Deathwing's power came in equal measure from the Titans themselves and the Old Gods who opposed them. From the Titan Khaz'goroth Deathwing was granted the role of Aspect of Earth, lord over the land and all beneath it. From the Old Gods imprisoned within the deep earth, Deathwing gained the strength of a kind of madness, a mania with destroying that which he had been set to guard. Rejecting his nature as Aspect of Earth, he would in time dedicate himself to the death of all things living on the surface of Azeroth.

Even before the Lich King's return, Deathwing was taking steps. His prime consort, Sinestra, used the madness of Illidan to cover her own actions, convincing the Dragonmaw chieftain Mor'ghor to give into her keeping a clutch of Netherwing dragon eggs - essentially the eggs of her own descendents, as the Netherwing were born from black dragon eggs Deathwing left behind on Draenor before it was destroyed, exposing the eggs to the raw chaotic magic of the Twisting Nether.In turn, after Sinestra's experiments on the eggs in Grim Batol failed, Deathwing transported a clutch to the Obsidian Sanctim - these dragons were destroyed by the same adventurers who would ultimately kill Malygos. Yet these were hardly the only such eggs warped by Deathwing - a raid on the Ruby Sanctum would reveal that Twilight Dragons now served Deathwing, born from his experiments on the Nether eggs.

All of this was merely preamble. While the situation in Northrend died down following Arthas' death and the secret elevation of the new Lich King, the world had no time to rest. Deathwing had rested in Deepholm since his defeat by the other aspects. Now, he would rest no longer.

Before Deathwing's return, the elementals of Azeroth began to seethe in upheaval. To some degree this was a kind of panic, as they knew the fury and madness that had seeped into the Destroyer during his time in convalescence, how the rising of the Old Gods had further warped his form and increased his power. With Algalon stopped and the re-origination of Azeroth halted, there was seemingly no force left to check Deathwing's madness. Worse still, Cho'gall the ogre magi (once a servant of Gul'dan) led his Twilight's Hammer in fomenting still more chaos by reaching out to figures such as Princess Theradras, Prince Sarsarun and Grand Ambassador Flamelash. This led to afull-scale assault on major cities throughout the world as Cho'gall's Twilight's Hammer cult placed artifacts to summon waves of elementals to the attack. In the end, the heroes of Azeroth rallied to defend their people, but all of this was merely prelude.

As devastating as Deathwing's return was, the after effects of his destructive entrance created tensions beyond his existence. The Horde saw Thrall, Warchief since the passing of Orgrim Doomhammer and effectively the leader who created the Horde as it exists today, decide that the elements in turmoil required him to be a shaman first and foremost. He entrusted the Horde to Garrosh Hellscream, who had led the Horde to victory in Northrend, and took himself back to Nagrand in Outland to complete his training. While there, he met Aggra - their personalities would often clash as she challenged every assumption he'd made about himself, his life and his adopted world, down to the name he'd kept. This one decision would shape the world to come in ways Thralldid not anticipate, just as the crisis Deathwing had created had.

Deathwing's eruption from Deepholm destroyed the World Pillar, causing Azeroth and Deepholm tobegin collapsing into one another. It created volcanic eruptions and tidal waves, carved channels into the land and moved islands. The Maelstrom, site of the impact, now yawned open like a great vortex between Deepholm and Azeroth, dragging the other elemental planes out of their normal alignments and threatening to bring them crashing into Azeroth. Below the waves, a rift to the Abyssal Maw formed, making invasion of Neptulon's realm a possibility. The Barrens was ripped inhalf by lava flows. The Aspect of Death even arrived in Stormwind itself, smashing and burning thepark district, landing at the city's gates to melt stone and topple the monuments of mankind before departing as swiftly as he came. Throughout Azeroth, these changes and more created starvation

and panic. The Alliance kingdoms were still strained from the staggering expense of the conflict with the Lich King, and each had their own internal problems as well. They were unprepared for what would come next.

Led by its new Warchief, the Horde decided the solution to its long-standing problems of supply and the new problems created by Deathwing's destructive wake was a simple solution, the same solution used by Blackhand the Destroyer and Gul'dan when faced with a Draenor that could no longer support them (although in that case, it was the fault of Gul'dan and his warlocks and their fel magic rendering the world sterile) - Garrosh Hellscream's Horde would take what it could not grow or trade for, and soon the Horde was invading Alliance territories in Ashenvale, completely conquering Azshara, waging open war in Stonetalon and the Barrens and seeking a new foothold in the Eastern Kingdoms. Putting pressure on Sylvanas Windrunner (who was already in a weak position after Varimathras' attempted coup and Putress' using the plague on Horde troops at the Wrathgate) he demanded that the Forsaken push south into Gilneas and conquer it in the name of the Horde, and the breaching of the Greymane Wall handed her the opportunity to do so. Soon Forsaken ships were delivering undead soldiers to the new coastline of the isolated nation.

