Chapter Summaries

Mortarion struggled against Karna, whose hatred and control of the battlefield overwhelmed the Greater Daemon. Meanwhile, the Nightbringer consumed another Greater Daemon as it traveled to intercept Lion El'Jonson, who joined Ramesses and Jaghatai to prepare for the C'tan and study the Nightbringer's history.

• Mortarion hesitated while fighting Karna, and Karna battered him with the Crimson-Dyed Spear as Mortarion realized he was an incomplete Greater Daemon fighting on Karna's ground.
• Mortarion spread lethal death mist, but Karna blasted through it and continued attacking.
• The Nightbringer swallowed and digested a Nurgle Greater Daemon before continuing toward Lion El'Jonson.
• Jaghatai brought god-forged swords and Spirit Stones to Ramesses and Lion El'Jonson, while Ramesses assembled Aeldari and Dark Angels for a ritual.
• Jaghatai explained that he had experience fighting C'tan and arranged for Sylandri's Harlequin troupe to reenact Khaine's battle against the Nightbringer for Lion El'Jonson.

Lion and the Dark Angels defeated and subdued the Nightbringer after eight days of relentless attacks, while Ramesses used the battle to develop plans for containing other C'tan. With the shard being dismantled under Trazyn’s guidance, attention turned to Karna’s struggle against Mortarion and Nurgle, whose outcome would shape humanity’s future.

• The Dark Angels and Lion repeatedly wounded the Nightbringer, whose consciousness and control over its powers deteriorated as fragments were stripped away.
• The Nightbringer killed several warriors, but they regenerated, and Lion repeatedly interrupted its attempts to turn the battle around.
• Lion lured the weakened shard away from the firing line, intercepted it as it tried to flee, and pierced its chest while the army swarmed in to attack.
• Ramesses and Cegorach observed the victory, and Ramesses used the battle’s results to plan C'tan containment measures for other Primarchs and notify Arthur to prepare at Sotha.
• Lion dismantled the Nightbringer and began recovering its fragments under Trazyn’s guidance, while Ramesses watched the ongoing war between Tzeentch and Nurgle and awaited Karna’s struggle against Mortarion.

Lion completed the Nightbringer operation and prepared to leave Caliban for Calth after discussing the Horus Heresy and psychic communication with Ramesses. Meanwhile, Morrag regained consciousness amid the failing assault on Macragge, where the Death Guard’s forces were losing their resolve and falling into disorder.

• Lion reported the mission complete and requested that the fleet proceed to Calth for the next phase.
• Ramesses discussed the Emperor’s failures to communicate with his sons and offered to teach Lion psychic communication.
• Lion thanked Ramesses, Arthur, and the others, then departed aboard the Inexorable Truth to support the next battle.
• Morrag regained consciousness after a close-range explosion and surveyed the battered Death Guard forces escorting the Godblight.
• Morrag saw that the Death Guard were trapped beyond Macragge, cut off by a chaotic battlefield and losing faith, discipline, and hope of victory.

Morrag regained clarity as he rallied scattered Death Guard forces on Calth, then learned from the dying Vorx that Mortarion was in danger and Nurgle planned to sacrifice him. Morrag abandoned the Legion’s campaign against Tzeentch and ordered his forces to return to Mortarion.

• Morrag recovered and realized that the Death Guard’s forces were scattered, so he gathered warriors from several Brotherhoods and organized their advance.
• Morrag found the dying Vorx, who warned him that Mortarion was fighting Lord Karna on Calth and that Nurgle intended to abandon him after using him to create a new child.
• Vorx urged Morrag to take the Death Guard to Mortarion, and Morrag promised to reach his Gene-father even if the journey ended in death.
• Morrag halted the assault on the enemy position, ordered his forces to find the nearest route, and declared that they were returning.

The Death Guard regained their resolve and charged the Imperial defenders on Calth, while Lion El'Jonson ordered the Dark Angels to destroy them and force Nurgle to act. The chapter ended with Mortarion struggling against the burning Seraph as his strength and control over the Warp faltered.

• The Death Guard fleet was destroyed, but the Terminus endured the bombardment as Lion El'Jonson and Ramesses discussed Mortarion and Nurgle's plans.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the Dark Angels to kill every Death Guard and force Nurgle into the next stage of the conflict.
• Malakim Phoros, Gabriel Seth, and Sepatus prepared the defenders on Calth, and Sepatus led the Blood Angels in a renewed charge after they voiced their oaths for humanity.
• Morrag led the Death Guard forward, shouting, "For Mortarion, for the Lord of Death!" as both armies charged into battle.
• Mortarion fought the burning Seraph in a vast crater, panicking as his sons died and his Warp power faltered.

