Chapter Summaries

The Emperor and Horus fought across the Warp and the timeline, using their past, their origins, and the betrayals of the Horus Heresy as weapons. Horus ultimately overpowered the Emperor and raised his weapons to execute him.

• The Emperor and Horus clashed in the Vengeful Spirit, unleashing power that threatened both the Warp and the material universe, while Lox resisted Slaanesh's attempt to tempt him.
• The Emperor trapped Horus in Cthonia and tried to exploit his past, but Horus showed no attachment and destroyed the world.
• Horus attacked key points in the Emperor's history, including humanity's birthplace and the Imperial Palace, while the Emperor restored them and confronted Horus with the betrayals at Isstvan III and Isstvan V.
• Horus accused the Emperor of creating the primarchs through a bargain at Molech and using them as weapons, then the two continued their battle across the timeline.
• Horus returned to the Warp and, empowered by the Chaos Gods, broke through the Emperor's attacks and transformations.
• Horus struck down the Emperor, shattered his armor, and raised the Worldbreaker and Talon of Horus to execute him.

Horus briefly broke free of Chaos after Loken stabbed him with the ritual dagger, and the Emperor killed him while holding him in a final embrace. With the Horus Heresy ended but humanity’s future uncertain, Lox prepared to depart.

• Horus believed he had killed the Emperor, then dismissed the Chaos Gods’ power and told Loken he would reshape the Imperium.
• The Emperor revealed that the slain figure had been Alpharius’s double, and the Chaos Gods restored enough power to Horus to keep him fighting.
• Oll Persson used the ritual dagger to breach Horus’s domain, while John used the Dark Tongue to separate the Emperor and Horus and buy Loken a chance to strike.
• The Emperor entered Loken’s body, and Loken stabbed Horus with the ritual dagger, severing Horus’s connection to the Chaos Gods and restoring his clarity.
• The Emperor held Horus and killed him with the dagger after Horus silently asked him to do so, then told his son that he forgave him.
• Lox spoke with the Emperor about humanity’s uncertain future and declared that he was leaving.

After killing Horus, the Emperor revealed that his wounds would force him into a long slumber on the Golden Throne to suppress the awakening Dark King. Before sleeping, he granted the loyal Primarchs kingdoms around their homeworlds to stabilize the Imperium, while Abaddon escaped toward the Warp to continue the war.

• The Emperor defeated Horus, and his surviving sons and loyal forces celebrated his victory as Abaddon lost hope and prepared to flee with Layak’s help.
• The Emperor showed his grievous wounds and explained that Horus’s power had damaged his essence, leaving him unable to prevent the Dark King from awakening without entering slumber on the Golden Throne.
• Lox teleported the Emperor and the others to Terra, where the Emperor ordered Malcador to activate the contingency plan and prepare him for the Golden Throne.
• The Emperor told the Primarchs that they would have to protect humanity in his absence and warned that their powerful realms could come into conflict with Terra and one another.
• The Emperor permitted the Primarchs to establish kingdoms around their homeworlds, with Terra remaining the Imperium’s core, and explained that the arrangement was meant to prevent humanity’s future fragmentation.

After the Emperor returned to the Golden Throne to contain the Dark King, Lox prepared to leave the Warhammer universe and seek allies and power across the multiverse. The primarchs and their followers offered companions and resources for his expedition, while they prepared to divide their forces and defend the Imperium.

• The Emperor assigned the primarchs responsibility for guarding and expanding the Imperium’s frontier sectors, and Dorn and Perturabo suspected that their opposing temporal flows were linked.
• The Emperor shared a cigarette with Oll Persson, thanked Malcador, and told him he was free to choose whether to govern or retire after the Emperor entered his slumber.
• Lox vowed to travel to other universes, and the Emperor climbed back onto the Golden Throne to suppress the Dark King while Magnus screamed as the Throne drained his psychic power.
• The primarchs left the Throne Room to restore the Imperium’s defenses and prepare their Legions to purge the remaining rebels and Warp daemons.
• Lion, Jaghatai, Russ, Dorn, and the other primarchs offered Lox Corswain, Qin Xin, Fafnir, Pollux, Sevatar, Azkaellon, Eannid Hill, and Janus, along with gene-seed and access to the Dark Angels’ vaults.
• Lox accepted the companions and support for his expedition, intending to seek allies and ways to save humanity beyond the universe.

Lox prepared to leave the Imperium and cross the Warp in search of another universe, entrusting Ganymede and the Iron Men to those who would remain behind. After nine months of travel through the Warp’s depths, the Emperor’s Compass stirred, suggesting he had found a passage between universes.

