Icecrown Citadel Icecrown Citadel is the greatest fortress of the Scourge and the last bastion of the dreaded Lich King . Located in the frozen wastes of Icecrown on the continent of Northrend , the Citadel is built around the Frozen Throne that once held the spirit of Ner ' zhul until he joined with Arthas Menethil to become the new Lich King . Constructed from saronite , the Citadel is inhabited by some of the strongest and vilest of the Lich King ' s minions - a great army of the living dead standing between their dark master and those who seek to destroy him . History . The name of Icecrown became infamous when Kil ' jaeden hurled the Lich King back into the mortal world . Ner ' zhul ' s prison slammed into the glacier . Here the Lich King remained until Arthas Menethil freed him and the two merged in Arthas ' body . The merging created such a large explosion that a large portion of the glacier was blown away . It left a gigantic throne in its place thus creating the Frozen Throne . Upon which sits the Lich King , ruler of the scourge . From the name one would assume Icecrown Citadel was an enormous fortress planted on the glacier , with thick walls , sturdy guard towers , and massive front gates . Not quite . Most of the Citadel lurks below the surface . The glacier is split , creating a deep fissure . Scourge forces lurk down there , and they have carved levels into either side of that massive split and created bridges , walkways and even solid floors across the gap . Not surprisingly , Icecrown Citadel is a cold , unforgiving place . It has no decorations , no furs or rugs , no fires , nothing to provide comfort or warmth . The Scourge creatures move silently from one problem to another , focused on their tasks . All manner of undead dwell here , including zombies , wraiths and beings composed of cold energy . At the bottom of the rift is the Frozen Throne , the heart of the Scourge and the Lich King ’ s personal seat . This throne is the remains of the block of ice that first brought Ner ’ zhul to Azeroth , the same block that held him prisoner until Arthas freed the ancient orc shaman and merged with him . Arthas sits on the Frozen Throne . Note . The above description from " Lands of Mystery " may seem confusing , as images of the Throne Chamber obviously depict a spire with the Frozen Throne at the " top " . This would be understandable if the size of the rift created by the impact with the Glacier was ridiculous . The rift may be so large the entire spire is below average ground level . The entire spire counts as the Frozen Throne , the area just around the spire is also known as the Throne Chamber , and Icecrown Citadel may be the fortified rift as a whole . Both Arthas and Kel ' Thuzad traveled downward before ascending the spire . For context , " The Lich King sits on the Frozen Throne at the bottom of the rift , inside of the Icecrown Citadel " . The Throne Chamber may not be much of a chamber anymore , as evidenced by the cinematic at the end of the " " Undead campaign where the tower was exposed , but it seems to have been covered again by the Lich King . Also , the water seen in both the final mission and the cinematic is nowhere to be found . At BlizzCon 2009 , it was said that the Lich King will be fought at the pinnacle of Icecrown Citadel . It seems the bottom of the spire is at the bottom of the former ' rift ' ( if there is one ) , and the Frozen Throne is at the top of the spire , at the top of the Citadel . Wrath of the Lich King . Icecrown Citadel is a massive structure located on the Dragonblight - Icecrown border . Its southern entrance , Angrathar the Wrathgate , is surrounded by the Court of Skulls , and flanked by Fordragon Hold and Kor ' kron Vanguard . The fortified northern entrance to Icecrown Citadel , surrounded by the Court of Bones , is found in the mountains of southern Icecrown . It is surrounded by gigantic ramparts and massive , blade - like spires , the towers are an imposing landmark of the Icecrown skyline , emitting a beacon of light from its pinnacle . As noted earlier the Citadel itself ( possibly ) stretches far under Icecrown and Icecrown Glacier , and the rift . The Frozen Throne itself was located on an island in the rift of the glacier towering above most of the underground Citadel . Icecrown Citadel is home to the final encounter in " Wrath of the Lich King " , featuring the Lich King as the final boss . Although players interact with Arthas numerous times during the expansion , including during an event at Angrathar the Wrathgate in the Dragonblight , the instance where the final battle against him will take place was not formally announced until nearly a year after the release of the expansion . The developers have stated that they feel it was a mistake to release Black Temple , wherein the Illidan encounter takes place , as soon as they did ( a mere four months after the release of " " ) ; while this was somewhat remedied with the release of Sunwell Plateau , making Kil ' jaeden the final boss encounter of " Burning Crusade " , their goal is to ensure that Arthas does not become just another farm boss too soon before newer , more challenging content is released . Patch 3 . 3 . 0 . Icecrown Citadel received an exterior redesign in patch 3 . 3 . 0 , with the opening of the raid instance inside ; the central spire became much taller and more cylindrical , and a platform of ice was added at the spire ' s summit ( where the Frozen Throne will be inside the instance ) . Trivia . The in - game architecture of Icecrown ' s Scourge - controlled fortresses ( especially Icecrown Citadel ) bear striking resemblances to artwork of , and countless other citadels from " " .