Villainpedia: The Lich King

my son the day you were born the very  forests of lordaeron whispered the name arthas hey everybody and welcome back to the  villainpedia this entry is sort of a part two   to the story of arthas which began with the  heuropedia entry for him so start there first   if you haven't already the full arthas life  story beginning to end won't be covered here   but we will pick up with him from when he picks  up the blade frostmourne so the lich king is   perhaps the greatest character in the history  of the warcraft universe or at the very least   the most recognizable the story of arthas becoming  the lich king is what fueled the craze of warcraft   3 and led the fandom to the moon with the release  of world of warcraft and a build-up to an eventual   confrontation with the fallen prince he really  is the ultimate warcraft villain in my opinion   but the story of the lich king actually does not  begin with arthas so sit back everyone get some   snack get some juice and relax cause i think it's  gonna be a long one and remember to like the video   down below if you like it and subscribe for more  videos that are just like this one damn the men   nothing shall prevent me from having  my revenge old friend not even you   the lich king is not simply evil arthas  far from it it's something much more   mystical and complex and arthas is really  just one piece that makes up the character   but don't worry like i said we will pick up with  arthas where we left him when the time comes   our story starts far from azeroth and lordaeron  with kil'jaeden an ancient eredar demon lord   that stood post as a chief lieutenant of the  burning legion and eventually even its de facto   leader the burning legion is a pretty big topic  but if you're watching this video i'm sure you   know the basic principles of their existence a  force of demons infernals and cast aside races   seeking to undo order in the universe and  add to their numbers with reckless abandon   kil'jaeden's counterpart lieutenant archimonde  was tasked with leading the armies of demons   while kil'jaeden was meant to manipulate certain  races of life-forms into joining their cause   he was given the nickname the deceiver for this  variability before kil'jaeden was a big demon   master dude however he was a friend and close  ally of velet the man who would save his people   from the burning legion and give them a home  on the planet of draenor a name that literally   means exile's refuge kil'jaeden definitely had  some bad blood with his former race of people   and especially velen and while scouting out the  universe for potential warriors for his legion   he stumbled upon the shamanistic orcs that shared  the world of draenor with the now draenei people   the draenei and orcs were very different from  each other making the orcs obviously a natural   point of interest for kil'jaeden to pit against  the draenei kil'jaeden disguised himself as a   sort of spiritual presence and ancestor of the  orcs and went straight for the most respected   of all the orcs that he could observe and that was  a fella who is vital to this story named ner'zhul   he got ner'zhul to believe that the draenei were  plotting something big against the orcs and even   shared dark magical secrets with him in hopes to  weaponize him this deception worked as ner'zhul   began leading his people against the draenei  in raiding parties pillaging and destroying   all that good stuff ner'zhul did all of this under  the misconception of it being his ancestors wishes   but at some point ner'zhul felt like something  was off he was a shaman at heart and he felt the   spirits kind of fall distant from him this led him  to the holy site of oshugun to pray and ask for   guidance the real powers that be not the phony ass  killed jaden appeared and scolded ner'zhul for his   barbarism this was not their will but the will  of a deceiver it was killed jaden's own agenda   that saw ner'zhul as a pawn obviously enraged at  this ner'zhul defied kil'jaeden but was quickly   replaced by his eager power hungry apprentice you  may know this dude gul'dan kil'jaeden never forgot   this act of defiance ner'zhul was stripped of his  powers and forced to watch as gul'dan led the orcs   ruthlessly ner'zhul's life after this was rough  and honestly pretty eventful but just bear with   me for now and let's time skip forward to the  events right after the second war in azeroth so   by now the orcs had been successfully weaponized  by the legion and the dark portal constructed to   link draenor and azeroth meanwhile our boy arthas  is just like a teenager at the time so at the end   of the war the dark portal had been destroyed by  the alliance severing the link between azeroth and   draenor but in the explosion of the portal on the  other side ner'zhul was critically wounded and it   would take months for him to recover so let's  just say at this point our boy is in a pretty   bad place mentally he then went into isolation in  shadow mood valley with his clan until a guy named   taryn gorefiend approached him and asked him to  again lead the horde with gul'dan now deceased   he also wanted ner'zhul to open more portals  for orc conquest teren is a pretty awesome   character actually actually the first ever death  knight period but again a topic for his own video   altogether now at this time ner'zhul was having  many visions of death like his own death and decay   and began painting his face with a white skull  again he's not mentally in a good place but he   also definitely desired to have power again to  lead and to feel the magic of draenor filled his   bones so he agreed to the task and he definitely  succeeded in opening many portals but the amount   of juice required to open so many portals