Up next in 10
This week, our hosts Matthew Rossi and Joe Perez are tackling the absolutely massive universe of Warhammer 40,000. It's so massive that they can only scratch the surface of it in the time they have, so this is a great primer of one big facet of the setting -- The God-Emperor of Man. They cover a bit of the Horus Heresy, all the way up to the current events happening in the universe.
Who is the God-Emperor of Mankind? How did he get to be stuck on the Golden Throne? Why are some of your friends always talking about skull thrones and blood gods? What are the Primarchs, and how do they affect the current events happening in the universe? These are just a few of the topics that are covered in this look at the grim dark future of humanity in the 41st millennium.
It's time to say a prayer to the God-Emperor and steel your soul against the dark gods who lurk behind the universe as we dive into one of the largest and longest-running tabletop universes of all time.
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0:04
[music]
0:12
Hello and welcome to Lore Watch, a round
0:14
table for free form discussion about
0:15
lore in your favorite media. I'm your
0:17
host, Joe Perez, one of several lore
0:19
focused folks from Blizzard Watch, and
0:21
I've got my Adeptist Mechanicus cohort
0:23
with me, Matt Rossley. How you doing
0:25
today, Matt?
0:25
>> I am very insulted that you think I'm in
0:28
the Mechanicus. I don't think you're a
0:29
bulldog if that makes sense. I don't
0:31
think you're because I think you're far
0:32
too intelligent for that.
0:34
>> Wolves my friend.
0:36
>> Uh well friend
0:38
>> anyway
0:39
>> if you couldn't gather from that we're
0:41
going to be talking about some Warhammer
0:42
40k lore today. Uh this comes after some
0:46
poking and proddding from some several
0:48
of our uh wonderful patrons out there
0:50
including Vulcan who lives uh as well as
0:53
many others who have asked us a ton of
0:55
questions about uh Warhammer lore. uh
0:58
and and such with the story. And with
1:01
the new edition of Warhammer literally
1:03
coming out in a few weeks, it's probably
1:05
a good time to do a little bit of a
1:07
refresher uh at least on what is one of
1:10
the core factions at the focus of almost
1:12
every edition release, the Imperium of
1:14
Man, the Imperium of Mankind, or just
1:16
the Imperium, however you want to call
1:18
it. Now, that said, I do want to remind
1:21
you that if you have questions for this
1:22
or any of our podcast, be sure to send
1:25
those in. You can send those into
1:26
podcasterwatch.com.
1:28
I ask that you specify the show that is
1:29
for in the subject line as well as any
1:31
special pronunciation of your name. If
1:33
you want us on Discord, we have the Q
1:34
and Podcast questions channel open for
1:36
everybody. Same rules apply. However, if
1:38
you are a Patreon subscriber, you get
1:40
access to the patron Q and Podcast
1:42
questions channel where we tend to look
1:44
there first as a way of saying thank you
1:45
for helping us keep the lights on. Now,
1:48
with that, Matt, I mean, I can talk
1:50
about the birth of the Imperium or I can
1:52
talk about the birth of the Emperor. The
1:54
two are basically kind of tied together.
1:56
What would you like me to to talk about
1:58
first?
1:59
>> I want you to tell people about the
2:01
cinematic that came out recently and why
2:04
that's sending us focus on the Emperor.
2:06
That's what I want. Yeah.
2:08
>> Because I want to know, do you think the
2:10
Maggot Lord is in fact alive?
2:12
>> Yeah. So,
2:13
>> because they've been telling me, you
2:15
know, Kor has told me otherwise.
2:17
>> Yeah. So with the new edition, they
2:19
released a new cinematic which spurned
2:22
uh quite a bit of tinfoil hating in the
2:25
community uh where people were going
2:28
crazy because a lot of weird things have
2:30
been happening in the story of
2:32
Warhammer. First of all, the story has
2:34
progressed over the last several years
2:36
which is something that is abnormal for
2:38
this game. Uh the game has a very
2:42
Fallout war never changes type feel. uh
2:45
one of its taglines for the longest time
2:47
was in the grim darkness of the future
2:48
there is only war stuff like that and
2:51
nothing changed until it did. Uh we've
2:54
seen the ga the galaxy split in twain
2:58
again the eye of terror becoming uh not
3:01
just this big black hole uh but this
3:04
giant rift in space that has bisected
3:06
the universe. Uh we've seen the return
3:08
of long lost primarchs which if you
3:11
don't know who they are we'll be talking
3:12
about them shortly. um long thought to
3:15
be dead. Uh both the the air quote good
3:19
guys and the air quote bad guys. We'll
3:21
explain more about that later. Um and
3:23
the universe is just in general
3:25
disarray. Again, other characters, even
3:27
just base humans that were thought dead,
3:29
looking at Kamisar Yaric, uh are back
3:32
from the dead. Whether it's from the
3:34
power of the orc's belief or whether he
3:35
actually died to begin with or if he
3:38
returned to a form of imperial
3:39
saintthood much like St. Celestine, we
3:42
don't know yet. All that to say, in the
3:44
cinematic, we're going back to one of
3:46
the most famous of battle sites in the
3:50
modern 40k lore, Armageddon, where
3:53
Imperial forces and knights uh took on a
3:56
massive horde of orcs regularly. Um, the
4:01
cinematic then went through a whole
4:03
bunch of uh items that basically
4:05
explained what the Empire of Mankind
4:07
was, how dark it was, and the fact that
4:11
the Emperor, who sits upon the Golden
4:13
Throne in a state of suspended
4:14
animation, who has a thousand souls
4:17
sacrificed to him a day, a thousand
4:19
psychic souls, um, was essentially in
4:24
this particular case, whether it was an
4:27
artistic choice or deliberate, and I do
4:29
think deliberate, It showed him going
4:32
from a rotted skeleton uh which the most
4:36
famous artwork uh created by uh John
4:39
Blanch uh who recently passed away. Um
4:44
showed him gaining skin and muscle and
4:47
moving. Um it also showed the chaos gods
4:51
reacting to this as they all let whales
4:55
out from the warp. and the orc god uh
4:59
Gor and or Morc also reacted to this
5:02
which would make sense since the battle
5:03
is taking place on Armageddon.
5:06
People have gone through this cinematics
5:08
like cell by cell screen by screen and
5:12
have all come to the same conclusion
5:13
that it is not different art thrown in
5:16
that it seems like the emperor is
5:17
regenerating which makes sense because
5:21
the emperor has not been dead this
5:23
entire time. In fact, the emperor cannot
5:25
die. Um, the souls being sacrificed to
5:28
him are not necessarily to sustain him,
5:31
uh, but sustain the actual device that
5:33
he sits upon, which seals a ancient
5:36
webway of psychic tunnels closed and
5:38
keeps chaos from infesting the entirety
5:41
of the universe uh, through these
5:44
tunnels that were once created by the
5:45
Elar wave. That's a whole lot to cover.
5:48
U, but that's sort of the gist of it.
5:49
But yes, he's been alive the entire
5:51
time. And we have this canonically known
5:52
this for a fact because he has
5:53
psychically projected into the minds of
5:56
several living people including St.
5:58
Celestine, many of the other named
6:00
characters that have been around in the
6:01
lore. Uh as well as literally talking to
6:06
um Cipher and telling Cipher through one
6:09
of the uh custodes that it wasn't time
6:12
to release him from his throne yet.
6:14
Literally in the book of Cipher. Sorry.
6:16
Go ahead, Matt. Let me ask you, I just
6:17
want to ask you though, do you think
6:19
it's possible that the channeling of the
6:22
psychics wasn't necessarily the
6:23
psychers, sorry, wasn't necessarily to
6:27
prevent the the collapse of, you know,
6:29
the warpways and the you rushing of
6:31
chaos into the world and more to
6:33
accelerate his return.
