Third War The Third War was a conflict between the mortal races of Azeroth and the Burning Legion . Unlike the previous wars , the Third War took place in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor . In the war , the ancient night elves were reintroduced to the world . Its events were chronicled in " " . Prelude . After their defeat in the Second War , the Old Horde ' s Warchief , Ner ' zhul was captured by Kil ' jaeden for his failure . As punishment , the Deceiver destroyed Ner ' zhul ' s body , and tortured his spirit until he agreed to serve the Legion once again . His soul encased in a suit of armor which was then bound to the Frozen Throne , Kil ' jaeden hurled his creation towards Azeroth where it smashed into Icecrown Glacier . Thus the first major player of the Third War , the Lich King was born . Once on Azeroth , the Lich King took control of Northrend and he had the necromancer Kel ' Thuzad take the Plague of Undeath to Lordaeron . Exodus of the Horde . One rainy night , the prophet Medivh came to the young orcish Warchief Thrall in a dream . Thrall later meets Medivh and he tells him that he must rally the newly - reformed shamanistic Horde and move them across the sea to Kalimdor in order to escape the shadow that was coming to consume the land . Trusting the prophet ' s words , and wishing to find a new home for his people , Thrall listened to his call , fought his way through Alliance troops , freed Grom Hellscream , and sailed west . While sailing though the Maelstrom , Thrall lands on Darkspear Islands , discovers the Darkspear tribe , fights both Kul Tiras and Underworld Minions of Zar ' jira . The Darkspear tribe join the Horde and they escape from the Darkspear Islands . Scourge of Lordaeron . Disturbance in the north . A rumor had started to travel around Lordaeron telling how a mysterious plague had gripped the northern lands , as the majority of Lordaeron ' s attention was focused on the Horde ' s flight and rebelling orc clans . When Medivh appeared before King Terenas telling him just as he told Thrall : to save his people , he must travel west , Terenas told him that he would defend his kingdom . To do so , he sent his own son Arthas Menethil , who was dealing with the rebelling orcs with Sir Uther the Lightbringer north to investigate . Jaina Proudmoore from the Kirin Tor was sent from Dalaran to aid in the investigation . Cult of the Damned . After joining Jaina Proudmoore , prince Arthas discovered that Andorhal ' s granaries were wrought with a plague that killed all who are infected ( within a period of time ) after they had encountered Kel ' Thuzad in the town of Brill . Since Andorhal was the main distribution point for grain in the area , this meant that many other towns were in danger . As they fought their way through the infected city of Andorhal they bore witness to a unique devastation like Azeroth had never seen . They hunted down and attacked Kel ' Thuzad for his crimes against the people . The necromancer told Arthas that he served a greater power , a dreadlord named Mal ' Ganis , and that he was responsible for the Scourge . Enraged , Arthas vowed he would kill Mal ' Ganis and they traveled to Stratholme to confront him after slaying the corrupted wizard . Rise of the Scourge . While in Hearthglen , Arthas and Jaina ' s forces were attacked by legions of undead . Arthas had Jaina search for Uther while he and his forces remained to protect the town from the Scourge . It was then he learned the truth behind the plague . The plague didn ' t just kill those infected , it turned them into the undead , and thus , the Scourge . Before his army was defeated , Uther and his knights arrived and saved the town . Not long after this battle , Arthas was met by Medivh , who warned the prince to travel west to Kalimdor . Like his father , Arthas refused , saying his place was with his people . Jaina believed the prophet ' s words but Arthas would not be swayed to leave his kingdom . They continued to Stratholme to deal with the threat of the Scourge . Culling of Stratholme . Upon arriving at Stratholme , they discovered that the grain had already been distributed amongst the townsfolk . Arthas , not wanting to deal with an entire army of undead , ordered Uther and his paladin s to destroy the town . Uther was appalled by this , saying he wouldn ' t follow the order even if Arthas was the king . For his defiance , Arthas disbanded the Knights of the Silver Hand and called all those still loyal to Lordaeron to come with