would  literally rip the planet of draenor apart turning   it into what we know as outland ner'zhul fled with  his people before this destruction but there are   also some tellings of this that state ner'zhul  abandoned the horde early and escaped with only   his people but at any rate doesn't really matter  he was able to step through one of these portals   and once inside old ner'zhul was met by an  old acquaintance he probably would rather have   avoided killed jaden yep killed jaden captures  the old shaman and his followers and tasked the   dreadlords with torturing the orc until his body  was completely obliterated leaving only his broken   spirit he then understandably agreed to serve  kil'jaeden as the alternate option would have   been eternal suffering can't really blame me dude  ner'zhul's spirit was then encased into a block   of ice harder than steel and he instantly felt his  consciousness his awareness and his power rapidly   expand he now was no longer the orc ner'zhul  but an entity of much further reach and power   he was the lich king baby along with his  spirit two relics were encased with him the   sword frostmourne that arthas would eventually  scour the land of northrend for and the helm   of domination along with some other armor pieces  apparently these items were crafted by the jailer   and the rune carver in shadow lands but i mean  in warcraft 3 tichondre states that the sword   was crafted by the lich king to harvest souls so i  don't know what modern blizzard's doing man i just   i can't imagine the original  writers watching this all happen   through this new entity of the lich king a  master of death and decay a plan was formed   to weaken the world of azeroth to make it ripe  for the legions taking this block of ice was sent   hurtling through the dark beyond to crash land  in a cold desolate part of the world of azeroth   the perfect staging area for the lich king  to begin his work under cover of ice and snow   and just like that i mean the lich kings arrived  and though we're not quite yet back to arthas and   his path to evil i just think it's really cool  how the burning legion experimented with using   these orcs of draenor to invade azeroth but they  just kind of sucked ass and kept fighting amongst   each other instead of sticking to the plan so  they said okay okay let's just get the coolest   orc torture him and put him into an ice cube  and give him necromancy powers that sound good   and i mean honestly it would end up being an  excellent plan at least in theory but just to   be safe the dreadlords would tag along as sort  of jailers to monitor the lich king's progress   and make sure he didn't try any funny  business of course as ner'zhul was known   to have betrayed kil'jaeden once already so for  the first several years that the lich king lay   trapped in his ice in northrend he experimented  with his necromancy and telepathic abilities   on local wildlife and even the indigenous races  all the while the frozen throne he now inhabited   served as a beacon of death the plague that oozed  from this man's ice cube out into the landscape   slowly began turning all life around into undead  servants of the lich king and as the souls would   begin to pile up the lich king would also engage  with the nerubians in a conflict known as the war   of the spider these dudes were actually immune  to the plague but after killed by his minions   turned to his ranks all the same the lich king  was actually so impressed with these creatures   and their culture that he would begin  to adopt their architecture into his own   and even enlist some high-ranking members of their  society to lead parts of the scourge all the while   the dreadlords watched over the lich king to  make sure everything was going according to plan   and it certainly was with most of northrend under  control it was finally time to turn his attention   to azeroth and fulfill his duty to kill jaden to  weaken the world a little bit and prepare them for   the burning legion's arrival it was then that the  lich king essentially sent out like a mass text   telepathically to all dark souls and shady  characters in azeroth ner'zhul was searching for   servants to help bring this plague to the main  continents of the world and he was lucky enough to   find kel thazad a top wizard of the kirin tor and  a wonderful villain in his own right and thus the   cult of the damned was formed with kel'thuzad  leading mortals that were into the dark arts   it was now finally time to hit up the eastern  kingdoms and spread a little disease by the way of   some infected grain to be packaged and shipped out  to dummy humans but let's be clear here ner'zhul   was not content being a slave to kill jaden in  the legion unsurprisingly and this entire time   had been plotting a way to free himself from this  icy prison and just have a little more freedom to   do things his way the key to ner'zhul's scheme  was a specific soul that he had detected prince   arthas menethil of lordaeron you guessed it  so here we are guys back around to catch up   with arthas a little bit through the events of the  human campaign in warcraft 3 and the story covered   in the heropedia we see the plague spread to  arthas's beloved kingdom and his growing obsession   with ending the scourge threat to protect his  people at all costs i just think it's crazy   how every event encountered by the prince was by  design kel'thuzad and ner'zhul working in tandem   to lead arthas to bloodlust and revenge now that's  evil baby stratholme being the greatest example   really a lose-lose situation for a young impulsive  and easily enraged paladin shoot even kel'thuzad   being slain by arthas was part of the plan as the  necromancer would be coming back even stronger   once