Selfish, mercurial, brilliant, resentful and tormented by himself, Illidan Stormrage helped make Azeroth everything it is today. All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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Illidan's plan was to obtain the Demon Soul , an artifact of great power created by Deathwing also known as Neltharion the Earth-Warder , which had the ability to close the portal which was allowing the demons to enter Kalimdor. However, to put this plan in action, Illidan had to gain more power. Illidan was eventually brought before Sargeras himself, who quickly discovered the night elf's plan to obtain the Demon Soul for the Legion. Sargeras was pleased with this plan and gave Illidan a "gift" in return for his allegiance.
Illidan's eyes were burned out by Sargeras himself, despite still being beyond the portal and orbs of mystic fire set in their place that allowed Illidan to see all forms of magic and arcane tattoos covered his body.
Azshara was fascinated by the "new" Illidan who was wary of her advances , but remained cautious, sending Captain Varo'then to accompany Illidan in his search for the Demon Soul. After the Great Sundering , Illidan, who had filled seven vials with water from the Well of Eternity , scaled the peaks of Mount Hyjal , where he found a small, tranquil lake.
There, he poured the contents of three of the vials into the waters. The chaotic energies quickly manifested, tainting the lake and twisting it into a new Well of Eternity. Illidan's joy was short-lived, however, when his brother, Malfurion, Tyrande and the rest of the kaldorei leadership discovered him- and all were horrified at what he'd done. Unable to accept that his brother had committed such treachery, Malfurion tried again to explain to Illidan the folly of his ways.
The magic, he insisted, was chaotic by nature and it could only bring about destruction so long as it existed. Illidan refused to listen, so enraptured by the magic's power that his brother seemed to him an unknowing fool.
Illidan claimed that magic would be needed should the Burning Legion ever return. The lack of remorse shook Malfurion to his core and he raged at his brother, understanding now that Illidan was lost forever to the magic's sway. He ordered him imprisoned deep below Hyjal in a jail kept far from sight and mind.
Illidan languished for 10, years in a lightless prison. Califax , a Keeper of the Grove and a contingent of night elves including Maiev Shadowsong kept constant guard over the Betrayer.
Release came at the unexpected hands of Tyrande, who slaughtered the night elf guards in the hopes of using Illidan against the Legion, which had returned to Azeroth at the hands of the Scourge. With his love for Tyrande undampened through the millennia of confinement, Illidan agreed to help. He swore to throw back the Legion and to depart from the night elves forever.
Malfurion opposed Tyrande's decision, thinking the release of Illidan a catastrophic mistake. Frustrated that his brother remained unchanged and eager to prove to him that the demons had no hold over him, Illidan left Malfurion behind, leading a force of night elves into Felwood to hunt down the Legion.
While in Felwood, he encountered Arthas , champion of the Lich King , and they engaged in combat. The fighters were equally matched and the combatants reached an impasse. Illidan stopped the duel and demanded to know why Arthas had tracked him. Arthas responded openly, telling Illidan about the Skull of Gul'dan , the demonic artifact that had corrupted Felwood. He explained that if the artifact were destroyed, the corruption of the forests would halt.
To ensure that Illidan would take the bait, Arthas spared no detail of the Skull's power, adding that his master knew of Illidan's thirst for power. Although Illidan did not trust Arthas, he nevertheless sought the Skull and its power out. A great Demon Gate defended the Skull as Illidan and his forces had to fight mightily to gain access to the artifact.
Driven by necessity and influenced by the belief that with the increased power, he could at last redeem himself in the eyes of Tyrande, he shattered the demonic seal and used the Skull's powers for his own. Strength he found, but peril greater than power came to him at once.
The battle for control of the Skull came with a heavy price and the artifact's powers changed him. Transformed into a demon, Illidan wrapped himself in shadow and utterly destroyed Tichondrius and his demonic forces.
But with victory came devastation. Tyrande and Malfurion sensed the demonic power lurking within Illidan and turned away with disgust and despair.
Malfurion chastised his brother, convinced that Illidan had traded his soul for more power. Enraged, Malfurion banished his brother from the forests. Feeling his sacrifice and effort were unappreciated, Illidan muttered "So be it After the Legion's defeat, Illidan was visited by Kil'jaeden , who, while noting Illidan's track record with the Legion, offered him one final chance to serve them. He told Illidan to seek out the Frozen Throne and destroy it.
Ner'zhul had grown far too powerful for Kil'jaeden to control and Illidan was to remove him from the equation in exchange for more power and magic than he could dream of.
