Tyrande Whisperwind

Tyrande Whisperwind is the High Priestess of Elune, the moon goddess of the night elves, and the leader of the night elf people in Classic. She has led the Sentinels, the night elves' army, for some ten thousand years, since the War of the Ancients. In Classic she rules from the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus while her beloved, Malfurion Stormrage, is lost in the Emerald Dream.

Biography

Tyrande grew up in the ancient night elf empire alongside the twin brothers Malfurion and Illidan Stormrage, both of whom loved her. As a young novice priestess she fought in the War of the Ancients, when Queen Azshara's Highborne opened the way for the Burning Legion. She chose Malfurion over Illidan. When the war ended and the Well of Eternity imploded in The Sundering, she became High Priestess and took command of the Sentinels.

While Malfurion and his druids slept in the Emerald Dream for long stretches, Tyrande and her priestesses watched over Kalimdor. One story from those years explains the bond between the night elves and the frostsabers of Winterspring: about 4,000 years ago, Tyrande saved the frostsaber queen from rampaging giants, and the great cats have been night elf allies ever since.

During the Third War, the Scourge and the Burning Legion reached Ashenvale. Tyrande awakened Malfurion and the sleeping druids, freed Illidan from the prison where he had been held since the War of the Ancients, and fought beside Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore at Mount Hyjal until Archimonde was destroyed. Afterward, the night elves lost their immortality, Malfurion vanished into the Dream again, and Archdruid Fandral Staghelm led the planting of Teldrassil and the city of Darnassus on it. The original game manual describes Tyrande and Fandral as clashing often over how the night elves should be led.

In World of Warcraft

Tyrande Whisperwind stands in the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus, beside the temple's moonwell. She is a level 63 boss with 533,000 health. Her title in game is "High Priestess of Elune."

Quests

Tyrande also shapes the night elf quests she does not give. In Winterspring, the frostsaber trainer Rivern Frostwind tells her story in Rampaging Giants before asking players to thin out the same Frostmaul giants.

The Scepter of the Shifting Sands

Tyrande matters most in the quest line that opens Ahn'Qiraj, added in patch 1.9. In the Sunken Temple, Malfurion Stormrage appears through the Emerald Dream and starts [[forever:quest:8733]]. He warns players that Fandral must not learn of the plan, and his agent outside Darnassus passes word to Tyrande instead in [[forever:quest:8734]].

The branch ends in Moonglade with [[forever:quest:8736]]. Keeper Keeper Remulos summons the corrupted green dragon Eranikus, and players must keep the dragon from destroying Nighthaven without killing him, holding out until Tyrande arrives with her priestesses to cleanse him. The reward is the green scepter shard, one of the three pieces of [[forever:item:21175]].

Later history

• Cataclysm (2010). Tyrande helps bring Malfurion back from the Dream, and the two finally marry.
• Battle for Azeroth (2018). The Horde under Sylvanas Windrunner burns Teldrassil. Tyrande performs a forbidden ritual to become the Night Warrior, an avatar of Elune's vengeance, and later kills Sylvanas's champion Nathanos Blightcaller.
• Shadowlands (2020). She pursues Sylvanas into the afterlife, then chooses to give up vengeance rather than let the Night Warrior's power kill her.

Trivia

• Tyrande's frostsaber companion from the War of the Ancients is named Ash'alah.
• Shandris Feathermoon, the Sentinel general at Feathermoon Stronghold in Feralas (Shandris Feathermoon), is Tyrande's adopted daughter.

Sources

• Tyrande Whisperwind - Warcraft Wiki
• The Nightmare Manifests - Warcraft Wiki
• Rampaging Giants - Warcraft Wiki