Dark Portal reopens

Full History

The destruction of the original Dark Portal had ended the immediate link used by the Horde's invasion. It had not removed the magical knowledge or ambition that first opened the way. On Draenor, Ner'zhul led remaining orcish forces through a new project: to gather relics of exceptional power and escape their world's diminishing prospects through portals to other realms. To carry out that plan, the connection with Azeroth was reopened.

The return of orc forces alarmed the kingdoms that had struggled through the Second War. Human and allied leaders recognized that the threat could not be answered simply by waiting behind their own borders. Orcish raiders sought artifacts such as the Book of Medivh, the Eye of Dalaran, and the Scepter of Sargeras. The targets showed that the new campaign revolved around magical objects capable of affecting worlds, not merely the seizure of land.

The Alliance gathered an expedition led by experienced figures including Turalyon, Khadgar, Alleria Windrunner, Kurdran Wildhammer, and Danath Trollbane. Crossing the Portal, they entered Draenor to stop the orcish plan. The decision was unprecedented for many of the coalition's soldiers: a war that began when outsiders invaded Azeroth now sent Azeroth's defenders into the invaders' homeworld.

The resulting campaign culminated in Ner'zhul's disastrous portals and the breaking of Draenor. Khadgar and the expedition's surviving members closed the gateway to protect Azeroth, leaving themselves beyond it. The reopening of the Dark Portal was thus more than a repeat of the First War's opening. It initiated the final catastrophe of the old orcish world and created the shattered lands later known as the shattered remains of Draenor.