clears throat, stacks papers on lectern

Feel free to read the below in the voice of Dan from Extra History.

Sylvanas’ sparkling corpse lies at the feet of the players, who eagerly scramble to loot the Banshee Queen. Players of the Alliance are ecstatic; in Siege of Orgrimmar 2, they have pillaged their way through the city once more, defeated the remaining coterie of Sylvanas loyalists, and exorcised the stench of undeath and decay from the Underhold. Some Horde players join them in celebration. Although the cost was high, Sylvanas Windrunner lies dead, and now the Horde can return to what they view as its rightful form. Still others process the event with a sort of numb acceptance, glad only that the ordeal is finally over. A few loyalists still scream for faction war, but most people are done with it.

Anduin has the citizens of Orgrimmar assembled. He’s going to speak to them, to tell them that their oppressor is dead and the Horde can be free of her influence. It’s the moment he’s trained his whole life for - a crusading quest for peace, a righteous victory over a villainous foe, topped off with what will be the mother of all finger-wags. It’s a good day to be king. As he takes in the quiet streets of Orgrimmar, a voice can be heard. Tyrande’s voice.

“Raze the city. Burn it all to the ground. Leave nothing.”

In shock, he rushes over to Tyrande. This isn’t what Anduin wants. Such an action will only perpetuate hatred - and the Horde military has been crushed. Those who are left are only civilians. But Tyrande disagrees. Her home has been destroyed - she is now the avatar of vengeance. There’s no way she’s just going to withdraw peacefully and wait for the Orcs to rebuild their strength and attack north again. Anduin’s people live across a sea, but the Night Elves are right next to their violent neighbors. There is no way she can forgive them this time. She will not stop until the safety of her people is assured once and for all.

Anduin pleads with her to reconsider. The troops pause, anxious. Their orders aren’t clear. A contingent of kal’dorei moves to begin the razing, setting a building aflame. Anduin feels paralyzed with indecision, but finds himself ordering the kaldorei to stop. Tyrande faces him down.

Here the Alliance player has a choice.

Side with Tyrande - the Horde cannot be forgiven this time. The only way to ensure peace for future generations is to wipe them out. Though some may plead ignorance, or following orders, or that they were opposed to what was happening, they were all complicit in the atrocities that started this war.

Or,

Side with Anduin - the High King is right. The Horde’s military has been crushed. They are no threat now, and the only ones left are civilians and adventurers. Besides, Magni still needs help healing the planet, and Old God whispers have grown to disturbing levels as of late.

Although Anduin succeeds in talking Tyrande down, she storms off in a fury, taking the kal’dorei with her. He can hear the murmuring in his own ranks. Not all of them disagree with Tyrande’s plan, but Anduin forgoes his address to the citizens and withdraws to his camp just to the south, along the river. A few days pass. Initially, most of the army sided with Anduin, not prepared to defy their King on the spot, but as the days have gone by, reports of soldiers sympathetic to Tyrande trickling into Ashenvale reach his ears. Many worgen, Kul Tirans, and humans go - some dwarves too, especially Dark Irons. Then he spots a train of Orcs fleeing Orgrimmar, and when his scouts flag them down, they discover that the Night Elves have been coming in the night, butchering the terrified citizens as they sleep. Anduin cannot let this stand - and orders his army redeployed.

For perhaps the first time in his life, he will have to suffer if he wants to uphold his ideals. The Alliance will defend Orgrimmar from the vengeance of the kal’dorei. There is unease in his army - few soldiers love the orcs, and fewer still want to fight their allies to defend them. But this is their King’s command, and its burden weighs on him heavily. He cannot bear to see further bloodshed.

