Chapter Summaries

Penny met Custodes Marshal Valano, who revealed that the Emperor had ordered the Imperium to appoint The Thirteenth as its new Emperor, and she agreed to prepare for Guilliman’s ascension. On Iks, Imperial forces attacked the Plague Factory, where Phicris killed Septicus and pressed deeper as Jaghatai confronted Mortarion.

• Penny met Valano and argued that the Imperium had to unite against the gods’ attempts to provoke internal conflict.
• Valano told Penny that the Emperor had decreed that the Imperium needed a new Emperor, and that The Thirteenth must take the position.
• Valano pledged the Custodes’ support for The Thirteenth and said he would announce their acceptance of the Primaris upgrade; Penny agreed to prepare for the transition.
• Imperial forces assaulted the Plague Factory on Iks, while Phicris and his warriors fought through the Daemons and defeated Septicus with help from the Sisters of Silence.
• Phicris continued toward the factory’s heart to help defeat Ku'gath, while Jaghatai faced Mortarion at the highest spire.

Jaghatai fought Mortarion on Iks, endured Ku'gath's plague, and captured Mortarion after the Imperium destroyed the Cauldron of Plagues. The chapter then followed Seth's decision to lead the Flesh Tearers to Prospero, where Magnus expanded his Psyker Empire and prepared to oppose Guilliman.

• Jaghatai battled Mortarion until Ku'gath's plague weakened him, and Mortarion seized him and declared victory.
• Ku'gath attacked the Imperial forces, but they destroyed the Cauldron of Plagues, weakening the Daemons and allowing the Imperium to defeat him and reclaim Iks.
• Jaghatai activated the Blade of Divinity, bound Mortarion, and handed him over to the Grey Knights for transport to Terra.
• Seth rejected Guilliman's Primaris reforms and chose to take the Flesh Tearers to Prospero, where he planned to confront Dante and seek an honorable end for his Chapter.
• Magnus ruled over an expanding Psyker Empire centered on Prospero and the Planet of the Sorcerers, and prepared to oppose Guilliman through sorcery.

Magnus prepared the Nine-Fold Tower Ritual to transform humanity into a Psyker race and ordered Ahriman to lead the vanguard against Guilliman’s forces. As Magnus’s ritual and war preparations advanced on Prospero, an Imperial fleet emerged from the Warp near a ship carrying Psykers fleeing to join him.

• Ahriman returned to Magnus after escaping the defeat at Knowledge World, and Magnus accepted his help despite still blaming him for the Rubric Event.
• Ahriman told Magnus that Dante was assembling a large army with Guilliman’s authorization, and Magnus ordered Ahriman to lead the vanguard and prepare to destroy it.
• Magnus described his plan to use the Nine-Fold Tower Ritual to make humanity a Psyker race, while bound captives were drained beneath his throne.
• A battered ship carrying Psykers who had fled Imperial territory approached its destination, believing they would find freedom under Magnus.
• An enormous Imperial fleet emerged from a Warp rift near the fleeing ship, and its passengers feared that war was coming.

Dante and Logan planned a joint campaign against Magnus while Azrael and Boreas warned that the Psykers gathering on Prospero could trigger a catastrophe. As the Emperor’s forces invaded Tzeentch’s realm to cut off Magnus’s support, the story shifted to Gotham, where James was drawn back into gang violence and Bruce Wayne outbid Catwoman at an auction.

• Dante welcomed Logan aboard the Holy Blood, and they agreed that the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Dark Angels would advance on Magnus’s defenses and attack Prospero.
• Boreas reported that Dark Angels had intercepted Psykers heading toward Prospero, and Azrael agreed that they should bypass the outer defenses and strike the planet before Magnus could use the gathered Psykers.
• The Legion of the Damned and Living Saints invaded Tzeentch’s realm, while Ferrus sent Russ to help prevent Magnus from escaping and urged him to return to the real universe for Guilliman’s coronation.
• James left prison, learned that his mother had died, and returned to Gotham, where he joined a gang fight to earn money before being knocked unconscious by a metal creature in an abandoned factory.
• Bruce Wayne challenged Catwoman’s bids for an ancient dagger at Penguin’s auction and raised the price to two million dollars.