arthas fell from grace so the motivations  and types of villainy are just diverse ner'zhul   being deceived by a supremely evil being and then  attempting to get out of the deal he was backed   into making would also be dooming the entirety of  azeroth just a really nice like layer cake of bad   guys man it's just it's so good so it's very clear  at this point that arthas's story was always much   bigger than it seemed in the beginning there are  quite literally cosmic forces at work here and   he unfortunately found himself the perfect tool  for the lich king's little problem poor arthur   this man and yep i think this is the perfect time  to now pick out where we left off with arthas so   when we last saw our dashing young lad he had  just taken up frostbourne kicked mal'ganis's booty   and wandered deep into northrend slowly losing  his mind to the whispers of the sword not the   cheeriest ending to a hero's tale but hey what are  you gonna do out in the northern wastes arthas was   transformed by the lich king into the first of his  death knights he got a sweet new set of armor to   go along with the class change and then he killed  many of his men from lordaeron but did raise some   of his favorites like captain falrick the sirian  and marwyn to serve him in undeath alongside   so this blade frostmourne a weapon crafted by  the lich king why would a spectral being stuck   in some ice need a sword well it was of course  absolutely to lure arthas into his service   as the sword was made to harvest souls and the  first it claimed was that of prince arthas himself   that's how i see things anyway the whispers coming  from frostmart are of course the words of the lich   king and it's super interesting how when arthas  strikes down mal'ganis malganus can't believe it   the dreadlords felt that they had everything  under control and i think this is the first   tip-off that the lich king maybe has some plans  of deceiving the burning legion and using arthas   for his own purposes meanwhile back in lordaeron  the kingdom is completely in the dark about what   has happened all they know for sure is that they  called arthas back home and have heard nothing   in reply so when he makes his return several  months later obviously is a grand welcome home   party for the crown prince and this is one of the  greatest if not the greatest contrasting moments   in all of warcraft lore as the trumpets blair and  the petals fall on arthas he is cloaked in black   concealing his new soul-hungry sword and his evil  intentions the rest i mean it speaks for itself ah my son i knew you no longer need to bear the weight of  your crown i've taken care of everything what is this what are you doing my son succeeding  you father the soul of the young paladin is no   longer inside this body it seems he even turns  a sickly gray and his goldy locks are now silver   this is of course how death knights looked into  the future but i think at the time it was also   meant to be a visual cue that arthas had been  drained of all that made him him he's now simply   a tool of the lich king kind of reminds me of that  spongebob episode where he's sick and he looks   like this it's the same exact thing but killing  his father is purely symbolic he has no interest   in ruling over lordaeron or its citizens he is  now a master of the scourge and shortly after   he turned the hordes of the undead onto the  capital city his former home one particularly   ruthless act of evil happened during the sacking  of lordaeron with his risen death knight homie   thisrion a citizen that happened to cross paths  with them in the chaos was the sirian's own   mother arthas commanded that thessarian kill  her in front of him to prove his loyalty which   he did without hesitation dang dude these guys  are cold though it seems that arthas is no more   he does make a pit stop at the ball near farmstead  area where his beloved horse invincible was buried   and raised him as the famous undead steed that we  all know today so some strings were still attached   to his cold dead heart that's for sure so arthas  had created quite a mess but what to do now well   acting under the lich king's command arthas would  gather up the remaining members of the cult of the   dam if you remember these are the people that  are pretty much down with the scourge and the   lich king in general and revered kel'thuzad  as the leader of the cult prior to his death   speaking about kel'thuzad arthas is instructed to  retrieve the remains of the necromancer that he   himself killed and although he held a hatred for  mal'ganis arthas is annoyed to find himself taking   orders from another dreadlord named tichondrius  this ought to be a great working relationship   with no issues right i am a dreadlord but i am not  your enemy in truth i've come to congratulate you   congratulate me once he begrudgingly obtains  the remains the plan is clear to bring the   necromancer kel'thuzad back to life through a  ritual of necromancy but the remains are so badly   decomposed that a special magical urn must be used  to transport the body and earn being protected by   uther the lightbringer martha's former mentor and  closest friend and i mean man this is a big moment   and this is when the evil deeds for arthas start  to pile up so high you can hardly see your monitor   your father ruled this land for 70 years and  you've ground into dust in a matter of days   very dramatic uther give me the urn and i'll make  sure you die quickly the urn holds your father's   ashes arthas what were you hoping to piss on them  one last time before you left his kingdom to rot   i didn't know what it held nor does it matter  i'll take what i came for one way or another   god man the ruthlessness the villainy it's  magnificent here's