Hello everyone!
A little while ago I did a video on the new mage follower, Aethas Sunreaver and I touched
a little bit on the purge of dalaran which lead to somewhat of a discussion in the comments.
I figured what better reason then to actually dive deeper into Aethas’ story and see what
he’s been up too so let’s begin shall we?!
Not much is known about Aethas’ history, where he came from, when exactly he was appointed
as a member of the council of six, which left a lot open for speculation.
Some even went as far as suggesting that Aethas Sunreaver was some form of Kael’thas Sunstrider,
but since we’ve seen Aethas without his helmet on, it seems like that speculation
has been debunked.
What we do know is that Aethas made his first appearance into the story within the comic
Mage.
Dalaran is rebuild after the destruction caused by Archimonde in Warcraft 3 and they lifted
it off into the sky to aid in the war against the Lich King in Northrend.
The blue dragon aspect Malygos had come out of his insanity and realized that mortals
of the world were abusing magic.
He figured that none of them were worthy of this gift so he decided to use the focusing
iris to draw the magic of the world into the nexus so that only those who served him would
have access to it.
The journey to Northrend was not an easy trip as the city found itself under attack by the
blue dragonflight and their leader Rhonin tried to rally their defenses.
Archmage Modera and Archmage Aethas are at the violet citadel trying to maintain control
of the overall counterattack on the beasts, though some of the lesser magi are already
at their limit.
Spells were harder to cast and keep functioning all because of the magic being drained, but
Aethas was confident that they would hold.
Alliance or Horde, magi were, in the end, magi...and this was a struggle for their very
calling...as well as their very lives.
The story then goes deeper into betrayal from within, trying to defend the city from the
blue dragonflight attack until they’re eventually victorious and are able to complete their
journey.
Now dealing with Malygos and the nexus war while also focusing on the Lich King, it was
quite a task and Dalaran had its hands full.
Aethas believed that his people were the solution.
Many times he requested an audience with regent lord Lor’themar, which he deliberately ignored.
Finally Aethas had enough and simply stated a date and time of arrival to discuss the
blood elves rejoining the Kirin Tor in Dalaran.
Lor'themar understood Aethas to be idealistic yet shrewd, and far too young for the position
he had carved for himself in Dalaran.
Then again, most of the elder sin'dorei magi were dead.
In the end, Lor'themar supposed that Aethas's ambition were a good thing.
At least someone among them still had hope.
Aethas explained his intentions, that the magi of Quel’Thalas and Dalaran should work
again side by side as they done for many years in the past, yet grand magister Rommath thought
that this was a very bad idea.
Aethas shook his head.
"The blue flight's power and menace are far greater than even we first thought.
I want to formalize our involvement with the Kirin Tor.
It is imperative that the magi of Quel'Thalas and Dalaran again work side by side, as we
had for many years in the past."
"You are blind," Rommath replied.
"They bit off more than they can chew, and now they find themselves facing both Malygos
and Arthas.
They are afraid, as they should be.
They need aid beyond their own capacity—and to whom have they always turned regarding
matters of the arcane?
Oh, yes, to us.
The members of the Kirin Tor will swear up and down that you are indispensable to them,
that your skills are invaluable.
The moment you become inconvenient, you will be discarded."
He cocked his head to the side, one long ear twitching almost imperceptibly as his eyes
slid first to Halduron, then to Lor'themar.
"Ask them.
They know.
But not as well as I."
Aethas stared blankly back at Rommath.
"Quel'Thalas and the Kirin Tor have been allied for over two thousand years," he said.
"Since we joined formally with the Horde, things have been strained, but—‘
Rommath laughed again, loudly this time.
"Since we joined the Horde," he repeated.
"Of course.
That's somewhat awkward, I imagine.
And do you, Archmage Sunreaver, remember exactly why we sought to join the Horde?"
Aethas did not answer, but he looked Rommath straight in the eye, unflinching.
"A monumental betrayal," Rommath said, his voice nearly a whisper.
His eyes glittered with seething anger that nearly a decade had failed to quell.
"In Dalaran," he continued, "beneath the ever-watchful eyes of the Kirin Tor."
Rommath had not forgotten what had happened to their prince Kael’thas Sunstrider.
He followed orders from Garithos, impossible orders, which forced him to team up with the
naga and eventually landed him in the prisons of Dalaran.
The kirin tor left them to rot in their prisons beneath
the city which many of them called home as much as they did Silvermoon.
A city within whose walls they would have watched, in silence, as they all swung from
a hangman’s noose.
Of course this fate was prevented by lady Vasjh and the Naga, while Aethas now tries
to convince them that the Kirin Tor is under a new leadership.
"That is a lie, and you know it," Rommath said.
