Battle for the Undercity

Not to be confused with Battle for Lordaeron.

For the quests during which this battle happens, see  [74] The Battle For The Undercity and  [74] The Battle For The Undercity.

The Battle for the Undercity
Part of	War against the Lich King
Date	27 ADP
Location	Undercity
Result	Alliance and Horde victory Reclamation of the Undercity by the Forsaken and their allies Declaration of the Alliance-Horde war
Belligerents   Alliance   Horde   Burning Legion Dreadlord Insurgents Varimathras loyal Forsaken Royal Apothecary Society rebels
Commanders and leaders   Alliance  Varian Wrynn  Jaina Proudmoore  Broll Bearmantle  Valeera Sanguinar   Horde  Thrall  Sylvanas Windrunner  Vol'jin   Burning Legion  Varimathras  Khanok the Impassable †  Grand Apothecary Putress †  Engorged Blight Worm †  Blight Aberration †
Casualties and losses   Alliance Light   Horde Light   Burning Legion Annihilated
Previous	Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate
Next	Icecrown Gunship Battle

The Battle for the Undercity was a conflict that took place shortly after the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, during the course of the war against the Lich King. It opposed the armies of both the Alliance and the Horde against the forces of the Burning Legion, supported by traitorous members of the Royal Apothecary Society. It started as a response to the coup orchestrated by Grand Apothecary Putress and Arch Lord Varimathras against Sylvanas Windrunner, who managed to escape her assassination and call on the factions to regain control of the Undercity.

Under the supervision of King Varian Wrynn and Warchief Thrall, the Forsaken capital was reconquered, all the undead and demonic invaders were eliminated, and their leaders were executed for their crimes. However, the countless losses due to the use of the New Plague at the Wrathgate, as well as the atrocities committed by the Forsaken to create it, led Varian to end the fragile peace between the Alliance and the Horde, certain that peace was impossible. This marked the start of the Alliance-Horde war, which did not actually begin until the Invasion of Gilneas after the Cataclysm.

Prelude

Main article: Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate

During the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, after Dranosh Saurfang was slain by the Lich King, Grand Apothecary Putress appeared on a cliff overlooking the battlefield and used Forsaken catapults to unleash the New Plague. A barrage of plague canisters rained down on all armies below and a lethal green fog, capable of killing the living and the undead alike, enveloped the battlefield. The losses on all sides were great, the Alliance lost Highlord Bolvar Fordragon and almost five thousand soldiers, while the Horde lost over four thousand loyal followers. In the aftermath, both factions were enraged by what happened and they knew that only the Forsaken could have created such a weapon. They were now ready to destroy those responsible for using it.

History

Varimathras in the Royal Quarter.

Following the disaster at Angrathar the Wrathgate, Thrall summoned Sylvanas Windrunner, but she was already on her way to meet him. The Banshee Queen told the warchief that she had been forced to flee the Undercity, as Grand Apothecary Putress had betrayed her rather than acting under her orders, and with several members of the Royal Apothecary Society, they sided with Varimathras, who had secretly remained loyal to his nathrezim brothers and the Burning Legion. Secretly, the dreadlord had convinced the grand apothecary that the Burning Legion would have more rewards to offer than Sylvanas, and together, they orchestrated the coup d'état and forcefully taken control of the Undercity.

After receiving word of Bolvar Fordragon's death, King Varian Wrynn was overwhelmed with anger and sorrow, having considered Bolvar a brother ruling his kingdom and raising his son for years. He sent Jaina Proudmoore to Orgrimmar to discover the reason for the Horde's betrayal, which he deemed an act of treason and demanded retribution for his friend's death. As Thrall and Sylvanas planned an immediate counter-attack, Jaina arrived bearing terrible news: King Varian was prepared to lay all responsibility for the Wrathgate incident on Horde and to start a war with them. The Banshee Queen told Jaina what she knew and promised that she would exterminate the traitors who had killed so many on both sides, while warchief assured that the Horde had no official interest in war unless provoked and that he would ensure that justice would be done. When Jaina brought the news to King Varian, he greeted Sylvanas's explanation with suspicion but also saw an opportunity. Since the Undercity was not under the Horde's control, perhaps it was time for the Alliance to reclaim the old nation of Lordaeron.

