Recommended Game Story · Warcraft Part 39

Afterglow of Dalaran — The Priestess Left at the River and the Brothers Reunited

Spoiler Warning: This covers the latter half of the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Night Elf campaign, continuing from Part 38. It details the arrival of reinforcements and Maiev, Kael'thas's refugee procession, Tyrande swept away by the river, the spell at Dalaran, the exposure of false reports and the brothers' rescue, and the conclusion leading to Outland. Chapter numbers continue from 9 to 16, following the previous 1 to 8. This is a novelized commentary based on official events, not a translation of official novels. Unconfirmed dialogue, inner thoughts, and gameplay choices are not treated as fixed official events.

Table of Contents for this Part

Chapter 9: Alliance Forged in Resentment · Chapter 10: The Red Name of a Ruined Kingdom · Chapter 11: The Priestess Left on the Bridge · Chapter 12: Screams from the North Carried by the Earth · Chapter 13: The Spell Halted at Dalaran · Chapter 14: False Reports and the Path to Return · Chapter 15: The River the Brothers Cross Together · Chapter 16: The Unclosed Pursuit · Index of Characters, Artifacts, and Locations · Further Reading · Official Game Guide.

Chapter 9 · An Alliance Built in Resentment

The reinforcements that arrived on the island could not meet Maiev immediately. There was the threat of the Naga on the coast, and the path was blocked by forests and enemy positions. The owl sent by Tyrande found the Wardens' base, and Malfurion opened the path with the power of nature. Only when the abilities of the two were used together could the support become an actual rescue. Just knowing about the difficulties across the sea does not mean the isolated unit survives. One had to secure a path to connect with them and break through the enemy.

Between Maiev and Tyrande, who finally met, there was not only joy. Maiev could not accept Tyrande's decision to free Illidan. Tyrande explained the decision she had made to prevent a greater invasion. The death of the Wardens Maiev had lost and Naisha made that argument even heavier. Just because one side heard the other's explanation did not mean the evaluation of the sacrifice would become the same. They were an alliance that held resentment toward each other even with the enemy in front of them.

In the ensuing battle, Tyrande encountered Illidan once more. Tyrande pointed out to Illidan that the magnitude of power is not the same as true strength. However, her attempt to capture Illidan was blocked by the naga's nets. This moment cannot be framed as an event where Illidan killed Tyrande. Malfurion and Maiev arrived, and Tyrande, using the power of Elune, broke free from her bonds to confront the naga. Illidan escaped by boat once again. The fight was not over, and the pursuit shifted to another battlefield beyond Kalimdor.

In this campaign, new allies like Mountain Giants also appear. The optional mission of waking the great beings of the forest to the war shows the relationship between nature and the Night Elves. However, one does not put this into all previous missions of Reign of Chaos as already existing troops, nor does one expand it to say that one battle moved all the giants of the world. One must keep the era and appearance range of each scene to make the arrival of new forces feel fresh.

Chapter 10 · The Red Name of a Ruined Kingdom

In Lordaeron, where the pursuit party arrived, there were wounds different from Hyjal. The disaster of the Eastern Kingdoms did not end just because the demons were defeated. The Scourge still blocked the way and chased the survivors, and cities that were once centers of magic and order were in ruins. In Silverpine Forest, Malfurion moved separately to check the state of the diseased land. Tyrande and Maiev, while chasing Illidan's traces, met a procession trying to escape the ruined kingdom.

The leader of the procession was Kael'thas Sunstrider. He was a prince of the royal family of Quel'Thalas, but now, traces of the people he had lost remained more significantly by his side than the prosperity of the kingdom. The Scourge brought by Arthas destroyed the Sunwell and the kingdom. Kael'thas called those who survived the Blood Elves. That red name was a name to honor the kin who had died first in the conversation at the time. If one reads this from the beginning as a declaration that all members are loyal to demons, one cannot understand their next choices. They were people first looking for a way to survive and lead their kin.

Tyrande decided to help the procession. The experience of different races fighting together at Hyjal led to the choice not to ignore the plight of strangers. Maiev hesitated because she could not lose Illidan. However, Kael'thas's help was also needed for the pursuit. If the Night Elves moved the refugee procession safely, the Blood Elves would help find Illidan. Different needs met in one promise. Helping the survivors and chasing a dangerous prisoner briefly went the same way.

