I just finished tribes of the east and thought the transition of the storyline from 2nd expansion to the third didnt go too well. I remember raelag saying something about going east to meet the orcs but you never see him at all in the third expansion. Unless my game glitched out or something, i already finished the game but i havent seen the warlock lord at all so i am wondering, am i missing something here? The ending left me really confused....

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!!

OK, so am going to give you what I (as a fellow HOMM player) think is the answer. I can't say for definite. Though no, you didn't miss anything, unless I also did!

The answer I think to what happened to Raelag is, he did not disappear unaccounted for, he just changed like he already did once. Raelag is Arantir, Arantir is Raelag.

Think about it, here’s my evidence:

- Agrael already became Raelag. When Raelag disappeared, another major character appeared. The last time we saw Agrael before the change to Raelag, he was with Tieru. The last time we see Raelag, he’s with Tieru too.
- Raelag’s last words to Isabel include ’Your… Kha-Beleth’s… child. He must be stopped.’ (= ‘I’m about to spend the rest of the cycle storyline obsessed with squashing him’) and ‘Be glad, Isabel, that we had any time at all’ (=’You ain’t gonna see me again, hon!’). This fits with him becoming Arantir.
- At the end of Arantir’s campaign in ToE, he free’s Isabel’s soul. Or some-such magical hokum. Yet he never actually meets herself, as this would confuse matters somewhat.
- In Dark Messiah, Arantir looks a lot like Raelag (although not so much in ToE). The thin pale face, the purple robes….
- When Giovanni fails to do away with Arantir, he exclaims ’You were such a feeble acolyte…’ (=’Put back the original Arantir whom you have obviously mysteriously replaced!’)
- Finally, it’s just the neatest explanation. There are no more expansions coming, unless Ubival are about to confound me with HOMMV: The Further Adventures of Raelag. Which they’re not. The major story loose end is removed by this tie-up.

‘Course, even with that loose end tied off, I’d have to agree that the end of ToE is still rather unsatisfying. There just wasn’t enough drama and no plot developments.
Most noticeable weirdness was that Isabel and everyone else appear to now believe that Biara killed her husband Nicolai – whereas in fact it was Agrael/Raelag/Arantir. All most bizarre.

This issue has troubled me as well. However, I do not think Raelag is Arantir. You see, Agrael didn´t really "change" into Raelag. It was Raelag all along, although he was wearing that rather cool armor and had demonic powers. Before Tieru cleansed him of the demonic influence, I believe he was just a Dark Elf, who worshipped demons, like some others of his kin (the name of Agrael´s campaign, the Cultist, speaks in favor of this). After he made his decision to betray the Demons, he agreed to be cleansed of the demon influence, and was thus a normal Dark Elf. I do not find it probable that Tieru (who was already dead) could change Raelag´s race as well.

You should also note some facts given in Arantir´s campaign. It is said in the campaign that Arantir has managed to gain power over most of Heresh, and I believe this happened between the original HOMM V and his campaign. I just don´t believe that Raelag would´ve had time to do that (considering that the prince whom Biara sacrificed has just been buried in one of the Orc missions). Also, I believe that Giovanni´s statement (You were such a feeble acolyte…) merely means that Arantir used to be quite an unremarkable character, and Giovanni did not believe he had such power.

But anyways, since this thread is also about the loose lines in HOMM V´s plot, there´s one thing which agitates me greatly: what on Earth were those Elves doing during the two expansions? I mean, they helped the others to dispose both Markal and get Isabel out of Sheogh, and then they just decided to sit back and enjoy the show (with the exception of helping the rebels in the first mission of HoF)?!

Not a chance for so many reasons. Raelag is gone searching elsewhere, period. TotE does not revolve around the cities of the east so I don't see a problem, he'll probably play a role later.

-Tieru is an influencial person. Hey he had met king Alaron RAELAG IS ALARON TOO!!!
-Raelag's words are actually reasonable, if you had to undertake a dangerous mission would you not say similar things?
-He would be sure to show some emotion at her ghost at least.
-Arantir does still not look like Raelag. Nor act like him, one is orderly the other chaotic. Nor worship Malassa. Nor is he a dark elf :P
-Raelag was by no means a feeble acolyte. Heck he had been watching over Isabel since she grew up which was over a decade and then only a warlock from Soulscar clan would know. The necromancers had no association.
-Last expansion means H6 d'uh. And the sales were good enough to ensure one.