The Story of Arthas (As FORGOTTEN by Steve Danuser) (Patreon)

It’s a day like any other in the Kingdom of Lordaeron. The air is crisp and fresh with a warm breeze filling every home, outside children are playing and the people of Lordaeron go about their daily duties but for our Young Prince this is not just a normal day. It has been months since he started his training as a Paladin and things aren’t going as fast as he would have wanted. The Light just does not seem to answer him as easily as it does any of the other young would-be paladins. In any other Kingdom, with any other name this would not be a problem but in Lordaeron, with the name Menethil, this would be seen a massive indictment against him and his family. The young Arthas trains tirelessly, committed and driven to become the greatest Paladin the Kingdom has ever seen.

In the Kingdom of Lordaeron, the Light is revered, the ruler of Lordaeron has always had a strong connection to the Light, it is after all the Kingdom of Light. Arthas Menethil has no other options, he will need to become a Paladin, he must walk in the footsteps of his ancestors. The problem however is not our young prince’s connection to the light, it is his arrogance, his drive, his own shortcomings that stand in his way. His master and mentor, Uther knows this well and spends much time trying to get our young hero, Would-be king to get out of his own way.

As time went by our Young Prince turned into a fine young man, a fine Paladin, gifted in the ways of the Light, however his arrogance still gets the better of him, his own drive and need to be the best still serves as a hindrance to even greater clarity. His arrogance however does not make him nasty or too good for the common folk, no, quite the contrary, our young prince has spent much of his life traveling his future Kingdom, getting to know his people and falling in love with them. It was HIS people, he would keep them safe, no matter what. Of course, this did not mean that he was too busy to find some, personal time, if you know what I mean. Rumours were abound that our Young Prince had quite the crush on a Fair young maiden, Jaina Proudmoore. They would spend much time together and it is rumoured that she would eventually be the future Queen of Lordaeron. But for our Young Prince, his tranquil life was about to become his worst nightmare for in the North a dark power gathered, a power that would sweep the Kingdom of Lordaeron and test our young Paladin Prince.

The Plague

It’s a dreary cold morning in Lordaeron, breakfast is served while our young prince, now a Paladin under the command of Uther is training as always, honing his skills, still not content with his connection to the Light. Little did our prince know then that his greatest weakness, would become his enemy’s greatest strength. Reports of a terrible plague sweeping Lordaeron has reached the Keep and our young prince is sent to investigate and deal with the origins of this Plague.

This is a plague, the likes of which has never been seen. It kills everyone it comes into the contact with, there is no cure and if that was the whole of it, then that would have been bad enough but sadly, the victims of the plague do not stay dead. They return to the world of the Living as the Walking Dead. Things still get worse however for when a living being is killed by the scourge, they too will return to join the armies of the dead.

Arthas and his men have spent months looking for the Origins of the plague, slaying the living dead and following the trial of death all over Lordaeron, they would eventually learn that the plague is spread by contaminated grain, grain delivered from somewhere or perhaps contaminated within the granaries of the towns. Arthas’s frustration keeps building, it feels like they are constantly two steps behind. Never knowing when the next outbreak will occur and helpless to stop the attacks on their people. How does one fight an invisible enemy? Arthas’s heart is breaking, he truly loves his people, he hates that they are suffering and that there is nothing he can do about it.

The Great Turning Point!

FINALLY! Arthas thought to himself, they had reached a village before the plague have had time to set in, the village of Strathholme still seems quiet and tranquil. Have they finally managed to arrive early enough to catch the culprits before the grain stocks can be contaminated? Is this the break in the case he’s been looking for? “My LORD! MY LORD!” a guard comes running into the command tend where Arthas, Uther and Jaina are planning their next moves, “SPEAK QUICKLY”, Arthas said, stern and frustrated, “MY LORD! Villagers have reported feeling ill, stomach aches and throwing up”

“DAMNIT UTHER! We are too late!” Our young prince now falls into despair, realising that they are once again too late. The infection has already begun and within hours the entire village will be turned into monsters. Arthas spends a long time thinking, trying to come up with a solution, his concerns for his people still in his mind but anger flares up, who is behind this? They must pay for what they had done.

