Recaps

Corax fought Hercules, Argel Tal, and Anna until Royst joined the battle, leaving the four greatest combatants of the Word Bearers surrounding him. Corax faced an increasingly dangerous fight, while Lorgar remained absent.

• Corax took Hercules's punch and retaliated, but Anna teleported Hercules out of the Talon Blades' strike.
• Corax turned toward Anna, but Argel Tal attacked with a golden blade bearing Lorgar's power.
• Argel Tal was defeated, then Zagris's face appeared on his as Zagris confronted Corax.
• A golden psychic dragon attacked Corax, and Hercules charged through the explosion in golden armor.
• Royst arrived as a powerful psychic fluctuation swept across the battlefield.
• Hercules, Argel Tal, Royst, and Anna surrounded Corax.

Corax mocked the Word Bearers before Hercules, Argel Tal, Royst, and Anna coordinated their attacks against him. After Anna’s spatial manipulation and Royst’s psychic power helped wound Corax, he unleashed his full strength and summoned an enormous Chaos raven above Colchis.

• Corax taunted the Word Bearers and charged Hercules as the surrounding Space Marines kept away from their fight.
• Royst armored Hercules with psychic energy while Anna teleported him around Corax, allowing Hercules and Argel Tal to wound Corax in a pincer attack.
• Anna repeatedly rescued Hercules and Argel Tal from Corax’s counterattacks, then used psychic-infused nanometal to pierce Corax’s body.
• Corax healed from the wounds, intensified his Chaos power, and formed black wings as he prepared to fight the four opponents seriously.
• A colossal raven made of Chaos energy opened its blood-red eyes above Colchis as Corax declared that they would witness a god’s power.

On Nurgle-corrupted Nocturne, Curze tried to delay Vulkan until the Word Bearers’ plan succeeded, but a vision of a likely future made him change tactics. When Vulkan learned that a pivotal resurrection was near and tried to leave, Curze attacked to stop him, and the two Primarchs resumed their battle.

• Curze hid in Nocturne’s fog, but Vulkan tracked him through the planet’s corruption and urged him to come out.
• Curze foresaw a future he could not allow and abandoned his plan to stall Vulkan.
• A Nurgling whispered to Vulkan, whose expression changed before he turned to leave Nocturne.
• Curze attacked Vulkan from behind and kept intercepting him as Vulkan tried to hurry away.
• Curze and Vulkan realized the decisive moment was near, then clashed amid green flames and shadows.

Vulkan received Nurgle’s blessing, merging with the souls of seven Great Unclean Ones and transforming into a colossal seven-headed dragon. Curze was left facing the monster alone as he pleaded for Lorgar to return before he was overwhelmed.

• Curze fought desperately to keep Vulkan from reaching Lorgar’s corpse on the final day before Lorgar was due to rise.
• Nurgle sent the souls and power of seven Great Unclean Ones into Vulkan, forcing him to endure a devastating transformation.
• Curze lunged at Vulkan while he was on his knees, but a causality-bound psychic shock wave hurled Curze into the fog.
• Vulkan grew into a forty-nine-kilometer-long dragon with seven plague-bearing heads, while the minds of the seven daemons merged with his corrupted consciousness.
• The dragon’s combined roar blasted Curze away, and Curze begged Lorgar to hurry back to life.

Vulkan reached Colchis to destroy Lorgar's corpse while Corax prepared to finish the battered defenders, but Vulkan warned that the gods' Gamble prevented either of them from interfering. The arrival of the Word Bearers' Blackstone Fortress interrupted their confrontation.

• Vulkan transformed into a dragon and flew toward Colchis, shrugging off the Imperial Fleet's attacks with Nurgle's power.
• On Colchis, Corax overwhelmed Hercules, Argel Tal, Royst, and Anna, leaving them unable to stop him.
• Vulkan landed on Colchis, emerged from his dragon form, and joined Corax as the Power of Faith failed to overcome Nurgle's corruption.
• Corax claimed he could stretch the remaining hours indefinitely to keep Lorgar from returning, but Vulkan said neither of them could interfere in the gods' Gamble.
• Terrified transmissions erupted from the Chaos Fleet as the Word Bearers' Blackstone Fortress appeared behind Nocturne and the Raven Guard fleet.

