Warcraft 3 Cinematic - The Frozen Throne Ending - "The Ascension"

Ending movie for the Frozen Throne Campaign
Playlist: www.youtube.com...
Uther: ...turn to bloodlust, we will become as vile as the orcs...
Uther: ...you are not my king yet, boy!...
Muradin Bronzebeard: ...forget this business! Lead your men home...
Uther: ...nor would I obey that command even if you were!...
Arthas: ...damn it, Uther! As your future king, I order you to purge this city...
Uther: ...have you lost your mind, Arthas?!...
Arthas: ...then I must consider this an act of treason...
Uther: ...and you've ground it to dust in a matter of days...
Muradin Bronzebeard: ...you lied to your men, and betrayed the mercenaries who fought for you! What's happening to you, Arthas?...
The Prophet: ...your young prince will find only death in the cold north...
Ner'zhul:
Return the blade. Complete the circle. RELEASE ME FROM THIS PRISON!
The Lich King:
Now, we are One!
Dialogue transcript from www.wowwiki.com...

[@neremion162]

This ending brings an eternal sorrow... and it's good a feeling.

[@reianvase6683]

Don't you just love it when villains win? It feels so epic.

[@alisonpurgatory85]

I don’t think Arthas is winning here at all...

[@reianvase6683]

@@alisonpurgatory85 He got the throne, killed his enemies. Not win? He's a villain. Do you still think he's the good guy?

[@Evencane]

@@reianvase6683 Maybe the lich king was winning here but not Arthas

[@reianvase6683]

@@Evencane Read original comment.

[@Evencane]

@@reianvase6683 I did, but in this case, the one sitting on the throne isn't Arthas, it's the lich king. Arthas may be part of the lich king, but his original ideals were to do anything for his people, not to kill and raise an undead army to combat the legion, that was Ner'zhul's plan. Arthas was corrupted by the influence of the sword and by the power of the helm of domination. like I said The lich king is winning here, but Arthas is not.

[@krbeccolletcion6343]

As a kid, I loved this cinematic. I played it several times a day. Brilliant soundtrack. As an adult, it's the closing of a chapter for me. Time to move on and not be dependent on world of warcraft. Time to move. Put on your helmet and realize that 2004 is over and no one will return it. No one had such a perfect story. I searched in various games, movies, after the release of shadowlands. For me, it is now a sign to build my own story. Goodbye blizzard. Goodbye wow. You were everything to me. You helped me be what I am now. And am glad for that.

[@Lynxique]

nice tribute, gl my man

[@Robertward111]

"Tell them only that the Lich King is dead. And that World of Warcraft... died with him."

[@Biub]

Arthas' anguished shout and the epic choral music as he walks forward swinging Frostmourne is 10/10.

[@eternalknight219]

Possibly one of the best game cinematics of all time. Frankly at least three on my list feature Arthas.

[@dorian4191]

4 years

[@Nikola7.62]

Everything about this cinematic is perfect. The music when he charges to break the ice and the music where he sits on the throne. God damn.

[@TheSaltyAdmiral]

Imagine if when she shattered the ice prison, the crown fell all day down from the mountain, so he had to go all the way down to get it, then back up, in order to sit down in an awesome way.

[@ARViuff]

that would have been a real monday moment

[@Robertward111]

She? lol

[@wellwisher6925]

@@Robertward111 She= frostmourne

[@tomaszkwiatkowski7053]

i wish i had your imagination xD awesome idea

[@-WarCriminal-22]

@@wellwisher6925 Frostmourne=it cuz it's a sword.

[@mseirco]

The TRUE END of warcraft.

[@Kacpa2]

WoW should always have been just a spin off.....so it could satisfy gameplay needs without fucking up the main story.....but blizz didnt do it the right way.... :/

[@foglalatazanyad]

tell me how story was fucked up until WOD ? in game you went in and killed him simple as that

[@ZarajBlackblade]

@Bruno Ferreira I would say the decline started with WotLK rather than after it

[@Anubarak03]

Arthas in end game

[@technokokos]

@Bruno Ferreira Yea because Burning Crusade story was good right? It is still biggest butchery of WoW lore to this date.

