Recaps

As Seraph "Sanguinius" returned toward the Imperium with the Fourth Legion's fleet, he learned about the Blood Angels and witnessed the suffering and military collapse across Imperial worlds. The chapter left him shaken by the Imperium's condition as the fleet continued its journey home.

• Helros received the report that Horus had returned and ordered an investigation to verify it.
• Seraph asked who led the Blood Angels and learned that Chapter Master Dante was fighting on the Outer Rim while their forces endured the Black Rage.
• The account described Imperial forces stretched thin across countless fronts, including Blood Angels fighting Tyranids at Ubis World Fortress for more than a hundred days without reinforcements.
• On Martimia Forge World, Tyranid and Ork wars and a shortage of Space Marines left neighboring worlds exposed and mortals desperate enough to turn to Chaos.
• Seraph surveyed the Imperium's suffering through Gamma World's scans and was told that there was nothing they could do to help without destabilizing the Imperium further.

Seraph accepted that returning to the Imperium might delay its inevitable destruction, while Renster’s Black Legion fleet was ambushed after its ship systems failed. At Kadiwen, Horus saw Wyrmwood’s arrival and concluded that Vashtorr and Abaddon were cooperating only warily, leaving their forces divided across separate battlefields.

• Seraph accepted the others’ account of the Imperium’s fate and ordered them to descend, believing their arrival could delay its destruction.
• Renster’s Dark Mechanicum discovered that the Fuhun’s propulsion engines had been sabotaged, and rioting machine spirits sealed the compartment before they could warn the others.
• Renster realized the Black Legion fleet had been trapped as enemy warships appeared and its shields and weapons failed.
• Renster ordered his forces to hide in the inner compartments and let the enemy bombard the Fuhun, hoping to force them into boarding combat.
• The Expeditionary Force nearly cleared Kadiwen of Chaos forces while the space battle continued, and Horus learned that Wyrmwood had appeared elsewhere.
• Horus concluded that Abaddon and Vashtorr distrusted each other and that their forces’ separation eased the pressure on Gamma World.

Horus faced Abaddon and the Black Legion on a devastated planet, while Abaddon struggled to accept that the father he had fought for was alive and standing against him. Abaddon charged Horus, who met him without retreating.

• Horus learned that Abaddon and the Black Legion had arrived as part of the effort to draw Vashtorr out, and their assault devastated the planet.
• Abaddon teleported from the Vengeful Spirit to the battlefield and found three Black Marauders who had sided with Horus; he used psychic power to disable them.
• Abaddon challenged Horus to appear, and Horus emerged from the smoke protected by warship-grade force-field shields.
• Abaddon accused Horus of leading the Legion into ruin and declared that he had to kill him so the Black Legion's ten thousand years of war would retain meaning.
• Horus considered whether to regard Abaddon and the Black Legion as erring sons or as tools, then stood his ground as Abaddon charged.

Horus fought Abaddon, who rejected his attempt to turn back and sought to kill him, while Horus held back rather than finish him. On Kadiwen, Modasfern’s Slaanesh legion mistook the Chaos forces for invaders and rallied to defend the Imperium in the Emperor’s name.

• Abaddon attacked Horus and accused him of betraying the Sons of Horus, rejecting his offer to lead them back.
• Horus warned that Chaos was driving Abaddon toward ruin, but Abaddon persisted in his vengeance and the two clashed across the battlefield.
• Horus weakened his strike after hearing Abaddon’s accusations, but countered Abaddon’s attempt to stab him and survived through his armor and defenses.
• Black Reavers and other warbands joined the fighting on Kadiwen, while their sorcerers’ attacks were nullified by Horus’s Untouchable trait.
• Modasfern’s Emperor’s Children arrived, mistook the Chaos forces for an invasion of the Imperium, and prepared to fight them.
• Modasfern used blue ice to rouse his warriors, and they declared their loyalty to the Emperor.