6:35
>> No,
6:35
>> cuz that's what I always felt like it
6:37
was.
6:38
>> Yeah. So, they they kind of covered this
6:40
in ninth edition, 10th edition. Um I
6:46
don't remember which edition but in the
6:48
books where I think it was the time when
6:50
Rabboot Gullyman came back from the dead
6:53
there's a book that was released with it
6:55
and uh the book told the story of Reboot
6:57
basically coming back to uh the cradle
7:00
of mankind coming back to Terara to take
7:02
over running the the Imperium of man as
7:05
an active role as the only living
7:07
primarch available. Um, and in it he
7:11
made not necessarily a friendship but a
7:15
non-aggression treaty with the Dark
7:17
Elder or the Drukari where the Dukari
7:21
show up on Terra with him. Something
7:23
that the Imperium would have been
7:25
completely against at the the dawn of
7:27
the third the 30,000 millennia uh 31st
7:30
millennia, excuse me, 30,000 years
7:32
30,000 years 10,000 years. Um and they
7:36
look at the gold
7:36
>> the thousand centuries that they talk
7:38
about
7:38
>> the thousand centuries um 10,000 years a
7:41
thousand they look at the golden throne
7:45
and they go this is LAR technology this
7:47
is not functioning correctly this is why
7:50
you have to feed it so much fuel to work
7:52
and so they fix it or fix enough but
7:58
it's been running think of it like this
8:00
way the golden throne uh has been broken
8:03
for a long long time. It dates back to
8:06
when the original horse heresy happened
8:09
and uh Magnus the Red was trying to
8:12
reach his father uh to explain to him
8:15
that he didn't fall to chaos and all
8:17
this stuff wound up bursting through the
8:19
webway onto Terra using ancient
8:23
forbidden magics that he was told
8:24
explicitly not to use and broke the
8:27
golden throne. He broke it before the
8:29
emperor could actually get it up and
8:30
running. um which then allowed the doors
8:33
to flood open demons to come onto Terra
8:36
and essentially just start crashing
8:38
through the door. He then got on the
8:40
throne and used his own psychic energy
8:43
to essentially fuel it to put the lock
8:46
back on. So whatever he was doing before
8:48
that was off the table and instead it
8:51
was literally just him keeping the door
8:54
barred and him holding the door kind of
8:56
like Hodor and um then this happens
8:59
where the Dari sort of fix it and
9:02
they're still sacrificing a thousand
9:04
souls a day at this point or at least
9:06
that's what we're led to believe. But
9:08
then you get into books like Cipher
9:10
where that becomes questionable. Are
9:12
they actually doing that? Are these ones
9:14
not being sacrificed? are they being
9:16
shuffled to other places? And ever since
9:19
then, it's been the emperor more present
9:22
in the world. So, I think what's
9:24
happening is that because now the
9:27
machine is running and is making proper
9:29
use of the fuel being put into sort of
9:32
the hole in the carburetor has been
9:34
plugged, he's able to start regenerating
9:36
himself. Now, this would be weird if it
9:40
wasn't a sci-fi fantasy world and
9:42
universe that the story takes place in,
9:44
but the emperor is something called an
9:45
eternal. Eternals do not die. There's
9:48
only a handful of them in existence.
9:51
There only ever has been a hand in
9:52
exist. He is one of them. and as is one
9:55
of the primarchs, uh, one Imperial
9:58
agent, John Gromaticus,
10:00
uh, and a handful of others that are of
10:03
other races, uh, or other heritages in
10:06
the 40k that are essentially timeless.
10:09
They cannot die. You can kill them,
10:11
they'll reform, they come back, you can
10:13
cut off their head, and it will
10:15
basically suction back onto it, and it
10:17
will be like it never happened. The
10:19
emperor tends to be one of these. So,
10:20
he's slowly recollecting himself. Uh, at
10:24
least that's what it seems like and
10:25
that's been the theory for a number of
10:26
years. Enter the cinematic and
10:28
everybody's losing their mind because
10:30
they think that's and and I said to
10:32
agree that is confirmation that again
10:35
things are changing. The universe is
10:38
shifting again. The dynamic is shifting
10:41
and the emperor is one step closer to
10:45
maybe waking up, but at the very least
10:47
seems to be physically repairing
10:50
himself, albeit slow, which is one of
10:54
the more fascinating things about the
10:55
cinematic, at least in
10:57
>> Oh, that wasn't my my question. We
10:59
should probably go back to talking about
11:01
the uh very beginning then since you
11:03
just mentioned that the emperor is an
11:04
immortal. Let's run down who the guy is
11:08
so people know who we're talking about.
11:10
>> Absolutely. So, the Emperor of Mankind,
11:12
often referred to in in descriptions of
11:15
text and story as an unknowable being, a
11:18
giant of a man wearing golden armor
11:21
whose face is never knowable but always
11:25
recognizable. Basically, uh an infinite
11:28
face like the everyman of of everything.
11:31
Um he is referred to in the current
11:35
imperial cult uh as the god emperor of
11:38
mankind. He is viewed as the sovereign
11:41
ruler of the imperium of man uh the
11:43
father the guardian and the god of the
11:45
human race. Um in the early days he was
11:50
well we don't know much about him as far
11:52
as like his birth. There is however uh a
11:56
story that is told where it is said that
11:58
the emperor's birth while a natural
12:01
process basically he was born into the
12:03
world of a human female uh it was
12:06
actually the result of a scheme created
12:07
by the wisest and most powerful living
12:09
humans at the time the conclave of
12:12
shamans. These were spiritual leaders
12:15
that we think potentially we don't know
12:17
for sure. Um, we know that they were
12:20
psykers, but they may have also been
12:22
eternals or immortals that then gave
12:26
themselves and their power to the unborn
12:30
child, the star child as it were. Then
12:33
he was born, uh, which you know, as
12:37
children do. Uh, he had amazing psychic
12:40
powers already. Um, and they called him
12:44
the new man. um he had the power to
12:47
reincarnate himself. Uh upon death, the
12:50
salmon souls would tr the salmon
12:52
shaman's souls would then transfer to
12:54
the warp and then accumulate enough
12:56
power to reincarnate as human um and
13:00
then essentially transferring all that
13:02
to him. So he just yeah could not do
13:05
anything to kill himself. He was just
13:08
forever. Um he it is told that the story
13:11
is that he had a mundaneish childhood
13:14
minus this great psychic fam like power
13:17
where he did manual toil working the
13:19
land of his family's farm. Uh and then
13:22
while his father and I'm air quoting
13:25
this was murdered by his uncle uh and
13:29
then while preparing his father's body
13:30
for a primitive funeral ritual he
13:32
received a picture or a vision of the
13:35
murder. um essentially his first psychic
13:38
vision. Uh the boy approached his uncle
13:42
and stopped his heart using his psychic
13:44
abilities uh showing neither sorrow nor
13:46
malice essentially absent of all uh
13:49
emotion at this um and according to the
13:53
emperor and what he says in the heresy
13:55
novels uh and anything if you go back to
13:58
any of the old text it was at that
14:00
moment he realized that humanity needed
14:02
law, order and the guidance of a ruler.
14:05
uh shortly after that he left his
14:07
village uh for the first city of
14:09
humanity which is never actually uh
14:13
discussed what it actually is but we
14:16
think it's Samaria the cradle like
14:18
essentially the cradle of human life on
14:21
uh terra uh so there are several other
14:25
accounts of this essentially where in
14:27
his early life he essentially fought and
14:30
created massive warriors and warlords
14:33
called the thunder wards or thunder
14:34
warriors
14:35
They were essentially the blueprint for
14:37
what would become the space marines.