Karna confronted Mortarion with the truth of his motives while the Blood Angels and their allies fought the Death Guard across Calth. After Gabriel Seth and the Blood Angels killed Morrag, Mortarion's power faltered, and Ramesses revealed that the battle had forced Nurgle into a choice.

• Karna told Mortarion that he was lying to himself as the Death Guard continued fighting across Calth.
• Gabriel Seth led the Blood Angels in a countercharge, fought Morrag, and watched the Blood Angels kill the Plague Lord.
• Mortarion realized Karna was right as the deaths across the battlefield gathered their strength around the Angel and Mortarion's powers began to fail.
• Lion El'Jonson asked Ramesses why they had waited to use their plan, and Ramesses explained that they had needed to prevent Nurgle from using the Death Guard to absorb the blow.
• Ramesses told Lion El'Jonson that Nurgle now had to choose between Mortarion dying and Death returning to him, or Mortarion surviving and Nurgle taking the blow.

Karna drew on humanity’s faith and vengeance to strike Mortarion and breach Nurgle’s Plague Garden, where the Legion of the Damned and the Souls of Vengeance attacked. The chapter ended with Nurgle trapped beside his shattered cauldron, forced to hold back the spear as Karna and humanity’s forces claimed victory.

• Karna gathered the hopes and hatred of billions, summoned the Sword of the Emperor, and hurled his spear at Mortarion.
• Nurgle pulled Mortarion into his mansion before the spear could kill him, but the attack shattered the fortress door and opened the Plague Garden to assault.
• Ku'gath ran to defend the breach, but his cauldron was empty, and the Legion of the Damned and Souls of Vengeance surged into Nurgle's fortress.
• The attacking forces burned through the fortress, and an energy beam struck Ku'gath's hall as he offered his final words to Grandfather.
• Karna and the Headless Giant confronted Nurgle beside the cracked cauldron, while mortals and Astartes held the spear before the Plague God.
• Karna credited the victory to the combined efforts of his allies and humanity, while Nurgle remained trapped holding the cauldron and guarding Mortarion from death.

After the victory over the Death Guard, Ramesses and Lion El'Jonson prepared to travel to Ultramar as the Wings of Dawn secured their gains and planned for Guilliman's return. Magnus revealed that he had taken the God-Plague and set his sights on Leman Russ, while Mortarion remained trapped in Nurgle's lonely realm as a dead soul began to stir in Ultramar.

• Ramesses told Lion El'Jonson that the Godblight was missing, and Lion agreed to proceed to Ultramar with Karna to help revive Guilliman.
• Lion El'Jonson ordered the Dark Angels to assemble their fleet and depart for Macragge, where they would meet the Lord of Knights.
• Arthur invited Corvus Corax to join the journey to Guilliman, and Corvus eventually accepted.
• Magnus revealed that he had obtained the God-Plague and declared that he was coming for Leman Russ.
• Mortarion awoke in a desolate realm of bones, cursed Nurgle, and struggled against his endless isolation as the cold sun watched over Ultramar.

During Ultramar’s victory celebration, Lion El'Jonson and other heroes received honors before Roboute Guilliman was resurrected after ten thousand years in stasis. Guilliman emerged to find Ultramar victorious and humanity still standing, and the chapter ended with him asking how long he had slept.

• Arthur established standards for honoring individuals and groups across the Imperium, while Romulus and Karna commended workers and other civilians.
• At Fortress of Hera, Yvraine used the Crone Sword to cut Guilliman’s poisoned neck, and Cawl equipped him with the Armor of Fate as Ramesses completed the resurrection.
• Guilliman awoke, studied Ramesses’s account of the past ten thousand years, and learned that the Imperium had changed and that the Aeldari had helped bring him back.
• Ramesses led Guilliman out to the celebration, where Guilliman saw the Titans, his sons, and the people of Ultramar welcoming him.
• Guilliman asked Hill how long he had slept, and Hill answered that it had been ten thousand years.

Roboute Guilliman appointed Severus to lead his Invincible Iron Guard and Aeonid Thiel to head his War Council, then reunited with his brothers. Romulus confessed that he had violated the Codex Astartes by secretly expanding the army.

• Aeonid Thiel reflected on Guilliman's return and watched him hear Severus's account of how the Imperium had changed over ten thousand years.
• Guilliman appointed Severus commander of the Invincible Iron Guard and Aeonid Thiel chief of his War Council.
• Drakus and Thiel discussed Guilliman's appointments as Drakus helped Severus learn his new duties.
• Guilliman entered a hall where his brothers had gathered and prepared to thank them for restoring Ultramar and welcoming him.
• Romulus handed Guilliman a document and admitted that he had violated the Codex Astartes by secretly expanding the army.