Horus used the battle on Cadivan to lure Chaos factions while Gamma World prepared to test weapons that could reshape their minds. The true target was Vashtorr and the Webway Key on Wyrmwood, and Vashtorr revealed that Horus had returned as he attacked the Black Legion aboard the Arks of Omen.

• Chaos forces and Slaanesh Legionnaires fought on Cadivan, where Horus had gathered them as bait for Gamma World's Colossus experiment.
• Horus left the battlefield and directed the plan to attack Vashtorr on Wyrmwood and seize the Webway Key.
• Vashtorr, empowered by Wyrmwood, attacked the Arks of Omen, where Black Legion soldiers faced a massacre.
• Vashtorr told the Black Legion that Abaddon had tacitly approved the attack because they were an unstable factor.
• Vashtorr revealed that Horus had returned.

Renster and the Black Marauders rejected Vashtorr’s claim that Horus had returned, but Vashtorr attacked them and began turning their bodies into weapons. A Black Legion psyker broke through his psychic blockade to warn Abaddon that Vashtorr was a threat.

• Renster dismissed Vashtorr’s attempt to turn the Black Marauders against Abaddon and fired at him, but Vashtorr caught the bullet and transformed it.
• Vashtorr declared that the truth would abandon the Black Marauders and moved to seize their bodies for his own forces.
• Vashtorr used psychic power and the warship’s machinery to trap the Black Marauders and merge them with metal, flesh, and the ship’s furnaces.
• Renster led a fighting retreat and discovered that Vashtorr had imprisoned veteran Black Marauders in power cores, where they faced transformation into weapons like Heldrakes.
• A Black Legion psyker detonated his soul and body to break through Vashtorr’s blockade and warn Abaddon about him.

Vashtorr tried to defend Wyrmwood from Gamma Fleet, but the Blackstone Pylons suppressed Chaos sorcery and Gamma World’s manipulation of physical laws weakened him. He realized the attack targeted him as well as his planet and feared Gamma World would seize his Webway Key fragment.

• A psyker sent Abaddon a faint warning before Vashtorr noticed Gamma World’s fleet arriving in an eight-pointed formation with eight Blackstone Pylons.
• The Pylons stabilized the boundary between the Warp and reality, disrupting Chaos sorcery, and Vashtorr vanished while a powerful figure advanced through the Chaos forces.
• Gamma Fleet trapped Vashtorr’s fleet and bombarded Wyrmwood, forcing its defenders to rely on layers of force-field shields against relentless attacks.
• On Katest, altered physical laws made mathematicians’ calculations contradict reality, weakening Vashtorr’s body, which depended on physical conditions.
• Vashtorr realized Gamma World had come for him as well as Wyrmwood and resolved that they must not take his fragment of the Webway Key.

Horus appeared to the Black Reavers, while the Horus's Wolves learned of his return and prepared to seek prophecies about the future. On Sable Star, Lion El'Jonson confronted Seraphax, who revealed his plan to kill the Emperor and unleash the Dark King against Chaos.

• Horus appeared before Renster and the Black Reavers, who recognized their lord.
• Cain and Carl sensed Horus's return, discovered his body had vanished, and ordered Chaos sorcerers to divine the future.
• Lion El'Jonson led the Angels of Absolution to Sable Star to confront Seraphax, destroying the skull-built ritual before landing.
• Lion El'Jonson transported his sons into the misty forest and charged into the palace alone as the Angels of Absolution followed.
• Seraphax told Lion El'Jonson that he planned to take his body, kill the Emperor, and bring forth the Dark King to destroy the Chaos Gods.

Lion El'Jonson resisted Seraphax's attempt to possess him, then freed himself and defeated the sorcerer. After ending Belo's suffering, Lion resolved to bring his fallen sons home, while an awakened Primarch on Ultramar World wondered about the words “40K, Horus, the Great Crusade.”