Thus begins Tyrande’s Vengeance, the latest patch for WoW: Battle for Azeroth. New world quests will open up in Ashenvale, Azshara, and the Valley of Wisdom in Orgrimmar. Players that sided with Tyrande will receive quests to kill citizens in Orgrimmar and destroy structures in the city, or otherwise render it uninhabitable, such as damming the river or killing and driving off wildlife. However, Alliance players that sided with Anduin (and Horde players) will receive quests to defend the city, turning back those thirsting for vengeance. In addition, players who sided with Tyrande will be afflicted with a debuff called Bloodstained - this serves as a sort of “rep” for her side, allowing the player to progress with Tyrande’s quests, that ticks up every time the player kills a member of the Horde or the Alliance now defending them. Players afflicted with high stacks of Bloodstained will periodically receive whispers and audio cues that increase in frequency as their stacks grow.

Racial leaders divide on what to do. Some, like the Dwarves and the Gnomes, try to ride the middle path; they won’t allow their forces to be used to defend the city, but they will withdraw, bowing to Anduin’s desire for peace. The Draenei by and large stay with Anduin, as does Velen. Jaina, though wracked by competing impulses, decides to side with Anduin as well. Genn refuses to decide and abruptly withdraws, brooding in isolation, letting his people do whatever they see fit. Malfurion is anguished over his wife’s decision - he too is skeptical of future Horde actions, but he cannot decide what to do, and vacillates.

As the story unfolds, Ashenvale and Darkshore both become consumed with the night of Elune, and powerful kaldorei druids are growing the forest into a living weapon and natural system of defense. Players will find impaled corpses of former Horde military stationed in those zones, or see others buried to the neck in rock and left for animals to kill. All the works of the Horde are destroyed and left for nature to reclaim, urged on by ever more virulent strains of life and nature magic. Druidism powered by Elune’s fury even overcomes the Blight, as new Ancients and treants are created to absorb and incorporate the foul concoction as an exceptionally lethal poison. All the while, the strife over the fate of the Horde continues, with neither side backing down and Alliance on Alliance casualties mounting.

Eventually, Ashenvale and Darkshore become so overgrown with plant life it is no longer possible to fly into them. Something dark is brewing in there - pulsing vengeance, hatred, revenge, and the attacks from Tyrande’s Night Elves grow more savage by the day. Where once they had tried to sneak, distract, and otherwise nonlethally avoid their allies defending the citizens of Orgrimmar, more and more they will simply kill them so that they can slaughter the Trolls, Tauren, Forsaken, and Orcs still within the city. One day brings a report that a Troll matron was killed, her orphanage boarded up, and set alight - with the children still inside, wailing as they burn to death.

Anduin has had enough. He demands to see Tyrande - he needs to speak with her, to stop this madness. But he is refused entry by the Night Warriors. Only those loyal to Tyrande are allowed within the Overgrowth, the name for the sprawling tangle of vegetation that has consumed the forest. It is with heavy heart that he realizes what he must do.

Allying with the remnants of the Horde military and adventurers, Anduin seeks to storm the Overgrowth by force, and stop Tyrande by any means necessary, even if it means killing her.

Welcome to The Overgrowth, the final raid of Battle for Azeroth. Notable enemies include legions of Night Elven Sentinels, many empowered by the Night Warrior ritual, and many Wardens as well - Maiev was one of those to side with Tyrande. The mighty works of nature wrought by the druids stand firm against invaders, no matter who they may be. Flora and fauna empowered to absorb and incorporate the Blight without being corrupted make for formidable enemies, their fangs and stingers dripping with the lethal extract of the once-notorious poison of the Forsaken. Anduin and his allies must battle through this green hell to reach the Night Warrior herself, and put a stop to the slaughter, no matter the cost.

But what of those players that sided with Tyrande? When Anduin makes his move, they find themselves waylaid by a powerful force of Paladins and Priests, and incapacitated. Upon awakening in the Cathedral of Light, they are informed them that a worrying taint had been growing upon their minds, but not to worry, it has been cleansed - your King needs you in this time of great tragedy. Still, it is troublesome how much like the essence of Old Gods that taint seemed to be… but, never mind that. There’s bosses to be killed, loot to be had, and a racial leader to slay.

As for the Horde, well… it’s time to kick back, relax, and enjoy some Robo-Feline 9001.