Recaps

Han Mingxuan kept the Emperor from interfering as the Night Haunter’s soul was given a body, then spent a year helping Curze prepare to meet his brother. The Night Haunter awoke and joined the Shadowbat Guard as the family set off for Nostramo, while the Emperor approved of the man he saw beneath the robe.

• Han Mingxuan refused to let the Emperor examine the Night Haunter’s soul and insisted on staying with Curze during the Night Haunter’s transition.
• Han Mingxuan sent the Emperor back to Ullanor, and he and Curze disappeared for a year while Curze reassured the Thirteen through the Evernight Network.
• The Night Haunter awoke in a body and greeted the Emperor and Curze, who welcomed him despite finding his resemblance unsettling.
• Han Mingxuan assigned the Night Haunter to the Shadowbat Guard, and the group prepared to return to Nostramo.
• The Emperor saw the Night Haunter beneath his black robe, sensed his calm and rational soul, and told him he was proud of him.

After returning to Nostramo, Curze confronted the Night Haunter in a Dimensional Space and beat him for causing Han Mingxuan to grow white hairs. The brothers reconciled enough to leave together and go see their father, while keeping the Night Haunter’s return secret from the Imperium.

• The Night Haunter recalled how the Emperor had captured his soul and tormented him with repeated confessions and regrets.
• Han Mingxuan planned to contact Perturabo and considered bringing the IV Legion to Nostramo to help with its defenses.
• Curze took the Night Haunter into a Dimensional Space and accused him of making their father grow three white hairs during the year he cared for him.
• Curze used his power to equalize their strength and thoroughly beat the Night Haunter, who blamed himself for their father’s white hairs.
• The Night Haunter asked whether he should have returned, and Curze told him that such thoughts would waste everything their father had taught him.
• Curze and the Night Haunter left the Dimensional Space to visit their father, keeping their existence together hidden from everyone else.

The Emperor recalled the Seventh Legion to Terra, while Curze requested Perturabo and the IV Legion to help build Nostramo’s defenses. Perturabo recognized Defensio’s talent and began showing him how to apply his psychic ability, leaving Dorn worried that the Iron Warriors would recruit him.

• The Emperor ordered the Seventh Legion to return to Terra, and Curze requested the IV Legion’s help defending Nostramo.
• Perturabo examined Defensio’s holographic plans, found flaws in the defenses, and praised Defensio’s skill.
• Dorn learned that Perturabo and Defensio were working together and sent Sigismund to Nostramo to intervene.
• Perturabo asked about Defensio’s ability to reinforce materials and angrily criticized the Seventh Legion for failing to develop it.
• Perturabo demonstrated how Defensio’s power could improve a composite material’s strength by ten percent.

Perturabo and Defensio discovered that a Psychic Power Retainer could preserve and amplify Defensio’s Psychic Power, allowing him to strengthen materials. With Trazyn, Tu'en, and Madian’s help, they created a production process that yielded materials forty percent stronger, leaving them ready to expand production.

• Perturabo explained that Defensio’s Psychic Power briefly lingered in objects and that a Psychic Power Retainer could collect and amplify it.
• Defensio summoned Madian, Tu'en, and Trazyn, then proposed using a reversed Miniature Blackstone Field and amplified Psychic Power to create a powerful Prototype Retainer.
• Tu'en amplified Perturabo’s Psychic Power, Perturabo reversed the Miniature Blackstone Field’s effect, and Defensio strengthened the Prototype Retainer.
• Perturabo used the Prototype to produce base materials that were forty percent stronger, then built machinery to mass-produce strengthened Psychic Power Retainers.
• Perturabo and Defensio began planning to expand material production, while Tu'en complained that Defensio was working him too hard.

Defensio showed Sigismund the improved, automatically produced Psychic Power Retainers and then took him to buy a home and tour Nostramo. When Sigismund raised the rivalry between the Seventh Legion and the IV Legion, Defensio reminded him that he belonged to the Eighth Legion.

• Defensio welcomed Sigismund and showed him the material enhancement results, which increased strength by 40% and could be produced automatically.
• The Lord of Iron asked Sigismund to keep their work secret from Dorn and Lion El'Jonson, but news of it spread across Terra and reached Dorn.
• Defensio invited Sigismund to tour Nostramo and helped him buy a home through Slazov's internal channel discount.
• Defensio took Sigismund toward the Saviour Building's Food Street, and Sigismund admitted he had come on a mission from his father.
• Defensio challenged Sigismund's assumption that their legion rivalry involved him and clarified that he belonged to the Eighth Legion.