him . Uther took his followers and left , and Jaina quickly followed . Abandoned by his teacher and friend , Arthas continued to Stratholme to slaughter the town . Upon arrival , Arthas met Mal ' Ganis himself . The two had a race of sorts for the lives of the town . Arthas wished to destroy them , Mal ' Ganis wished to corrupt them . When the town was in ruin , Arthas demanded a final showdown with Mal ' Ganis . Mal ' Ganis , however , slipped away , vowing to meet him in Northrend . After the Culling , Jaina and Uther returned to Stratholme to bury the dead . Jaina was met by Medivh , who told her Arthas would only die if he went to Northrend . The prophet then told Jaina , as he had told everyone else , that she must travel west to Kalimdor , a request she answered to . Rise of the death knight . After arriving in Northrend , Arthas discovered the brother of the dwarven king Magni Bronzebeard , Muradin . Upon arriving at Northrend , Muradin ' s expedition was attacked by the undead and was cut off from the rest of the world . He had come to Northrend to obtain the runeblade Frostmourne . When word from Lordaeron called Arthas ' s men back home , the prince used mercenaries to burn their ships before turning his forces on the mercenaries . With no way to get home , he told his men that their only way home was to get Frostmourne . When he finally found the blade , he and Muradin learned that the blade was cursed . Arthas accepted this curse and took the blade , though Muradin was believed to be killed in the process ( he was knocked out with terrible amnesia ) . With Frostmourne , Arthas led an assault on the Scourge base where Mal ' Ganis was stationed and killed the dreadlord . With the cause of his madness dead , Arthas fled to the wilderness of Northrend , leaving his men to fend for themselves . Months later , Arthas returned to Lordaeron . When he greeted Terenas , he took up the cursed sword , telling his father , " " You no longer need to sacrifice for your people . You no longer need to bear the weight of your crown . I ' ve taken care of everything . " " Without a moment of consideration , he slew his father . Arthas then named himself King of Lordaeron and gave the land to the Scourge . Weeks later , Arthas , now a death knight under the orders of the Lich King , was given the task of resurrecting the dead necromancer Kel ' Thuzad . To do so , Arthas had to take his remains to a place of immense magical power . Arthas killed his former mentor Uther for the urn he was carrying . The urn carried the ashes of his father , which Arthas simply disposed of and placed Kel ' Thuzad ' s remains inside the urn . The only magical nexus with the necessary power was the Sunwell deep inside Silvermoon , capital of the high elves . To revive Kel ' Thuzad , the Scourge would have to burn Quel ' Thalas . Fall of Quel ' Thalas . Upon reaching the borders of Quel ' Thalas , the Ranger - General Sylvanas Windrunner became a quick thorn in the death knight ' s plan . Despite the mighty elf gates , the destruction of an important bridge , and many well trained rangers , the Scourge plowed their way through Quel ' Thalas ' defenses on their way to Silvermoon , and from there the Isle of Quel ' Danas and the Sunwell . Before Sylvanas could warn Silvermoon of the Scourge invasion , her camp was raided and she was taken prisoner . Arthas tortured her and , before giving her the peace of death , he used his power to turn her into the first banshee , making her a slave to the Scourge . With its defenses destroyed , the Scourge entered Silvermoon and slaughtered all the high elves in the city . When Arthas reached the Sunwell , he placed Kel ' Thuzad ' s remains in the enchanted waters , thus turning him into a lich and corrupting the Sunwell . With his business in the area done , Arthas had the Scourge kill the remaining high elves of Quel ' Thalas . The Defiler . With Kel ' Thuzad revived , they had to do their job for the dreadlords . The Scourge traveled south to Dalaran to obtain the Book of Medivh and use it to summon Archimonde himself to Azeroth . The Kirin ' Tor used their most powerful magics , but failed to prevent the Scourge from stealing the spellbook . With the book , Kel ' Thuzad summoned Archimonde and the Burning Legion to Azeroth . Archimonde ' s first order of business when entering the world was to destroy Dalaran with his great power . From this point and for the rest of the war , Archimonde , the Field Commander of the Legion , led the invasion of