We take a look at one of the most important characters in World of Warcraft: The Dark Lady, Lady Sylvanas Windrunner. What is her story?
World of Warcraft features many characters with extensive backstories. These figures often have a significant impact on the course of the story. However, not all lore information can be found in the game or is presented there in an appealing manner. This is particularly frustrating for well-known characters.
As we find ourselves in the final stages of the “Shadowlands” expansion, which places a strong focus on Sylvanas Windrunner (originally “Windrunner”), we have updated this article. The story now goes up to the start of WoW Patch 9.2: Eternity’s End.
The Ranger General of Silvermoon
Sylvanas Windrunner was part of a respected family of High Elves. Besides her two well-known sisters Alleria and Vereesa, she has at least two more brothers named Lirath and Sylvos.
After Sylvanas joined the Rangers, an “elite unit” of Quel’thalas, she quickly rose through their ranks and became the Ranger General of Silvermoon, thus the military leader of a large part of the High Elf forces.
Only her defense against the Orcs and their dragons (during Warcraft II) is truly noteworthy – a battle ultimately won by the Elves.
“I have my own reasons for revenge” – The Invasion of the Scourge
For a few years, peace reigned in Quel’thalas, and apart from minor skirmishes with forest trolls or murlocs, the woods were safe. Yet, this would soon change. During the Third War (Warcraft III), Arthas, then still a Death Knight and servant of the Lich King, reached the elven lands of Quel’thalas with his Scourge army of undead.
After the first towns fell to the Scourge, Sylvanas and her Rangers intervened. However, the relentless and numerous enemies forced the Elves to retreat further and further. Although Sylvanas withdrew behind several walls and even brought down bridges, Arthas was only temporarily slowed.
Realizing her impending defeat, Sylvanas tried to warn the capital Silvermoon – but the warning did not reach them as every scout was stopped by Arthas.
In a final desperate battle, Sylvanas confronted Arthas and was struck down by him.
“What fortune is this curse supposed to bring?” – The Queen of the Banshees
However, Sylvanas did not die but was severely wounded, captured, and later brought back to Arthas. She pleaded for a “clean death,” but Arthas reminded her of how bothersome she had been and how often she had tried to thwart his plans. As “payment” for these offenses, peace would certainly be the last thing he would grant Sylvanas.
Arthas desecrated Sylvanas’ body and spirit with necromancy and turned her into the first Banshee.
The transformation turned Sylvanas into a slave of the Lich King and ensured that she stood by Arthas as his servant. Her body was locked in an iron coffin and removed, preventing her from using it anymore.
At Arthas’ side, she killed countless High Elves and ultimately helped him conquer the Sunwell of the Elves. Arthas utilized the magics of the well to resurrect the necromancer Kel’thuzad as a Lich. The Sunwell was desecrated, lost its magical powers, and the High Elves thereby lost their source of magic.
Under the supervision of the Dreadlords, Sylvanas remained in Lordaeron and managed to regain control of her body.
It was later revealed that the Dreadlords actually hail from the Shadowlands and are the children of Lord Denathrius – the ruler of Revendreth.
After the invasion of the Legion at Mount Hyjal failed, Arthas returned to the former human kingdom of Lordaeron and ordered Kel’thuzad and Sylvanas to obliterate all living beings in Lordaeron as tribute to the Lich King Ner’zhul. Lordaeron was completely devastated in the process.
“My will is my own” – Free Will
While Sylvanas followed Arthas’ orders, she and some of her Banshees noticed that the Lich King’s control was waning. The Dreadlords informed Sylvanas that this was due to the diminishing power of the Lich King – and thus also Arthas’. The Dreadlords planned to bring Lordaeron under their control and wanted Sylvanas’ help. She was willing to assist, but only under her terms.
The Dreadlords planned an assassination attempt on Arthas, and Sylvanas devised a Plan B. After the demons failed, Sylvanas’ Banshees feigned loyalty to Arthas and accompanied him to a supposedly safe spot in the woods. There, Sylvanas lay in wait and wounded Arthas with a poisoned dart. Arthas demanded that the former ranger end his life, but she refused: he should endure the same suffering that she had faced in undeath.
However, it did not come to that. Kel’thuzad came to Arthas’ aid, obliterated the Banshees, and forced Sylvanas to flee.
“Are we not slaves to this torture?” – The Founding of Undercity
Arthas and Kel’thuzad departed for Northrend to serve the Lich King. The Dreadlords declared themselves the new rulers of Lordaeron to forge further plans. When Sylvanas refused to submit, she was threatened by the Dreadlord Varimathras, who warned that those who did not comply would meet a bitter end.
