Chapter Summaries

After the Council of Nikaea dispersed, Malcador monitored several primarchs while Hades stayed aboard the Emperor's Dream with Magnus. Hades's daily readings wore Magnus down until she agreed to talk to relieve his boredom.

• The Emperor's fury over the Council of Nikaea sent the remaining attendees fleeing, while Malcador increased surveillance of Fulgrim, Konrad Curze, and Lorgar and withdrew his spies from the Third Legion.
• Hades persuaded Malcador to let him take books from the library aboard the Emperor's Dream.
• For thirty-five days, Hades read repair manuals and cookbooks aloud to Magnus, disrupting her efforts to reflect in solitude.
• Magnus enthusiastically recommended books on ancient wisdom, then remembered that Hades was Soulless and had no Psychic Power glow.
• Hades said he was bored and invited Magnus to tell him something entertaining, so she agreed to talk rather than hear more about Mars drawing standards.

The Emperor prepared to bring the Thousand Sons to surrender, while Hades watched a guilt-ridden Magnus and learned how deeply the Emperor’s revelations had frightened her. After Malcador gave Hades a new task, Hades asked Magnus why she had given the Emperor her other eye.

• The Emperor told Malcador to have Hades seek the Crimson King’s surrender, or else he would forge Magnus’s orders with Psychic Power.
• Hades questioned Magnus about abandoning the Space Wolves and clashing with Konrad Curze over libraries, and Magnus defended her past choices.
• Magnus feared that the Imperium would use Exterminatus on Prospero, and Hades tried to reassure her that some of her sons would survive.
• Magnus revealed that the Emperor had shown her unbearable truths and warned that speaking of the entity that had latched onto her could draw its attention.
• Magnus asked Hades to guard her and sever her connection to the Sea of Souls, and Hades said Malcador might take over after the journey.
• Malcador visited and silently assigned Hades a task, after which Hades asked Magnus why she had given her other eye to the Emperor.

Hades questioned Magnus about surrendering her eyes to the Emperor, then told her the Emperor wanted her to order Prospero’s forces to surrender. Magnus could not bring herself to give the order, but asked when she could speak to her people.

• Magnus explained that she offered her eyes to the Emperor out of guilt and fear, hoping to make amends and calm him.
• Hades told Magnus to avoid taking initiative beyond what the Emperor instructed, then revealed that Malcador had a task for her.
• Hades informed Magnus that the army had reached Prospero, and Magnus pleaded for its people to be spared.
• Hades said the Emperor promised humane treatment for those who surrendered without fighting and had not been tainted.
• Magnus refused to order her people to surrender, and Hades warned that the Imperium might forge the order in her name.
• Magnus asked Hades when she could speak to her people, though she remained overwhelmed by sorrow.

Magnus forced out a warning that Prospero’s Psychic Power array could erupt and ordered the people to stop resisting, but the transmission was cut short as the Emperor began the invasion. At the summit of the Great Fotep Pyramid, the Emperor faced visions of the coming fate and gave Magnus’s eye to Leman Russ.

• Magnus struggled to broadcast a warning to Prospero, telling its people to shut down the defenses and avoid the Spirit Summoning Array.
• The transmission was cut off, and the Emperor ordered death and winter to descend as drop pods struck Prospero.
• The Emperor climbed the Great Fotep Pyramid while Prospero’s people and Thousand Sons suffered amid the storm and fighting.
• The Emperor confronted a mocking phantom that showed him visions of the Primarchs’ fates, then drove it away with golden light.
• Leman Russ climbed through the storm to reach the Emperor, who handed him Magnus’s eye and told him to hold on to it.

The Emperor and Hades discussed the dangers surrounding Prospero as Warp storms threatened the Imperium. After the Emperor’s forces arrived, he cleansed the devastated planet, while Tzeentch turned its destruction into a new opening in the struggle over fate.

• Hades reopened his channel to Neos and learned that Magnus had passed out; Neos warned that Prospero’s Psychic Power made key figures’ words dangerous and said the Warp storms were a warning from Chaos.
• The Emperor prepared to attack Prospero, recognizing that an outsider had disrupted the Lord of Change’s plans and wondering where it would strike next.
• The Emperor descended onto Prospero with Leman Russ and gave Magnus’s Eye to him, while Mortarion challenged Leman Russ for leaving to charge ahead.
• The Emperor walked through Prospero’s streets, igniting corrupted souls with golden flames and purifying the planet.
• The burning of Prospero destroyed a vital anchor point in the Warp, and Tzeentch laughed as the powers gathered around a new game.

Hades made one final attempt to free Magnus from Tzeentch’s influence, but the effort failed and left a small opening in Magnus’s soul that could warn him when the mark stirred. Hades left Magnus in prison with instructions to seek the Emperor or Malcador if anything felt wrong.

