The well-known fantasy RPG game, World of Warcraft, received its first major expansion, The Burning Crusade, in early 2007, and along with its new content, there was lots more lore to discover. World of Warcraft had launched just over two years before then, and by the time The Burning Crusade came around, it had already skyrocketed in popularity. Fans were eager to experience the lost world of Outland and to personally encounter some of the best-loved characters from the game's predecessor, Warcraft III.
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The expansion was set within the broken homeland of the orcs, or rather what was left of it after chaotic magic tore the entire planet apart and warped its environments beyond recognition. Initially, the planet was known as Draenor and was the homeland of orcs, ogres, and Draenei before the Dark Portal was built and the First War ensued with the orcish Horde invading Azeroth. Fel energies poisoned the land and over time, many lush ecosystems died out. After the Horde's defeat in the Second War, the orcs who remained on Draenor, led by the warlock Ner'zhul, made a fatal mistake by using powerful Azerothian artifacts to invade other worlds.
This catastrophic spell backfired and the sheer amount of portals that were opened instead ripped the veil between Draenor and the Twisting Nether, the plane that connects different worlds, and all that energy literally shattered the planet into pieces. The few remaining landmasses were suspended in the Nether, and those left alive were forced to struggle for survival upon a mortally wounded world, now known as the Outland. This is where World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is set, and players were free to explore the hauntingly beautiful remnants of a planet torn asunder.
WoW: Burning Crusade Added Blood Elves & Draenei As Playable Races
Since World of Warcraft's release, players had only been able to choose between four races for each faction. Orcs, tauren, trolls and undead for the Horde, and humans, dwarves, night elves and gnomes for the Alliance. The shaman and paladin classes were also faction-restricted, as lore-wise only certain races can become some classes. Shamans were only found among the Horde and paladins belonged to the Alliance, but with World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, this was about to change.
Blood elves were going to be a brand new addition to the Horde since although they had been part of the Alliance some years prior to the Third War, they had since been forced to find refuge elsewhere following their devastation at the hands of Arthas Menethil and the Scourge. Blood elves in World of Warcraft do have an affinity for the Light and could become paladins, hence the Horde consequently having access to the class. However, instead of beseeching the Light for its power, they took it by force, enslaving the benevolent Naaru. This sub-class of paladins were known as Blood Knights, but they have long since replaced this method with "cruelty-free" use of the Light.
The Draenei had, just like the blood elves, endured near-extinction at the hands of the Burning Legion and many of them had fled to the stars and subsequently crash-landed on Azeroth. They saw value in the Alliance's ideals and agreed to join them, providing valuable insight to Outland and its denizens. The Draenei had always been known for their connection to the Light, but since their devastation, many had been cut off from its influence and had to learn instead to utilize the abundant elemental energy present in Outland, becoming shamans. Many Draenei regressed physically because of their trauma, becoming the Broken, while others found a way to remain within the Light. Hence, this playable race could be both paladins and shamans.
WoW Burning Crusade: The Horde & Alliance Breach the Dark Portal
With their new allies at their side, the Horde and Alliance stopped fighting each other for a few moments to instead battle their way through the recently-rebuilt Dark Portal and into a strange world. The Burning Legion was still using the planet as a base of operations, so the denizens of Azeroth ventured into Outland to put an end to the evil lurking there. What they found was a world in which countless people were struggling to survive and desperately needed the help of heroes to free them from oppression.
Heroes of both the Alliance and Horde made their way to Shattrath City where groups of Draenei and blood elves had formed their own factions in direct opposition to Illidan Stormrage, known as the Aldor and the Scryers respectively. Players could choose which of the two they pledged themselves to, although siding with one inevitably earned the ire of the other. Within Shattrath, players also met a most unlikely hero from times past- Khadgar. The famous archmage from the very first Warcraft game had been stranded on Outland since he journeyed there to stop Ner'zhul years before the lore events of World of Warcraft, and he was eager to lend aid to Azeroth's heroes.
Deposing The Tyrants of Outland- Warcraft 3's Kael'thas, Vashj & Illidan Stormrage
The secretive and defiant demon hunter, Illidan Stormrage, had drawn the ire of Azeroth's people for his tyranny over Outland's remaining people. Although Illidan's goal was to ultimately defeat the Legion, he had made a habit of enslaving and/or corrupting the resident orcs and Draenei of Outland and conscripting them into his service. The demon hunter's methods were cruel and voracious, and Azeroth's heroes decided that his reign over the land had to be put to an end. To do that, however, players needed to depose two of his allies first, Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider and Lady Vashj of the naga, two major bosses in WoW: Burning Crusade.
Kael'thas had in fact betrayed Illidan for his own ends, but players nonetheless put an end to his machinations within the magic-saturated land of Netherstorm. Lady Vashj, on the other hand, remained loyal to Stormrage and planned to siphon all the water from Outland as a way to control its denizens. Vashj was brought down in a similar fashion to Kael'thas, but the head of the snake remained. It was only with the invaluable information provided by Akama, the devolved Draenei who had initially fought beside Illidan to free his people from the Legion but had since realized that the demon hunter was no savior.
Players stormed Illidan's base, the Black Temple, a defiled fortress that used to be a sacred temple of the Light. A whole host of characters joined together to defeat Illidan Stormrage, including familiar faces like that of Maiev Shadowsong. Maiev was a night elf Warden who had chased Illidan across the cosmos and finally brought him to justice by striking the killing blow at the summit of the Black Temple. Illidan Stormrage, the beloved playable antihero from Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, was dead, short of achieving his goal of destroying the Burning Legion.
WoW Lore: Saving Azeroth From the Burning Legion & The Restoration of The Sunwell
With Illidan Stormrage and loads of other bosses from WoW: The Burning Crusade brought down, those on the shattered planet were finally free to live out their lives in peace. But the Burning Legion's true goal had never been Outland. Azeroth was the ultimate prize, and players quickly found themselves entrenched in yet another battle to save their home from the demons' wrath. Kael'thas, having somehow survived his defeat in Netherstorm, had returned to his home of Quel'thalas to the Sunwell, the blood elves' sacred font of energy that had been defiled by Arthas Menethil and the Scourge in Warcraft 3.
Although the well of pure magic had been abandoned, Kael'thas sought to use its remaining power to summon the Burning Legion's most fearsome general, Kil'jaeden the Deceiver. Kael'thas, his mind and heart twisted by an insatiable lust for power, orchestrated the Deceiver’s return, something that would spell doom for Azeroth. Players fought their way through hordes of demons until they finally managed to banish Kil’jaeden for good. As a result of this process, the Sunwell was in turn purified once more, and the blood elves who had been through so much finally had some modicum of hope for the future.
At long last, the Burning Legion had been brought to heel and Azeroth could rest easy for the time being. Outland had been freed and new allies had been secured by the Horde and Alliance. They returned home in triumph, but their revelry did not last. Dark clouds brewed on the horizon, casting a familiar, cold shadow over the land. Arthas Menethil, the Lich King himself, had awoken from his dotage, and World of Warcraft players were about to face their most challenging enemy yet.