Tyrande and Malfurion awaken druids from their barrows

Full History

Tyrande Whisperwind awakened Malfurion Stormrage and the druids sleeping in their barrows as the Scourge and Burning Legion threatened Kalimdor. The night elves needed powers long devoted to guarding the natural world, not merely the sentinels accustomed to patrolling their forests. Their awakening reunited important parts of kaldorei society for a war unlike any faced in recent millennia.

Malfurion had helped save the world during the War of the Ancients and had later entered the Emerald Dream for long periods. The druids' withdrawal was part of the ancient compact that shaped life after the Sundering, while Tyrande and her sentinels oversaw the waking world. When invaders reached their homeland, the division of duties became an obstacle to rapid defense. The priestess therefore sought to return the druids to active service.

Their return helped bring the kaldorei into the larger struggle against Archimonde. It also reopened difficult questions surrounding Illidan and the past, since Tyrande would seek his aid as the invasion worsened. The awakening marks the point at which the night elves turned from defending isolated borders to mobilizing the deeper institutions of their civilization.