• Lox gathered five hundred veteran Astartes and visited Ganymede, where Arkhan Land and Belisarius Cawl gave him analyzed data, primarch genetic material, and Cawl’s AI clone.
• Lox took the Iron Man Veronica and said farewell to Adam, leaving him to protect humanity and discreetly expand the Iron Men, with the Five Hundred Worlds as a possible refuge.
• Lox boarded the Red Alert with his Astartes, Stone Men researchers, and preparations for the expedition, then departed Terra using the Emperor’s Compass.
• Malcador watched Lox leave and hoped his expedition would succeed, while the Emperor remained unresponsive on the Golden Throne.
• Lox guided the Red Alert deep into the Warp, where it traveled for nine months under the Emperor’s protection.
• The Emperor’s Compass stirred, and Lox realized he might have found a passage between universes.

Lox crossed the Well of Eternity aboard the Red Alert and arrived in a new universe whose Milky Way resembled his own but whose Warp was calm and uncorrupted. He began traveling toward Earth to confirm whether humanity existed there.

• Lox discovered that Kairos Fateweaver watched the Well of Eternity, then waited for Kairos to leave before piloting the Red Alert through it.
• As the Red Alert crossed universes, Lox's Omnissiah authority weakened to about half strength, and he glimpsed humans in the new universe.
• Lox emerged in an unfamiliar binary-star system, found that its star charts broadly matched the Milky Way, and ordered the Red Alert to travel to Earth.
• The Red Alert entered the new universe's Warp, where Lox found travel remarkably calm and safe.

After the Heresy, the loyalists cleansed the Solar System while the Emperor, Sanguinius, and Curze lay gravely wounded and Lox departed on a desperate mission beyond their universe. Guilliman arrived too late, learned what had happened, and was left to help rebuild the Imperium as its Primarchs prepared to return to their homeworlds.

• Adam led the Iron Men in crushing the traitors, while the Vengeful Spirit escaped the Solar System with Abaddon and other rebels aboard.
• Lion's forces cleansed Terra, Luna, and Mars, and Guilliman arrived with a vast fleet alongside Corax after the fighting had ended.
• Lion punched Guilliman and told him that the Emperor was on the Golden Throne, Sanguinius and Curze were near death, and Lox had left with Hill and other Astartes.
• Lion revealed that the Emperor had authorized Primarchs to establish autonomous kingdoms around their homeworlds, and Guilliman resolved to believe that he would see Lox again.
• Lion, Jaghatai Khan, and Russ planned to return to Caliban, Chogoris, and Fenris, while Guilliman learned that Mortarion and Perturabo were on Terra.
• Guilliman saw his sisters and younger brother in the Imperial Palace and screamed in shock.

Lox returned to the Solar System in the X-Men universe, found Earth in 1962, and established a hidden base inside Mars. After sending a disguised Iron Man to investigate Earth, he discovered that mutants and the X-Men existed in this reality, leaving him bewildered about where he had arrived.

• Lox observed that the local Warp was calm and unusually tolerant of psychic power, and considered whether spreading faith in the Omnissiah could restore his authority.
• The Red Alert emerged near Pluto, and Lox recognized the primitive Solar System and intercepted an early human message announcing Earth's location.
• Lox chose Mars as a concealed base site, tunneled into Olympus Mons, and began constructing facilities while leaving the planet's atmosphere and magnetic field untouched.
• Lox sent a disguised Iron Man to Earth and learned that it was 1962, during rising tensions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Lox searched human networks and found references to mutants, Charles Xavier, and the School for Gifted Youngsters, realizing he had landed in the world of X-Men.

Lox realized that mutant genetics could help advance his Space Marine enhancement program, then traveled to New York to meet Professor Charles Xavier and explore a peaceful way to work with mutants. The chapter ended with Charles welcoming Lox’s offer to tour the academy and provide funding.

• Lox considered studying the X-gene and incorporating mutant abilities into Space Marines or their power armor.
• Lox condemned Sebastian Shaw’s plan to provoke nuclear war and decided that he should be killed.
• Lox noted that Barabas Dantioch and the other thawed Astartes remained unconscious, then decided to contact Professor X and Magneto.
• Lox traveled by car to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and met Charles Xavier and Raven.
• Lox offered to tour the school and provide funding, and Charles eagerly welcomed his proposal.

Lox toured Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with Charles and Raven while considering how mutant X-genes could provide a safer way to harness Warp power. He revealed that dangerous mutants were already active in history and warned that Sebastian Shaw was working to start World War III, leaving Charles and Raven stunned.

