Third War #9: the Battle of Mount Hyjal

September 11, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Third War" series — Third War #9. 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 Battle of Mount Hyjal is the end of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and of the Third War. Night elves, orcs and humans, three peoples who had spent the campaign fighting each other, fought together to stop Archimonde from reaching the World Tree. This final chapter of the night elf campaign tells how they won and the price the elves paid for victory.

The Last Guardian

Two days after banishing Illidan, Tyrande and Malfurion were waiting in a clearing on Mount Hyjal. A raven flew above them. Soon Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore arrived, who had also been summoned.

Tyrande did not want the outsiders there. The orcs had killed Cenarius only a few days before. The raven landed and turned into the Prophet. He calmed Tyrande and said the newcomers had come to help against the Legion. Malfurion recognized the raven: it was the figure that appeared in his dreams.

Then the Prophet told them who he was. He was Medivh, the Last Guardian. He confessed that he had brought the orcs to Azeroth and that, by doing so, he had opened the way for the demons. He said he had been killed by people he loved and that the war that followed destroyed kingdoms in the east. And he said the world's only chance was for their peoples to unite against the common enemy.

Archimonde's target

At the top of Mount Hyjal stands Nordrassil, the World Tree. It was planted over a second Well of Eternity, created after the War of the Ancients. The dragons' blessings on the tree gave the night elves immortality.

According to World of Warcraft: Chronicle, Archimonde wanted to seize this Well under the tree and use its power to bring Sargeras to Azeroth. Older sources described the goal differently, but the idea is the same: if Archimonde reached the tree, the world was over.

Buying time

The plan was simple and cruel. Malfurion needed time to prepare a trap at the summit. Jaina and Thrall would set up bases on the slope and slow Archimonde's climb as much as possible. In the mission Twilight of the Gods, the player has to hold out for 45 minutes.

Jaina's base, which blocked the main pass, fell first. Archimonde crushed it, and Jaina escaped by teleporting away with the survivors. The demon's acolytes built a new Scourge base on top of the human ruins.

Thrall's base fell next. Once again, Jaina teleported the survivors. And once again the acolytes took the place.

The last line

What remained was the night elf defense, near the summit. Archimonde's forces split up, and the elves counted on allies from the forest: the Barkskin furbolgs and the Dark Trolls of the Shadowtooth clan.

The final attack was the heaviest. Even the elves' trees and buildings fought. Druids like Broll Bearmantle were on the front line. His daughter, Anessa, tried to help him against the pit lord Azgalor. She died in the fel blast from the corrupted Idol of Remulos.

The wisps

Archimonde broke through the gate at the summit at the exact moment the trap was ready. Malfurion had gathered thousands of wisps around the tree. He sounded the Horn of Cenarius.

The wisps released their energy into Nordrassil's enchantments. The tree let it all out at once in a giant explosion. Archimonde was vaporized, along with most of his troops. Only the demon's skeleton was left.

Medivh confirmed that Archimonde would not return. And he said the roots of the World Tree would heal over time, just like the world.

The cost of victory

The explosion saved Azeroth, but Nordrassil was badly weakened. The tree survived, and its roots slowly grew back. But the enchantments that gave the elves immortality had been spent.

The night elves lost their immortality. Tyrande already felt it at the end of the battle: their power over nature would fade as they aged. For the first time in ten thousand years, the night elves would grow old and could fall ill.

Years later, the druids planted a new tree, Teldrassil. It did not have the Aspects' blessing and did not bring immortality back.

What this changes in the story

Hyjal closes the Third War, in year 21 after the opening of the Dark Portal. Most of the Legion's forces in Kalimdor were destroyed. The Lich King broke with the Legion, and the Scourge stopped obeying its demonic masters. This is the starting point of the Frozen Throne.

The battle also shaped the map of WoW. The human survivors founded Theramore. The orcs founded Orgrimmar, in Durotar. The Horde and the Alliance signed a non-aggression pact in Kalimdor. And the spirit of Cenarius, in the Emerald Dream, saw orcs fighting alongside the elves and changed the way he saw them.

Episode timeline

Medivh reveals who he is and unites Tyrande, Malfurion, Thrall and Jaina.
Malfurion prepares the trap at the top of Hyjal.
Jaina's base falls, then Thrall's.
The night elves make the last stand near the summit.
Malfurion sounds the Horn of Cenarius, and the wisps destroy Archimonde.
Nordrassil is weakened, and the elves lose their immortality.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Medivh | The Last Guardian, who was hiding as the Prophet. | | Archimonde | The commander of the Burning Legion in the Third War. | | Malfurion Stormrage | The druid who set the wisp trap. | | Tyrande Whisperwind | The leader of the night elves in the defense of the summit. | | Thrall | The Warchief, who held the second line. | | Jaina Proudmoore | The human leader, who held the first line. |

Where to see it in WotLK

Hyjal Summit: the Burning Crusade raid in the Caverns of Time, in Tanaris. You help Jaina and Thrall hold the bases and face Rage Winterchill, Anetheron, Kaz'rogal, Azgalor and Archimonde, with Nordrassil in the background.
Mount Hyjal: in the 3.3.5 client, the top of the mountain is not a normal playable zone. The zone only opens in Cataclysm.
Felwood: the forest still corrupted by the Legion, at the foot of Hyjal.
Darnassus: the night elf city on Teldrassil, the tree planted after the war.
Dustwallow Marsh and Durotar: Theramore and Orgrimmar, the cities founded by the survivors.