14:39
They were an imperfect force meant to
14:41
essentially have an expiration date uh
14:43
in which he used sort of his uh extreme
14:46
knowledge, his psychic abilities, his
14:47
extreme intelligence because essentially
14:50
his powers were great enough that he had
14:52
all of the collective intelligence of
14:54
all of humanity as far as he could reach
14:56
cuz he could just basically pluck
14:57
anything off their brain. Um, and then
15:00
it's he creates these, goes through,
15:03
kills every warlord on Earth, unifies
15:06
all of Terara into one single uh entity,
15:10
and then takes to the stars. Um, there's
15:14
more in here between that, but that's
15:16
really really the jux like the the the
15:19
the sort of like synopsis of the
15:22
emperor's early life because everything
15:24
else is unreliable because the story
15:28
essentially shifts depending on who he's
15:30
talking to because if he's talking to
15:32
you, you might see someone completely
15:34
different than the next person talking
15:35
at the same time with them. you may get
15:38
the same feel of, you know, somebody
15:40
that grew up in Eurasia or somebody that
15:42
grew up in like the heartland of what
15:44
would be North America. It it's very
15:47
very vague on purpose, I guess, would be
15:50
the best way to put it because
15:51
everything really starts taking up after
15:54
uh he becomes the emperor of mankind. uh
15:58
when he became essentially, you know,
16:01
part and parcel the emperor in in
16:03
everything, you know, in name and uh
16:07
essentially [clears throat] everything
16:08
proper. Sorry, there's there's a lot
16:09
here that I'm trying to to straighten
16:11
out. So, um the dark age of technology,
16:14
uh which is where essentially your
16:18
technology reached a very high point not
16:22
too dissimilar to where we are now.
16:24
artificial intelligences,
16:26
uh, templates for mass-produced vehicles
16:29
and armaments and habitats. Um, a bunch
16:33
of stuff that started pushing the
16:35
boundaries of science into the
16:38
boundaries of magic. Uh, one of the
16:40
things is the warp has always existed as
16:44
a layer beneath reality. The emperor
16:46
always knew about this as psychics the
16:49
psykers always did. The shaman knew
16:51
about this um and other mystics knew
16:54
about this. The warp is essentially a
16:57
reflection of humanity and living beings
17:00
emotions. Uh not just humanity but all
17:03
living cre um think of it if you are
17:05
unfamiliar with this and you're putting
17:07
it in terms of wow. Uh think of it sort
17:10
of like the shadowlands where your
17:13
shapes the shadowlands the warp is
17:15
shaped by living beings uh emotion. Uh
17:19
case in point, Eldar actually birthed a
17:21
chaos god uh through uh their want of
17:25
excess ritual uh essentially their
17:28
hedonism
17:30
uh birth a the god Slenesh which is the
17:33
chaos god of excess. All of the rage and
17:36
war that humanity and other humanoid and
17:39
living entities throughout the cosmos uh
17:42
have exerted for time immemoriam
17:45
uh spawn K, the god god of blood and
17:49
bone essentially for chaos. Uh those
17:52
that delved too far into the mysticism
17:54
and the ways of old magic. Uh those that
17:57
sought science and uh knowledge gave
18:00
birth to zincch. Uh and then you have
18:03
the sort of the plague, the ills, the um
18:08
sort of everything gross and disgusting
18:10
about the universe gave birth to uh
18:13
Nurgal uh who you know essentially is
18:15
the embodiment of all decay. Um these
18:18
are all human emotions and there was
18:20
likely more chaos gods in between here.
18:22
Um, but these are the four major ones,
18:24
the ones that have the most sense of um,
18:26
in the dark age of technology, humans
18:29
started essentially tapping into where
18:31
they were able to open portals into the
18:34
warp. Um, faster than light travel
18:38
actually traveled through the warp, this
18:40
immaterium space. Um, and the warp
18:43
itself, if you've ever seen the movie
18:46
uh, Event Horizon, it is essentially
18:49
what they're opening up a portal to. In
18:51
Event Horizon, they call it hell. It's
18:53
not necessarily hell here, but it's been
18:56
referred to that or similar to it in a
18:58
lot of companions. It's raw chaos.
19:00
>> It's literally raw chaos. It's like try
19:02
imagine instead of having chaos as part
19:05
of a system. You just have nothing but
19:07
chaos.
19:08
>> And everything changes all the time. And
19:10
going in there, you are just asking to
19:12
be mutated into something beyond your
19:14
understanding. You're practically
19:15
wordlessly begging to find your entire
19:18
worldview torn apart, which is why you
19:20
need people to step in and do stuff like
19:22
navigate for you, which goes back to the
19:24
emperor, doesn't it?
19:25
>> Everything goes back to the emperor,
19:26
right? It all goes back to it, which is
19:28
again he thinks that humanity is unable
19:31
to govern itself and therefore must be
19:33
brought to heal under. Um, now the part
19:37
where the story gets uh even more
19:39
convoluted. The emperor uses one of
19:42
these gateways on the planet of Molech,
19:45
which is a direct gateway into the realm
19:47
of chaos. Uh the emperor enters this
19:49
gateway and makes a bargain with the
19:52
dark gods. In this case, the four
19:54
principal gods of chaos. Uh so Korin,
19:59
Zech, Slenesh, and Nurgal. Uh he emerged
20:01
wielding a portion of all of their
20:04
powers combined, including the ability
20:06
to create beings unto himself. uh not
20:11
quite his equal but a measure of his
20:14
power. The emperor decided that he
20:16
wasn't going to keep his end of the
20:18
bargain to spread chaos to humanity. Uh
20:20
and he became anthemma to the ruinous
20:22
powers. Essentially, they couldn't touch
20:25
him. He kind of couldn't touch them.
20:29
Like they there was almost like a
20:30
mutually assured destruction going. So
20:32
the emperor then embarks on what he
20:34
called the Primark project in which he
20:35
was going to create 20 beings uh
20:38
otherwise known as his sons or at least
20:41
to him his sons. Um they're artificially
20:44
engineered gene rot creations of the
20:45
emperors of mankind that serve as both
20:48
the genetic blueprints for what would
20:50
become the space marine legions uh at
20:53
least the firstborns which are
20:54
genetically superior to what we had what
20:57
we call like the second founding uh
21:00
chapters. um and also serve as the
21:03
respective commander of these legions.
21:05
Uh the emperor used his own DNA in their
21:07
creation and they were designed to be
21:09
exceptionally superior to the average
21:11
human, larger, stronger, hardier,
21:13
faster, more intelligent. Uh they're
21:15
also incredibly charismatic and their
21:17
and and not just be generals but also to
21:19
be leaders of the imperial military in a
21:22
world where the I believe the emperor or
21:24
universe where the emperor decided that
21:26
when chaos is subdued that they would be
21:29
able to go back to humanity as paragonss
21:33
of human in the creation of these test
21:35
tube babies. Essentially,
21:37
uh, the chaos gods were able to get
21:40
inside and open a gate to the warp, uh,
21:44
where all of the beings, all 20 of these
21:47
these vats were essentially flung uh,
21:50
through the far reaches of the galaxy.
21:53
And it took the essentially the first
21:55
crusade to go and find all of them where
21:58
the emperor took to the stars with uh
22:01
his essentially firstborns
22:03
uh made from well custodies which he
22:07
made before the primarchs and then the
22:09
firstborns which were made from the
22:11
genetic materials that he had left
22:13
behind of the primarchs that had been
22:15
tossed to uh the far reaches of the the
22:18
galaxy. Of the uh 20 of them, 18 live.
22:23
Um two of them are lost to records.
22:27
Whether they died in the warp or were
22:30
purged in an exterminatus, uh there have
22:32
been tales that lead to both ways. Um,
22:35
but he wound up going through the
22:37
galaxy, finding all of them, reuniting
22:40
them, and then bringing them uh
22:42
essentially to the head of their uh
22:45
respective legions and set them
22:48
essentially to reunite the entire
22:51
universe, which had been separated from
22:53
the dark age of technology and the age
22:56
of darkness, where humanity and all of
22:58
its colonies had essentially been cut
23:00
off from. I'm skipping a bunch in
23:01
between there, but it's essentially
23:04
There's literally it's 40,000 years in
23:06
the future.