Vulkan and Corax fought through Antioch Fortress while the Blackstone Fortress devastated the Raven Guard fleet and suppressed the Warp across the Colchis System. After the last defenders sacrificed themselves to buy time, Lorgar began to stir and returned in a burst of golden light.

• Vulkan and Corax slaughtered thousands of Word Bearers as they pushed deeper into Antioch Fortress.
• Under Archmagos Valkyrie's control, the Blackstone Fortress destroyed over sixty percent of the Raven Guard Legion's Fleet and spread an anti-Warp field across the Colchis System.
• Vulkan and Corax broke through Antioch Fortress's final defense line and entered its deepest reaches.
• Vulkan found the Underground Catacombs, where 189 Space Marines fought to hold him back and buy Lorgar ten minutes to rise again.
• The last Space Marine detonated his explosives, and Vulkan emerged from the rubble with only seconds remaining before Lorgar's body began to stir.
• Lorgar's heart began beating, and golden light erupted from the sarcophagus as he returned.

Lorgar awakened in the tomb, stopped Vulkan’s attack, and cast Corax aside before the Shroud of Turin restored his body. He unleashed golden light across all one thousand planets of the Millennium World, cleansing Chaos and proclaiming his return.

• Lorgar opened his eyes and halted Vulkan’s Plaguebearer warhammer inches from his face.
• Corax charged Lorgar, but an unseen force hurled him through the tomb wall and into a dark passage.
• Lorgar accused Vulkan of betraying him, while the Shroud of Turin wrapped around him and restored his body.
• Lorgar’s golden light spread across the Millennium World, cleansing Chaos taint, destroying daemons, healing the wounded, and bringing hope to its people.
• Lorgar condemned Chaos and proclaimed his return across the thousand planets.

Lorgar returned to the Millennium World, restoring the fallen and healing the wounded while his light drove back Chaos. He confronted Vulkan and declared he would save Vulkan’s soul in ten thousand years, then faced Vulkan and Corax as they attacked him.

• Lorgar’s Golden Light reclaimed the souls of the fallen, healed the wounded, anchored corrupted planets, and drove back daemons and Warp rifts.
• Rockefeller, Hercules, Seras, and the Word Bearers recognized Lorgar’s return and rejoiced beneath his light.
• Lorgar saw Vulkan’s fall to Nurgle and promised to rescue his soul in ten thousand years, then tightened his grip on Vulkan’s shoulder.
• Lorgar emerged in golden psychic robes and six wings, declaring himself the opponent of Vulkan and Corax.
• Corax urged Vulkan to summon the Legion warriors, but Vulkan attacked Lorgar with the Plaguebearer and summoned seven Great Unclean Ones.

Lorgar returned to the battlefield and effortlessly destroyed seven Great Unclean Ones, then shielded the surviving Word Bearers. He seized Vulkan and Corax by the throat, but Corax summoned a tide of Chaos Daemons to attack him.

• Vulkan ordered seven Great Unclean Ones to kill Lorgar, but Lorgar destroyed them with a glance as he walked past.
• Corax and Vulkan froze in fear at Lorgar’s power, while Anna, Hercules, Argel Tal, Royst, and the surviving Word Bearers emerged from the ruins and gathered behind him.
• Lorgar spread his golden wings to protect the Word Bearers and told them to stay behind cover.
• Vulkan and Corax attacked Lorgar together, but he stopped their blows and lifted both Daemon Primarchs by the throat.
• Corax activated the Crown of Dominion, opened rifts into the Warp, and summoned countless Chaos Daemons to swarm Lorgar.

Lorgar overwhelmed the daemon armies and turned his attention to Vulkan and Corax, demonstrating the power of his resurrection. After he impaled Corax with a psychic blade, Vulkan tore Corax in half to save him from the other blades, leaving both Primarchs injured and furious.