Sylvanas knew that she and her few Banshees were insufficient for victory. So she controlled powerful leaders of Orcs, bandits, gnolls, and murlocs with her Banshees to bolster her ranks.
The troops of Varimathras were soundly defeated, and the Dreadlord begged for his life, offering Sylvanas his help against the other Dreadlords.
One by one, Sylvanas and Varimathras killed the Dreadlords Detheroc and Balnazaar, as well as the human Captain Garithos, whom they temporarily used as a weapon.
Once all enemies were subdued, Sylvanas declared that she would henceforth rule over Lordaeron and the Plaguelands – alongside Varimathras. The undead gathered, and those who regained their free will joined the new people of the “Forsaken”. Undercity was founded in the ruins of Lordaeron.
“Give the order” – For the Horde!
In the time between Warcraft III and the beginning of World of Warcraft, the Forsaken joined the Horde. There are not many details about this process, and envoys from both sides were probably regularly killed.
Ultimately, it was the Earthen Ring under the leadership of the Tauren Hamul Runetotem that moved Thrall, the leader of the Horde, to seek a conversation with the Banshee Queen.
The Earthen Ring convinced Thrall that the Forsaken could one day be “healed”. Thrall, in turn, felt pity for the Forsaken, as like the Orcs, they were a people that had no real place in this world.
From the perspective of the Forsaken, joining the Horde was pure self-interest. Additional protection against attacks from the Alliance, who might want to retake Lordaeron, was welcome to Sylvanas.
“I have no time for small talk” – The Battle for Undercity
Years later, the Horde and the Alliance set out separately to battle Arthas, who had become the Lich King, in Northrend. Sylvanas is still seeking revenge as she has not yet come to terms with her undeath and remains furious that Arthas escaped her.
During a joint attack by the Horde and Alliance on the “Gate of Wrath”, the entrance to Arthas’ fortress, a political coup occurs among the Forsaken. The first apothecary Putress, along with the Dreadlord Varimathras, takes control of Undercity. All troops at the Gate of Wrath are killed by a toxic plague.
Sylvanas, the Horde, and even the Alliance seek vengeance. The troops return to Undercity and besiege the city under the grip of Putress and Varimathras. Both coup leaders are killed. The remaining troops of the Horde and Alliance part peacefully only because Jaina Proudmoore teleports the Alliance troops to safety.
“Show them no mercy” – Revenge on the Lich King
Back in Northrend, the final offensive against the Lich King Arthas begins. After many losses, the Lich King is slain by combined forces, even though Sylvanas is not present for this act.
When Sylvanas learned that she had finally achieved her revenge, the hatred that had kept her moving vanished. Her undeath had become hollow, and she had no more purpose in sight.
After a time, she returned to the Frost Throne and recognized that the Lich King had been replaced – a new person sat upon the Frost Throne. Disappointed by this turn of events, she concluded that she had achieved her personal goal, which had begun so many years ago in the woods of Quel’thalas.
She decided to end her existence and threw herself from the Icecrown Citadel to be impaled on the spikes of Saronite. This would not only destroy her body but also her soul, finally granting her peace.
“Leave no one alive” – The Power of the Val’kyr
But Sylvanas was stopped. In free fall, she was caught by nine Val’kyr, powerful warriors of the Lich King, perverted in their task by undeath. They were still bound to the will of the Lich King but wanted to make a pact with Sylvanas.
By showing her several visions, the Val’kyr convinced the Banshee Queen that her life should not come to an end just yet. A people needed her, and she still had her destiny.
She made a pact with the Val’kyr, who then blessed Sylvanas with a brutal new ability: the power of resurrection.
The Val’kyr are capable of turning dead bodies into undead and thus Forsaken. Sylvanas finally had a way to grow her own people.
She returned to Lordaeron, ordered the cemeteries of the towns and villages to be excavated, and recruited her new army from the corpses for a campaign against the human kingdom of Gilneas.
Gilneas was soundly defeated. King Genn Greymane even lost his son Liam here, further fueling the king’s personal hatred towards Sylvanas.
The complete short story featuring Sylvanas and her encounter with the Val’kyr can be read on the official Blizzard website.
“We are the Forsaken” – Warchief of the Horde
With the renewed attack of the Burning Legion on Azeroth during the WoW expansion “Legion”, the world once again fell apart. Many heroes and leaders died, including the current Warchief of the Horde, Vol’jin. With his last breaths, he chose Sylvanas as his successor, because he had seen a “vision” that made it necessary.
From now on, Sylvanas was the official leader of the Horde, even though there was little mention of this in Legion.
Over the years and several battles, the number of Sylvanas’ Val’kyr diminished further, especially when they died in battle or sacrificed themselves to resurrect their fallen mistress.
