Timeline
During the Third WarThe Prison Opens
With the Burning Legion advancing through Kalimdor, Tyrande sought more than soldiers. She needed someone who understood the enemy. Deep beneath the forests she turned toward the prison of Illidan, the man her people had confined for millennia.
Malfurion opposed her decision. He remembered what his brother’s pursuit of power had cost and did not believe a new crisis had made him safe. Tyrande acted despite that warning, fighting past the guards and opening the prison.
Illidan accepted the fight against the demons for Tyrande’s sake, not out of renewed loyalty to the society that had imprisoned him. His release also created another enemy: Maiev would return to find her prisoner gone and Watchers dead. The rescue that gave the defenders a weapon began a pursuit that would last beyond the war.
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The Price of the Skull
In Felwood, Illidan encountered an unexpected guide. Arthas, already a death knight, pointed him toward the Skull of Gul’dan. The Legion was using the relic’s power, and taking it would give Illidan the means to challenge Tichondrius.
Illidan chose to absorb that power. His body changed, taking on the wings, horns and hooves of a demon. With his new strength he destroyed Tichondrius, dealing a serious blow to the invasion. Arthas had helped turn one of the Legion’s weapons against its own commander.
For Illidan, victory proved the value of his methods. Malfurion saw the transformation as another surrender to corruption and banished him. The brothers agreed that the demons had to be stopped; they could not agree on what could be sacrificed to do it.
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The Battle of Mount Hyjal
At Mount Hyjal, Thrall’s Horde and Jaina’s survivors joined the night elf defense led by Malfurion and Tyrande. Their armies could not simply overpower Archimonde. They had to delay his advance long enough for Malfurion’s preparations to succeed.
The defenders gave ground while the trap around Nordrassil was readied. When Archimonde reached the World Tree, the assembled spirits destroyed him. The victory cost the night elves the immortality bound to that tree, but stopped the Legion’s invasion.
Cooperation had saved the world without repairing every wound in it. Lordaeron remained devastated, and the allies still had to find a way to live beside one another after their common enemy was gone.
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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.
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A Rescue Before Exile
Tyrande had been swept downriver while protecting refugees from the Scourge. Maiev told Malfurion that she was dead, keeping him focused on capturing Illidan. Kael’thas revealed that her fate was not certain.
Illidan offered to help find her. His naga searched the river and the brothers worked together against the undead to reach her. For a moment, saving someone they both loved mattered more than the judgment waiting between them.
Malfurion allowed Illidan to leave after the rescue, without absolving him of his actions. Illidan opened a portal to Outland to escape Kil’jaeden’s punishment. Maiev followed him through. The separation ended neither her hunt nor the demon lord’s claim on him.
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