Heroes of Azeroth
Garona Halforcen: The Spy Who Killed a King
Garona Halforcen is a half-orc, half-draenei assassin. For most of her life she, and nearly everyone else, believed she was half-human. Gul'dan bent her mind to his will and made her his spy. She became the Horde's emissary to the Guardian Medivh, fell in love with him, and helped expose him. Then, still under the warlock's spell, she murdered King Llane Wrynn of Stormwind with tears on her face. She hid the cursed daggers, gave away the son she had with Medivh to keep him safe, and spent decades hunting the Shadow Council that had enslaved her. Today she is a champion of the Uncrowned.
Video: Garona, the spy who killed a king
A child of war
Garona's birth began with one of Gul'dan's schemes. Posing as a representative of the Shadowmoon, he convinced the Bladewind clan that the draenei were to blame for the red pox and the orcs' elemental woes. The Bladewind began raiding draenei settlements, and among their prisoners was Leran, sister of Vindicator Maraad. Before the captives were sacrificed, Leran gave birth to Garona, the daughter of a Bladewind warrior. Maraad led a rescue, but he arrived too late.
Garona grew up in the barracks of her father's people. She was not the clan's first half-breed, but she was one of the few to survive childhood. Years of abuse made her a ferocious fighter. She was also clever and had a gift for languages: she learned draenic from the captives and served the clan as an interpreter. When vengeful draenei destroyed the Bladewind village, she fled into the wilds of Terokkar.
The blade of the Shadow Council
Gul'dan took the outcast under his "care". He bound her mind to his will and secretly trained her as an assassin. On Kil'jaeden's instructions he also asked Warchief Blackhand to forge two daggers from an unknown ore. As Blackhand quenched them he felt a dark presence fill the blades. These were the Kingslayers, and they could control the will of whoever held them. Gul'dan tested them by handing them to Garona with a simple command. She obeyed at once and cut down a Shadow Council acolyte with a single slash.
From then on, orcs who doubted the Horde, such as Chieftain Zagrel of the Whiteclaw, were found dead after skirmishes with the draenei, their wounds unlike any orcish weapon's. Garona dreamed of turning the daggers on her masters, but each morning the spell buried the thought.
Emissary to Medivh
After the Dark Portal opened, Garona learned the human tongue from captives in the Black Morass. Gul'dan ordered her to find the sorcerer Medivh and keep an eye on him. Medivh spared her and was charmed by her intelligence, and in time he made her his Emissary at Karazhan. There she met his apprentice Khadgar, who was furious at first but became her friend. Garona came to respect the "Old Man" deeply and began to question where her loyalties lay. It may have been around this time that Medivh fathered her son.
With a spell of seeing, Khadgar and Garona learned the truth: Medivh was the one who had brought the orcs to Azeroth. They warned Anduin Lothar and King Llane, and Garona, wearing Stormwind's colours, joined the strike on Karazhan. In the tower she saw a vision of her future self murdering King Llane. She attacked Medivh head-on, perhaps hoping to die rather than live out that vision. He struck her down and filled her mind with his own doubts and divisions. Khadgar and Lothar then killed Medivh, and Garona vanished.
The death of King Llane
Garona returned to Llane, but with her mind shaken by Medivh's spell, Gul'dan's old order to kill the king rose up inside her. Her vision came true. With deep sadness she killed King Llane and cut out his heart. Young Varian Wrynn saw it happen, and even as an adult he never understood why the assassin had tears streaming down her face. She was already pregnant with Med'an.
The Horde did not welcome her as a hero. Orgrim Doomhammer had killed Blackhand and Gul'dan lay in a coma, so Orgrim had Garona tortured for the Shadow Council's whereabouts. He spared her, and she swore fealty to the Horde with Eitrigg as her handler.
Breaking the chains
Garona felt Gul'dan still pulling at her mind through the daggers. She asked the undead mage Meryl Winterstorm to hide the Kingslayers beyond anyone's reach, and they stayed buried for decades. After giving birth to Med'an, she told Meryl she was a danger to her own child and gave the baby to him, asking that Med'an never learn who his mother was. Then she disappeared and watched over her son from afar.
Once she was sure Gul'dan's spell was broken, she went to Khadgar at Nethergarde and confessed. Khadgar believed her and sensed the Shadow Council's spellwork still woven through her thoughts. From then on she hunted the council's survivors, Cho'gall above all.