[@smoati9ap309]

When it ends, the game menu pops with the same background, completing the cycle, and the wind still howling... Breathtaking

[@meneither3834]

That ending makes the title menu's looks and the title of the expansion "Frozen Throne" make sense.

[@CommissarChaotic]

I can still hear the chains

[@TripleSplashAttack]

This is where the franchise ended for me...this game was a masterpiece

[@TMoDDD]

WoW was a stupid mistake.

[@joetrafford1085]

Tell them only that the lich King is dead. And the franchise....died with him. Wotlk was when it should have stopped. Vanilla and tbc and wotlk where primeeeee

[@joetrafford1085]

@@TMoDDD 12 million subscriptions and blizzards bottomless money bag. Yeah World of Warcraft was stupid

[@lichking3711]

same. This was a good ending.

[@vocetemgostodementiroso3230]

@@joetrafford1085 When idiots like you will learn that the amount of money the product has made has nothing to do with its quality

[@lemonywizzlord5718]

Arthas you crazy son of a Lich.

[@Beliyal1125]

Arthas Downfall is by far one of the best ones in such a long time and few have compared since.

[@BluePandada]

Only just realised the parallel of terenas’ crown tumbling down the stairs & the helm of domination doing the same

[@Raul-dh1on]

The last blizzard’s afterlife video has made me returned for my melancholy dosis. Arthas will be the grand one forevermore.

[@MrBern-ex3wq]

I actually think it would have been insanely epic if at the end of Wrath, instead of just killing the Lich King at the top of a fully operational Icecrown, it would have been nice that ICC had been instead the fortress protecting the Icecrown Glacier where the Frozen Throne is. Then after killing the penultimate boss we go through and are thrown to this vast, desolate and deserted glacier, making our way to the Frozen Throne and fighting the Lich King then.

[@dovie5126]

What?

[@mateovicentin4886]

Icecrown citadel is built over that glacier, and at the end you go up its peak

[@lc9245]

Mateo Vicentin he has got a point. I would prefer having the spiralling path up the platform with teleporter onto after wipes or having Shadowmourne. The suspense would have been fun the first time. I guess the fight might go awry with the collapsing platform and all that with the spire.

[@ZenithalPoint]

I hate everything they've done after this one, and recently I've actually banned Blizzard from my life forever so I will never play their game in my entire life. But even then, this Warcraft III, still is my best game ever so far. I've never invested myself into the game as much as I did to this one, with a possible execption of Baldur's Gate II. For me, this was the last of real Blizzard, the passionate game makers, not business man. Damn...

[@varenshan7731]

Its sad these beautiful relics will never be appreciated as they used to.

[@vladik56]

well we have mods and custom campaigns to enjoy more this game

[@davidreisinger9272]

The whispers as Arthas climbs the stairs, his anguished roar as he shatters the ice, the unholy screams as Ner'zhul is released, and seeing Arthas don the Helm of Domination... all of it so epic!

[@starhalv2427]

This game gripped me so strongly, that until the very end I was hoping for Arthas to redeem himself by killing the Lich King and leaving... until he picked up the crown, and I finally accepted this story is not gonna have a good ending.

[@HarbingerofHyol940]

We both know, but what were asking for is a song that Blizzard stupidly never released: THIS cinematic's version of O'Thanagor. Not the version heard in the WotLK cinematic, but the one heard at 2:14

[@Kacpa2]

Yes and it still wasnt released officially, there is a remake by fans made but no original score nor the lyrics for it which are completely different to O thanagor and invinceable....

[@christianweibrecht6555]

I need an extended version of this glorious music

[@debicadude]

I cry everytim... Arthas, what have u done?

[@marcinzysko1653]

back when arthas was the greatest man in warcraft. Got on top, despite all odds. became the most badass character.

[@KotLuigi2004]

2:13 Impressive! 😍🥰

[@mycustomyoutubechannel2539]

NOW WE ARE ONE

[@YargusKhan]

I'm here after watching afterlives 27-08-2020

[@dwilliams02]

The song that starts at 2:16 is reprised in the WoW WotLK trailer, albeit with a very different singer and tone. Really nice tough from Blizzard.