• Lorgar tossed Vulkan and Corax into distant ruins as the daemon armies poured from the rifts.
• Lorgar split Ang'grath and hundreds of thousands of Khorne daemons with a psychic slash, then repelled Shalaxi's surprise attack with his halo.
• Lorgar advanced toward Vulkan and Corax while his halo and psychic powers drove back the daemons.
• Lorgar summoned three golden blades and pinned Corax to a wall with the first.
• Vulkan tore Corax's upper body from his lower half to pull him clear of the remaining blades.
• Corax vowed to kill Vulkan as Lorgar watched them suffer and remarked that they were easy to beat because they would not die.

Lorgar effortlessly repelled Skarbrand’s attack and destroyed the Bloodthirster, then blocked Vulkan and Corax when they ambushed him. He confronted his brothers after their attack failed.

• Lorgar’s deathly presence made Vulkan and Corax retreat as he approached them.
• Skarbrand descended through a scar in the sky and charged Lorgar with his twin axes.
• Lorgar blocked Skarbrand with his halo while repairing the damage their clash caused to reality.
• Lorgar impaled Skarbrand with a golden greatsword and banished him in an explosion of red ash.
• Vulkan and Corax appeared behind Lorgar and struck at him, but his halo blocked both weapons.
• Lorgar turned to the immobilized pair and mocked them for their failed ambush.

Lorgar defeated Vulkan after the corrupted Primarch transformed into a Seven-Headed Dragon and hurled him far from Colchis. He tore Vulkan from the dragon’s body and stopped Corax’s ambush, leaving both Daemon Primarchs helpless.

• Vulkan transformed into a colossal Seven-Headed Dragon and attacked Lorgar with Corrupt Dragon Breath.
• Lorgar split the dragon’s flames, bound one of its heads with a golden chain, and hurled it away from Colchis as Corax flew in to help.
• Lorgar pursued the dragon through space, severed its wing, and drove it into a death world.
• Lorgar killed one of the dragon’s heads, pinned the creature, and cut Vulkan out of its back.
• Corax tried to ambush Lorgar, but Lorgar caught him by the throat, leaving Vulkan and Corax both unable to resist.

Lorgar gave Corax a chance to attack him in the sinkhole, but pierced him with a sword and overwhelmed his shadow creatures with Golden Psychic Energy. Lorgar left as hundreds of millions of golden spears descended on Corax.

• Lorgar threw Corax into the sinkhole and banished the dying Vulkan with Golden Psychic Energy.
• Corax summoned blood-red eyes and grotesque shadow creatures, then enveloped Lorgar in darkness and Chaos whispers.
• Lorgar pierced Corax through the chest with a sword before Corax could react.
• Lorgar formed hundreds of millions of Golden Psychic Energy spears, driving away the shadows and pinning Corax in place.
• Lorgar walked away as the spears descended and engulfed the sinkhole.

Lorgar returned to Colchis transformed, healed the wounded, and rallied its survivors with a promise to fight beside them. As the crowd celebrated him, Anna questioned whether the figure before them was truly Lorgar.

• Lorgar returned to the ruins of Colchis with six golden wings and a divine appearance, and Hercules, Rockefeller, Seras, and the others gathered around him.
• Lorgar helped the kneeling warriors rise and praised the mortals and Astartes who had endured the destruction and fighting.
• Lorgar healed a wounded Holy Word Army soldier and promised to fight alongside his people when they faced an enemy they could not defeat.
• Rockefeller and the gathered survivors cheered for Lorgar and vowed to fight the Legion's foes.
• Anna watched from outside the crowd as Curze joined her, then asked whether the Lorgar before them was really Lorgar.

Curze and Anna worried that Lorgar had become unnaturally perfect, while Lorgar struggled to preserve his humanity as his power made him increasingly like the Emperor. The chapter ended with Lorgar coughing up blood tinged with gold.

