Recaps

Curze challenged Slaanesh’s hopes of winning Han Mingxuan’s affection, prompting her to accept that he did not share her intentions and to fuse with the rest of the Positive Authority. The God of War then visited Angron and offered him a proposal.

• Curze told Slaanesh that separating him from Han Mingxuan would not give her a chance with his father, and argued that Han was a mortal human who had treated her dealings with him as transactions.
• Slaanesh returned to her Palace and reflected that fusing with all of the Positive Authority would suppress her personal feelings for Han Mingxuan.
• Slaanesh decided to fuse with the other half of the Positive Authority so she could become a True God and bring positive influence to the universe.
• The God of War visited Angron aboard the World Eaters' flagship and explained that Angron’s history on Nuceria had helped him recover his Positive Authority.
• The God of War offered Angron a proposal, and Angron agreed to hear it.

Angron and the World Eaters agreed to wield the God of War’s positive authority, while Mortarion received Uncle’s Evernight Secret Edict directing him to cooperate with Grandfather. Grandfather then asked Mortarion to take up the authority of death and become the Lord of Death.

• The God of War told Angron that illusory fates were gathering into a terrifying enemy and asked him and the World Eaters to wield its positive authority; Angron agreed.
• Grandfather arrived aboard the Perseverance and sought Mortarion, but Mortarion paused their meeting to receive a message from Alpharius’s messenger.
• Mortarion read Uncle’s Evernight Secret Edict, which instructed him to work with Grandfather and tell Angron to work with the God of War.
• Mortarion returned to Grandfather and agreed to cooperate because he trusted Uncle’s judgment.
• Grandfather revealed the Red Spider Lily that Mr. Han had left him and asked Mortarion to take up the authority of death and become the Lord of Death.

Han Mingxuan set out for the 41st Millennium by walking through the eras of Warhammer 40K with the Will of Earth, witnessing the rise and tragedies of the Imperium. He chose to seek out the Lamenters rather than visit Dante again.

• Han Mingxuan asked the Will of Earth to let him choose where to arrive, and decided to walk across fate until he reached his destination.
• Han Mingxuan crossed Terra’s history, from the Unification Wars through the Great Crusade and the Siege of Terra, then watched events including Curze’s death.
• Han Mingxuan passed through the War of the Beast and the Age of Apostasy, seeing Vangorich, Koorland, Vandire, the Sisters of Battle, and a Living Saint.
• Han Mingxuan reached the 41st Millennium and told the Will of Earth he would not seek out Dante again.
• Han Mingxuan chose to go find the Lamenters and help them if he could.

Curze learned that the illusory fates had formed the Four-Armed Emperor near the Eye of Terror, bringing the Tyranids into the coming conflict, while Orks also surged onto the Great Crusade front. The Primarchs prepared the Peaceful Star System and arranged reinforcements as Magnus asked how to stop the apparition.

• Alpharius reported a four-armed figure resembling the Emperor near the Eye of Terror, and Curze identified it as the Four-Armed Emperor formed by the converging illusory fates.
• Curze warned the Silent King that Tyranids might join the threat, and the Silent King committed the Necrons to intercept them.
• Trazyn gave Sanguinius authority to activate the Peaceful Star System's war protocols, revealing its large Necron, Nostraman, and Legion forces.
• Lion El'Jonson reported that abnormal Orks led by dozens of Warbosses were attacking his front, and Curze arranged weapons and personnel from Aequus.
• Magnus asked how to make the Four-Armed Emperor disappear, and Mortarion said he and Angron would handle it.

The Primarchs organized reinforcements to confront the destructive fate, while the Emperor’s growing power stirred the Dark King and its phantom counterpart. The Black King unleashed a host of human and xenos forces, and Lion El'Jonson prepared the front lines to meet them.

• Mortarion, Angron, Lorgar, and the Khan committed forces to the fight, while Magnus and Malcador agreed that stopping the immediate threat came first.
• Aequus arrived with 130 Evernight Legion warriors and weapons for Lion El'Jonson, then helped Tu'en restore and coordinate the Evernight Network.
• Animus and Madian joined the Twelfth and XIV Legions; Madian insisted on fighting at the front, and Animus met Khârn and the God of War before the operation began.
• The Aeldari burning on Terra fed the Emperor’s power and revealed the Dark King’s nature, prompting the illusory Black King in the Eye of Terror to act.
• The Black King sent human legions and swarms of Tyranids, Genestealers, Orks, and other Abhumans toward the front, where Lion El'Jonson ordered blessed Exterminatus weapons deployed in batches.

