First War #8: The Guardian

July 19, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"First War" series — First War #8. The story of Warcraft I, from the clans of Draenor to the fall of Stormwind. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

Medivh was the Guardian of Tirisfal, the most powerful mage in Azeroth, and he lived in Karazhan, a lonely tower in Deadwind Pass. This episode tells his life from the inside: a childhood marked by a power too great for him, the coma that lasted years and the arrival of Khadgar, the apprentice the Kirin Tor sent to watch him, who ended up discovering the truth.

A Guardian since before he was born

Medivh received the Guardian's power while still in the womb of his mother, Aegwynn. Along with the power came the hidden spirit of Sargeras. Neither of them knew it at first.

Medivh grew up as an ordinary boy, with two inseparable friends: Prince Llane Wrynn and young Anduin Lothar. The three spent their childhood together in Stormwind.

The coma

In his teenage years, the Guardian's power awoke all at once. Young Medivh's body could not handle it, and he fell into a coma that lasted years. Llane and Lothar visited him the whole time.

When Medivh woke up, already an adult, he seemed the same. But the years in a coma had been the time Sargeras needed to take root inside him.

Karazhan, the Guardian's tower

Medivh went to live in Karazhan, a tower built on a meeting point of magical energy lines, in Deadwind Pass. The tower was huge, full of libraries, halls and observatories, and looked after by a loyal steward, Moroes.

Karazhan had a strange effect: time there could not be trusted. Echoes of the past and the future appeared in the corridors like ghosts, and those who lived in the tower sometimes saw scenes that had not happened yet or had happened long ago.

Khadgar, the apprentice

The Kirin Tor, the council of mages of Dalaran, distrusted Medivh. The Guardian answered to no one, and the news about him was stranger and stranger. The mages sent a young apprentice, Khadgar, to Karazhan with a double mission: learn from Medivh and tell the Kirin Tor what he saw.

Medivh accepted Khadgar and began training him. The apprentice was impressed by his master and, at the same time, afraid of him. Medivh was sometimes generous and patient, and sometimes cold, as if he were another person.

The Guardian who disappeared

Khadgar noticed the same thing Llane and Lothar had already noticed: Medivh would disappear for days and come back without explanation. Sometimes he came back wounded. Sometimes he came back from a battle against the orcs, helping the humans.

That contradiction confused everyone. How could someone fight against the Horde and, at the same time, be so mysterious about it? The answer was in the echoes of time in Karazhan, and Khadgar would see it soon.

Episode timeline

Medivh receives the Guardian's power in Aegwynn's womb.
He grows up in Stormwind alongside Llane and Lothar.
In his teenage years, the power awakens and he falls into a coma for years.
Medivh wakes up and moves to Karazhan.
The Kirin Tor sends Khadgar to the tower as an apprentice.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Medivh | The last Guardian of Tirisfal, son of Aegwynn. | | Khadgar | The apprentice sent by the Kirin Tor to Karazhan. Later, one of the greatest mages of Azeroth. | | Moroes | Karazhan's loyal steward, who remains in the tower as a ghost in TBC. | | Llane Wrynn | The king of Azeroth, Medivh's childhood friend. | | Anduin Lothar | The commander of Stormwind, also Medivh's childhood friend. | | Kirin Tor | The council of mages of Dalaran, which distrusted the Guardian. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Karazhan, in Deadwind Pass: the TBC raid, with Moroes as a boss and echoes of Medivh's past.
Shattrath, in Terokkar Forest: an old Khadgar, leading the heroes in Outland.
Dalaran: the city of the Kirin Tor, which in WotLK is the neutral capital of Northrend.