The tales of Frostmourne are many, but they all trace back to the Lich King.
The spirit of Ner’zhul twisted and forged into this being by Kil’jaeden the deceiver,
with the purpose of spreading a plague of undead across azeroth and make way for another
Legion invasion.
The Lich King was granted power of his own, but he also came equiped with otherwordly
artifacts among them was the demon-forged runeblade Frostmourne.
The weapon could consume the souls of its victims, imprisoning their spirits within
the blade.
It could also remake the living into mindless undead servant, yet the spirit of Ner’zhul
did not work willing for Kil’jaeden and he had his own plans and schemes in mind.
By manipulating young prince Arthas Menethil, they lured him to cold lands of Northrend
where the blade Frostmourne was waiting for him.
Arthas was willing to bear any curse if it means the salvation of his people so he picked
up the cursed blade, sacrificed a piece of his soul and by doing so he was granted his
vengeance by slaying the dreadlord mal’ganys but in the end...it cost him everything.
You waste your breath malganys.
I head only the voice of frostmourne now.
You hear the voice of the dark lord. he whispers to you through the blade you wield.
What does he say, young human?
What does the dark lord of the dead tell you now?
*whispers* He tells me that the time for my vengeance
has come.
What?
He can’t possibly mean to – It is finished.
Not only did Mal’ganys survive their encounter, being a dreadlord means he can’t be slain
on azeroth not even by frostmourne, he also did the very thing he tried to prevent.
He became an agent of the Lich King set to destroy his kingdom, murder his own father,
friends, family, former brothers in arms until finally, Arthas made his way to the top of
icecrown where he merged with ner’zhul and became the Lich King.
A few years later, after reflecting on his life, Arthas the Lich King woke up set on
the task of purging all life from the world but heroes of azeroth rose up to the challenge
and brought even the lich king to his knees.
The holy weapon called Ashbringer in the hands of Tirion Fordring was able to shatter Frostmourne,
liberating the souls trapped within and as they held the lich king trapped in the sky,
we smacked the final bit of life out of him...but....there must always be a lich king and bolvar fordragon
stepped up to the place to become the jailor of the damned.
Now go- leave this place and never return!
For years many wondered what happened to the shards of frostmourne and apperantly we forgot
to look within icecrown itself since those shards are going to be used for our new weapons...
“Destiny calls to you, Nobbeltje.”
The Legion has returned, they hope to control us, to be us to their will.
Fools...they only walk back within reach of our blades and the Lich King has no love for
his creators.
He has offered his allegiance to the Knights of the Ebon Blade where in return for our
assistance, he will keep the scourge confined to northrend and offer aid in obtaining weapons
powerful enough to end the legion once and for all.
Acherus and the Ebon Blade have already moved next to icecrown itself and we’re asked
to decide what weapon to go for and to obtain it.
“Ah, Nobbeltje.
So the Lich King chose you to be his hand?
I’m not surprised.
We have all heard of your exploits.
Our forces have gathered from all across Northrend.
When the call to action comes...and it will come soon... the Knights of the Ebon Blade
will be ready.
Make no mistake, we are not bound to this new Lich King.
However, he may prove a valuable ally against the Legion.
For now our goals align with his.
And in the meantime, it is in our best interest that the scourge stay...contained.
The gates of icecrown lie to the north.
Do not keep our ally waiting!”
So that’s how this allegiance between the knights of the ebon blade and the lich kings
works because in the past they had to go through a lot in order to break away from the lich
king’s control and now it’s a situation in which the Lich King is simply a valuable
ally.
You could speculate that there’s more going on, that we only fool ourselves in believing
that we have a free will, but that’s up for speculation.
For now let’s enjoy the cold embrace of icecrown as we go inside to collect the shards
of frostmourne:
“Many of the souls freed by frostmourne’s destruction wander the halls of icecrown,
lashing out in eternal torment.
Destroy them and gather the fragments of the blade, for they will be the heart of your
new weapon.”
After taking down a few of the restless spirits and placing gargoyles on buttons to open the
gate, we find out that 4 important spirits are standing next to the shards:
“Baelgun’s soul was cursed to relive the moment of his death for eternity and will
see you as his enemy.
Destroy him”
Baelgun died during warcraft 3 as he tries to stop Arthas and Anub’arak from reaching
Icecrown Citadel.
I remember you evil prince – get over it already – i wont let you through this door.
We’ve vowed to keep them locked.
We’ll take our chances, dwarf.
“The soul of Halahk was tortured within Frostmourne till he cursed the Light.
Now that he has forsaken it, slay him.
“
Halahk the Deathbringer used to have the title of lifebringer, but being tortured for so
long..he has cursed the light.
His death came during warcraft 3 as he tried to stop arthas from securing his kingdom by
scouring the last remnants of humanity from his lands
Arthas, you wear your father’s crown as if you earned it.
You may kill me, but my brethren will never stop hounding you.
