Arthas kills Antonidas and takes Medivh’s spellbook in Dalaran

Full History

Arthas killed Archmage Antonidas during the Scourge assault on Dalaran and seized Medivh's spellbook. Kel'Thuzad required the book for the summoning of Archimonde, and the city's learned defenders could not prevent its capture. The fall of the old archmage removed one of humanity's most powerful magical leaders during the Third War.

Dalaran had long served as a place where human mages studied and governed the dangerous practice of arcane magic. The Kirin Tor's scholars understood threats from dark spellcraft, but the Scourge now brought an army of undead against the city itself. Arthas had already devastated Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas; the campaign against Dalaran joined those conquests into a plan for bringing the Burning Legion into Azeroth. Antonidas fought to protect more than a library: the integrity of an institution that had shaped human magical history.

The spellbook's loss allowed Kel'Thuzad to complete a summoning with consequences far beyond the city. Archimonde soon entered the world and demonstrated his power by destroying Dalaran. Antonidas's death is thus an immediate military defeat and a prelude to the wider Legion invasion that would draw surviving humans, orcs, and night elves toward Mount Hyjal.