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War stories, articles & game guides
Gamer
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2026
Expeditions,
War Stories &
Culture
“I‘d heard they have an archbishop in their cathedral, but I had no idea that they’d resurrected and promoted Landgren! The Crimson Cathedral is heavily guarded with only one entrance, so you’ll need help. We still need to know where the grand admiral is, but this time we’re not taking any chances! Take this device. It can be used to summon a gate for me to step through once you’ve killed the archbishop.
I’ll have my answers directly from his compelled soul! We will find Grand Admiral Westwind!”
-Lord-Commander Arete
Kill Archbishop Landgren and then summon Arete’s Gate in the presence of his corpse. Speak with Lord-Commander Arete inside The Crimson Cathedral once he’s completed his questioning of the archbishop’s spirit.
Suggested players: 5
Provided item:
You will be able to choose one of these rewards:
You will receive:
Upon completion of this quest you will gain:
Quest Giver: Lord-Commander Arete – Death’s Rise, Icecrown [19.5, 48.1]
Objective: Kill Archbishop Landgren inside The Crimson Cathedral, then use Arete’s Gate near his corpse. Speak with Lord-Commander Arete after he interrogates the archbishop’s soul.
Quick Facts
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| HP | ~302,000 |
| Type | Elite humanoid (Shadow Priest abilities) |
| Location | Near the altar at the back of The Crimson Cathedral [9.5, 47.1] |
| Adds | 2 non-elite Harbor Guards |
| Immune To | Stun, silence, interrupt |
| Melee | ~1,500 damage per hit (against ~12k armor) |
| Ability | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Word: Pain | DoT | Dispel this immediately if you can. High damage over time. Priority cleanse target. |
| Mind Blast | Direct damage | ~1,500 Shadow damage. Can be avoided with line-of-sight using the room’s pillars. |
| Mind Sear | AoE channel | Low damage per tick. Not worth interrupting (he’s immune anyway). Don’t bother moving out unless you’re extremely low. |
| Shadowform (50% HP) | Self-buff | Increases Shadow damage dealt. Slight damage increase, but does not fundamentally change the fight. |
Walkthrough
Step 1: Clear the Cathedral
Step 2: Pull and Kill Landgren
Step 3: Use Arete’s Gate IMMEDIATELY
Step 4: Watch the Scene and Turn In
This quest is designed for 5 players but was widely soloed at level 80 with decent gear. The key factors are self-healing and sustained damage, since Landgren can’t be burst down and has no enrage.
| Class/Spec | Solo Difficulty | Key Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Protection Paladin | Easy | Seal/Judgment of Wisdom for mana, Sacred Shield, Shadow Resistance Aura. Long fight but very safe. |
| Retribution Paladin | Moderate | Seal of Light/Wisdom, cleanse SW:P, Art of War Flash of Lights. Mana management is the challenge. |
| Holy Paladin | Easy (slow) | Seal/Judgment of Wisdom, near-infinite sustain. 5-6 minute fight. |
| Blood/Unholy DK | Easy | Death Strike sustain. AMS for Shadow damage. Bone Shield, IBF, Death Pact as needed. |
| Frost DK | Hard | Lacks self-healing. Not recommended solo. |
| BM Hunter | Easy | Pet tanks, Mend Pet, ranged DPS from max range to avoid SW:P. |
| Affliction/Demo Warlock | Moderate | Voidwalker/Felguard tanks. Siphon Life/Drain Life for sustain. Soulshatter if needed. |
| Feral Druid (Bear) | Moderate | Bear form sustain. Health pot likely needed. Tight but doable. |
| Shadow Priest | Moderate | Shadow Protection buff mandatory. Self-healing through rotation. |
| Resto Shaman | Moderate (slow) | Searing Totem + Flame Shock + heals. 15+ minute fight. |
| Disc Priest | Moderate (slow) | PW:S + Rapture mana loop. Shadowfiend on cooldown. 15+ minute fight. |
| Frost Mage | Very Hard | Not kiteable. Near-impossible without exceptional gear or luck. |
| Prot Warrior | Very Hard | No self-healing to sustain the long fight. Need a healer. |
| Enhancement Shaman | Moderate | Burn with cooldowns, Maelstrom Healing Waves. Gear-dependent. |
Efficiency Tips
Lore & Secrets
The Soul Interrogation
This is one of the most memorable NPC dialogue sequences in Icecrown. After you use Arete’s Gate, the lord-commander steps through and compels Landgren’s soul to appear. What follows is a brief but intense exchange:
This scene showcases the Ebon Blade’s operating philosophy. They don’t bluff, they don’t show mercy, and they don’t leave loose ends. Arete’s casual cruelty here (“I won’t say that I won’t enjoy this”) contrasts sharply with the Argent Crusade’s more honorable approach, reinforcing why the two factions maintain an uneasy alliance.