• Magnus woke to the deaths of the Thousand Sons and heard Hades explain that Tzeentch was watching them through him.
• Hades told Magnus how he had changed Mortarion’s fate and hinted that he had also intervened in Angron’s.
• Hades urged Magnus to accept his fate and obey the Emperor, then asked him to cooperate in one last attempt.
• Hades used his Null Field to reach into Magnus’s soul, but Tzeentch’s mark resisted and the attempt failed.
• Hades left a small opening in Magnus’s soul as a warning sign and told him to seek the Emperor or Malcador if it caused concern.
• Hades departed, leaving Magnus to spend the years ahead in prison.

Hades met with the Emperor and Malcador to discuss the Thousand Sons and was asked to remain with Horus and the Luna Wolves to protect the Warmaster from Chaos. Hades accepted, demanded new equipment for the Death Guard, and learned the Emperor had to return to Terra because the Webway experiment was nearing a critical point.

• Hades encountered Mortarion and Leman Russ after leaving Magnus's prison, while Malcador hurried him to a private meeting with the Emperor.
• The Emperor said the Lord of Change had shown him illusions but fled, and Malcador explained that 999 Thousand Sons prisoners would be gathered under his command as Grey Knights.
• Malcador planned to use gene-seed from other Legions to manage the Thousand Sons' mutations and rejected Hades's offer to intervene with his Null Field.
• The Emperor asked Hades to stay with Horus and prevent Chaos from corrupting the Warmaster until the Emperor returned to Terra.
• Hades agreed that Horus needed him but demanded new equipment for the Death Guard, and the Emperor accepted the demand.
• The Emperor said the Webway experiment was nearing a critical point and began briefing Hades on the Imperium's situation.

Hades and the Emperor reviewed the Legions’ positions across the Imperium as the Great Crusade drew to a close. Hades missed the Death Guard’s departure and realized too late that he had forgotten to warn Guilliman not to destroy the lighthouse.

• The Emperor used a map and chess pieces to explain where the Legions were deployed, including the Dark Angels near the Ghoul Stars and the Night Lords on Nostramo.
• The Emperor described the Legions spread across the Ultima Segmentum and Mondus Sector, while Hades assessed which forces might remain reserves and worried about Horus’s orders for the Raven Guard.
• Hades suggested that the Death Guard guard the Storm Nebula, and the Emperor revealed that Mortarion had already announced his Legion’s return to Barbarus.
• The Emperor said the Imperial Fists would guard Terra and the Space Wolves would escort the former Fifteenth Legion’s criminals back before possibly returning to Fenris; Malcador said Alpha and Omegon were everywhere.
• After days of discussion with the Emperor, Hades emerged to find the Death Guard fleet gone and received Mortarion’s message, then panicked that he had forgotten to tell Guilliman not to destroy the lighthouse.

The Four Gods fashioned an arrow meant to kill the Underking and reverse fate, with Slaanesh preparing to fire it. They decided the shot needed a primarch’s death as an anchor, but the chapter ended before they chose their target.

• A Magos questioned data panel 603 about the Underking’s fall, rejecting its claims until it had one chance remaining.
• The Lord of Change made nine feathers, and the Blood God supplied a bone shaft for the arrow.
• Grandfather Nurgle added a decayed tooth as the arrowhead and brought the parts to the Silver Palace.
• Slaanesh shaped a bow from a snake tendon and declared that the attack needed a primarch’s death as an anchor.
• Slaanesh waited for the command to fire, while the Four Gods celebrated and left the intended primarch unnamed.

Perturabo’s attempt to investigate the Eye of Terror ended with a rust plague destroying most of the Iron Warriors fleet and leaving him stranded aboard the Iron Blood. Vashtorr offered to show him the truth and take him away, and Perturabo accepted after hearing that he had been abandoned by the Imperium.

• Perturabo decided to make his own investigation of the Eye of Terror after realizing how much had changed while the Iron Warriors fought far from the Imperium’s center.
• Vashtorr discussed a pact concerning the death of a cursed one with Radon, who wondered who was about to gain freedom.
• A rust plague killed the fleet’s Navigators and corroded its ships, forcing Perturabo to abandon infected vessels as the Iron Warriors struggled to survive in the Warp.
• Perturabo emerged from his workshop to find the Iron Blood the fleet’s only remaining ship and his sons trapped in rusted armor.
• Vashtorr appeared before Perturabo inside the Eye of Terror and offered to show him the truth in exchange for plunging the Imperium into calamity.
• Perturabo initially refused, but accepted Vashtorr’s offer to take him away after Vashtorr said the Imperium had abandoned him.