Bruce Wayne outbid Catwoman for a magical dagger and returned to Wayne Tower to investigate Gotham's crimes. In the war against Magnus's Psyker Empire, the Space Wolves conquered Gangwa while Dante's Blood Angels were ambushed by Ahriman, leaving Dante trapped until a mysterious figure appeared.

• Bruce Wayne won the bidding for the dagger, then repelled Selina's attempt to steal it outside the auction house.
• Bruce scanned the dagger's runes at Wayne Tower and reviewed reports of crimes across Gotham City.
• Havoc led the Space Wolves in an invasion of Gangwa, where they destroyed the Crystal Pyramids, killed a summoned Daemon, and declared the planet conquered.
• Ahriman ambushed Dante's Blood Angels fleet with the Thousand Sons, but Dante's forces fought back and boarded the Revenge of Tizca.
• Dante and Mephiston fought their way through the Crystal Fortress to confront Ahriman, but Kairos Fateweaver trapped Dante with sorcery.
• A mysterious figure appeared, hurled Kairos into a wall, and declared that the Daemon would die there.

Sanguinius killed Ahriman and Kairos, then urged Dante to continue the crusade while keeping his return secret and preparing for Guilliman to become humanity’s new leader. Meanwhile, Curze seized Tagusa, slaughtered the Night Lords who came to join him, and openly challenged Lion, who traced him to the palace.

• Sanguinius appeared on the battlefield, freed Dante, and led the Loyalists in destroying the Daemons and killing Ahriman and Kairos.
• Sanguinius praised Dante, ordered him to keep the Archangel’s return secret, and told him to capture Magnus for Guilliman, whom the Emperor intended to lead the Imperium.
• Curze took control of Tagusa through fear, subdued its nobles, and killed the Night Lords who gathered there, deciding he no longer needed his sons.
• Curze learned that Lion and other returned Primarchs were hunting him, then used visions to foresee Lion’s arrival on Tagusa.
• Lion found flayed corpses aboard the Night Lords’ ships, received Curze’s challenge, and learned that Curze was waiting in the palace on the planet.

Lion used orbital bombardment, fighters, and unmanned probes to destroy Curze’s defenses and drive him into the palace ruins. He entered alone to capture Curze, who launched a surprise attack at midnight.

• Lion ordered targeted orbital strikes that destroyed Tagusa’s anti-air defenses and other ground emplacements.
• Curze studied visions of Lion’s tactics and hid as probes and fighters searched and bombed the palace.
• Lion’s forces reduced the palace to ruins, destroyed Curze’s traps, and sealed off the complex with probes and Dark Angels.
• Lion entered the ruins alone, intending to capture Curze and return him to Terra.
• At midnight, a cold gleam flashed from the darkness and struck toward Lion’s face.

Lion defeated Curze and captured him, while Magnus prepared to complete the Nine-Fold Tower Ritual and the Dark Angels planned an assault on Prospero. On Terra, the Custodes’ support for Guilliman collapsed a Loyalist faction, and Theresa escaped into the Warp only to confront the horror of Chaos.

• Lion tracked Curze through the ruins, disabled his concealment with the cage’s search system, and beat him into submission before sending him back toward Terra as a prisoner.
• Magnus berated Ahriman for failing to stop Sanguinius, then ordered his forces to delay the Imperial attack while the Nine-Fold Tower Ritual continued.
• Azrael and the Dark Angels planned a Drop Pod assault on the Planet of the Sorcerers to destroy the ritual towers and draw Prospero back into real space.
• The Adeptus Custodes publicly supported Guilliman’s reforms, causing the Loyalist faction on Terra to collapse and prompting a crackdown on its leaders.
• Theresa escaped Terra aboard a smuggling ship, followed the God-Emissary into a prayer chamber, and screamed when she saw the horror awaiting her.

Theresa and her companions were dragged into a Chaos prayer chamber, while Guilliman reviewed the Imperium’s reforms and Cawl’s secret plan to build a Warp Firewall. Guilliman agreed to let the Firewall’s control machine include a throne, though he remained uneasy about what it might imply.