where uther the lightbringer   hero of the alliance would finally  fall at the hands of his beloved pupil   i dearly hope that there's a special place in hell  waiting for you arthas we may never know uther i   intend to live forever in addition to uther  arthas killed three other paladins in the quest   to claim kel'thuzad in the urn gavinrad the dyer  ballador the bright and sage of the truth bearer   all men that once admired arthas as their future  king but here's where things get very interesting   kel'thuzad appears as a ghost that only arthas  can hear and warns him of the treachery of the   dreadlords tell him nothing only you can  hear me the dreadlords cannot be trusted   they are the lich king's jailers i will  tell you all when i walk this world again   this is where that layer cake of villainy  is really gonna start getting baked for me   it also kind of reminds me of like cortana and  master chief's head and halo but it's just a super   cool couple of missions here with kel'thuzad  guiding arthas and giving him the inside scoop of   his potential greater purpose amazing stuff after  yeeting his father's ashes aside arthas headed to   quel'thalas with the idea to use the sunwell to  resurrect kel'thuzad from his decaying stinky urn   and this is again where a major event that  would shape the world of azeroth took place   enter sylvanas windrunner a huge power player  across warcraft lore now here in the defense of   the high elf city of silvermoon sylvanas staged an  impressive effort against arthas and the scourge   but as arthas says you cannot delay the  inevitable i salute your bravery elf   but the chase is over then i'll make  my stand here butcher a nara la belori finish it i deserve a clean death after all you've put me through a woman the  last thing i'll give you is the peace of death   no you wouldn't dare by raising her as a banshee arthas had no  clue at the time that he had just created   one of the driving forces that would lead to  his defeat years in the future but it's just   another great example of his cruelty he even  seems to appreciate how hard she fought and   rewards her by denying her death but the goal of  the mission here is to get into silver moon and   doesn't really have anything to do with sylvanas  and everything to do with the sunwell after   finally infiltrating the city and corrupting the  ancient fountain of magic kel'thuzad is reborns   now arise kel'thuzad and  serve the lich king once again i am reborn as promised the lich king has  granted me eternal life i've upheld my end   of the bargain lich are you ready to tell me about  the dreadlords now certainly but not here and from   here kel'thuzad kind of takes the seat of power a  little bit and i think arthas realizes that he is   not so much in control as it seemed when he first  returned to lordaeron their forces here at work   much bigger than he thought so the plague  and lordaeron the citadels in northrend the   slaughtering of the elves it was all just  to prepare for some huge demonic invasion   yes in time you will find that our entire  history has been shaped by the coming conflict   now come we have much work to do after together  clearing out an orc camp that had access to a   portal kel'thuzad uses this portal to communicate  with archimonde lieutenant of the legion and big   boss man for this whole operation it's just so  cool to see arthas be this badass for so long   i definitely get humbled by the scale of  this plan and all these ancient demons   pokemon instructs the two of them to continue  on to the magical city of dalaran to track down   one of medivh's old books this is going to be the  key to finally summoning archimonde into azeroth   and beginning the destruction and again arthas is  realizing like hey wait a second i thought i was   gonna be this eternal overlord of death but i'm  sorry dude you're getting used right now there's   even a scene just before the silver moon siege  of the dreadlords gathering and talking about how   arthas is just the lich king's little death knight  you know just a little pet but they actually do   sense that ner'zhul might be up to something so  kind of interesting lich king's young death knight   has been performing well almost too well begin to  wonder if ner'zhul has ulterior motives for his   new champion the human means nothing in the long  run nezu wouldn't dare undermine our efforts now   our only concern is that this scourge  accomplishes what it was created to do   our command will have all our heads if  we do not keep control of this situation   believe me brother neither the lich king nor his  undead lackeys will jeopardize the legion's return   although the great wiz kids of dalaran put up  the toughest fight arthas had yet encountered   he of course would be the one to strike  down archmage and tonidas and claim the book   with the ritual of summoning archimonde  to follow once the big dog shows up   his lights out for dalaran man in  one of the best cinematics ever but just before archimonde did something that  kind of triggered arthas very well ticondreas   since the lich king is of no further use to  me you dreadlords will now command the scourge   as you wish but kel'thuzad assures arthas  that the lich king has foreseen all of this   and he's gonna take care of anything don't worry  buddy arthas has definitely been the odd man out   in this situation but not for long you may  yet have a part to play in his grand design after this warcraft 3 moves on to the orc and then  the night elf campaigns and then eventually the   frozen throne expansion but just because arthas is  not in our control for a while doesn't mean that   he's not involved as the conflict of the legion  invasion shifted from the eastern kingdoms to   kalimdor the