After Vashtorr sent Perturabo and the Iron Blood out of the Warp, Perturabo broke their agreement and was confronted with a vision of the Emperor discussing the primarchs’ engineered loyalty. He discovered that he could control the Iron Warriors through the fleet’s systems and found evidence of a loyalty gene in his own body before leading the fleet into another Warp Jump.

• Vashtorr removed the rust and sent Perturabo and the Iron Blood out of the Warp, but Perturabo attacked Vashtorr and broke their contract.
• Vashtorr claimed its price and cast Perturabo into a dark laboratory, where he overheard the Emperor describe engineering absolute loyalty into the primarchs’ genes.
• Perturabo saw a Warp entity imprisoned in a nutrient tube and returned to the Iron Blood, where he discovered that he could access the Iron Warriors’ data and command them completely.
• Perturabo adapted to his new ability, kept the fleet on alert, and led it to colonize nearby systems without asking the Imperium for help.
• Perturabo examined his blood and discovered a partially suppressed loyalty gene, then ordered the fleet to make another Warp Jump.

Perturabo built a growing Iron Warriors empire in the Eye of Terror while reliving how he had raised and controlled a younger version of himself. After killing Little Perturabo and rejecting the Emperor’s authority, he faced Vashtorr, who proposed discussing their true contract.

• Perturabo expanded the Iron Warriors’ colonies and infrastructure in the Eye of Terror while controlling his fleet from afar.
• Perturabo found an incubation pod, freed the infant inside, named him Perturabo, and raised him through alternating rewards, neglect, and harsh demands.
• Perturabo recognized that he had made Little Perturabo crave his approval and saw his behavior as echoing the Emperor’s cruelty.
• Little Perturabo operated a machine that completed the partial removal of his genes, then embraced Perturabo, who snapped his neck and ordered his memories erased before sending him into Warp turbulence.
• Perturabo resolved to serve only himself and not bow to the Emperor, while Vashtorr congratulated him on gaining his freedom and proposed discussing their true contract.

Perturabo turned Blackstone Obelisks near the Eye of Terror from suppressors into Warp amplifiers, intending to destabilize the Imperium and build his own strength. As Lorgar prepared to bring the Word Bearers to the Mondus Sector, Perturabo awaited her arrival with Vashtorr’s dagger, Death of Faith, and considered using her for his ambitions.

• Perturabo reversed the Blackstone Obelisks’ function, causing Warp storms to intensify and disrupting the Imperium’s communications and routes.
• Perturabo decided to exploit Lorgar’s planned arrival, while holding the dagger Death of Faith that Vashtorr had given him.
• Lorgar drafted a letter asking Perturabo for stable Warp-route maps and explaining that she planned to bring the Word Bearers to the Mondus Sector to preach among heretical worlds.
• Lorgar wondered whether Magnus had been deceived by Hades and reaffirmed her loyalty to the God-Emperor.

Lorgar visited Cadia at Perturabo’s invitation and discovered that the planet’s natives worshipped a heretical faith connected to Colchis. As a Blackstone Obelisk activated during a sacrificial ritual, Lorgar confronted the entity called Inther—and realized Perturabo had stabbed her in the back.

• Lorgar arrived on Cadia and met Perturabo, who helped her separate from Custodian Guard Vaidana so they could speak privately.
• Perturabo showed Lorgar a native woman wearing prayers written in Colchisian on human skin, and Lorgar insisted the woman and her faith were heretical.
• Lorgar and Perturabo argued about whether the God-Emperor was a god before Perturabo led her toward the Blackstone Obelisks and explained their power to suppress or amplify the Warp.
• Lorgar heard natives shouting near an Obelisk, and she and Perturabo rushed to find nine dead Iron Warriors and a blood ritual led by the woman.
• Lorgar attacked the ritualists and struck the woman with her scepter just as the Obelisk activated; the dying woman identified herself as Inther and spoke of another fate.
• As the woman’s body transformed and the Warp distorted the area, Lorgar turned toward Perturabo and saw blood spreading across her back.

Perturabo defeated Lorgar on Cadia and planned to use the Blackstone Obelisks to tear apart the Eye of Terror, while Lorgar tried to preserve his soul and warn the Imperium. On Terra, the Emperor learned of Lorgar’s fate and ordered Hades and nearby Legions to the Eye of Terror.

• Perturabo wounded Lorgar with a dagger and urged him to convert to the beings of the Warp.
• Perturabo revealed his plan to turn the Blackstone Obelisks near the Eye of Terror into amplifiers and expose the Imperium to Warp turbulence.
• Lorgar resisted Perturabo, tried to protect his soul, and collapsed after mocking him.
• Perturabo laughed as Ingser approached to help prepare Lorgar’s body for possession.
• Terra’s bells rang thirteen times, and the Emperor learned that something had happened to Lorgar.
• The Emperor ordered Hades and the Legions near the Eye of Terror to assemble under Hades’s command, then summoned Russ.