• A Chaos monster revealed itself to Theresa and her companions, and its human accomplice defended it as a sacred manifestation of the gods.
• The monster’s tentacles dragged Theresa and the others toward Thorn Crosses as the chamber doors closed on their screams.
• Guilliman reviewed the Imperium’s reforms with Cawl, including the Webway repairs, industrial changes, education efforts, and Beacon Project.
• Cawl showed Guilliman the Warp Firewall’s enormous control machine and explained that the Beacons would transmit Guilliman’s will across humanity’s worlds.
• Guilliman objected to the machine’s throne design because it could invite opposition, but Cawl persuaded him that the throne best suited his role, and Guilliman accepted it.

Guilliman returned to Terra amid a vast celebration, visited the imprisoned traitor Primarchs, and declared his ambition to bring the entire universe under humanity’s rule. Meanwhile, Azrael’s Dark Angels invaded the Planet of the Sorcerers and destroyed a ritual tower, prompting Magnus to realize the world could soon fall.

• Cawl and Guilliman finalized plans to install the Throne Mechanicum aboard Supreme, Guilliman’s new flagship, and discussed the Imperium’s future development.
• Guilliman arrived on Terra to a massive public celebration and traveled through the city toward the Imperial Palace.
• Guilliman visited Lorgar, Perturabo, and Fulgrim in prison, mocked their anger, and declared that humanity would conquer the universe.
• Azrael launched an airborne assault on the Planet of the Sorcerers with more than ten thousand Primaris Warriors to destroy the ritual pulling it into reality.
• Boreas led Deathwing squads to a Ritual Tower and destroyed it with an annihilation-charged bomb, alerting Magnus that the planet might soon fall.

The Imperium’s forces destroyed the Planet of the Sorcerers’ ritual towers, invaded Prospero, and attacked Magnus, who tried to escape after the Nine-Fold Tower Ritual destabilized the planet. Leman Russ appeared from the Warp and helped capture Magnus, while Abaddon awoke from a terrifying dream and learned of Magnus’s defeat.

• Azrael’s forces destroyed the final Crystal Tower on the Planet of the Sorcerers, after which Imperial reinforcements arrived and overwhelmed the remaining Daemons and traitors.
• Magnus ordered Ahriman to accelerate the Nine-Fold Tower Ritual as Imperial fleets surrounded Prospero, and the commanders aboard The Rock planned to capture him.
• Seth argued with Dante over joining the force attacking Magnus, then joined the assault after Dante required him to wear new armor.
• Sanguinius arrived with Diego and Imperial heroes, joined the attack on Magnus, and helped the Loyalists defeat Ahriman’s forces, but the completed ritual began tearing Prospero apart.
• Magnus opened a breach into the Warp to escape, but Leman Russ emerged from the rift, wounded him, and helped Sanguinius capture him.
• Abaddon awoke from a dream of a corrupted universe and learned from a sorcerer that Sanguinius and Leman Russ had captured Magnus.

Huron and Abaddon confronted the Black Legion’s dwindling strength after the Imperium’s victories and resolved to seek new power against Guilliman. Abaddon seized Fabius’s abandoned laboratory on Ullum, where he discovered the perfect body intended to let Yog-Sothoth enter the universe.

• Huron and the other Chaos leaders reviewed their losses at Vigilus and the Imperium’s renewed strength as Abaddon arrived at the conference.
• Abaddon warned that the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom would not protect them from Guilliman and proposed obtaining help from a power beyond existence.
• Abaddon explained that Fabius’s lair held an offering that could let them draw on a being’s power to fight Guilliman.
• Abaddon traveled to Ullum aboard the Worry-Free, where Fabius’s modified humans attacked the Black Legion ships.
• Abaddon ordered the planet’s inhabitants destroyed, took control of the world, and entered Fabius’s laboratory.
• Abaddon found the perfect body meant to carry Yog-Sothoth’s power and regretted that he had once spared Fabius.

