WoW: The Return of the Dreadlords in Legion

Like vampires, they gradually suck out their victims’ souls during the battle. With this strategy, the Nathrezim even wore down the noble titan Sargeras in Warcraft, who lost his mind and later founded the Burning Legion. Since then, the fiendish schemers have served as ambassadors in the Legion and are among Kil’jaeden’s favorite officers.

Their unending hatred is the driving force behind the Burning Legion – in WoW and Warcraft in general. Since the dawn of time, the cruel Dreadlords have influenced the fate of the universe. Myriads of worlds fell victim to the demons before the Burning Legion was founded, and their endless thirst for power remains unquenched to this day. The diabolical Nathrezim have long played a minor role in the Legion’s ranks, but after Archimonde’s failure at the Black Gate, they sense an opportunity to regain Sargeras’ favor. Will the Dreadlords gain control of the Burning Legion and trump the Eredarlords?

The Universe and Chaos

The Dreadlords belong to the race of Nathrezim, who are directly descended from the Twisting Nether. It is said that the Dreadlords existed before the world as we know it existed. All we know so far about the origin of the Warcraft universe is that it was a dark, cold place until the arrival of the mysterious Titans. It wasn’t until the Titans that order and light were brought into the mess of worlds that vegetated in the chaos of the universe. It remains an eternal mystery where the Titans originally came from and where they disappeared to after their work was done. But ancient records in Uldum and Ulduar tell of their eternal struggle against vast demonic creatures from the Twisted Nether that threatened their creation and plunged the universe into chaos once again.

Titans vs. Demons: The Eternal Struggle

But what does the chaotic army of demons have to do with the orderly, fanatical Titans? Well, quite a lot, because the story of the Burning Legion and the rise of the Nathrezim begins with the fall of a Titan. The most powerful champion, to be exact. Once upon a time, Sargeras, the universe’s noblest warrior and protector, waged a long battle against the chaos that emerged from the Twisted Nether and shattered the order of the Titans. For millennia, Sargeras took his role as protector very seriously, slaughtering wave after wave of demonic attacks in his quest for conquest. But for every demon killed, two new fiendish creatures emerged from the Twisted Nether. With each successive battle, the shadowy magic and corruption of the Dreadlords gnawed at Sargeras’ spirit and wore him down. Eventually, the master fell into a deep depression.

After a long period of melancholy, Sargeras finally lost his faith in the vision of a good and orderly universe. For millennia he looked through the eyes of the demons into the dark abyss of the lower and realized that in the infinite universe there was only chaos and the mission of the Titans was ultimately doomed to failure. Finally, Sargeras left his brothers and sisters and went his own way. Unfortunately, the Titans let him go, hoping that time would heal Sargeras’ wounds and he would return to them after a period of reflection. But they were sorely mistaken.

The Burning Legion was born
In self-imposed exile, Sargeras became enraged that he had wasted his time on an impossible task – the cleansing of Chaos – and chose a new mission: the destruction of all life and creation in the universe. But the universe was too big for him to achieve his ambitious goal single-handedly.

Moments later, the fallen Titan shattered the prisons on Maardun where he had once imprisoned the demons, uniting his former enemies into a mighty demon army. At first, the imposing Dreadlords led the Burning Legion. But the Nathrezim were chaos personified and incapable of tactically leading Sargeras’ vast army. Therefore, the fallen Titan needed generals, commanders, and officers who could transform the undisciplined demon host into a functioning army and lead it into battle on his behalf. In search of such strong leaders, Sargeras finally found them on the world of Argus.

The magical Eredar were more to Sargeras’ liking as leaders of the Burning Legion. Archimonde is more into conquest and brute force, so he prefers the Annihilan, also known as the Pit Lords. Kil’jaeden, on the other hand, prefers more subtle tactics and prefers to work with the devious Nathrezim. With their help, the Legion infiltrates the society of its victims and wears them down from the inside before the rest of the demon army arrives. Following this scheme, the Legion has already tried to conquer Azeroth twice.

