It was clear that Uther hated his wayward disciple, Arthas, to the very core. Before the Battle of Andorhal erupted, Uther had once fantasized that Arthas might have died heroically in Northrend and that the Scourge was merely puppeteering his corpse to murder his father.
He had hoped that none of this was Arthas's intent. But after facing him at Andorhal, Uther felt with chilling certainty that Arthas had transformed into a Death Knight willingly. The tone and attitude were unmistakably the Arthas he knew—the boy had utterly forsaken the Light, his kingdom, and his people. Now, Uther wanted nothing more than to strike his student down and bring him to justice.
"Lord Uther, the situation was urgent then. The Battle of Mount Hyjal was about to begin, and I didn't want you to be distracted. I'm telling you everything now that the fight is over," Rhodes said with a helpless shrug.
In that situation, could he really have told Uther about Arthas? Uther might have abandoned Mount Hyjal entirely to hunt him down. They needed Uther's presence as a Paladin to hold the line. Besides, even if they had pursued him, the boy would have been long gone.
In a fair duel, the current Uther—armed with Titan weaponry—was stronger than Arthas. However, the Lich King could channel power remotely through Frostmourne, so in a real life-or-death struggle, Uther might still fall short.
"I'm going with you, Rhodes. I want a reckoning with Arthas," Uther insisted, determined to head to the Eastern Kingdoms to finish off his disgraced pupil.
"Lord Uther, please reconsider. The Princess needs your protection now more than ever. If the new human settlements are to survive in Kalimdor, they need a master like you to stay behind," Rhodes argued, shaking his head.
On this trip to the Eastern Kingdoms, Rhodes was likely to do things that the Holy Light might find reprehensible; he couldn't have a paragon Paladin hovering over his shoulder.
After much persuasion, Uther finally decided to prioritize the big picture and remain in Kalimdor to assist Princess Calia.
"Jaina, are you returning to Dustwallow Marsh, or coming with me to the Eastern Kingdoms?" Rhodes turned to the sorceress.
Rhodes actually wanted to take "Daddy-Seller" Jaina with him. In this timeline, Jaina and Thrall didn't have a deep bond—they hadn't even spoken. Since Jaina wasn't the true ruler of Theramore yet, Princess Calia would handle the negotiations when Grand Admiral Proudmoore arrived. This would hopefully prevent the original timeline's tragedy where Jaina was imprisoned and usurped by her own father.
"I certainly want to go with you," Jaina sighed regretfully after a moment of thought. "But the Dalaran mages need a leader. If the High Elf mages withdraw, Princess Calia will be left with no magical support here."
She truly wanted to follow Rhodes, but she had recently sent a letter to her father, and she expected Grand Admiral Daelin to arrive soon. As a daughter, she felt she should be there to welcome him alongside the Princess.
"I think we have time. I can settle everything in a few months," Rhodes said with a smile.
"Go with him, Miss Proudmoore," Uther said, patting her shoulder. "The two of you always work best together, and your magic will be a great help to him. You can leave things to this old man; I won't let anyone invade our territory. If your father arrives, I'll take care of the reception. We were good friends during the Second War."
"Alright then! But I must write a letter to my father first. If we can't make it back in time, at least he'll know where I've gone," Jaina nodded.
"That's no problem. By the way, the 'Titan Watchers' gave me another reward—a new magic scroll," Rhodes said, producing the Ice Bolt scroll he had just received. Since Jaina was a top-tier frost mage, this was perfect for her.
"Ice Bolt? Is it a damage spell like Lightning Bolt?" Jaina asked, taking the scroll with an expression of pure delight. She was touched that Rhodes was thinking of her. Standing nearby, Caponia rolled her eyes; the brat hadn't even shown it to her first. However, Caponia wasn't interested in frost magic—she was a fire mage—and she didn't feel the need to be jealous of a young girl. Her thing with Rhodes was just for fun, anyway.
"Exactly. It's a frost-based damage spell. I think it suits you perfectly; you should keep it with you," Rhodes smiled.
"Thank you so much, Rhodes! But is it okay to give me something so valuable? Won't you use it?"
"My Lightning Bolt is enough. This is powerful, but not quite as much as my lightning," Rhodes explained.
Without Water Magic, Ice Bolt costs 8 mana and deals $(Power \times 20) + 10$ damage. With Basic Water Magic, the cost drops to 6. Intermediate adds 20 damage, and Advanced adds 50. It's more efficient than Lightning Bolt and a very solid Level 2 nuke.
"Then I'll accept it gladly!" Jaina cheered. She ran off a short distance to test it. A beam of brilliant blue-white light shot from her hand, causing a frost explosion on the ground. She began studying the scroll with intense focus.
Rhodes then opened his construction interface. He didn't actually need the Lightning Bolt scroll anymore, as it had appeared in his Conflux's Level 2 Mage Guild. He could cast it naturally now. By removing the scroll, he freed up an inventory slot, and his subordinates could now learn the terrifying spell through the Guild.
He also checked his Necropolis, where he had built a Level 4 Mage Guild, yielding two Level 4 spells.
The first was Meteor Shower. When Rhodes first played Heroes of Might and Magic III, he always assumed this was a Fire spell, only to realize later it was actually Earth-based. Why Fire rained from the sky was Earth magic remains a mystery, but it was a massive AoE spell with an effect area similar to Archimonde's Rain of Chaos.
Meteor Shower costs 16 mana (12 with Basic Earth Magic) and deals $(Power \times 25) + 25$ damage. With Advanced Earth Magic, the base damage bonus hits 100. Rhodes planned to try and combine this with Archimonde's Fel-based Rain of Chaos.
The second spell was the legendary Resurrection. This does nothing for the undead, but it brings living units back to life. It is the holy grail of HoMM3 strategy.
Normally, if you're playing Necropolis and this shows up, you'd be annoyed. But in Azeroth, it was game-changing. At Advanced Earth Magic, it costs 16 mana and provides permanent resurrection.
With Rhodes' 12 Power and Advanced Earth Magic, he could restore 760 health points $(12 \times 50 + 160)$. To put that in perspective, an Archangel has 250 HP; Rhodes could fully resurrect three of them in one cast, with points to spare. In Azeroth, 760 HP was enough to potentially bring back a fallen demigod. The only catch: he needed a corpse, and the soul must not have fully departed to the Shadowlands yet (meaning death within 24 hours).
Thinking of this, Rhodes immediately sent for Cenarius, Tyrande, and Thrall. With over 200 mana, he could cast Resurrection more than ten times.