• Anna told Curze that Lorgar seemed too perfect and unnatural, and Curze resolved to speak with his brother after the rebellion was put down.
• Curze foresaw fragmentary futures in which Lorgar faced immense burdens and danger.
• Anna directed the fleet to drive away the remaining traitors while Colchis was rebuilt and communications with Terra were restored.
• Lorgar studied his reflection and recognized that his emotions were growing distant as his power transformed him.
• Lorgar rejected abandoning his humanity and resolved to keep feeling and caring for individuals.
• Lorgar suddenly coughed up several mouthfuls of blood with a faint golden gleam.

Lorgar concealed signs that his soul and body had not fully healed before emerging to face the Imperium’s needs. At Millennium World, a battered Sons of Horus warship arrived with news of a second Astronomican light disrupting warp travel, leaving everyone fearing for Terra and the Emperor.

• Lorgar recognized that his soul was still repairing its connection to his body, hid the blood he had coughed up, and left his office without showing weakness.
• A damaged Sons of Horus warship reached Millennium World after escaping the Scouring and surviving a perilous warp journey.
• Abaddon hurried to the starport, where the warship’s captain recounted the vessel’s escape and its failure to contact Terra.
• The captain said two Astronomican lights had appeared in the warp, confusing navigation and scattering fleets across the Imperium.
• Abaddon and the others feared that Terra might have fallen and wondered what Millennium World should do if the Emperor was no longer in command.

Lorgar assessed Millennium World’s isolation and weighed whether to send a fleet toward Terra or secure nearby systems first. After learning that an Astronomican-like light was disrupting Warp routes, he concluded that Ultramar and the Pharos might have fallen to the enemy, and prepared to make his first move.

• Lorgar reviewed reports that Millennium World had lost contact with Terra, Ultramar, and other key Imperial worlds.
• Lorgar noted that the Warp Storm had subsided and the renegade Mechanicus fleet had withdrawn, while Word Bearers reinforcements were thawed from cryogenic storage.
• Lorgar considered whether to send a fleet to aid Terra or establish a buffer zone by retaking nearby systems.
• Rockefeller reported that an identical Astronomican was disrupting Warp routes, and Lorgar considered whether the Pharos was responsible.
• Lorgar concluded that the enemy had likely seized Ultramar and the Pharos, using its light to mislead loyal fleets and isolate Terra.
• Lorgar closed his eyes to piece together the clues and decide how the Word Bearers would act.

Lorgar ordered the Herald of the Holy Word repaired in one month despite the damage to Colchis’s forces and industry. At Forge World Hephaesto, Archmagos Kelbor accepted the challenge and vowed to restore the battleship for Warp travel.

• Rockefeller reported that Colchis could mobilize around 1.2 million troops, but attacks on Industrial Worlds strained its logistics and the Herald of the Holy Word needed six to fourteen months of repairs.
• Lorgar ordered the Adeptus Mechanicus to restore the Herald of the Holy Word within one month and learned that Archmagos Kelbor was responsible for its repair.
• At Forge World Hephaesto, Kelbor surveyed the battleship’s extensive damage and heard that Lorgar wanted it ready for Warp travel within a month.
• Kelbor accepted the deadline and promised the Tech-Sages he would restore the Herald of the Holy Word in one month.

Lorgar postponed the return to Terra after Curze foresaw false beacons luring Imperial fleets into Warp storms, and ordered a reclamation crusade around the Millennium World. Abaddon asked to borrow troops to avenge his father, and Lorgar granted him fifty thousand men and a fleet, warning him not to fail.

• Curze warned Lorgar that six false beacons would mislead Imperial fleets into deadly Warp storms, so Lorgar delayed sending forces to Terra.
• Lorgar ordered Rockefeller to assemble the available fleets and reclaim nearby worlds for the Millennium World.
• Abaddon asked Lorgar for troops to hunt down Brutus and avenge his father through guerrilla warfare in Traitor-held star clusters.
• Abaddon reduced his request from five thousand soldiers to five hundred as Lorgar watched in silence.
• Lorgar granted Abaddon fifty thousand men and a supporting fleet, warning that failure would earn him a room with Angron.

