Chapter Summaries

Lox and Sanguinius watched the White Scars drive the Alpha Legion fleet away from Pluto while Lion led the Dark Angels in an assault on the Hydra moon fortress. Lion’s forces overwhelmed the Alpha Legion defenders, and Lion sensed that Alpharius was nearby as he began the hunt.

• Sanguinius told Lox that Lion had brought the Deathwing and Dreadwing, while the White Scars continued encircling the Alpha Legion fleet.
• The Invincible Reason destroyed the Alpha Legion cruiser Cockatrice, and Lox concluded the enemy fleet was delaying battle to help its primarch escape Pluto.
• Lion led the Dark Angels’ Inner Circle veterans in drop pods toward the Hydra moon fortress’s landing port.
• Deathwing and Dreadwing forces broke through the port defenses and attacked the Lernaean Terminators, inflicting heavy casualties.
• Lion fought beside Holguin and Redloss, sensed Alpharius nearby, and prepared to hunt him.

Lion El'Jonson led the Dark Angels in a devastating assault that wiped out the Alpha Legion forces at Hydra's landing port. After rescuing a critically wounded Imperial Fist, he learned that the Alpha Legion was attacking the satellite fortress's reactor control center and hurried there.

• Lion El'Jonson led four thousand Dark Angels veterans in a drop assault on Hydra's landing port, where they overwhelmed the Alpha Legion's forces.
• Dark Angels microbots exposed the hidden Alphas, and Redloss's Dreadwing veterans unleashed a deadly bombardment while Deathwing warriors broke the enemy formation.
• The Dark Angels killed more than a thousand Hydra warriors with fewer than ten casualties and found a gravely wounded Imperial Fist among the fallen.
• Apothecaries revived the Imperial Fist, who reported that Alpha's traitors were attacking the reactor control center and that Achamos was organizing a defense.
• Lion El'Jonson led his guard into the darkness to stop the attack on the reactor control center.

Achamos and the remaining Imperial Fists made their last stand against the Alpha Legion outside Hydra's reactor chamber, until the Dark Angels breached the fortress and Lion El'Jonson arrived. The Alphas revealed identical faces, leaving the question of which one was Alpharius unanswered.

• Achamos and the Imperial Fists held the reactor chamber entrance as the Alphas overwhelmed the Hussar Guards and killed the mortal defenders.
• Lernaean Terminators broke through the shield wall, and a swift Alpha warrior killed one Imperial Fist before wounding Achamos and destroying his thunder hammer.
• The Alpha Legion suddenly halted, and Achamos realized reinforcements had arrived.
• The Dark Angels breached the Hydra fortress with Dreadwing relics, and Lion El'Jonson entered the battlefield.
• The spear-wielding Alpha removed his helmet alongside the other Lernaean Terminators, revealing that they all had identical faces.

Lion and the Dark Angels fought Alpharius and the Alpha Legion at Hydra Fortress as Rogal Dorn arrived in the Solar System with the Phalanx and a massive Imperial Fists fleet. Lion drove Alpharius back in their duel and rejected his claim that everything was part of a plan.

• Lox warned Lion that Rogal Dorn and the Phalanx were approaching Pluto, while Sanguinius confirmed that he and Lion had arrived and Guilliman would bring reinforcements from the Five Hundred Worlds.
• Dorn ordered his fleet to encircle the Alpha Legion ships and teleported down to Hydra Fortress.
• Lion ordered the Deathwing and Dreadwing to open fire, and he and Alpharius vanished as the Dark Angels and Alpha Legion clashed.
• Lion overpowered Alpharius with Wolf Blade while the Deathwing advanced against the Lernaean Terminators.
• Alpharius claimed he was not a traitor and that everything was part of the plan, but Lion answered, “Never compromise!”

Alpharius tried to convince Lion El'Jonson that the Alpha Legion had secretly served humanity, but Lion rejected his claims and kept fighting. Rogal Dorn joined the battle, mortally wounded Alpharius, and Lion finished him with a blow that severed his head.

• Alpharius pleaded with Lion and explained that his actions had been meant to help defeat Horus and protect humanity.
• Lion considered whether Alpharius might be loyal, but decided that his deeds made him a traitor and resumed his attack.
• Rogal Dorn arrived and charged Alpharius, taking a spear wound to his pauldron as he seized the spear and struck back.
• Dorn severed Alpharius's wrist and drove Storm's Teeth through his chest, fatally wounding him.
• Lion struck Alpharius from behind with the Wolf Blade, cutting off his head as the Dark Angels killed the remaining Alpha warriors.