Azeroth himself , and planned to destroy Nordrassil , the World Tree at Mount Hyjal . Flight to Kalimdor . Shortly after the culling , before Arthas had killed Terenas , Jaina Proudmoore brought thousands with her to Kalimdor following Medivh ' s request . Having fled the Eastern Kingdoms , the Horde was scattered while sailing past the Maelstrom . Some of the ships landed in a chain of islands near the Maelstorm where they met the Darkspear tribe . Here the orcs aided the trolls , then led them on an escape to Kalimdor . In Kalimdor , Grom Hellscream , chieftain of the prominent Warsong Clan , had landed with his clan . Before they could regroup with Thrall , they ran into Jaina ' s soldiers and battles soon began . When the rest of the Horde reached and regrouped on Kalimdor , Grom directly defied Thrall ' s orders by attacking Jaina Proudmoore ' s encampment after giving in to his instinctual bloodlust . As a punishment he was sent north to the massive Ashenvale Forest where he would collect lumber to build a capital for the orcs . Meanwhile , Thrall began his search for the rest of the Horde , and eventually came across the tauren , and their leader Cairne Bloodhoof . After helping Cairne repel invading centaur s , Cairne told Thrall of an oracle up in the Stonetalon Mountains who could aid the Horde in their journey . Upon reaching the Stonetalon Mountains , Thrall and Jaina met the prophet who called doom long before the Scourge of Lordaeron , Medivh . Medivh asked that the Horde and the Alliance work together , forgetting their old hatreds to battle a new , more powerful enemy . Mannoroth . Grom Hellscream and his clan started collecting lumber as they had been ordered to . However , by doing so , they enraged the night elves . After battling the night elves , their demigod Cenarius stepped in personally to deal with the Warsong Clan . After fighting a lost battle , the orcs realized that they couldn ' t kill Cenarius by conventional means . Cenarius saw the orcs as demon spawn and therefore only their total eradication would satisfy him . To defeat them , Grom and the followers drank from a mysterious fountain that empowered them , not knowing that it had been defiled by the blood of the pit lord Mannoroth . Energized and turned into fel orcs , the Warsong successfully attacked and killed Cenarius . With the orcs once again doing the bidding of the Burning Legion , Mannoroth stormed up to Grom and revealed it was his blood that empowered the orcs . Despite their victory , they were once again under demon control , and thus the control of the Burning Legion . To help their new allies , Jaina created a magical Soul Gem . Thrall would need to capture the mighty Grom within it , and take the gem to a prepared magical circle to free his spirit of corruption . Standing between the humans and free orcs , however , was the entire Warsong clan , fortified with scores of demons that waited in ambush and mighty infernal s that rained from the sky . Despite his woes of killing many of the Warsong clan , Thrall captured Grom and brought him back for a ritual of cleansing . Along with Thrall ' s shaman s , Jaina , and Jaina ' s best priest s and sorcerer s , they managed to pull the demonic taint out of Grom . Thrall and Grom then challenged Mannoroth , and though Thrall was defeated , Grom managed to deliver a killing blow , destroying Mannoroth and freeing the orcs at the cost of his own life . Thus Grom redeemed himself for bringing them into the legion . Return of the Night Elves . When it became evident that the Burning Legion had returned , Tyrande led her Sentinels into the trees , fleeing a wave of undead which had destroyed a human and orc camp . As they fled , they were cornered by dreadlords and Archimonde . Tyrande believed that with the Defilers ' return the only way to defeat the Burning Legion was to use the forces of old , the sleeping druids and their leader , Malfurion Stormrage , her old love . After waking Malfurion , the next order of business was to awaken the rest of the Druids of the Talon and the Druids of the Claw . In their quest to free the druids , they discovered the prison that held the old demon hunter , Illidan Stormrage . Tyrande believed that the Betrayer , as the night elves grew to call him , could be a powerful ally against the Burning Legion and left Malfurion to awaken the druids while she freed Illidan . Malfurion continued on to awaken the druids , who had grown feral after almost ten millennia in the caves . However , the Horn