lich king saw an opportunity to sow  chaos arthas was sent to kalimdor with the sole   purpose of undermining the efforts of the burning  legion what better way to deal with someone you   want out of the picture than just getting someone  else to do the deed for you because here comes one   of the lich king's greatest schemes ever enter  illidan stormrage i hate to sound like such a   damn broken record in every video uploaded on this  channel but this is a character who could have his   own multiple hour long videos so i will refrain  from any deep background on him basically he's a   prominent night elf who has a little problem with  a greed for power and definitely has no love for   demons now remember due to his origin ner'zhul  was well aware of various magical artifacts and   relics across both worlds but none more powerful  than the skull of his former apprentice gul'dan   well illidan had been imprisoned for a few  thousand years for being a rascal but now with the   burning legion back and threatening to take over  azeroth for good he is released to be used as a   weapon against the attack the legion has returned  illidan your people have need of you once more   arthas is immediately sent out with the knowledge  of the skull of gul'dan to find and entice illidan   the dreadlord who commands this undead army  is called tichondrius he controls a powerful   warlock artifact called the skull of gul'dan  it is responsible for corrupting these forests   and you wish for me to steal it why let's just say  that i have no love for tichondrius and the lord   i serve would benefit from the legion's downfall  why should i believe anything you say little human   my master sees all demon hunter he knows  that you've sought power your whole life   now it lies within your grasp seize it and your  enemies will be undone so the layer cake continues   to build i mean who the hell do you even trust  at this point you got scourge plotting against   the legion orcs and humans actually working  together holy smokes but the plan with illidan   works amazingly well illidan gets the skull uses  it to transform into a demon man and wields his   new power against the dreadlord leader tichondrius  killing him damn i mean arthas and ner'zhul   just like that got a huge headache taken care  of but it gets even better as the climax of   warcraft 3 reign of chaos was the overconfidence  and rage of archimonde culminating in his downfall   and death when trying to take mount hyjal  without the support of the deceased dreadlord   kill jaden watching all of this occur instructed  ner'zhul to now lead the attack but ner'zhul just   said nah this is something that i just really  love about the lich king ner'zhul he's a complete   puppet master his power of foresight allows him to  remain in complete control and set events in order   that will best benefit himself and the scourge  and again just awesome writing with all of these   moving parts and campaigns weaving in and out of  each other but here is where things take a little   turn for the lich king and not necessarily  for the better kil'jaeden is so furious that   ner'zhul has again likely defied him but this time  instead of just a lowly orc he's an unstoppable   force of disease and death so definitely an  issue for the legion kil'jaeden smartly turns   his attention to illidan in the past you have  been both friend and foe to the burning legion   but by consuming the skull of gul'dan  you sealed our defeat in this world   i come to offer you a second chance to  serve us what would you have me do great one   my creation the lich king has betrayed me he  dared to break the path that binds him to my will   but his spirit still lies trapped  inside the frozen throne of icecrown   destroy it for me and i will grant you your  heart's desire it shall be done great one it   shall be done so just like that we have an amazing  match up kj and illidan versus arthas and ner'zhul   the whole baby and this is where the expansion  to warcraft 3 the frozen throne would continue   the tale as illidan recruited the naga and went  to retrieve yet another ancient powerful artifact   the eye of sargeras arthas and the lich king  were unaware that they were now illidan's target   right when ner'zhul figures the plan out illidan  launches an attack with the eye on northrend   rocking the earth and putting the lich king's  defenses on notice it even seems like illidan   could have succeeded in destroying the frozen  throne and ner'zhul if malfurion hadn't intervened   and stopped his now demonically juiced brother  so so far this new rivalry is pretty lopsided   and shout out to malfurion for saving the world  really quick but in the final campaign of the   game the scourge campaign things don't start  out too well when arthas attempts to reclaim   lordaeron from the lingering leaderless  dreadlords and snuff out any remaining   humans he keeps getting these gnarly migraines  the pain is unbearable what is happening to me   time is running out king arthurs do you need  assistance no the pain is passed but my powers are   diminished something is terribly wrong here the  lich king is losing power and fast a small crack   in the icy tomb the result of ner'zhul actually  pushing frostmourne out from the frozen throne   was made much worse with illidan's attack and  ner'zhul's grip over the undead is quickly   slipping this even causes the fallen sylvanas to  suddenly regain her free will no longer a puppet   of the scourge and although arthas is being  kept very powerful by frostmourne his power   will fade in time as well as arthas scampers off  to northrend to his master the liberated sylvanas   meets and schemes with the dreadlords i mean she  has plenty of reasons to seek revenge of course   and though