Third War #4: The Fall of Lordaeron

September 6, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Third War" series — Third War #4. The story of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, from Medivh's prophecy to the Battle of Mount Hyjal. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

The fall of Lordaeron closes the Warcraft 3 human campaign. Arthas reaches Northrend to hunt Mal'Ganis, meets up with the dwarf Muradin again, burns his own ships and takes up a cursed sword called Frostmourne. He defeats the dreadlord, but loses his soul. Months later, he comes home and kills his own father on the throne.

Arrival in Northrend

A month after the Culling of Stratholme, Arthas's fleet lands on the icy shore of Daggercap Bay. The prince orders a camp set up near a gold mine.

An attack comes soon after. But the attackers aren't undead. They're dwarves, led by Muradin Bronzebeard, brother of King Magni of Ironforge and Arthas's old teacher in the art of war.

Muradin is relieved. "I never imagined you'd be the one to come and save us!" His men were split up after a Scourge attack, and he asks for help. Arthas agrees.

The search for Frostmourne

Muradin explains why he came to Northrend. He is looking for a runeblade called Frostmourne, kept in a hidden vault. According to legend, an ancient portal leads there. The closer the dwarves got to the portal, the more undead they ran into.

Arthas and Muradin rescue the surrounded dwarves and destroy a Scourge base. Arthas thinks that's where Mal'Ganis is hiding. It isn't. "It doesn't matter. He can't hide from me forever."

The burned ships

Then an order arrives from Lordaeron. An emissary brings a message from King Terenas: the expedition must come home. It was Uther who convinced the king to call the troops back. Arthas's captain agrees to clear a path through the forest to the coast.

Arthas won't accept it. He wants to finish the hunt. To do that, he decides that no one will be able to go back.

He hires mercenaries from the nearby camps and has them burn the five ships. Muradin finds the decision strange, but Arthas insists. When the soldiers reach the beach, they find the ships in flames. Arthas blames the mercenaries, who approach without knowing anything, and orders his men to attack them.

The mercenaries die. The soldiers are trapped in Northrend. "There's no way back for any of us, except through victory!"

Frostmourne

Surrounded by the Scourge and by Mal'Ganis, Arthas asks Muradin to take him to the sword. The dwarf agrees, reluctantly. A small group goes through the portal to the vault.

Inside, they face monsters and an undead Guardian who orders them to turn back. As he falls, the Guardian says he was only trying to protect Arthas from the sword.

On the pedestal, Muradin reads an inscription: the blade's power marks whoever wields it. He realizes the sword is cursed and asks Arthas to give it up. Arthas answers that he would accept any curse to save his homeland.

Arthas calls on the spirits of the chamber and offers any price. The pedestal shatters, and a shard of ice strikes Muradin. Arthas leaves him for dead. He drops his warhammer and takes Frostmourne.

Muradin actually survived. He woke up with no memory and only shows up again many years later. But Arthas never went back to check.

The death of Mal'Ganis

Sword in hand, Arthas returns to camp, strikes back and destroys the dreadlord's base. Mal'Ganis appears and mocks him: the prince got this far at the cost of his companions' lives.

Arthas says he only listens to Frostmourne now. Mal'Ganis asks what the sword is telling him. It's the Dark Lord who speaks through it. Arthas answers that the time for vengeance has come and kills Mal'Ganis with a single blow. "It's over."

Afterward, Arthas abandons his own soldiers and wanders alone across the ice. The voice of Frostmourne, the voice of the Lich King, drives him mad. As Tichondrius later reveals, the first soul the sword took was Arthas's own.

Arthas's betrayal

Months later, the bells of Lordaeron ring. The prince has returned. People throw flower petals along his path. Arthas picks up a petal and it withers.

He enters the throne room. King Terenas rises, overjoyed: "My son. I knew you would be victorious." Arthas kneels, Frostmourne in hand. He says he has taken care of everything.

Then he rises and drives the sword into his father. The crown falls to the floor. "Succeeding you, Father." And he announces that the kingdom will fall, and that from its ashes a new order will rise.

What this changes in the story

These three chapters close the Warcraft 3 human campaign and show Arthas's complete fall. Every step is his own choice: burning the ships, betraying the mercenaries, leaving Muradin behind, abandoning his soldiers.

With Terenas dead, Lordaeron loses its king and its heir at the same time. The greatest human kingdom is left open to the Scourge. From here on, the player controls the Scourge itself, with Arthas as a death knight.

Episode timeline

Arthas lands in Northrend and finds Muradin.
Terenas, at Uther's request, calls the expedition home.
Arthas burns the ships and blames the mercenaries.
Arthas takes Frostmourne, and Muradin is struck.
Arthas kills Mal'Ganis.
Arthas returns to Lordaeron and kills Terenas.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Arthas Menethil | The prince who takes Frostmourne. | | Muradin Bronzebeard | The dwarf who was looking for the sword and was left behind. | | Mal'Ganis | The dreadlord killed by Arthas. | | Terenas Menethil | The king of Lordaeron, killed by his son. | | Uther the Lightbringer | The one who asked the king to bring the expedition home. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Howling Fjord: the region where Arthas landed in Northrend.
Frostmourne Cavern, in Dragonblight: the cave where the sword was kept, at the foot of the Icecrown Glacier.
Icecrown Citadel: Muradin commands the Skybreaker in the Gunship Battle and speaks of Arthas with longing.
Ruins of Lordaeron, in Tirisfal Glades: what's left of the capital where Terenas died, above Undercity.