Second War #5: The Death Knights

July 26, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Second War" series — Second War #5. The story of Warcraft II, from the exodus of Stormwind to the destruction of the Dark Portal. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

The first death knights in Warcraft did not come from the Lich King. They came from Gul'dan, in the Second War. To keep the promise he made to Orgrim, the warlock placed the spirits of dead orc warlocks inside the bodies of human knights from Stormwind. The first of them was Teron Gorefiend, and his creation changed forever the way the living saw the Horde.

Gul'dan's promise

When he woke from his coma, Gul'dan had to prove he was worth more alive than dead. He promised Orgrim warriors the Alliance had never seen. To make them, he used two materials: the spirits of the Shadow Council warlocks, whom Orgrim had ordered killed, and the bodies of the human knights who died in the fall of Stormwind.

Teron Gorefiend, the first

The first to go through the ritual was Teron'gor, one of the cruelest warlocks of the Council. His spirit was placed in the body of a dead knight, and from it came Teron Gorefiend, the first death knight.

Gul'dan's death knights rode skeletal horses, wore black armor and cast necromantic magic. They could raise the dead and spread terror through the Alliance lines.

A weapon of fear

For human soldiers, seeing knights in Stormwind armor fighting for the Horde was terrifying. The death knights became one of the most feared weapons of the Second War. At the Battle of Hillsbrad, they were the ones who turned the fight, until the paladins of the Silver Hand used the Light to answer back.

The generations of death knights

Gul'dan's knights were only the first generation. After them came the Lich King's knights, like Arthas, those of the Ebon Blade, who broke free, and the death knights the player creates in WotLK.

What this changes in the story

The death knights of the Second War changed the image of the Horde. Until then, the Horde was seen as an army of warriors and warlocks. With the death knights, it began to use the dead, something the humans saw as an insult to the Light.

Teron Gorefiend stays important until the end of this story. He leads the survivors back to the Portal at the end of the war, becomes Ner'zhul's right hand in Beyond the Dark Portal and dies in the Black Temple, at the hands of Turalyon. His spirit returns in TBC, as one of the bosses of the Black Temple raid.

The idea of putting a soul into a dead body comes back many times in Warcraft: in the Lich King's Scourge, in Sylvanas's Forsaken and in the playable death knights of WotLK.

Episode timeline

Gul'dan promises Orgrim new warriors.
The spirits of the Council's dead warlocks are gathered.
Teron'gor's spirit is placed in the body of a Stormwind knight.
Teron Gorefiend becomes the first death knight.
The death knights enter the war as a weapon of terror.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Teron Gorefiend | The first death knight, created with the spirit of the warlock Teron'gor. | | Gul'dan | The warlock who created the death knights. | | Orgrim Doomhammer | The Warchief who accepted Gul'dan's offer. | | Silver Hand | The paladins who answered the death knights with the Light. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Black Temple, in Shadowmoon Valley: Teron Gorefiend is one of the bosses of the TBC raid.
Acherus and Light's Hope: the starting zone of the WotLK death knights, the most recent generation.
Scholomance: the necromancy school of the Cult of the Damned, another source of death magic.