Culling of Stratholme

Full History

The plague in Lordaeron made familiar forms of defense uncertain. Soldiers could fight undead attackers, but they could not easily identify every hidden infection before its victims rose. Prince Arthas had pursued Kel'Thuzad and confronted the spreading devastation. At Stratholme he learned that the population had consumed infected grain and feared that the entire city would soon become a source of undead soldiers. The threat was immediate, but the people before him were still living inhabitants of his father's kingdom.

Arthas chose to kill the townspeople before they transformed. Uther the Lightbringer, who had trained the prince as a paladin, refused to follow the order. Jaina Proudmoore also rejected the act. Their refusal made the culling a turning point not only in the military campaign against the plague, but in the relationships that had held Arthas within a moral and political order. His determination to stop the Scourge had passed into a willingness to slaughter the people he was sworn to protect.

The prince pressed onward with his campaign and became increasingly focused upon Mal'Ganis, the dreadlord he blamed for the destruction. The pursuit would take him to Northrend, where he abandoned warnings and claimed Frostmourne. By then the bonds with Uther and Jaina had been broken, leaving him more isolated in a struggle that he believed demanded ever greater sacrifices.

Stratholme remained one of the most notorious symbols of the Third War. In the original World of Warcraft the city stood as a ruined stronghold of undead and fanatical survivors, its condition a visible measure of Lordaeron's collapse. The tragedy matters because the decision was made before Arthas had fully become the Scourge's champion. His fall began with choices made while he still believed he was acting to save his people.