Guilliman learned that the Wings of Dawn had enforced the Codex Astartes for ten thousand years without updating it, then agreed to help repair the dangers in their rule. Ramesses began revealing the Primarchs’ hidden history, and Guilliman desperately stopped him before he exposed the secret of the three Legions.

• Arthur explained that the Codex Astartes had become ineffective because it had gone unchanged for ten thousand years, and Ramesses teased Guilliman about his reckless duel with Fulgrim.
• Ramesses offered Guilliman Emperor’s Tarot cards, while Romulus described how the Wings of Dawn had gained influence and created hidden dangers across the Imperium.
• Guilliman assessed the problems in the Wings of Dawn’s policies, and Romulus asked him to help resolve them; Guilliman solemnly accepted responsibility.
• Ramesses began listing details from the Horus Heresy, including the Macragge hide-and-seek competition, and Guilliman realized the Wings of Dawn knew the Legions’ secrets.
• Guilliman rushed to cover Ramesses’s mouth and stopped him from revealing the secret of the three Legions.

Guilliman learned that Imperium Secundus had been documented in Imperial textbooks and confronted the horrors and reforms of the Imperium during his absence. Reconciled with his brothers and resolved to take up his responsibilities, he joined them in pledging to fight the enemies tormenting humanity.

• Guilliman seized books about Imperium Secundus and feared their publication would ruin his return to Imperial politics.
• Guilliman read a second account affirming that the Emperor had authorized Imperium Secundus and praised the Primarchs for dissolving it.
• The Wings of Dawn showed Guilliman records of the Imperium's suffering and of their reforms and victories, moving him to apologize and accept responsibility for his past mistake.
• Guilliman looked out at Macragge's people and renewed his hope that humanity could rise from its suffering.
• Arthur declared that humanity's suffering came from traitors and Chaos, and the gathered Primarchs stood with him as he called for war against their enemies.

Huron struggled to hold the Maelstrom Defense Front together as Chaos intensified its assault on Badab and millions fled their homes. The chapter ended with Roboute Guilliman and the Wings of Dawn returning, renewing the defenders’ hope.

• Huron led the Guardian Guard through Badab’s embattled fortress as Chaos forces and Abaddon’s fleet threatened the Maelstrom defenses.
• A communications officer reported that millions more people had been displaced, while exhausted crews continued operating Badab Fortress.
• Kahurangi told Huron that Lord Ramesses remained silent, and Huron assured him and High Marshal Ledodus that the defenses were holding.
• Huron sensed Roboute Guilliman’s return, and Kahurangi confirmed that Guilliman, Romulus, and the lords of the Wings of Dawn had arrived.
• Huron opened a direct channel to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, and Guilliman announced his return to the warriors of humanity.
• The fortress erupted in cheers as the defenders’ morale rose, while Ledodus welcomed the moment with an underlying bitterness.

Guilliman joined the United Fleet as it traveled toward the Maelstrom, studied the Imperium’s condition and the Wings of Dawn’s plans, and found a role in their efforts to strengthen humanity. The chapter ended with him drafting the Codex Imperialis to address the Imperium’s failures.

• Guilliman praised Huron’s leadership and discussed the United Fleet’s rapid journey toward the Maelstrom with Romulus.
• Guilliman reviewed Greater Ultramar’s recovery and praised Calgar for adapting the Codex Astartes while rebuilding the region.
• Ramesses explained Warp faith and the Wings of Dawn’s plans to use humanity’s own Warp power against Chaos, while Corvus Corax described how the Emperor helped him understand his nature.
• Romulus outlined the Wings of Dawn’s goals, including recovering the Primarchs, expanding military strength, developing faster-than-light travel, and making humanity a player in the Great Game.
• After planning the Maelstrom War with his brothers, Guilliman returned to his quarters and began writing the Codex Imperialis.

Guilliman surveyed the state of the Imperium and began drafting the Codex Imperialis, a plan to reform its government and bring Primarchs into broader governance. Romulus and Arthur reviewed the proposal, and Arthur asked whether Guilliman would keep it updated.

• Guilliman reviewed how Wings of Dawn had stabilized Ultima Segmentum and Segmentum Obscurus while the other segmentums remained troubled.
• Guilliman wrote that humanity needed a more efficient system of government, with superhumans and Primarchs taking part in administration.
• Hill watched Guilliman produce a growing stack of documents while Romulus and Arthur arrived with more papers to review.
• Guilliman presented Romulus and Arthur with the framework of his Codex Imperialis and explained that it would reform Imperial institutions and society.
• Romulus privately decided to make Guilliman responsible for continuing updates, and Arthur asked whether he could guarantee regular revisions.
• Guilliman confidently agreed to keep the Codex Imperialis updated.