23:07
>> Yeah. And there there's
23:08
>> there's a lot
23:10
>> there's there's a lot here. Um of his
23:13
children, there was essentially a even
23:15
divide when they when the horse heresy
23:17
happened. Horus being his uh favored
23:20
son, I guess would be the best way to
23:21
put it. Um who then fell to the whims of
23:26
chaos after a uh really large plot. Uh
23:30
and then the essentially a giant civil
23:33
war broke out uh throughout the galaxy,
23:36
pitting brother against brother uh and
23:39
essentially leading a march from one end
23:41
of the galaxy to the other uh with
23:44
traitor legions essentially trying to uh
23:47
wipe out as many loyalists as they could
23:50
uh and march on Terra to essentially put
23:53
Horus, who had been corrupted by the
23:55
chaos gods in his moment of weakness
23:57
after uh stabbed with literally
23:59
uh something called the Anathema
24:02
uh by I believe it was Lorgar who did
24:05
that uh or at least schemed to make it
24:08
happen. Uh and then he made his deal
24:11
with Chaos said he was going to go to uh
24:14
essentially kill the emperor and deliver
24:17
on the promise that the emperor didn't
24:18
deliver. And they essentially told
24:21
Horus, the the chaos gods told Horus,
24:23
"Your dad made a deal with us and didn't
24:25
keep it. How do you get all of his
24:27
power? we gave it to um I guess I can go
24:30
through a really quick rundown of the uh
24:33
primarchs that we do know of the 18
24:36
there.
24:36
>> Good idea.
24:37
>> So, of the 18 legions or 20 legions, 18
24:42
live um the first legion known as the
24:44
Dark Angels is led by Lonel Johnson. Uh
24:47
they're listed as loyalists, but if you
24:50
get into a debate with 40k people, they
24:52
will argue one way or another. Uh they
24:54
went from their home world was a planet
24:56
of Caliban where Lionel Johnson was
24:58
flung to uh which is a feudal a
25:01
futuristic feudal uh feft essentially
25:05
like everything was medieval but with
25:07
lasers. Uh so I don't know how else to
25:10
describe it besides that. Uh it's just
25:13
really one of those really weird setups.
25:16
Uh the second legion was deleted from
25:19
Imperial Records uh sometime before
25:22
that. We think that they fell to chaos
25:25
and the emperor expuned them or uh
25:27
potentially one of the other legions
25:30
while they were still unified
25:32
potentially uh did this which uh we'll
25:34
talk about the space holes in a moment
25:36
here. Uh the emperor's children uh led
25:39
by Fulgrim uh who was known to be a uh
25:43
essentially a perfect seeking uh Adonis
25:46
of a person. Uh basically if you were to
25:50
take the Greek picture of Adonis with
25:52
the porcelain skin and white hair, it is
25:55
fulgrim. Uh and he was the most
25:57
charismatic out of all of them at least
25:59
in many many different ways of
26:01
describing it. Um the Iron Warriors led
26:04
by Petabo were smiths but were they were
26:09
more about I'm trying to think how to
26:12
phrase this. machines served a purpose
26:15
of sieging and that was really what it
26:18
was. There was no joy in it if that
26:21
makes sense. It was it really was just
26:23
this thing of we can make the biggest
26:25
most destructive uh the White Scars led
26:28
by Chucati Khan uh on the planet
26:31
Chagorus uh essentially are the Mong
26:34
like what you would think of
26:36
historically
26:38
uh Terran uh folks of the Mongol region
26:40
or or uh Mongolia. They're horseback
26:43
riders. They were fast uh combats and
26:47
they traded their horses for jet bikes
26:50
essentially. Uh space wolves led by
26:52
Leman Russ on the planet Feneris are
26:54
space Vikings. That literally is what
26:56
they are all the way through. Uh
26:59
Imperial Fists led by Rogul Dornne uh on
27:02
the planet of Inwit. Uh they are
27:05
fortress builders would be the best way
27:07
to put them. They understand how to
27:10
withstand a siege. Uh and in fact during
27:13
the siege of Terara when the chaos uh
27:16
rebel forces essentially made their way
27:19
to the gates it was Rogul Dorne who
27:22
essentially shore up the defenses and
27:24
held the walls. Uh Conrad Kurs from the
27:27
night lords on the planet Nostramo um
27:30
traitor legion. He is essentially a
27:31
murderer. Uh he is a serial murderer who
27:33
likes to wear people's flesh. Uh nothing
27:35
good ever came from him. Uh the blood
27:37
angels were led by Sanguinius on the
27:39
planet Bal. Sanguinius was
27:43
uh what you would call a mutation as far
27:46
as uh what happened to him. We don't
27:49
know what caused it, if it was from the
27:50
emperor's tinkering or if it was from
27:52
the uh trip through the warp, but he was
27:55
a child with angelic wings. Literally
27:58
angelic wings, fully functional angelic
28:00
wings. Um and he was the most terrible
28:03
and most wonderful of all of them. Uh an
28:06
equal kind. a terror on the battlefield,
28:08
a brilliant strategist, but also one of
28:10
the kindest souls of the uh primarchs
28:15
and knowing full well how far ahead of
28:18
humanity the marines and himself were
28:20
and taking great care of the humans
28:22
around him. Uh the Iron Hands, Ferris
28:24
Manis, uh on the planet Medusa, uh they
28:27
are also another technological plan uh
28:30
like group of folks, but these are
28:32
master smiths, not the only masters.
28:36
We'll talk about another one coming up
28:37
soon. Uh, but these are like your like
28:42
Roman Greek mythology like crafters of
28:45
machinery. Uh, they understand machinery
28:48
intimately. They're almost pherommancers
28:52
in a lot of way. Um, in fact, Ferris
28:54
Manis, whose hands were coated in molten
28:58
like myithil essentially. Um I I forgot
29:01
what the actual uh metal it was, but his
29:04
hands were essentially living metal. Um
29:07
where yeah, that was that's just the
29:09
best way I could put it. Uh world eaters
29:11
led by Angron from the planet Neria. Um
29:14
also fell to chaos. It was a gladatorial
29:17
planet that he was on. Uh and probably
29:20
one of the saddest stories of all the
29:22
primarchs.
29:23
um he was given something called the
29:25
butcher's nails where we've talked about
29:28
this with death knights in WoW where
29:30
they need to inflict suffering to have
29:33
any form of relief or life. The
29:34
butcher's nails are exactly this and it
29:37
might have been where death knights got
29:38
the idea from. uh because these are
29:41
literal devices screwed into the brain
29:44
of the individual who are forced to
29:46
fight in arena battles and the only way
29:48
they get relief from the constant
29:50
digging of the the nails is to kill and
29:53
cause suffering. And with a primark
29:56
because they are basically unkillable
30:00
unlike a normal human where the nails
30:01
would eventually kill them would just
30:03
keep regenerating. His anguish was
30:07
eternal forever.