• Seraphax used a Tzeentchian mirror to prey on Lion's despair, but Lion remembered that his sons were not tools and rejected him.
• Belo attacked Seraphax as the Angels of Absolution entered, and a bolter shot destroyed the mirror.
• Bevidan freed Lion, who killed the sorcerer controlling his chains and struck down Seraphax, but hesitated to kill him.
• Belo cut open Seraphax's skull and severed his wings, then asked Lion to end his life because his injuries could not be saved.
• Lion told Belo that he had never betrayed the Imperium or The Emperor, then killed him and ordered Kadalan to burn the area.
• Lion resolved to bring more fallen sons home, while an awakened Primarch on Ultramar World questioned the connection between “40K, Horus, the Great Crusade.”

Guilliman reviewed the Imperium’s records and learned that the Great Rift and entrenched factions were obstructing Malcador’s reforms and the construction of a Gravity Slingshot. Malcador then heard that Horus had been found on Cadivan, while Chaos agents continued plotting against the Emperor.

• Guilliman demanded the Imperium’s recent records and learned about its dire state and the Great Rift.
• Guilliman worried about Horus’s return and whether the Emperor had ever regarded the Primarchs as sons.
• Malcador’s Gravity Slingshot project stalled amid resistance from the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Administratum, and the Navigator Houses.
• Malcador received word that a riot had broken out at a factory producing Gravity Slingshot components, delaying construction again.
• Malcador learned that Horus had been discovered on Cadivan and said the Emperor had brought him back.
• Malcador recalled that Chaos agents had infiltrated the Imperium and were trying to kill and resurrect the Emperor.

Malcador saw the drug-addled Emperor's Children rampage through Slaanesh's palace to rescue Fulgrim, while Slaanesh contemplated the Crone Sword and his possible end. In Gamma World, a powerful device enforced a reality barrier as its forces launched the Angel of Comfort Plan against the fleets fighting over Cadivan.

• Malcador saw the Emperor's Children ask for help rescuing Fulgrim, while drug-addled Necrons and daemons also shouted loyalty to the Imperium.
• The Emperor's Children seized their Chainswords and slaughtered those around them as they tried to escort Fulgrim out of Slaanesh's palace.
• Slaanesh considered the Crone Sword, fearing both Ynnead's arrival and the loneliness that would follow absorbing all Aeldari souls.
• Chaos forces found Gamma World's reality barrier strengthened, psychic powers suppressed, and a vast device operating alongside its Colossus weapons.
• Gamma World activated the Angel of Comfort Plan and sent a massive fleet to Cadivan, destroying some Chaos warships and ordering the rest driven away.

Gamma World tested a weapon that transformed Kadiwen World’s ecosystem and sealed the planet, but the experiment failed to erase consciousness without changing species. On Wyrmwood, Horus rallied the Black Reavers to fight Chaos as the Warmaster’s loyal followers.

• Gamma World’s weapon altered the life on Kadiwen World into creatures capable only of happiness, while the Angel of Comfort sealed the planet from outside interference and travel to the stars.
• Gamma World recorded that its experiment failed to achieve its goal, though it could still threaten Chaos if its power transformed enough planets.
• Gamma World’s fleets besieged Wyrmwood for nearly half a month as Vashtorr and the Dark Mechanicum struggled to keep the planet’s defenses operating.
• Horus and the Sons of Horus led a decapitation strike that destroyed a Warlord-class Titan, while the Black Legion raiders discovered Horus had returned.
• The Black Reavers pledged loyalty to Horus, recognized that Abaddon and Chaos had deceived them, and vowed to fight Chaos in the Warmaster’s name.

The Black Legion and Gamma World’s forces attacked Vashtorr’s Wyrmwood, destroying its core engines and weakening its power to resurrect its defenders. As the battlefield collapsed, Vashtorr ordered his followers to remove the Webway Key fragment, while Gamma World detected that he was leaving.