I can’t believe that any of you survived the first purge.
No matter.
After today, your self-righteous order will cease to exist.
“Even when consumed by frostmourne, the soul of magroth refused to give up the light.
Show him the error of his ways.”
Magroth the Defender survived the purge of Lordaeron and joined the last of the human
resistance, but was eventually captured by Illidan and his naga and brought to the ruins
of dalaran.
There he was saved by Malfurion and Maiev and so he helped hem with stopping Illidan
and his plans.
“Our righteous might will always overcome the forces of darkness.
We shall aid you against these unholy beasts.”
Afterwards he joined Halahk’s forces and his fate.
“Once hailed by Arthas as a brother, Gavinrad too was ultimately fed to Frostmourne.
Grant him a final death.”
Gavinrad the Cruel used to be known as the Dire and he was a champion that joined Anduin
Lothar as they had to evacuate stormwind when it fell to the first horde invasion.
Lothar recommended him to become one of the first of the paladins and it was Gavinrad
who gave Arthas his weapon Light’s Vengeance when he was accepted into the Silver Hand.
When the necromancer Kel’thuzad was killed, uther believed that it was wise to make sure
that he would not come back.
Gavinrad was stationed at Andorhal to make sure no one disturbed the remains, but Arthas
under the command of the Lich King had use of Kel’thuzad and came to claim his remains.
“I can’t believe that we ever called you brother!
I knew it was a mistake to accept a spoiled prince into our order!
You’ve made a mockery of the Silver Hand!”
The shards of frostmourne have been collected, time to claim our dominance over the blade:
“Behold, the hilt of Frostmourne.
From its broken form you will create a blade without equal!
Approach and channel your power into it to create your weapon.
It is done.
From the shards of frostmourne the twin blades are born!
Soon, they shall feed upon the souls of my enemies!
I sense powerful spirits remain within the blades.
Enter into the spiritual realm within and purge them of all that resist your domination.”
Take up the blade, Arthas Menethil.
Embrace your destiny!
Yes...you are right...I will bear any curse to have my revenge.
What?
An intruder!You won’t stop me!
Frostmourne will be mine!
Nothing will stand in the way of my vengeance!
How dare you interfere.
His soul belongs to ME!
Feel the icy chill of death around you!
Argh!
The darkness...I can’t ...I ... Roaaaaaaarhghghghgh
Let the darkness consume you!
Feast upon the souls of the damned.”
Inside the blade we find an echo of Ner zhul and Arthas.
Those familiar with the lore know that when Arthas was contemplating the road that lead
him to become the Lich King, in the end he stood up and stabbed not only his younger
self, representing the part that used to be his good side, he also stabbed Ner’zhul
claiming that no one would tell him what to do.
He had everythhing he needed – the power was his and his alone.
Now there is only I. I am the Lich King.
And I am ready.”
With that the Lich King woke up and went about his campaign through Wrath of the Lich King,
but this moment happened in his mind and it’s up for speculation what exactly it means.
I personally believe that it was not a litteral stabbing, like he didn’t completely expel
the spirit of ner’zhul or his younger self, but it was more to show that Arthas was done
with taking orders from anyone and he would be in control.
We also see the spirit of his younger self show up to hand out quests and the Lich King
claims that he used to be a shaman.
Arthas was never a shaman, that was ner’zhul, so I think it was more a claim of dominance,
similar to what we are doing right now.
What I also found a very nice touch and something that I didn’t catch while doing the quest
is that it actually shows Arthas’ path of claiming frostmourne and becoming the Lich
King.
We can see the spirit of Ner’zhul manipulating him, telling him to claim the blade.
At first he still fights with his hammer, but after running away and absorbing the souls
of the damned, he claims frostmourne and embraces the dark path ahead of him.
The battle continues and finishes with the final words we heard at the top of icecrown.
“I see...only darkness...before me.”
Curse you, interloper.
All my plans....ruined!
Is Ner’zhul talking about his plans of merging with Arthas or was he still there all the
way through the lich king’s campaign and is he cursing the interlopers that ruined
his plans at the top of icecrown?
I have no idea, but it’s always fun to speculate, we can all have our own interpetations.
Either way, we have claimed dominance over the spirits inside, time to claim our reward.
Hahaaaa we have the blades cinematic
“You have done well.
Ascent to my throne and receive your charge.
Where the weak showed mercy, you did not hesitate to strike.
Where the unworthy were vanquished, you have conquered.
I now mark you with my sigil, let all recognize you as the enforcer of my will.
As we speak the Ebon Blade is en route to the Broken Isles to hunt for the Dreadlords.
Go, ensure that not a single demon escapes my wrath.
Crush all who stand in your way!
Icebringer and Frostreaper, the blades of the fallen prince are now ours to wield against
the enemy.
With that our adventures into legion can begin while we also have our order hall campaign
to go through, but that’s a tale for another time.
For now thank you very much for watching everyone.
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