After the Alpha Legion surrendered, Lox asked Rogal Dorn whether Alpharius had been loyal and requested a meeting with the Emperor. Dorn admitted he could not know whether the Emperor could see Lox, leaving Lox without the answers he sought.

• Lox asked Lion who had killed Alpharius, and Dorn bluntly claimed the credit before Lion agreed with him.
• Dorn thanked Lox for helping the Five Hundred Worlds' reinforcements reach Terra, then explained that he had killed Alpharius because the primarch's actions made him impossible to trust.
• Dorn stripped the surrendered Alpha Legionaries of their armor and imprisoned them on Terra for interrogation.
• Lox told Dorn he wanted to meet the Emperor and learn why the Lord of Humanity seemed to have guided events around him.
• Dorn said he could not say whether the Emperor could see Lox, since the Emperor sat upon the Golden Throne to contain the Warp after the Webway beneath the Imperial Palace was damaged.

Rogal Dorn revealed that the Emperor’s Imperium and Great Crusade had been built to enable the Webway Project, which Magnus’s psychic message had catastrophically damaged. With the Emperor trapped on the Golden Throne and the Webway War threatening Terra, Lox asked how they could help.

• Dorn explained that the Emperor’s ultimate goal was the Webway Project and that the Imperium and Great Crusade had served it.
• Uslan described the Golden Throne’s connection to the Old Ones’ Webway and asserted the Aeldari’s claim to it.
• Dorn explained that Magnus’s psychic blast had damaged the unstable human-made Webway beneath the Imperial Palace and left the Emperor confined to the Throne.
• Dorn revealed that Imperial forces were fighting daemons in the Webway beneath the palace, whose collapse could turn Terra into another Eye of Terror.
• Lox asked whether they could help the Emperor gain an advantage in the Webway War.

Lox asked Rogal Dorn to let him and Konrad Curze meet the Emperor, but Dorn insisted they must wait for the Emperor’s permission. As the Primarchs waited for their brothers, Pollux returned to Dorn’s side.

• Dorn explained that the Emperor was confined to the Golden Throne and could not meet Lox until he granted permission.
• Lox revealed that Konrad Curze was aboard the Triumph Crown and wished to face the Emperor’s judgment for his crimes.
• Dorn hesitated as he remembered his earlier conflict with Curze and regretted not listening to his brother’s prophecies.
• Dorn refused to change his decision, and Lox waited with Sanguinius while the Primarchs awaited their remaining brothers.
• Pollux returned and knelt before Dorn, reporting for duty as commander of the Retribution Fleet.

Pollux reunited with Rogal Dorn and received his father's praise for his courage at the Battle of Phall. Jaghatai Khan then reunited with Gantula and immediately demanded to know why the White Scars had no Thundercloud ships.

• Dorn welcomed Pollux and listened as he recounted the Retribution Fleet's losses and its attack on Perturabo's flagship.
• Pollux apologized for failing to kill Perturabo, but Dorn told him to rise and said he was proud of him.
• Lox noticed the White Scars and Space Wolves watching the Imperial Fists' reunion with envy.
• Jaghatai Khan arrived, embraced Gantula, and eagerly asked about the Thundercloud ships docked nearby.
• Gantula explained that Guilliman had commissioned the Thunderclouds, and Jaghatai demanded to know why the White Scars had not received one.

Lox persuaded Jaghatai Khan that the White Scars should take command of the Victory Laurel while their custom Leiyun-class warship was being built. The White Scars then presented Eidolon's head to the Khan as vengeance for their fallen comrades, and Jaghatai marked Qin Xin with a lightning scar and urged him to grow into Qin Xia's former role.

• Gantula hesitated to explain why the White Scars had not received a Leiyun-class warship, so Lox reassured Jaghatai that a custom vessel was under construction and suggested the White Scars pilot the Victory Laurel.
• Jaghatai agreed that the Victory Laurel needed a qualified pilot, while Guilliman sneezed aboard another Leiyun-class warship on Macragge.
• Gantula and Qin Xin presented Jaghatai with Eidolon's preserved head, explaining that they had killed the Emperor's Children commander on Pandora to avenge Qin Xia.
• Jaghatai mourned the White Scars' many fallen warriors, praised Gantula and Qin Xin, and told Qin Xin to grow into the position Qin Xia had left behind.
• Jaghatai cut a lightning scar across Qin Xin's right cheek with his golden-hilted blade.