she does give arthas a scare kel'thuzad  saves the day and he whisks himself away to   northrend to see to the lich king's issue this  isn't over arthas i'll never stop hunting you onward for the scourge slay them in their souls  name who though this is when arthas beats anu   barak remember that war of the spider the lich  king waged well this is their ancient king   now a servant of ner'zhul and by  association close ally of arthas   arthas would soon add another strong  and iconic member to the scourge ranks   the blue dragon safari at least i  still have enough power to do this most impressive but you need to conserve  your energies death knight we have a long   road ahead of us i just want to say i always  love necromancers and necromancy in video games   there's just something so evil about not  just killing something but using it as an   instrument of destruction against its brethren  the entire scourge army is this mass of like   flesh and bone reclaimed one time enemies of  ner'zhul that now follow his every command   it's just an amazing thing thematically so all of  this in northrend is happening at the same time   as a literal undead civil war back in lordaeron  kel'thuzad is keeping watch on the scourge still   under the control of ner'zhul but a huge chunk  of undead have now been freed of the lich king's   power and are united under sylvanas and i can  understand the resentment can a man just die   these days but this rebel faction of undead is  what eventually would be known as the forsaken   the playable race of undead come world of warcraft  the best race in the entire game and universe   while arthas rushed to the aid of his master  he encountered a few wayward dwarves we did   your rotting bastards we've been watching  all along muradin's dwarves impossible   doesn't anyone stay dead anymore these dudes were  allies of murder and bronzebeard who stood with   arthas as he claimed frostmourne murden was killed  in the blast that occurred or so everyone thinks   so yet more people that arthas has  pissed off in the road to damnation   we've made it an uber our forces  are already assembled and waiting greetings king arthurs you've arrived just in time  illidan's naga and blood elf forces have taken up   positions at the base of the glacier already the  blood elves being a part of this always really   interested me the high elves changed their name  to the blood elves as a result of arthas and the   scourge slaying up to 90 percent of the high  elf population 90. now that is brutal arthas   and the lich king are so evil that they have the  burning legion the naga the blood elves sylvanas   and the forsaken the remaining humans orcs  night elves tauren and so on all gunning for   them this is part of why i say the lich king is  the ultimate warcraft villain i don't think you   would be surprised to hear that with the remaining  power the lich king gave arthas none would really   be able to match his vigor and determination in  battle it's time to end the game once and for all we've done it in uber the throne chamber  is open this is the hour of the scourge the final confrontation with illidan is the  stuff of legend and i will let it speak for itself uh now illidan is not dead but he is cast aside and  now nothing stands in arthas's way all of this of   course is leading to the moment that ner'zhul had  planned since he arrived in azeroth and one that   arthas would also welcome with open arms the both  of them finally looking forward to being master   instead of pawn ruling together as one on  the way up to the frozen throne the echoes   of the voices of those arthas betrayed rang  in his mind but nothing would stop him now you lied to your man and betrayed  the mercenaries who fought for you   what's happening to you after some prince completely prison now we are one this moment one of the most powerful beings in  existence was born the might and strength of   arthas fused with the great power and influence  of ner'zhul what a combo now you'd think that   now it would be game over for all of the world  but the lich king then did something surprising   he went into a deep deep sleep during these years  of lying dormant the world attempted to recover as   it seems like the free people of azeroth always  have a laundry list of threats to worry about   but the lich king was not just chilling as  the scourged servants constructed a great   castle around the frozen throne the lich king  dreamed in the inner reaches of his mind the   entities that shared this body struggled for  control among them were arthas the death knight   ner'zhul the orc and a child a child named  matthias laner matthias is representative of   the old arthas the innocence that was lost but a  piece albeit a small piece of his old self still   hanging on in the end the death knight arthas  conquered the both of them slaying the child and   dominating the old orc to gain full control and  power of the lich king i will say though that this   dream portion is not really given to us in game  but some supplemental stuff like a novel and i'm   very aware that some people are not a fan of this  thread i think it's really cool though now this   is the period here where in the real world the  fandom of warcraft and the hype relating to wow   was just insane i mean you had to be there to  truly understand the frozen throne came out   in like 2003 but it wouldn't be until the second  expansion for wow in 2008 that we would get to see   arthas again that's literally like half a decade  of blue balls and hype to return to this storyline   and its announcement included in my opinion  the best cinematic in the history of video   games and i'm not even kidding remember our  line has always ruled with wisdom and strength   and i know you will