Abaddon recovered Fabius’s engineered body and awakened an incarnation of Yog-Sothoth, who took the name Horus and announced plans to challenge Guilliman. In Gotham, Batman investigated Roboute Corporation and found evidence of human experimentation, leaving him determined to rally the Justice League against it.

• Abaddon seized Fabius’s laboratory, took the perfect body made from Primarch genes, and ordered the facility destroyed.
• Abaddon performed a ritual that awakened Yog-Sothoth’s incarnation in the body; the being chose the name Horus and overpowered Abaddon when he objected.
• Horus declared that a new army would descend on the universe and that he would deal with Guilliman, while Abaddon and Honsou warned that they lacked the strength to fight the Imperium.
• Mar-Vell, transformed into a monstrous servant of Yog-Sothoth, received the being’s summons and led his corrupted companions toward a new world to conquer.
• Bruce investigated Roboute Corporation after Selina sent evidence of its secret construction project and alleged brainwashing, then infiltrated a Gotham base.
• Bruce discovered severed heads in nutrient tanks and oversized human experiments, photographed the evidence, and decided to gather the Justice League against Roboute Corporation.

Batman revealed evidence of Roboute Corporation’s human experiments and mind-control plans, leading the Justice League to prepare a secret investigation. Meanwhile, Angron attacked Khorne and was cast out, Guilliman agreed to be crowned Emperor, and Dante confronted Seth before the Blood Angels were summoned by their Primarch.

• Batman showed the Justice League evidence of Roboute Corporation’s experiments and Steel Seal mind-control towers, then urged them to investigate in secret and expose the company.
• Angron saw his former gladiator comrades enslaved in Khorne’s pit, attacked the Blood God, and was defeated and expelled from Khorne’s domain.
• Guilliman learned Angron had been cast out and arranged for other Primarchs to retrieve him while he considered the Alpha Legion’s missing Primarchs.
• Mathieu told Guilliman that his coronation would take place on the Emperor’s birthday, and Guilliman accepted the plan despite his misgivings about becoming Master of Mankind.
• Dante rebuked Seth for questioning him after the Battle of Prospero, and the Blood Angels received a summons from their returned Primarch.

Sanguinius ordered the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters to support Guilliman’s coronation as the new Emperor, while Seth accepted that the Imperium was entering a new era. After the Primarchs met at The Rock, Vulkan finished forging a crown and prepared to travel to Terra.

• Sanguinius announced that Guilliman would be crowned Emperor on the Emperor’s birthday and ordered the descendants of the Holy Blood to swear loyalty to him.
• Sanguinius appointed Dante and other Imperial heroes to accompany him to a meeting with the Dark Angels and Space Wolves, while Seth regretted his own past choices.
• Lion agreed to bring Magnus and Curze to Terra, and the three Primarchs’ fleets departed for their assigned destinations.
• Vulkan completed a Golden Eagle Laurel Crown in Mount Deathfire and told his seven Captains to prepare for his journey to Terra.

Vulkan refused to resume leading the Salamanders and departed for Terra with the Sons of the Fire Drake to attend Guilliman’s coronation. After Jaghatai arrived on Terra, Guilliman revealed his plans to replace the Primarchs’ legacy with pure human genetics and expand humanity’s war against the Gods beyond the Milky Way, gaining Jaghatai’s loyalty and support.

• Prometheus and the other Salamanders Captains begged Vulkan to lead Nocturne, but Vulkan told them to serve the new Master of Mankind and ordered them to prepare for Terra.
• Prometheus led Vulkan aboard the Fire Drake, and the Salamanders fleet entered the Warp for Terra as the Imperium prepared for Guilliman’s coronation.
• Jaghatai rejected his Chapter’s personal loyalty, escorted Mortarion to Terra, and reunited with Guilliman, who welcomed him before the coronation.
• Guilliman took Jaghatai to the Imperial Palace’s God-Brain and disclosed that Primaris Warriors, including the Primarchs, had been given pure human Gene-seed anchored by the Heart of the Imperium.
• Jaghatai accepted Guilliman’s decision and pledged loyalty to him, while Guilliman described plans to build a tunnel through the Warp and wage war in other universes.