For its part, Gilneas had been dealing with a problem created by its attempt to survive the Second War while maintaining its isolation. The Gilnean Archmage Arugal had summoned worgen from their imprisonment to fight off the Scourge, but now the worgen themselves were a plague spreading through Gilnean society - secretly, even their king himself, Genn Greymane, had been infected. They attempted to resist Sylvanas' invasion while also discovering the roots of the worgen curse and its ties to night elf druids - a tradition still somewhat manifest in Gilneas as 'the old religion' - and in the end, disaster piled onto disaster until Gilneas could hold no more. In repulsing the initial attack on Gilneas City, Prince Liam Greymane paid the ultimate price for his people - andin the end, all his people could do was to board ships and flee their homeland. Bedraggled, the Gilneans (those with and those without the worgen affliction) were forced to make new homes elsewhere, as their nation in exile joined the ranks of the Alliance.

The Horde wasn't without allies in this period. Deathwing's destruction reached even the Isle of Kezan, where the Bilgewater Cartel had been going about business as usual, digging up the Kajamite mineral from deep below the earth and consuming it in a soft drink to boost their intelligence. This was completely safe and in no way connected to the Old Gods, and it's a completecoincidence that Deathwing himself appeared in their harbor to announce the arrival of the Hour of Twilight, followed by a volcanic eruption. Trade Prince Gallywix would also like to let you know that while he did charge his own people to allow them to evacuate the island, and he did find them prospective employment as permanently indentured servants (because slavery is such an ugly word)he really had their best interests at heart, and it absolutely was not necessary for one of his own people to join forces with Thrall himself (captured by SI:7 agents, no less) and force the Bilgewater to join the Horde. Still, it's what happened, and so the Horde found itself with new goblin technology (invented by goblins buzzing on Kaja-Cola and its strangely enlightening effects) to use as Hellscream continued his goal of expansion.

The stage was set for conflict between the factions - battles were waged across the world, and all Deathwing had to do was sit back and watch as the Horde deployed an enormous bomb in Stonetalon (leading Garrosh Hellscream to dispatch Overlord Krom'gar, the orc who used the weapon on a fairly harmless school for druids in the area, without authorization) and pushed forward into Ashenvale, seizing Silverwind Refuge and firebombing Astranaar. The Alliance response was confused and divided, as each faction dealt with its own issues - the night elves with the destruction of large swaths of Darkshore by the elements and a plan by Queen Azshara intended to distract them from Hyjal, the dwarves with the upheaval in their society when King Magni Bronzebeard attempted a Titan ritual from Ulduar that transformed him into diamond, leaving him

fused to the very rock beneath Ironforge and necessitating the formation of a new ruling council consisting of each dwarven clan, the humans with the poverty and famine caused by the war in Northrend and the unrest in Westfall created behind the scenes by Vanessa VanCleef and her new Defias Brotherhood.

Vanessa's hate was born in seeing her father's death, and she adroitly used the turmoil of a Westfall that had already been feeling the strain of the war in Northrend, with its defenders gone off to fight and its economy depressed (admittedly, by the original Defias, but only exacerbated by the war) before Deathwing's act made matters far, far worse. Starvation bred outrage, and she made good useof that outrage to burn Sentinel Hill and build a new Brotherhood. It was a distraction Stormwind could scarcely afford, but ignoring her was impossible. She sat on a fortified base with a city-destroying ironclad at her disposal - she had to be dealt with.

The chaos served Deathwing and his Twilight's Hammer well. The Old Gods, seeing a chance to bring their ancient goal at last to its ultimate conclusion, spoke directly to Cho'gall, driving the ogre mage to new heights of madness while warping and twisting his form yet further - he spoke of a new world order while appearing in the arena at Dire Maul to recruit the Gordok ogres to his side. Everything would collapse in ruin and destruction, and that itself would be a form of purification - abaptism in madness. Deathwing added to the chaos by finally making his first direct moves since his appearance, traveling to Mount Hyjal and releasing the ancient Firelord, Ragnaros, to despoil and destroy the very World Tree itself.

Next week, Deathwing's web of alliances reveals itself - the naga lay siege to Neptulon's Abyssal Maw, Al'Akir shows his true allegiance, and the forces of Azeroth begin the long work of ridding their world of Xaxas, he who brings death on black wings. And Garrosh Hellscream invites a dragon to get off his ship. And Lord Godfrey kills Sylvanas (she got better).

Back story you should know

Way back when Azeroth was first created, there were these terribly nasty creatures of chaos called Old Gods, who thought the best thing in the world would be if the world ended for good. They loved chaos, and so did the elements of the world, so the Old Gods assigned four elemental lieutenants to help them out with the whole chaos movement -- Ragnaros, Therazane, Al'Akir and Neptulon. However, the Titans that created the world were understandably against the whole chaos thing, so they locked the Old Gods deep within the earth and out of the way and banished the elemental lieutenants to the elemental planes.

