Story recap page for the fourth World of Warcraft expansion pack, Mists of Pandaria.
With the threat of Deathwing over with, Warchief Garrosh Hellscream seized the opportunity to strike at the Alliance, and expand the Horde's territory on Kalimdor. His assault completely obliterated the human city of Theramore, causing world-wide violence between the factions to erupt anew, as well as destroying Jaina's peace-loving view towards the Horde. A destructive naval skirmish left Alliance and Horde forces washed ashore on the fog-shrouded island of Pandaria, which had appeared in the open sea, defying modern maps and charts. As both warring factions established footholds on the resource-rich continent, they made contact with the noble Pandaren, one of its most prolific peoples. Here, The ancient panda race works with the Alliance and Horde in the hopes of dispersing the Sha: dark, ephemeral beings roused from beneath Pandaria by the bloody conflict.
In the meantime at the Wandering Isle (a giant turtle named Shen-zin Su that moves around the seas with a Pandaren training academy on its back), the Pandarens suffer a split in philosophy after two of their leaders, Aysa Cloudsinger and Ji Firepaw, fight over their method to take a crashed Alliance airship, the Skyseeker, out from the Wandering Isle's shell that was causing the turtle immense pain. The result of the fight causes the recruits to follow different paths. Those that follow Aysa Cloudsinger join the Alliance to become the Tushui faction while those that follow Ji Firepaw join the Horde as the Huojin faction.
Raid: Heart of Fear
The Sha of Fear has corrupted Grand Empress Shek'zeer of the mantids, and proceeds to launch a corrupted swarm onto the Dread Wastes of Pandaria to take control of the area. The Klaxxi, an elderly faction of mantids who did not fall to the Sha's corruption, looked to the outside for help, and brought in heroes of the Horde and Alliance to charge into the lair of the empress. The heroes reach Grand Empress Shek'zeer, who's empowered by the Sha of Fear to defeat her guests. However, the empress falls, and the Sha of Fear escapes the grasp of the heroes. With their empress now gone, the Klaxxi have now taken over as the leaders of the mantids.Raid: Terrace of Endless Spring
Following its defeat at the Dread Wastes, the Sha of Fear relocates to the Terrace of Endless Spring, a sacred refuge hidden on the Veiled Stair of Pandaria. The Sha of Fear's arrival at the refuge ends up corrupting its people and guardians, and the heroes of the Horde and Alliance arrive to not only free the folk who have been corrupted, but to actually defeat the Sha of Fear this time.Raid: The Mogu'shan Vaults
In order to uncover treasures and secrets that were hidden by the elusive Mogu Empire, heroes from the Horde and Alliance follow Lorewalker Cho into the Mogu'shan Vaults at Kun-Lai Summit. Fighting through the vault guardians, Cho's raid runs into a Zandalar troll group led by Gara'jal the Spiritbinder, who was also looking into the vault's secrets. After bypassing Gara'jal, Cho's group eventually reaches a giant construct known as the Will of the Emperor; an object developed by Thunder King Lei Shen, which helped build up the Mogu Emperor's army. Cho and company destroy the construct so that the army that it created does not pose a threat to the outside world.Patch 5.1 - Landfall
The conflict between the Horde and the Alliance entered a bloody new chapter in Pandaria. As the two factions' armies clashed on the shores of the continent, Warchief Garrosh Hellscream dispatched elite troops to find the Divine Bell—an ancient mogu artifact capable of endowing his soldiers with unimaginable power. Garrosh's bold and reckless actions, however, had dire consequences for the Horde, including the outbreak of violence against the Darkspear trolls, and the expulsion of the Blood Elves from the once-neutral mage city of Dalaran. Although Garrosh claimed the bell, Prince Anduin Wrynn, and the Alliance secret agents of SI:7, closely tracked the Warchief's every move. On the highest peaks of Kun-Lai Summit, the brave prince thwarted Garrosh's plans, leading to the fabled mogu artifact's destruction.
Patch 5.2 - Raid: The Thunder King
While war between the Horde and the Alliance raged across Pandaria, the scattered Mogu plotted a return to their terrible former glory. They rekindled their historical alliance with the Zandalari trolls, who managed to resurrect the tyrannical Mogu emperor, Lei Shen the Thunder King, in the hopes of restoring Mogu dominion over the continent. The valiant Shado-pan rushed to suppress their enemies, creating a task force, the Shado-pan Assault, originally composed of Pandaren warriors and later supported by heroes of the Horde and Alliance. These fearless champions strove to defeat the Thunder King, though they also simultaneously served their factions' interests on Pandaria. Jaina Proudmoore led the Kirin Tor Offensive on a quest to uncover the source of all mogu power (and keep it from the Horde), and Lor'themar Theron took the Sunreaver Onslaught in search of mighty Mogu weaponry to aid a daring plan…an insurrection against Warchief Garrosh Hellscream.Patch 5.3 - Escalation
Garrosh Hellscream's quest for power in Pandaria leads him to excavate part of the sacred Vale of Eternal Blossoms in search of a sinister artifact, a decision that puts the Horde at odds with the Shado-pan and other influential Pandaren. Meanwhile, in the Horde capital of Orgrimmar, Chieftain Vol'jin, and the Darkspear trolls are declared traitors that results in them being hunted by the Kor'kron, Hellscream's personal guard. Vol'jin's people retreat to Durotar, and the Barrens, to gather supplies and reinforcements for their counter-strike; relying on the support of their former Warchief, Thrall, and a particularly tenuous pact with the Alliance, whose interest in ending Garrosh's rule may not bode entirely well for the Horde...Patch 5.4 - Raid: Siege of Orgrimmar
Garrosh Hellscream's reckless thirst for power has led him to do the unthinkable: from beneath the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, he has seized the desiccated heart of a dead Old God, Y'Shaarj, to use as a tool of war; unleashing horrors upon the sacred valley. The Warchief has also turned against other members of the Horde to create a purely orcish force of his own. Now this "True Horde" is amassing strength within Orgrimmar's iron ramparts. With Garrosh bent on total victory, he plans to demonstrate the potency of the True Horde by conquering not just the Alliance, but the whole of Azeroth. After champions purify the vale, they are called on to follow their faction in bringing Garrosh to justice.Leaders of the Alliance and Horde lay siege to Garrosh's capital in order to topple the ruthless Warchief. The leaders of Azeroth then agree to prosecute Garrosh for war crimes in Pandaria. Vol'jin, for his contributions in Garrosh's downfall, is chosen as the new warchief of the Horde. King Varian Wrynn decides to end the conflict with the Horde, but warns them that the Alliance will return to end them should they return to their honorless warmongering ways.
