Chapter Summaries

Malcador disrupted the ritual consuming Fulgrim, rescued him from the descending River of the Underworld, and escaped the Vengeful Spirit with Mortarion’s help. After reading a message from the Emperor, Malcador prepared to go to Cadia while the White Scars fought Horus’s fleet.

• Horus told Lorgar that he intended to correct the past by removing its source, but Lorgar rejected cooperation and defended Malcador’s determination.
• Fulgrim transformed into a vast, tormented Phoenix whose scream drew Slaanesh’s attention and made the River of the Underworld recede from the palace.
• Malcador broke the altar’s golden chains, called Fulgrim by his true name, and stabbed him with his staff as the River dragged him away.
• Mortarion seized Malcador and teleported him onto a White Scars vessel, where Malcador read a message that burned away along with his left eye.
• Yesugei received the Khan’s orders to send Malcador to Cadia, while Malcador swallowed a Nurgling and endured the lingering effects of the rescue.

Malcador explained that he was fighting Chaos for control of his soul while Trazyn watched the naval battle. As the Death Guard charged the Warmaster’s fleet, Mortarion abandoned restraint and raced through the Vengeful Spirit to kill Horus and Hades before Malcador could restore the Null Field.

• Malcador told Trazyn that the plan was for his counterpart on Cadia to lure Hades back to the sealing site, and said he was fighting for the right to use his soul.
• Malcador was taken aboard a shuttle, and the Khan escorted him toward the planet.
• The Death Guard drove through the Warmaster’s fleet in a suicidal charge, with damaged ships breaking formation to attack.
• Mortarion taunted Omegon, called for Hades, and fled as Hades’s darkness surged into the corridor.
• Mortarion cut through the Vengeful Spirit’s defenders and decided to kill Horus and Hades before Malcador could rescue Hades and restore the Null Field.
• Mortarion recalled the Battle of Ghalaspar and concluded that his past way of fighting had been too conservative.

Lorgar fought Horus aboard the Vengeful Spirit, escaped his attacks, and realized the Warmaster’s actions pointed to a larger danger near Cadia. Cut off from Mortarion and her path of escape, she faced Horus again as another primarch prepared to go if the vanguard fleet would not.

• Lorgar called for Mortarion and the Underking while trying to convince Horus that he was being used, but Horus attacked her in close combat.
• As darkness weakened Lorgar’s psychic power, she ignited in radiant flames, blasted through a wall, and fled toward the stern of the Vengeful Spirit.
• Horus pursued Lorgar through the exploding corridors, where she rose among the corpses of Sons of Horus and taunted him about planting explosives on his flagship.
• Lorgar connected Horus’s words and the fleet’s position at Cadia’s equator to a larger scheme, but interference cut off her attempt to contact Mortarion.
• A primarch on the dark side of the Second Imperium awaited the vanguard fleet after receiving Corax’s message and said she would go herself if the others would not.

The Khan's convoy raced across the wasteland toward its destination while Magnus tried to stop them. Malcador countered her attack by summoning Be'lakor to fight her, then collapsed back onto the motorcycle as the convoy continued onward.

• The Khan led the convoy by motorcycle after the shuttle could not travel farther, while Malcador and Trazyn concealed their faces beneath hoods.
• The Khan spotted Magnus and planned to get Malcador past her, but Magnus's spell targeted Trazyn instead.
• Malcador laughed at Magnus's mistake, countered her attempt to warp space, and summoned Be'lakor with the power of the Four Gods.
• Malcador commanded Be'lakor to cut off Magnus's head, then taunted Tzeentch as Be'lakor charged toward her.
• Malcador swayed and fell back onto the motorcycle while the convoy continued toward its destination, and Trazyn and the Khan remarked on how the Imperium had worn him down.

Garo led the Death Guard Seventh Company into the Vengeful Spirit to find Mortarion and join the fight against Horus, while Death Guard forces launched a massive boarding assault. The chapter left Garo and Abaddon fighting after their exchange over the Sons of Horus’ loyalty.

• Garo led Death Guard and Cerberus forces through the Vengeful Spirit as they fought the Sons of Horus, daemons, and mortal defenders while planting explosives.
• Garo’s Seventh Company pushed deeper into the ship, and Garo realized Mortarion’s presence was faint and the reinforcements had fallen behind.
• Garo encountered Abaddon and the Sons of Horus First Company in a reception hall, where Abaddon warned him to turn back.
• Garo grabbed Abaddon’s hand and slammed him to the ground, prompting both Legions to open fire.
• Garo attacked Abaddon and demanded to know why he had betrayed them, while Abaddon insisted the Sons of Horus were loyal to their father.