Hades received orders to abandon Horus and lead the Silent Sisterhood to the Mondus Sector, where he realized the Eye of Terror was the Four Gods’ target. He set course for the Eye of Terror, knowing he had to contain the threat while other legions and primarchs faced uncertain dangers.

• Charon told Hades that the Emperor had ordered the Silent Sisterhood to the Mondus Sector and canceled their deployment to the Luna Wolves.
• Hades recognized Cygnus X-1 as the Eye of Terror and ordered the fleet to change course there at full speed.
• Hades reasoned that the Four Gods were targeting him and planned to exploit the Eye of Terror to suppress his Null Field and unleash Warp storms.
• Hades considered the uncertain loyalty of the Iron Hands and Iron Warriors, the possible arrival of other legions, and the lack of reliable communication with Trazyn the Infinite.
• Hades worried that Horus and the other primarchs might face danger elsewhere, but concluded he could only go to the Eye of Terror.

Ferrus Manus met Underking, whom she recognized as Hades, aboard the Silent Sisterhood’s flagship and learned that a war against Warp Entities had begun. The chapter left Hades bewildered by Ferrus’s claim that Mortarion had mentioned him to her.

• Ferrus Manus agreed to meet the Silent Sisterhood aboard the Cocytus and was escorted to its command room by Charon.
• Underking apologized for the abrupt invitation and told Ferrus that the war had already begun.
• Underking explained that Terra had ordered nearby Legions to fight at Cygnus-X1, but Warp interference had disrupted messages to the Iron Hands.
• Ferrus asked about the Warp Entities, and Underking promised to share the Silent Sisterhood’s bestiary and combat methods.
• Ferrus recognized Underking as Hades, a former Death Guard commander, and said Mortarion had mentioned him to her.
• Hades questioned why Mortarion had discussed him with Ferrus, while Ferrus insisted that this was the point.

Hades explained the Warp and the threat of daemons to Ferrus as the Iron Hands and Silent Sisterhood prepared to travel to the Eye of Terror. Ferrus accepted the danger and learned that Hades had removed the Iron Hands from his corruption contingency plan, leaving Perturabo and the Iron Warriors as the next concern.

• Ferrus told Hades she had seen something like Fulgrim, and Hades revealed that his presence could weaken the Warp's influence.
• Hades explained that Warp Entities could corrupt minds, that some were godlike, and that the Imperial Truth helped deprive them of strength.
• Ferrus asked about resisting the Warp and told Hades she had warned Fulgrim against its influence and his obsession with perfection.
• Hades cautioned Ferrus that messages through Astropaths could be lost or distorted, so she would have to trust Fulgrim.
• Hades showed Ferrus contingency plans for corrupted legions, removed the Iron Hands file's red mark, and turned their attention to Perturabo and the Iron Warriors.

Hades demonstrated his extraordinary control over machinery during a mechanized battle exercise with the Iron Hands, crippling one force while strengthening the other. Ferrus recognized the scale of his ability and asked him to explain to the shaken warriors how they could cooperate with him in battle.

• Hades told Ferrus that he could control machinery and asked to demonstrate his abilities with the Iron Hands.
• Ferrus brought Hades to a training chamber where opposing forces of armored vehicles and warriors prepared to fight.
• Hades spread darkness and green lightning across the battlefield, then disabled the blue side’s machinery while repairing and empowering the red side’s vehicles.
• Ferrus halted the exercise after seeing the blue force’s systems collapse and the red force’s performance rise above its usual level.
• Hades offered to repair the damaged vehicles, and Ferrus told him to reassure the frightened warriors and explain how they could work with him.

The Emperor prepared Terra for Chaos’s assault while Hades led the Iron Hands and Silent Sisterhood toward the Eye of Terror, only to lose the Emperor’s protective finger bone and detect an unexpected Word Bearers fleet. On Cadia, Perturabo and Vashtorr prepared to open the rift, while Angerthas discovered Lorgar in distress and was ordered to take her Blackstone scepter and find the gods.

• The Emperor refused Malcador’s offer to leave Terra, kept him at the Webway, and ordered Mars to prepare support vessels for a prolonged voyage.
• Hades discovered that the Emperor’s finger bone had lost its glow and its powers, then ordered maximum alert when Word Bearer ships appeared near the Eye of Terror.
• Perturabo and Vashtorr discussed Hades’s abilities as the Blackstone Obelisks’ reversal neared completion around Cadia.
• Angerthas learned that Lorgar had changed her faith and burned her writings, then entered her private confessional despite her warnings.
• Lorgar told Angerthas to take the Blackstone scepter and find the gods, and he left her alone in darkness.