The Fourth War in brief: how Azerite reignited the conflict between Horde and Alliance

May 5, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"The History of the Expansions" series — Episode 8. The story of World of Warcraft told expansion by expansion, with the patches that changed it. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

War returns when the world starts to bleed

The Fourth War doesn't start because the Horde and the Alliance simply "never learn". It starts because the end of Legion leaves Azeroth wounded, and from that wound comes Azerite.

What Azerite is

Azerite is the "blood" of Azeroth, a substance tied to the planet's own world-soul. That's why it isn't just a rare resource. It's something with potential that is:

energy-related
military
technological
almost apocalyptic

Why Azerite immediately became something to fight over

Because no one trusted their rival to control it without turning it into a weapon. That's the core of BfA:

the Alliance doesn't trust the Horde
the Horde doesn't trust the Alliance
and both know that letting the other side gain the advantage could mean existential defeat

The state of the factions at the start of BfA

The factions enter this new war already exhausted by the campaign against the Legion. But exhaustion doesn't produce peace. It produces nervousness.

Teldrassil and Lordaeron: the first two blows

The war began with the War of the Thorns. Sylvanas's Horde invaded Darkshore and, in the end, burned Teldrassil, the night elves' tree-city, with thousands of civilians inside. The Alliance answered by attacking Lordaeron, the capital of the Forsaken, and Sylvanas filled the Undercity with plague rather than hand it over. The factions' two symbolic capitals fell within a few days.

Kul Tiras and Zandalar: the race for fleets

Both factions needed ships, and each went looking for an ally with the biggest fleet it could find:

The Alliance went to Kul Tiras, Jaina Proudmoore's naval kingdom. Jaina returned home, reconciled with her mother, Katherine, and faced the witches of Drustvar and the corrupted Tidesages of Stormsong Valley.
The Horde went to Zandalar, the oldest troll empire in the world. It helped Princess Talanji save her father, King Rastakhan, from a conspiracy led by the prophet Zul.

On both continents, the same threat appeared behind the local enemies: the Old God N'Zoth, who was waking up at the bottom of the sea.

Uldir and the Heart of Azeroth

In Zandalar, the heroes found Uldir, a titan facility where G'huun was imprisoned, a creature the titans created from the power of an Old God. The raid ends with G'huun defeated.

Throughout the whole expansion, Magni Bronzebeard accompanied the heroes with the Heart of Azeroth, a necklace that absorbs Azerite to heal the planet and grant power to whoever wears it.

Sylvanas, Saurfang and a divided Horde

The Fourth War is, above all, Sylvanas's war. She had been Warchief since Legion and used Azerite as an excuse for a campaign that went far beyond resources. The burning of Teldrassil frightened even the Horde's own soldiers, and Varok Saurfang, the faction's most respected general, began to doubt every order.

Saurfang was captured by the Alliance in the Battle for Lordaeron and spent some time imprisoned in Stormwind. There, he talked with Anduin Wrynn about honor and about what the Horde was becoming. Once out, he secretly organized a rebellion with Thrall, Lor'themar and other leaders, with Alliance support. Before that, he and Thrall rescued Baine, whom Sylvanas held prisoner in Orgrimmar.

The outcome is the mak'gora in Orgrimmar, in patch 8.2.5. Saurfang challenges Sylvanas to a duel of honor in front of the Horde and dies fighting. But Sylvanas's refusal to honor the tradition shows everyone she never fought for the Horde. She abandons the faction, and the Horde comes to be ruled by a council.

The patches of Battle for Azeroth

Patch 8.1, Tides of Vengeance: the war in Darkshore and the Alliance attack on Dazar'alor. See Patch 8.1: the Battle of Dazar'alor.
Patch 8.2, Rise of Azshara: Azshara and the naga in Nazjatar, and the release of N'Zoth. See Azshara, N'Zoth and the end of Battle for Azeroth.
Patch 8.2.5: Saurfang challenges Sylvanas to a mak'gora; she kills him and abandons the Horde.
Patch 8.3, Visions of N'Zoth: the Horde and the Alliance unite against N'Zoth in Ny'alotha. See Visions of N'Zoth and the end of faction warfare.

Final summary

The Fourth War begins when Azeroth, wounded by Sargeras's sword, starts to bleed Azerite. That substance reveals immense potential as a source of power and as a weapon. The Horde and the Alliance enter a new spiral of conflict because neither accepts seeing the other control this resource first. Sylvanas recognizes the strategic value of the crisis and helps push the situation into open war.

That's why the Fourth War matters so much: it starts not only because the factions hate each other, but because Azeroth's own blood becomes an argument for total war.

Where to see it in WotLK

Battle for Azeroth comes after WotLK, but the places where the war begins are in your game:

Teldrassil and Darkshore: the tree-city and the coast, still intact.
Undercity: the capital of the Forsaken before it became a plague-ridden ruin.
Theramore: Jaina's city, whose destruction explains her hatred of the Horde at the start of BfA.
Silithus: the desert where Sargeras drives in his sword at the end of Legion.