Chapter Summaries

Lin Fan told the assembled leaders that their world was shaped by higher-dimensional players and revealed that Tzeentch had challenged him to a game at the center of the Milky Way. With fifty years to prepare, Lin Fan considered what the galaxy’s future would hold whether he won or lost.

• Lin Fan explained that Tzeentch had discovered their world’s higher-dimensional nature and was threatening the Milky Way to force a game between them.
• Perturabo lamented that their lives and sacrifices could be rewritten by higher beings, while Konrad Curze laughed at his realization.
• Lin Fan told the leaders that Tzeentch had completed his preparations and given them fifty years to gather forces before their confrontation at the galaxy’s center.
• Lin Fan revealed that Tzeentch had provided a complete Webway map, promised to withdraw his forces and restrain Warp infiltration, and expected the Emperor to endure for fifty years.
• Leman Russ rejoiced that the Emperor could leave the Golden Throne, while Magnus worried about facing him again.
• Lin Fan considered that either victory or defeat would leave him to confront further threats and prepare for subjective creation.

Lin Fan set out with the Silent King and Trazyn to study the Milky Way and prepare to save its worlds before Tzeentch's explosion. Meanwhile, Oedmeir repaired the Ascension Throne, and The Emperor began to regain his body as the Primarchs watched.

• Lin Fan decided to memorize the planets recorded by the Silent King's Brilliant Star Map and traveled with the Silent King and Trazyn to free Orikan and begin his preparations.
• Isha left to guide the Aeldari in planting more Trees of Life, while Oedmeir took The Emperor's holy statue toward the throne room.
• Oedmeir connected her consciousness to the Ascension Throne and began repairing its tangled code.
• The throne returned its stored power to The Emperor, and his body gradually regrew flesh, nerves, blood vessels, muscle, and skin.
• Leman Russ wept as The Emperor recovered, while Angron, Konrad Curze, Magnus, Lorgar, Fulgrim, Perturabo, and Mortarion watched with varied unease.

The Emperor rose from the Golden Throne and reunited with his gathered sons, who struggled to respond to his return after ten thousand years apart. Vulkan's exuberant embrace overwhelmed the Emperor, while Leman Russ and Lion El'Jonson began fighting as they rushed to intervene.

• The Emperor rose from the Golden Throne and addressed the Primarchs, who met his return with silence and sorrow.
• Sanguinius pointed out that Vulkan was missing, and Aurora went to bring him back.
• Aurora returned with Vulkan, who charged forward and tightly hugged the Emperor.
• Vulkan roared and squeezed the Emperor with immense strength, alarming the other Primarchs.
• Leman Russ and Lion El'Jonson rushed to stop Vulkan, collided, and began grappling with each other.
• Perturabo prepared to step over Leman Russ and Lion El'Jonson, but noticed Rogal Dorn moving forward too.

The Emperor and the Primarchs reunited amid bickering, rough embraces, and a glimpse of Vulkan’s altered condition. After settling the scuffle, they joined forces to open the Throne Room doors and continue their work.

• Perturabo shoved against Dorn as both tried to reach the Emperor, while Guilliman freed the Emperor from Vulkan’s crushing grip and was nearly crushed himself before Corax rescued him.
• Aurora knocked Vulkan down and explained that Waaagh! energy had made him act like an Ork when excited; Vulkan recovered and greeted his brothers and the Emperor.
• The Emperor knocked Lion El’Jonson and Leman Russ unconscious to stop their fight, and Dorn then put Perturabo to sleep after Perturabo continued provoking him.
• Dorn dragged Perturabo away, while Vulkan carried off Lion and Leman Russ, and the Primarchs turned their attention back to the work ahead.
• The Emperor struggled to push open the Throne Room doors, and Fulgrim, Sanguinius, Ferrus Manus, Guilliman, Jaghatai, Vulkan, Aurora, Magnus, Lorgar, and Corax joined him.

The Emperor opened the gate with the Primarchs and returned to the Imperium, where his appearance lifted the spirits of the Adeptus Custodes and Space Marines. As the Primarchs began rebuilding and rallying their forces, Guilliman and Perturabo spread news of the Emperor’s return while keeping the coming end of the Milky Way from ordinary people.

