History of Warcraft #5: Illidan Stormrage

September 21, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"The History of Warcraft" series — Episode 5 of 8. In the previous episode, Archimonde fell on Mount Hyjal. But one of the pieces of that victory was a prisoner nobody wanted set free: Illidan.

The story of Illidan Stormrage in Warcraft 3 is the story of someone everyone calls a traitor and who, even so, spends The Frozen Throne expansion trying to do what nobody else has the courage to do: destroy the Lich King. In this episode he becomes half demon, escapes the jailer who has hunted him for ten thousand years, conquers Outland and loses the most famous duel in Warcraft to Arthas.

Why Illidan was imprisoned

In the War of the Ancients, Illidan carried vials from the Well of Eternity to the top of Mount Hyjal and created a new Well. To him, magic was too much power to throw away. To his brother, Malfurion, it was the same mistake that had drawn the Legion in. Malfurion had him locked in an underground prison, guarded by the jailer Maiev Shadowsong and her Wardens, for ten thousand years.

Tyrande freed him to fight the Legion, in the previous episode. And Illidan, once free, went straight after power.

The Skull of Gul'dan

In Felwood, Illidan found the Skull of Gul'dan, an artifact charged with the fel magic of the old orc warlock. He absorbed the skull's power and was transformed: he gained wings, horns and a strength no elf had ever had.

With that strength, he killed the dreadlord Tichondrius, who commanded the Scourge for the Legion. Malfurion saw no heroism in it. He saw his brother as half demon, and banished him.

The deal with Kil'jaeden

Once banished, Illidan was approached by Kil'jaeden. The Lich King had betrayed the Legion: with Archimonde dead, Ner'zhul no longer had jailers and could act on his own in Northrend. Kil'jaeden offered Illidan real power in exchange for a single thing: destroying the Lich King.

Illidan accepted. He recruited the naga, the ancient Highborne who had sunk with Azshara in the Sundering, led by Lady Vashj. With them, he went to the Broken Isles and took an artifact called the Eye of Sargeras from the Tomb of Sargeras.

Maiev's pursuit

Maiev did not accept the escape. She followed Illidan across the sea, through the tomb and back to the mainland. Illidan took the Eye to the ruins of Dalaran and cast a spell on the world's ley lines, aiming at the Frozen Throne in Northrend. The spell shook the glacier and cracked the Throne.

Malfurion and Maiev arrived in time to interrupt the spell, but things got complicated. Shortly before, in a battle against the Scourge, Tyrande had fallen into a river, and Maiev told Malfurion she was dead. In truth she had only been swept away by the current, and Illidan helped his brother rescue her. In return, Malfurion let him go. Maiev kept up the hunt.

Kael'thas and the blood elves

In Lordaeron, Prince Kael'thas was fighting the Scourge alongside the last human soldiers, under the command of Grand Marshal Garithos, who despised elves. When Lady Vashj offered help in a losing battle, Kael accepted. Garithos used that as an excuse to arrest the blood elves for treason.

Vashj freed them and led them through a portal to Outland, the remains of Draenor. There, Kael found Illidan, who had been captured by Maiev. The blood elves and the naga set him free, and Illidan offered Kael a cure for his people's hunger for magic. From then on, Kael'thas served him.

The conquest of Outland

With Kael'thas, Vashj and the leader of the Broken draenei, Akama, Illidan attacked the Black Temple, the old draenei fortress taken by the pit lord Magtheridon. Magtheridon was defeated and chained beneath Hellfire Citadel, and Illidan became the lord of Outland.

But Kil'jaeden did not want a kingdom in Outland. He wanted the Lich King dead. Illidan gathered his army and set out for Northrend.

The duel with Arthas at the Frozen Throne

Illidan's spell had weakened the Lich King, and that weakened Arthas. He lost part of his power in Lordaeron and rushed back to Northrend, with the old nerubian king Anub'arak, to defend his master.

The two armies raced to the Icecrown Glacier. Arthas reached the foot of the Frozen Throne first, and Illidan caught up with him there. In the duel, Arthas won: with one stroke of Frostmourne, he cut open Illidan's chest and left him lying in the snow.

Arthas climbed to the Throne, shattered the block of ice that held the Helm of Domination and put it on. Arthas and Ner'zhul merged into a single being. From then on, Arthas is the Lich King.

Illidan survived, was carried back to Outland and shut himself away in the Black Temple, where players find him at the end of The Burning Crusade.

Where to see it in WotLK

Black Temple, in Shadowmoon Valley: Illidan's fortress and his final raid in TBC.
Magtheridon's Lair, in Hellfire Citadel: the pit lord Illidan chained up.
Felwood: the corrupted forest where Illidan found the Skull of Gul'dan.
Icecrown: the Frozen Throne, where Arthas won the duel and became the Lich King.
Azjol-Nerub, in Dragonblight: the kingdom of Anub'arak, who fought alongside Arthas.