"Rhonin may be their figurehead, but Modera and Ansirem remain on the council.
These are the same people who happily turned their eyes away when Garithos sentenced us
to death.
They can all rot in hell, or better yet, in Arthas's army as Scourge," he scoffed.
The issue was put to the side for the moment, Lor’themar needed some time to deal with
other issues until Sylvanas Windrunner showed up in their city.
Arthas the Lich King had made his move on the world, dared to attack the heart of the
Horde in orgrimmar and it was time to take the battle to Northrend.
The banshee queen ordered Lor’themar to aid them or she would pull her forces out
of Quel’thelas and leave the blood elves to fight for themselves.
Lor’themar could not believe that she was making this ultimatum.
They had just dealt with a civil war, some of their soldiers were still in the infirmaries
of Quel’Danas, they hadn’t even had the time to hold a proper service for the dead,
but Sylvanas had made up her mind.
They would either send their exhausted people to find more death in Northrend, or risk losing
Quel’Thalas to the Sourge once again.
There was no choice here for Lor’themar so he did as he was told and Aethas’ requested
was granted.
Seeing how the sin’dorei forces would be moving north anyways, Lor’themar expected
a lot of them to show up in Dalaran.
He told Aethas to find Rommath who would be of great use to him and do what he could to
aid their people.
I suppose you should be pleased, Archmage."
Lor’themar said, but Aethas shook his head.
"It is true I wished to acquire your support in Northrend, Regent Lord.
But not on these terms.
Believe me when I say I would rather have seen you agree of your own free will, not
because of—" "My free will remains intact, thank you,"
Lor'themar interrupted him again, smarting from the sting in Aethas's words.
"And it is still by my will that Quel'Thalas is ruled."
"Of course, my lord," Aethas answered, bowing slightly in conciliation.
But as he raised his head, Lor'themar could see that the apology did not extend to his
eyes.
Seething, Lor'themar turned on his heel and left him there, standing alone beneath leaden
banners of red and gold.
Lor’themar knew full well that he had lied to Aethas, his will was not his own, not while
they were still reliant on Sylvanas and the forsaken to hold their claim of the land.
Nontheless, the Sunreavers and the Horde rejoined the Kirin Tor and together they took on Malygos,
Arthas, and any other threat that Northrend had to offer.
In the end, Aethas’ plans of seeing his people back into the Kirin Tor were a massive
success, yet not everyone was happy to see the blood elves join them.
The opposite organization of the sunreavers called the Silver Covenant was lead and formed
by Vereesa Windrunner.
She had bad dealings in the past with blood elves, not to mention that the high elves
who refused to suck magic from living things like vampires were kicked out of their city.
She did her best to work against the admission of blood elves into the kirin tor, but as
we know, she failed.
The winds of change came to Azeroth as Garrosh Hellscream was appointed warchief of the horde
and pushed forward with his plans of conquering the world.
They managed to steal the focusing iris from the blue dragonflight, a powerful magical
device which they had their blood elves use to fuel a massive mana bomb.
The horde was summoned by their warchief to march upon Theramore with their first stop
being Northwatch Hold.
Garrosh was smart, he held his troops back which gave Jaina the time to call in reinforcements
for the defense of Theramore.
The Alliance, the blue dragon Kalecgos in search of the focusing Iris and even the Kirin
Tor decided to lend their aid.
Jaina made her case to the council of six which at the time consisted of Modera, Rhonin,
Ansirem Runeweaver, Karlain, Khadgar and Aethas Sunreaver.
“For all your years of diplomatic service, Jaina Proudmoore, Said aethas in a silky voice,
‘you know little of the Horde if you think they will stop when they see victory.”
Perhaps they will stop if they see magi from the kirin tor.
Please, there are families in theramore.
I will defend them with my life, as will soldiers quartered there.
But we might not be enough.
And if theramore falls, so well might Kalimdor.
Nothing would then stop the horde from attacking ashenvale or teldrassil, and driving the night
elves out of their ancient lands.
Garrosh wishes the entire continent – and, with respect, that cannot possibly be what
the kirin tor wishes as a whole.
Not if it truly believes in neutrality.
I am counting on your wisdom to see that this is not asking you to take sides.
This is asking you to save innocent lives – and keep a balance that is already too
tentative.
The council took their time to vote until Rhonin told Jaina that while the kirin tor
feels very strongly that they should remain impartial, her plea moved them to action.
Even Aethas Sunreaver voted in favor of rendering aid.
It seems that to not assist her against such tremendous opposition would be tacitly support
the Horde.
At least, that’s the logic he used.
The kirin tor’s roll was to protect and not make any offensive moves in the hope that
their presence would serve as a deterrent and make the horde reconsider.