• The Emperor opened the gate with the Primarchs and glimpsed Malcador’s outline beside the Golden Throne before the Primarchs crowded him out.
• Oedmeir watched the gates close and continued adjusting the Golden Throne as the Emperor returned to his work.
• The Adeptus Custodes and Space Marines saw the Emperor outside the throne room, and Bjorn wept at the sight.
• Rogal Dorn stayed on Terra to organize relief and reconstruction, Jaghatai patrolled around Cadia, and Corax returned to the Raven Guard before planning a visit to Deliverance.
• Guilliman returned to Macragge, announced the Emperor’s return, and declared a festival while privately choosing not to reveal the Milky Way’s impending end.
• Perturabo returned to Cadia and told the exhausted soldiers that their sacrifices had helped the Emperor rise from the Golden Throne.

News that the Emperor had risen from the Golden Throne gave battered soldiers and civilians hope, though many struggled to believe it. Mortarion returned to his restored flagship and let the Death Guard choose whether to follow the Emperor, while he remained unable to decide what to do himself.

• Soldiers, medicae sisters, and civilians reacted to the announcement that the Emperor had risen, and a mother promised her child that his father and brother had joined the Emperor on Holy Terra.
• Mortarion left the Imperial Palace in a daze after meeting the Emperor and returned to his flagship.
• Mortarion found that Isha had restored his flagship and the Death Guard after Tzeentch took Nurgle's power away.
• Mortarion told the Death Guard that the Emperor would accept them and said those who wished to follow him could leave freely.
• When the Death Guard asked what Mortarion himself would do, he admitted through his confusion that he could not accept being absolved so easily.

Mortarion struggled with guilt over his fall to Nurgle, but the Death Guard reminded him of his past and agreed to return to Barbarus. Meanwhile, Lorgar asked The Emperor to spare the surviving Word Bearers until the war fifty years later, and The Emperor accepted.

• Mortarion reflected on his life and his unwanted fall to Nurgle as the Death Guard recalled how he had freed them on Barbarus.
• Several Death Guard veterans knelt and asked Mortarion to return to Barbarus, and he agreed despite questioning what they would do there.
• The fleet turned back toward Barbarus, and Mortarion read the books Lin Fan had taken from Cegorach for him.
• The Emperor asked Magnus and Lorgar about their Legions; Magnus said the Thousand Sons had become ashes, while Lorgar feared the surviving Word Bearers would not be accepted by the Imperium.
• Lorgar asked The Emperor to let the surviving Word Bearers die in the war fifty years later, and The Emperor granted his request.

The Emperor assigned the Primarchs their next duties and finally rested while Oedmeir adjusted the Golden Throne. Meanwhile, Lin Fan and the Silent King reached the Brilliant Star Map, ready to begin using it.

• The Emperor sent Magnus to find Yvraine and learn how to reverse the Rubric spell, then attached a strand of his consciousness to Magnus to keep him out of trouble.
• The Emperor had Fulgrim take Konrad Curze somewhere quiet, while Angron left without saying goodbye.
• Ferrus Manus asked Sanguinius to help manage the Golden Throne and the Imperium’s affairs, and Oedmeir scratched the Emperor’s back before he fell asleep.
• Oedmeir said she would deal with the creatures in the underground prison after finishing her work on the Golden Throne.
• Lin Fan and the Silent King arrived at the Brilliant Star Map, where Trazyn welcomed the restored Orikan with gruff remarks.
• Lin Fan examined the Brilliant Star Map and agreed to begin.

Lin Fan used the Brilliant Star Map to survey worlds across the Imperium and reflect on the people whose lives had changed during the wars. He contacted Delia on Big Canteen, promised to return, and continued searching the stars for other stories worth remembering.

• Lin Fan followed Orikan’s advice and began exploring familiar planets on the Brilliant Star Map, seeing Terra, Cadia, Landis, Krieg, and Big Canteen recovering in different ways.
• Lin Fan remembered his early days with the Kasare Regiment and the ordinary people, including Old Jock and Damian, whose lives still mattered to him.
• Lin Fan asked the sorcerers to use Necrontyr equipment to send his voice directly to Delia on Big Canteen.
• Delia asked Lin Fan about the battle at Cadia, and Lin Fan told her they had won temporarily but would face another hard battle in fifty years.
• Lin Fan told Delia he would come back, and she smiled before he turned his attention to other planets.

Isha asked the Aeldari to spread her Tree of Life across the Milky Way to protect lives and neutralize Slaanesh’s influence. Yvraine left with Magnus to save his sons, while Yilafren set off to contact the scattered Craftworld Aeldari.

