Thros, the Blighted Lands

For the quest, see  [50] Thros, the Blighted Lands.

Thros, the Blighted Lands
Type	Realm
Races	Drust  Human
Ruler(s)	Gorak Tul †
Location	Emerald Dream

Thros, the Blighted Lands is a part of the Emerald Dream located at a unique confluence of Void and Death. A twisted land of decay, it has been the home of the Drust ever since their war with the first Kul Tirans. This realm is also inhabited by strange fiends. The great tree Gol Inath in Drustvar serves as an entrance to Thros. It can also be accessed through the island of Fate's End or through magical rituals.

History

Thros and the Drust

Map of the section of Thros seen in the quest Thros, the Blighted Lands.

The ancient Drust originally practiced druidism. When humans began to settle Kul Tiras and the region of Drustvar, the Drust king Gorak Tul twisted the old ways in favor of Death magic originating from Thros, a part of the Emerald Dream, alternatively described as an offshoot of the Emerald Nightmare. The Drust called it Thros as they were not aware of what the Nightmare was. While Sef Iwen's Thornspeakers left Drust society and found peace with the humans, Gorak Tul led the majority of the Drust to war against the newcomers. The Waycrests ultimately killed Tul and wiped out his Drust, who went to Thros rather than to the Shadowlands when they fell in battle. Cursed to exist outside the cycle of Life and Death, they made the Blighted Lands their new home and spent the next few millennia honing their dark magic and uncovering terrible secrets as they waited for an opportunity to reemerge on Azeroth and exact revenge on the humans.

Battle for Azeroth

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

Gorak Tul, trapped within the Blighted Lands, bided his time, waiting for an opportunity to exact his revenge. After countless years, he recently corrupted the House Waycrest, the seat of power of Drustvar, and Lady Waycrest formed a group of witches known as the Heartsbane Coven. Gorak Tul and his new followers then feverishly conspired to release him from prison.

By the time of the Fourth War, the Heartsbane conducted a ritual at the great tree, Gol Inath. The spirits of the Drust were summoned in the physical world and were given bodies to inhabit through wicker constructs. They were however defeated by Inquisitors from the revived Order of Embers, and Gorak Tul was pushed back. Later, Lady Waycrest provided herself the means to his return in Waycrest Manor, which was built above ancient Drust ruins. Gorak Tul re-entered the physical world through the Rupture under the manor, but he was pushed back once more, his spirit still residing within Thros.

Unbeknownst to Katherine Proudmoore, her daughter Jaina Proudmoore had been sent off to the island of Fate's End as punishment, which none returned from due to being pulled into the Blighted Lands. Together with an Alliance emissary, Katherine later ventured into Thros, where Ulfar said Gorak Tul was most vulnerable. While in the realm, they came across five dead captives on the road; Katherine took this as evidence that the Drust were not interested in keeping their prisoners alive. They saved Jaina and defeated Gorak Tul within his own realm, after which Jaina teleported everyone back into the physical world.

Shadowlands

This section concerns content related to Shadowlands.

A Maw of Thros in Ardenweald.

During the war against the Jailer, the Drust invaded from Thros into Ardenweald in the Shadowlands. They sought to use Ardenweald's power of rebirth to free themselves from Thros. The Winter Queen subsequently led a counter-attack to reclaim the Grove of Awakening, which ended with Gorak Zhar's death, and the Drust pushed out of her realm.

NPCs

This section concerns content related to Battle for Azeroth.

• Named

  • Gorak Tul
  • Lady Jaina Proudmoore
  • Katherine Proudmoore

  Mobs

  • Blighted Haunter
  • Blighted Deciever
  • Blighted Malice
  • Servant of Thros

• Visions

  • Young Jaina
  • Daelin Proudmoore
  • Rhonin
  • King Varian Wrynn
  • Kirin Tor Invoker
  • Kul Tiran Captive
  • Theramore Citizen

Notes

• The Drust created prisons for later use of souls in their dark rituals, during which time the soul would suffer within Thros, and become a twisted version of what it once had been.
• Thros looks like an otherworldly version of Drustvar, reusing the same map, even though the players are limited to the Crimson Forest area. The  [20-60] The Murderous Matron quest in Elderstone Mine also features the same visual effect as when in Thros, which along with the presence of Drust fiends might imply that the mine was temporarily plunged into the Blighted Lands.
• When Blizzard's artists were brainstorming concepts for Thros during the development of Battle for Azeroth, one ideas was to depict the realm as a celestial treescape in permanent nighttime with stars located on the underside of the tree canopies. This concept later helped inspire the zone of Ardenweald in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.
• At BlizzCon 2017, it was stated that Thros was where the Drust retreated after their defeat. After their death, the Drust would live on as spirits, trying to return to the physical world. In the final version of the game, however, the relationship between the Drust and Thros is more one-sided. While the Drust still liberally use Thros' powers and hold it as a seat of uncontested power, they are unable to leave it freely, as Gorak Tul was forced to break free of Thros through his corruption of Lady Waycrest.
• Braedan Whitewall seems to have been corrupted by Thros.

Speculation

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

Gorak Tul perverted the druidic rituals of the Drust and set them upon the path of death and domination, wherein the term domination has been used in the context of the Maw. Thros has since been stated to be an intersection of the Nightmare and Ardenweald, but perhaps also connects to the Maw.

Patch changes

• Patch 8.0.1 (2018-07-17): Added.
  

External links

• Wowhead
• WoWDB
• Wago