who had reunited with her family. Suppressing the opposition, Sylvanas embarked on a full-scale mining of Azerite and preparations for the fourth war with the Alliance.
In Battle for Azeroth, Sylvanas turned into an antagonist for both factions. She burned Teldrassil and fired gas in the battle for the Undercity, where her soldiers fought. Sylvanas increasingly resorted to dark magic and the creation of new Forsaken. All this undermined her authority among other Horde leaders who began to see in her another madman, like Garrosh. After the Horde split, Sylvanas defeated Saurfang in a duel, admitting that “the Horde is nothing to her.” Together with the remains of faithful subjects, she fled from the battlefield. In an effort to extend the life of her people, Windrunner went to Northrend, where after defeating the new Lich King, she destroyed his crown and thereby destroyed the border between the world of the living and the dead.
Shadowlands trailer The Battle of Sylvanas and the Lich King Bolvar
In this desperate pursuit of her highest goal, Sylvanas also repeated the paths of Illidan and Arthas. Whether she will turn into an antagonist completely – will show the addition of Shadowlands, where the Dark Lady will become a key character.
Thrall – I’m Tired, I’m Leaving
Thrall has always been the personification of the Horde – the one that freed itself from the influence of fel and embarked on the path of honor. His story, from slavery to the leadership of the Horde, has been described in books on the Warcraft universe. At WoW, he was a leader for a long time, striving to maintain a fragile peace with the Alliance. An important role in the fate of Thrall was played by Garrosh, the son of Grommash, to whom the shaman treated his pupil and faithful ally.
In the war against the Lich King, Garrosh became one of the key warlords. After the onset of the Cataclysm, Thrall resigned as leader. The throne of the Horde passed to Garrosh, who immediately launched a military campaign against the Alliance. The new leader was cruel even to his people, who expressed disagreement with his methods. The destruction of Theramore by Garrosh hit Thrall – he considered it his fault.
All this time Thrall, along with the shamans, was at the Great Rift, trying to heal the wounds of Azeroth. Most of the plot events associated with him during this period are described in books. Thrall’s full return to World of Warcraft and local geopolitics came in addition to Mists of Pandaria, when Garrosh finally flew off the coils. Together with the forces of the Alliance, Thrall participated in the siege of Orgrimmar and even tried to personally execute Garrosh, but he was stopped by Varian Wrynn. Upon returning, Thrall did not take the throne, but called to recognize Vol’jin as leader.
Thrall still killed Garrosh, but it happened later – in the addition of Warlords of Draenor.
The former Horde chief participated in the first battle against the Legion on the Broken Isles, but later distanced himself from the war. In Legion, more attention was paid to his relationship with Aggra. Thrall married a shaman and soon they had a son, Duran. To be with his family, Thrall left the Horde and settled in Draenor.
Thrall’s calm life did not last long: already in Battle for Azeroth the Horde again went the wrong way, far from the principles of honor. Then Saurfang came to the former leader, who asked the shaman to help with the overthrow of Sylvanas. Thrall, along with Anduin Wrynn, led the combined armies of the Alliance and Horde and headed for the walls of Orgrimmar. After Sylvanas escaped, the blood elf ruler Lor’themar Theron suggested that Thrall become the leader of the Horde again, but the shaman refused, saying that he was not sure whether the Horde needed a leader at all.
Tyrande – Priestess enters the warpath
High Priestess Tyrande and her husband Malfurion have long been ordinary NPCs in Darnassus – they practically did not affect the plot of WoW and more often appeared in books and comics, but not in the game itself. Tyrande participated in the battle against Garrosh, but her full inclusion in the plot occurred in Legion. On the Broken Isles, she fought the nightborne demons and traitors led by Elisande. The long-awaited conversation between Illidan and Tyrande never happened – the high priestess admitted that she could not find the strength to meet him.
Illidan called Tyrande a wise woman, and this is what Blizzard showed in Legion. However, in Battle for Azeroth, the situation has changed. After the burning of Teldrassil, Tyrande, like Jaina once, was overwhelmed with hatred. Moreover, the wrath of the high priestess was directed not only at the Horde, but also at the goddess Elune, who did not save her children. The alliance did not help the night elves in the battle for the Darkshore, making Tyrande even harder. She turned to Elune so that the goddess would give her a dark appearance and make her an instrument of retribution. So from the high priestess she turned into a Night Warrior. Her eyes turned black, and she herself acquired an unprecedented power, which easily defeated enemies.
Having gained powerful abilities, Tyrande refused to participate in the Alliance campaign and did not help in the battle with Azshara. The warrior also did not begin to sign a peace with the Horde after the flight of Sylvanas. She openly challenged Anduin and vowed to hunt the Banshee Queen.
“My thirst for revenge will not be satisfied until Sylvanas Windrunner remains at large and until I find out why Elune abandoned her children.”
Tyrande will continue her hunt. According to the developers, she will become one of the important plot characters of the upcoming Shadowlands expansion.
Blizzard introduces many new heroes into the Warcraft universe. However, stories based on the characters of Warcraft III are most popular and love. That is why the most successful additions in the gaming community are BC, WotLK and Legion. So the developers will probably continue to develop their story arches, and even Illidan who has left us can still soar above Azeroth with his catchphrase: “You are not ready!”.