Warlock Lore - Archimonde

[Akasha]

Information Source: WoW Wiki

Archimonde the Defiler was the left hand of the fallen titan, Sargeras. Archimonde was one of the greatest and darkest of the Eredar. His ruthless and cunning personality quickly earned him station and power within the Eredar ranks, until finally he was one of the first among them.

General Information:

Gender: Male
Race: Eredar
Character class: Warlock
Affiliation: Burning Legion, Undead Scourge
Occupation: Legion Field Commander
Status: Vanquished upon Mount Hyjal; Killable (Caverns of Time)
Relatives: Unknown

Origin

Twenty-five thousand years ago, Archimonde was one of the three leaders (the others being Kil'jaeden and Velen) of the Eredar homeworld of Argus contacted by Sargeras and offered immense power in exchange for his loyalty. Archimonde and Kil'jaeden readily accepted the offer, though Velen not only rejected it, but rebelled and fled Argus with his followers to become the Draenei.

The War of the Ancients

Some fifteen thousand years later, when Queen Azshara's reckless magics began to attract the attention of Sargeras, Archimonde and Mannoroth led the catastrophic, destructive invasion. With thousands of demonic servants in their wake, they poured through the portal beneath the Well of Eternity, and were let loose upon the ancient land of Kalimdor, razing every structure and spilling the blood of every creature they came across.

However, a young scholar, Malfurion Stormrage, gathered a small band of night elves, and, with the help of Cenarius' woodland allies and Alexstrasza's mighty dragon flights, they managed to beat back the demonic hordes, and, in a titanic battle, the portal became unstable and collapsed, sundering the world, and banishing Archimonde and his minions back into the burning pits of the Twisting Nether.

The Second Invasion

Preparations

Archimonde brooded for ten thousand years in the dark recesses of the Twisting Nether as they planned for a new invasion. His colleague, Kil'jaeden, found the means through Ner'zhul and, eventually, Gul'dan, on the world of Draenor. With Mannoroth's sinister help, the chieftains of the orcish Hordes were corrupted, and a bloodlust came over them that swept them into a tumultuous frenzy that engulfed their world. The orcs were to be the harbinger of the Legion's return, destroying all they beheld so that none could oppose the Legion. However, after the exodus into Azeroth and Draenor's eventual destruction, the Horde was defeated by the humans of former Arathor and their allies, and the orcs failed in their unholy mission.

However, an old tool was found that could once again be put to use. Ner'zhul, the dark shaman of the Shadowmoon Clan, was sent spiraling with his most faithful disciples into the Twisting Nether after attempting to find new worlds to control, and he was found by Kil'jaeden and the Burning Legion. Over time, he was transformed into the Lich King, an ethereal spirit that controlled the undead Scourge, a force so mighty, that it was expected to succeed where the Horde had failed.

They exceeded expectations.

Archimonde, of course, was to command the Legion's invasion, but he needed the means of getting to Azeroth. Due to his monumental power much more magic was needed to summon him, and he waited until finally he was contacted by Kel'Thuzad the Summoner, who, after stealing the Book of Medivh from Dalaran, began the lengthy summoning process. As he proceeded, the skies were split asunder, and mighty infernals and felhounds were brought to aid the Scourge. Finally, it was completed, and Archimonde was brought into the world of Azeroth.

Wrath of the Legion

Archimonde first placed Tichondrius in charge of the Scourge, saying that there was no longer any need of the Lich King. Unknown to him, the Lich King had been well prepared for this in his greater plan.

Then, Archimonde proceeded to single-handedly destroy the city of Dalaran.

The invasion of Lordaeron continued unabated, the magics of Archimonde summoned hordes of demonic followers, including the diabolical Pit Lord, Mannoroth. Together, they plowed through the nations of Lordaeron, devastating all they beheld. However, Tichondrius soon found that the orcs were missing. The Legion followed them across the sea, where they found not only the orcs but also, the vile night elves who had banished them millennia before. He even met Tyrande, the insolent leader of the Sentinels, who woke the ancient druids, and together, they battled the Legion once again.

The Defiler continued the invasion of Kalimdor ruthlessly, battling on two fronts, against the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde was well as the Sentinels. The Legion suffered a setback when Tichondrius was killed by Illidan, but Archimonde seemed to have little concern, and placed his most loyal Dreadlord, Anetheron in joint command of the Scourge with Rage Winterchill, one of the few trustworthy lichs.