• Rens urged the Black Legion to destroy Wyrmwood’s core engines before its defenders could keep regenerating.
• Viper Squad destroyed an engine device, allowing Gamma World’s Titan-class warship to strike the exposed site with its annihilation cannon.
• Gamma World’s fleet overcame Vashtorr’s attempts to corrupt its systems and continued its assault on Wyrmwood.
• The Black Reavers charged the Slaughterfiends as Vashtorr’s base collapsed under relentless bombardment.
• A Dark Mechanicum sage urged Vashtorr to escape, but Vashtorr sensed that someone was preventing him from leaving.
• Vashtorr ordered his followers to take the Webway Key fragment away, and Gamma World detected that he was leaving.

As the Warp shuddered with an unknown disturbance, Vashtorr abandoned his forces and fled with the Webway Key fragments while Horus pursued him. Vashtorr vanished from the temple, and Gamma World’s forces continued stripping away Wyrmwood’s defenses as they waited for the keys to be secured.

• A sudden upheaval in the Warp disrupted Vashtorr’s sorcery and made Horus and other Warp-touched warriors sense a powerful disturbance.
• Vashtorr sacrificed the Dark Mechanicum forces holding off Horus and activated two Warmaster-class Titans to cover his escape.
• Vashtorr took the Webway Key fragments and tried to escape through a passage beneath his temple before the planet’s encroaching stasis field trapped him.
• Horus blasted into the temple, found Vashtorr gone, and pursued him while the Titans and daemons fought across the battlefield.
• Gamma World steadily stripped away Wyrmwood’s engine shields and considered intervening because Horus had not recovered the Webway Key fragments.

The Four Gods of Chaos learned Gamma World was close to gaining a Webway Key function that could let it search and strip the Warp, so they secretly sent daemons into the material universe to stop it. As the conflict moved toward Wyrmwood, news of Sanguinius and Horus returning spread across the Imperium and stirred panic on Terra.

• The Four Gods ordered Rons, Szarekh, and Frises to lead troops into battle as they moved to stop Gamma World's attempt to complete its Webway Key and search the Warp.
• The Four Gods secretly entered the fray by creating material bodies for daemons and sending them through Warp rifts into the battlefield.
• Tzeentch claimed that everything was proceeding according to plan while the other gods suspected he was pursuing a scheme they did not understand.
• Rumors of Sanguinius's return spread through the Imperium, followed by news that Horus had returned as well.
• Hidden residents beneath Terra prayed for Horus to destroy the Imperium, while the news of his return caused panic and fury in Imperial politics.

Dante welcomed Sanguinius’s return because he hoped it would free him to die, while Gamma World’s forces attacked Vashtorr on Wyrmwood to seize the Webway Key. The chapter ended as Chaos breached the Blackstone Cube’s defenses and Xiliuke began to succumb to corruption.

• The Inquisition traced rumors about Sanguinius to Chaos and executed the traitors spreading them.
• Dante learned that Flynn had died and privately celebrated Sanguinius’s return as a chance to relinquish his burdens and die in battle.
• Gamma World’s warriors landed on Wyrmwood and fought through Chaos forces, prioritizing the Webway Key over Vashtorr.
• Xiliuke maintained the Blackstone Cube as a Gellar Field activated around it.
• A grotesque creature seized Xiliuke’s teacher, slaughtered the crew, and unleashed corruption that began changing Xiliuke’s body and mind.

Chaos launched a devastating attack on Gamma World, corrupting its defenses and fleet as the four Chaos Gods entered the battle. Gamma's blanks and Doomsday Armor slowed the assault, while Vashtorr saw a chance to save Wyrmwood and faced Horus as Cisrain prepared to confront the gods herself.

• Nurgling attacks corrupted Gamma World's blackstone cube, weakening the regular octagram's anti-daemon field and spreading a rust virus through the battlefield.
• Gamma World sent reinforcements, and blanks wearing Gamma Doomsday Armor amplified their anti-Chaos power enough to slow the enemy's advance.
• The four Chaos Gods entered the fray, twisting physical laws and infecting Gamma's fleet as Vashtorr sensed their arrival and summoned Abaddon.
• Vashtorr saw Horus and the Black Legion, while the loyal Dark Mechanicum watched Horus and his subordinates.
• Cisrain's plans were disrupted by the gods' appearance, so she decided to enter the battle and fight them herself.