Garo and Abaddon fought over their loyalty to the Emperor and Horus until Lorgar’s arrival interrupted them with a warning that Horus intended to destroy Cadia. Horus killed Lorgar, pursued the retreating Death Guard, and Hades went to comfort Lorgar as Malcador called for him to return.

• Garo and Abaddon fought aboard the Vengeful Spirit, and Garo declared that he would kill Mortarion if the primarch betrayed the Emperor.
• Garo gained the advantage and nearly killed Abaddon, but a crashing gate distracted him and Abaddon escaped.
• Lorgar arrived mortally wounded and warned the Death Guard to intercept Horus’s fleet before it bombarded Cadia; Garo led his warriors in retreat.
• Horus emerged, ordered Abaddon to pursue Garo, and carried Lorgar away, revealing his plan to destroy the forces he considered traitors.
• Horus pinned Lorgar’s ruined body to the ground and left; Hades comforted her as Malcador called for him to return.
• Horus watched Lorgar sink into the darkness, then turned to pursue Garo.

Garo tried to deliver a warning that Horus intended to destroy Cadia, and he sacrificed himself to ensure the Death Guard received it. After learning the fleet had acted on his message, Garo died facing the Emperor.

• Garo found a Cerberus Auxilia soldier in a pipe and ordered her to tell the Death Guard that Horus planned to destroy Cadia and that they should attack the fleet along the equator.
• The Cerberus soldier carried Garo's message toward Lower Deck Three while Garo stayed behind to delay Horus.
• Horus caught Garo, questioned him about Mortarion, and fatally pierced him with the Claw of Horus after Garo called him a traitor.
• Garo shot Horus in the back before Horus turned and repeatedly shot him in return.
• The Cerberus soldier returned and told Garo that Vokes had received the message and led the fleet into battle, with the White Scars fleet coming to support it.
• Garo declined medical aid and died after the Cerberus soldier continued her explosives mission.

Malcador crossed the Warp to reach the imprisoned Hades, enduring its madness and the transformation that threatened to make him the Dark King. He used the Emperor’s power to prepare Hades for awakening, then gripped the Chaos spike sealing him as its power surged into Malcador.

• Malcador was overwhelmed by the Warp and remembered Neos warning that even Vincent van Gogh had gone mad after seeing its true nature.
• Malcador realized the Warp itself was reshaping him into the Dark King, but continued toward Hades to honor his agreement with Neos and save humanity.
• Malcador reached Hades inside a protective Null Field and found him pinned by a Chaos spike while the Null Field aboard the Vengeful Spirit began to recede.
• Malcador took the Emperor’s dimmed finger bone from Hades’s neck, poured his power into it, and returned it to Hades’s armor.
• Malcador climbed onto Hades’s back, seized the sealing spike called Bloodbone, and shouted for Hades to wake as Chaos power flooded toward him.

Hades struggled to escape the River Styx after Malcador’s psychic presence appeared in a dreamlike vision and urged him to wake. He reached the surface and rescued Malcador, who was cracking apart and greeted him with an insult.

• Malcador appeared in Hades’s imagined version of his Terra residence, where Hades fed him and Malcador urged him to wake up and return to work.
• The house and Malcador melted away, and Hades realized he was trapped at the bottom of the River Styx he had forged.
• Hades rebuilt his reasoning by working through logic and sorting his memories, then began swimming toward the surface despite repeatedly blacking out.
• Hades swam past countless sleeping people glowing beneath the river and spotted Malcador floating near the surface.
• Hades carried Malcador through the surface, where Malcador began cracking apart and told him, “Fuck you...”

Hades awoke on Cadia as Malcador was torn into a Warp rift, then collapsed from his wounds. Trazyn collected Hades and took him away for treatment while the Fleet Group detonated Vortex Torpedoes overhead.

• Hades awoke amid the storm and watched Malcador vanish into a Warp rift after telling him to trust him.
• Hades tried to stand and demand an explanation, but his chest wound left him too weak, and he collapsed.
• Trazyn arrived and told Hades he would take him away, then collected the Emperor’s finger bone from Hades.
• Trazyn explained that Malcador and Mortarion had arranged a way for Hades to survive, and claimed Malcador could save himself.
• Trazyn helped Hades up and detected that the Fleet Group had deployed Vortex Torpedoes as explosions lit the horizon.

Vokes led the Death Guard fleet against the Warmaster’s ships to prevent orbital attacks on Cadia, sacrificing ships and ammunition to disrupt the enemy. He calculated that he could protect Cadia for three minutes and twenty-two seconds, trusting the other fronts to win before that limit expired.

