Archimonde

Archimonde the Defiler is an eredar demon lord and the field commander of the Burning Legion, second only to Sargeras. He led the Legion's first invasion of Azeroth during the War of the Ancients and returned ten thousand years later at the end of the Third War, when he destroyed Dalaran and marched on the World Tree at Mount Hyjal. His defeat there, by an alliance of orcs, humans and night elves, is the event that shapes the world of the original World of Warcraft. Several Classic quests look back on it, and the land around the battlefield was still closed to players in patch 1.12.

Biography

Lord of Argus

Archimonde was one of the three leaders of the eredar on the world Argus, ruling alongside Kil'jaeden and Velen. As a young sorcerer he betrayed and beheaded his own master, Thal'kiel, and kept the gilded skull as a trophy. When Sargeras came to Argus offering knowledge and power, Archimonde was the first to accept. Velen refused and fled, and his followers became the draenei. Kil'jaeden became the Legion's schemer and recruiter; Archimonde became its general, leading the armies that burned world after world.

The War of the Ancients

Ten thousand years before World of Warcraft, Queen Azshara's Highborne opened a portal through the Well of Eternity. Archimonde, the pit lord Mannoroth and Hakkar the Houndmaster led the demons through it into ancient Kalimdor. Archimonde killed the demigod Malorne, the great white stag. The night elves, Cenarius and the dragonflights pushed the invasion back, and the destruction of the portal caused The Sundering and threw Archimonde back into the Twisting Nether.

The Third War

The Legion's next plan used the Scourge. After Arthas Menethil and Kel'Thuzad stormed Dalaran, killed Archmage Antonidas and stole the Book of Medivh, Kel'Thuzad performed the ritual that summoned Archimonde into the world. Archimonde's first act was a demonstration: he destroyed the city of Dalaran by himself.

He then followed the orcs across the sea to Kalimdor. Mannoroth corrupted Grom Hellscream and the Warsong clan, who killed Cenarius, before Grom broke free and killed Mannoroth. Archimonde set his sights on Nordrassil, the World Tree on Mount Hyjal, intending to drain the power of the second Well of Eternity beneath it.

At the urging of the prophet Medivh, Thrall, Jaina Proudmoore, Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind set aside their old wars and fortified the mountain. Archimonde overran Jaina's base, then Thrall's, then the night elves', and began to climb the World Tree. Malfurion blew the Horn of Cenarius, and thousands of wisps swarmed the demon lord and detonated, destroying him and burning the tree. Only his bones remained.

In World of Warcraft

Archimonde is dead by the time World of Warcraft begins, but his defeat is part of the shared history of both factions.

The aftermath in quest text

• In Vanquish the Betrayers, an orc in Durotar complains that the humans of Kul Tiras have broken the pact that Thrall made with Jaina "in order to defeat Archimonde".
• Night elf players start the Crown of the Earth chain in Teldrassil by learning that Nordrassil is a pale shadow of itself, its power spent to defeat Archimonde and drive back the Legion. That loss is why the night elves grew a new World Tree and why they are no longer immortal.
• In An Introduction, the spirits of Ancients explain that their physical forms were destroyed when Archimonde marched on Hyjal.

Mount Hyjal

Hyjal, the mountain between Felwood and Winterspring, exists in the Classic world files but is closed to players. Players who found their way into the unfinished zone could see the colossal skeleton of Archimonde lying below the burned World Tree.

Dalaran and Ashenvale

The ruins of the city he destroyed sit in the Alterac Mountains, covered by a violet dome of magic. In Ashenvale, Demon Fall Canyon marks where Grom Hellscream killed Mannoroth, one of Archimonde's lieutenants in both invasions.

Later history

Players fought Archimonde in The Burning Crusade's Battle for Mount Hyjal raid (patch 2.1), which takes place inside the Caverns of Time: the bronze dragonflight sends adventurers back to defend the mountain's bases while history plays out, and Archimonde is the final boss. In Warlords of Draenor, an alternate-universe Archimonde led the Legion's assault on the alternate Draenor and was killed for good in the Twisting Nether as the final boss of Hellfire Citadel.

In World of Warcraft: Forever, Mount Hyjal is one of the new zones Blizzard has announced, and a raid called Hyjal Summit is on the launch roadmap, scheduled to unlock on December 9, 2026. Blizzard has not said which bosses it contains.

Trivia

• His name is an anagram of "archdemon" with an extra "i".
• He was voiced by David Lodge in both Warcraft III and World of Warcraft.
• The Battle for Mount Hyjal raid includes Archimonde's lieutenants from Warcraft III, Rage Winterchill and Anetheron, as earlier bosses.

Sources

• Archimonde - Warcraft Wiki
• World of Warcraft: Forever - Warcraft Wiki