• Isha restrained Yilafren and embraced Yvraine, whose comfort was disrupted by the uncontrolled desire in Isha’s presence.
• Isha explained that planting the Tree of Life on planets across the Milky Way would bring protection and neutralize Slaanesh’s power.
• Isha instructed Yvraine to have Yilafren contact the Aeldari and use their Craftworlds to spread the Tree of Life.
• Magnus arrived and asked Yvraine to use a soul spell to restore his sons, who had been reduced to ashes.
• Isha told Yvraine to help Magnus first, and Magnus teleported away with her.
• Isha put Yilafren aboard the Void Phoenix Fighter, and Yilafren flew toward the Webway to contact the Aeldari.

Yvraine and Magnus searched for Magnus's children and found Ahriman, a Thousand Sons sorcerer struggling to save his brothers after the Rubric spell and the 13th Black Crusade. Ahriman reanimated fallen Thousand Sons and vowed to find a way to help them.

• Yvraine asked Magnus where his children were, and Magnus admitted he had not kept track of them before sensing they were nearby.
• Yvraine struggled not to laugh at Magnus's description of Tzeentch's library, and Magnus dispelled the sorcery around her.
• Magnus and Yvraine saw Ahriman, whose attempt to cure the Thousand Sons' mutations had instead turned most of them into dust-bound Rubric Marines.
• Ahriman fled the 13th Black Crusade after failing to obtain Blackstone, and his battered cruiser limped through attacks and wreckage.
• Ahriman used sorcery to reanimate corpses for ship repairs, then restored fallen Thousand Sons warriors and promised to find a way to save his brothers.

Ahriman and the Thousand Sons cleared Degraded Ones from their cruiser until Magnus and Yvraine teleported aboard, seeking to reverse the Rubric spell. Ahriman distrusted Magnus’s promise, attacked him, and Magnus roared at him to stop.

• Ahriman and the Thousand Sons swept the cruiser, killing Degraded Ones and driving the Orks deeper into the ship.
• Magnus and Yvraine teleported aboard, and Ahriman and the Thousand Sons attacked them with lightning and gunfire.
• Magnus deflected the attacks and confronted Ahriman, who accused him of abandoning the Thousand Sons during the Space Wolves’ assault.
• Magnus said he had freed himself from Tzeentch and had come to reverse the Rubric spell, but Ahriman doubted him.
• Ahriman struck Magnus with a psychic spell and attacked alongside the Thousand Sons, prompting Magnus to grow larger and roar for him to stop.

Yvraine completed the reversal ritual, restoring Ahriman and nearby Thousand Sons warriors to flesh and returning them to their Great Crusade-era state. Magnus and Ahriman began working to revive more of the Thousand Sons, while the newly restored warriors remained confused about what had happened.

• Yvraine prepared and cast the reversal ritual while Magnus and Ahriman argued.
• The spell filled Ahriman and the Thousand Sons with visions of battles past, and the warriors awakened confused in the damaged ship.
• The restored Thousand Sons mistook their surroundings for an enemy ambush and asked Magnus whether they had done something wrong.
• Magnus embraced the restored warriors, then asked Ahriman to bring back more Thousand Sons.
• Ahriman began reviving more of his brothers with Magnus lending him power, as the newly restored warriors questioned what he was doing.

Magnus told the Thousand Sons that the Great Crusade had failed and that they had become traitors, leaving them devastated as he teleported them away. Meanwhile, the Emperor and Oedmeir discussed the Custodes’ loneliness, and the Emperor ordered them to gather the scattered Sisters of Silence.

• Ahriman realized the Thousand Sons remembered only the Great Crusade and looked to Magnus to explain what had happened.
• Magnus recounted the history of the Horus Heresy and its aftermath, and the Thousand Sons collapsed in grief before he teleported them away.
• The Emperor watched the reunion, then spoke with Oedmeir about his Custodes’ anxiety and their lack of close bonds.
• Oedmeir suggested that the Custodes spend more time with the Sisters of Silence, and the Emperor agreed.
• The Emperor ordered Custodes not assigned to other duties to travel across the Milky Way and bring the scattered Sisters of Silence to the Imperial Palace.

Sister Luna resented the Adeptus Custodes for abandoning the Sisters of Silence, but she gave Tokman coordinates to help him find the survivors. Tokman tried to ease their strained interaction by bowing with her, though he still did not understand her anger.

• Oedmeir decided to make the Adeptus Custodes find and bring back the scattered Sisters of Silence, and Tokman received The Emperor's order to lead the search.
• Tokman asked Sister Luna where her remaining sisters were, and she recalled how the Sisters had been persecuted and abandoned while the Adeptus Custodes guarded the Imperial Palace.
• Luna resented being summoned only because the Sisters were useful and doubted they had a place in the new era under The Emperor's return.
• Luna gave Tokman a set of coordinates through hand signs and ended with a raised middle finger.
• Tokman took Luna's hand, led her through a bow, and left, hoping his gesture would improve their relationship.