• The Depression rammed an enemy battleship, and Vokes’s Fourth Knight drove through the resulting wreckage to attack another battleship.
• Vokes ordered the Death Guard to target enemy battleships and stop the Warmaster’s fleet from bombarding Cadia, while suspected Vortex Torpedoes threatened the planet.
• Vokes launched tens of thousands of torpedoes, first intercepting the ground-strike Vortex Torpedoes and plunging both fleets into explosions and confusion.
• Vokes focused entirely on the battlefield and predicted he could prevent Exterminatus attacks on Cadia for three minutes and twenty-two seconds.
• Vokes trusted Mortarion, Hades, and the other forces to win their battles before his fleet reached its limit.

As Horus launched Vortex Torpedoes at Cadia, Trazyn tried to evacuate the wounded Hades and warned that losing the planet’s Warp suppressors could leave the Great Rift open. Hades realized his Null Field could strengthen Cadia’s Blackstone Obelisk, but Trazyn’s calculations showed that doing so could wipe out the entire Mondus Sector.

• Hades asked Trazyn to teleport them away as explosions erupted near Cadia, but Trazyn explained that the planet’s suppressors could not be destroyed without endangering the galaxy.
• Trazyn began evacuating Hades and realized Hades’s death beneath the Vortex Torpedoes could unleash a Null Field that spread through the Eye of Terror and into the Imperium.
• Hades suggested that Trazyn develop technology to control the Null Field, but Trazyn said Necrons could no longer make such technology.
• Trazyn’s hidden fleet began moving to protect Cadia’s suppressors, while Trazyn continued preparing to teleport Hades to safety.
• Hades proposed resonating his Null Field with the Blackstone Obelisk, and Trazyn calculated that the plan could work but would likely destroy the Mondus Sector.

Horus and Mortarion fought aboard the Vengeful Spirit while their fleets battled around Cadia, and Horus declared that their duel could no longer decide the war. Elsewhere aboard the ship, Konrad Curze sent Sevatar away with orders to have the Night Lords support the Death Guard, pursuing a chance to secure his Legion’s future.

• Horus and Mortarion clashed in the corridor as explosions lit the fleet battle outside, and Mortarion accused Horus of wanting them to perish together.
• Mortarion wounded Horus while invoking their first meeting and Omegon, but Horus rejected the Four Gods’ power and blasted Mortarion away.
• Horus said their duel could no longer change the battle’s outcome, and Mortarion resolved to trust the Death Guard, Vokes, the White Scars, Hades, and a mechanical Xenos.
• Konrad Curze told Sevatar that the Night Lords needed to prove themselves before the coming judgment and that Mortarion could help secure their future.
• Sevatar warned that no new order was imminent, but Curze threatened him and ordered him to have the fleet support the Death Guard.
• Sevatar agreed and collapsed after Curze released him, then watched Curze flee.

On Terra, Rogal Dorn and Vulkan prepared to relight the Astronomican three months after Dorn had extinguished it on the Emperor’s orders. They waited on the frozen surface of the Hollow Mountains for the moment Vulkan believed she would recognize, as a vast eye flickered overhead.

• The Emperor ordered Rogal Dorn to relight the Astronomican, and Dorn recalled how he had fought Vulkan, the Perpetuals, and the Astro-Telepathica to extinguish it.
• Dorn met Vulkan, who said the Emperor had told her to recognize the right moment through what she had seen in the Webway.
• Vulkan apologized for trying to stop Dorn, and he told her that her actions had nearly ruined the Emperor’s plan.
• Dorn and Vulkan found one hundred thousand Psykers prepared as fuel for the Astronomican, alongside religiously dressed people and Blood Angels warriors.
• The two primarchs ascended to the surface of the Hollow Mountains and waited beneath a flickering enormous eye.

Hades chose to sacrifice himself to help Trazyn close the Eye of Terror and weaken Chaos, accepting that the act would kill billions. Trazyn prepared to connect Hades to the Blackstone Obelisk, and Hades faced the coming pain while hoping the procedure would finish in time.

• Hades found Sage Kirkland dead beside the activated Blackstone Obelisk and removed his cognition storage block to preserve his personality.
• Hades concluded that sacrificing himself could help close the Eye of Terror and save more lives by weakening the Four Gods.
• Trazyn offered Hades the chance to leave, but Hades chose to proceed and asked whether Trazyn had hated the Silent King.
• Trazyn angrily explained that the Silent King had never empathized with the Necrontyr slaves or faced death himself, and Hades accepted the comparison to a tyrant.
• Hades gave Kirkland's storage block to Trazyn for Jin-306, then sat in Trazyn's Blackstone chair as Trazyn connected him to the Obelisk.
• Trazyn warned that the procedure would take time to keep Hades alive, while Hades admitted he was afraid and hoped the pain would not overwhelm him.