This journey has side paths to recover supplies and different movement routes. Choosing to take a dangerous path in a hurry or taking a longer way is a choice of play. One does not make that choice into a single fixed march record. However, the appearance of the procession looking for supplies shows how the war continues after the kingdom has fallen. For the survivors, flags and causes were not enough. They needed to feed the troops, move the cargo, and have an actual path to reach the next base.

Chapter 11 · The Priestess Left on the Bridge

When they reached Pyrewood, what awaited them was not just a safe shelter. An undead ambush covered the procession. The procession, mixed with refugees and troops, could not face the endlessly entering enemies on the spot. They had to cross a narrow path between water and land. Tyrande remained behind to block the Scourge, and Maiev and Kael'thas moved the procession. At that moment, the common promise became an action of sharing actual danger, not just words.

The starlight Tyrande summoned on the bridge had a different meaning than the forest of the previous night. This time, it was not an attack to open a path, but a defense to buy time for others to pass. However, the bridge could not withstand that fight. As the stones and the path collapsed, Tyrande was swept away by the river. Just because she disappeared from the screen does not mean her death was confirmed. Between the accident that happened before one's eyes and the final result of that accident, there remained an unknown space.

Kael'thas said they must find her. To him, Tyrande was an ally who had just remained to protect his people. However, Maiev said they should continue the pursuit. The reason was that the warrior knew the danger and stepped forward, and Kael'thas also had a promise to find Illidan. This choice makes the conflict of the campaign clear. When keeping a promise results in ignoring a comrade who cannot request rescue, duty no longer points in only one direction.

One can remember the lost comrade to understand Maiev's judgment. However, one cannot make her death a fact before Tyrande's survival is confirmed. The next turn of the story comes from that very unconfirmed space. The possibility of saving someone still remained. If one looks only at the speed of the pursuit, that possibility is briefly pushed out of the event. But the river was carrying the still-living person to a deeper battlefield.

Chapter 12 · The Scream of the North Carried by the Earth

While Malfurion communed with the spirits of the forest, the earth was trembling at the other end of the world. Surveying the devastation of Lordaeron, he sensed a flow of destruction directed toward the far north. Illidan was using the Eye of Sargeras in the ruins of Dalaran. His target was Icecrown in Northrend and the seat of the Lich King's power. As the spell from afar shook the roof of the world, the druid found that he had more to attend to than just the rotting trees before him.

The magic flow of Dalaran was connected to this spell. The official manual explains that Illidan tried to send the power of the artifact to the north using the ley lines of the city. The ruined magic city was not just empty piles of stone. The city, collapsed by Archimonde's attack, was now used as a place to start another massive destruction. The power of the world did not operate only for good purposes, and old knowledge and places became new dangers depending on who grasped them.

The goal of attacking the Lich King and the means of tearing the earth were not the same judgment. Malfurion could sense that the world was being damaged even before he knew the exact goal. He had to stop the spell. One cannot say that all of Northrend was already destroyed at this time or that the Lich King was dead. The spell was in progress, and stopping it was the goal of the next battle. One cannot bring forward the influence and conclusion to be confirmed in the later Undead campaign to end it here.

Chapter 13 · The Spell Halted in Dalaran

When Malfurion returned, Tyrande was gone. Maiev gave a false report that she had seen her killed by the undead. What she had actually confirmed was the collapsed bridge and the scene of her being swept away by the river. That difference shook Malfurion's judgment. To the sense of crisis that he had to save the world was added the grief of losing a loved one. The reader can compare Maiev's report with the previous scene, but Malfurion, who heard the words, did not have the same information at that moment.

Kael'thas's scouts confirmed that Illidan was conducting a ritual using the artifact in Dalaran. The cooperation between the Night Elves and the Blood Elves now became an actual battle beyond the promise of refuge. There were not only Naga in this city. The Undead also continued their attacks from the surroundings. The path toward the enemy and protecting their own base were both needed. Even in the already ruined city, the wars of different forces were overlapping.

Illidan's spell was interrupted. The plan to collapse Icecrown using the Eye of Sargeras could not be completed. For Malfurion, it was the result of protecting the world, but for Illidan, it was the result of failing the mission entrusted to him. His target had been the Lich King, a common enemy to his brother and his people. However, that purpose could not erase the lives lost at the tomb or the danger inflicted upon the earth. Regarding the same spell, one saw a failure, while the other saw a disaster averted.

