History of Warcraft #2: Sylvanas Windrunner

"History of Warcraft" series — Episode 2 of 8. In the previous episode, Arthas took up Frostmourne in Northrend. Now he returns home, and the first kingdom to pay the price is Quel'Thalas.

Sylvanas Windrunner's story begins as the story of a defender: she was the Ranger-General of Quel'Thalas when Prince Arthas, already a servant of the Lich King, marched the Scourge on the elven kingdom. Sylvanas fought to the end, was killed by Arthas and turned into a banshee, and her land was used to bring a necromancer back to life.

Arthas returns to Lordaeron

Arthas landed in Lordaeron as a hero. The capital celebrated the prince who had gone to Northrend to hunt the demon Mal'Ganis. In the throne room, before his father, Arthas knelt, raised Frostmourne and killed King Terenas Menethil.

With the king dead, Lordaeron collapsed. The Scourge swept through the northern cities, and Arthas received a new mission from the Lich King: bring back Kel'Thuzad, the mage who had founded the Cult of the Damned and whom Arthas had killed at Andorhal. To do that, Kel'Thuzad's remains had to be immersed in an enormous source of energy. The only such source in the Eastern Kingdoms was the Sunwell, the magical heart of the high elves.

On the way, Arthas met his old master, Uther the Lightbringer, guarding the urn with Terenas' ashes. Arthas killed Uther, emptied the urn and placed Kel'Thuzad's remains inside.

Read more: Lordaeron: from the glory of the greatest human kingdom to the city of the undead and House Menethil: the empty throne of Lordaeron.

Who Sylvanas was before her death

Sylvanas was the middle daughter of House Windrunner, the most famous family of elven rangers. Her older sister, Alleria, had crossed the Dark Portal with the Alliance expedition and vanished on Draenor. The youngest, Vereesa, lived in Dalaran.

As Ranger-General, Sylvanas commanded the defense of Quel'Thalas' borders. The elves trusted two things: the forests of Eversong, which they knew better than anyone, and the Runestones that sustained a magical barrier around the kingdom. The barrier had held back the Amani trolls for thousands of years.

Read more: House Windrunner: the three sisters and Three Sisters: Alleria, Sylvanas and Vereesa.

The invasion of Quel'Thalas

Arthas reached the borders with an army that felt neither fear nor fatigue. Sylvanas did what a good general does: she fell back, set ambushes, brought down bridges and sent messengers to Silvermoon. Nothing worked against the sheer number of dead.

The Scourge broke the Runestones one by one and passed through the Elfgates, which Arthas opened with the Key of the Three Moons. The path the army cut through the forest is still there today, a scar of dead earth running through Eversong and the Ghostlands. The elves call it the Dead Scar.

Sylvanas held out to the last line. Arthas did not simply let her die: he tore out her soul and turned her into a banshee, a bodiless servant doomed to obey the man who killed her. It was a calculated punishment, and it is the origin of all the hatred that drives Sylvanas for the next twenty years.

The defiling of the Sunwell

Arthas passed through Silvermoon and carried the urn to the Isle of Quel'Danas. There, King Anasterian Sunstrider faced him in a duel and died by Frostmourne's blade. Then Arthas immersed Kel'Thuzad's remains in the Sunwell. The mage came back as a lich, more powerful than he had ever been in life.

The Sunwell was corrupted. The elves who survived, about a tenth of the people, lost all at once the source of magic they had depended on for millennia and began to suffer a physical hunger for magic. Prince Kael'thas, who was in Dalaran during the invasion, would return to lead these survivors and give them a new name: blood elves, in memory of the dead.

Read more: Quel'Thalas: elven past, tragedy and the slow rebuilding and Quel'Thalas, the blood elves and the restoration of the Sunwell.

Why this matters for the rest of the story

The fall of Quel'Thalas creates three characters who will define Warcraft for years:

• Sylvanas, who will one day break free of Arthas, found the Forsaken and spend her life seeking revenge against him.
• Kel'Thuzad, who will summon the demon Archimonde in Dalaran and, later, command Naxxramas.
• Kael'thas, who will lead the blood elves to Outland and to Illidan's side.

Read more: The fall of Lordaeron, Sylvanas and the birth of the Forsaken.

Where to see it in WotLK

• Eversong Woods and Ghostlands: the Dead Scar cuts through both zones, and the Ghostlands quests deal with the Scourge that never left.
• Silvermoon: half the city is still in ruins since Arthas passed through.
• Sunwell Plateau, on the Isle of Quel'Danas: the Sunwell that Arthas defiled and that is restored at the end of TBC.
• Undercity: the city Sylvanas takes for the Forsaken, beneath the ruins of Lordaeron.
• Halls of Reflection, in Icecrown: Sylvanas faces Arthas once more, now as a queen.

Frequently asked questions

Who killed Sylvanas Windrunner?

Arthas Menethil, during the Scourge's invasion of Quel'Thalas. He killed her and turned her spirit into a banshee under his control.

Why did Arthas attack Quel'Thalas?

To reach the Sunwell and use its energy to resurrect Kel'Thuzad as a lich, at the Lich King's request.

Was Sylvanas Horde or Alliance?

In life, she was a high elf of Quel'Thalas, a kingdom that was part of the Alliance. After she died and broke free, she founded the Forsaken, who join the Horde in WoW.

What is the Dead Scar?

It is the trail of dead earth left by Arthas' army in Eversong and the Ghostlands, from the coast to Silvermoon. It still appears in the game today.

Series episodes

← Previous episode: History of Warcraft #1: the beginning Next episode → History of Warcraft #3: a new enemy

1. The beginning
2. Sylvanas Windrunner (you are here)
3. A new enemy
4. A new beginning
5. Illidan Stormrage
6. The four years
7. Constant danger
8. Ancient threats