Mortarion and Horus fought aboard the Vengeful Spirit as Horus invoked the Four Gods’ power and pinned Mortarion against a cracking observation window. Konrad Curze interrupted Horus’s spell, sending Mortarion into space and leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain as the Vortex Torpedoes advanced toward Cadia.

• Mortarion repeatedly attacked Horus with his dagger and scythe, enduring devastating wounds without falling.
• Horus embraced the Four Gods’ power, seized Mortarion by the throat, and trapped him against the shattered observation window.
• Mortarion saw the Fourth Knight destroyed and the Vortex Torpedoes fired toward Cadia, then briefly lost focus.
• Horus completed his spell as Mortarion struggled, and the observation window shattered beneath them.
• Konrad Curze appeared behind Horus, took the spell’s final syllable, and watched Mortarion fly into space with the broken glass.

Konrad Curze fought Horus while Mortarion was blasted away, but Horus’s curse and Konrad’s visions drove him into a hallucinatory confrontation with his past sins. The chapter left Konrad convinced that he was the true subject of prophecy as Horus struck him aside.

• Konrad blasted Mortarion away and immediately attacked Horus, using unpredictable moves to knock him down and stab his thigh.
• Horus’s curse weakened Konrad and filled his mind with voices and visions, while Konrad continued attacking Horus from the darkness.
• Horus found Konrad kneeling in a vision of the Eye of Terror and raised Worldbreaker to strike, but Konrad dodged and charged back at him.
• Konrad told Horus that Sanguinius had foreseen Horus causing the Archangel’s fall, then laughed as Horus hit him with his warhammer.
• Konrad coughed up blood and declared himself the darling of prophecy, insisting that sinners must be punished.

Mortarion was cast into the void during the battle for Cadia and realized Horus’s fleet had the advantage, but he regained control and hurled his scythe at the Vengeful Spirit. On Terra, Dorn prepared to reignite the Astronomican while Vulkan worried over their father, and the Eye of Terra opened again after three months.

• Torpedo blasts and debris threw Mortarion away from the Vengeful Spirit, where he recognized that Horus’s fleet had overwhelming superiority.
• Mortarion watched an unopposed torpedo approach Cadia and blamed his own arrogance and the Death Guard’s weakness for the impending defeat.
• Mortarion gathered himself in the Warp, flew back toward the Vengeful Spirit, and hurled the Annihilation scythe at Horus.
• On Terra, Vulkan asked whether their father would be merciful, and Dorn told her to focus on the timing of the Astronomican’s return.
• Dorn departed as energy gathered around the mountains, and the Astronomican was set to burn again and illuminate a path to Cadia.
• After three months, the Eye of Terra opened once more.

Konrad Curze fought Horus while Warp chains began dragging his soul toward hell, and he laughed as he accepted that his own cruelty deserved judgment. As Cadia burned, Mortarion returned and joined the battle, but Horus declared that he had already won.

• Konrad attacked Horus, who smashed his right arm with Worldbreaker, and Konrad delighted in seeing Horus’s anger and rage.
• Warp chains tightened around Konrad’s soul as he struggled to escape Horus’s blows and crawled toward the shattered observation window.
• Konrad mocked Horus and Sanguinius, then seized the scythe Annihilation and pulled Mortarion aboard as an atmospheric incineration torpedo ignited Cadia.
• Mortarion told Horus he wanted him dead, but Konrad pounced on Horus first, and Horus laughed that he had already won.

The Emperor rose from his throne and claimed the crown and power of a god to protect humanity, even as he mourned the fate of his children and feared Horus’s death. He stepped onto the heavenly road opened by Dorn and Vulkan, leaving the outcome of Horus’s battle unresolved.

• The Emperor watched his children fight and saw Horus locked in battle with Konrad Curze as the scythe of vengeance moved toward Horus.
• The Emperor admitted that he could not save Horus, though he wished his beloved child would survive, and asked Konrad Curze and Mortarion to spare their brothers.
• Dorn and Vulkan completed their mission above the Hollow Mountains, opening a heavenly road that shattered Chaos and offered humanity shelter for ten thousand years.
• The Emperor rose from his throne, declared himself a god who would protect humanity, and saw blood-red eyes watching from the fallen dark side.
• The Emperor raised his sword and stepped onto the heavenly road as an eternal sun rose within the Warp.