Han Mingxuan destroyed an unstable rift in the 41st Millennium Warp with a War God Weapon, weakening the illusory fate attacking the 30k front lines. His brief appearance in the Klein bottle confirmed he was alive, though the Night Haunter still did not know where or when he was.

• Black spots spread across the Klein bottle as Xiulikas and Klein realized the connected fates had grown beyond their control.
• Han Mingxuan found an unstable rift in the 41st Millennium Warp and destroyed it and the nearby Daemons with a War God Weapon.
• A golden-red slash struck the Eye of Terror, weakening the illusory projection, while the Klein bottle showed Han Mingxuan wielding his weapon.
• Xiulikas confirmed that the image was Han Mingxuan, and Klein collapsed in tears as Malcador and the Night Haunter reacted to the news.
• The Khan and Angron watched footage of the slash, and the God of War identified Han Mingxuan as its source.

After learning that Han Mingxuan was alive in another Warp, the factions focused on defeating the Phantoms while the Necrons took control of the galactic war. The Silent King used the Celestial Orrery to destroy dozens of star systems, forcing Mortarion’s forces to withdraw and preserve their strength.

• Angron told Curze and the others that Han Mingxuan had launched an attack and was in a different Warp, and they agreed to defeat the Phantoms before searching for him.
• The Necrons joined the fighting in force, and the Silent King ordered Salas to activate the Celestial Orrery and send elite warriors against the Phantoms.
• Salas announced that the Necrontyr Dynasty would take control of the galactic battlefield, and the Celestial Orrery destroyed dozens of star systems near the Eye of Terror.
• Mortarion learned from Grandfather that the Necrons had used the Celestial Orrery and ordered the other forces to withdraw from the Eye of Terror combat zone.
• Curze asked Trazyn about the Silent King’s decree, and Trazyn said he would obey it because the Necrons needed to find out whether Han Mingxuan was safe.

The Necrons rejected Malcador’s request to delay their purge of worlds touched by illusory fate, leaving the Imperium scrambling to evacuate its people. Mortarion accepted the Death Power and prepared to guide the dead through reincarnation until the Necron war ended.

• Trazyn told Malcador that the Necrons would purge every place affected by illusory fate and rejected negotiations on behalf of the Triarch.
• Malcador ordered Valdor to take the Adeptus Custodes to the front lines, but Valdor refused until Horus reported that he had already departed to evacuate people.
• Valdor revealed that Endymion had left with Horus, and told him to accept his punishment when he returned.
• Grandfather gave Mortarion the Death Power and the Red Spider Lily, tasking him with guiding the souls of the dying into reincarnation until the Necrons’ war ended.
• Mortarion asked Curze and the Evernight Legion to help stabilize the Warp, and Curze agreed to help him.

Han Mingxuan arrived in the 41st Millennium and disguised himself as an Astra Militarum soldier named Neoth to join the Imperium without attracting the Inquisition. A Hospitaller brought him to Lamenters Chapter Master Malakim Phoros, where a notice about Chancellor Sinleech and his extraordinary power was discussed.

• Han Mingxuan recognized the Lamenters' armor and deduced that the Second War of Armageddon had already ended.
• Han Mingxuan transformed his armor and weapon into Astra Militarum equipment, then slipped into the regrouping soldiers and followed them to a field hospital.
• Han Mingxuan gave his name as Neoth, claimed he was a thirty-year-old sheep thief from Tenebor II, and was approached by Sister Miranda for verification.
• Sister Miranda escorted Han Mingxuan to a command post guarded by Ultramarines and introduced him to Lamenters Chapter Master Malakim Phoros.
• Sister Miranda asked Malakim Phoros about an Imperium-wide notice, and the conversation revealed that Chancellor Sinleech was a powerful Living Saint who had restored Imperial communications.

After Malakim recognized Han Mingxuan as the mysterious Father of Night, the Adeptus Custodes arrived to escort him. The chapter revealed that Sinleech’s rampage through the Warp had weakened the Warp Storms and forced many daemons into the Imperium’s Department of Internal Affairs.