The optional objectives of this mission include rescuing a paladin captured by the naga. That character is Magroth the Defender. This is not presented as a grand personal history where he joins in the same manner in every battle of the main campaign. The core of the campaign is the fact that different races cooperated to stop the ritual. By distinguishing between the mission's optional structure and separate character descriptions, one can read the larger connections of the events while preserving the variety of gameplay experiences.

Chapter 14 · False Reports and the Path to Return

After stopping the ritual, Malfurion pressed Illidan. This was because he believed that the crime of putting the world in danger was compounded by the death of Tyrande. Illidan denied the accusation that he had killed Tyrande. Then Kael'thas corrected the previous event. She was not confirmed to be killed by the undead, but was swept away by the river, and she could still be alive. The possibility of rescue, which had been pushed aside to continue the pursuit, returned.

These words were not a minor correction of a past event. The focus shifted from the judgment that one had to kill the person before them to the judgment that one had to save the person left far behind. If the same information had been conveyed accurately, the meeting in Dalaran might have been different. However, what is important in the story is not to make the falsehood that has already occurred as if it never happened, but to accept the facts even belatedly and change the next action.

Illidan set out to find Tyrande. Malfurion also moved with his brother. Their long conflict and the battle just now had not disappeared. However, what they had to do now had changed. Instead of keeping each other as enemies, the brothers joined forces to save a person who might still be alive. In the middle of the story of pursuit, the story of rescue began. The mission Maiev continued to keep and the actions the brothers chose pointed in different directions again.

Chapter 15 · Brothers Crossing the River Together

The river had taken Tyrande into the deep territory of the Undead. She was holding out with the surviving Sentinels, but the repeated attacks did not cease. The sky was not safe enough to fly over and bring her back immediately. Between the air and ground controlled by the Undead, they had to find a path they could actually reach. Malfurion and Illidan divided that path using different troops and abilities.

Malfurion held the defensive line. Illidan moved along the river with the Naga. The characteristic of being a race of the sea was now not a power hindering the pursuit, but a power enabling the rescue. The leader of the forest protected the ground, and the brother exiled from the forest cleared the waterway. This contrast shows the fact that neither side could solve all the problems of the world alone. Blocking the enemy to buy time and reaching the destination needed each other.

The dams and side paths that can be found around the river open additional choices. One does not set those choices as the only history where Tyrande survives. What is confirmed in the fixed conclusion is the fact that Illidan and the Naga broke through the Undead to reach Tyrande and brought her to a safe place. If one distinguishes the detailed choices of the path from the result of saving the person, the weight of the event does not decrease, and the scope of play remains accurately.

Tyrande was wary of Illidan who had come to find her, but she came to know what he had come to do. When she crossed the path of magic and met Malfurion again, the procession that had been broken at the bridge continued in a different form. The cooperation of Malfurion and Illidan saved her. However, this one cooperation is not a conclusion that solved all ten thousand years of conflict. The regained life gave the brothers time to briefly look at each other with different eyes. In that time, Illidan had to decide the path he would go next.

Chapter 16 · The Unclosed Pursuit

Malfurion acknowledged that his brother had saved Tyrande. That did not mean he forgave all the damage Illidan had inflicted. He drew a line, saying he would not allow him to threaten the Night Elves again. Illidan also could not return to the forest and live as before. The mission using the Eye of Sargeras had failed, and he had to avoid the wrath of Kil'jaeden, who had given the command. Even after the brothers' brief reconciliation, the danger between the world and the Legion remained as it was.

The portal Illidan opened led to Outland. One must not change this gate into the same structure as the massive Dark Portal that appeared in the First War. A passage opened by magic moved him to another world. Beyond it were the remnants of the already broken Draenor and the forces of the Legion. In this scene, he was not a king who had conquered all the enemies there. He was a figure leaving to find a new refuge, and the alliances he would form there and the next war are events of the following part.

Maiev did not stop the pursuit here. Even if Tyrande had tried to send him away and Malfurion did not hold him there anymore, the Warden's mission and the event of losing Naisha had not ended for her. She and the Wardens followed Illidan into the portal. The expedition that began at the sea now crosses the boundaries of the world. This is not a conclusion where they all returned home peacefully, nor is it a conclusion where all of Illidan's faults legally disappeared. It is a conclusion where different people scatter with different conclusions.