[@uosnnq3965]

It's reprised in a lot of WotLK ost actually, including Invincible

[@OhNo-oy8ke]

Arthas my true king, I shall serve you tithe end

[@mohdimansaifullizan6193]

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader Arthas Menethil/Lich King Eren Jaeger/Founding Titan Best Trio ever Hero become Villain long live his Death💔😢

[@fajardohoward]

I love every fucking detail of this Cinematic , for God's sake!

[@cr4yv3n]

dammit when will games look like THIS ?

[@kelinnaidoo5290]

I really wish instead of WoW as MMORPG, they should have made it offline rpg and having companions, it would have been AWESOME!!

[@stephenvincentstrange99]

so it would be kinda like skyrim right?

[@InuyashaHanyu]

A game like Baldurs Gate but set in the world of WarCraft, the dream.

[@チナは豚国だ]

VR Helmet

[@wastehazey6468]

"Let them come! Frostmourne hungers."

[@NamHoang-uc8xc]

The king in the north ! The king in the north ! The king in the north !

[@mucahitsoylemez6649]

In the past, heroes could turn into villains and end of the day they could winner. But now, we are always winner (as player). This is boring from view of story. There is no exiting thing to see.

[@SuTSunShine]

Wow was not a bad game but nowday they sure made it

[@nevilo1]

Aannnd It's Gone!

[@sszarkk6054]

MMMMasterpiece !!!!!!!!!

[@osos6084]

BEST GAME EVER

[@bayumahendra1797]

They should make Warcraft IV instead WOW

[@jacquesmesrine3244]

Frostmourne hungers!!!🗡

[@deathjang]

No King Rules Forever, My Son

[@SteelShroom256]

Only Death is eternal.

[@ScrotusMaximus69]

It's the same song, but here it's a woman singing it. In WoW they used a boy for the voice.

[@Kacpa2]

And different lyrics. O Thanagor and invinceable have just same melody as this but totally different lyrics and singing is done by different people

[@NamNguyen-ti3bw]

can someone understand the final opera style song and write it down ?. It is impossible for me to follow this song even when I have lived in English speaking country for many years !!!.

[@krypicsage]

It's not English. I believe it has some Latin mixed in. It's supposed to be azeroth's common language

[@kulokawa009]

Arthas : Ah~~I can feel you inside me

[@Raul-dh1on]

No homo (?)

[@FoleyX90]

thanks i hate it

[@von_axt3126]

smh...such an epic ending...idk how blizzard managed to screw up so much and turn the lich king's crown (aka helm of domination) into a lame version of the burger king's crown in Shadowlands

[@vladik56]

well a lot of the talented staff left and the main vision was money not having fun and creating the best game there is.

[@Rzzythagr8]

Soon as 2:14hit Mann🗣️🔥gives Athras this dark depressing sad vibe tbh

[@elessal]

arthas's trajedy became even a bigger one after what those imbeciles in charge of Blizzard did to him in Shadowlands. they brought him back in a ''cinematic'', prepared everything for him to finaly gain redemption and maybe even return to his sister and home. he even could have been the one to deal the final blow that would have finaly killed Malganis. but intead they destroyed his soul off-screen, never to give him a happy ending nor to fill this painful void many of us have been carrying in our chests for the past 20 years. may bobby kotick, the boardmembers and every single bastard responsable for this insult suffer a painful death.

[@Aureal75]

I wanna know what the name of the song is when it shows Arthas just sitting on the throne after he put the helmet on. I know the Wrath of the Lich King version is called "Arthas, my son". But I wanna find this one. It starts at 2:14.

[@Shadrax2904]

The King is dead! Long live the King!

[@yamaxenuz7905]

@Derek crider that is called Arthas , My son. xDD though it has been modified in Wotlk

[@lawdpleasehelpmeno]

How could Zooval do this?

[@sszarkk6054]

This Masterpiece Got Ruined after 18 years Later !!!