Defensio showed Sigismund the carefree life of the Eighth Legion on Nostramo, but Sigismund soon asked Curze for work and then sought a sparring match to test his strength. Sevatar arranged for Impetus to fight him at a training ground in a dimensional space.

• Defensio took Sigismund to Food Street, where Trazyn treated them to snacks.
• Sigismund struggled to accept the Eighth Legion’s relaxed approach to duty and leisure.
• Sigismund asked Curze to give him work, but Curze sent Sevatar to show him around instead.
• Sevatar took Sigismund to a training ground in a dimensional space after Sigismund asked to test the gap between them.
• Sevatar called Impetus to spar with Sigismund and told him to hold back.

Sigismund challenged Impetus to a spar and was repeatedly outmatched in both unarmed combat and with weapons. Impetus attributed his strength to Adaptive Training, explaining that his group had adapted to the Primarch.

• Impetus agreed to spar with Sigismund and proposed testing their skills across unarmed combat and different weapons.
• Impetus defeated Sigismund's defenses with a knife-hand strike again and again during half an hour of unarmed sparring.
• Sigismund insisted on continuing with weapons, and Impetus overwhelmed him with powerful, rapid attacks using short swords.
• Impetus explained that Adaptive Training had made his group strong and said they had adapted to the Primarch.

Sigismund studied the Thirteen-Person Group’s training recordings and learned that the Evernight Legion had no fixed strength benchmark, with even its reservists including formidable fighters. He ended the conversation stunned by the Legion’s scale and the possibility that anyone on Nostramo could be a reservist.

• Impetus showed Sigismund recordings of the Thirteen-Person Group training, and Sigismund spent half a month watching them before concluding he would certainly die fighting them.
• Defensio told Sigismund that neither the Thirteen-Person Group nor Big Brother’s Retinue Army had a specific strength standard, and that Old Kamon’s personal guard was especially powerful.
• Defensio said Sigismund’s strength matched Slazov’s, a first-class Reserve Regiment Commander, Two-Time Distinguished Sergeant, and Myriarch of the Evernight Judges Legion.
• Sigismund learned that Slazov had once flipped land in Old Nostramo and now sold houses, and Defensio said they could talk during Slazov’s batch’s career-transition training.
• Defensio explained that the Legion had only five thousand members and had begun career-transition training for excess reservists, leaving Sigismund stunned at how many people on Nostramo might be reservists.

Sigismund sought Slazov’s help to become stronger, but learned that Slazov’s real estate work had sharpened his ability to process information and made him even more capable as a fighter. Slazov told Sigismund he could become a real estate agent on Barbarus after earning a degree and the proper licenses, then took him to enroll.

• Sigismund waited two days to speak with Slazov, then sparred with him and regained confidence until Slazov fought him to a draw.
• Sigismund asked why Slazov had been called to help Malcador with anti-corruption work, and Slazov explained how the Father of Night had chosen him.
• Slazov told Sigismund that his work handling property purchases and settlements across Nostramo had strengthened his information-processing ability.
• Sigismund decided to become a real estate agent, but Slazov explained that outsiders could not sell property on Nostramo and suggested Barbarus instead.
• Slazov told Sigismund to earn a bachelor's degree from the Nostramo Public University of Judiciary and obtain the relevant licenses, then took him to the Saviour Building to enroll.

Sigismund completed his studies on Nostramo and spent three more years working his way up to general manager of a real estate company on Barbarus, leaving Dorn without his prized warrior. Dorn finally tracked him down and confronted him at work.

• Sigismund finished three years of adult education on Nostramo, then went to Barbarus to work in real estate sales.
• After three years of unanswered appeals, Dorn traveled to Nostramo to find Curze and bring Sigismund back to the Legion.
• Han Mingxuan told Dorn that Curze was away and Sigismund had become the manager of Barbarus’s largest real estate sales center.
• Dorn found Sigismund at the company negotiating a property sale and watched him bargain like a seasoned salesman.
• Sigismund initially ignored Dorn, then recognized his father’s voice and agreed that they needed to talk.

Sigismund told Dorn that Nostramo’s retired reservists and widespread access to replica power armour made the planet capable of mobilizing billions for war. He also revealed that he ranked second among the Evernight Legion Reserves, behind Nova Spes.

