Recaps

Sanguinius awakened and exposed Madai’s deception, forcing him and Lox to escape the Warp illusion. As they regrouped with Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson, a daemon fleet emerged in orbit, including the corrupted Iron Truth, leaving the expeditionary fleet on the brink of battle.

• Sanguinius’s awakening destabilized Madai’s illusion, and Sanguinius, Lox, and the others fought their way toward the portal.
• Guilliman demanded proof that Lox was himself, and Lox revealed Guilliman’s secret wish to become a farmer.
• Lox told Guilliman that a Greater Daemon was behind the scheme and that Sanguinius was still fighting it inside the portal.
• A Red Alert detected a powerful Warp presence in orbit, and an unfamiliar daemon fleet emerged near the skull planet.
• Iron Hands veterans recognized the corrupted Iron Truth among the enemy ships, and Iron Father Crux ordered its nature analyzed.
• The daemon fleet advanced toward the expeditionary fleet, preparing to begin a naval battle.

The expeditionary fleet confronted the daemon warships near the Skull Planet, with Lion El'Jonson's New Caliban leading the attack. The New Caliban and its allies annihilated the enemy fleet, including the corrupted Iron Truth, ending the void battle.

• Lox realized that the plan to make Sanguinius fall had failed and that the enemy intended to trap the expeditionary fleet by force.
• The commanders consolidated the fleet, and the New Caliban led the warships into position using the Blackstone Array and automated systems.
• Gantula Noyan Khan and the White Scars accelerated the New Caliban to extreme speed and unleashed its guns, lances, and torpedoes against the daemon fleet.
• The three Gloriana-class Battleships supported the New Caliban with nuclear warheads as the daemon vessels were destroyed.
• The New Caliban fired its planet-killer cannon into the corrupted Iron Truth, destroying its core and purifying the Warp-tainted warships.

The Four Gods unleashed daemons across Davin after Sanguinius was delayed by the Greater Daemon Mardel. Guilliman and Lion led the Loyalists’ prepared forces into battle, ending with the Space Marines vowing to make gods and daemons bleed on the world where Horus fell.

• Marius Gage commanded Macragge's Honour as the Loyalist fleet battled daemon warships, while the Iron Truth repeatedly regenerated after being destroyed.
• Lox and Curze emerged from a portal without Sanguinius, and Lox learned that Mardel had delayed him.
• Lion ordered the Deathwing to assemble as daemons of all four Warp gods flooded Davin and attacked the Loyalists.
• Lion led the Space Marines through the daemon lines with Wolfblade as Blackstone bolts and Untouchable units weakened the daemons.
• Guilliman ordered the Space Marines to fight to the bitter end, and one hundred thousand Astartes shouted the Emperor's name beneath the collapsing temple.

A vast host of Chaos daemons attacked the human forces on Davine as Lox entered the battle inside Veronica and Konrad Curze fought on foot. Lox helped the Lion defeat a Brass Bull, then felt Khorne's power surge through Veronica before its Blackstone Array suppressed the influence.

• Countless daemons erupted from Davine and charged the human lines while the forces of the four Chaos Gods fought one another.
• Veronica dropped Curze at Lox's position, took Lox inside, and left Curze to fight without his armor or weapons.
• Curze stole lightning claws, killed Slaaneshi daemons, and made a cloak from one of their hides before charging into battle.
• The Lion battled a Tzeentchian daemon and then struggled to hold back a charging Brass Bull.
• Lox arrived in Veronica, struck the Brass Bull down, and beat it into the ground until it died.
• Khorne's power gave Veronica a brass-colored glow, but Veronica's Blackstone Array quickly suppressed it.

Lion, Guilliman, and Lox fought their way through the daemons, while Sanguinius battled Mardel inside the collapsing portal. Sanguinius killed the Greater Daemon and returned gravely wounded, burdened by the fate he believed awaited the Blood Angels.

• Lox used Veronica and Blackstone weapons to support Lion, Guilliman, and their forces as they fought through the battlefield.
• A Soul Grinder killed two Dark Angels veterans with its corrupted greatsword, and the Space Marines attacked it while Guilliman and Lion struck together to bring it down.
• Lox waited by the portal as Sanguinius fought Mardel inside, where the daemon warned that the Blood Angels would suffer the Red Thirst and Black Rage.
• Sanguinius accepted that his sons might perish under their curse, then killed Mardel with the Spear of Telesto despite being pierced in the chest.
• Sanguinius emerged gravely wounded, and Azkaellon saw pain and despair in his eyes as the Sanguinary Guard welcomed him back.

