Arathor and the Troll Wars

By the time of the Troll Wars, the human kingdom of Arathor and the high elves of Quel’Thalas faced a common enemy in the Amani. Their alliance joined human military strength to elven arcane knowledge, with the elves teaching selected humans to wield magic in return for aid.

The defeat of the Amani established a relationship that later generations of kings would invoke again. It also carried arcane learning into human society, helping set the stage for the magical traditions and institutions of the Eastern Kingdoms. The alliances of the First and Second Wars had roots much older than the coming of the orcs.

Alodi, the First Guardian

Human arcane learning brought power, but also the attention of demons. The Council of Tirisfal worked in secret to oppose those threats. In Dalaran, the dreadlord Kathra’natir’s pursuit of the Amulet of Waters drew the council into a confrontation that would expose the limits of its existing defenses.

Alodi, a half-elven mage, became the first Guardian of Tirisfal. The power of many magi could be entrusted to a single champion, giving the council a defender capable of meeting dangers beyond the strength of an individual wizard. The office made one person responsible for a burden shared by an entire order.

That institution endured far beyond Alodi’s lifetime. The history of Aegwynn and Medivh, and ultimately the opening of the Dark Portal, would unfold around the same inheritance of concentrated power and guarded knowledge. The comic places the origin of that legacy centuries before the kingdoms faced an invading Horde.

An Apprentice in Dalaran

Long before she governed a city, Jaina Proudmoore studied in Dalaran. Her training under Antonidas placed her within the kingdom’s center of magical learning and gave her responsibilities beyond the classroom.

When the plague spread, the archmage entrusted her with investigating it. His journal records both his confidence in her abilities and his own efforts to convince the kingdom to respond. Jaina entered the crisis as a mage charged with finding answers, not as a ruler commanding a nation.

That beginning matters to the decisions that followed. The disaster would force her to act beyond the authority of her teacher and the expectations of the people she had known.

The Fall of Dalaran

Arthas and Kel’Thuzad attacked Dalaran, overcoming its magical defenses. The fallen city became the staging ground for Archimonde’s arrival. The Scourge’s campaign had opened the way for a demonic invasion, extending the disaster beyond the kingdoms Arthas had already destroyed.

An Eye Turned North

Kil’jaeden demanded the destruction of Ner’zhul, whose disobedience had made the Lich King a threat to his former master. Illidan accepted the task. The memories taken from the Skull gave him a route to a weapon powerful enough to attempt it.

With Vashj’s naga, Illidan entered the Tomb of Sargeras and claimed the Eye. Maiev followed him inside, but his escape left her companions trapped in the collapsing tomb. Her pursuit became inseparable from those losses.

At Dalaran, Illidan directed the Eye’s power toward Icecrown. The ritual threatened the land around the Frozen Throne as well as its prisoner. Malfurion, Maiev and Kael’thas intervened before the attack could finish. The artifact was destroyed and Illidan’s promise to Kil’jaeden remained unfulfilled.

An Alliance Broken

Fighting beside the remnants of Lordaeron’s army did not give Kael’thas secure allies. Garithos distrusted the elves and left them facing the undead with inadequate support. When Vashj offered help, refusing her meant risking the soldiers he was trying to keep alive.

Accepting naga assistance became the charge used against him. Garithos imprisoned the prince and his followers in Dalaran and condemned them. Vashj returned to free them and offered a different prospect: Illidan might have an answer to their hunger for magic.

Kael’thas followed her into Outland. His new allegiance grew from that escape, but it did not remove his dependence. The promised cure was instead a way of finding more magic to consume, binding the prince’s hopes to another ruler’s power.