• Sigismund told Dorn he had become a lawyer on Nostramo and a successful real estate salesman on Barbarus, and ranked second in the Evernight Legion Reserves.
• Sigismund recounted losing to Assault Master Impetus and later drawing with Slazov, a former reservist who had left military service for civilian work.
• Sigismund explained that former reservists made up a fifth of Nostramo’s population and that the planet’s eight billion people were heavily armed with replica Eighth Legion power armour.
• Dorn calculated that Nostramo could mobilize three billion people and learned that Nova Spes ranked ahead of Sigismund in the reserves.

Dorn brought Sigismund back to Terra after affirming his strength and hearing what Nostramo had meant to him. Meanwhile, Xiulikas sent Luis Dante back toward his original fate, and Dante awoke in Imperium Nihilus as the Will of Earth watched over another figure on a black beach.

• Sigismund told Dorn that he had been named first reserve for the Evernight Legion, and Dorn praised him before inviting him back to the Seventh Legion.
• Dorn and Sigismund left Nostramo for Terra, reflecting on the future humanity could achieve across the Imperium.
• Xiulikas activated an array that sent Luis Dante away after Dante said goodbye to the dream of the Great Crusade.
• A golden figure revealed herself as the Will of Earth and visited a half-buried person she called Xiao Han on a black beach.
• Dante regained consciousness in Imperium Nihilus, where an Apothecary announced that the Chapter Master had awakened.

Dante awoke young with golden hair, causing the Blood Angels to believe Father had manifested. After finding objects from his apparent vision and discovering a Blue-Gold Barrier on his soul, he told the Grand Master of the Librarians that he had traveled back to the Great Crusade.

• Dante saw his youthful, golden-haired reflection, and the Apothecary and Blood Angels aboard the Flagship knelt, believing Father had manifested.
• Dante sent the Blood Angels back to their Battle Stations and found books and belongings from his vision, including Father's white feathered crest.
• Dante ordered the Apothecary and the Grand Master of the Librarians to examine his soul, and they found a Blue-Gold Barrier on it.
• Dante showed the Grand Master a book bearing the name Sanguinius in ancient Terran Script and said he had traveled back to the era of the Great Crusade while unconscious.

Dante told the Grand Master of the Librarians that his soul had returned to the Great Crusade and that he had fought beside the Emperor and loyal Primarchs. After the God-Emperor forbade them from revealing the dream until the right moment, Dante showed the Grand Master the relics he had brought back, and a bookshelf moved as they left the repository.

• Dante told the Grand Master that he had returned to the Great Crusade and witnessed the Primarchs fighting for humanity, though the Grand Master suspected a Warp plot.
• Dante showed the white laurel wreath, and the Grand Master experienced visions of the Emperor, the loyal Primarchs, and a hazy mortal figure.
• Dante revealed that the Eighth Legion had been called the Midnight Reapers and that the mortal had transformed Nostramo, but he could not speak the mortal's name.
• The God-Emperor spoke through Dante, ordering them to keep his experiences secret until the right moment, and both men passed out.
• Dante and the Grand Master went to the relic repository, where Dante displayed items from his dream, including the Evernight Code and models from the Evernight Legion.
• The white laurel wreath settled on Dante's head, and a bookshelf moved as the two men stepped outside.

Han Mingxuan visited Tarasha Euten, who urged him to undergo life-extension treatment because of his importance to the Imperium. He later agreed with Jia that he would have the surgery when the time came, but not yet.

• The Literary Pivot of Splendid Chapters and the Evernight Code opened to blank first pages, and the Chapter Master and Grand Master of Librarians closed the repository door.
• Han Mingxuan met Tarasha Euten on Macragge, where she urged him to undergo Life-Extension Surgery for the Imperium’s sake.
• Han Mingxuan explained that the Primarchs needed to experience parting and death, and that his own eventual death would teach them that lesson.
• Han Mingxuan gave Tarasha Euten a protective charm and asked her to stay safe, then spoke with her about family and marriage.
• After returning to Nostramo, Han Mingxuan told Jia he would undergo Life-Extension Surgery when the time came, but not yet.

Han Mingxuan set the appointment of a Warmaster in motion, asking Talos to spread the news and Oll Persson to present the original Warmaster’s seal. On the Ullanor front, Lion El'Jonson and Horus Lupercal confirmed the appointment was imminent and recognized that the decision lay beyond the two of them.