As Demael dragged Sanguinius toward the Warp, Sanguinius ordered the others to destroy Davin and end the Ruinstorm. Sanguinor took his place and vanished into the Warp with the daemon, leaving Sanguinius free as the evacuation began and Davin faced destruction.

• The wounded Sanguinius fought Demael again as Guilliman and the Lion tried to pull him free, while the daemon threatened his sons with the curse of his death.
• Sanguinius told Azkaellon and Lox to return to New Caliban and destroy Davin, explaining that the planet's destruction could collapse the Ruinstorm.
• Sanguinor appeared and offered to bear Sanguinius's fate, then stabbed Demael and was swallowed into the Warp with it.
• The daemons retreated as Davin's temple began collapsing, and Lox and Guilliman supported Sanguinius while the forces prepared to evacuate the planet.

The Lion ordered Davin destroyed after the evacuation, and the planet’s destruction weakened the Ruinstorm and ended the Iron Truth’s repeated attacks. The fleet saw the enemy vessel collapse into a singularity as its Warp power failed.

• The Lion and Guilliman completed the evacuation while Lox helped the wounded Sanguinius leave the collapsing Temple of Delphos.
• Konrad appeared and helped support Sanguinius after Azkaellon tried to keep him away.
• The Lion ordered the fleet to fire Exterminatus weapons and bombard Davin.
• The combined attack destroyed Davin and the Temple of Delphos, causing Sanguinius to see its possible futures fade.
• The Iron Truth shrieked, collapsed into a singularity, and vanished as the Ruinstorm weakened.

After Davin's destruction, the Ruinstorm began to dissipate, restoring starlight and revealing the Astronomican's light. As Guilliman and Lox returned to Macragge, the Five Hundred Worlds prepared to march toward Terra while Dantioch remained at Pharos.

• The Navigators aboard the New Caliban sighted the Astronomican, and Lox and the crews celebrated as the galaxy's stars reappeared.
• On Sotha, Dantioch and Pollux saw the Ruinstorm's final auroras fade, and Pollux urged Dantioch to accompany him to Terra.
• Dantioch refused to leave Pharos, explaining that his knowledge of the beacon made him more useful there, while he wondered whether its imprisoned C'tan shard could be controlled.
• Opheo petitioned Guilliman to let him join the campaign to Terra, while Ventanus also hoped to march with the primarch and Auguston celebrated with the Space Wolves on Macragge.
• Lox, Guilliman, and their companions returned to Macragge as Warp travel normalized, and the Five Hundred Worlds prepared to reinforce Terra.

The Lion, Guilliman, Sanguinius, and Ulthran discussed using the Tuchulcha Engine to return their forces to Terra and divided their roles in the war. The Lion and Sanguinius set out for Terra through the Webway while Guilliman took command of the remaining forces to attack the traitors from behind.

• The Tuchulcha Engine told Ulthran that it could send the group to the edge of the Solar System but warned that Terra’s defenses and Warp blockade made direct entry dangerous.
• Guilliman said one primarch should lead forces against the traitors’ rear, and the Lion and Sanguinius chose him for the task.
• The Lion and Sanguinius planned to travel to Terra through the Webway, leaving the Tuchulcha Engine with Guilliman and assigning him the Sunfire Titan Legion.
• The Lion told Guilliman to conceal the Second Empire’s existence, declaring that nothing had happened in the Eastern Fringe.

Lox and Guilliman returned to Macragge, where they prepared to divide their forces and head to Terra to support the war there. As Guilliman departed to gather the remaining forces, Lox assembled with Sanguinius, the Lion, and other warriors for the journey to Terra.

• Auguston received Guilliman's message announcing the primarchs' return and hurried to the orbital platform, eager to join the campaign to Terra.
• The New Caliban led the returning fleet through Macragge's defenses, and Lox told Guilliman he would travel to the Sol System with Sanguinius and the Lion.
• Lox and Guilliman took a commemorative photograph before Guilliman departed to gather forces for the journey to Terra.
• Lox learned that the New Caliban would undergo repairs at the Hera docks, while the Shattered Legions and other warriors assembled to return with Sanguinius and the Lion.
• Fafnir and the Space Wolves arrived freshly bathed and ready to fight, while Auguston and many Ultramarines joined the gathering force.
• Lox said goodbye to Guilliman and prepared to go to Terra.

