World of Warcraft
A New Home, Thrall’s Arrival at Kalimdor Shores
The journey to Kalimdor was tumultuous. A massive storm separated the Horde’s fleet, washing them ashore on a harsh, arid landscape known as the Barrens. First thing Thrall had on his mind was diplomacy, not conquest. To survive in this unforgiving land, the Orcs could not stand alone.
First, he encountered the Darkspear Trolls, led by the wise Sen’jin. The trolls were being hunted by murlocs and human forces. Thrall intervened, saving the Darkspear from annihilation. Though Sen’jin fell in battle, with his dying breath, he urged his people, and his son, Vol’jin to follow Thrall. Soon after, Thrall met Cairne Bloodhoof, the chieftain of the Tauren, who were being driven to extinction by the centaurs. Thrall’s forces helped protect the Tauren, forging a bond of brotherhood that would become the very backbone of the Horde. The Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren united together, were now an unbreakable family of outcasts.
The Blood Haze Has Lifted – Grommash’s Sacrifice
While Thrall was busy building alliances, his oldest friend, Grommash Hellscream who made the journey with him from Eastern Kingdoms, made a terrible mistake. Sent to harvest lumber in the forests of Ashenvale, Grom’s clan clashed with the Night Elves and their demigod, Cenarius. Desperate for victory, Grom drank the blood of the demon lord Mannoroth, the very curse that had corrupted the Orcs in the first place. Grom turned red-skinned from green with further use of demon blood and with it, he slew Cenarius.
Thrall was devastated when he found his brother in arms corrupted once again. Working alongside Jaina Proudmoore (another alliance forged through Medivh’s guidance), Thrall managed to capture and cleanse Grom. Together, the two Orcs ventured into a demonic crater to confront Mannoroth himself. In one of the most legendary cinematic moments in Warcraft history, Thrall was knocked aside by the demon. It was Grom who delivered the killing blow, sacrificing his own life to shatter Mannoroth’s weapon and end the blood curse on the Orcish race forever. Grom died a hero, and Thrall was left to lead a truly free people. I still watch this cinematic sometimes to this day and it always brings tears to my eyes.
The Foundation of Durotar and Orgrimmar
With the demons defeated and the Battle of Mount Hyjal won, Thrall finally claimed a permanent home for his people. He named the harsh, red rocked region Durotar, in honor of his murdered father, Durotan. Deep within a naturally fortified canyon, he established a massive capital city and named it Orgrimmar, to honor the Warchief who passed the mantle to him, Orgrim Doomhammer.
Under Thrall’s rule, the Horde experienced a golden age. He didn’t seek war with the Alliance, instead he sought stability. He sat on his throne in the Valley of Wisdom, surrounded by the wise Cairne who stood in Thunder Bluff and the cunning Vol’jin near him, dealing with internal politics, rogue warlocks, and external threats. For years, Thrall was the unshakable pillar holding the Horde together. From venturing back into their old, shattered world now called Outland to face Illidan, to fighting the Lich King in the frozen wastes of Northrend.
The World Shaman Thrall and The Betrayal of Garrosh, Son of Grom
Everything shattered with the arrival of the Cataclysm. Deathwing the Destroyer tore the world apart, and the elements of Azeroth went into complete chaos. Thrall, realizing that his duties as a Shaman were now more important than his duties as a Warchief, made the most controversial decision of his life. He stepped down from the throne to heal the planet, becoming the ‘‘World Shaman.’’ Because the Cataclysm made Azeroth’s elements dangerously chaotic, Thrall traveled to Outland for guidance. There he met his life companion, Aggra, who taught him to listen to the elements rather than command them, and they later had a son named Durak.
To take his place, he appointed Garrosh Hellscream, the hot headed son of Grommash. Thrall believed Garrosh could be the strong hero the Orcs needed, even though Garrosh did not want the mantle, saying he was not suitable. Thrall was deeply, tragically wrong. Garrosh’s reign twisted the Horde into a warmongering, tyrannical empire. He alienated the other races, bombed the city of Theramore, and even orchestrated the assassination of Cairne Bloodhoof though unknowingly. Adventurers had to step in to dethrone him inside the Siege of Orgrimmar raid. Thrall’s legacy was dragged through the mud by the very Orc he placed in power, but Garrosh himself warned him in the first place.
The Mak’gora, Thrall vs. Garrosh
The conflict with Garrosh culminated in the Warlords of Draenor expansion. On the grassy plains of Nagrand (Draenor), the two confronted each other in a Mak’gora, a sacred duel to the death. Garrosh blamed Thrall for everything, shouting that Thrall made him Warchief and abandoned him (he was not wrong). Thrall, burdened by guilt and anger, broke the sacred rules of the physical duel. He used his shamanistic powers, summoning powers of stone and lightning to kill Garrosh.
He won, but he lost everything. Because he used the elements out of anger to himself, the spirits abandoned him. The legendary Doomhammer became heavy in his hands. Thrall fell into a deep depression, losing his powers and going into exile. Shaman adventurers picked up Doomhammer as an artifact in the Legion expansion.
Since then, the lore has not been entirely kind to him. During the Battle for Azeroth, and especially the big bad Shadowlands expansion, Thrall was dragged back into cosmic conflicts that felt incredibly out of place for his character. Today, the mantle of Warchief is gone, replaced by a Horde Council. Thrall sits on that council, older, tired, stripped of his godly shaman powers, serving as a wise but exhausted father figure to a nation that has seen too much war. I’m getting the feeling he is not going to survive the Worldsoul Saga expansion trilogy…
Personal Thoughts on Thrall
As someone who has mained a Troll Hunter on my WoW journey, Thrall’s story is deeply personal to me, of course playing Warcraft III in my childhood makes me more connected to him. My very first steps in the Echo Isles were possible because this green-skinned gladiator decided to save my people from murlocs and sea witches. Without Thrall, the Horde as we know it simply would not exist.
It is heartbreaking to see what the recent expansions have done to his narrative. The storytelling in Shadowlands was, to put it mildly, a complete disaster, turning grounded, legendary characters into confused tourists in the afterlife. What did Thrall do to deserve to be a character in a cosmic melodrama? My guy should just chill at his home and be an advisor. Blizzard should build and introduce new characters like him but so far they are failing miserably.
Thrall’s story peaked the moment he dropped the lightning on Garrosh in Nagrand. That should have been his ultimate, tragic retirement and his final story. Despite the messy writing of the modern expansions, when I look at Thrall sitting in Orgrimmar today, I see the slave from Durnholde Keep who built an empire from the dirt, broke the blood curse, and gave outcasts a place to call home. Lok’tar Ogar, Warchief.