• Han Mingxuan asked Talos about the Ullanor Crusade and instructed him to spread news that a Warmaster would be appointed.
• Han Mingxuan asked Oll Persson to step forward in the appointment, and Oll Persson gave him the original Warmaster’s seal, carved from an eagle’s leg bone.
• Oll Persson urged Xiulikas to join the coming events, but Xiulikas refused to offer guidance and warned through his words that humanity’s fate would be disastrous.
• News of the appointment reached Lion El'Jonson and Horus Lupercal on Ullanor, and Lion ordered Horus to come speak with him.
• Horus told Lion he had confirmed the news with Impetus and said the appointment was the Emperor’s wish; Lion concluded that neither of them could settle the matter.

Lion El'Jonson and Horus convened the Primarchs to discuss the hidden purpose behind the Warmaster title, and Alpharius warned that the role foretold betrayal between brothers. The Primarchs concluded that Horus was likely the Emperor’s choice, but Perturabo and Curze argued that the warning’s source—Uncle, not the Emperor—could change what it meant.

• Lion El'Jonson told Horus that the First Warmaster had been a Perpetual, but that nothing else about him could be discovered.
• Lion El'Jonson and Horus contacted the other Primarchs, and Alpharius warned them that a Warmaster of humanity meant inevitable betrayal between brothers.
• Mortarion reminded the Primarchs of what Uncle had told him about their origins and their mother, then called their father a liar.
• Magnus and Curze reasoned that the Emperor had already chosen Horus as Warmaster, while the Primarchs recognized that this would put them in a dilemma.
• Perturabo argued that the warning had come from Uncle rather than the Emperor, and Curze agreed before Lion El'Jonson urged him to explain further.

Curze persuaded the Primarchs to share the burden and fate of the Warmaster rather than let the choice divide them, then returned to Nostramo and gave Nova leave to visit home. He went to meet Xiulikas at the Sleepless Night Tavern, where Xiulikas complained that Nova had already disrupted his drinking.

• Curze proposed that the Primarchs share the duties and fate of the Warmaster through an ancient pact, preventing the brothers from turning against one another.
• Lion El'Jonson asked Curze why he had devised the plan, and Curze explained that he could not stand by while brothers fought; Vulkan said Curze's thinking resembled their Uncle's.
• Curze volunteered to find a pact through the Perpetuals on Nostramo, and Lion El'Jonson and the other Primarchs joined fists and affirmed that they were brothers.
• Curze returned to Nostramo and granted Nova leave to visit home after seeing how hard he had pushed himself in the Eighth Legion.
• Curze went to the Sleepless Night Tavern to meet Xiulikas, who arrived and said Nova had barely returned before interfering with his drinking.

Curze visited Xiulikas to collect rent, revealing that he wanted the ancient coins Xiulikas had been given. Xiulikas recognized Curze’s dangerous fate and warned him about the darkness ahead, while Curze and the Night Haunter prepared to face the consequences of their plan.

• Curze confronted Xiulikas at a bar and insisted that he owed rent despite owning his home.
• Curze followed Xiulikas home, threatened to torture him, and a second, colder voice matching Curze’s appeared behind Xiulikas.
• Xiulikas handed Curze eighteen ancient coins and warned him that humanity’s fate was stirring toward darkness.
• Xiulikas told Curze to remember the Father of Night’s teachings before Curze left.
• Curze returned to his office and confirmed with the Night Haunter that Xiulikas was asleep and had not tried anything.
• Curze dismissed the backlash from the Warmaster’s fate unless the Emperor had betrayed the Imperium.

Eldrad Ulthran foresaw the Aeldari’s annihilation and decided to seek out the Father of Night, whom prophecy linked to both hope and despair. After the Emperor refused to arrange a meeting, Eldrad traveled to Nostramo, where Xarathi intercepted him and ordered him to meet Mr. Han.

• Eldrad Ulthran announced that his vision foretold the Aeldari’s utter annihilation, and said he needed to meet the Father of Night.
• The Aeldari leaders considered the danger but agreed that Eldrad should approach the entity himself.
• Eldrad reached the Imperium, but the Emperor refused to introduce him to the Father of Night and told him to go to Nostramo.
• As Eldrad neared the Peaceful Star System, his soul warned him of extreme danger, and he tried to turn back.
• Xarathi appeared before Eldrad, dismissed his claim that he was merely passing through, and ordered him to enter the system and meet Mr. Han.

Han Mingxuan received Urien Rakarth, who had come seeking help for the Drukhari, while Xarathi and Slaanesh arrived at his home. Slaanesh warned Han Mingxuan that humanity’s fate was stirring and that she had come to protect him, but he insisted he still had things he needed to do.