Then the Titans created five dragon Aspects -- Nozdormu the bronze, Alexstrasza the red, Ysera the green, Malygos the blue, and Neltharion the black. Each Aspect was assigned to watch over a certain part of the world and make sure everything stayed dandy. This would have been great, except that Neltharion was assigned to watch over the deep caverns of the earth -- you know, where those Old Gods were imprisoned.

The Old Gods decided having a long chat with Neltharion was an excellent idea and soon had him convinced that the rest of the Aspects were working against him. Oh, and also that he was the best dragon ever and should rule the world and all things on it. To that end, Neltharion created an object known as the Dragon Soul and took it to the other Aspects, lying through his teeth about what it wasreally for and convincing the other flights of dragons to put some of their essence into the little glowing disc for the good of all. Except it wasn't very good, and once Neltharion got everyone's power, he used the Dragon Soul to try and take over the world.

It didn't work, and his plans were foiled by a bunch of night elves, including Malfurion Stormrage --

yes, the current leader of the night elves. He is old, guys, really old. The remaining Aspects changedthe properties of the disc so that Neltharion, now called Deathwing, couldn't use it anymore and hid it away in the middle of nowhere where Deathwing would never, ever, find it. Except he did, thousands of years later.

He couldn't use the Dragon Soul -- but hey, he certainly could use other people like puppets and make them use the Dragon Soul. This evil scheme was also foiled, the Dragon Soul was destroyed, and all four remaining Aspects started beating the heck out of Deathwing, who managed to escape and go bide his time in Deepholm, an elemental plane devoted to earth. Deathwing was angry. Very,very angry. But he was also too weak to do anything about it at the time.

The world goes boom

Flash forward to present-day Azeroth. Deathwing regained enough strength in Deepholm to finally make another bid for global domination -- or rather, global destruction. Deathwing was actually trying to bring about a mysterious event known as the Hour of Twilight -- basically, the end to all creation. To that end, he created the Twilight Dragonflight, or rather, he used Sinestra, a former consort of his, as an unwitting puppet and had her create the Twilight Dragonflight.

The time was right; the world was lulled into a false sense of security after the Lich King's defeat. So Deathwing tore through the elemental plane of Deepholm and into Azeroth, causing earthquakes,tornadoes, mass destruction, and basically the kind of chaos that the Old Gods really, really enjoy. Thus, the Shattering.

Deathwing was out, but he still had to go about making that Hour of Twilight come to pass, so he reanimated the corpse of his son, Nefarian, and sent him to Blackwing Descent to start manufacturing more of his crazy creations. Nefarian decided the best way to start this would be by reanimating his dead sister Onyxia. As added insurance, Deathwing reanimated the corpse of Sinestra, who had perished at the hands of one of her Twilight children, and set her with the task of making Twilight babies. Lots and lots and lots of babies. To make sure she remained undisturbed, he had Cho'gall, the ogre leader of the Twilight Cult that also served the Old Gods, build the Bastion of Twilight right on top of Sinestra's lair and set him with the task of protecting and cultivating all those lovely little Twilight babies.

With that out of the way, Deathwing decided to pay a visit to some old friends of the Old Gods -- the elemental lieutenants from so long ago. Al'Akir, the lord of air, decided joining the cause of the Old Gods was an excellent idea. Ragnaros was all too happy to join in on the pain train, given that he'd spent countless years trying to get back to the real world and destroy it. Therazane was stuck inDeepholm and thus out of the equation -- and she had her own problems to worry about, because Deathwing's sudden departure from Deepholm ripped the plane apart and she was trying to put the place back in some sort of semblance of order again.

The only one left was Neptulon, but he wasn't terribly keen on working for his former boss. Deathwing, being a dragon, wasn't exactly the best choice for heading underwater. So the Old Gods decided instead to send the naga after Neptulon. The naga were fine with this, seeing as how the Old Gods were the ones that created them in the first place, from a bunch of almost-drowned night elves back in the days when Deathwing first went cuckoo. And the Old Gods were only too happy to send their servants to help the naga along with the task.

Meanwhile in Azeroth

While Deathwing was busy arranging the end of days, the rest of Azeroth was busy, too. The

elements of the world were understandably distressed by the oncoming approach of Deathwing's escape from Deepholm. Thrall, leader of the Horde and a pretty good shaman to boot, decided that he probably ought to do something about the situation, so he headed to Outland to figure out what was going on by chatting with the elements out there. These elements had already been through one pretty amazing crisis when Draenor exploded and created what we know as Outland. While he was in Nagrand, Thrall met a prickly orc woman named Aggra, who was assigned to train him in shaman duties and wasn't particularly happy about it. Over the course of Thrall's training, he and Aggra reached an understanding that blossomed into romance. Aww.

