Story recap page for the second World of Warcraft expansion pack, Wrath of the Lich King, as well as Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
In the wake of the Sunwell's purification, a period of suspicious silence swept over the world. As if on cue, the undead Scourge launched a massive assault against the cities and towns of Azeroth, this time extending its reach far beyond the Eastern Kingdoms. Under pressure to respond with a full army, Warchief Thrall deployed an expedition force to Northrend led by Overlord Garrosh Hellscream. Varian Wrynn, having been restored as the king of Stormwind City, sends an equally powerful Alliance army, commanded by Bolvar Fordragon, to defeat the Lich King—and any Horde forces who would stand in their way.
Assault on New Avalon
The Lich King's opening move came when the dread citadel Naxxramas suddenly left the Eastern Plaguelands. Residents had little time to rejoice as before long another, more powerful necropolis appeared in the skies above New Avalon, Acherus: The Ebon Hold, lead by none other than the Lich King himself. From this new fortress, Arthas set loose an army of newly-minted Death Knights upon the settlements of the Scarlet Crusade. The townships of Havenshire and New Avalon quickly fell to sword and flame, the inhabitants slaughtered and raised up for the growing undead army. Eventually, High General Abbendis decided to cut their losses and retreat, but not before the Scourge intercepted a message that Crusade forces from Hearthglen and Tirisfal were marching to assist. Instead, they found themselves in an ambush, as the Death Knights, astride powerful frostwyrms, laid waste to their remaining forces.With the Scarlet Crusade in ruins, Arthas turned his attention to the other thorn in his side, the Argent Dawn at Light's Hope Chapel. He sent his now battle-tested Death Knights at the head of a ten-thousand strong force comprised of ghouls, abominations, undead Vrykul and Val'kyr and virtually every other minion at his disposal under the command of Highlord Darion Morgraine, wielding the corrupted sword Ashbringer, and sent them against a defending force of three hundred. The battle did not go as expected, however. The Argent Dawn was more resilient than anticipated and the Ashbringer began to fail the Highlord. The Scourge forces were eventually brought to heel and made to stand before the paladin Tirion Fording. Tirion declared that the Death Knights had been deceived and betrayed by the Lich King, but Morgraine would not listen, until he saw a vision of his father, and realized that Arthas had indeed betrayed him. The Lich King appeared soon after, admitting that this was all a ploy to draw Tirion into the open, but before he could claim the paladin's life, Darion threw the Ashbringer to him. Tirion purified the sword and was able to drive Arthas away. He then gathered those present, calling the Argent Dawn and Knights of the Silver Hand to join forces to defeat the Scourge once and for all, forming the Argent Crusade. Darion likewise pledged the support of the Death Knight, now known as the Knights of the Ebon Blade, to the fall of Arthas. Before that could happen, they had to secure Acherus as their base, which meant clearing out leftover Scourge forces. Once that was done, Darion sent emissaries to the Alliance and Horde, offering their support. Though initially skeptical, King Varian and Warchief Thrall accepted the turned Death Knights into their forces.
Battle of the Undercity
The Alliance and Horde eventually led a combined offensive on the Lich King's fortress entrance known as the Wrathgate. Before they could succeed however, Grand Apothecary Putress, and his Royal Apothecary Society followers (renegade Forsaken), unleashed a new plague that killed friend and foe alike, while his traitorous counterpart, Dreadlord Varimathras, seized the Undercity in a coup that nearly killed the Forsaken leader, Sylvanas Windrunner. The usurpers were slain for their vile deeds by armies of the Alliance and Horde and the Forsaken capital was restored. However, the debacle created suspicion among the Horde regarding Sylvanas’ loyalties. At the Wrathgate, many brave Alliance soldiers died at the hands of the Forsaken's Royal Apothecary Society; including King Varian's dear friend Bolvar Fordragon. Varian, who had always been wary of the orcs, discovered that the Royal Apothecary Society had been developing the new plague for years. In a rage he went looking for the Horde leaders, nearly starting a fight with Thrall, but Jaina Proudmoore teleported the Alliance out before the two could come to blows. The events that transpired during the battle convinced the human king that the Horde had been left unchecked for too long and he becomes increasingly hostile to the Horde for the rest of the campaign in Northrend. Likewise, Garrosh Hellscream becomes more and more obsessed with fighting the Alliance over Thrall's objections.Raid: Malygos the Spell-weaver
Making his home in the Nexus on Northrend's western island of Coldarra, Malygos of the Blue Dragonflight has declared war on all magic users assuming that the weaker races usage of it will bring the Burning Legion to Azeroth again. With the help of Alexstrasza's Red Dragonflight, who have chosen to defend the mortal races from Malygos' crusade, heroes of the Horde and Alliance storm into Coldarra to confront the Blue Dragon within his icy fortress, and defeat Malygos for good.Raid: Return of the Necropolis
Having recovered from his defeat at the Plaguelands of the Eastern Kingdom, Kel'Thuzad moves the Naxxramas to the Dragonblight of Northrend where the Necropolis lays siege to the Alliance stronghold of Wintergarde Keep. However, like before, champions of the Horde and Alliance storm into the Naxxramas, and defeat the Lich once more. Afterwards, if Kel'Thuzad was truly killed here was left ambiguous.Raid: The Obsidian Sanctum
In the wake of the Nexus War against Malygos, Alexstrasza tasked her children with rooting out any danger and treachery within the Wyrmrest Accord. They quickly located a clutch of Twilight Dragonflight eggs within the Obsidian Sanctum. With their resources already strained in dealing with the Scourge and the blue dragonflight, Alexstrasza's consort, Korialstrasz, has sent word of the eggs to Dalaran's Council of Six in the hopes that able-bodied adventurers from the Horde and Alliance can enter the sanctum and destroy the twisted progeny of Deathwing. While there, the heroes manage to kill Sartharion, a Black Dragon that had been watching over the eggs within the sanctum.Patch 3.1 - Raid: Secrets of Ulduar
The march of the Horde and Alliance armies through Northrend led to a number of victories, but these successes paled before a discovery made by a Dwarf explorer, Brann Bronzebeard, within the ancient titan complex of Ulduar. This mysterious fortress had long served as the prison of the Old God, Yogg-Saron, a being of unfathomable evil whose influence had spread into the continent of Northrend itself. With Brann's assistance, small bands of Alliance and Horde champions infiltrated Ulduar to confront Yogg-Saron, who blasted the invaders with cryptic visions: the millennia-old creation of an artifact known as the Dragon Soul, the assassination of Stormwind's King Llane, and a glimpse of the Lich King's future. With the help of the Titanic Watchers, the champions were able to subdue Yogg-Saron.There was no time to celebrate, as a new challenge was coming. During the push to reach Ulduar, the fallen keeper Loken had been slain. His death activated a beacon that would alert the Titans of trouble on Azeroth. In response, they sent Algalon the Observer to determine the state of the world. If he found that corruption was widespread he would initiate world re-origination, which would wipe all life away, so they could begin again. Immensely powerful, the party found they could do little to stop him, however, their efforts were surprising; these tiny creatures were willing to throw themselves at death for a chance at life. Algalon began to wonder if others on worlds he had also shared such desire for life, lives that he had extinguished without a thought, and began to doubt his own calculations. He Brann a signal that would avert the re-origination process, which was rushed to the only place with enough power to activate it, Dalaran. There Archmage Rhonin sent the signal, calling off the re-origination process, and saving all life on Azeroth. For now.