Lin Fan reported corruption on an Imperial world, and the Emperor ordered Fulgrim and Konrad Curze to address it. Fulgrim recruited Vulkan to restrain Curze, but Vulkan and Curze clashed over how to handle the sinners.

• Lin Fan sent the Emperor coordinates for a corrupt planet and demanded its criminals be dealt with.
• The Emperor ordered Fulgrim to supervise Konrad Curze on the mission.
• Fulgrim pulled Curze from the shadows and tried to persuade him to deliver justice rather than kill the planet’s population.
• Fulgrim proposed bringing Vulkan, and the Emperor approved the plan.
• Vulkan agreed to help but insisted on finishing his work aiding survivors on Terra first.
• Curze threatened to punish the sinners, and Vulkan attacked him as Curze dodged and struck toward his neck.

Fulgrim, Vulkan, and Konrad Curze arrived on a troubled planet to inspect its rulers and investigate reports of heresy. After Vulkan halted a suspicious public execution, the officials claimed daemons were corrupting the population, but Konrad Curze distrusted their account.

• Aurora blocked Konrad Curze's attack on Vulkan, and Vulkan agreed to join the inspection journey with Fulgrim and Konrad Curze.
• The Primarchs traveled through the Webway and arrived on a storm-lashed planet where no officials came to receive them.
• Konrad Curze directed Fulgrim and Vulkan toward a spire where soldiers were preparing to burn prisoners as heretics.
• Vulkan stopped the execution, and the crowd knelt before the Primarchs until an old man collapsed from excitement and needed an Apothecary's help.
• Fulgrim presented Terra's warrant to the officials, who claimed daemons had poisoned minds and inspired heretical unrest, while Konrad Curze watched them with suspicion.

Fulgrim investigated reports of demons in a world’s spire and found officials using the threat to conceal their corruption. Konrad Curze uncovered their plan to seize control, and Fulgrim condemned them for exploiting the Imperium while others bore the cost of war.

• Fulgrim entered the spire and ordered the executioners to bring down the chained prisoners, declaring that there were no demons there.
• The officials and nobles resisted Fulgrim’s order, and one noble tried to draw an ancient weapon before the Emperor’s Children subdued them.
• Konrad Curze gave Fulgrim an alliance agreement showing that several families planned to take over positions in the world’s Imperial departments.
• Fulgrim questioned whether the families could govern, then denounced the officials and nobles for hiding during war and exploiting its aftermath.

Fulgrim, Vulkan, and Konrad Curze confronted nobles whose children had been raised through their parents’ exploitation, and Curze insisted they deserved punishment too. After Curze killed the children despite Vulkan’s protection, Fulgrim urged the Primarchs to continue their work, leaving Vulkan wrestling with whom he should protect.

• Fulgrim realized the nobles had survived past daemonic invasions by taking refuge from Khorne’s weakened power and considered ordering their purge.
• Vulkan arrived with children entrusted to him by their mothers, and Konrad Curze killed the officials and nobles before attacking the children.
• Vulkan shielded the children from Curze, who argued that their parents’ crimes and their likely future made them guilty as well.
• Fulgrim tried to stop Curze but was struck by Vulkan, and Curze accused one child of becoming an abuser if left alive.
• Curze killed several children before Vulkan kicked him away, then mocked Vulkan’s kindness as stupidity.
• Fulgrim helped the wounded Curze stand, while Vulkan burned the remains and resolved to protect only those who deserved protection.

Lin Fan explained why the T'au Empire and its railguns would be important in the coming war against Tzeentch. He left the Necrontyr nobles baffled as he recalled the tabletop battles that had taught him to fear T'au weapons.

• Lin Fan vented about the Imperium's bizarre worlds while dining with Trazyn, Orikan, and the Necrontyr nobles.
• Orikan asked how they should handle the coming war, and Lin Fan said the Imperium, Aeldari, Necrons, and T'au would all join it.
• Trazyn questioned the T'au's usefulness, and Lin Fan pointed to the Empire's railguns as a reason to include them.
• Lin Fan described the railguns' devastating tabletop stats and compared their power with elite warriors and advanced weapons.
• Lin Fan recalled being routed by T'au railguns and Battlesuits, then lamented that he had become one of the Degraded Ones.