History of Warcraft #4: a new beginning

September 20, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"The History of Warcraft" series — Episode 4 of 8. In the previous episode, Archimonde destroyed Dalaran and the Prophet sent everyone west. Now orcs, humans and night elves are in Kalimdor, and none of them trusts the others.

This is the chapter where Thrall and Jaina reach Kalimdor, meet and make an alliance nobody thought possible. Along the way, the orc Grom Hellscream kills the demigod Cenarius and drinks demon blood again, and the night elves wake from a centuries-long sleep to defend the World Tree. It all ends at the Battle of Mount Hyjal, where Archimonde is defeated.

The Horde reaches Kalimdor

Thrall's ships wrecked on the coast of Kalimdor, and the Horde scattered along the shore. Thrall headed inland and met the tauren, a nomadic people being slaughtered by the centaurs. Their leader, Cairne Bloodhoof, accepted the orcs' help and became one of Thrall's most loyal friends.

Meanwhile, Grom Hellscream and the Warsong clan went to the forests of Ashenvale and started cutting down trees to build a fort. For the orcs, it was lumber. For the night elves, it was sacred land.

Thrall and Jaina's impossible alliance

Thrall and Jaina met in the Stonetalon Mountains, both looking for the same Oracle the Prophet had mentioned. The two expeditions arrived ready to fight.

That was where the Prophet revealed who he was: Medivh. He told them that the Legion wanted Nordrassil, the World Tree on Mount Hyjal, and that humans and orcs would only survive together. Thrall and Jaina agreed, each one against the wishes of their own people.

Grom and Mannoroth: the orcs set free

In Ashenvale, the elven Sentinels were holding off the Warsong clan, and Cenarius, the demigod who protects the forests, appeared to drive out the invaders. Grom knew he could not win. So he and his warriors drank from a fountain the demon Mannoroth had corrupted with his own blood.

With that demonic strength, Grom killed Cenarius. The price was the Horde itself: the Warsong clan became slaves of the Legion again, just as the orcs of Draenor had been.

Thrall and Jaina captured Grom and cleansed him with human and shamanic magic. Once free, Grom asked to end it himself. In the canyon now called Demon Fall Canyon, Grom faced Mannoroth, the demon who had cursed the orcs, and killed him with the axe Gorehowl. Grom died soon after, but the orcs were free of the blood curse.

The night elves wake up

The night elves had spent ten thousand years hidden. The druids, led by Malfurion Stormrage, slept in the Emerald Dream, and only the Sentinels of Tyrande Whisperwind, priestess of the moon, guarded the forest.

When the Legion arrived, Tyrande woke Malfurion and the druids. Along the way, she made a choice Malfurion would never approve of: she freed Illidan, his brother, imprisoned since the War of the Ancients. Illidan's story from that point on is the subject of the next episode.

The Battle of Mount Hyjal

Medivh brought the three leaders together, and they made a plan. Jaina and the humans would defend the base of the mountain. Thrall and the Horde would hold the slope. Tyrande and the elves would stay at the top. Each line only had to buy time.

Meanwhile, Malfurion was setting a trap in the World Tree itself. He called on the ancestral spirits of the forest, the wisps, and gathered them around Nordrassil.

Archimonde broke through all three defenses and began to climb the tree. At the top, thousands of wisps exploded at once and released Nordrassil's energy against him. Archimonde was destroyed. The Legion lost its commander, and Azeroth was saved.

The sacrifice came at a cost. By using the World Tree's energy, the night elves lost the immortality and the protection from disease that Nordrassil had given them.

After Hyjal

Medivh said goodbye and left, saying his work was done.
Thrall founded the kingdom of Durotar, with its capital Orgrimmar, in honor of Orgrim and of his father, Durotan.
Jaina founded Theramore, a human port on the coast of Dustwallow Marsh, near Durotar.
The night elves planted a new tree, Teldrassil, on the northern coast, without the blessing of the dragons. That detail comes back later.

Where to see it in WotLK

Hyjal Summit, in the Caverns of Time: the TBC raid where you defend the mountain against Archimonde, with Jaina, Thrall and Tyrande.
Ashenvale: the Warsong fort and the corrupted fountain are still on the map.
Demon Fall Canyon, in Ashenvale: Mannoroth's weapon still floats in the canyon, near Grom's monument.
Orgrimmar and Durotar: Thrall's Horde, already settled.
Mulgore and Thunder Bluff: the land of Cairne's tauren.