The Frozen Throne #4: the Banshee Queen

September 14, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"The Frozen Throne" series — The Frozen Throne #4. The story of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, from Illidan's escape to Arthas becoming the Lich King. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

The founding of Undercity begins with a weakened king. In the campaign chapter Legacy of the Damned, the Lich King's power fades, Arthas loses control of part of the undead and Sylvanas Windrunner regains her own will. She faces three dreadlords, uses and betrays the last humans of Lordaeron and creates a new people: the Forsaken.

King Arthas comes home

A few months after Archimonde's fall, Arthas returns to Lordaeron to take the throne. In the palace garden, he finds three dreadlords that Archimonde had left behind to control the kingdom: Varimathras, Balnazzar and Detheroc. They did not yet know that Archimonde was dead. Arthas confronts them, and they flee.

Arthas meets Kel'Thuzad again, now a lich, and warns him: from now on, he is to be called king.

The first sign of weakness

Arthas sends Sylvanas and Kel'Thuzad to wipe out a group of human refugees. They were protected by three paladins: Halahk the Lifebringer, Magroth the Defender and Dagren the Orcslayer.

In the middle of the battle, Arthas has a fit of pain. He hears the Lich King calling for him. The death knight's powers weaken. Even so, he keeps fighting until all the humans are dead.

The problem was bigger than Arthas. The Lich King's power was fading. And with it, his control over the Banshee Queen. Sylvanas no longer obeyed completely. In secret, she meets with the three dreadlords, who tell her that the time for revenge has come.

The escape from Lordaeron

Arthas and Kel'Thuzad discuss the Lich King's warnings in the palace. Arthas needs to go to Northrend. Then Detheroc announces a change of plans: Arthas is not going anywhere. Balnazzar adds that the dreadlords now control most of the undead.

Arthas is attacked in the throne room. Kel'Thuzad tells him to flee and promises to meet him later. Arthas crosses the city, gathers the undead who are still loyal and breaks down the gates.

On the way out, banshees appear. They say Sylvanas sent them to escort the king. In an empty forest, the Lich King warns Arthas that he has been betrayed. Sylvanas appears and hits Arthas with a paralyzing arrow. She promises to torture him as he tortured her.

Kel'Thuzad arrives with his forces and drives Sylvanas away. Arthas readies the fleet and sails for Northrend. Kel'Thuzad stays in Lordaeron.

The Dark Lady

Two days later, Sylvanas is camped in the lands now called the Plaguelands. She is free of the Lich King, but she feels that undeath is still a form of slavery.

Varimathras comes with an offer: she should join the dreadlords' new order. Sylvanas refuses. She says she has lived as a slave for too long and will not trade one chain for another. Varimathras warns her: either she joins them and rules, or she will be cast aside.

Sylvanas has few soldiers. So she uses the banshees to possess her enemies. They take over the bodies of Varimathras' warriors, of the bandit leader Blackthorn and of the ogre warlord Mug'thol. With these forces, Sylvanas marches on the dreadlord's base.

Varimathras is surrounded. He begs for his life and offers loyalty and information about his brothers. Sylvanas accepts, but keeps him on a leash.

The fall of Detheroc

The next target is Detheroc. He is in a walled city in the Western Plaguelands, with undead and a human resistance under mind control. The leader of those humans is Grand Marshal Garithos, the same one who imprisoned Kael'thas.

Sylvanas uses banshees to possess two soldiers, who ask the guards to open the gates. During the battle, Varimathras sides with her against his own brother. Detheroc falls, apparently dead, and his hold over Garithos breaks.

Sylvanas makes the humans an offer. If Garithos helps kill Balnazzar, who still rules the capital, she will give the lands of Lordaeron back. Garithos is suspicious, but accepts. Later, Varimathras asks whether she intends to keep her promise. Sylvanas admits it: the humans are only a means to an end. Her goal is revenge.

A new power in Lordaeron

Balnazzar fortified the capital, gathered a large army and opened a dimensional portal to bring in demons. Sylvanas and Varimathras attack the walls head-on. Garithos attacks from behind. Together, they take the city and surround the dreadlord.

Sylvanas orders Varimathras to kill Balnazzar as a final proof of loyalty. Varimathras protests: one nathrezim cannot kill another. Even so, he obeys, or at least seems to. Later, Balnazzar reappears disguised as the leader of the Scarlet Crusade.

The end of Garithos

With the victory won, Garithos demands that the undead leave "his" city. Sylvanas orders Varimathras to kill him. Varimathras uses Rain of Fire, and the ghouls devour the body. The remaining human soldiers die or flee.

The grand marshal who despised non-humans ends up betrayed by the very ally he agreed to use.

The founding of the Forsaken and Undercity

With the capital taken, Sylvanas declares that the free undead are no longer part of the Scourge. They are now the Forsaken. She promises that they will find their own path in the world and slaughter anyone who stands in their way.

Beneath the ruins of Lordaeron's capital, the Forsaken found Undercity. They finish the catacombs the Scourge had started building and turn the place into a refuge from a world that feared and hunted them.

What this changes in the story

This is where one of WoW's playable factions is born. The Forsaken later join the Horde, and Sylvanas is the Dark Lady for years. Varimathras stays at her side until the Battle for the Undercity, in Wrath of the Lich King.

The Lich King's weakening also explains the next chapter. Arthas does not stay to defend Lordaeron because the Frozen Throne is in danger.

Episode timeline

Arthas returns to Lordaeron and drives out the dreadlords.
Arthas feels the Lich King's weakness in battle.
The dreadlords take the capital, and Arthas flees.
Sylvanas attacks Arthas, who leaves for Northrend.
Sylvanas defeats Varimathras, who starts serving her.
Detheroc falls, and Garithos allies with Sylvanas.
Balnazzar is defeated, Garithos is killed and the Forsaken are born.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Sylvanas Windrunner | The Banshee Queen, now free of the Lich King. | | Arthas | The death knight who returns as king of Lordaeron. | | Kel'Thuzad | The lich who serves Arthas and stays in Lordaeron. | | Varimathras | The dreadlord who becomes Sylvanas' servant. | | Detheroc | The dreadlord who controlled Garithos. | | Balnazzar | The dreadlord who rules the capital. | | Othmar Garithos | The grand marshal used and betrayed by Sylvanas. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Undercity: the Forsaken capital, beneath the ruins of Lordaeron.
Tirisfal Glades: the Forsaken starting zone, around the capital.
Stratholme: Balnazzar appears disguised as the leader of the Scarlet Crusade.
Battle for the Undercity: the WotLK event in which Varimathras betrays Sylvanas.