Leman Russ arrived with Malcador, and the assembled primarchs prepared to discuss the Imperium’s future. The Lion and Russ nearly fought before Malcador called them to order, and the meeting began with Lox seated between Sanguinius and the Lion.

• Leman Russ arrived aboard the Phalanx, greeting Fafnir Blood-Bond by slamming him to the ground before he rose and saluted.
• Sanguinius introduced Malcador to Lox as the Emperor’s trusted adviser and the Imperium’s Imperial Chancellor and Keeper of the Sigillite.
• Malcador exchanged a knowing smile with Lox, then surveyed the gathered primarchs.
• Leman Russ enthusiastically lifted the Lion in greeting, then joked that his own happiness mattered more than his brother’s dislike of the custom.
• Russ challenged the Lion to a duel, and the two prepared to fight until Malcador tapped his staff and ordered them to stop.
• Malcador opened the meeting, and the primarchs took their seats around the table, with Lox seated between Sanguinius and the Lion.

Rogal Dorn convened the loyal Primarchs to explain the victory at Pluto and the arrival of reinforcements, then revealed that the Emperor had reassigned their duties. Macador began conveying the Emperor’s will as the Primarchs awaited their new orders.

• Dorn announced that reinforcements from the Ultima Segmentum had reached the Solar System and that Alpharius had been killed at Pluto.
• Jaghatai Khan accepted Alpharius’s death, while Leman Russ grieved for his fallen brother.
• Lox observed the Primarchs’ reactions and noted Russ’s loyalty to his brothers and his closeness to Macador.
• Dorn declared that five loyal Primarchs had gathered to defend Terra and prepare for a counteroffensive against Horus.
• Macador explained that the Emperor remained bound to the Golden Throne to contain the Webway breach and said the Emperor had reassigned the Primarchs’ duties.

Malcador announced the Emperor’s assignments for defending the Solar System, making Lion El'Jonson the loyalist forces’ war commander while Rogal Dorn focused on its defenses. Leman Russ received permission to follow his own decision, and Lox realized the Wolf Lord intended to risk everything in an attempt to assassinate Horus.

• Malcador assigned Rogal Dorn responsibility for defending Terra and the Solar System, transferred command of its war fleets to Lion El'Jonson, and placed Sanguinius and Jaghatai Khan under Lion’s orders when necessary.
• Lion accepted command of the loyalist forces, while Sanguinius and Jaghatai Khan agreed to follow his leadership.
• Leman Russ asked why the Emperor had given him no assignment, and Malcador told him to do what he wished.
• Leman Russ resolved to lead the Space Wolves in an assassination attempt against Horus, driven by his guilt over the war with Magnus.
• Lox considered Russ’s plan unlikely to succeed against Horus’s Chaos-empowered strength and worried that the Wolf Lord would die in vain.

Malcador warned the primarchs that the Emperor was struggling to repair the Webway and entrusted the Solar System’s defense to them. The Lion won command over Dorn and planned an offensive beyond the Solar System, while Malcador kept Lox behind after the meeting.

• Malcador told the primarchs that the Emperor’s psychic power had grown unstable and urged them to keep the war away from the Webway.
• The Lion argued that the assembled loyalist Legions should attack before Horus’s forces reached full strength, while Dorn warned that defeat would leave Terra exposed.
• Malcador called for the primarchs to choose between the two strategies, and Jaghatai Khan and Leman Russ supported the Lion.
• Sanguinius supported Dorn, but the Lion received the majority, and Dorn accepted his command.
• The primarchs ended the meeting as the Lion prepared to reorganize the Solar System’s defenses and launch forces beyond it; Malcador told Lox to stay.

Malcador revealed that he knew Lox’s past and brought him from the Phalanx to Terra using psychic power. He told Lox that the Emperor wished to see him.