Guilliman welcomed Jaghatai and Lion back to Terra, assigning them major roles in the Imperium’s plans as they prepared for the coronation. Vulkan, Sanguinius, and Russ also returned with gifts and prisoners, and the system announced that every Primarch had gathered on Terra, including the secretly present Alpharius and Omegon.

• Guilliman persuaded Jaghatai to lead the Inter-universal Tunnel project, and Jaghatai accepted before joining the welcoming banquet.
• Guilliman learned that Lion had reached the Sol System, where Lion transferred command of the Dark Angels to Azrael before arriving on Terra with Magnus and Curze imprisoned.
• Guilliman welcomed Lion and appointed him to lead a vast campaign against the Imperium’s Xenos enemies, while dismissing Magnus’s threat about turning humanity into a Psyker race.
• Half a month later, Vulkan joined Guilliman, Jaghatai, and Lion on Terra and presented Guilliman with a Golden Eagle Laurel Crown made from loyal Heroic Spirits.
• Sanguinius and Russ returned with Angron imprisoned, and the system confirmed that all living Primarchs were on Terra, including Alpharius and Omegon, whose locations Guilliman could not determine.

Guilliman considered the danger posed by the hidden Alpha Legion Primarchs and decided to draw them into a trap. He met Vulkan, assigned him oversight of Daemon-slaying Weapons and the Sub-universe, and went to welcome Sanguinius and Russ back to Terra.

• Guilliman questioned the system about its limits, then reviewed the new knowledge on time, space, and the Warp.
• Guilliman considered Alpharius and Omegon’s secret history and confusing wartime actions, then concealed their arrival on Terra so he could catch them.
• Guilliman ordered the Adeptus Custodes and Grey Knights to receive Angron’s cage and told Imperial media to publicize Sanguinius and Russ’s return.
• Vulkan asked Guilliman why he had not been assigned duties, and Guilliman entrusted him with overseeing Daemon-slaying Weapons and construction of the Sub-universe.
• Guilliman and Vulkan set out to welcome Sanguinius and Russ back to Terra.

Remembrancer Kakar prepared to record Guilliman’s coronation as he reflected on the burden facing humanity’s new ruler. Meanwhile, Alpharius entered the Throne Room through a hidden passage, and Guilliman’s reunion with Sanguinius and Russ was interrupted by news that Alpharius had attacked the Emperor.

• Kakar finished writing his account of Guilliman’s return and left for the coronation venue after Director Ashiri warned him not to be late.
• Alpharius entered the hidden Labyrinth beneath the Imperial Palace and encountered the Emperor’s projection in the ruined courtyard where Malcador had been killed.
• The Emperor warned Alpharius to abandon his plan, but Alpharius activated the secret elevator leading to the Throne Room and continued on.
• Sanguinius and Russ arrived at Eternity Spaceport with the captured Angron, and Guilliman welcomed them before ordering Angron transferred to Lorgar’s cage.
• An explosion struck deep within the Imperial Palace, and Guilliman learned that Alpharius was attacking the Throne Room, prompting him to order an evacuation and rush there.

Alpharius infiltrated the Throne Room and mortally wounded the Emperor with a sorcerous blade, believing the Emperor would be reborn as a god. As the Golden Throne weakened and the Warp threatened Terra, the Emperor spoke to his sons for the first time in ten thousand years.

• Alpharius killed a Custodian guarding a hidden passage, fought his way into the Throne Room, and stabbed the Emperor with a blade designed to sever His connection to the material universe.
• The Astronomican went dark, the Emperor’s hymn faded, and people across the galaxy felt profound grief as Alpharius escaped the Custodians’ first attack.
• Vulkan, Russ, Sanguinius, Jaghatai, and Lion arrived and helped subdue Alpharius, while Guilliman ordered the Golden Throne secured and the Webway protected.
• Eldrad said the weapon’s damage could not be undone, and Cawl warned Guilliman that the failing Golden Throne left Terra vulnerable to Daemons.
• Guilliman ordered the Grey Knights and Magnus to the Webway and accelerated the assembly of the Throne Mechanicum as the Emperor opened His eyes and addressed His sons.