• Lox concluded that mutant X-genes let mutants wield Warp energy more safely than conventional Psykers and decided mutants were valuable allies and subjects for study.
• Charles introduced Raven as Lox's guide, and the three toured the school while Charles tried to secure sponsorship and Raven grew jealous of their conversation.
• Lox praised mutants and discussed their place in society, winning Charles's trust and prompting him to wonder whether Lox represented a power across the Pacific.
• Lox told Charles and Raven about ancient mutant Apocalypse, whose ability to transfer his consciousness had kept him alive for millennia.
• Lox described James Howlett and Victor's healing and combat abilities, then revealed that Sebastian Shaw could absorb and release energy and planned to ignite World War III.

Lox joined Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and taught Charles to use the conflict surrounding Sebastian Shaw to expose hidden enemies and strengthen mutants’ position. Charles grew convinced that Lox should lead the school, while Lox continued developing his influence over the mutants.

• Charles secretly probed Lox’s mind, encountered its overwhelming power, and collapsed; Raven revived him, and Lox urged Charles to comfort her.
• Charles invited Lox to stay at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, where Lox took a teaching role and provided one hundred million dollars for the school.
• Lox explained that Shaw’s actions could draw out the powerful interests behind him, and Charles agreed to help monitor the plot in Las Vegas.
• Lox taught Charles that mutants needed to demonstrate their strength to gain recognition and leverage, reshaping Charles’s views on how mutants should pursue their rights.
• Lox explained that opposing Shaw could unite mutants who hated him, including Erik Lehnsherr, and Charles offered Lox his position as headmaster.

Lox persuaded Charles to make X Academy an influential organization for mutants and helped him negotiate with the CIA for official backing. Charles, Lox, and Raven arrived instantly at Director Oliver’s office to discuss cooperation against Sebastian Shaw.

• Charles accepted an honorary principal title and followed Lox’s advice to recruit more mutants and build X Academy’s influence.
• Lox warned Charles that the CIA had discovered clues about Shaw’s Hellfire Club and predicted an agent would visit.
• Moira MacTaggert sought Charles’s help, but Charles demanded to negotiate with Oliver instead of dealing with her superiors.
• The next day, Molly returned with word that Oliver had agreed to meet Charles and had been appointed director of a new Mutant Affairs Division.
• Raven startled Molly by copying her appearance, and Lox teleported the group to Oliver’s office.

Charles secured an agreement making him a special consultant to the CIA’s new mutation department and Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters a partner, then joined Oliver’s team in searching for Magneto and Shaw. The team found Shaw’s yacht, where Magneto attacked it with a massive steel chain.

• Lox teleported Charles, Raven, Moria, and himself to Virginia, where they met Director Oliver.
• Charles traded intelligence about Shaw for a CIA consulting role and partnership status for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.
• Lox showed Oliver a demonstration of Magneto’s potential, and Moria found Erik Lehnsherr’s trail in Argentina and toward a New York harbor.
• Lox teleported Oliver’s agents to the harbor, where Charles sensed Erik and Shaw aboard a nearby vessel.
• Shaw’s allies raised a tornado that overturned the Coast Guard boats, while Lox secretly kept the officers from drowning.
• Erik used magnetic force to haul up a huge steel chain and wrap it around Shaw’s yacht, stopping and damaging the ship.

Eric helped destroy Shaw’s yacht but nearly drowned before Charles rescued him, and Lox secretly collected Eric’s hair for genetic research on Mars. At the CIA’s mutation division, Eric joined Charles’s effort to hunt Shaw, while Lox identified the scientist Hank McCoy as a valuable recruit.

• Eric used his magnetic power to tear apart Xiao’s yacht, but Shaw escaped aboard a nuclear submarine that Lox secretly marked with a nascent Machine Spirit.
• Charles rescued Eric from the sea, and Lox gave him a thermal blanket while secretly sending a strand of Eric’s hair to the Mars Base laboratory.
• Cawl One and the Stone Men analyzed the genetic samples from Eric, Professor X, and Raven, but their efforts to decode the X-gene remained limited.
• Charles reassured Eric that the CIA’s mutation division was not arresting him and explained that they intended to stop Shaw, while Eric revealed the Hellfire Club’s powerful mutant allies.
• Oliver showed the group the division’s supersonic aircraft and introduced Hank McCoy, whom Lox recognized as a promising research recruit.

Lox joined Charles and the others in using Hank’s modified radar to locate mutants, then set out alone to recruit those with unusual potential. He secured Darwin’s loyalty and blood sample and headed to meet Wolverine Logan.