But the Horde wasn't left without a leader. Thrall appointed Garrosh Hellscream as Warchief in his absence. And when the world went kaboom, Garrosh decided this was a sign that the Horde should happily go about grabbing as much land as possible and killing any Alliance that stood in the way. This did not go over very well with the Alliance, but it also didn't go over very well with the other Horde leaders, either.

Thrall returned to Azeroth, but since Deepholm was threatening to collapse and threatening to take Azeroth with it via the Maelstrom, he decided to join up with the Earthen Ring, a neutral organization, and help out at the Maelstrom. His ship was intercepted on the way by a secret Alliance organization and also caught in the attack was a goblin ship. The goblin ship was fleeing the island of Kezan, which detonated pretty spectacularly when Deathwing broke through the world. Long story short -- the goblins saved Thrall, Thrall helped the goblins, and then Thrall decided to invite the goblins to the Horde, which they happily agreed to.

In the Eastern Kingdoms, the earthquakes from Deathwing's emergence had knocked over the Greymane Wall, letting the Forsaken make a move to eradicate the Gilneans and take over the port town as part of Garrosh's land grab efforts. But Gilneas had a dark secret -- its people had been all but taken over by the curse of the worgen that transformed their population into a bunch of werewolves. This curse actually started with a group of night elf druids from a very, very long time ago. The night elves of present day, aware of what they'd accidentally done to Gilneas via the worgen curse, took the survivors of Gilneas to their home in Kalimdor, and later, the Gilneans joined the Alliance.

Why you've been doing what you're doing

In short, Deathwing shattered the world, and the Horde decided to take advantage of this, escalatingthe Horde-Alliance conflict in a major way. But there was more going on than just that. As heroes ofAzeroth, it is your duty to travel to the various areas of the world and try to set right what Deathwing has put wrong and try to stop Deathwing from getting that whole Hour of Twilight thing set into motion.

• Hyjal In Hyjal, Ragnaros is making his return known and trying to take over the place and

get his hands on the Well of Eternity, a source of amazing amounts of power. All that power would be totally fantastic for the Old Gods, who could totally use it to blow things up and wreak havoc in general.

• Vash'jir In Vash'jir, the naga and their friends, the servants of the Old Gods, are trying really

hard to take Neptulon down. It's obvious Neptulon would rather not join up with the Old Gods, but if he won't gladly give his cooperation, the naga will happily find some other way to get it by whatever means necessary.

• Uldum In Uldum, Al'Akir has sided with Deathwing, and the native Tol'vir are suffering

because of it. Some Tol'vir have sided with Al'Akir, and others have not -- and the two

factions are warring with each other over it. On top of that, Uldum is a former Titan facility that holds the device the Titans left in place to blow up the world -- you know, just in case the world got totally out of control. Since Deathwing would like very much to end the worldas we know it, he's pretty keen on getting that device.

• Deepholm The thing that kept Azeroth and the elemental plane from collapsing together and

blowing up is the World Pillar. Deathwing broke it when he burst out of Deepholm. You've got to put it back together, or the world is going to fall apart. ...sensing a theme, here?

• Twilight Highlands In the Twilight Highlands, the Twilight Cult, servants of the Old Gods

and Deathwing, have been staging an uprising of sorts. The Red Dragonflight is trying to fight back, as well as the Earthen Ring and others -- but the Twilight Cult has help, namely the giant servant of the Old Gods called Iso'rath, which has burst through the world and is threatening the surrounding land.

Once the heroes of Azeroth have addressed these issues, they move on to various dungeons in these zones to continue helping out. And after that ... Well, they have to nip the problem in the bud by traveling to different raid instances.

• Throne of the Four Winds Al'Akir can't be allowed to live, not if he's going to ally with the

Old Gods and with Deathwing. It's up to the heroes of Azeroth to take him down and preventany further meddling with the Titan stronghold of Uldum. But the only way to really kill Al'Akir is to kill him in the elemental plane of air -- the Throne of the Four Winds.

• Blackwing Descent Nefarian's been creating a host of horrors to help with Deathwing's

cause. His research and his experiments must be halted, so Deathwing has fewer minions to work with.

• Bastion of Twilight Speaking of minions, that pesky Twilight Cult needs to be nipped in the

bud, too. The fewer allies Deathwing has alive, the better -- so cutting down Cho'gall, the leader of the organization, is an excellent place to start with that. And while you're there, getting rid of Sinestra and halting the production of any more Twilight Dragons would also be an excellent idea.

And now you know why we were wandering the world, what these new zones were for, and why those first-tier raids had to happen. Next week, we'll move on to the rest of Cataclysm and summarize all that confusing time travel in a way that won't make your head spin. I promise!