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

What if the helmet went flying and fell all the way down to the bottom of the glacier?

[@emildimov3136]

I am one with the Lich King

[@bodytoxic98]

👑

[@SeriousSubWoofer]

Respect.

[@TheBlazer38]

who the feck build citadel there? and did Arthas pay them?

[@chocobokoay3194]

Sejuk🇲🇾🧊♎

[@ionutburlacu5259]

💙

[@chocobokoay3194]

🇲🇾♎

[@Capt_Leksurs]

nice video and subs too ;)

[@TacynMegan]

F

[@pericaperkovic1024]

F

[@connormac4401]

This could very well be the actual ending of the series if WoW didn't become so successful. Archimonde is dead, the legion is repelled. Illidan was killed by Arthas at the ice crown. The Nagas went back to the sea and Kael self-exiled into the Outland for more power. Arthas became the Lich King and lay dormant until aeons to come. The rest could've just left for speculations really.

[@eagledx6972]

Connor Mac i believe the developers said that Illidan did survive the fight but they didn’t have enough time to polish that scene.

[@GuillaumeZahra]

Eagledx 69 actually if you open the warcraft 3 files with some tools, you can even find a unused asset called Illidan victory or something like that.

[@cristianyh7963]

I think that Blizzard already planed this for WOW . Wow was on development when the Frozen Throne was released

[@phantom0456]

Illidan should’ve never lost to Arthas in the first place. I love the story of the Lich King and Arthas’ fall from grace, but you’re talking about a pre-LK Arthas with Frostmourne vs a 10,000 year old Illidan with the Warglaives of Azzinoth, who was pumped up on the power of the Skull of Gul’dan, no less… Illidan should’ve never lost that fight, especially to an Arthas who was weakened by proxy due to the LK’s power seeping out of the cracks in his icy prison. And while I’ll freely admit that Illidan has been my favorite Warcraft character since WC3 and the one that I identify with the most, I still think there’s no arguing that point… he had weapons that were absolutely the equal of Frostmourne, and he was far older and more experienced than death knight Arthas pre-LK. If Arthas had managed to merge with the Lich King prior to their battle it would’ve been another story entirely, but that wasn’t the case.

[@cristianyh7963]

@@phantom0456 but it was necessary for the story of world of warcraft, which was in its way when the Frozen Throne was released.

[@biostar4]

Man, seeing him sitting on his ice, isolated throne really breaks something in me And I knew this was how gonna end but still...

[@pericaperkovic1024]

Butt still awsome game with sad ending

[@GelgoogJ]

The music is so hopeful and the contrast of him alone on that throne kills me.

[@tonynguyen954]

Orcs and Humans still struggle to make peace. But it takes the fusion of an orc and a human for them to be at peace. Irony.

[@junhyeonglee863]

He slaughtered his own people, elves, so many lives and his father. And he finally become a great evil itself. I always think this ending is really heartbreaking and brilliant.

[@Jakobdk]

Bitter sweet watching this after what blizzard have become. Blizzard is dead.

[@bagelsecelle9308]

No King rules forever

[@MichaelSmith-lg9pk]

I rember this. I was 10yo back then. This was a long journey, for our beloved prince Arthas. This ending was first, that punched hole in my heart, and yet so satifying. That ending makes me realize - that games could be masterpiece as much as books or movies.

[@sszarkk6054]

This is it :This is the best of Warcraft !!! 2:12 - The Masterpiece ...

[@ryanbashnick5899]

This ending is actually quite ambiguous. I remember reading the manual for Warcraft III that included the lore, I distinctly remember Arthas being referred to as the 'hapless dupe' that the Lich King chose for the purposes of freeing himself from his imprisonment in the form of possession. However if that were the case one would have thought he would have got Arthas to free him when he was first in Northrend. Maybe they just decided to go in another direction than 'hapless dupe' Either way Warcraft III is in my opinion one the greatest games of all time when you consider how much it has been modded and the billions of hours of gameplay people have got out of the game. Truly amazing.

