WoW History: Mists of Pandaria

September 25, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"The History of the Expansions" series — Episode 5. 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.

The story of Mists of Pandaria is the story of a war that finds a place that had escaped every war. The Horde and the Alliance discover Pandaria, a continent hidden in the mist for ten thousand years, and bring with them the hatred they carried from home. That hatred awakens the Sha, creatures made of negative emotions, and the expansion ends with the Warchief of the Horde overthrown by his own people.

Before Pandaria: the destruction of Theramore

Cataclysm left Garrosh Hellscream as Warchief of the Horde, chosen by Thrall. Garrosh wanted all of Kalimdor for the orcs and saw no reason to share the continent with the Alliance.

His first big blow was Theramore. The Horde besieged Jaina's city, and a mana bomb, made with the Focusing Iris, an artifact stolen from the blue dragonflight, fell on it. Theramore was wiped off the map. Jaina survived, and the city she had built for peace became the reason for her hatred of the Horde.

The discovery of Pandaria

A naval battle between Horde and Alliance in the South Seas ended with ships from both sides wrecked on the coast of a land nobody knew: Pandaria. The continent had been cut off from the rest of the world during the Great Sundering by the last emperor of the pandaren, Shaohao, who covered it with a magical mist.

Pandaria was home to the pandaren, to the mogu, who had enslaved the pandaren in the past, to the mantid and to the jinyu and hozen. It was also the home of the August Celestials, four spirits who protected the continent.

The Sha: when war becomes a monster

The first clash between Horde and Alliance in Pandaria, in the Jade Forest, awakened a Sha of Doubt and destroyed the temple of the Jade Serpent. The pandaren explained what had happened: the Sha are born from negative emotions, such as fear, hatred, doubt and pride, and they grow stronger the more conflict there is nearby.

The Sha were the last remains of Y'Shaarj, an Old God the titans had killed. His heart was sealed in a vault beneath the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. The presence of the Horde and the Alliance was literally feeding what was left of an Old God.

The Purge of Dalaran and Jaina's change

After Theramore, Jaina took over leadership of the Kirin Tor and found out that blood elves in Dalaran, the Sunreavers, had helped the Horde steal an artifact. She expelled and imprisoned the city's blood elves. Dalaran stopped being neutral, and the Jaina who defended peace gave way to a Jaina willing to punish the Horde.

The Thunder King

Meanwhile, the Zandalari trolls wanted to rebuild an ancient empire and brought back Lei Shen, the Thunder King, the mogu emperor who had enslaved the pandaren. Horde and Alliance sent forces to the Isle of Thunder and defeated him in the Throne of Thunder.

Garrosh and the heart of Y'Shaarj

Garrosh grew more and more violent. He persecuted the Darkspear trolls, ordered the death of their leader, Vol'jin, who survived, and treated the other peoples of the Horde as inferior. In the end, he dug up the Heart of Y'Shaarj in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and took it to Orgrimmar to use the Old God's power.

It was too much even for the Horde. Vol'jin and Thrall led a rebellion, and the Alliance joined them in the Siege of Orgrimmar. Garrosh, already corrupted by the power of the Sha, was defeated and captured. Vol'jin became the new Warchief, and Garrosh was taken to trial in Pandaria.

Where to see it in WotLK

Mists of Pandaria comes after WotLK, so the continent does not exist in the 3.3.5a client. But several pieces of this story start in your game:

Garrosh in Borean Tundra: WotLK is where Garrosh appears as commander of the Warsong Offensive, already impulsive and quarrelsome.
Theramore, in Dustwallow Marsh: Jaina's city is still standing in WotLK.
Vol'jin and the Darkspear: Vol'jin is in Grommash Hold, in Orgrimmar. The Darkspear base is Sen'jin Village, in Durotar, because the Echo Isles are still in Zalazane's hands.
Chen Stormstout: the pandaren who fought alongside Rexxar in Warcraft 3. He does not appear in the 3.3.5a client; his story is in Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne.

Frequently asked questions

Why was Pandaria hidden?

Because Emperor Shaohao covered it with a magical mist during the Great Sundering, to protect it from the Legion and from the destruction of the world.