Cisrain arrived above Wyrmwood in a C’tan-powered warship, and Gamma World’s arena trapped the Four Chaos Gods and Vashtorr’s conflict within a fate-bound battlefield. The arena pulled Chaos forces and outsiders into its center, while Abaddon was separated from most of the Black Legion and faced a nine-hour delay before reinforcements could arrive.

• Cisrain entered the battlefield aboard a warship powered by the Nightbringer and the Burning One, intending to fight the Four Chaos Gods and gather data on Chaos.
• Cisrain’s arrival created a new arena whose field of fate temporarily bound Vashtorr and prevented others, including The Emperor, from reaching the battlefield.
• Slaanesh, Khorne, and Tzeentch’s forces gathered as the Four Gods’ conflict over Vashtorr’s authority became a struggle to keep the others from claiming it.
• The arena’s formation dragged Chaos forces, aliens, pirates, and Abaddon into its center, while Abaddon’s Black Legion fleet was delayed by an undercurrent for nine hours.

Chaos forces invaded Cisrain's warship, where Gamma World's guards and defenses fought back. The Four Chaos Gods then dragged Cisrain into a world-sized battlefield, where he dodged Khorne's opening attack as the other gods prepared to strike.

• Valis led Slaanesh's Death Cult through the warship, but Gamma World's fearless warriors and transformed defenders turned the invasion into a fight against formidable opponents.
• Gamma World's Necron and Warp devices restricted the daemons' movements, forcing them through layers of defenses before they reached more than a hundred powerful Honor Guards in the throne hall.
• Cisrain rose from the Silver Throne and revealed power connected to the C'tan, while his guards battled the daemons below.
• The Four Chaos Gods warped the battlefield and pulled Cisrain into it, making him a combatant rather than a spectator.
• Cisrain dodged Khorne's axe, while Nurgle rang its bell, Slaanesh wielded the Crone Sword, and Tzeentch tried to trip him.

Cisrain was ambushed by the four Chaos gods, who tried to erase him while their forces blocked his allies from reaching him. His Custodians and Abaddon entered the arena, but the gods’ attacks threatened to wipe out everyone there.

• Cisrain fought the four Chaos gods after they dragged him into the Warp and attacked him with their divine artifacts and underhanded tactics.
• Fortes and Griss searched for Cisrain, but Chaos daemons and the arena’s shifting distance kept the Custodians from reaching him.
• Abaddon learned that his fleet was lost in Warp turbulence, then charged through a passage into the arena after seeing the four gods besiege a planet-like figure.
• The four Chaos gods’ attempted conceptual erasure wounded Cisrain but failed, allowing Custodians to enter the battle, where many were mutated or reduced to primitive cells.
• An unknown force slapped Abaddon out of the air as a planet-sized Void Whale opened its maw and energy surged toward the battlefield.

Abaddon withdrew from the battle between Cisrain and the four Chaos Gods, while Vashtorr fled Gamma World's forces and Horus pursued him. Abaddon then arrived on Horus's battlefield, where Renster accused him of betraying them and Horus regarded him with cold disappointment.

• Abaddon watched golden flames attack the void whale as Nurgle, Slaanesh, and Tzeentch used their artifacts to suppress Cisrain, then withdrew with the Black Legion Reavers.
• Vashtorr celebrated the war's power and Wyrmwood's slow recovery, but Gamma World's pursuers tracked him and called for elite reinforcements.
• Gamma World's command struggled to hold back the Chaos hordes as Imperial Guardsmen and Space Marines fought, while Horus pursued Vashtorr with the Sons of Horus.
• Abaddon arrived on Horus's battlefield with the Black Legion Reavers, and Horus looked at him with cold disappointment.
• Renster shouted that Abaddon had betrayed their trust, but Abaddon smiled.

