Project Lore

Proverb is a rare yet delicious column discussing the lore of Warcraft. It is spoiler heavy for all Warcraft games, novels, and other media. Comment on this post or send a tweet to @Heartbourne and let us know what you would like to see in future columns!

Thassarian

This week, we take a look at Thassarian, one of the first Death Knights of the Scourge. This article is largely based off of information found in the Death Knight manga, so read only if you comfortable learning spoilers for that book. Thassarian was a soldier of Lordaeron during the Third War. He traveled with Arthas to Northrend to hunt Mal'Ganis. When Arthas and Falric (see previous Proverb) went missing, he went to search for them alone. He discovered Frostmourne Cavern, where he found Falric. Falric, already converted to a Death Knight by Arthas, slew Thassarian, and thus began his unlife as a Death Knight. Thassarian returned to Lordaeron with Arthas and assisted in the massacre of its citizens. Arthas forced him to slay his mother, Vivian, to prove his loyalty. This horrific event continued to haunt him, and it remained perhaps his last scrap of humanity for some time.

Koltira as a Death Knight

Arthas' assault on Quel'thalas introduced Thassarian to the high elves Koltira and his brother, Faltora, at An'owyn, where he pursued the mooncrystal to open the second moongate and proceed with their attack. Thassarian nearly killed Faltora, but, upon remembering his mother, he decided to show a moment of mercy. He returned to Arthas with the mooncrystal that he recovered. Koltira later confronted Thassarian and questioned why he didn't murder his brother, hoping to convince him to regain his humanity. This attempt failed, and Thassarian killed Koltira, who was returned to unlife as another Death Knight. Koltira and Thassarian developed a significant friendship that lasts to this day. Years later, the Lich King ordered his Death Knights under the leadership of Darion Mograine to attack Light's Hope Chapel using the necropolis Acherus with the goal of raising the thousand or so Alliance soliders buried beneath it to bolster the ranks of the Scourge. The attack on Light's Hope Chapel ended with a defeat for the Death Knights. Many of the family of the Death Knights were buried at Light's Hope Chapel, and the spirits of their relatives rose to convince them to lay down their weapons. Thassarian was convinced by his father, Killoren, to stand down. Mograine declared the independence of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Thassarian confronted king Varian Wrynn to accept the Knights of Ebon Blade as allies and to readmit its members as members of the Alliance. Part 2 will be up in the coming days. Additionally, since I use WoWWiki so extensively for my information, I'm beginning to give back to WoWWiki! For articles where I research and find information that WoWWiki lacks, I'm updating it along with the publication of Proverb. I encourage you to help keep WoWWiki up-to-date and informative, as we all use it extensively as a gameplay and lore compendium.