Medivh

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Medivh The Last Guardian

Gender	Male
Race	Unknown; formerly Human (Resurrected)
Character class	Storm Crow/Prophet; formerly Warlock
Affiliation	The Guardians of Tirisfal
Occupation	The Last Guardian

Medivh is a fictional character in the Warcraft universe. He was the last of an order known as the Guardians of Tirisfal of the World of Azeroth. "Medivh" means "keeper of secrets" in the Quel'dorei (High Elven) tongue. Medivh was the successor of the previous guardian Aegwynn. In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, he was voiced by Michael Bell, and Cam Clarke in World of Warcraft.

1 Backstory
2 Role in Warcraft III
3 Cycle of Hatred
4 World of Warcraft
5 Other facts

[edit] Backstory

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Medivh as seen in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.

Medivh is the son of the great sorceress and Guardian, Aegwynn, and the court conjuror and king's advisor, Nielas Aran. Unknowingly, Aegwynn had passed the spirit of Sargeras on to Medivh before he was even born.

Medivh aged to be a strong boy and, because of his Tirisfalin blood, a gifted magician. He was well liked by the people of Azeroth and enjoyed adventuring with his two friends: Llane, the prince of Azeroth, and Anduin Lothar, one of the last descendents of the Arathi bloodline.

At the age of fourteen, the latent powers of the Guardian became active, and clashed with the spirit of Sargeras, still within Medivh, causing the young boy to fall into a comatose state. Upon his awakening many years later, he found himself to have reached adulthood and to have become a very powerful mage. He also found that his friends, Llane and Lothar, had become the regents of Azeroth. Despite the power of the Guardian, Sargeras's spirit, still residing within Medivh, slowly took control of Medivh's actions, eventually leading up to the opening of the Dark Portal with the help of Gul'dan and the bringing forth of the Orcs from Draenor into Azeroth. Sargeras' power grew so strong in Medivh, that he actually challenged and defeated his mother Aegwynn.

For the next six years, skirmishes between the Humans and the Orcs broke out in and around the Kingdom of Azeroth. Learning that Medivh was responsible for the Dark Portal, Sir Lothar, putting aside old friendships for his duty as the lieutenant-at-arms of King Llane, stormed Medivh's stronghold of Karazhan with the help of Medivh's apprentice, Khadgar. Ultimately, Medivh's body was destroyed, but because of his death, Sargeras's spirit was cast into the abyss while the virtuous spirit of Medivh was allowed to live on, wandering the astral plane. Moments before his death, Gul'dan created a telepathic link into Medivh's mind to try and figure out the location of the Tomb of Sargeras. Medivh's death caused a mental backlash that put Gul'dan in a coma for months.

[edit] Role in Warcraft III

Medivh as he appeared in Warcraft III.

Years later, Medivh was reborn, free of the spirit of Sargeras, and strived to warn the mortal races of the upcoming onslaught of demons. He first reached the visionary leader Thrall of the Horde, under the guise of a mysterious prophet, and convinced him that only sailing to Kalimdor, the land in the west, will ensure their survival.

He then approached the stubborn humans of Lordaeron, still disguised as the prophet, and gave warnings of the mighty disaster that is about to come. No one heeded Medivh, save for Jaina Proudmoore, who was at that time a mage in training by the Kirin Tor, the daughter of Admiral Proudmoore, one of the commanders in the Second War of the Alliance against the bloodthirsty Horde. She travelled to Kalimdor with her human expedition and met the orcs led by Thrall. As usual the two factions clashed until they realized that Medivh had brought them together for a purpose.

In a defining moment, Thrall and Jaina met with Medivh deep within Stonetalon Peak, where Medivh explained the severity of the situation: "For the sake of all who live, humanity must join forces with the Horde." Upon realizing this, they made a treaty, and pushed toward Ashenvale to make an alliance with the Night Elves. In the Final Battle on Mt. Hyjal, the mortal races, along with the Night Elves, were able to defeat the Second Invasion of the Burning Legion and utterly destroy Archimonde. Thus through cunning trickery and a heart of repentance, Medivh saved the mortal realm from the corruption of the Burning Legion.

It is not shown what happened to Medivh after the battle at Mt. Hyjal. In the final epilogue, he says, "And now that my task is done, I will take my place amongst the legends of the past." Though whether by this he meant that he passed onto the spirit realm or if he planned on continuing his role as the Guardian from the shadows is unknown.

[edit] Cycle of Hatred

In the book Cycle of Hatred it is revealed that Aegwynn used her remaining magical powers built up over a period of decades to resurrect Medivh.

[edit] World of Warcraft

Medivh makes a physical appearance in the "Caverns of Time: The Black Morass" in The Burning Crusade, where the players are able to go back in time and defend Medivh as he opens the Dark Portal in the Black Morass, which is Blasted Lands presently. Waves of dragons advance upon Medivh who must be defended by players. Level 70 Instance.

Medivh's tower of Karazhan can be found in the southern end of the Deadwind Pass. The tower is described as a temporal hourglass, time flowing from the tower seen above to a mirror image of the tower found below. It is a level 70 instance designed for a 10-player raid.

In addition, his staff, Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, is a legendary caster weapon in the game, which has been broken into 42 pieces and must be united in order to wield it. The shards are in the hands of the lieutenants to the lich overlord Kel'Thuzad in his citadel of Naxxramas, the base in the hands of C'Thun in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, and the most important part - the headpiece - is in the hands of Kel'Thuzad himself.

[edit] Other facts

Medivh's knowledge of demons is astonishing; as described by the Undead necromancer/lich Kel'Thuzad (who brought Archimonde into the realm of Azeroth by using one of Medivh's books on demons). Medivh's spellbook was also used by Ner'zhul in Warcraft II to reopen the Dark Portal.

When he was reborn, Medivh gained the ability to transform into a carrion bird, called a storm crow, something he does repeatedly during his time in the mortal realm.

Warcraft Universe