• Charles revealed Hank’s mutant nature, and Hank demonstrated his strength before introducing the psychic amplifier he had built.
• Hank’s machine greatly expanded Charles’s telepathy, allowing him to map mutants and identify several powerful ones, though he could not locate Shaw.
• Charles split the group to recruit mutants, while Lox took a map and vanished to pursue distant targets on his own.
• Lox found Aman driving a taxi, gave him a fortune, named him Darwin, and requested a blood sample that Darwin willingly provided.
• Lox set off with Darwin to meet his next target, Wolverine Logan.

Lox met Logan to collect a genetic sample, but a future version of Logan arrived and warned him about the disastrous future shaped by the Warp. The future Logan explained that humans and mutants had united against Lox, only to summon Warp beings they mistook for gods.

• Lox brought Darwin to a secluded bar, where he confronted Logan and forcibly took blood and hair samples.
• As Lox began erasing Logan’s memories, a future Logan entered his body and asked Lox to stop so they could talk.
• Future Logan told Lox that Earth had become a wasteland and described how Lox’s origins and plans had made him a feared public enemy.
• Logan explained that Lox’s pressure had driven humans and mutants to unite and accelerate their technology, eventually leading them to discover the Warp.
• Logan revealed that Omega-level mutants had contacted beings in the Warp, believing they could help defeat Lox, but had instead unleashed a terrible enemy.

Future Logan warned Lox that the Celestials’ Apostles would threaten humanity and mutants, then asked him to prevent his younger self from suffering the same tragic life. Lox recruited Darwin and transformed Logan into a Space Wolves Astartes, leaving him shocked as he woke from the operation.

• Future Logan told Lox that the Apostles of the Celestials had attacked mutants and that he wanted humanity’s forces united against them.
• Future Logan urged Lox to intervene in his past and disappeared as the 1962 Logan regained control of his body.
• Lox put Logan to sleep and took him to the Mars base, where Darwin chose to follow Lox.
• Lox oversaw Logan’s Astartes enhancement surgery, which implanted eighteen of the nineteen organs and a black carapace.
• Lox filled spaces in Logan’s bones with living adamantium that could form talons, then Logan woke and demanded to know what Lox had done to him.

Lox turned Logan into the first native Space Wolves warrior in his universe, and Logan accepted the mission to protect his world. After Logan joined the mutants at Xavier's School, Charles and Erik returned with news that Emma had appeared in the capital across the ocean.

• Logan woke after Lox's genetic augmentation, discovered his enhanced body and inherited a Wolf Lord's memories, and learned he had become a Space Wolves warrior.
• Lox showed Logan the sleeping Space Wolves, explained their mission to save other universes, and Logan pledged to protect his world.
• Lox equipped Logan with custom power armor and brought him to Xavier's School, where Logan intimidated the young mutants and began drilling them.
• Charles and Erik returned to find Logan training the recruits; Charles and Erik failed to affect Logan with their powers, and Logan warned them with his claws.
• Charles reported that Emma, the White Queen, had appeared in the capital across the ocean, making her the next target before Sebastian Shaw.

Lox, Charles, Erik, and Logan captured Emma, the White Queen, at a Union States military base and discovered that Shaw planned to trigger Yellowstone’s supervolcano. Lox dismissed Emma’s threats and took her back to X Academy, where he prepared to begin studying her mutant abilities.

• Lox chose Charles, Erik, and Logan to capture Emma, while Raven and Hank stayed at X Academy to train and guard the students.
• Charles teleported the group to a secret military base, where they evaded guards and found Emma manipulating a high-ranking official in a private villa.
• Logan seized Emma, and Erik threatened her with crushing metal until Charles entered her mind and learned that Shaw intended to trigger Yellowstone’s supervolcano.
• Emma explained Shaw’s plan to destroy the world and build a mutant homeland, but Lox refused to be intimidated and challenged her to detonate Yellowstone.
• Erik left to pursue Shaw, while Lox took Emma back to X Academy to study her X-gene; Charles erased the official’s consciousness before they departed.

Lothar brought Emma Frost to his Martian base and showed her how his researchers were extracting and replicating mutant abilities. After successfully giving a brain-dead experimental subject Emma’s diamond transformation, he left her confined in a comfortable room as a living genetic sample.

• Lothar took Logan and the captive Emma to the Martian underground base, where Emma was stunned by its advanced technology.
• Cawl and the Stone Men collected Emma’s blood and tissue, cataloguing her telepathy and diamond transformation alongside other mutant abilities.
• Lothar and the researchers used Emma’s X-gene serum to transform a brain-dead subject, successfully creating a living diamond body with weak psychic power.
• Lothar explained his plans to refine mutant abilities, develop enhanced Astartes and Iron Men, and dismissed Emma’s fear that he intended merely to rule the world.
• A Stone Man researcher confined Emma to a luxurious room in the biological laboratory, refusing her request to leave.