• The new Chancellor’s reforms began after a visit to the Blood Angels, and secret orders sent a portrait and a legal question to senior Imperial leaders.
• Malakim questioned the disguised soldier Neoth, and Han Mingxuan correctly recited a line from the Evernight Code.
• Malakim recognized Han Mingxuan as the Father of Night and secretly reported his identity.
• The Adeptus Custodes arrived at Malakim’s command, saying the God-Emperor already knew the name Neoth and ordering Han Mingxuan’s escort.
• The story shifted to Terra, where Sinleech described beating the Warp gods and conscripting daemons into the Imperium Department of Internal Affairs.

Sinleech and the Emperor discussed Han Mingxuan’s arrival and the danger of Sinleech erasing Tzeentch, while the Emperor sent Trajann Valoris and Celestine to meet Han. Han Mingxuan’s attempt to remain unnoticed ended when the delegation arrived and the Hospitallers revealed they had recognized him as the Father of Night.

• Sinleech explained that he planned to take this world’s Authority over hope and miracles before returning to his own spacetime, and the Emperor worried that Sinleech would erase Tzeentch as a concept.
• The Emperor decided to ask Han Mingxuan about his plans and sent Trajann Valoris’s squad and Celestine to the Imperium Frontier.
• Han Mingxuan stayed in a tent with the Hospitallers, surrounded by Lamenters and Ultramarines, and tried not to ask about their classified guard duty.
• Trajann Valoris, Adeptus Custodes, Sisters of Silence, and Sisters of Battle arrived outside the tent and marched toward it.
• The delegation proclaimed Han Mingxuan the Father of Night, and the Hospitallers knelt and begged his forgiveness for deceiving him.

Han Mingxuan rejected the Emperor’s summons and drove Trajann Valoris and his companions into the Warp. He fed the depleted Lamenters and began planning to find them a place to settle, though their insistence on continuing their Penitent Crusade remained an obstacle.

• Han Mingxuan forgave the Hospitallers, who praised him and chanted the Lectitio Divinitatus.
• Han Mingxuan refused Trajann Valoris’s request to visit Terra and kicked him and his companions into the Warp.
• Sinleech mocked the Emperor, who looked toward Magnus, his returned son.
• Han Mingxuan gave the Lamenters thirty crates of fruit and told them to share it with their supporters.
• Han Mingxuan asked Malakim to stop calling him Father of Night and said he would find the Lamenters a place to settle.
• Han Mingxuan learned that the Lamenters still intended to continue their Penitent Crusade and called for Sister Miranda.

Han Mingxuan met up with Celestine and enlisted her help to end the Lamenters’ Penitent Crusade and restore their fortress-monastery. After Sinleech resolved the Chapter’s claims, Han Mingxuan sent Malakim to rebuild the Lamenters while he prepared to visit New Prospero.

• Han Mingxuan contacted Celestine through a blue screen of light and told an Ultramarines officer to leave Guilliman in the Stasis Field.
• Han Mingxuan and his companions left the Hive World, while the Ultramarines collected the belongings he had used as sacred relics.
• Han Mingxuan asked Celestine to advocate for the Lamenters and contacted Sinleech to settle their Penitent Crusade and related claims.
• Within nine days, Sinleech authorized the Lamenters’ pardon, returned their fortress-monastery, and granted them a Homeworld.
• Han Mingxuan told Malakim to rebuild the Lamenters and study the books he provided, then agreed to visit New Prospero.
• Celestine said she would follow Han Mingxuan, and he told her to reconsider her faith.

Han Mingxuan brought Celestine to New Prospero to meet Sinleech, where her attack on their guide exposed the limits of her faith and her understanding of the Warp. Sinleech revealed his true form as the Lord of Change, while Han Mingxuan claimed there was another Lord of Change on Terra, leaving Celestine struggling to comprehend the Imperium’s situation.