Thus, Sylvanas hatched a plan in Legion to enslave the leader of the “free” Val’kyr, Eyir, in Stormheim to create endless new Val’kyr. This was prevented at the last second by Genn Greymane, as shown in this cinematic:
“We kill everyone who stands in our way” – The Fight for Azeroth
With the defeat of the Burning Legion, the conflicts in Azeroth appear to be temporarily resolved. However, shortly thereafter, a new, mysterious ore appears all over the world: Azerite. It is so full of energy that it could completely disrupt the balance of power between the Horde and the Alliance. Shortly after the discovery of Azerite, the Horde begins extensive mining operations.
As the Horde and Alliance travel to Silithus to dispute the emerging Azerite deposits, Sylvanas executes a plan that may be one of the most consequential moments in World of Warcraft: She led the Horde toward the Night Elf capital, Teldrassil. The lands of the Night Elves were conquered, and the initial plan to hold the tree and its inhabitants hostage was seemingly spontaneously changed: The tree is set ablaze, and more than 90% of the Night Elf population is extinguished.
This act sets many processes in motion simultaneously. A renewed war between the Horde and Alliance breaks out, driving both sides to the limits of their resources. In a direct counterattack, the Alliance retakes the former Lordaeron, Undercity, from the Forsaken. Before the city can fall into the hands of the Alliance, Sylvanas floods the entire city with the deadly plague, rendering the area unusable for years.
The actual war then unfolds in the island realms of Kul Tiras and Zandalar. The Horde allies with the Zandalari trolls to gain access to their fleet, while the Alliance attempts to do the same in Kul Tiras.
While the war rages, more and more members of the Horde turn against Sylvanas, who can no longer support her cruel actions. A small group of separatists forms, including the former Highlord Saurfang. These resistance fighters ally with the Alliance, which gradually gains the upper hand in the war.
Ultimately, a Mak’gora, a traditional duel at the gates of Orgrimmar, is held to determine the fate of the Horde. Sylvanas fights against Saurfang and easily kills him but loses the last trace of the Horde’s trust and flees in her Banshee form.
In the aftermath of these events, the Horde and Alliance negotiate a truce. While most races yearn for this kind of peace, especially the Night Elves (and their close allies, the Worgen) want nothing to do with peace.
“This world is a prison” – Pact with the Jailer
The “Shadowlands” expansion begins with Sylvanas returning to the Frost Throne. There, she battles the reigning Lich King Bolvar, and this new magic is once again put to use, which apparently grants Sylvanas great power. Bolvar loses the fight.
Instead of putting on the Helm of Domination herself, she shatters it. This causes the sky over Icecrown to break open and breaches the veil to the Shadowlands – the “afterlife” of the Warcraft universe.
Shortly thereafter, notable leaders from the Alliance and the Horde are abducted by winged creatures and likewise taken to the Shadowlands. Sylvanas now stands beside the ominous Jailer, also known as “Zovaal,” who turns out to be the “mastermind” behind many plans of the past decades. Not only is he responsible for the Lich King, but his indirect influence also made Sylvanas the Warchief.
The Jailer benefits from all the beings that died in the last war. The souls did not peacefully transition to the afterlife but were sent to the Maw; the realm of the Jailer. Here, the souls increased his power and thus also Sylvanas’.
It was revealed that Sylvanas had been conspiring with the Jailer for a long time and intends to assist him. The Jailer believes that he wants to break the eternal cycle of life and death and reshape the entire cosmos according to new laws. Problems such as life and death, and thus also the suffering of her people, the Forsaken, would no longer exist in this new world order.
As the Jailer stands on the threshold of carrying out his plans, he reveals that he has quite different plans and wants to create a world in which everyone must serve him. This, in turn, awakens memories in Sylvanas of her time as a slave under the Lich King, and she turns against the Jailer.
Zovaal easily deflects Sylvanas’ attack and returns to her the part of her soul that Frostmourne had taken. The Jailer then disappears through a portal while Sylvanas, at the mercy of the leaders of the Horde and Alliance, falls to the ground.
At the start of Patch 9.2: Eternity’s End, Sylvanas is imprisoned by the forces of the Horde and Alliance. Her body is in a comatose state, where the two parts of her soul attempt to become one being again. Throughout this process, Sylvanas constantly relives the atrocities she has committed over the years, while the part of the righteous ranger general within her cannot cope with this truth.
We hope this article has given you a little more knowledge about the Dark Lady. For the Banshee Queen, Mistress of the Forsaken, Warchief Sylvanas Windrunner!
The story of Jaina in World of Warcraft is also important. We have written Jaina’s life story here.
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