Silvermoon is devastated; Sylvanas falls

Full History

The high elves had established Quel'Thalas after exile from Kalimdor, building Silvermoon and the Sunwell into symbols of a distinct civilization. The kingdom survived conflicts with the Amani trolls and withstood the Horde's attack during the Second War. Arthas Menethil's Scourge brought a more destructive threat. The undead army sought the Sunwell not to seize forests or territory, but to use its power for the resurrection of Kel'Thuzad.

Sylvanas Windrunner commanded the defense and attempted to prevent the invaders from reaching their objective. The Scourge pressed onward with forces that could replenish themselves through death and necromancy. Sylvanas fell and Arthas raised her as a banshee, denying her even the freedom of death. The transformation made a defender of Quel'Thalas a servant of the power that destroyed it, a personal violation that would shape her later struggle against the Lich King's control.

Silvermoon and much of the high-elven kingdom were devastated. The Sunwell was defiled through the ritual that restored Kel'Thuzad, and the survivors faced the loss of their political center, sacred magic, and enormous numbers of their people. Kael'thas Sunstrider eventually adopted the name blood elves for those who remained, commemorating the catastrophe. Their later choices during the Frozen Throne campaign arose from a homeland and society that had been irreversibly changed.

Sylvanas's story also continued beyond the fall. When the Lich King's hold weakened, she escaped domination and gathered other free undead into the Forsaken. The destruction of Quel'Thalas thus created two histories that would later intersect with new alliances: the blood elves' struggle to survive as a people and Sylvanas's fight for freedom from the Scourge. Both began in the tragedy of a kingdom that had once considered the Sunwell the foundation of its security.