30:08
>> Yeah. And even when he comes back
30:10
touched by chaos and warped into a demon
30:12
lord um or demon prince, excuse me, of
30:17
Korn, the nails are still there. And
30:21
like he is it's one of those things
30:24
where like it is tragic. And then when
30:26
he met the emperor, the emperor couldn't
30:28
save him from the nails or wouldn't save
30:31
him from the nail. We don't know which,
30:33
but one would think that the smartest
30:35
man in the universe, the creator of all
30:37
these beings, would figure out how to
30:38
remove it, which is also what Angran was
30:41
told, which is also why Angran went and
30:43
decided to go to the traitor side. Uh,
30:45
the Ultramarines led by Raboot Gullman
30:48
on the planet and system of McCrae in
30:50
the Ultramar region, which is an actual
30:52
region in space by the way. Um, this
30:55
[clears throat] is essentially your
30:56
Roman Empire, right? Uh it was an entire
31:00
uh cons like galaxy of stars uh that had
31:03
his own little empire where essentially
31:06
he was a master statesman, a master
31:08
general, a master artist uh very much
31:10
like the Greeks and Romans uh before
31:13
before uh the Death Guard led by
31:14
Mortarion on the planet Barbarus which
31:16
was a chemical uh essentially poisoned
31:19
planet. It was a manufacturing planet
31:21
that had been completely stripped of
31:23
resources. uh folks worked in the
31:25
factories and everything was just
31:27
poison. The air was poison to the point
31:30
where if you lived there, you couldn't
31:33
breathe clean air. It would kill you. Uh
31:36
so the death guard actually had to have
31:37
gas from Barbarus on them at all times,
31:40
including Mortarian himself. Uh he did
31:42
eventually fall to chaos. Um and then
31:45
maybe had a second thought about it at
31:47
the end. uh and then was tortured by
31:49
Nurgal being converted into a demon
31:51
prince against his because that's the
31:53
way stuff happens in the 41st century.
31:55
Uh Thousand Sons led by Magnus the Red
31:57
on the planet Prospero. These were your
32:00
Egyptian
32:02
uh high ferrisy magic wielder standins.
32:06
They understood the way of warp magic um
32:09
more intimately than any others. And in
32:11
fact, Magnus was another mutation where
32:15
his skin was red. He only had one eye
32:17
like the Cyclops of lore. Um he had
32:20
horns growing out of his head. Um like
32:24
he was just a big burly Cyclops magic
32:28
wielding man. And all of his people were
32:30
very astute and very good at doing this
32:33
type of craft. And everything on the
32:35
planet of Prospero was pyramids and
32:38
temples and and everything else. He fell
32:41
to the darkness of uh chaos, but not
32:45
willingly and not fully. When he broke
32:50
through to uh Terara to warn his father
32:53
about Horus's betrayal and cause the
32:56
destruction that he did, uh the Space
32:59
Wolves, which you know, space Vikings,
33:01
otherwise known as the Emperor's
33:03
Executioners, were dispatched to
33:05
Prospero to bring Magnus in. a fight
33:08
broke out between the two because
33:10
somehow orders got changed from bring
33:12
him in to kill them. Uh which we think
33:15
was also another thing from Chaos. Uh
33:18
trying to you know probably cornesque
33:20
there to where he retreated with his
33:23
legion
33:25
to the warp. Uh and in doing so, in the
33:30
shock of what he had done, uh in the t
33:33
like the sort of realization of all the
33:36
pain he caused and what he did, his soul
33:38
wound up getting shattered with pieces
33:40
of it flung through all the different
33:42
regions of the warp. Uh Aramand, his
33:44
first in command, tried to gather these
33:46
these fragments and reassemble uh Magnus
33:49
Red. Uh but eventually it the truth
33:52
really was that the Imperium would never
33:54
take them back. And while they were kind
33:58
of loosely leaning on Zeke, um they
34:01
really didn't have any desire to be
34:03
beholden to Zech. There's a whole other
34:05
stuff there, but um the lunar wolves,
34:08
otherwise known as the sons of Horus
34:10
after Horus decided to change their
34:12
name, led by Horus Lupricall on the
34:14
planet Cathonia. He was essentially
34:17
chosen to be warlord because he was
34:18
supposed to be uh considered by the
34:20
emperor to be the greatest of all of
34:22
them in terms of battle uh intelligence,
34:26
power, kindness, like a perfect balance.
34:29
Um he was eventually again taken low by
34:33
anthemma blade which meant that he
34:35
couldn't regenerate. He wasn't able to
34:37
actually use his primarch uh physiology
34:40
to go ahead and do so. Uh made the deal
34:42
with chaos to come back was given all
34:44
this information from chaos and then
34:45
marched on to um world the word bears.
34:48
Largarel led by Logarelion on the planet
34:51
Cultus was a highly fanatical religious
34:54
planet and Logar was a highly religious
34:58
uh fanatical primarch. Now the reason
35:00
that this is important is in the 30,000
35:03
31st millennia when the primax roamed
35:05
the world and the emperor was in charge,
35:08
one of the first things the emperor did
35:10
was outlaw all religion. Not just
35:13
specific ones, all religion. The
35:16
imperium of man was a like a completely
35:19
secular like we don't believe in in
35:23
anything and if you are found to be
35:25
worshiping any gods you were killed. And
35:28
the reason for this is because
35:30
worshiping gods
35:33
including trying to worship the emperor
35:36
sends prayers out into the ether. The
35:39
ether being the warp which feeds the
35:41
chaos gods which gives the chaos gods a
35:43
bead on where the emperor is. and give
35:45
them a way out of the warp and into the
35:47
prime material plane in which they can
35:48
cause damage. Logar being a fanatic
35:51
wanted to worship the uh emperor as a
35:54
god and in fact did so under the
35:58
emperor's nose. Uh possibly the emperor
36:00
knew about it and let it go because it
36:02
was the lesser of two evils uh or he
36:04
just didn't have time for it or there
36:05
were other things that were more
36:06
pressing. Uh but ultimately he then
36:09
started seeing the emperor as a failing
36:12
individual. Um not able to hold up his
36:15
obligations. Stepping away from the
36:16
crusade and putting Horus in charge of
36:19
the crusade was the first sign for Logar
36:23
of his failings as a god emperor. Uh and
36:28
then Logar started turning to other
36:30
archaic texts, started finding things
36:33
like the uh all the chaos gods. wound up
36:37
courting all of them. Actually wound up
36:39
being the one that first fell to chaos
36:41
out of all of them. Orchestrated the
36:43
whole thing with Loris uh Horus Looper
36:45
call. Orchestrated a lot of why the
36:49
traders uh became traitors to begin
36:52
with, manipulating them and pushing them
36:53
into uh positions where they would turn
36:56
on their brothers and the people that
36:58
they knew. And eventually Lorgar does
37:00
become a demon prince of chaos undivided
37:03
which is relatively unheard of. Chaos
37:07
don't agree on anything let alone each
37:09
other. Sharing their power.
37:11
>> Backing one guy like all of them backing
37:14
one guy is kind of like getting a group
37:16
of kindergarteners to all agree on one
37:18
ice cream flavor and whether or not
37:21
sprinkles count. Like you just no. This
37:24
doesn't happen. And the last time the
37:27
last time they did this was the emperor
37:28
of mankind who stiffed them on the bill
37:31
and then started actively working on
37:33
cutting them out of reality. So there
37:35
you go. Um salamanders led by Vulcan uh
37:40
from the planet Nocturn. This is another
37:42
group of master smiths. Um the there's a
37:46
highly volcanic, highly magnetic uh
37:48
planet with literally gigantic
37:51
salamander or dragon-like creatures that
37:54
have been part of their heraldry
37:55
forever. Um they are the kindest, most
38:00
human out of all of the legions. They
38:04
have they have their own genetic
38:05
defects. In fact, Vulcan is uh an
38:09
eternal or a um yeah, he's a he's an
38:11
eternal. Like he he cannot die. Um, and
38:14
so he's listed as unknown right now
38:17
because they don't know what happened to
38:18
him. He sort of just disappeared. Uh,
38:22
but yeah, he's like that entire legion
38:24
is just master craftsmen. They deal with
38:27
flame. They deal with fire. They deal
38:29
with with the forge. Uh, they craft
38:31
master weaponry. And in fact, Vulcan
38:34
before he disappeared, uh, scattered 12
38:37
mastercraft items throughout the
38:39
universe for his people to find and told
38:41
them that he would not return until they
38:44
discovered all 12 of them. At least this
38:46
is the the prophecy. And this is what he
38:49
saw in one of his visions when he was
38:51
killed. Um,
38:52
>> yeah. If you if you've played uh the
38:54
Rogue Trader video game, there's like
38:56
one on the ship.
