Set it Off!

Quest Giver: Captain Kendall – Below Icecrown Citadel, Icecrown [51.7, 86.6]

Objective: Light the fuse on the Saronite Bomb Stack near the pit below Icecrown Citadel.

Quick Facts

• Level: 80
• Faction: Alliance only (Horde equivalent: Blow it Up!)
• Location: Below Icecrown Citadel, Icecrown [54.4, 86.3]
• Chain Position: 3rd quest in the Icecrown Citadel/Matthias Lehner chain
• Leads To: A Short Fuse

Walkthrough

Finding the Bomb Stack

• After completing Securing the Perimeter, Kendall tells you the saronite bombs are in place and it is time to detonate them.
• The Saronite Bomb Stack is on the other side of the pit from Kendall, at approximately [54.4, 86.3]. Look for the quest interaction marker near the edge of the large saronite-lined hole.

Lighting the Fuse

• Right-click the Saronite Bomb Stack to light the fuse.
• What happens next is not what you expect. The explosion is far more powerful than anticipated. Instead of a controlled detonation, the blast knocks you off the ledge and sends you plummeting down through the saronite-lined pit, crashing through a crack in the ice and falling into the water far below in Naz’anak: The Forgotten Depths.
• The fall is scripted and will not kill you as long as you land in the water. The quest auto-completes during the sequence.

Critical Warning for Death Knights

• Turn off Path of Frost before lighting the fuse. Path of Frost causes you to land on the surface of the water instead of falling into it, resulting in fatal fall damage. This is one of the most common causes of death on this quest.

Critical Warning for Druids

• Do not shift into Flight Form during the fall. While it is possible, it can break the quest scripting and strand you in an awkward position.

Efficiency Tips

• This is a one-click quest. Walk to the bomb stack, click it, and the rest is automated.
• After falling into Naz’anak, the next quest (A Short Fuse) is available immediately. You do not need to return to the surface yet.

Lore & Secrets

The Gateway to Naz’anak

This seemingly simple demolition quest is actually the moment that cracks open the hidden depths beneath Icecrown Citadel.

The explosion reveals Naz’anak: The Forgotten Depths, an ancient nerubian cavern system far below the Citadel. The cave contains bioluminescent fungal growth, underground lakes, and the Altar of the Ebon Depths (used by Tailors to create Ebonweave cloth).

Fan speculation connects Naz’anak to the tunnel system Arthas and Anub’arak used as a shortcut to reach Icecrown during the events of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The presence of nerubian architecture and Faceless Ones in the cavern supports this theory.

First Contact with Matthias Lehner

After surviving the fall, you encounter Matthias Lehner for the first time in the caverns below. This ghostly child, whose name is an anagram of “Arthas Menethil,” represents the last vestige of Arthas’s humanity.

The subsequent quests (A Short Fuse, A Voice in the Dark, Time to Hide) represent your first interaction with Matthias and set up the profound vision quests that follow: witnessing Arthas’s past, the raising of Sindragosa, and ultimately Tirion’s failed attempt to redeem the Lich King at the Cathedral of Darkness.

The tonal shift is remarkable. You go from a military demolition mission with Captain Kendall’s quips about “borrowed” saronite bombs to encountering the literal soul fragment of WotLK’s main antagonist.

The fall into Naz’anak mirrors Arthas’s own descent into darkness.

Saronite’s Dark Nature

The bombs themselves are made of saronite, the dark ore mined throughout Icecrown that is suffused with the blood of Yogg-Saron, the Old God imprisoned beneath Ulduar.

The Scourge uses saronite extensively in Icecrown’s construction, and exposure to the ore drives mortals to madness. The “borrowed” saronite bombs are a characteristically pragmatic Ebon Blade touch: using the enemy’s cursed materials against them.

Cross-Expansion Connections

Naz’anak and Nerubian Lore

• The caverns beneath Icecrown Citadel connect to the broader nerubian empire storyline that spans multiple expansions. The nerubians were an ancient civilization conquered by the Lich King and forcibly inducted into the Scourge. Their underground kingdom, Azjol-Nerub, extends throughout Northrend’s subterranean depths.
• The War Within (2024): Blizzard’s expansion explored Azeroth’s underground regions extensively with the Earthen and Nerub’ar Palace, bringing the nerubian civilizations back to prominence and making WotLK’s underground content newly relevant.

Explore Icecrown’s hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Icecrown Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.