Johnny and Oll Persson helped rescue survivors from the ruins of a residential district devastated by Corax and Vulkan, while the lingering threat of Lorgar and the Fallen remained uncertain. After a long shift, Johnny reunited with Carmen in the camp tent, where they were left alone together.

• Johnny and Oll Persson carried survivors from the rubble and discussed the Fallen and the danger lingering around Lorgar's fortress.
• Johnny returned to digging and called for help after hearing someone tap beneath the debris.
• After four hours of rescue work, Johnny and Oll Persson handed over their tools and went to rest.
• Carmen visited Johnny in the temporary tent, and Oll Persson left them alone with twenty minutes together.

Carmen told Johnny she was being transferred to the Yukikaze, leaving him subdued as Oll Persson tried to comfort him. At the Holy Word Army's field hospital, Heinrich was discharged and reunited with Doram and Leki.

• Carmen told Johnny she had been assigned to the Yukikaze and left the tent.
• Oll Persson sat with Johnny and reassured him that the Yukikaze might return to port soon.
• Heinrich left the field hospital after recovering from his grave injuries.
• Doram and Leki welcomed Heinrich and walked with him toward the hospital entrance.

Omega reported that Alpha had turned traitor, and the Emperor and Malcador prepared to use him as a spy among the Traitor Faction. The chapter ended with the Emperor ordering preparations for a war that might never end.

• Omega arrived at the Golden Throne disguised as a Custodian and told the Emperor and Malcador that Alpha had turned traitor.
• The Emperor accepted the news without surprise, and Malcador used his psychic power to confirm Omega's loyalty.
• Malcador ordered Omega to infiltrate the Traitor Faction, gain standing among its Primarchs, and secretly send intelligence to the Loyalist Faction.
• Omega accepted the mission, put on his helmet, and left without further farewell.
• The Emperor told Malcador to prepare for a war that might never end.

Mortarion and the Death Guard remained idle on Barbarus, isolated from the wider Imperium, until Horus contacted him and asked him to join a march on Terra. Mortarion ended the chapter by asking which side Lorgar was on.

• Mortarion continued sunbathing beside a haystack while Vorx harvested wheat and the Death Guard trained on Barbarus.
• Mortarion noticed that communications and traffic from other Imperial worlds had dwindled, but chose not to investigate.
• Garro informed Mortarion that the Sons of Horus had sent a transmission and escorted him to the communications room.
• Horus told Mortarion that the Emperor used them as tools and invited him to join the march on Terra.
• Mortarion asked Horus which side Lorgar was on.

Mortarion rejected Horus’s invitation because he did not want to fight Lorgar, but Horus invoked the Emperor’s mistreatment of him and left him wavering. After the transmission ended, Garro warned Mortarion that Horus was manipulating him, and Mortarion remained silent as he considered his choice.

• Mortarion asked whether Lorgar had joined the Loyalists, and Horus admitted he had not yet persuaded him.
• Mortarion refused to join Horus, saying he would march against the Emperor only if Lorgar stood with him.
• Horus reminded Mortarion of the Emperor’s neglect of him and the Death Guard, making Mortarion hesitate before ending the transmission.
• Horus ended the transmission after urging Mortarion to choose whether to stand with him and Lorgar or with the Emperor.
• Garro warned Mortarion that Horus was manipulating him for his own power, while the Death Guard officers debated and Mortarion stayed silent.

After Mortarion refused to answer Garro’s plea, Garro prepared to flee Barbarus aboard the Eisenstein and warn the Emperor. Mortarion secretly enabled his escape, and the ship departed with Garro and the Seventh Company.

• Mortarion remained silent when Garro begged him to reject Horus, and the meeting ended without a response.
• Garro sneaked into the starport to board the Eisenstein, but Vorx waited in his path.
• Vorx gave Garro a Power Scythe from Mortarion and told him the Seventh Company and years of supplies were ready aboard the ship.
• Garro promised Vorx they would meet again and left Barbarus aboard the Eisenstein with the Seventh Company.
• Mortarion watched the ship disappear and told Vorx to report that Garro had mutinied and fled without his involvement.