of Cenarius freed them of their madness . The Betrayer . Tyrande continued her quest to free Illidan , fighting her way through the warden ' s guards . Tyrande placed her trust in Illidan , believing his power would help them against the Burning Legion . Malfurion , however , still distrusted his reckless brother . Eager to prove himself , Illidan vowed he would show his brother the demons had no hold over him and he led a portion of the night elf army to Felwood . Shortly after , the death knight Arthas found and battled with Illidan . As the two were evenly matched , there was no reason for Arthas to engage Illidan . Illidan demanded that Arthas reveal the reason for his presence in Felwood . Arthas told him of a powerful artifact : the Skull of Gul ' dan . The skull was responsible for the corruption of the night elves ' beloved forest . Arthas played to Illidan ' s thirst for power , mentioning that the skull held immense power , and Illidan took the bait willingly . After fighting his way through the demons , Illidan reached and consumed the power of the Skull . With its power added to his own , he slew the leader of the dreadlords , Tichondrius , and helped seal the Legion ' s defeat . When Malfurion and Tyrande found the new demon - night elf that was now Illidan , Malfurion banished Illidan for his demonic corruption , claiming that he was " no brother of his " . A very resentful Illidan tore his way through the dead trees and was not heard of until the coming of the naga . Battle of Mount Hyjal . After Illidan ' s banishment , Medivh called Malfurion and Tyrande to a secret grove where he had Thrall and Jaina meet them . Medivh revealed that he was the one who helped Burning Legion create the Dark Portal and allowed the Horde to invade Azeroth . After he was slain for his crimes , he had to return to right his wrongs and protect Azeroth from the Legion ' s return . Medivh asked that the mortal races unite to defeat the Legion , as their combined power was their only hope . To prepare for the demons ' attack , three camps were built around Mount Hyjal . Malfurion devised a plan to use the power of the World Tree itself to destroy Archimonde . As he went back up the summit to make the necessary preparations for Archimonde , Jaina and Thrall used whatever night elves Tyrande could spare to fortify their bases . Archimonde tore his way through ranks of human knights , elven sentinels , and orcish warriors and smashed his way through the human castle and orc fortress . Jaina was able to teleport most of the surviving troops . Before Thrall escaped death , he managed to hurt Archimonde with a bolt of his shamanistic lightning , an incredible feat in itself . With the two bases destroyed , Archimonde stormed through the night elf gate protecting the summit . With Archimonde at the World Tree , Malfurion used the Horn to call on the ancient spirits in the area to attack the demon . In an instant , they detonated into a massive explosion that destroyed the Defiler , much of his demon army with him , and the World Tree . The price for this defeat was the night elves ' immortality , but the Third War was over . Aftermath . The Third War left Lordaeron destroyed , the Night Elves mortal , and the High Elves nearly extinct . No large group of humans would ever regain control of Lordaeron , though the Argent Dawn and Scarlet Crusade have been fighting the Scourge in order to retake their land . Prince Kael ' thas Sunstrider of the High Elves returned to his ruined city and renamed his people the Blood Elves in memory of their fallen comrades . The Blood Elves would eventually retake much of Quel ' Thalas , and in time would even reactivate the power of the Sunwell . After the war , Sylvanas would break free of the Lich King ' s control , and form the Forsaken . One human commander , Garithos , has gathered the remnants of the Alliance still remaining in Lordaeron and retaken Dalaran and the Alterac mountains for the Alliance . After that , Garithos formed an uneasy truce with Sylvanas Windrunner and together they assaulted the capital city of Lordaeron , which was under the control of the Dreadlord Balnazzar . After intense fighting and careful planning , the Alliance and the Forsaken managed to defeat his forces and regain control of the city . After the battle , Sylvanas ordered her second - in - command Varimathras to execute his brother Balnazzar and then to kill Garithos , which forced the Alliance forces to retreat . The Forsaken then took over the city of