Who Was Archbishop Landgren?
High Abbot Landgren was the spiritual leader of the Scarlet Onslaught at New Hearthglen in Dragonblight.
He was manipulated by “the Light” (actually Mal’Ganis in disguise) into creating the raven priest sect. Players killed Landgren during the Dragonblight campaign, but the Onslaught resurrected and promoted him to Archbishop at their Icecrown cathedral. The quest title “Second Chances” is darkly ironic: the Onslaught gave Landgren a second chance at life, and now the Ebon Blade is giving him a second chance at death.
Explore Icecrown’s hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Icecrown Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.
Vikstone's War Journal“I’d heard they have an archbishop in their cathedral, but I had no idea that they’d resurrected and promoted Landgren! The Crimson Cathedral is heavily guarded with only one entrance, so you’ll need help. We still need to know where the grand admiral is, but this time we’re not taking any chances! Take this device. It can be used to summon a gate for me to step through once you’ve killed the archbishop. I’ll have my answers directly from his compelled soul! We will find Grand Admiral Westwind!”
The device was a gate of his own, folded down small enough to carry on a belt. Arete’s Gate, he calls it. He had no intention of walking into that cathedral until the fighting inside it was over.
Sanathel took the place beside me with his shield up, another warrior in the same trade. Goldn stood behind us, the draenei priest already working her wards. Baddad went into the shadows off the entrance and I did not see him again until he was wanted. Jkingg cracked his knuckles at roughly the height of the door handle.
The Crimson Cathedral stands up out of Onslaught Harbor and there is one way into it. We went through the front because there is no other way, and the zealots inside died saying prayers.
Sanathel and I held the front and cleared corridor, two shields working in step, while Goldn burned the shadow magic out of whatever they put into us before it could set. Baddad came up behind every knot of them with his daggers into spines. Jkingg brought up the rear, and whatever the gnome was throwing over our heads, it emptied rooms.
Archbishop Landgren was at the altar with shadow crackling off him. “I will not die so quickly this time!”
He was wrong.
He put shadow into each of us in turn, and it does not land on the body so much as behind the eyes. Goldn purged what she could reach and healed through the rest. The Destroyer went into his guard and the axe found what the guard left open. Sanathel pinned him between the two shields. Baddad opened him from behind.
When he went down I set Arete’s device against the bloodied stone, and the air came apart, and the lord-commander walked through it.
“Well done. Let’s get this over with.”
He went to the corpse. “Come, Landgren, cough up your soul so that I can ask you a very important question.”
Something was channeled, and the soul came up out of the body and hung in the air above our heads.
“You’ll get nothing out of me, monster. I am beyond your ability to influence.”
“YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE WESTWIND IS OR I WILL DESTROY YOUR SOUL!”
“No.”
“Then you leave me no choice. I won’t say that I won’t enjoy this.”
None of us heard what Landgren gave him. Arete worked on that soul for a while and the five of us stood in the nave and listened to it, and whatever the archbishop said at the end of it he said only to Arete.
“A hidden hollow? How very interesting. You’ve served your purpose, Landgren, but I’m afraid there’ll be no resurrection for you this time!”
“AAAEEEEIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…”
Goldn turned away and kept her back to it. Baddad watched all of it. Jkingg and Sanathel were still looking at the piece of air where it had been after it had stopped being anywhere.
“Hidden caves on the backside of the island. How very interesting.” Then, as though it had that moment occurred to him: “Well, at least now I know where all of my missing spies are.”
“Now that the unpleasantness is finished with,” Arete said, “let’s talk about you dealing with Grand Admiral Westwind.”
The unpleasantness. He meant the soul. Not the corridor, and not the spies.
Arete had a cave, a name, and a device for stripping away whatever was protecting the man inside it, and what is actually waiting down there comes out only when The Admiral Revealed.