Abaddon accepted Vashtorr’s power and attacked Horus while Renster and the veterans faced off against the Black Legion Raiders. As the Emperor seized the Chaos Gods’ distraction to target their Warp domains, Guilliman received a command after awakening on Macragge.

• Vashtorr empowered Abaddon, who felt strong enough to erase Horus, while Renster accused him of deceiving their former comrades.
• Abaddon charged Horus, and their clash warped the battlefield and sent them both out of sight.
• Renster and the veterans refused the Black Legion Raiders’ demand to return, declaring themselves the Sons of Horus and preparing to fight.
• Vashtorr’s Warp rifts drew golden-armored warriors who pursued him for the Webway Key.
• The Emperor took advantage of the Chaos Gods’ focus on Gamma World and sent a command to four Primarchs.
• Guilliman awoke on Macragge, learned Malcador had become Regent, and received the Emperor’s command.

Guilliman and his brothers received prophecies and missions from The Emperor in a shared vision, then Guilliman awoke and learned he had to act quickly. He ordered Calgar to assemble an elite force for a strike on the Chaos Gods’ weakened lairs.

• Lion El'Jonson reflected on his brothers and his regrets before receiving a vision from The Emperor.
• Guilliman, Lion El'Jonson, Jaghatai Khan, and Vulkan reacted to their separate prophecies and missions, which revealed that other brothers would return.
• Guilliman broke free of the Warp and awoke as Calgar's Honor Guard rushed in to investigate the disturbance.
• Guilliman ordered Calgar to assemble elite assault and boarding forces, but gave him only a fraction of the requested preparation time.
• Guilliman explained that the Imperium could exploit the Chaos Gods' weakened lairs while they focused on Gamma World and Vashtorr's Webway Key.
• Calgar reported that preparations were complete, and Guilliman ordered the force to strike Chaos's lair.

Calgar mobilized the Ultramarines for a counteroffensive into Chaos, while Lion El'Jonson crossed the Warp and reached Perturabo's world, where the Imperial Fists were already fighting. Perturabo prepared to attack them after hearing a voice claim to be Rogal Dorn, leaving Lion convinced Perturabo would be too occupied to aid the Four Gods.

• Calgar welcomed the order to attack Chaos and mobilized Ultramar's forces, summoning Titus, Gabriel, Valen, and Tal.
• Lion El'Jonson led the remaining Angels of Absolution through the Warp, fighting daemons until they reached Perturabo's world and spotted the Imperial Fists.
• Lion identified Perturabo as a potential threat to the Imperium and planned to strike Khorne's and Nurgle's lairs while the Imperial Fists held Perturabo's forces.
• Perturabo's Iron Warriors eagerly prepared to attack the Imperial Fists after their scouts found them guarding something.
• Perturabo heard someone say, "I am... Rogal Dorn!" and went to investigate, while Lion concluded Perturabo would not be able to reinforce the Four Gods.

Guilliman's fleet attacked Nurgle's Garden to destroy it and rescue the Aeldari god of life, while the Angels assaulted Slaanesh's Palace of Pleasure. As the four Chaos gods remained occupied in battle, Magnus saw them burning and realized someone had attacked them and their domains.

• Guilliman led his expeditionary fleet into the Warp with orders to attack Nurgle's Garden and rescue the Aeldari god of life.
• The attackers entered Nurgle's Garden, killed its defenders, and prepared to use Cyclonic Torpedoes to destroy it.
• Nurgle sensed his garden's children dying but stayed in the arena as Khorne continued fighting Cisrain; Slaanesh considered retreating while Tzeentch insisted everything was part of his plan.
• The Emperor's Angels breached the outer rings of Slaanesh's palace, and Sanguinius pierced Lucius when he tried to resurrect through him.
• Magnus saw the four Chaos gods burning in the Well of Fate and realized their domains had been attacked.