• After the other primarchs and Space Marines departed, Malcador kept Lox behind with Rogal Dorn.
• Malcador said he knew about Lox’s past, including Macragge, Isstvan, and the Future Reinforcement Project.
• Malcador revealed that he was a Perpetual born 6,700 years ago and gave Lox his true name, Bram al-Khadour.
• Malcador led Lox and Rogal Dorn through a psychic passage from the Phalanx to Terra, where Lox recognized Earth as his home.
• Malcador told Lox that the Emperor wished to see him.

Macador took Lox to meet the Emperor and showed him the Sigillites’ hidden collection in the Imperial Palace. Lox recognized the Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, while Macador revealed that he had dissolved the Sigillites and was their last member.

• Macador told Lox that the Emperor wanted to see him and explained the Sigillites’ role in preserving human history and technology.
• Lox learned that the Sigillites had connections to the Chief, and Macador said he had dissolved the organization because it had become corrupt.
• Macador led Lox through the Imperial Palace to a secret collection room built over an ancient Sigillite base.
• Lox recognized the Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and marveled that the artworks had survived for tens of thousands of years.
• Macador said he had protected the paintings from people who tried to steal them during the Age of Strife.

Malcador took Lox and Rogal Dorn through the Imperial Palace toward the Emperor, showing them its relics and the Astronomican. Custodians escorted them to the throne room, where they were about to meet the Emperor.

• Malcador altered the flow of time as he guided Lox and Rogal Dorn through the Palace in an anti-gravity skimmer.
• Malcador showed Lox historical relics, including Voyager 2, and said a Necron overlord had taken Voyager 1.
• Lox and his companions approached the Astronomican, and Malcador recalled its construction and humanity’s rise after the Long Night.
• The group left their skimmer and encountered the Emperor’s Custodians, who escorted them through the Palace.
• Lox, Malcador, and Rogal Dorn reached the throne room where the Emperor resided.

Malcador led Lox and Dorn through the Throne Room and explained how its vast machinery supported the Golden Throne, the artificial Webway project, and Terra’s defenses. Lox saw the Emperor’s immense, failing machine and learned that the Emperor sat above it, enduring endless torment to preserve humanity.

• The Custodians escorted Lox, Malcador, and Dorn into the Throne Room, where Lox was overwhelmed by its vast machinery and dense mist.
• Malcador explained that the Throne Room and Imperial Palace formed part of the Golden Throne, and that its machines maintained the Throne, supported the artificial Webway, and powered Terra’s defenses.
• Lox saw the several-kilometer-tall Golden Throne and learned that the Emperor’s loyal Tech-Priests worked there apart from Mars’s divided Adeptus Mechanicus.
• Malcador told Lox that the Golden Throne connected to the Aeldari Webway and that its damage let daemons attack Terra.
• Lox asked whether the Emperor sat above the machine, and Malcador confirmed that the Emperor endured unimaginable torment to secure humanity’s survival.

Lox witnessed a thousand Psykers being sacrificed to sustain the Golden Throne and learned from Malcador and Dorn why the Imperium accepted such brutal costs. With the Emperor’s summons still unexplained, Lox began climbing the Golden Throne’s stairs to meet him.

• Malcador described how the Emperor and his forces fought the daemons in the Webway and withdrew behind a psychic barrier.
• Karia Caslyn led the Sisters of Silence and Black Ship League in bringing more than a thousand Psykers into the throne room.
• Tech-priests connected the Psykers to the Golden Throne, which drained their psychic power, consciousness, and souls to sustain the Emperor.
• Lox recoiled at the sacrifice, while Malcador called it necessary and Dorn explained that even a shameful victory was preferable to defeat.
• Lox asked how to meet the Emperor, and Malcador told him to climb the Golden Throne’s stairs.
• Lox gathered his courage and stepped onto the stairs.

Lox reached the Emperor on the Golden Throne and discovered that he was Neoth, a figure from Lox’s memories. Below, Decimus blocked Rogal Dorn from following, while Malcador hoped the meeting would go well.

• Lox climbed the Golden Throne’s steps alone, sensing the Emperor’s suffering and the terrible cost of sustaining humanity’s Webway.
• Lox reached the throne and saw the Emperor reveal his face, then recognized him as Neoth and reacted with shock.
• Decimus stopped Rogal Dorn from approaching the throne and warned him to leave, blaming the Primarchs for the Imperium’s crisis.
• Malcador invoked the Emperor’s will and told Decimus that they would wait for Lox to return.
• Malcador worried that conflict between the Custodes and Primarchs could erupt if he and the Emperor were gone.