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Few characters are as important or impactful to theWorld of Warcraftstory as Thrall, the Shaman who led the Horde to freedom from demons, saved the world from a literal Cataclysm, among other planet-shaking events. His exploits go as far as Warcraft 3, making him one of the pillars on which the entirety of WoW is built on.
The story of this orchis hero starts in his childhood, from his time in slavery to his triumphant return to the Horde. When everything seems lost, Thrall is there to guide his people toward peace, prosperity, and balance. While he doesn’t always make the right choice, that makes him a more compelling character.
Thrall’s Origin As Go’el And Being Raised By Blackmoore
Thrall wasn’t always known by that name, sincehis birth name was Go’el. He was the son of the chieftain of the Frostwolf clan, Durotan, and was meant to inherit the mantle when he was of age. But when he was little more than a baby,assassins ambushed Durotan and his mate Drakaand left Go’el to die in the wilderness.
The Orcs are divided into different clans, each with their own chieftain. They all answer to the Warchief, but some clans have more weight than others.
But he didn’t die; instead,he was found by Aedelas Blackmoore, commander in charge of a prisoner camp that held Orcs from the Second War.He named the baby Orc Thrall, a word for slave in the common tongue, and raised him to be a gladiator.
As Thrall grew of age, he developed the mighty body associated with Orcs, but Aedelas made sure he also had the cunning of a human; this led him to win many fights in the arenas, earning Aedelas a lot of money.
While Thrall’s master was cruel to him, he also learned that humans were capable of compassion, thanks to his friendship with Taretha Foxton.This friendship helped Thrall mold his ideals:some people are capable of great evil, but that doesn’t make everyone around them evil.After exchanging many secret letters with Taretha,they both hatched a plan for him to escape and were successful. Although Thrall’s freedom wouldn’t last long.
The First and Second Wars refer to the events that happened in Warcraft 1 and 2, where Orcs from a different dimension invaded the Human lands of Azeroth. Humans were victorious, and the remaining Orcs did what they could to survive.
Thrall was captured and taken to a different prison camp, but this time, he was kept as a normal prisoner with the rest of the Orcs. There, he met Kelgar, who thankfully knew the common tongue (Thrall had never had a chance to learn Orcish), and then he could learn more about his people.
Thanks to Kelgar,Thrall learned of Gul’dan,the Warlock that introduced Fel magic to the horde, giving Orcs great strength and green skin. But this also made them slaves to demonic forces of the Fel. Kelgar then said thatthe Horde was much better in the old days of Shamans and that Grom Hellscream was the only one trying to take those days back.
Thrall’s Escape And Becoming A Shaman
Thrall managed to escape once again and traveled to find Grom Hellscream. He found him and spent many seasons with the Warsong Clan’s chieftain.Grom taught Thrall many of the Orcish ways, including their language, and together, they found out that Thrall was from the Frostwolf clan.
With a new mission in mind,he traveled to the Alterac Mountains in search of his clan.Nearly dying in the process, he finally makes it to the clan and is soon accepted there by the leader, Drek’Thar.During his time with the Frostwolves, Thrall learned much about the old Shaman ways of the Orcs, and during meditation, he befriended the elemental spirits of the world.
In doing so,he became the first Orc Shaman in a long time, marking a new dawn for the Horde.This drew the attention of the Horde’s Warchief, Orgrim Doomgammer. Orgrim went to see Thrall personally, disguising himself as a commoner and taunting him into a fight.After seeing Thrall’s might for himself, Orgrim knew he had what he needed to liberate the prisoner Orcs.
Orgrim made Thrall his second in command, and they traveled to all the prisoner camps to liberate the held Orcs. After many victories,the Humans struck back and killed Ogrim. With his dying breath, Ogrim named Thrall Warchief of the Horde.
Thrall led the final push towards freedom, meeting once again with Aedelas Blackmoore.Thrall demanded the Orcs to be liberatedso no blood was shed.In response, Aedelas threw Taretha’s severed head towards Thrall’s feet.Seeing his childhood friend dead, Thrall could do little to contain his anger.
