Sign inSylvanas Windrunner
Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, the Banshee Queen, is the leader of the Forsaken: undead who broke free of the Lich King and made a kingdom of their own in the ruins of Lordaeron. Once the Ranger-General of the high elves, she was killed and raised by Arthas Menethil, and her hatred of the Scourge drives everything the Forsaken do. In Classic she rules from the Royal Quarter of the Undercity as the Horde's undead faction leader.
Biography
Ranger-General
Sylvanas was born into the Windrunner family of Quel'Thalas, sister to Alleria and Vereesa, and rose to command the Farstriders, the rangers who guarded the elven kingdom. During the Third War, Arthas Menethil led the Scourge north to Quel'Thalas to use the Sunwell to raise Kel'Thuzad. Sylvanas fought him at every gate and bridge, but the elves could not hold. When Arthas finally cut her down, he refused her a clean death. He tore her spirit from her body and bound it as a banshee, a wailing undead spirit, to serve the Scourge.
Breaking free
After the Lich King's power began to fail, the Scourge's control over many of its undead slipped. Sylvanas found her own will again and gathered others who had broken free. Three dreadlords of the Burning Legion, Varimathras, Balnazzar and Detheroc, tried to win her to their side for their own plans in Lordaeron. She refused, and in the fighting that followed she bent Varimathras to her service and defeated the other two. Her followers called themselves The Forsaken, and they made their home in the catacombs under the ruined Capital City, which became the Undercity.
To survive among the living, the Forsaken needed allies. Sylvanas sent envoys to Thrall, and with the support of the tauren the Horde accepted them. For Sylvanas the alliance was practical: the Horde gave the Forsaken protection, and the Forsaken gave the Horde a foothold in the Eastern Kingdoms.
In World of Warcraft
Sylvanas stands in the Royal Quarter at the heart of Undercity, with Varimathras at her side. She is a level 63 boss and one of the faction leaders that Alliance raids fight through the Undercity to reach.
The Forsaken storyline in Classic is built around her goals. In the starting zone of Tirisfal Glades, her servants explain that the Dark Lady freed them, and players soon meet the Royal Apothecary Society, which works on a new plague meant to destroy the Scourge. Her Deathstalkers, the Forsaken spy service, watch the humans of Silverpine and the Syndicate in Alterac.
Quests
| Quest | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Arugal Must Die | 27 | Dalar Dawnweaver sends players into Shadowfang Keep to kill Arugal, so Silverpine can be held for the Dark Lady; reward includes the [Seal of Sylvanas] |
| The Champion of the Banshee Queen | 56 | Sylvanas sends players to her first champion, Nathanos Blightcaller, at the Marris Stead in the Eastern Plaguelands |
The second quest starts Nathanos's long Eastern Plaguelands chain, which leads Horde players against the Scarlet Crusade and into Stratholme.
Later history
- In Wrath of the Lich King, Varimathras and the Royal Apothecary Society turned on her during the Battle for the Undercity. Sylvanas and Thrall retook the city together.
- In Cataclysm she used the Val'kyr to raise new Forsaken in the war for Gilneas.
- In Legion, the dying Vol'jin named her Warchief of the Horde. In Battle for Azeroth she started the war on the night elves and burned Teldrassil, then later abandoned the Horde after Varok Saurfang challenged her.
- In Shadowlands she was revealed as an ally of the Jailer. She later turned against him and was given a long penance for her crimes.
Trivia
- Sylvanas first appeared in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002), and her rise as the Banshee Queen is part of The Frozen Throne's undead campaign.
- Patch 1.7 strengthened all faction leaders, including Sylvanas.
- Her loyal champion Nathanos Blightcaller was once a living human ranger, Nathanos Marris, the only human she ever trained as a ranger lord.
Sources
Categories: Characters
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