Grand Apothecary Putress in the Apothecarium.

Consequently, both the Horde and the Alliance launched separate offensives against the Undercity. Warchief Thrall, along with Sylvanas and Vol'jin, led the assault to reclaim the Undercity and kill the traitorous Varimathras. At the same time, the Alliance invasion was helmed by King Varian, Jaina, Broll Bearmantle, and Valeera Sanguinar, storming through the city's sewers in search of Putress.

Both missions were eventually successful. Varimathras and Putress paid the price for their treachery and were defeated. But Varian was not satisfied, as he was disgusted by the condition of the once great city, which he knew since childhood. Even worse, they also discovered dozens of mutilated and defiled human corpses, on which the Royal Apothecary Society experimented to create the New Plague; realizing that although the Alliance and Horde agreed to a small truce over the years, the Forsaken had been secretly creating a means to kill them all.

Still seething with rage, Varian marched to the Undercity's throne with blades drawn to confront Thrall. No matter who was truly responsible for the attack at the Wrathgate, he could not trust the Horde, and he believed the world would be a better place without it. He then declared war upon the warchief and his people right then and there, but before a catastrophic battle could unfold, Jaina intervened by freezing the combatants solid and teleporting all Alliance forces out of the Undercity, or both factions would have destroyed each other.

Aftermath

Broll, Varian Wrynn, and Valeera incapacitated by Jaina Proudmoore's freeze spell.

Even if the full-scale war was averted, the Battle for the Undercity still ended the cold-war between the Alliance and the Horde, and tensions boiled during the war against the Lich King. In fact, the factions' armies in Northrend frequently clashed, though only in small, short-lived skirmishes. Meanwhile, in order to ensure that no more Legion-aligned abominations crawled out of the Apothecarium, Thrall sent a legion of Kor'kron Guard led by Bragor Bloodfist to occupy the Undercity, guarding it from threats outside, and from any that may remain within following the Battle for the Undercity.

King Varian's declaration also marked the start of the Alliance-Horde war, which did not actually begin until the Invasion of Gilneas after the Cataclysm.

Years later, during the Fourth War, the Alliance would attack Lordaeron and the Undercity once again in the Battle for Lordaeron.

Units

• Burning Legion

  • Legion Dreadwhisperer
  • Legion Overlord
  • Legion Invader
  • Treacherous Guardian
  • Perfidious Dreadlord
  • Failed Experiment
  • Apothecary Chemist
  • Apothecary Collaborator
  • Plagued Felbeast
  • Blight Spreader
  • Blight Slinger
  • Ravishing Betrayer

• Horde

  • Warsong Battleguards
  • Horde Demolishers
    • Horde Demolitionists

  Alliance

  • Stormwind Elite
  • Alliance Siege Vehicle
  • Alliance Flying Machine

Forces

Alliance

• 1 Warrior
• 1 Archmage
• Adventurers
• Footmen, riflemen and gyrocopter(s)
• 1 Night elf druid
• 1 Blood elven rogue

Horde

• 1 orcish shaman, Far seer and Warchief
• 1 Dark ranger
• Orcish grunts
• Horde Demolishers
• Adventurers
• 1 Shadow Hunter

Burning Legion

• 1 Dreadlord
• 1 Dark Apothecary
• 1 Flesh giant
• 1 Doomlord
• 1 Engorged Blight Worm
• Hundreds of lesser demons and undead

Notes

Dave Kosak on a solo scenario to relive the Battle for the Undercity

It's kind of a bang for the buck thing. Like say we redid Battle for the Undercity - we could do it now with much better tech, right? That's a lot of work, and who would want to go back and play the Battle for the Undercity - we'd almost have to create a heroic so you'd revisit it again. Maybe if we could make a really cool compelling gameplay scenario it might be worth it, to do it as a fun little Caverns of Time thing, but I'd rather spend that time - it's the same resources - doing a current, modern-day scenario that tells you what happened with Sylvanas. I think that's probably more exciting than revisiting old content. We're committed to having these patches come out faster, so we have to be really picky and choosy about where we spend our time, so we can get content to people as fast as possible.