The Orcs pushed forward, andThrall killed Aedelas personally. He tells the remaining humans to relay a message to the Alliance: free the remaining Orcs to this new Horde, and we can live in peace and trade. Refuse, and face a might that would make Warlocks fall in shame.
The Oracle Guides Throm Against The Corruption
Needing a place for the new Horde to thrive,Thrall and Grom led their people across the sea, searching for the forgotten lands of Kalimdor.In the middle of their journey, they find the Darkspear Trolls being attacked by both Humans and Murlocs.Thrall aided the Trolls and offered them a place in the new Horde.
Making it to Kalimdor,Thrall met the Bloodhoof Tauren tribeand helped them defend themselves from ravaging centaurs.He befriended Cairne, chieftain of the Bloodhoof tribe, who in turn showed Thrall the way to an Oracle that could help the Horde find their way.
Grom encountered and fought many Humans in Kalimdor, and Thrall grew weary of his friend’s bloodlust.He went with Cairne to see the Oracle but found one of the Human leaders, Jaina Proudmoore, already there. They were about to fight when the Oracle himself stopped them.
The Oracle told Thrall that Grom was being corrupted by his Fel blood and that if the Alliance and the Horde didn’t join forces, that corruption would spread to the whole world. Thrall, Caine, and Jaina joined forces to confront Grom, who was already under demonic control.
After a gruesome battle,Thrall was able to bring Grom to his senses, and they bothled an assault on the Demon in control of the Warsong clan. They defeated it, butGrom was fatally woundedin the process. Yet, with that action, they freed the Orcs from demonic control.
Jaina and Thrall then meet with the Night Elves leaders, Malfurion and Tyrande. With the aid of the Oracle (who ended up being Medivh, the Last Guardian), Thrall convinces the Night Elves to join forces against the invading demonic forces, known as the Burning Legion, and their leader, Archimonde.
Medivh is the Last Guardian of Tirisfal, a mortal champion empowered to secretly fight the demonic forces wherever they might appear on Azeroth.
Thanks to the joint forces of the Horde, the Tauren, the Humans, and the Night Elves, the Burning Legion was defeated, and Archimonde waskilled. After this,Thrall founded Orgrimmar, giving the Orcs a place to call home andinviting the Tauren to the Horde. While tensions were still high,Thrall was able to have peace treaties signed with the Alliance, with a lot of help from Jaina.
The Expansion Of The Horde
A time of peace followed, but not without problems, since Thrall was now part of a Horde that now supported more than just Orcs.Even more unexpected allies would join, like the undead Forsaken and the Blood Elves.
The tensions with the Alliance were high, with few seeing any kind of peace lasting.Garrosh Hellscream, son of Grom and now an advisor to Thrall,saw the Alliance as nothing more than enemiesand a stepping stone for the Horde to conquer Azeroth.
The many fights and events in the coming years would hit the horde hard, like defending against new Burning Legion incursions or the war against the Lich King. Butthe most troublesome of all was the imbalance of the elements, which caused all kinds of fires and droughts.
Needing to look into this,Thrall left to commune with the elements, leaving Garrosh as acting Warchief. On his travels,he met Aggra, an orc from Outland, and she would become his mate for life.
The Cataclysm
Thrall learns that the elements are afraid of a cataclysmic event, and shortly after this, a maelstrom is formed in the sea, heralding the coming catastrophe.Thrall and Aggra go to the very maelstrom to see what was causing the planet so much harm.
Yet even when not acting as Warchief, he still benefits the Horde, ashe saves many Goblins' lives and secures their place within the Horde.Once he finally makes it to the Maelstrom, he finds out it’s caused byDeathwing, a Dragon Aspect corrupted by the Old Gods.
The agents of the Old Gods considered Thrall to be their ultimate enemy, sothey had his essence scattered across the elemental planes.Adventurers were tasked with finding these essences and bringing them back to Thrall, where they would find parts of what makes Thrall tick.
