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Warcraft's Sunwell Trilogy

Title: Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy
Part one: Dragon Hunt
Part two: Shadows of Ice
Part three: Ghostlands
Illustrated by Kim Jae-hwan
Written by Richard Knaak

This three-volume manhwa follows the aftermath of Arthas' destruction of Quel'thalas and the Sunwell.  The main characters, Kalec and Anveena, met at Lordaeron when Kalec was wounded. Kalec's pursuers killed Anveena's parents while they were looking for the two. They were attacked by another enemy, Dar'khan, and binds their magic by placing neck collars on them. It would have been over if they were not saved by Kalec's future mate, Tyrygosa. Later Anveena finds a dragon hatchling among the ruins of her home. 

They then travelled to Tarren Mill to have the collars removed. They were found by the dragon hunter, Harkyn, the one who shot Kalec earlier. Fortunately Anveena was able to escape and met the paladin Jorad Mace. 

Kalec and his hunters however were ambushed by the undead led by Dar'khan. He later revealed that the Lich King had used the dragon hunter to kill the dragons because he knew that the dragons would be curious about the Sunwell. Anveena arrives to help them and this was when Dar'khan sensed that the power of the Sunwell was within the dragon hatchling accompanying the girl. Harkyn decides to turn against Dar'khan because of the latter's betrayal. He tells them later that in order to remove the collars, they must seek the dwarf Loggi.

The four characters were assaulted on their way to Alterac mountains. Anveena met the tauren Trag and the undead baron Valimar who explained his origins and the situation of the undead. Then he tricks her into using her powers to raise an army for him. Meanwhile, Trag found Kalec and the hatchling Raac and helped them reunite with Anveena. 

On the other hand, Jorad and Tyrygosa found the dwarf Loggi when they were taken as captives by Ichor. Later, along with the dwarves they tried to attack the undead but the baron saw them and used Anveena's power to counter. Trag was able to stop him. The rest of the group was able to defeat the enemies but Dar'khan took the opportunity to take away Anveena.

He takes the girl to Quel'thalas, where a group of exiled elves was trying to reclaim the place from the undead. Kalec, Jorad, Tyrygosa and Raac joined the exiles led by Lor'themar to fight Dar'khan. Meanwhile, Anveena was able to escape from her captor and was later told by an unknown character that she was the Sunwell. Dar'khan later finds her however. Silvanas Windrunner confronts him but she was taken captive as well. 

The exiles and their new allies attack Dar'khan when he was about to put a spell on Anveena. Dar'khan almost succeeded until Raac was able to free the dragon under his control. The group was able to defeat Dar'khan in the end.

It was later revealed that the dragon in captivity was the consort to Alexstrasza, Korialstrasz. Kalec and Anveena, along with the other elves decided to stay to protect her powers, while Jorad and Tyrygosa went to confront Arthas.

***

Jae-hwan's illustrations were consistent with the Warcraft style. I enjoyed most the landscape drawings. He was able to make up for the lack of excitement with the story.

The story in itself has a lot of potential but how it was told did not give it justice. There are moments when the two female characters were exaggerated for their abilities. There were even spaces wasted for nonsense comments such as "she's so beautiful" even if the romance part isn't clearly an important part of the story. The retelling of Silvanas' fate in Arthas' hands was inconsistent with what happened in the game as well. It shows that there was not enough research done on the part of the writer. The series had a lot of promise and excitement but it is not worth reading a second time. I am relieved though that not all the important books or stories related to Warcraft are given to Mr. Knaak or it would have been another bland material.
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