Kil'jaeden granted him the Orb of Kil'jaeden to aid him in this task. By harnessing Gul'dan's enchanted skull, Illidan came to possess the warlock's memories and a plan came to mind, but he would need allies to help him. He decided to enlist the aid of some old friends. Illidan called the naga to the surface. The naga, formerly the quel'dorei servitors of Azshara , were eager to take vengeance upon the night elves and the other land-walking races that had been spared from The Great Sundering.
Azshara sent her handmaiden, Lady Vashj , to establish contact; [12] the naga, respecting Illidan's magical talent, accepted the alliance [1] and Vashj eventually came to lead those who would be known as " Illidan's Naga ".
But Illidan still had the troublesome warden, Maiev Shadowsong , to deal with, as she had persistently chased him all over Kalimdor. Illidan then allied with a group of satyrs , known as Illidan's Servitors. Maiev killed the furbolgs and defeated his forces, but when she came to the port, Illidan hijacked a boat and set sail, while a cadre of naga stayed behind to scuttle the ships and ruin all hopes of following him.
With the naga swimming in his wake, Illidan came ashore on the Broken Isles — the ruined remains of Suramar ironically, the same city where Illidan grew up which Gul'dan and his warlocks had razed twenty years before and the home of the Tomb of Sargeras. Despite their best efforts, Illidan's servants had not been successful in destroying the boats. Maiev and the Watchers arrived on the Broken Isles shortly after Illidan and the two forces battled across the watery terrain.
Illidan reached the tomb and Maiev was quick to follow. With Gul'dan's knowledge, Illidan quickly traversed the Tomb and came to the chamber which contained the Eye of Sargeras.
Maiev came upon him as he and Vashj were activating the powerful artifact and, as vengeance for her imprisoning him for 10, years, Illidan used the Eye to bring the Tomb down around her and then quickly escaped through the underwater passages used by the naga.
Though he killed Naisha and all the other Watchers within the Tomb, Maiev escaped with her magical abilities. On the surface, Illidan and Maiev battled for supremacy as the Warden sent out a runner to gather reinforcements from Ashenvale.
Illidan, after receiving the Orb of Kil'jaeden. Malfurion and Tyrande arrived on the Broken Isles with reinforcements as Maiev's base was being overrun. When they struck back , Illidan's forces crumbled, but he and his retainers fled before they were seriously harmed. Tyrande pursued them out of the base and Illidan ensnared her to protect himself, warning her not to interfere.
He fled across the sea once again. During this battle, Tyrande finally revealed why she had spurned Illidan: too drunk with his rising magical and political power, he had forgotten his own inner strength.
Malfurion, despite his increases in power, held on to that strength within him. Armed with this knowledge, Illidan finally came to grips with his feelings. Illidan landed on the shore of Lordaeron and quickly made his way through Silverpine Forest to get to Dalaran , where Illidan began to use the Eye of Sargeras to break apart the polar ice cap and destroy Icecrown and the Frozen Throne.
But he was interrupted by Maiev and Malfurion, and the spell failed. Malfurion had felt Illidan's spell tearing the land apart and concluded that he was a danger to the world and had to be stopped. Illidan, who was entangled by his brother, called Malfurion a fool as he was destroying the Lich King , their common enemy. Malfurion was furious at him for causing the loss of Tyrande, who had been, according to Maiev, killed.
Illidan was heartbroken that the woman he loved was dead, but Prince Kael'thas , the night elves' newest ally, thought that perhaps it was premature to presume her dead. Kael'thas explained that Tyrande had not been "torn apart" by the undead, as Maiev had told Malfurion, but had instead fallen into a river and been swept away by the currents.
Malfurion immediately arrested the Warden and promptly went in search of Tyrande. Illidan begged to be allowed to help his brother track down the beloved priestess.
Illidan and his personal guard of naga found Tyrande under heavy attack from a massive undead force. Illidan and his naga battled their way through the undead until they reached her. Tyrande was taken aback by Illidan's service to her, and when he delivered her safely to Malfurion, she was astonished. Illidan assured Tyrande that even if he became a monster, he would always look out for her. Malfurion told Illidan he was free to go on the condition that he never threaten the night elves again.
Illidan, wishing for an end to the conflict with his brother, agreed. After Malfurion let him go, Illidan created a portal to Outland and fled immediately, pursued by Maiev. Now that he had failed to destroy Ner'zhul, he knew that Kil'jaeden's wrath would not spare him, so he wanted to find a world where he could remain free from Kil'jaeden. He felt that Outland, the ruined remains of Draenor, was just such a place.
