World of Warcraft
Betrayal of a King
Arthas returned to Lordaeron months later, and the kingdom rejoiced at the return of its champion. Falric and Marwyn by his side, he entered the imperial chamber and knelt before the throne. After telling his father that he no longer needed to bear the weight of his crown, Arthas walked up to Terenas and ran Frostmourne through his heart. The king’s bloodied, broken crown remains lost to this day. As he drew Frostmourne, he remembered the words of his old friend Varian describing his own father and king Llane being stabbed in the heart.
He then unleashed the Scourge upon the Capital City and soon found Vivian, wife of the fallen hero Killoren. Sensing a conflict within Thassarian, Arthas ordered Thassarian to kill Vivian, his mother, in order to prove his loyalty.
Leaving Falric and Marwyn to oversee his forces in the city, Arthas ran to the Balnir Farmstead. There he used his necromantic powers to raise his faithful steed Invincible into undeath, allowing it to serve as his mount once again.
A few days later, Arthas appeared in Vandermar Village at the bidding of his new master, the Lich King. There he met Tichondrius the Darkener, a dreadlord like Mal’Ganis. Thinking that the dreadlord Mal’Ganis was out for revenge, Arthas immediately threatened him, only to discover that this dreadlord had come to congratulate Arthas for his efforts. When spoken to, Arthas said he no longer felt remorse for any of his actions, though deep in his heart he knew this was a lie. Tichondrius explained that the sword was designed to steal souls, and that Arthas’ own soul was the first one it had claimed.
Tichondrius tasked Arthas with gathering the members of the vile Cult of the Damned that were hiding in Vandermar, learning that Kel’Thuzad had expected him, much to his surprise. They aided him with their magical abilities as he traveled to Andorhal where he was to recover Kel’Thuzad’s corpse. Arthas initially asked why they couldn’t reanimate him on the spot, only to be informed by a cultist that a being like Kel’Thuzad required a powerful energy source. He confronted the paladin guarding the crypt, Gavinrad the Dire, who had given Arthas his holy warhammer at his induction ceremony into the Silver Hand. After killing Gavinrad, he recovered the remains of the necromancer. This brought Kel’Thuzad’s ghost into being, and he secretly instructed Arthas not to trust the dreadlords. Arthas quietly contemplated this.
Kel’Thuzad’s remains were badly decomposed and needed to be taken to the mystical Sunwell in Quel’Thalas to be revived. To ensure that the remains would survive the trip, Arthas was tasked with taking a special urn that was being held by the Knights of the Silver Hand. Arthas killed two paladins, Ballador the Bright and Sage Truthbearer, who both condemned Arthas’ betrayal. He then faced Uther the Lightbringer, who explained that the urn held the ashes of his father, King Terenas. The two engaged in a duel with Uther initially having the upper hand, knocking Arthas down and sending Frostmourne flying from his hands. As Arthas awaited the killing blow, the sword seemed to find its own way into his hands and he was granted more power by the Lich King. The battle began to turn in Arthas’ favor. Eventually, Uther, covered in blood from his wounds, fell to his knees and told Arthas he hoped there was a special place in hell waiting for him. Arthas replied that they would never know because he intended to live forever, then delivered the killing blow. He seized the urn and blasphemed his father’s remains by throwing them into the air, at which point the ashes swirled violently and burned his eyes, reminding him of the life he had forsaken. Arthas had the remains of Kel’Thuzad placed within the urn, and then began the long journey to Quel’Thalas. To breach the elven kingdom, he gained an ally in Dar’Khan Drathir.
Fall of Quel’Thalas
Arthas met heavy resistance from the elves, rallied by Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner. Driving their forces before his undead army, he steadily pushed her people back in a swath of destruction towards Silvermoon, breaching the kingdom’s two elfgates with ease. Sylvanas tried to warn the vast elven capital of the coming of the Scourge, but Arthas destroyed her camps and killed the Ranger-General. To make her pay for her perceived insolence towards him, Arthas corrupted her elven spirit, transforming it into the horrendous and twisted form of a banshee, and enslaving her to the will of the Lich King, forcing her to slay her own people.
He forced Sylvanas to obey him, commanding her to murder the civilians of Silvermoon. Arthas and the marching armies of the Scourge annihilated Silvermoon, leaving it in ruins. On the road to the Sunwell, he fought Grand Magister Belo’vir and left him critically injured after severing his right arm. Arthas also faced Anasterian Sunstrider, the aged High King of Quel’Thalas, and killed him with minimal struggle.
Arthas then used the Sunwell to bring Kel’Thuzad back as an undead lich. Dar’Khan then later tried to betray Arthas, but the death knight killed him, and promptly raised the betrayer elf to serve him whenever he needed him, being placed in the fortress of Deatholme in Ghostlands. Afterwards, he kept Sylvanas near and continued tormenting her, even telling her that he had locked up her body.
Destruction of Dalaran
As the pair traveled to Alterac, Kel’Thuzad explained the full extent of the “second invasion” and the Lich King’s plan. Arthas and Kel’Thuzad went to the Alterac Mountains to destroy encampments of Blackrock clan orcs who possessed a functional demon gate, which the lich would use to speak to the demon lord Archimonde. The Scourge destroyed the orcs to secure the portal for themselves. Archimonde instructed them to march to Dalaran and acquire the spellbook of Medivh so he could be summoned into Azeroth.
Despite the Kirin Tor’s valiant efforts to repel the invasion, the Scourge fought through their magical defenses and fortifications, killed the Archmage Antonidas, and claimed the Book of Medivh. Arthas and his troops repelled the mages’ vast counterattack as Kel’Thuzad began the lengthy summoning of the demon lord, reinforced by the Burning Legion’s forces as the ritual progressed. Once Archimonde arrived, he proclaimed that the Lich King was of no further use to the Legion, and Tichondrius was placed in command of the Scourge. Arthas was left to wonder what would become of him and Kel’Thuzad, but the lich replied that all was going as the Lich King foresaw. The pair disappeared as Archimonde took his revenge on the city, destroying Dalaran with a single powerful ritual. When the demon lord destroyed Dalaran, there was a hint of regret in the death knight.