The Nathrezim – dark schemers
Despite being almost immortal, the Nathrezim shy away from direct combat and prefer to stay in the background. In Warcraft 3, the famous Dreadlord quartet ruled over the human kingdoms and watched over the Scourge during the Third War. These four dreadlords stood out in particular:

Tichondrius
Tichondrius was the most powerful dreadlord and undisputed leader of all Nathrezim. His unmatched abilities as a wizard earned Tichondrius a high position in the ranks of the Legion. However, in the Third War, he was forced to take on a minor task under Kil’jaeden’s command, watching over the Scourge. The Eredar Lord distrusted his new servant, the Lich King. The Scourge’s mission was clear: the death knight Arthas was to obtain the reagents for Archimonde’s summoning ritual while conquering the lands on behalf of the Legion. Surprisingly, after completing the tasks, Kil’jaeden appointed Tichondrius, not Arthas, as the new leader of the Scourge. However, the Lich King and the fallen prince had their own plans. At the first opportunity, Arthas sent Tikhondrius to the demon hunter Illidan. Eventually, Stormrage killed the dreadlord in a single battle after absorbing the power of Gul’dan’s skull (this happened in Warcraft 3).

But Tichondrius is far from dead, because the Nathrezim can only be killed in the Twisting Nether. The return of the Burning Legion would be the perfect opportunity for Tikhondrius to get even with Illidan Stormrage and his Illidari. Moreover, after Archimonde’s defeat at the Black Gate, the dreadlord may well take the place of commander-in-chief and lead the Legion’s forces. One thing is for sure, though: Tichondrius will appear in the Legion’s second raid instance: Night Hell as a boss opponent.

Mal’ganis
On Azeroth, the most prominent Nathrezim Mal’ganis lured Arthas down the dark path of the Scourge. At his command, the secret sect known as the Cult of the Damned spread tainted crops throughout Lordaeron, turning peaceful citizens into ravenous zombies in a matter of hours. In search of the plague’s origin, Arthas, the crown prince of Lordaeron, single-handedly burned down the city of Stratholme (Warcraft 3 and Caverns of Time: The Cultivation of Stratholme). For a long time, Mal’ganis deceived the prince until he revealed to Arthas that he was waiting for him in Northrend. There, Mal’ganis’ evil plan was finally fulfilled: the prince fell into the clutches of the cursed Runeblade Frostmourne and became the champion of the Lich King.

Unfortunately, Mal’ganis underestimated Arthas’ ambition and fell victim to his own arrogance. The Lich King betrayed his overseer and sacrificed the dreadlord to Arthas’ wrath. Amazingly, however, Mal’ganis quickly returned to Azeroth. The last time we saw Mal’ganis was in Herdglen Harbor (Dragonmoors, Northrend). Disguised as Admiral Barean Westwind, the Dreadlord led the Scarlet Crusade against the Lich King. When some heroes blew his cover, Mal’ganis fled the battle, promising that he would soon take revenge on Arthas and the heroes.

However, when the Icecrown Citadel was stormed, there was no sign of Mal’ganis. Now, he can no longer bring Arthas to justice, but we – the heroes – are still left. Like Tikhondrius, Mal’ganis would have many reasons to return to Azeroth.

Varimathras

Before Wrath of the Lich King, Varimathras stood at the side of the Dark Lady Sylvanas. After the Legion’s defeat in the Third War, the devious Nathrezim seized the opportunity and settled in the Undercity. There he played the loyal servant of Sylvanas for years. Only after the Battle of the Wrath Gate did he drop his mask and cause much unrest within the Horde (Scenario: The Battle for the Undercity). Only at the last moment did Sylvanas and a few brave heroes manage to stop Varimathras and drive his rebels out of the city.

In WoW: Legion, Sylvanas is expected to play a big role again. Will Varimathras return to the Undercity as an echo of her dark past? Or will he even manage to get the Dark Lady on his side this time?

Balnazzar

For years, Varimathras’ brother Balnazzar disguised himself as the Chief Inquisitor of the Scarlet Crusade and used the Fanatics for his sinister purposes (Dungeon: Stratholme). The Scarlet Knights committed terrible crimes in his name, and even the slightest suspicion did not make them shy away from killing their friends and families. However, his greatest success was the tragedy of the Mograine family. The Dreadlord manipulated Mograine’s son Renault, who killed his own father. This betrayal made the Paladin sword Cinderbringer a tool of evil for a long time. So it’s entirely possible that Paladin players will encounter the Dreadlord again during the legendary quest line for the coveted artifact weapon.

After Warlords of Draenor, the ranks of the Burning Legion have thinned considerably. The invasion of Azeroth offers the Dreadlords the ultimate chance to prove themselves in the eyes of Sargeras, having learned how to lead a Legion from the Eredar Lords over the past millennia.

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