Illidan was chased down on the shattered world until he was captured by Maiev and the Watchers, and imprisoned once again. But he was saved by Kael and Vashj. Illidan accepted the allegiance of the blood elves, and made Kael his second-in-command. The Sin'dorei, coupled with the naga, would be very invaluable to his plans. Illidan continued his original plan - to rid Outland of demonic influence so that he could stay out of Kil'jaeden's grasp. To do this, they laid siege to the Black Temple of Magtheridon , the Pit Lord who had taken control of the world.
But first, Illidan systematically shut down his dimensional gates to stem the flow of reinforcements. Eventually, they succeeded. When they came to the Black Temple , Illidan was approached by Akama of the Broken , who pledged the allegiance of his race. Akama's broken felt indebted to Illidan and his army for aiding them in their fight against the fel orcs of Magtheridon, who had laid siege to their village with the intent of slaughtering them all.
They laid siege to the Black Temple and destroyed Magtheridon's defenses, and then defeated the Pit Lord in battle himself. Magtheridon noted wryly that Illidan had great power, and asked if the Legion had sent him as a test. Illidan laughed, saying that he was not a test, but a replacement, and imprisoned Magtheridon beneath Hellfire Citadel and kept sealed in place by the fel orc jailor Keli'dan the Breaker.
As Illidan rallied the forces of Outland under a new banner, a storm of fire and smoke descended upon the Black Temple, and Kil'jaeden appeared in all his unholy glory.
Chastising Illidan for his foolhardy attempts to flee his wrath, Illidan quickly claimed that he had been gathering his forces for a second attack on the Frozen Throne. Kil'jaeden, seeing that Illidan's new comrades "showed some promise", agreed to give Illidan one more chance to appease the demons. Illidan, Vashj, and Kael laid siege to Northrend and battled Anub'arak 's forces as they trudged through the snow towards the Icecrown glacier.
But Ner'zhul, knowing he would be overrun if he didn't do something, called Arthas to Northrend to complete the plan he had set in motion so many months before. Finally, Illidan's forces arrived at Icecrown as Arthas and Anub'arak dug their way out of Azjol-Nerub , and the two factions squared off in a titanic battle as they tried to gain control of the four mystical obelisks surrounding the glacier.
After a long battle, and control going back and forth between the two enemies, Arthas activated all obelisks, and the doors to the Frozen Throne were opened. But Illidan was not finished yet. Meeting Arthas at the glacier's base, the two warriors engaged in single combat. After a few minutes of exchanging blows, however, Arthas overcame Illidan's defenses and cut him down. Illidan Stormrage was badly wounded, but not killed. After it became clear for Vashj and Kael that they could not destroy the Frozen Throne, they retreated, eventually back to Outland, taking Illidan with them.
Note that the in-game animation between Illidan and Arthas was originally planned to be a video cinematic. Time constraints, however, forced the scene to be done inside the game. The developers have said that their greatest regret about this change is that many assumed Illidan died, when the video would have revealed that Illidan survived to watch Arthas's transformation. This section concerns content exclusive to The Burning Crusade.
According to the manual included with the Burning Crusade expansion, Illidan knows that Kil'jaeden has not forgotten his failure to destroy the Frozen Throne. It says that he anticipates an offensive from the Legion and is "preparing accordingly. It says that he and his allies fight to ensure that all portals to Outland remain tightly sealed while he strengthens his power base.
It also implies that the Horde and Alliance will want to use those portals because of Outland's strategic importance. At the beginning of the group quest [70] Battle of the Crimson Watch , Illidan shouts out to the players:.
Waves of demons and blood elves attack the party, and the players must defeat the waves, finally battling Torloth the Magnificent. After Torloth falls, Illidan shouts out to the player who landed the killing blow, challenging him to come to the Black Temple and take him on:. This suggests Illidan losing his mind over his defeat at Arthas' hand, not believing it himself; on the other hand, Illidan did technically survive the encounter, and if "defeat" for Illidan is defined as death, then Arthas did not actually defeat him.
Such nuances of logic are common with Illidan, often employed when defending his actions to others. The final quest of the long grind to reach Exalted with the Netherwing is called Lord Illidan Stormrage — it involves speaking with a projection of Illidan himself. Overlord Mor'ghor , leader of the Dragonmaw's nether drake project, presents the player as the new Highlord of the Dragonmaw, but Illidan sees through the illusion and orders the Overlord to kill the player.