Romulus added safeguards to the Codex Imperialis, then convinced Guilliman that numerology could protect its contents after the Emperor spoke through a document numbered 13. Guilliman also learned that Karna’s doctrine gathered detailed information from Imperial citizens, leaving him amazed by his brothers’ methods of governing.

• Romulus added provisions requiring Guilliman to prioritize updates to the Codex Imperialis and avoid reckless frontline combat, and Drakus and Hill approved.
• Romulus explained that numbers could expose Codex provisions to influence from the Warp’s gods, while Guilliman questioned the claim.
• When Guilliman presented a document numbered 13 to disprove numerology, the Emperor manifested through its pages and warned him about four others.
• Guilliman accepted numerology as real and asked the group to add its safeguards to the constitution.
• Karna explained that prayers containing citizens’ personal details were organized in his Divine Domain, giving the Imperium precise grassroots information.

Arthur and Lion El'Jonson oversaw the United Fleet's rapid expansion through the Webway as they planned the campaign in the Maelstrom and the eventual seizure of Commorragh. Meanwhile, Cato Sicarius learned that Sylandri Veilwalker had found a route to Abaddon's Blackstone Fortress, and eager Aeldari crowded forward to join the mission.

• Arthur discussed the United Fleet's Webway deployments with Lion El'Jonson, including plans to support the Maelstrom and strike toward Badab.
• Arthur considered future efforts to take Commorragh, weaken the Adeptus Mechanicus, and seize the two Blackstone Fortresses in Abaddon's fleet.
• Cato Sicarius traveled aboard an Aeldari warship and watched Webway routes enable swift attacks on Ork forces while he endured Aeldari seeking to die gloriously in battle.
• Cato Sicarius found Titus in the hangar, where Sylandri Veilwalker announced that she had discovered a Webway route to Vaul's Talisman, the Blackstone Fortress.
• The Aeldari warriors around Sylandri rushed to volunteer for the mission, leaving Cato Sicarius dismayed by their enthusiasm.

Abaddon’s assault on Badab stalled as the Star Ring defense network broke apart under pressure, while Huron’s forces continued to inflict heavy losses on the Chaos invasion. Huron taunted Abaddon over a forced transmission as the battle approached its decisive moment.

• Abaddon heard reports that the Star Ring’s Machine Spirits resisted Chaos corruption and that the invasion had cost his forces dearly, but he insisted Badab would be his.
• Abaddon demanded that a Lord of Change finish preparing a beacon, and the daemon promised it would be ready in nine minutes.
• Huron’s Star Ring fractured under gravity and bombardment, but its defenses diverted the falling sections and helped destroy Chaos forces and Titans on the surface.
• Huron tried to contact the Black Templars’ Emperor’s Champion, then received a forced transmission showing Abaddon’s holographic projection.
• Huron signaled the Grey Knights for help and mocked Abaddon’s Black Legion, boasting that Badab’s defenders had turned his schemes to ash.

Ramesses tutored Guilliman in psychic powers while arranging for Huron to provoke Abaddon and test the limits of their influence against Chaos. Abaddon’s anger reached its peak aboard the Vengeful Spirit, and Ramesses prepared to join the confrontation before Huron ran out of things to say.

• Ramesses praised Guilliman’s notes on the Warp and explained how Guilliman could use his own Warp aspect to resist psychic power.
• Guilliman reflected on his past failures and embraced the lessons and careful preparation his brothers were providing.
• Guilliman discussed education and the Imperium’s successor Chapters with Ramesses, who declined to bring in millions of people from his former world.
• Ramesses explained that Huron had provoked Abaddon to test what they could accomplish against the Chaos Gods.
• Abaddon’s fury silenced the Vengeful Spirit’s crew and Black Legion warriors, and he ordered all his subordinates to act.
• Ramesses worried that Huron might run out of taunts and decided to log in personally.

Ramesses used Huron to provoke Abaddon with revelations about his role in the Horus Heresy, making the Warmaster distrust the Lord of Change and the advice to attack immediately. Abaddon killed the daemon and ordered a new assault plan, while Huron rallied defenders and Ramesses prepared to interfere with the Warp.

• Ramesses altered the Lord of Change's words, making Abaddon doubt its advice to attack Huron at once.
• Huron accused Abaddon of causing Horus's fall and betraying his brothers, exposing painful secrets that unsettled the Black Legion.
• Abaddon rejected Huron's accusations, vowed to kill him, and destroyed the communications device.
• Abaddon killed the Lord of Change, then ordered Khayon to confirm the coordinates and assigned Kibre and Haarken their duties.
• Huron ordered his warriors to gather defenders at his position while Ramesses began preparing Warp interference with the Aeldari Farseers.
• Roboute Guilliman set aside the Codex Imperialis and returned to studying his psychic notes as Ramesses continued his preparations.