Tyr

Not to be confused with Tyr's Hand.

Tyr
Gender	Male
Race	Titanic watcher
Location	Tirisfal Glades
Status	Deceased
Relative(s)	Odyn (brother), Thorim, Loken (nephews)

Tyr was the mightiest of the titanic watchers. He once resided at the Temple of Order, but was absent during the time of Loken's rebellion. Tyr died fighting against Loken's minions, after Loken's betrayal was made known to both Tyr and Archaedas. He was buried in a tomb beneath a lake in what is now known as Tirisfal Glades, named in honor of his ultimate sacrifice. Tyr was thus not in Ulduar when adventurers finally freed the titan city from Yogg-Saron's influence.

Biography

Tyr was one of the keepers created by the Pantheon to lead the titan-forged armies against the forces of the Old Gods during the War between the Titans and the Old Gods. Tyr was imbued with strength and courage by Aggramar. Together with Odyn, he battled and defeated Ragnaros the Firelord.

Dawn of the Aspects (Past)

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

During the era just after the Ordering of Azeroth, Tyr observed the proto-dragons from the shadows, particularly the intelligent ones such as Malygos. When the massive Galakrond began devouring proto-dragons and the victims became undead, Tyr made his presence known to Malygos and asked for the clever blue's help, as well as the help of Malygos's companions. Tyr made some vague wordings that imply Galakrond's mutations were his doing though things did not turn out as he had hoped. Tyr explained that his fellow keepers would not face the danger of Galakrond as they are not tied to Azeroth like its native species are, and so he all but begged Malygos for aid.

Later, Tyr used an undead proto-dragon to catch the attention of Ysera and Alexstrasza. Some time after, Malygos found his way to the three of them. As Malygos and Tyr conversed, Ysera in an effort to reason with the undead proto-dragon freed it and only survived due to Malygos quickly destroying the fiend. However Malygos soon fell into the hunger for flesh, having been bitten earlier, but was brought back to his senses by Ysera. Remarking that Ysera was special and Malygos had strength to resist the hunter for so long, Tyr used his powers to heal Malygos of his ailment. He then proposed hunting Galakrond, and decided to stand by the proto-dragons this time, revealing a war hammer from beneath his cloak. Lastly he pulled out an octagonal artifact called the Spark of Tyr, moving it to the three proto-dragons as it glowed, with the promise that he was "trying to ensure some future."

A Spark of Tyr.

Galakrond returned outside the cavern, chasing Neltharion and Nozdormu. Malygos and Tyr moved to the entrance to witness their battle, and Tyr was overjoyed at the proto-dragons' coordination. Alexstrasza, Malygos and a now full-sized Tyr joined in the battle. Temporarily stunning Galakrond with his hammer, Tyr ordered the proto-dragons to flee as he stayed to battle the monster.

An unknown time later, Tyr met with the five proto-dragons, informing them that Galakrond was sleeping in a mountain range to the north and that it was the perfect time to attack. He told them to eat before doing so, and just before they left Tyr held the Spark of Tyr before Nozdormu and Neltharion as he had to the others before. After doing so, Tyr vanished in the blink of an eye.

Tyr and the proto-dragons met up near Galakrond's slumbering place, which Kalecgos would later note in his visions was nowhere near Galakrond's Rest. Save for Ysera, they all began the battle against Galakrond, who had grown larger and even more mutated than before. Throughout the battle, the Spark of Tyr on Tyr's belt glowed ever brighter. When Galakrond suddenly expanded in size without warning, Tyr's hammer could no longer harm him. With a flap of wings, Galakrond called up a massive wind that scattered the fighters. Ysera suddenly appeared and Galakrond attempted to devour her, but Tyr silenced his laughter with a mighty blow from his hammer. Tyr pulled Galakrond to the ground and began to mercilessly beat him even as Galakrond began mutating further - as he began to resemble a true dragon.

In the battle, Tyr's hammer and the Spark of Tyr were knocked free from his person. Tyr reached to grab the Spark, just as Galakrond's massive maw came within range and the monster clamped down on Tyr's hand. Malygos moved to save Tyr, examining the bloody stump as Galakrond roared in triumph and grew ever larger.

An unconscious Tyr was brought to a frozen lake by the proto-dragons, only to vanish from the shore. While the proto-dragons believed some beast had taken him for food, they later met two other Keepers who revealed that they were the ones to bring Tyr home. Tyr's friend Jotun would later help Tyr replace his severed hand with a closed fist made of silver, and also added Tyr's new silver hand symbol onto his hammer.

Loken's rebellion

When one of his fellow keepers, Loken, fell to corruption, only Tyr and Archaedas did not fall victim to Loken's schemes. Tyr had long suspected something was wrong with Loken, so he was not caught by surprise. However, since Loken had vast armies at his disposal, Tyr, Archaedas, and their friend Ironaya hid in the outskirts of the Storm Peaks to plan their next move. After looking for them and not finding them, Loken assumed they had fled far away from Ulduar.