In the World of Warcraft comic, Garona saved Med'an from a Twilight's Hammer party but was captured. Cho'gall, who knew Gul'dan's spell, sent her to Theramore to kill King Varian Wrynn, and the attempt failed. During a Scourge attack her uncle Maraad freed her and told her the truth: her mother was a draenei, his sister. Garona then recovered the base of Atiesh, which allowed Med'an to defeat Cho'gall.
Shadow of the Uncrowned
- Cataclysm: in the Twilight Highlands she hunts Cho'gall once again.
- Legion: as one of the Uncrowned, she recovers Anguish and Sorrow and infiltrates Stormwind to stop a Legion cult.
- Battle for Azeroth: conscripted by Sylvanas aboard the Banshee's Wail, she fakes her loyalty to stay alive. Nathanos tells her he knows killing Llane was not her choice. She later attends Varok Saurfang's funeral.
- Dragonflight: she comes out of seclusion for the first Kosh'harg in Razor Hill, where Thega Graveblade invites her to join the Shattered Hand.
Garona family tree
Mermaid source of the family tree
%% Garona Halforcen – canonical family tree (The Tirisfalen)
%% Dashed = father unnamed
flowchart TD
F["Unnamed Bladewind orc<br/><i>Father · orc</i>"]
L["Leran<br/><i>Mother · draenei</i>"]
MA["Maraad<br/><i>Maternal uncle · Vindicator</i>"]
G["Garona Halforcen<br/><i>Half-orc, half-draenei</i>"]
AE["Aegwynn"]
NA["Nielas Aran"]
ME["Medivh<br/><i>Lover · Last Guardian</i>"]
S["Med'an<br/><i>Son</i>"]
F -.- L
F -.-> G
L --> G
MA ---|siblings| L
AE --- NA
AE --> ME
NA --> ME
G ---|lovers| ME
G --> S
ME --> S
Canon note: the father's name has never been given. Leran and Maraad come from Chronicle Vol. 2 (pp. 71, 78) and the World of Warcraft comic. Garona and Medivh were lovers, not a married couple. Med'an's paternal grandparents (Aegwynn and Nielas Aran) are shown because his parentage is canon. Older sources that called Garona half-human, or a product of Gul'dan's "breeding", are retconned.
Related heroes
FAQ
Is Garona half-human?
No. That was her original backstory, and for most of her life she believed it herself. Current canon makes her half-orc, half-draenei: her mother was the draenei Leran and her father a Bladewind orc.
Why did Garona kill King Llane?
Gul'dan had bound her mind and ordered the murder long before. After Medivh's spell shook her mind, the old command took over. She killed Llane with tears streaming down her face, as her vision in Karazhan had shown.
Who is Garona's son?
Med'an, her son with Medivh. To protect him she gave him to Meryl Winterstorm, and she later watched over him from afar.
What are the Kingslayers?
Two daggers, Anguish and Sorrow. Blackhand forged them for Gul'dan from an unknown ore, and a dark presence filled them. They could control the will of whoever held them, and Garona hid them for decades before reclaiming them in Legion.
Who is Maraad to Garona?
Her maternal uncle. Vindicator Maraad was the brother of Leran, Garona's mother.
Is Garona Horde or Alliance?
Officially she is aligned with the Horde and the Uncrowned, but in practice she is largely independent. She is still a fugitive in Stormwind for Llane's murder.
Who was Garona's father?
An unnamed warrior of the Bladewind clan. Canon has never given his name.
Was Garona in love with Medivh?
Yes. She came to respect him deeply, and Medivh fathered her son, Med'an. Chronicle only says it "may have been" during her time at Karazhan.
Sources
- World of Warcraft: Chronicle, Vol. 2 (pp. 71, 78–81, 118–119, 133–138, 162, 183–198).
- Jeff Grubb, The Last Guardian, incl. pp. 256, 287.
- World of Warcraft (Wildstorm comic) and Conflicting Loyalties; Secrets (Warcraft Legends).
- Short story Blood Ledger; Ultimate Visual Guide; Exploring Azeroth: The Eastern Kingdoms, p. 12.
- Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manuals (original, partly retconned versions).
- In-game: Twilight Highlands (Cataclysm), The Kingslayers rogue campaign (Legion), Banshee's Wail and Old Soldier (Battle for Azeroth), The Kosh'harg (Dragonflight).
- Community wikis cross-checked: Warcraft Wiki – Garona Halforcen, Wowpedia – Garona Halforcen.
Illustrations: original artwork by The Tirisfalen. World of Warcraft and Warcraft are trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment. This page is fan content and is not affiliated with Blizzard.