With Rhonin came help, prominent members of the kirin tor, council members and to Jaina’s
surprise, Thalen Songweaver, a sunreaver, slender sharp featured and with hair the color
of moonlight.
I thank you from my heart for answering my call for aid.
Mage Songweaver, I especially thank you for being here.
The choice must have been difficult, for you and Archmage Aethas.
Not as much as you would think, said Songweaver in a husky, pleasant voice.
It was my lord Aethas who cast the deciding vote.
Theramore’s troops were ready to defend against the Horde assault, but as Jaina and
their forces worked on magicaly reinforcing the gates, she noticed something strange.
The gates were shuddering under the pounding and they shouldn’t have been.
Not with a member of the Kirin Tor shoring them up with powerful magics.
The timbers were bulging from the impact and the hinges and metal bands – they were curling
in on themselves.
Jaina whirled and, with all her might, sent a massive blast of arcane energy directly
at Thalen Songweaver.
The blood elf turned out to be a traitor, working against the defense of Theramore and
they decided to place him in prison for the time being.
I can’t believe it, rhonin muttered.
I personally vouched for him to come.
I am certain he fooled many others than you, Jaina said.
Indeed, Rhonin said bitterly.
This will be a blow to Aethas and his cause.
Do you think Thalen acted alone?
I do Rhonin said.
Because if I don’t – The gate splintered, caught fire, and the Horde rushed through.
In the end, despite being betrayed from within, Theramore was able to repel the attack and
send the Horde on the retreat.
Jaina thought that they had done it, that they were safe, but she was very wrong.
The
mana bomb was dropped on the city, Rhonin sacrificed himself by drawing the bomb on
to himself and into their magical defenses to minimize the explosion while pushing Jaina
through a portal.
Horde forces had already infiltrated the city to set Thalen free and many of the Horde cheered
on their warchief for his deeds, for his absolute victory with the use of a mana bomb.
The mana bomb, so thoughtfully provided by the blood elves – who stood cheering with
other Horde members who somehow felt that what Garrosh had wrought was a good thing
– had exploded over an entire city and had not just harmed its citizens and buildings
but crushed them utterly.
Tears ran down Baine’s muzzle, and he made no effort to wipe them away.
He stood surrounded by throngs of cheering Horde, but as he looked around, he saw, illuminated
by the ghostly arcane glow, faces that wore his own expression of shock and revulsion.
What had happened to the warchief who had once said, Honor...no matter how dire the
battle, never forsake it?
That warchief seems to be gone as Garrosh had no problem with using what ever methods
he saw fit.
Jaina eventually returned to see the devastation of Theramore, reclaimed the focusing iris
and planned to use its power to create a massive tidal wave to flood all of Orgrimmar.
Men, women and
children none would be spared her wrath, but thankfully Thrall and Kalecgos were able to
change her mind and instead she used the tidal wave to fight back against Garrosh’s forces,
including the kraken that they had summoned from the deep.
Garrosh and the Horde had lost this battle, but the war was far from over.
The warchief figured that next time they would simply have to go harder, think even bigger,
while Varian and the alliance repaired their fleet.
Jaina, together with Kalec, made their way to Dalaran to return the focusin iris which
kalec decided to donate to the Kirin Tor.
Lady Proudmoore humbly requests permission to become a novice member of the Kirin Tor,
but a prophecy written by the red dragon Korialstraz it tells them that she should not become just
a novice member, she should become their leader.
But – to choose me just based on this, Jaina said.
Not just on this.
You’ve always been strong, my lady.
In your power, and in your character, said Aethas Sunreaver unexpectedly.
Even when tested and tried.
And when you faced both an unimaginable horror and an inconceivable temptation – and were
perhaps yourself tainted by the effects of the mana bomb – you still chose a path that
was fair and just, rather than vengeful and dark.
It is, you must admit, unlikely that anything else will ever tempt you so again.
And I do not think there stands among us anyone who, were he or she in your place, could have
done better.
Indeed...we might not have done even half so well.
Jaina decided to accept the position, to lead the Kirin Tor, but she continued to believe,
as many of them did, that this world cannot be safe with Garrosh Hellscream as the leader
of the Horde.
She would be right as during Mists of Pandaria both the alliance and horde found their way
to the land of Pandaria and Garrosh went around searching for more power to add to the Horde’s
arsenal.
However we’ll save the events of pandaria and beyond for next week
as we will finish up the storyline and I’ll also reply to some of the comments that I’ve
received.
That will be for next week though so for now thank you very much for watching everyone!
Subscribe if you like my videos, leave a like if you enjoyed this one aaaand until next
time guys....see ya!