Guilliman sent a large force through the Webway toward Terra, but the gate could carry only part of the Ultramarines fleet. As the fleet traveled through the Webway, Konrad resolved to face the Emperor and try to change his fate.

• Guilliman appointed Valentius Dolor to govern Macragge and the Five Hundred Worlds, then prepared to reinforce Terra with Orpheo, Auguston, and Titus Praetor.
• Uslan opened Macragge's Webway gate, allowing the Dark Angels and Blood Angels to enter before the Webway rejected most of the Ultramarines fleet.
• Hill reported that the Victory Laurel and a dozen smaller ships had brought 49,657 Ultramarines, more than twelve million Ultramar Auxilia, and the Sunfire Titan Legion through the gate.
• The fleet traveled through the Webway under the guidance of the Ulthwé Craftworld while the Lion and Sanguinius communicated aboard their flagships.
• Konrad told Lox that he feared facing the Emperor and the sons he had betrayed, but vowed to confront his fate and try to change it.

A Warp presence noticed the loyalist reinforcements traveling through the Webway, and Uslan sensed its terrifying gaze but concealed his fear from Lox. On Terra, Rogal Dorn assessed the Alpha Legion’s sabotage campaign and sent Archamus to investigate the communications fortress Hydra.

• A Chaos God noticed the hundred thousand reinforcements traveling through the Webway and invaded the breached space.
• Uslan felt an incomprehensible presence watching him, then told Lox that he was merely tired.
• Rogal Dorn reviewed the Alpha Legion’s attacks across the Solar System as Archamus reported sabotage and unrest.
• Archamus identified Hydra near Pluto as the likely enemy target and urged Dorn to investigate it.
• Dorn ordered Archamus to lead Huscarls to Hydra and assess the situation.

Rogal Dorn ordered the Phalanx to reinforce Hydra after an Alpha Legion fleet attacked Pluto, overwhelming the Imperial defenders. As Captain Vendral prepared to ram the enemy with the last surviving cruiser, a vast golden gate opened and an enormous black-and-gold warship began to emerge.

• Rogal Dorn received an urgent distress plea from Hydra and ordered the Phalanx to reinforce the fortress, leaving Sukasan in charge.
• The Alpha Legion's Gloriana-class Battleship Alpha launched a surprise attack that shattered Pluto's small Imperial fleet led by Sigismund.
• Alpha Legion Lernaean Terminators boarded the defenders' ships and infiltrated Hydra, killing its personnel and destroying its communications and defenses.
• Captain Vendral ordered the Spear of Vilia to overload its engines and charge the Alpha Legion fleet in a final assault.
• A golden gate opened beyond Pluto, and an immense black-and-gold warship began emerging as Vendral and his crew watched in shock.

The Spear of Vilia and the Alpha Legion watched as a colossal warship emerged from a gateway near Pluto, leaving both sides uncertain of its allegiance. Captain Vendral recognized the arriving vessels as loyalist reinforcements, including ships of the Dark Angels, Blood Angels, and Ultramarines.

• Tech-priests aboard the Spear of Vilia detected an unknown warship emerging from a gateway, and Captain Vendral learned it was already over 65 kilometers long.
• The Alpha Legion fleet turned more than a hundred warships toward the gateway while Vendral hoped the newcomer was loyalist reinforcements.
• The colossal black-and-gold ship emerged fully at over 110 kilometers, and Vendral recognized the Dark Angels and Lion El'Jonson.
• The Indomitable Truth and the Blood Angels' Red Tear followed the first ship into realspace.
• A cobalt-blue warship marked with an Omega symbol emerged at 120 kilometers, and Vendral ordered the Spear of Vilia to send intelligence to the Indomitable Truth and the Red Tear.

Captain Wenderal brought the Spear of Velia into the arriving loyalist fleet after receiving orders from the Invincible Reason. Lion, Lox, and Sanguinius trapped the Alpha Legion near Pluto, and Lion prepared to lead an assault on the planet.

• Wenderal ordered the Spear of Velia to shut down its weapons and rendezvous with the fleet from the Ultima Segmentum.
• Lox arrived in the Solar System aboard the Victory Laurel after Ulthran diverted the fleet around Enslavers in the Webway.
• Lion ordered the fleet to trap the Alpha Legion and prevent Alpharius from escaping while protecting loyalists and the astropathic station near Pluto.
• Lion announced that he would lead the Space Marines in a drop assault on Pluto.

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.