Yarzill the Merc , a nether dragon disguised as a goblin, helps the player escape to the Lower City of Shattrath where they will receive one of six Netherwing Drakes as their new mount. Adventurers of both the Alliance and Horde were assigned to penetrate the Black Temple and eliminate Illidan. The War of the Ancients Ravencrest organized the night elves into an army to fight the invading demons.
When the highest-ranking member of the Moon Guard, Latosius, was slain in combat, Illidan jumped at the opportunity. He took charge of the surviving sorcerers and directed their combined power to noticeable effect, killing many of the Legion's minions. Even so, the war looked increasingly hopeless as further reinforcements arrived from the Twisting Nether. At a critical point in the war, Malfurion disobeyed Ravencrest's orders and left the night elf army.
He had embarked upon a perilous journey: he planned to seek out the dragonflights and appeal to them for help. Impulsively Illidan confronted Tyrande and told her he could no longer remain silent. He confessed his love for her and said that Malfurion had clearly gone mad in his pursuit of druidism. Worrying about Malfurion, Tyrande rebuked Illidan, who saw that he had spoken too late. She had already chosen her intended, and it was not Illidan.
Once again Malfurion had effortlessly achieved a goal that Illidan could not. This time Malfurion's victory was particularly bitter, for Malfurion had yet to recognize his own love for Tyrande.
The pain of Illidan's unrequited feelings haunted him, and he found himself dwelling on dark thoughts. He had no way of knowing that he was being influenced by Lord Xavius, a satyr with the power to spread corruption. At last Illidan, too, left the night elf army, but he embarked on quite a different mission.
He sought out Sargeras, creator of the Burning Legion. Illidan swore allegiance to the dark titan, who granted Illidan great power in return.
Sargeras burned Illidan's eyes to ash and endowed the scorched eye sockets with magically enhanced sight. As further reward, Sargeras marked much of Illidan's body with an intricate pattern of tattoos that filled the night elf with powerful arcane energy. For this apparent shift of loyalties, Illidan would later come to be called the Betrayer. Yet although he did aid the Burning Legion to some extent, he ultimately sided with Malfurion and the other night elves.
He and Malfurion closed the portal that the Highborne living in the royal palace had opened in the Well of Eternity, thus preventing Sargeras himself from entering Azeroth, an outcome that would have spelled doom for the world.
Not long before the portal was closed, a group of Highborne rebelled against the Legion and, led by Dath'Remar Sunstrider, rejoined the main night elf army. A Darkening Path The planet of Azeroth was saved, but the Well's magics had been too badly abused, and so the Well imploded, shattering ancient Kalimdor into several landmasses.
A new ocean was born, and the night elf defenders fled before its rushing waves. Reaching Mount Hyjal, the night elves were finally able to rest: the ocean waters had reached their limit. Just before the Well imploded, Illidan had filled several vials of its powerful waters. He was certain that despite the night elves' victory, the Legion would one day return. Despite the grueling war that had just ended, he believed that arcane magic alone could save the night elves from a second invasion.
Thus, he sought out a secluded lake atop Mount Hyjal and poured three of the vials into its waters, irreversibly changing the lake into a second Well of Eternity. A small group of night elves, including a few of the repentant Highborne, discovered what Illidan had done, and most reacted in horror. Illidan suspected the Highborne would try to usurp the Well's powers, as they had done with the first Well, and so he attacked the group.
Malfurion arrived a few moments later and helped capture his twin. As Illidan's brother and a respected hero of the recent war, Malfurion was permitted to determine his brother's fate. Taken aback by Illidan's power, Malfurion decided that Illidan was too dangerous to be left free. Even so, Malfurion could not condemn his brother to death. Instead, he sentenced Illidan to a fate arguably far worse: Illidan was to be imprisoned for the rest of his immortal life. As a consequence of Malfurion's so-called mercy, Illidan spent the next ten thousand years in isolation, trapped in a prison far beneath the earth and guarded by the Watchers.
Tyrande, the head of the night elf government, awoke Malfurion from hibernation, and together they ventured underground to awaken the rest of the druids. In the process, Tyrande happened upon the entrance to Illidan's prison, and she decided that he would make a strong ally. Although Malfurion tried to stop her, she led her Sentinels into the prison. The Watchers would not surrender their prisoner without a fight, and so Tyrande and her soldiers slew the guards who barred the way to Illidan's cell.
She told Illidan that his people needed him to help fight the Burning Legion again. Illidan consented to join the fight against the Legion. However, his long and unjustified imprisonment had left him bitter. He told Tyrande that he agreed not out of any lingering loyalty toward their people, but for her sake alone. Free at last, he followed Tyrande upward into the corrupted forests of Felwood.
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