Lich King's Heart

A while ago I took Mornara to finish up the quests in Icecrown. She had only done about half of them. Amonh other quests she was missing the really neat quest line with Arthas' heart.

There were a lot of fun vehicle quests where you got to see Arthas' journey to become the Lich King. He slaughters his soldiers and brings them back as minions. He binds Sindragosa into undeath. You even get to fight Illidan as Arthas.

But it all culminates when you discover that Arthas has moved his crystallized heart and is preparing a ceremony to destroy it and thus remove his last human weakness. Of course you let Tirion know and he organizes some paladins to interrupt the ceremony. However Arthas is ready for this too:


The Lich King says: I call your bluff. You're a paladin after all. Your obsessoin with redemption goes beyond the inane.
The Lich King says: You surely wouldn't destroy humanity's only chance to redeem it's most wayward son. You'd sooner die!
Highlord Tirion Fordring says: The heart... the last remaining vestige of your humanity. I had to stop it from being destroyed. I had to see for myself. And at last I'm sure...
Highlord Tirion Fordring says: Only shadow from the past remain. There's nothing left to redeem!
Tirion does his smashing leaping thing and strikes Arthas' crystallized heart with The Ashbringer. And then promptly falls over from backlash.
The Lich King yells: Arrrrgggggggggh!!!!
Disguised Crusader yells: Tirion's down! Defend him with your lives!
The Lich King yells: You... will pay for that, old man. Slay them all!
Knights of the Ebon Blade to the rescue. Koltira, Mograine, and assorted DKs run in to save the pallies.
Koltira Deathweaver yells: Take courage, crusaders. You do not fight alone!
Highlord Darion Mograine says: Quick, through the portal! He won't stay down for long.

It's nice to see the DKs rescue Tirion holyier-than-thou Fordring for once. I am not all that much of a fan of the utter dehumanizing of Arthas. As we see in his death scene he still is the prince who never really grew up and tried to do too much. Not that I have any sympathy for him, it just seems laying it on too thick that even Tirion is all "There is no hope for his soul. Make him dead!"