Sylvanas Windrunner gathered undead who had broken free of the Lich King. From the ruins beneath Lordaeron they joined the Horde while pursuing their own survival and vengeance.
As the Lich King’s power weakened, Sylvanas discovered that his commands no longer held her. Freedom returned inside a body and existence she had never chosen. Arthas was still within reach, and she moved to turn that brief opening into revenge.
Her banshees drew him into an ambush. A poisoned arrow immobilized him, but she wanted him to suffer rather than die quickly. Kel’Thuzad arrived before she could finish him and drove her away.
Arthas escaped toward Northrend. Sylvanas remained in Lordaeron, where the dreadlords also sought control. Recovering her will had begun the struggle; holding a place for the undead who would become the Forsaken required another war.
Sylvanas refused to trade the Lich King’s control for the dreadlords’ authority. After defeating Varimathras, she accepted his offer to serve her and reveal his brothers’ positions. Survival made him useful, but did not make him trustworthy.
The fall of Detheroc freed Garithos and his human soldiers from demonic control. Sylvanas enlisted their help against Balnazzar by promising the return of their lands. Once the capital was secured, she instead ordered Varimathras to kill Garithos.
The victory gave the Forsaken a stronghold in Undercity. Their independence had been won through alliances they were willing to break. Lordaeron’s former capital now sheltered an undead power pursuing its own future.
Freedom from the Scourge did not make the Forsaken welcome among the living. They needed allies who could see a reason to deal with them, even when trust was scarce. Tauren support helped open the way to Thrall and the Horde.
The agreement offered protection to Sylvanas’s people and an eastern foothold to their allies. It also brought a community driven by vengeance into a coalition whose members did not share all of its purposes.
Beneath Undercity, the Royal Apothecary Society pursued a plague that could strike the undead. Its experiments showed the dangers beneath that uneasy alliance.