[@guifdcanalli]

Ryan Bashnick arthas first arrival in northrend all the scourge and the lich king were in the hands of the dreadlords and the legion They coudnt end the circle and became one with nerzhul at the time Only after the legions fall arthas and the lich king could do this

[@fredwin]

Arthas, the arrogant, idealistic, lordling prince was a dupe, but once he became a deathknight everything changed. It's always weird thinking Ner'zhul is supposed to be an ogre magi. Makes no sense.

[@TheFomkin]

Not an ogre magi, an orc shaman who got so many new ones torn by Kil'jaeden that he became the Lich King

[@toxicitzi357]

and the problem here is, they didn't go all the way to progress this. They discarded Ner'Zhul, which was actually worse, because it never felt like progress when Arthas just went back to being himself and it completely undermined Ner'Zhul's power over Arthas. At the end, they flat out said, THEY FUCKING FUSED TOGETHER! Why would they ever even consider going back on this when they had this, why didn't they do the same with Arthas back then and keep him as this floating armor's little Bitch Boy Death Knight if it was such a good idea to do this a few years ago???! I would've liked if the Lich King evolved with him and took its whole role by becoming this entity, because frankly, that's much more interesting, a being that consumes great leader potential endlessly and has power to control an uncountable and seemingly impossible to stop mass of an army.. That's, Fucking COOL! Arthas becoming that in the end and losing himself so much. Isn't that just like Arthas, isn't that what he did to get here? Why would he change his mind, after killing literally everyone to get where he is? he was hearing all these voices talking to him in memories in this cutscene and didn't falter for a single moment, he kept moving forward and eventually silenced all those whispers and memories. Basically, he regained control and went back to the same Arthas we knew in Warcraft's RoC and TFT undead campaigns. Why that's so wrong to me is that, that's not why we cared about Arthas as a villain, it was his non-ending progression we cared about and stripping all that away from him at that moment of pinnacle and placing him in a stagnant position, which doesn't even make sense for him to do because That will to move forward should be the only thing left of him, it's what makes him a credible and feared threat! His will, as well as his descent into a monster and losing every single tiny fraction of his humanity, leaving him with just that calculated will that is ready to do ANYTHING, all in order to just WIN and create the most invincible kingdom the world has ever seen, THAT.... THAT'S THE ARTHAS THAT I KNOW.. That's what his motivation was dressed up as in WotLK, but instead of Just, DOING IT, as in, Doing a lot of DOING and less TALKING, he did, Whatever the fuck it was he was trying to do in WotLK, which to me seemed like what just about literally any one person alive Posing as the Lich King would do when that person knows not how to lead. When they did that with him in Wotlk, it felt like it did the most massive disservice to any character that I've seen so far, as well as the scope of this cinematic here and the moments before this.. It felt like, all these incredible ideas being fed to us and hyping us, they were all demolished, because they didn't know where to go from here, or they lost the direction of this and went a completely different route instead to do something and end it, as it's been like a decade since this was made when WotLK came out, which I kind of get as it's been that long, but ffs, they should've had this planned all along man, since they day they knew what they were doing here, in 2000-2004, with Arthas's story.. This is why long term planning always beats, progressing as we go. Progress characters as you are in the process of writing the story, but always try to plan out long term for them to have an aim and a goal, or stay relevant to the reader! fuck... the only reason I'm ranting, is because this is just how much I love and appreciate the fuck out of these 2000-2004 cinematics in Warcraft 3, they're a really brilliantly executed and shot dark story..

[@TriniKnight01]

@@toxicitzi357 Preach. I've been saying this for over a decade, it makes no sense and it shouldn't have been possible given Nerhzul's power before he became Lich King vs Arthas'.

[@tamasbors8108]

Blizz what have you done…. rip Warcraft

[@-WarCriminal-22]

For me it died in 2004, or rather when I found out there's no Warcraft 4 and instead they made WoW

[@whatutalkinboutwillis6122]

As far as I am concerned this was the conclusion to Warcraft A fantastic ending to probably the best game I ever played in my life. I mean I actually played levels just to watch the cutscenes and see where the story line goes. The Warcraft movie should of been about this

[@theblindelf7991]

I was so sad seeing Arthas , alone and frozen on that throne. My thoughts were "what if he freezes to the point that he cannot move" "he has remorse? " "poor guy" . The story was so epic but this finale shocked me.

