Between the Wars #5: Rebirth of the Horde

September 2, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Between the Wars" series — Between the Wars #5. The years between the end of Draenor and Warcraft III, from the internment camps to the rebirth of the Horde. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

The rebirth of the Horde begins with a duel in the snow of Alterac and ends with a fortress in ruins. In this final episode of Between the Wars, Thrall meets Orgrim Doomhammer, frees the internment camps, inherits the title of Warchief and pays a terrible price at Durnholde.

The stranger in black armor

Thrall had already become a shaman. He planned to return to Grom Hellscream in the spring and free his people.

Before that, Drek'Thar made a quiet move. He sent his white wolf, Wise-ear, to find Orgrim Doomhammer, who had been hiding ever since he escaped from Lordaeron.

Orgrim arrived at the Frostwolf camp as a cloaked stranger, wearing black plate armor and carrying a warhammer. He challenged Thrall to combat. Thrall won.

Only then did the stranger reveal who he was: the Warchief of the Horde. Drek'Thar had set up the meeting so Orgrim would take Thrall under his wing. It worked. Orgrim made Thrall his second-in-command.

Read more: The Doomhammer: the prophecy of the orcs' hammer, which tells the story of the weapon.

Freeing the camps

The Frostwolves joined Grom's Warsong and Orgrim. Together, they went to the camps around Durnholde.

Thrall's tactic was clever. He got into the camps disguised as a prisoner. Inside, he used shamanism in front of the lethargic orcs. Seeing the elements answer an orc woke up something the prisoners had lost.

The first three camps fell to this tactic alone.
The fourth camp needed force.
The fifth camp, the one at Hammerfall, in the Arathi Highlands, was ready: the Alliance was waiting for the orcs with mounted knights.

The death of Orgrim

At Hammerfall, mounted Alliance knights ambushed the orcs. In the middle of the fight, a knight's lance pierced Orgrim through the back.

Before he died, Orgrim gave Thrall three things: the title of Warchief, the great warhammer and the black plate armor. Drek'Thar convinced Thrall to wear the armor, so everyone would see the Horde had a new leader.

The Hammerfall camp later became a Horde base. Official sources say Orgrim was buried there.

Taretha

Thrall had not forgotten who set him free. He asked Taretha to leave Durnholde before the attack. She refused again. She would not leave her family.

Blackmoore was already suspicious. He had Taretha followed when she went to meet Thrall's messengers and discovered the letters they had traded for years. He had her arrested and, drunk, ordered her execution.

The next day, Thrall demanded the surrender of Durnholde. From the top of the walls, Blackmoore answered by throwing Taretha's severed head into the courtyard.

Thrall wept for the first time in his life.

The fall of Durnholde

After that, there was nothing left to talk about. Thrall led the attack on the fortress.

He found Blackmoore hiding in a secret tunnel and gave him a sword to fight with. Blackmoore couldn't hold out, and Thrall's blow was fatal. The last words of the human who raised him were words of pride: "You are... what I made you... I am so proud...".

Thrall spared the humans who survived. Through Lord Karramyn Langston, Blackmoore's right-hand man, he sent a message to the kingdom: free the orcs and give them land. Then he had the fortress destroyed. Blackmoore was left buried in the rubble.

Grom took Taretha's necklace to her parents, Tammis and Clannia.

The new Horde

With Durnholde in ruins, Thrall surrounded the remaining camps and gathered the freed orcs. Among them were even survivors of the Dragonmaw, imprisoned after the battle of Grim Batol. Some of them returned to the Horde.

This new Horde was different from the old one. It wanted to leave fel magic and demon blood behind and return to the shamanism of its ancestors. Thrall didn't want to conquer anyone. He wanted a home for his people.

The camps, expensive and failed, helped split the Alliance even further. Blackmoore's system had died with him.

Read more: Between the Wars #2: Day of the Dragon, which shows the end of the Dragonmaw at Grim Batol.

The ending that leads to the prophecy

Shortly before the Third War, Thrall began having visions. A mysterious figure, the Prophet, warned that darkness was coming and told the orcs to cross the sea to Kalimdor.

That prophet was Medivh, back from the world of the dead. Thrall gathered the Horde, stole a fleet and set sail to the west. That's how Warcraft 3 begins.

What this changes in the story

This is the birth of the Horde players know. The leader is Thrall, the symbol is Orgrim's hammer and the magic is shamanism. Orgrimmar and Durotar, over in Kalimdor, are named after Orgrim and Durotan.

Taretha's death also marks Thrall forever. He learned that a human could be family, and that another could be the worst of monsters. That lesson explains why, in Kalimdor, he is able to trust Jaina.

Episode timeline

Orgrim arrives in disguise, loses to Thrall and makes him his second-in-command.
Thrall and Orgrim free the first four camps.
Orgrim dies at Hammerfall, and Thrall becomes Warchief.
Blackmoore executes Taretha.
Thrall destroys Durnholde and kills Blackmoore.
The Prophet tells Thrall to take the Horde to Kalimdor.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Orgrim Doomhammer | The former Warchief, who dies at Hammerfall. | | Thrall | The new Warchief of the Horde. | | Drek'Thar | The shaman who set up the meeting between Thrall and Orgrim. | | Taretha Foxton | Thrall's friend, executed by Blackmoore. | | Aedelas Blackmoore | The lord of Durnholde, killed by Thrall. | | Karramyn Langston | Blackmoore's right-hand man, who carried Thrall's message. | | Medivh | The Prophet who sent the Horde to Kalimdor. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Arathi Highlands: Hammerfall, the old camp where Orgrim died, now a Horde base.
Hillsbrad Foothills: the ruins of Durnholde Keep.
Orgrimmar and Durotar: the names honor Orgrim and Durotan, and Thrall stays in Grommash Hold.
Icecrown: the Horde airship is called Orgrim's Hammer.