Classic baseline · Forever beta stories
Arthas was born to King Terenas four years before the First War. He grew up as the heir to Lordaeron, learning swordsmanship from Muradin Bronzebeard. His early life also brought him into the company of Jaina Proudmoore, long before the plague would divide them.
Arthas — early life, including novel summaries
Warcraft Wiki — Uther the Lightbringer
Arthas was born to King Terenas four years before the First War. He grew up as the heir to Lordaeron, learning swordsmanship from Muradin Bronzebeard. His early life also brought him into the company of Jaina Proudmoore, long before the plague would divide them.
Arthas returned to Lordaeron bearing Frostmourne and murdered his father. The kingdom he had sworn to protect became a target of his undead campaign. Now serving the Scourge, he also killed Uther while seeking the remains needed for Kel’Thuzad’s resurrection.
The effort to restore Kel’Thuzad brought Arthas back against the paladins of his former order. Gavinrad guarded the necromancer’s remains and fell when the death knight came to recover them. Carrying those remains onward required a suitable vessel.
Uther stood in defense of the urn holding King Terenas’s ashes. The student he had trained now sought to empty it for the enemy who had helped destroy the kingdom. Their confrontation gave the war a terrible intimacy: duty to the dead king placed Uther directly in Arthas’s path.
Arthas killed his teacher with Frostmourne and took the urn. The defense of Lordaeron lost another of its great paladins, while the Scourge gained what it needed for the journey to the Sunwell.