Loken later instigated the Winterskorn War, fought between the Winterskorn vrykul and the earthen. During the war, Tyr and his companions were approached with pleas of help by the beleaguered earthen. Tyr and his friends immediately emerged from their hiding place to lead the earthen and attack the Winterskorn, eventually driving them back for a while. Tyr, alongside his companion Archaedas, forged a shield named  [Truthguard] and gave it to a vrykul champion named Yrgrim the Truthseeker to help expose Loken's treachery. This allowed them to convert many vrykul to their cause. After the Winterskorn came back, now riding on proto-dragons, Tyr called the Dragon Aspects to help them put a final stop to their war. With their help, they defeated the vrykul and put most of the Winterskron in deep hibernation.

After defeating the Winterskorn, Tyr decided it was time to take the fight to Loken. Otherwise, he would continue creating conflicts and destroying everything he could reach. Tyr and his allies decided to steal the Discs of Norgannon to investigate the extent of Loken's betrayal. Tyr came to Ulduar's entrance to distract Loken with requests for him to relinquish control of Ulduar. Meanwhile, Archaedas and Ironaya infiltrated Ulduar and stole the Discs. They then escaped back through the Storm Peaks, and prepared to flee far away from that area, in order to find a new refuge where they could analyze the data and plan their attack. Tyr was able to gather many titan-forged that would accompany them in their journey: vrykul already afflicted by the Curse of Flesh, most of the surviving earthen and many mechagnomes. Jotun, Tyr's friend, stayed behind to try to stop Loken from pursuing them.

Tyr's death

Tyr's silver hand and its vrykul caretakers.

Discovering the theft of the Discs, Loken panicked, thinking that if the Pantheon were to look at the information in the Discs, his life would be forfeit. Out of desesperation, Loken sent horrific C'Thraxxi monsters after Tyr's group, known as Zakajz the Corruptor and Kith'ix. After many weeks they found Tyr and his companions, far to the south, in a tranquil glade. Tyr ordered Archaedas and Ironaya to flee further south with the rest, while he remained to hold off the C'Thraxxi. They fought for six days and six nights, and eventually, Tyr decided to sacrifice his life to protect his friends. He unleashed all his remaining energy in a blinding explosion, killing Zakazj and dying as well. The severely wounded Kith'ix fled to the west and did not come back.

In honor of her friend, Ironaya named the glade "Tyr's Fall", which in the vrykul tongue translated to Tirisfal. They built a tomb and buried Tyr and his foe where they lay. Then they created a shrine to Tyr out of his silver hand atop his tomb, as a memorial to his sacrifice. His hammer,  [The Silver Hand], was stored inside the tomb as well. The vrykul were so moved by Tyr's sacrifice that they decided to settle at the battle site and guard Tyr's grave forever. Archaedas, Ironaya, and the rest, continued south and ended up settling in Uldaman.

Appearance

Tyr has silver skin and golden hair. A thick, long mustache extends down to Tyr's chest. Tyr's eyes are yellow and lack pupils, Kalecgos compares them to those of a night elf. He often wears a cloak and hood, and an octagonal object called the Spark of Tyr is strapped to his silver belt - the same Spark which grants Kalecgos visions of prehistoric Azeroth during Dawn of the Aspects. The Spark of Tyr's purpose was a sort of recording device, meant to remind the Aspects of their greatest moments should they ever feel as though they did not deserve their powers. Underneath his cloak, Tyr wore a crimson tunic and no armor save for shin guards. A band with diamond patterns wrapped just above his right elbow and a crimson cape attached to his tunic with a high, pointed collar.

After one of his hands was eaten by Galakrond, Tyr replaced it with a closed fist made of silver. His hammer was named  [The Silver Hand].

Tyr has the ability to make his body appear much smaller than it actually is, about the size of a night elf or tall human. It is unclear if Tyr actually shrinks or the shrinking is only an illusion.

In Stratholme's Cathedral of Light, there was a stainglass depicting Tyr, as humans imagine him. The Watcher was imagined as a proud, regal warrior of broad features and noble bearing. Surrounded by a halo of golden light, Tyr held a mighty warhammer in one hand and a large, leather-bound tome in the other. The inscription on the tome read: "Esarus thar no’Darador" ("By Blood and Honor We Serve").

Legacy

Tyr and the dawn of humanity

The banner of the Knights of the Silver Hand.