38:58
>> Yeah.
38:58
>> So, you see it in the display case. I'm
39:00
not again that's not necessarily lore uh
39:03
to to the game as it is as Warhammer 40k
39:06
as it is because Rogue Trader very
39:09
deliberately had license when they they
39:11
made the game uh Games Workshop gave
39:13
them license saying this is this is
39:16
something that this at this point it's
39:19
true for this game but it's not
39:20
necessarily true for stuff going forward
39:22
which is important to know because Games
39:25
Workshop is extremely good at
39:27
controlling their IP. Yeah,
39:29
>> they invent it like they're like Disney
39:32
with, you know, with with a slightly
39:34
different subject matter.
39:35
>> Yeah. And in the lore of the universe,
39:37
uh bringing it back a bit, I believe
39:40
four or five of the items have been
39:42
found by uh the salamanders and their
39:45
scouring of the universe. uh which their
39:48
current leader Vulcan Hestian uh wields
39:52
the spear of Vulcan uh uh the like an
39:56
armor of it, a helm of him and a mantle
39:58
which is made from uh the height of the
40:01
first drake that uh Vulcan killed when
40:03
he was a child. Uh they're still loyal,
40:06
they're still around, they're still
40:08
going strong when they were on the verge
40:09
of destruction generations ago. Uh two
40:11
more legions to go. of the Raven Guard,
40:14
which was done by Corvvis Cororax on the
40:16
planet Deliverance. Um, they were spies,
40:20
I guess, would be the best way to put
40:21
it. Uh, Deliverance was a prison planet.
40:25
And so they learned how to essentially
40:27
use the shadows to their advantage,
40:29
which when the Raven Guard took uh when
40:32
they were brought under the command of
40:34
Corvvis Corax became not just assassins,
40:38
but spies and uh like they they could
40:41
get in and out of anywhere, infiltration
40:43
specialists. Um they were nearly
40:47
decimated a massive event. uh I believe
40:51
is the bombing of the virus bombing of
40:53
Istvan 4. I apologize if I got that
40:55
wrong. There's seven planets in the
40:57
Isvans. um when the trader legions
40:59
convinced the loyalists to drop onto
41:02
Isvan to quell an uprising with this big
41:05
united front of all of them uh only for
41:08
the traitor legions to hang back and
41:10
then release uh exterminatus bombs onto
41:13
the planet uh which included a forbidden
41:16
virus weaponry which killed everything
41:19
including uh space marines. It didn't
41:22
care. It broke the seals on their armor
41:24
if it got into them and just ate them
41:26
alive from the inside out. Very few of
41:28
them were able to get out of of uh the
41:32
Isvan massacre. Uh Corvvis Corax being
41:35
one of them uh and some of his people
41:37
and during the second founding or him
41:39
trying to he basically went to his dad
41:41
and said, "My legion is is is busted. I
41:45
need help. I need to replenish our
41:46
ranks. There's war coming. I need to be
41:49
able to fight. We need to be able to
41:50
fight." gave him access to the labs in
41:52
which the primarchs were. And in doing
41:55
this throughout the experimentation and
41:58
with a little touch of chaos added in,
41:59
because of course Chaos saw this and got
42:01
um the new people that were being born
42:04
as uh Raven Guard
42:07
uh Space Marines at this time started
42:09
mutating and taking on ravenlike
42:11
qualities. Go figure. Um there's a lot
42:14
of that, you know, you have your space
42:16
wolves, which literally have genetic
42:18
mutations that make them berserker
42:19
werewolves. Uh you have the mutation on
42:22
the uh salamanders making their skin
42:25
pitch black uh giving them red eyes and
42:28
giving their skin like almost
42:29
invulnerable qualities. And then you
42:31
have the Raven Guard here with their
42:33
mutation uh essentially turning into
42:35
giant talking. Uh and then the last
42:37
legion which uh Raven Guard are loyal by
42:40
uh the last one is the Alpha Legion uh
42:42
led by Alfarius and Omegaon
42:46
uh which are two the twin primarchs. Uh
42:49
they're the smallest and most and I'm
42:51
going to air quote here normalsized
42:54
of all of the primarchs. Uh and their
42:57
entire thing is subtrauge and uh like
43:00
they're basically a cult if that's the
43:02
best way I can put it where they go
43:04
through mind eraser if when they become
43:07
part of the legion everybody gets
43:09
plastic surgery essentially to look like
43:11
each other so that when one person
43:14
declares that they are Alfarius it may
43:16
be the real Alfarius. It could also just
43:18
be a line sergeant. Um, you couldn't
43:20
tell the difference. They fell to chaos,
43:22
but not for the reasons that the other
43:24
ones did. They were presented by
43:27
essentially this council of eternals uh
43:30
that oversee all the perpetuals, all the
43:31
the beings that cannot die um to
43:35
maintain the balance of the universe.
43:37
And they were essentially told that
43:40
what's going to happen is if chaos does
43:43
not win, humanity will stagnate and the
43:47
universe will basically be a gigantic
43:50
corpse moving through space and time. So
43:53
in their to them the only way to save
43:57
the universe
43:59
was to let chaos win and let something
44:02
else come in and wipe chaos out. So they
44:05
are traitors in that they worked against
44:07
the Imperium, but they were doing it to
44:10
save the universe. And so they're not
44:12
pledged to any chaos god. They're just
44:15
traitors, which is wild. Um, so
44:19
throughout all of the the horse heresy
44:22
where Horus marches on on going to
44:25
Terra, many of the uh primarchs die at
44:28
the hands of other primarchs. Um, Conrad
44:31
Kurs is killed by the hands of Lionel
44:35
Johnson after escaping containment
44:37
inside of one of Lionel Johnson's ships
44:40
and then being hunted for like years
44:42
years throughout the bowels of the Space
44:44
Hulks, which space hulks are essentially
44:47
um you've heard like walking cities and
44:49
sci-fi stuff or you know floating cities
44:52
in space or space stations. No, these
44:55
are floating continents. Uh these are
44:57
entire nations essentially born onto
44:59
ships. Uh and he essentially escaped in
45:02
one of those but was was eventually
45:04
killed. Uh Sanguinius who died at the
45:07
hands of Horus which we'll get into. Uh
45:09
Ferris Manis who was beheaded uh by
45:13
Fulgrim after Fulgrim had fallen to the
45:16
demon prince status basically letting
45:18
his soul being taken by uh you know
45:21
chaos. The interesting thing is Fulgrim
45:24
had somebody on his staff uh called
45:28
Fabius Bile, who anybody who's played
45:32
40k or read a book about the Emperor's
45:34
Children since the '9s would know that
45:37
he is a geneticist. And for ever he was
45:41
trying to crack how the emperor created
45:45
the primarchs. That was his entire goal
45:47
even before he became a traitor. Um when
45:50
Ferris Manis was beheaded, the corpse
45:54
was given to him in which he kept
45:57
cloning Ferris Manis, successfully
46:00
cloning Ferris Manis with the memories
46:04
intact up until the point of beheading.
46:07
So he doesn't know that he was betrayed
46:09
at this point. He eventually figures it
46:11
out. in in one of the saddest books uh
46:14
and existences for for a a being of all
46:16
time. Whenever he figures it out, he's
46:19
killed again and then recloned and
46:21
killed again and recloned under the
46:24
orders of Fulgrim, who him and Ferris
46:27
Manis were best friends in life. They
46:30
were the closest of brothers. He wants
46:33
his brother back and he wants his
46:34
brother to basically join him on the
46:36
dark side. Wild, right? Uh, Angron
46:40
technically deadish, but he's a demon
46:43
prince now, so whenever he dies, he just
46:44
goes back to the warp. Um, you have
46:47
Horus Lupall who's dead. Uh, and then
46:50
you have Alfarius, at least believed to
46:54
be confirmed dead, the real Alfarius.