[@miketello7646]

"Now... We... are one!" Those goosebumps!

[@julia_fitz]

2:12 When I was a kid, I cried at this moment. I felt so sorry for Arthas and Lordaeron

[@TheAragus]

Me too back in 2003, genuinely sad.

[@t0m653]

All I see is Blackness........... Oh wait my hood is down

[@hellfire5108]

No king rules forever... so true for Blizzard.

[@Master13961]

Wished we they would've added the scourge as a faction

[@SMABackup]

I wish the Naga was a fully playable faction

[@epicmatrix2208]

undead?

[@drozdukasz533]

Imagine this is an ending to Game of thrones ........

[@altairibn-laahad3060]

Drozd Łukasz Arthas story was better then all of game of thrones combined. Period.

[@xxlCortez]

Jon becoming the Night King?

[@Chimera936]

Return the blade, complete the circle , Release me from this Prison!

[@elessal]

this would have been a better ending for game of thrones, rather than the one we actually got.

[@akuntansibersamaratna2166]

Do you mean Jon taking the position of the Night King? as Bolvar did to control the Scourge? I will not lie... I thought that is how GoT would end.

[@uosnnq3965]

@@akuntansibersamaratna2166 Same.

[@sirisaacclarke4964]

Bring us Warcraft IV instead of this shit RPG crap!

[@BreXiaN]

I see you are a man of culture as well

[@bezero2005]

i yearn for this warcraft story line

[@luciusfong6321]

No dota without warcraft

[@sszarkk6054]

After 20 years There is no Better game !!! My Favorite RTS Game Forever !!! Warcraft 3 Frozen Throne = Masterpiece !!!

[@-WarCriminal-22]

Try out Iron Harvest, good RTS, but completely different to War3

[@DreadForce83]

2:30 "The King of the North!"

[@BreXiaN]

Northrend *

[@harioschtroliki]

Except the king in the north never had a throne

[@mihai000000]

such a powerful video

[@hades.97]

You know that white transition at the end could be interpreted as Arthas' life before him TRULY dying. Yes could be argued it was before, but just pointed to it

[@CrystalTeacup]

For the SCOURGE! To be honest, Arthas always was one of my most favorite characters in video games general. The Arc of his fall, going from an optimistic prince that wants to save his people, then seeing that he needs to make sacrifices to save as many as possible, to making the greatest sacrifice possible, his own soul. Then, having seen and FELT the power of the Lich King, understanding that only he was able to bring about eternal peace through life eternal. Undeath isn't a scourge, it's a blessing! The Scourge shall reign forever!

[@Cynidecia]

Wow always should have had 4 factions instead of 2 Night elves and undead should be their own factions "FOR THE ALLIANCE! FOR THE HORDE! FOR THE NIGHT! FOR THE SCOURGE!"

[@georgejudge6437]

The most Genuine feeling when I played wow , was the Death Knight starting zone. We were supported by the Lich King's Val'Kyries and raid bosses through the Scarlet Campaign. The quests were interesting , the story compelling , the theme was terrific. We could all feel a bit evil , the choices , the burden.... It wad perfect!

[@chocobokoay3194]

Opposite Ares' ♎

[@kiritoramos5812]

Soy... ADMIN

[@davezdragon]

All the voices from the past echoing in one's thoughts as they ascend...

[@ShinobiStudiosTM]

If only Arthas was killed by Illidan. If you side with Arthas, you need to get checked out or purged along with Stratholm.

[@60kgofpower68]

a sea around frozen throne ? plus what was around it before arthy smashed? like a cavern or sumthin ?

[@PastaAivo]

That zoom out to what was the menu screen all along... Chilling

[@haxaden5402]

illidan Force too strong

[@Mkilbride2599]

Agreed.

[@PaulMielcarz]

Ascension is human apotheosis.

[@alexandertyuui23vgjji]

#returnarthas I know you'll come back ❤