The vrykul began to give birth to "weak and ugly" children around 15,000 years before the First War, leading them to believe their gods had abandoned them. The vrykul king Ymiron ordered that all the weak children be killed: the punishment for not doing so was that the child's parents would be executed alongside them. Despite the risks however, not all parents obeyed this order and instead hid their children to grow up far away from Northrend. These vrykul had heard of a lost clan of vrykul who had journeyed with Tyr, Archaedas, and Ironaya, and thus ventured for this fairy-tale refuge. Few managed to find Tirisfal Glades and leave their children there. Legends later changed this story to say that it was Tyr who brought the humans to their new home.

Tyr's legend and symbol would haunt and inspire the humans forever after. The vrykul wrote down the basic details of Tyr's life, including Tyr's name, that he owned a warhammer, that he lost his hand while battling an unfathomable evil, and how he chose to replace it with a silver fist rather than make himself whole again. The vrykul interpreted this to mean that true order and justice can only be accomplished through personal sacrifice. The vrykul tale of Tyr and other stories from their culture were left with the humans, who kept transmitting it from generation to generation. While the origin of the tale was lost, Tyr's story was not forgotten and became a source of inspiration to humanity, particularly to paladins. Tyr's Guard, an ancient order of human paladins, replaced the vrykul that guarded the tomb, and continued to guard it for thousands of years.

• There is an area known as Tyr's Terrace inside Utgarde Keep, where Ingvar the Plunderer can be found.
• The Order of the Knights of the Silver Hand took their name and symbol from the myth of Tyr and his silver hand.
• The city of Tyr's Hand was also named after Tyr.
• Tirisfal Glades was named in his honor and means "Tyr's Fall" in the vrykul language.

Dawn of the Aspects (Present)

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

Kalecgos found the Spark of Tyr still clutched in his severed hand at Galakrond's Rest. As Kalec is rocked by visions of the war against Galakrond, he often caught brief glimpses of Tyr observing him only for Tyr to vanish before Kalec could get a clear look. Jaina Proudmoore theorized that the ghost of the taunka Buniq was actually Tyr in disguise. After reminding the Aspects of their duties via Tyr's recording device, Kalec once again thought he saw Tyr standing at Galakrond's Rest.

Given that Tyr had died before this event while combating Loken, it seems that Jaina was wrong about Buniq and that Kalec seeing him was either his ghost or visions brought on by the Spark of Tyr.

Delving the Tomb

This section concerns content related to Legion.

Around the time of the Battle for the Broken Shore, a remnant group of the Twilight's Hammer, lead by the Twilight Bishop, found and opened Tyr's Tomb, hoping to awaken Zakajz the Corruptor, and possibly corrupt the body of the dead watcher, to bring about the end of Azeroth.

Sometime after the Tomb was broken open, a priest and warrior, respectively had delved into the Tomb and retrieved the artifacts they sought, and having killed the Twilight's Hammer members they could find, they left the Tomb behind.

Later on, a paladin, seeking  [The Silver Hand] itself, traveled to Galakrond's Rest to find a paladin named Galford who had a Spark of Tyr and had gone to Northrend to learn more about Tyr. Galford was killed by Tyr's old friend Jotun, who had been cursed by Loken to attack any ally of Tyr's, but not before he had succeeded in using the Spark to see memories of Jotun aiding Tyr. After being defeated, Jotun allowed the Spark of Tyr to be taken. The paladin then delved into the Tomb alongside its guardians, and after killing the remaining dark forces found within, retrieved the Silver Hand. Due to a failsafe that was connected to the Silver Hand, the tomb then collapsed, preventing further incursions, so as to protect Tyr's secrets forever.

Quotes

Dawn of the Aspects: Part III

• "Welcome, clever hunter."
• You may call me Tyr. And you are, of course, Malygos."
• I have watched you. I have watched the others. I see much potential in you, in these friends of yours...and I say that as someone who has watched many of your kind since the first of you began to stir toward self-consciousness."
• "We never intended this path. Galakrond should never have journeyed in the direction he did, and we did not prevent it. Now...now this young world faces annihilation."
• "In our seeking to guide Azeroth's growth as a whole, we have been too long removed from the daily aspects of the world, too long from interacting with the life of that world. Without guidance, events somehow brought us Galakrond. With guidance, we and your kind might be able to set Kalimdor back on its destined path."
• "We are not tied to this world as your kind is. The others...the others of my kind cannot be urged anymore to face this danger. We have grown too weary from our past battles. We--I--need your kind, Malygos. I need you."

Notes

• Tyr is named after the Norse god Týr, and their history and experiences are very similar. Týr was the Norse god of law and heroic glory, and was depicted as being onehanded after having sacrificed his arm to the monstrous wolf Fenrir, similar to how Tyr had his hand bitten off by Galakrond.
• At one point it was suggested that Tyr may have mutated into General Vezax under the influence of Yogg-Saron. This was later proven false when Blizzard stated that Tyr was not in Ulduar when Yogg-Saron was defeated.