46:56
So, the deaths that mainly happened
46:58
here, yes, the the Ferris Manis one
47:00
happened at the drop site, uh, the
47:02
massacre at Isvan. Um, but almost
47:05
everything else happened at the siege of
47:08
Terara. So, as the horse heresy happens,
47:12
as Horus is taking his people through uh
47:14
the universe, making his way back to
47:16
Terara, the entire time the emperor has
47:20
put his his longest lived friend, the
47:23
psyker that is second in power basically
47:26
only to the emperor, uh Malcador in
47:28
charge of all things because essentially
47:31
all the emperor can do is sit on the
47:34
golden throne and keep the door shut.
47:37
Literally, he can't get off of it.
47:38
Otherwise, chaos is going to bust down
47:40
the door. Siege of Terror happens.
47:42
There's a few loyalists that are there.
47:44
Vulcan's there. Uh, Sanguinius is there.
47:47
Uh, Rogul Dornne is there. Uh, I think
47:50
there's a couple others.
47:52
>> Go there.
47:52
>> What's that?
47:54
>> Was uh Robert Go there?
47:56
>> Uh, Rabuk Gilliman was not there. He was
47:58
stuck.
47:59
>> He was stuck. him. Uh Lionel Johnson and
48:03
uh Sanguinius were they get there toward
48:06
the end. Uh they were stuck in um uh
48:11
McCrag space. They were they were stuck
48:12
over in Ultramar because all
48:14
communication had been basically cut
48:16
off. Um a giant warp storm had been uh
48:19
basically initiated during this time to
48:22
make navigating the universe impossible
48:25
uh or virtually impossible
48:28
uh until something broke. essentially
48:30
the siege of Tara where the emperor's
48:31
beacon lit up and they were able to get
48:33
to Tara. Um Sanguinius
48:37
teleports aboard the flagship of Horus
48:40
Lupricall. The two fight and Horus slays
48:46
uh Sanguinius. And as he slays
48:49
Sanguinius, the emperor has seen what's
48:53
going to happen, knows what's happening,
48:55
has gotten off the throne, put Malcador
48:59
onto the throne, uh, to run it with his
49:01
psychic power long enough for him to
49:03
teleport to the flagship of Horus
49:05
Lupall, slay Horus, get be mortally
49:10
wounded in turn, teleport back down to
49:13
the throne room, and Malcador, who burns
49:16
up uh, Uh because literally the psychic
49:19
drain is so powerful that literally only
49:22
two beings possibly could have sustained
49:23
it. One being Magnus the Red, who is
49:26
nowhere to be found at this point
49:27
because he's scattered throughout the
49:28
warp. The other one being the Emperor.
49:30
Uh Malcodor essentially is dust. And as
49:33
Malcuador dies, the last of his
49:34
consciousnesses fades into the
49:36
machinery. The emperor sits down, slumps
49:39
onto the throne, uh, and essentially
49:41
becomes what is known as the corpse god,
49:44
uh, the corpse emperor of mankind,
49:46
beginning his eternal vigil as his sons
49:50
are left to clean up what's left behind.
49:53
Uh, in this, Rogel Dornne, who is
49:55
manning the walls, is uh, presumed
49:57
missing or is missing uh, presumed dead
50:02
because they find a rather large corpse.
50:05
Uh but turns out he might not be dead.
50:08
There's some weird stuff there. Um
50:11
Robert Gullyman is mortally slain. Uh
50:13
he's brought back to McCrag in a stasis
50:16
uh pod where he's not allowed to die
50:18
essentially. Um and some folks had
50:21
thought that he was uh slowly
50:23
regenerating, but turns out he was
50:26
alive. They were able to bring him back
50:27
after essentially fixing his stasis pod
50:30
and giving him essentially a life suit.
50:33
uh where essentially he's walking around
50:34
in a giant iron lung right now that is
50:37
helping sustain his body as it heals. As
50:40
I said, Horus is dead. Vulcan disappears
50:42
shortly after this uh after they return
50:45
back to Nocturn. Um you have the Fulgrum
50:49
becomes a demon prince, goes into the
50:51
warp. Petraabo disappears into the warp.
50:54
Uh Chicati Khan is alive uh but then
50:56
disappears into the warp uh in a webway,
50:59
which is the thing that the emperor is
51:01
trying to keep shut, by the way. uh
51:03
these eldar things called webways uh to
51:05
hunt uh chaos on his own. Uh Leman Russ
51:10
gets up uh at a feast at the in a hall
51:13
in Fenrris and just walks out and
51:16
disappears into the eye of terror, not
51:18
telling anybody why he's doing it or
51:19
what he's doing it. Uh but there's that.
51:22
Uh Lionel Johnson is slain upon
51:25
returning home uh to Caliban because as
51:28
he returns home to Caliban, chaos had
51:31
sort of been weaving in and out of the
51:33
minds of the the dark angels and the
51:36
dark angels were always a suspicious lot
51:38
where his adopted father Luther was left
51:40
behind with all of the Terranborn
51:44
or sorry not the Teran born the
51:45
Calibanborn
51:47
dark angels on Caliban. And when he
51:51
comes back and brings his fleet back
51:54
afterwards,
51:55
uh, essentially Luther opens fire and
51:59
starts slaughtering
52:02
uh, the fleet and we don't know the true
52:05
cause as to why. Um, but then Lo Johnson
52:09
comes down, fights Luther. Luther is is
52:13
taken alive, we find out, and tortured
52:15
for essentially eternity trying to
52:17
figure out why he went rogue. uh Caliban
52:20
had been exploded by the onslaught of uh
52:24
the fleet because there these are
52:26
essentially giant starships uh like
52:28
capable of each one blowing up a planet
52:31
by itself.
52:32
>> Yeah. Like if you think about Warhawk I
52:34
mean Space Hulk, think about the
52:35
smallest one you're ever going to hear
52:36
about is the size of New York State.
52:38
They are huge. Yeah,
52:40
>> that they are enormous. They are
52:42
intended to they're not colony ships cuz
52:44
they don't colonize anything. They just
52:46
keep being in space. It's like a space
52:49
station that has rockets on it and can
52:52
travel the warp. It It is, you know,
52:55
they look like cathedrals that whole
52:58
cities. Like imagine if France decided
53:00
in the medieval period to go into space.
53:02
That's what they're like.
53:03
>> Yeah. Um so [clears throat] he he winds
53:06
up being mortally wounded. Uh Leon
53:07
Johnson does. And as he's fighting
53:09
Luther, um, he gets put into a stasis,
53:12
he winds up disappearing, uh, from where
53:16
he was in what they call the rock, the
53:17
last remaining, uh, chunk of Caliban
53:20
that is now the Dark Angel's floating
53:22
home. Um, reappears recently, uh, coming
53:26
out of what he's called the forest, uh,
53:28
into his whole big thing because all the
53:30
primarchs are starting to come back
53:31
because all the demon primarchs are
53:33
starting to come. Uh essentially at the
53:35
end of Horus Heresy and this is why the
53:37
emperor like we're talking about the
53:38
emperor and where we are with it. The
53:40
universe chaos doesn't win. The universe
53:42
goes into this stagnant like fedded
53:46
corpse of a crawl through time and
53:48
space. And it's exactly what they were
53:51
told was going to happen if chaos didn't
53:52
win. And it's exactly what comes to
53:54
version. However, things started tipping
53:57
and chaos got bolder. More like the
54:01
demon princess started resurfacing.
54:03
Loyalist Primark started resurfacing.