• Madian told Han Mingxuan that Urien Rakarth had been captured by his guards after arriving on Nostramo, with Xarathi helping to catch him.
• Han Mingxuan asked Xarathi to explain her arrival, and she said her master had sent her while she was getting ready to visit in person.
• Han Mingxuan invited Urien to sit and talk, then joked about Drukhari wanting to capture and dissect him, prompting Urien to kneel and beg him to stop.
• Slaanesh arrived and sat beside Han Mingxuan, while Urien realized she was the master Xarathi had mentioned.
• Slaanesh told Han Mingxuan she had come to protect him because humanity’s fate was stirring, but Han Mingxuan said he still had things he had to do.

Han Mingxuan discussed fate and Fulgrim’s future with Slaanesh, then agreed with the Emperor to send Fulgrim against the Laer civilization. Eldrad and Urien left after Slaanesh spared them, believing the Aeldari’s remaining hope rested with the Prince of Pleasure.

• Slaanesh visited Han Mingxuan because she had grown uneasy about an approaching fate, and he told her that what must happen would happen.
• Eldrad arrived seeking help for the Aeldari, but he and Urien fled after Slaanesh agreed to spare them.
• Slaanesh offered to guide Fulgrim and awaken his Warp Essence, beginning with the Laer civilization, and Han Mingxuan agreed to let her proceed.
• Han Mingxuan contacted the Emperor, who agreed that Fulgrim should attack the Laer civilization while they watched events unfold.
• Outside the Peaceful Star System, Urien and Eldrad concluded that they had seen the same prophecy and that the Aeldari’s sliver of hope lay with the Prince of Pleasure.

Eldrad and Urien decided to prepare a wedding venue for Slaanesh and Han Mingxuan as a gesture of goodwill, while Slaanesh delighted in Han Mingxuan’s praise. Meanwhile, Fulgrim led the Third Legion toward the Laer civilization and chose its Nostramo-descended members to spearhead the coming battle.

• Eldrad convinced Urien that preparing a wedding venue could help them gain favor with Slaanesh, and Urien agreed to the gamble.
• Slaanesh told Xarathi to restrain her followers, then showed Han Mingxuan a bridal-looking appearance she expected to have after fusing with positive authorities.
• The Emperor sent the Third Legion to confront the Laer civilization, and Fulgrim dismissed the aliens’ idea of perfection after seeing their images.
• Fulgrim ordered Kaisoron to have Akurduana study anthropology, then told him the Legion’s Nostramo-descended members would lead the attack.
• The Nostramo-descended Legionaries celebrated their chance to fight at the front instead of relying on veterans’ leftovers.

Fulgrim’s Nostramo-descended recruits eagerly requested Exterminatus weapons to attack the Laer, prompting him to let Pulchri lead their campaign. As the first strike began, Fulgrim inspected their supplies and the chapter revealed that Legion integration was already underway through the Warrior Lodges.

• Kaisoron overheard the recruits’ excitement about leading the attack, and Fulgrim arrived to encourage them.
• Pulchri asked Fulgrim for permission to use Exterminatus weapons, then proposed using Micro-Exterminatus instead; Fulgrim authorized his plan.
• When a Laer envoy arrived to negotiate, Pulchri ordered him killed and instructed the recruits to fire their full Micro-Exterminatus quota.
• Pulchri assigned First Company to sabotage key facilities and planetary shield generators, then ordered Second Company to follow with the remaining strikes and ground assault.
• Fulgrim checked the recruits’ supplies, learned Lucius had approved their request for instant black tea, and ordered follow-up forces to move in after the first wave.
• The Legions had begun integrating through the Warrior Lodges as they prepared for the coming appointment of the Warmaster.

The Third Legion devastated the Laer civilization with a week of Micro-Exterminatus bombardment before the Nostramo-descended recruits led a brutal ground assault. After the fighting, Fulgrim found the recruits drinking tea on the scorched battlefield and eventually joined them.

• The Third Legion’s attackers assassinated Laer leaders, then bombarded the planet and its fleet with overwhelming firepower for a week.
• The Nostramo-descended recruits exhausted their Micro-Exterminatus weapons, landed with Battle Transport Aircraft and Thunderhawk Gunships, and massacred the weakened Laer defenders.
• Fulgrim arrived on the battlefield and found the recruits resting with tea and military chess amid the wreckage.
• Kaisoron accepted a cup of black tea, and Pulchri offered Fulgrim tea with milk and sugar.
• Fulgrim asked for a cup with fresh milk.