show restraint  when exercising your great power when it was finally time in game for the wrath  of the lich king a pre-patch event would be the   perfect reintroduction to the character scourge  invasions diseased grains showing up in the   capital cities and the citizens of both factions  being turned into scourge servants to attack and   kill their countrymen i mean this event was  pure madness it was so chaotic that a huge   population of the game whined like humongous  babies to blizzard so unfortunately the game   hasn't gotten anything this cool since but  this is really what the lich king is all   about mass destruction and death so real gamers  of culture appreciated this sort of design choice from a story perspective it's clear that the  lich king has awakened and is employing the   same old ruthlessness on the world now as before  but with many large-scale attacks on huge cities   of innocence the horde and the alliance put  their differences aside in an effort to conquer   northrend and end this threat for good one  thing i honestly sort of struggle with is earth   ner'zhul's end game here i mean of course they  want to continue to add to the scourge ranks   and decimate the living but i just wonder where  personally arthas sees himself at the end of this   and why it's worth the risk to antagonize  literally every living being on the planet but   then again this is still arthas menethil we're  talking about here i think he wants power and   to be like the soul master one thing i think the  lich king is attempting to do here strategically   is lure powerful warriors to northrend with the  intention of stopping him from both factions   but then turn them into death knights under his  service it's not unlike his own path that saw him   turn and i really like how this tactic is employed  and kind of how well it works as we see a couple   prominent lore characters join his cause in death  so if arthas is awake and wants to re-establish   himself in azeroth what better place than his  old stomping grounds in the now plaguelands of   the eastern kingdoms only annoying bit here for  him is that there are some harsh anti-scourge   protesters in the area known as the scarlet  crusade and here is where gameplay-wise things   get a little more interesting this expansion  added the death knight as a playable class   the first hero class in the game i mean  it seems impossible right how could you   be a member of the horde who's trying to  kill arthas and a death knight well when   you make one you start out in the even hold a  decropolis floating above the eastern plaguelands   this is where mounds of corpses of dead heroes of  azeroth are brought and assessed for usefulness   the most deserving are risen as death knights  you begin serving the lich king exterminating the   scarlet crusade and helping it lead the attack on  light's hope chapel with your death knight homies   this is when it's revealed that arthas was only  using these death knights on the suicide mission   to draw out the exiled paladin tyrion 4 drink  damn you just can't trust that arthas can you   the remaining embarrassed death knights are united  under leader darion mograine into the knights of   the eben blade who subsequently take over the  necropolis from the scourge to serve as their   new base of operations very content with joining  the fight against arthas i mean damn arthas you   just made even more enemies dude just like that  but it does succeed in luring out tyrion this is   the paladin that arthas had a hand in exiling when  he defied his oath to the silver hand years prior   at the battle for light's hope chapel darion  mograine tosses tyrion the corrupted ashbringer   which instantly is cleansed in the hands of a man  so holy this terrifies arthas and he retreats back   to northrend but now with tyrion the alliance and  the horde these new death knights sylvanas old   bitter ass it's finally time for arthas to have  a united azeroth arrive at his doorstep and hold   him accountable i just want to make it clear that  there are tons of things that take place during   this expansion related to this story i mean  it's an mmo so there's tons of quests easter   eggs characters to encounter and learn more about  northrend and the lich king from you find a murder   in bronzebeard not dead after all you see the  child who represented arthas's youth tons and tons   of stuff that should be experienced firsthand and  it's still in the game now and quite honestly i   don't think need to be covered in this video but i  just wanted to mention that the evil power of the   lich king is also on full display the scourge is  a massive force with all sorts of shady characters   involved i mean the scale of this expansion is  honestly very impressive it's definitely like   the high point all time in world of warcraft so  back then as the expansion wore on you got to see   glimpses of arthas but he was always the puppet  master behind the scenes as the lich king really   should be patch after patch led the player  base closer and closer to the ice crown citadel   a big climax of the storyline came with the  wrathgate event where the horde and the alliance   and a joint assault were able to make a rather  successful siege on the lich king in dragonblight   this was led by a human named bolvar four dragon  and an orc danosh saurfang just as saurfang was   struck down by arthas grand apothecary putress  a member of the forsaken flooded the canyon with   casks of a new plague that he had concocted  now the terrible vengeance of the forsaken death to the scourge and death to the living this killed alliance horde scourge and even  scared the lich king away but bolvard was   killed and then cooked shortly after by dragonfire  now that's gotta be a guy who's