Malfurion and Tyrande were able to return to Kalimdor. The work of caring for the wounds of the world still awaited them. For Kael'thas and the Blood Elves, the next path to protect their people also remained. This campaign does not end with the death of the Lich King. The event that interrupted Illidan's spell still leaves influences on the North and Lordaeron, and the exile's journey to Outland meets the next choices of the Blood Elves. The story that was chasing one person ends before a door where the fates of several forces diverge again.

Index of Characters, Artifacts, and Locations

Maiev Shadowsong: The leader of the Wardens who kept watch over Illidan's prison. A pursuer who uses Blink and circular weapons, she continues her mission even after losing Naisha and her subordinates. The Sentinels led by Tyrande and Maiev's Warden organization cooperate in this campaign but do not merge into the same role.

Naisha: A subordinate who pursued with Maiev. She does not return due to the collapse of the tomb. One does not dress up unconfirmed dialogue in the death scene and other era events thereafter as facts of this scene.

Illidan Stormrage: An exile who gained horns, wings, and cloven hooves after absorbing the Skull of Gul'dan. His appearance in this part is different from before the prison liberation in Part 37. The mission to eliminate the Lich King, the pressure of the Legion, and the conflict with his brother act together on his choices.

Tyrande Whisperwind & Malfurion Stormrage: The High Priestess and Archdruid of the Night Elves. They made different judgments regarding Illidan's release and exile, but cooperate again in the process of stopping the danger and saving Tyrande, who was left at the river. At the time, the events of the World Tree and the expansion pack that would unfold later had not yet occurred.

Lady Vashj & Naga: A force of the sea connected to the history of the ancient Highborne. They help with Illidan's expedition and the rescue of Tyrande through the river. I have distinguished the purposes confirmed in the fixed scenes of this campaign from the additional background to be revealed in later generations.

Kael'thas Sunstrider & Blood Elves: The prince and his kin who survived in the destroyed Quel'Thalas. The red name contains the meaning of honoring the dead kin. In this part, the focus is on the evacuation and joint battle, and the later Outland alliance is an event of the following era.

Skull of Gul’dan and Eye of Sargeras: Distinct artifacts. The skull is linked to Illidan's transformation and Gul'dan's memories, while the eye is linked to the destruction spell aimed at Icecrown. They are also distinct from the Shadow Orb in the optional mission.

Nendis, Broken Isles, & Tomb of Sargeras: The port protected for departure, the islands where ancient ruins were revealed, and the place where Aegwynn sealed the avatar of Sargeras. One does not understand the name of the tomb as the death of the entire Titan.

Silverpine Forest, Dalaran, Northrend, & Outland: The forest the refugee procession passed through, the ruins of the magic city where the artifact was used, the north that became the target of the spell, and the broken world beyond the final portal. I have not mixed the later era events of each location as occurring simultaneously with this expedition.

Further Reading

This part follows the reading of Part 38, which covered the appearance of Illidan and the naga, Maiev's pursuit, and the collapse of the tomb. Part 37 covers the prison break and the Battle of Mount Hyjal, while Part 28 covers the event where Gul'dan found the tomb. Parts 33, 34, and 35 connect to the backgrounds of the ruins encountered in this expedition: the disasters of Lordaeron, Quel'Thalas, and Dalaran, respectively. Only actually published parts are linked below. You can find the first part of the work and the next published part in the series table of contents.

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Official Game Guide

To play the events of this part directly, you can select the Night Elf campaign of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Below is Blizzard's official product page. In the product guide confirmed, Warcraft III: Reforged includes the Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne campaigns. Check the official page you accessed for regional prices, provided languages, and execution conditions. This does not mean that the official game supports all 14 language commentaries of this series.

Warcraft III — Official Product and The Frozen Throne Guide

Official Materials and Confirmation Scope

Confirmation Date: October 8, 2026 (UTC). This was written based on the settings and events confirmed in the official public materials below. For public samples and setting introductions, I have confirmed only the relevant public scope and do not indicate that I have read the entire book. The illustrations are AI reconstructions, not official images.

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne — Fixed scenes from the Terror of the Tides campaign

World of Warcraft Official Manual — Illidan and the Frozen Throne

The Burning Crusade Classic Official Retrospective — The Eye of Sargeras and the Reunion of Brothers

Tomb of Sargeras Official Raid Introduction — Distinguishing Aegwynn and the Avatar

Blacksmith Stories: Night Elves — Maiev's Official Appearance

Warcraft III — Official Product and The Frozen Throne Guide