I was watching a youtube video yesterday on Arthas and something hit me that made me think. Arthas had already started to turn evil when he killed his towns people in Lorderaen and then again, when he burned the ships/killed his men.
However, when he killed his father (the king), was that actually Ner’zhul that was controlling Arthas through Frostmourne? or maybe Kil’jaeden controlling him?
Originally I assumed that Frostmourne consumed his soul and he slowly became more evil as he used Frostmourne longer, but is this not accurate. There was a warning before he took the sword that Frostmourne was cursed.
Was Arthas not really controlling his own actions and was really just being controlled by Frostmourne? When Frostmourne was destroyed and Arthas was talking with his father’s ghost, it seems like he was awoken from a sleep, like he didn’t quite know what was going on. Or am I reading into this too much?
Frostmourne hungers
Not quite. When Arthas took frostmourne he was essentially being strongly influenced by Ner’zhul. It is more likely that he was set for a specific goal and how he went about it was up to him.
Its like if you mind controlled someone and told them to blow something up, how they could do that is up to them, but they still have to accomplish that task. Also Arthas was a little different from other DKS we saw in that frostmourne was directly linked to the frozen throne, i doubt he even knew he wasnt making his own decisions without influence.
He only really got merged with Nerzhul when he picked up the helmet, and then he eventually tossed nerzhul out of the helmet and became just Arthas again.
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In the lead-up to taking Frostmourne, Arthas made a series of bad decisions feeling he had no other choice, and that the course of action he took was the only path he had to save his people. This course of action was to defeat Mal’ganis, at any cost, whom Arthas’ thought was the key to ending the Scourge (at the time).
By the time he killed Mal’ganis, Arthas had taken up Frostmourne. Arthas’ soul was the first that Frostmourne claimed, and without a soul, Arthas no-longer cared about saving his lands or his people. This is expressed best by his banter with Tichondrius in the WC3 mission.
Tichondrius: By killing your own father and delivering this land to the Scourge, you have passed your first test. The Lich King is pleased with your… enthusiasm.
Arthas: I’ve damned everyone and everything I’ve ever loved in his name, and I still feel no remorse. No shame, no pity.
Tichondrius: The runeblade that you carry was forged by the Lich King and empowered to steal souls. Yours was the first one it claimed.
Arthas: Then I’ll make do without one. What is the Lich King’s will?
From then on, he followed the Ner’zhuls’ command. Ner’zhul had granted him power, and now without a soul, he simply sought to maintain that power. Ner’zhul had the ulterior motive, he wanted a body escape the prison that was The Frozen Throne. This ultimately backfired, and Arthas took complete control. Chronicle 3 then describes Arthas’ own motives (he sought complete control of the peoples of Azeroth, and undeath was the best way to accomplish that).
Chronicle then describes Arthas’ final moments. With Frostmourne destroyed and now that he was no-longer wearing the Crown, no-doubt a piece of Arthas’ soul was returned to him (which would return feelings of guilt and remorse).
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Is this the chronicle you are mentioning. I would be very interested in reading more about arthas and his times while being the lich king
I cant include a link, but amazon search
World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1
“World Of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3” has the bits about Arthas.
The soul bit is my speculation, but Chronicle does say that he “Was faced with the enormity of his crimes”
If you haven’t read “Arthas: Rise of the Lich King” yet, it’s worth the read. While it shows how he deals with Ner’zhul, it’s more focused on his life and how he got there.
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i have been listening to the Arthas book on Audible and I am really enjoying it. I think i am at chapter 11 or so, just when they are starting the plague talks. I just wish there was less time spent on Jaina. i know they are the love of each other’s lives, but it seems that 85% of the book so far has been on that. I am ready for some fighting action
Honestly, I am not much of a reader when it comes to books. I essentially get into my own mind and end up either reading the same line for 20 minutes, or just falling asleep. Audible is good for me since i have such reading and concentration problems. 
I’d recommend the book arthas it explains his thoughts and how he could hear the lich King and himself and how a new personality formed and claimed control from both the good part of arthas and nerz’thul
Arthas isn’t the descent of someone who was evil to the core.
He’s very much like Anakin Skywalker, a man who never was guided from his own character flaws. Arthas descent into madness and evil reflects the same kind of drive that made him such a powerful Paladin but unfortunately they were never tempered. Instead of learning discipline as he grew up, he became increasingly unteachable.
In his early days as a Paladin Arthas encounters a woman who’s freezing to death as she had to run out of her home being beset by wolves. As opposed to just giving her a blanket and a fire to warm her up, he hunts down the wolves, has the leader skinned and tanned and gives her the wolfskin as a blanket.
Arthas was always a person who thought in polarising extremes with no middle ground. As he gained more and more authority, he became more of a you’re either totally on board or your totally opposed. Arthas may have completed his fall when he took up Frostmourne but that was only the end result of a process that had started much earlier and had been divined by the Lich King as the perfect target for his machinations.
I’d like to believe that there was somewhat of a mutual agreement between the two. They both had lovers that they lost, they both had visions of conquest. I don’t think Ner’zhul knew exactly what the Burning Legion was when Kil’jaeden was posing as his deceased wife. I think he knew that they were a threat and the human kingdoms alone wouldn’t be enough to defeat them.
If anyone told you that alien warlords were coming to this planet with the sort of technology that the Burning Legion actually had and you had swords, bows, and a little magic, well they would have told you you were crazy or a at least provide some proof.
Frostmourne was just a fragment of the Legions power, one that was honed and sharpened with collection of countless souls but likely have been the only known weapon that could combat to Legion and stop the souls from being reborn on Argus.
As for the time Arthas died, there is a peace to death that I’ve experienced personally, where you are somewhat relieved that your ambitions don’t have to be done anymore. I’m sure you’ve done the Death Knight Legion questline but, Bolvar might have known that vision as well. Which is why he was telling you that he was going to set those plans into motion if you didn’t deal with the Legion.
i just finished the arthas audiobook. it was good, long, but good.
I learned a lot about the lore that i didnt know before.
Thanks again for recommending it
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