double dead right   or is it the dragonflame actually gave him renewed  life and he was captured by arthas and the scourge   bolvar was tortured endlessly in icecrown citadel  by arthas in an attempt to turn him into a weapon   of the scourge and more on him in a moment  so we've talked about hype and anticipation   a lot in this video and for good reason but the  ultimate peak the high from which wow would always   be descending from afterward was the ice crown  citadel raid opening up to players in patch 3.3   though my soul was one of the first to be  devoured by your evil there are thousands look now to your defenses my son for the  champions of justice gather at your gates let them come frost hungers all these years of arthas being essentially the  face of the franchise the ultimate villain yet   to be conquered the wait was finally over the  raid thematically is amazing it really feels   like this final assault at the end of a long and  depressing and cold conflict the fortress of the   citadel feels cavernous and cold a spire of ice  and bone and frozen flesh and of course in world   of warcraft fashion what better way than to let  the fans the players be the ones to finally strike   down arthas and bring an end to the king's reign  that's mostly the case after defeating many iconic   bosses as you climb to the top of the citadel it's  finally time to come face to face with arthas has   finally shall arrived lay down fast and throw  myself at your mercy for drinking we'll grant   you a swift death office more than can be said  for the thousands you've tortured and slain   you'll learn of that firsthand when my  work is complete you will beg for mercy and   i will deny you your anguished cries  will be testament to my unbridled power so be it champions attack i'll keep you alive to  witness the end ring what a long road it has been   to get to this point man the fight is as epic and  as long as you'd expect it to be i mean blizzard   better nail this at this point right but my  favorite part is when arthas grows bored and   decides to just kill the entire raid like it's  nothing watch now as i raise them from the dead   to become masters of the scourge they will  throw this world in chaos and destruction   as a wrath spawn will come at their hands but here  is the moment that the lich king never saw a cut   grant me one final blessing give me  the strength to shatter these bonds no more lives will be consumed by your hatred  light which arthas was born into and guided by as   a youngster is ultimately what answered tyrion's  call and gave him one final shot at destroying the   cursed blade of frostmourne the blade shatters to  pieces when met with the might of the ashbringer   and the souls of all those arthas had killed  come pouring out holding up the lich king you   and your raid are finally then able to  finish him off and arthas falls for good father is it over at long last no king rules  forever my son i see only darkness before me without its master's command the restless scourge  will become an even greater threat to this world   control must be maintained there must always be so bolvar then makes the ultimate sacrifice   with his life already essentially ended  his body and spirit decimated he agrees   to take on the burden of the helm of  domination and become the new lich king i cannot do it tyrion you and these brave  heroes have your own destinies to fulfill   this last act of service is mine you will not be forgotten  i must be forgotten tyrion   if the world is to live free from the tyranny  of fear they must never know what was done here today tell them only that the lich king is dead and then and never return now holy smokes that has taken  one for the team man so that is really where the   villainy of our lich king ends with arthas falling  into his father's arms no redemption no apologies   though the lich king as an entity lives on  afterward and still even to today that is a story   for another time potentially even several stories  i think arthas and ner'zhul combined to make   one of the most interesting villains i have ever  encountered the one knock i have against the lich   king is that he's kind of hard to sympathize with  but as far as a layered backstory holy cow he's   got a good one and i also just love the fact  that he is made up of champions from draenor   and azeroth respectfully although i have to admit  it's kind of a shame that ner'zhul was left out   of the wrath expansion it seems like blizzard  really just wanted to make this like the arthas   expansion and not confuse anyone who didn't play  warcraft 3 so they kind of pushed our orc buddy   aside but there's just so much to this story that  excites me man the levels of deception between the   legion the scourge the forsaken and all the way  to illidan getting involved and the blood elves   this is truly an epic tale of fantasy  that i feel lucky to have experienced   arthas menethil of lordaeron prince hero  paladin devoted son murderer death knight   traitor villain and lich king what a  story what a character and what a ride   thank you everyone for watching listening to  this video to the end it's greatly appreciated   let me know all your thoughts down below in the  comments on arthas and any other interesting   warcraft heroes or villains that we could cover  here on the channel i know i've gotten several   requests already for illidan there are many  more videos on the way as always so subscribe   if you would like to support the channel into  the future thanks everyone and until next time peace you

Channel: Ghostcharm

Views: 697,891

Keywords: arthas menethil, lich king, wrath of the lich king, lore

Id: EpG-uEBeWCg

Length: 54min 19sec (3259 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 16 2021