54:05
And that leads us to the current
54:07
cinematic because we've gotten two
54:09
Loyalist Primarks so far. Um Lyanna
54:12
Johnson has come back. Beautiful model
54:14
by the way. Andrew Bullyman has come
54:15
back. Um not the best model. Um, the
54:20
others that are unaccounted for now
54:22
potentially have a thing to come back
54:24
because there was a thing back in the
54:26
90s, there was a lot of wild uh lore and
54:30
story being thrown around for Warhammer
54:32
40k. And one of the things if you ever
54:35
had the pleasure of talking with one of
54:37
the folks in what was Games Workshop's
54:39
Outr Rider program, uh, is they were
54:42
essentially lore walkers, I guess would
54:45
be the best way to put it. They were
54:46
arbiters and and stewards of the hobby.
54:49
And so their job was to go out into
54:52
local communities, teach people about
54:53
the game, teach people how to paint, but
54:55
also teach people the lore. And they
54:58
would occasionally get stuff from people
54:59
like Johnson and uh you know, a whole
55:02
bunch of the other like just insane
55:05
writers of of the lore of Warhammer 40k.
55:08
And one of the ideas that was floating
55:10
around was this idea that the stagnation
55:13
is literally the calm before the storm
55:16
when Ragnarok will literally happen and
55:18
the final confrontation between chaos
55:20
and humanity and everybody's like,
55:22
"Okay, fine. Whatever." Haha. You know,
55:25
it it's just rumor. It's just um it took
55:28
until 9th edition. So War Warhammer 40k
55:32
first edition Rogue Trader essentially
55:34
released in late '7s, early 80s, I
55:36
think.
55:37
>> Yeah, it makes sense. I don't remember
55:38
exactly when, but I remember that it was
55:41
it was at least before the 80s or at
55:43
least if it was in the 80s, it was like
55:45
1980 81. It was a long time ago.
55:47
>> Yeah, it might have been it might have
55:48
been even sooner than uh sorry, 87. 87.
55:51
I had to look it up.
55:52
>> Wow. God, we're old.
55:53
>> Yeah.
55:54
>> Um also, you know, we thought ' 87 was
55:56
earlier than it was.
55:58
>> Um there was stuff before then because
56:00
there was stuff in in magazines and
56:02
books before that was establishing the
56:04
universe before Rogue Trader was a game.
56:06
So like it had existed large before this
56:09
in like various different magazines and
56:10
trades and stuff. Um but then in ninth
56:13
edition so when ninth edition came out I
56:15
forgot how many years ago at this point
56:17
almost two decades I think because we're
56:19
moving into 11th the universe started to
56:21
change
56:23
came back the the eye of terror which
56:25
was the localization of the warp's
56:27
breach into reality the only thing left
56:29
from the time of the horse heresy uh
56:32
grew into this gigantic thing that cut
56:34
off half of the universe. um chaos demon
56:37
princes started showing back up. Uh de
56:40
demonic excursions and chaos excursions
56:42
started happening more frequently. Um
56:45
and and the Imperium started moving into
56:48
motion and started coalesing into these
56:50
giant war machines again to fight the
56:53
oncoming onslaught. And that's why the
56:56
cinematic in the new edition is kind of
56:58
not just important, but interesting
57:01
because it's the first time in a while
57:04
that the emperor has been shown to be
57:06
anything more than Blanch's artwork of
57:09
the corpse sitting on a machine in the
57:12
middle of the heart of Terara uh
57:14
basically in the mountain of the
57:16
Himalayans where the imperial palace was
57:19
craft carved into the mountain of the
57:22
the Himalayan mountain side itself.
57:24
um the entire city complex of this uh
57:27
and deep in its bowels where the the
57:29
throne is, where this machine is, where
57:30
the webway is. Uh it's the first time
57:32
we've seen motion and either that means
57:35
that the emperor is actually coming back
57:37
or at the very least it mean that the
57:39
story is going to advance again. And
57:43
again, at the time of this recording, we
57:44
have a couple weeks before the new
57:46
edition releases. with the new addition
57:48
will be more novelizations
57:50
uh and advancement of the story like
57:52
there has been. Uh and every time they
57:54
release a new Primark or bring a Primark
57:56
back, whether it's a demon primarch or a
57:58
loyal Primarch, there's always an
58:00
accompanying book with it that advances
58:02
the story. And it's very refreshing to
58:06
see a game like this that could very
58:08
easily and did for a very very long time
58:11
uh throughout many additions of the game
58:13
not change not change any of the lore.
58:16
Maybe clean up a couple things here or
58:17
there. Maybe redefine and make things a
58:20
little less culturally insensitive than
58:22
they were before because oh man, some of
58:24
that original artwork for some of these
58:26
legions. Boy howdy. Um, but it largely
58:29
remained unchanged until they decided to
58:31
start marching the story forward. What
58:33
that means for the future, don't know.
58:36
But it does mean that everything we know
58:38
about Chaos is subject to change.
58:40
Everything we know about the Imperium
58:41
Man is subject to change. And that's
58:43
cool. That's refreshing. That's
58:46
interesting. It's new. It's unique. So,
58:50
yeah, that is a incredibly [snorts]
58:53
incredibly quick primer on the Emperor
58:55
of Mankind, the Primark legions, the
58:59
Horus Heresy, the founding of the
59:01
Imperium of Mankind. I didn't even
59:03
really touch on the Age of Darkness and
59:05
all that stuff. Um, yeah, I I I think
59:08
that's about it. I've talked for quite a
59:10
while. Matt, is there anything else you
59:12
want to add to this or anything else
59:13
that you think might be relevant?
59:15
>> I will say that one of the cool things
59:18
about the setting is that it is it is as
59:21
aggressively dystopian as it can
59:23
possibly get. And I think that's go
59:27
cool. The thing I think is cool about
59:28
that is that it is unvarnished. like if
59:32
something is happening.
59:34
There's there's a bit in the trailer
59:35
that we're we've been kind of alluding
59:38
to, the most recent cinematic trailer
59:40
they released with the announcement of
59:42
the new edition where they say, you
59:44
know, the universe is vast and if
59:46
there's one thing that can be said with
59:47
absolute certainty, it's that no one
59:50
will miss you.
59:51
>> Yep.
59:52
>> That's like, you know, but and they also
59:54
they did say also the in the grim
59:57
darkness of the far future, there is
59:59
only war. like they they have not
1:00:01
dropped that. They still say
1:00:02
>> it's still there.
1:00:03
>> Yeah. And it's it's kind of cool because
1:00:06
it is so unflinchingly
1:00:09
unvarnishingly true to this. Even when
1:00:13
someone manages to pull off a victory
1:00:15
that helps preserve life, it is at
1:00:17
immense cost. Yeah. And and and it also
1:00:20
it also really points out and this is
1:00:22
one thing that I do want to make
1:00:23
perfectly clear. Warhammer 40k is a
1:00:26
satire
1:00:28
>> of society.
1:00:29
>> Absolutely.
1:00:30
>> And in it no one is the good guy and
1:00:33
that is intentional. The Imperium man is
1:00:36
not the good guy. Chaos is not the good
1:00:39
guy. El Dari are not the good guy. None
1:00:42
of them are. Everybody is selfishly
1:00:46
motivated. And again, that grim
1:00:48
darkness, everybody is willing to fight
1:00:50
and do the unsaavory bits, right? So,
1:00:55
when you approach Warhammer, if you do
1:00:58
get deeper into this or want to know
1:01:00
more about this or have questions about
1:01:01
any of the specific races, factions,
1:01:05
uh, periods of history story, please
1:01:07
send them in. But just bear that in mind
1:01:09
that this is a story in which everybody
1:01:13
is terrible, and that's just the way it
1:01:16
is. But I think that's going to do it
1:01:18
for today, friends. I do want to remind
1:01:19
you that Blizzardwatch is made possible
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1:01:39
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1:01:40
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1:01:42
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1:01:59
We have the Q and podcast question
1:02:00
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#Games