As Uther and Jaina try to come up with a way to cure or help the people of Stratholme, Arthas comes barging in, “THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE MUST BE PURGED!”. “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND ARTHAS”, Uther replies, shocked that Arthas would even think such a thing. Jaina is uneasy, begging Arthas to rethink his decision, a fate so cruel cannot be the only option. “DAMNIT UTHER, as your future King, I order you to PURGE this village”. “You are NOT my King Yet, Boy! Nor would I follow such an order even if you were”! Arthas now clearly frustrated, there is no cure, in a matter of hours the entire village will turn and with every scourge the risks become higher. Arthas knows what he is about to do is horrific, he knows the cruelty of his actions but surely it is a mercy? To spare his people the fate of the plague. Uther and Jaina are blind, they do not see what he sees, they cannot possibly understand what is at stake, it is after all not their Kingdom.

This was the great turning point for our young Prince, in a matter of hours Arthas stood, drenched in the blood of his own people, out of breath, face to face with the one behind the plague. Malganis! Arthas must surely have thought that victory was close at hand, he’s cornered the great Nathrezim and can now finally bring an end to the suffering of his Kingdom, once and for all but what our young prince could not possibly have known is that all of this was by design. The forces he was up against, were far older and far more powerful than even he. They had carefully orchestrated all of this to push our young prince, to lull him into a false sense of victory, the plan was always bigger than what Arthas could ever comprehend. “FIND ME IN NORTHREND” The final words of Malganis before he escaped.

The Journey North

Arthas had made his way to Northrend, he and his men had spent weeks following every clue, hunting the one known only as Malganis, his men were beginning to talk of mutiny, they wanted to go home, they were cold, miserable and their search had yielded no results for the one behind the plague. Arthas is not so easily broken, of course he too misses Lordaeron, he misses he father and his sister, he wonders if Jaina will ever forgive him, but he cannot give up now, he must keep going, if he doesn’t then it means everything, he did was for nothing, his arrogance will not allow him to admit defeat. So, one evening Arthas makes a deal with local mercenaries, they were to burn the boats, so his men would have no option but to keep looking. Keep hunting Malganis.

It was here in Northrend, in a seemingly uninteresting cave, Arthas would eventually find the weapon that would lead to his own demise. "Whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit." A Warning but for Arthas no price was too great. Even Muradin’s warnings fell on deaf ears as Arthas was now more convinced than ever that this blade was to be the salvation of his own people. Not much is known about how the blade operates but from the warning we can surmise that as the blade steals the souls of those it kills it will also consume the soul of the one who wields it. After all, FROSTMOURNE HUNGERS!

This was the beginning of the end of our young prince.

The Great Unknown!

Opinions at this point become split on how much of the actions that followed were the actions of Arthas and how much were the actions of Zovaal, the one behind the creation and power of the blade. Was it Arthas that decided to kill his own father? “What are you doing my son”? “Succeeding you Father”! The words still send chills up and down my spine even now, 20 years later! Was it Arthas that chose to invade the Kingdoms of the Elves and Slaughter Sylvanas Windrunner? Was it Arthas that chose to resurrect the Lich known as Kel’Thuzad? Of this we can merely speculate, in my opinion, from playing Warcraft 3 and watching the physical changes to Arthas and from my understanding of Warcraft lore and now with an understanding of Domination I would say that Arthas at this point was no more than a husk and while not fully dominated by Zovaal or the Lich King, he would have been very open to the suggestions of Frostmourne and the Jailer.

There is much more to the story of Arthas, his return to Northrend one last time, his battle with Illidan at the steps of Icecrown Citadel, how he would eventually become the darkest villain in all of Warcraft lore. We however need not dive into said lore, for it is not what is important, what was and remains important,

Arthas was never the villain, he was never the bad guy, he was a fallen hero, beloved by those who held the franchise dear since its earliest inception. His story is one of tragic betrayal, loneliness and the inevitable fall of a great hero. Dear Mr Danuser, you treated Arthas as if he had no redeeming qualities, you sent him off with words dripping of gleeful cheeriness, glad to be done with his legacy.

For us, the players who grew up, leading the armies of Arthas on the battlefields of Warcraft 3, this was not only a betrayal to a once great hero, but it was also a slap in the face to a man who deserved better, a man who deserved more than a mere 35 anima blob. Arthas was never loathed of despised by the player base, he was loved, he invoked sadness and pity for his fall, yes, we killed him, yes we brought an end to his terrible cruelty but we did so because of who he used to be, who he was and for what he could have been had it not been for your terrible villain, Zovaal!

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