Thrall is ultimately restored, and with the aid of the elements, the Dragon Aspects, and the greatest adventurers of Azeroth,he faces off against Deathwing and kills himin a confrontation that shakes the very earth. The planet was safe, andThrall found his new calling as a Shaman of the Earthen Ring.
Garrosh Leads The Horde
While the threat of Deathwing was dealt with,Thrall stayed with the Shamans to heal Azeroth, leaving Garrosh Hellscream to lead the Horde.Many urged Thrall to return to Orgrimmar, including Jaina, his old friend. Those pleas ended up being well-founded sinceGarrosh led the Horde to constant skirmishes with the Alliance.
The most tragic of those events happened in Theramore, where Garrosh released a Mana Bomb(an explosive device similar to a Nuclear Bomb) and nearly killed Jaina in the process. Jaina nearly destroyed Orgrimmar in retaliation but was convinced by Thrall and the Blue Dragon Aspect that she was better than that.
While Thrall tried to stay out of politics, Garrosh continued to push him back in.He had already killed Cairne Bloodhoofyears ago andnow attempted to kill Vol’jin, leader of the Trolls and good friend of Thrall.Vol’jin seeks Thrall’s help andfinally decides to take care of Garrosh’s tyranny.
With the aid of many adventurers, and even the Alliance’s forces,Thrall successfully took Garrosh off the Warchief seat, naming Vol’jin the new leader of the Horde.Garrosh was to stand trial for his war crimes but ultimately escaped to a different timeline.
Pursuing Garrosh
Garrosh escaped to an alternate pastto warn his father about the Fel blood.He succeeds in uniting a new Horde, the Iron Horde, with the full might of the Orcs of the past combined with knowledge of war machines Garrosh brought from his timeline.He planned to take the Iron Horde to the original timeline and conquer it fully.
The Alliance and the Horde pushed into this alternate timeline, and it was a confusing journey for Thrall. He met a version of his parents before he was born and had to deal with many famed Orcish names that were now his enemies. Still, he and his allies prevailed, and after a long campaign,he stood in front of Garrosh, challenging him to one final duel.
The fight seemed in Garrosh’s favor untilThrall summoned the elements and trapped Garrosh with a stone hand, ending his life with a lightning strike.The Iron Horde was dismantled, and everyone was ready to return to their original timeline.
Thrall’s Role In The Fourth War
Thrall tried to lead a quiet life with his mate and children, but it was not to be.Sylvanas, the new Warchief of the Horde, was leading a bloody campaign much like Garrosh in the past. Shesent assassins to take Thrall and his family out, and they failed only becauseVarok Saurfang (an Orc commander and friend of Thrall) aided Thrall in the fight.
Thrall and Varok rallied the forces they could from the Horde, and with the Alliance,they organized a siege on Orgrimmar to depose Sylvanas. To avoid further bloodshed,Varok challenged Sylvanas to a duel.He died, but not before showing how disinterested Sylvanas was in the Horde, which made her leave and resign from her role as Warchief.
Instead of naming a new Warchief, the leaders of the Horde formed the Horde Council, and the representatives of each race held a seat on said Council. Thrall would be back in politics, but not as Warchief. Instead, he became a representative of the Orcs.
Journey Through Shadowlands
Thrall, along with other faction leaders like Jaina and Anduin Wrynn, was kidnapped by Sylvanasand taken into the Shadowlands, the realm of the dead.He was rescued by adventurersbut learned of the Jailer (Sylvana’s master) and his plan to turn Anduin into his puppet.
Thrall and his allies fought hard to defeat the Jailer, and one unlikely ally was Draka, his late mother. Draka had become a great warrior in the afterlife and showed great pride in who her son had become. After many battles,the united forces of both the Horde and Alliance succeeded in bringing the Jailer down.
The War Within
While enjoying the years of peace,Thrall begins to receive visions of a voice beaconing him towards the desert in Silithus. There,the massive blade of Sargeras lay dormant, but the voice felt like someone in pain within the earth.
He finds the King of Stormwind, Anduin Wrynn, also in that desert, having had the very same visions as him.They both decide to join forces once moreto understand what’s giving them these visions and what they can do to preserve the peace.