Defiler's End

Archimonde then proceeded with the original objective of the invasion. Under the orders of Kil'jaeden, the mighty demonlord carried out the invasion to attack the World Tree, Nordrassil. By draining the Tree's energies, not only would Archimonde gain untold power, his demonic Legion will also be able to literally tear the world apart. While Archimonde was following the plan proscribed by Sargeras and Kil'jaeden, in truth he desired the powers of the tree to gain godlike powers that could rival those of Sargeras and place him at the head of the Legion. But, Tyrande and Malfurion had allied with Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore, and Archimonde's ascent up Mount Hyjal was agonizingly slow, being forced to destroy every successive base with the help of Azgalor (Mannoroth's successor as leader of the Pit Lords) Rage Winterchill and Anetheron.

With his ascension progressing slowly but surely, Archimonde didn't notice the ancestral spirits that were amassing at the base of the World Tree. And as he slaughtered the mortals and their bases, he went heedlessly to the Tree, and began to climb it to claim his power, completely unaware of the trap that Malfurion had set for him. All he knew was that as he neared the Tree, he was growing in size and power, and he was resolved that nothing would stop him.

As Archimonde climbed, Malfurion raised the Horn of Cenarius and called to the ancestral guardians. They rose from the forest and amassed around Archimonde. They fell upon him, detonating in a massive explosion that destroyed the demon warlock and incinerated the forests around the World Tree; nature herself would not allow his defilement to occur.

Illidan's role in the fall of Archimonde

It is widely believed that Illidan, in consuming the Skull of Gul'dan, assured the defeat of Archimonde, as was mentioned by Kil'jaeden the Deceiver. While it is true that Illidan did aid the night elves for a time, Archimonde would likely still have fallen with or without the half-demon's aid. As stated by Malfurion Stormrage, Archimonde's fall was due his "overconfidence" in his "victory". In thinking that none left alive were able to stand against him, he let his guard down as he approach the World Tree. As a result, instead of taking whatever precautionary measures he should have, he waltzed straight up next to the Tree, where its primal fury could deal the most damage. It should be noted that this, and not the part of Illidan, caused Archimonde's death at the end of the war.

However, one can also say that Illidan had helped secure victory by removing Tichondrius from the equation- the Darkener might have seen the trap that Archimonde missed. Or it is simply that with Tichondrius and his forces in the Felwood, the legion might have pushed through to Hyjal before Furion was able to secure his trap for the demon. Also, it might be possible that if Illidan hadn't destroyed The Skull of Gul'dan that it would have corrupted the forest entirely as well as the Spirits within it, so it could allow Archimonde to claim Nordrassil's power. Also, even if Archimonde was defeated, Tichondrius' forces could push to Nordrassil's, since very little Night Elven, Human, or Orchish forces remained at Mt. Hyjal when Archimonde attempted to destroy the World Tree.

Disturbing Rumors

This article or section includes speculation, unsubstantiated rumors or opinion, and should not be taken as representing official lore!

Malfurion Stormrage has been trapped inside the Emerald Dream now for some time, and has reported in scarce visions to Remulos that there is a great, dark evil trying to consume the realm. Malfurion has remained there to combat the spreading malicious force, and it is whispered in hush tones and chilling reverence that the contagion is actually Archimonde. Some say that the demon had managed to use the power he gained from Nordrassil to leave his physical body and transport himself into the Emerald Dream.

Whether Archimonde is the cause for the Dream's slow decay remains to be seen. However, it is more likely that the Old Gods are the ones responsible for this disruption, as this slow corruption is far more their style than Archimonde's.

World of Warcraft

The Burning Crusade expansion will open the Caverns of Time to players, and one of the events that players will have access to will be the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Some suspect that Archimonde will be a killable raid boss, but this is mere speculation as Blizzard has yet to elaborate on the players' involvement in the battle. If they remain true to the strategy model, players will more likely fight Archimonde's army of undead and demons until the final moments of the battle, when Archimonde will kill the players personally--seeing as how Archimonde doesn't die until he climbs the World Tree and is blown up by the Wisps, it's not really plausible that he can be killed. There could, however, be a situation where the players are not necessarily tasked with killing Archimonde, but are either tasked with holding him off long enough for the wisps to destroy him or preventing the Infinite Dragonflight from preventing Malfurion from sounding the Horn of Cenarius. Hardly an easy task.

One of the realms in World of Warcraft is named after Archimonde.

• See: Realm Names and their place in Warcraft Lore