The Third War and the Scourge
A plague of undeath, a prince's fall, and a second Legion invasion broken on a World Tree.
The Legion returned with a new weapon: the Lich King, a tormented spirit bound in ice in Northrend, who spread a plague that raised the dead as the Scourge. Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron chased the plague into madness, purged his own city of Stratholme, took up the cursed runeblade Frostmourne, and murdered his father to serve the Lich King.
Arthas paved the way for the demon Archimonde to invade Kalimdor. There the sundered peoples - Thrall's new Horde, the humans of Jaina Proudmoore, and the ancient night elves - united at the last moment. At the Battle of Mount Hyjal they lured Archimonde to the World Tree Nordrassil, where the night elves unleashed its stored power and destroyed him.
In the aftermath Arthas traveled to Northrend and merged with the spirit of the Lich King atop the Frozen Throne, becoming a single, greater terror. Thrall founded the orc homeland of Durotar, and the stage was set for the world players would enter.
Key figures
- Arthas Menethil
- Fallen prince, the Lich King
- Thrall
- Founder of the new Horde
- Jaina Proudmoore
- Ruler of Theramore