Lordaeron , making their home in its sewers and calling it the Undercity . The political scene of the current Azeroth was greatly influenced by the Third War . Under Warchief Thrall , the orcs , tauren , and Darkspear trolls were brought together on Kalimdor to become the new Horde , which the Forsaken and the blood elves would later join . A peace agreement was made between the Horde and Alliance after the war , and Thrall has made it his job to ensure that nothing happens to break this already stressed pact . However , after the Wrathgate incident , Varian Wrynn declared war upon the Horde , to Thrall ' s lament . Without Lordaeron , the rebuilt city of Stormwind would become the base of the Alliance , with the Ironforge dwarves becoming their closest geographical allies . The gnomes of Gnomeregan had been unable to help in the Third War as they were dealing with their own issues closer to home — namely a trogg invasion of their city . Because an invasion of troggs paled in comparison to the might of the Scourge , the gnomes decided they would fight their war alone . In the end they were forced to flee Gnomeregan and , with their king Gelbin Mekkatorque , settled in Ironforge with the dwarves . The night elves , dealing with the loss of their immortality , and having been exposed to the world outside their forests once more , decided they would have to make alliances with the wider world . Because of the animosity with the orcs for killing Cenarius , the night elves in the end joined the Alliance . As the new leader of the Alliance , the King of Stormwind , Varian Wrynn , sent troops from Stormwind to repel the Scourge invasion , retaking Southshore and Hillsbrad for the Alliance , repelling the Scourge on the Alterac Mountains , constructing a final border point ( Chillwind Camp ) for the Alliance before the entrance of the Plaguelands , and seizing the Forsaken takeover of Lordaeron . The human refugees of Lordaeron were given shelter in Stormwind , making it their new home . A few months later , King Varian was kidnapped by the Defias Brotherhood after trying to make a peace agreement with the Horde making him absent for 3 years . In his absence , his 10 - year - old son Anduin was crowned as king . The losses were not in vain , however , as the Burning Legion was heavily damaged . Many senior commanders were killed in the war , including a large number of dreadlords and countless others . As Aegwynn put it in the Cycle of Hatred to Theramore Guard colonel Lorena , they " did more damage to the entirety of demonkind than has been done in thousands of years . " Timeline . The Third War begins about 20 years after the events of . The events of Thrall ' s Vision and Chasing Visions take place about 20 years after the events of during an unclear day , week , and month of that year . The time that passed during the events of Chasing Visions and Departures was about 3 days . It is unclear how much time passed between the start of Departures and the end of Countdown to Extinction . It is unclear how much time passed between the ending of Countdown to Extinction and the start of The Warning . The time that passed during the events of The Scourge of Lordaeron was about 1 month , 3 weeks , and 4 days . It is unclear how much time passed between the start of Frostmourne and the start of Arthas ' Betrayal . It is unclear how much time passed between the ending of Arthas ' Betrayal and the start of Trudging through the Ashes . The time that passed during the events of Path of the Damned was about 1 week and 5 days . It is unclear how much time passed between the start of Under the Burning Sky and the start of The Long March . An unclear amount of weeks passed between the ending of Departures and the start of Landfall . The time that passed during the events of The Invasion of Kalimdor was about 1 week and 6 days . It is unclear how much time passed between the start of By Demons be Driven and the end of Enemies at the Gate . The time that passed during the events of Eternity ' s End was about 1 week . It is unclear how much time passed between the start of Twilight of the Gods and the ending of Eternity ' s End . The Third War ends about 20 years after the events of . The time between the beginning and the end of the Third War appear to take place about 1 month , 8 weeks , 4 days , with plus or minus several unspecified weeks along with an unclear timeline between the start of By Demons be Driven and the end of Enemies at the Gate , and 20 years after the events of .