• Han Mingxuan led Celestine to New Prospero, the Daemon World, to meet the Chancellor.
• Celestine attacked their Department of Internal Affairs guide, but her psychic sword barely harmed him, and Han Mingxuan identified him as a Warp Daemon affected by Sinleech.
• Han Mingxuan told Celestine he was the Father of Night and that the Warp had five gods, not four.
• The guide brought Han Mingxuan and Celestine to Sinleech, who changed into his original form as the Lord of Change.
• Han Mingxuan said the Lord of Change on Terra was still handling paperwork, leaving Celestine to face the possibility that there were two Lords of Change.

Han Mingxuan learned that Sinleech had entered the Perpetuals’ plan as an extra variable and proposed a way to turn the Mystery Cult’s search against them. Sinleech began the next stage of his plan with the Emperor’s consent, though Han Mingxuan objected to the risk of sacrificing him.

• Sinleech explained that he had tricked The Accursed into letting him enter the plan, while events still led The Accursed to the throne.
• Sinleech revealed that the Mystery Cult wanted to use Han Mingxuan’s influence to establish Nostramo’s place in fate and merge it with a new Homeworld.
• Sinleech proposed extending the Mystery Cult’s search across the past so that problems would arise and force its members to act.
• The Emperor allowed Sinleech to put Celestine to sleep and agreed to be the biggest variable in the plan, saying he did not fear death.
• Sinleech announced that the latter half of the plan would begin, and Han Mingxuan warned him not to make the Emperor’s death a heroic sacrifice.

Sinleech proposed using Han Mingxuan’s power and the Emperor’s sacrifice to give the Warp Gods the ability to die, and Han agreed to help after consulting the Will of Earth. They reinforced the Golden Throne and prepared for the plan to begin when Cadia fell, as the two worlds’ fates started to intersect.

• Sinleech explained that Han Mingxuan could replace part of the Emperor’s essence so the Emperor could survive burning the Dark King and grant the Warp Gods the ability to die.
• Han agreed to help with the plan but first asked the Will of Earth for her opinion; she assured him that he would be safe.
• Han Mingxuan and Sinleech entered the Terra Throne Room, where Han asked for clean water to reinforce the Golden Throne.
• Sinleech discovered that the Ecclesiarchy had tampered with the water, and Trajann Valoris brought Han a clean bowl after Sinleech struck him away.
• Han reinforced the Golden Throne, and Sinleech said they would wait for Cadia’s fall before proceeding, when the Emperor’s power could more strongly affect reality.
• Sinleech explained that the worlds’ fates had begun to intersect and that people and things from the 30k era might cross over under certain conditions.

Xiulikas found a trace of Han Mingxuan in the torrent of fate, prompting the Primarchs and their allies to prepare for his return while dealing with threats on Terra. The chapter ended with the Klein bottle showing the Warp from just before Slaanesh’s birth, leaving Han Mingxuan’s location uncertain.

• Xiulikas found traces of Han Mingxuan, and Night Haunter spread the news to the Primarchs through the Evernight Network.
• The Silent King proposed activating the Celestial Orrery again, and Mortarion agreed to fully accept the Power of Death.
• Slaanesh brought Xarathi to Terra to help with the trouble and received the Shard of Hope from Trazyn.
• Xiulikas exhausted himself after finding Han Mingxuan and left Oll Persson to handle the rest.
• The Klein bottle’s image stabilized on the Warp from just before Slaanesh’s birth, and Slaanesh said it might show a displacement in space and time.

The Primarchs watched visions of the Emperor’s past as Malcador, Old Kamon, and Slaanesh explained Terra’s Unification Wars, the purge of the Thunder Warriors, the creation of the Primarchs, and the urgency behind the Great Crusade. Slaanesh revealed that her birth had briefly cleared the Warp and opened a limited window for humanity’s resurgence.

• The Primarchs saw the Emperor on Terra after Slaanesh’s birth, and Malcador said the Emperor’s Perpetual modification had succeeded.
• Malcador recounted humanity’s decline and the Terra Unification Wars, while the Primarchs learned that the new gene-warriors had purged the Thunder Warriors.
• Old Kamon called the Thunder Warriors’ betrayal a cruel but inevitable sacrifice because their genetic defects were severe.
• Malcador and Grandfather explained that the Emperor used Warp Essence from twenty lesser gods and Erda’s genes to create the Primarchs.
• Sanguinius asked why the Great Crusade had been rushed, and Malcador said humanity had little time to reclaim its vast former domain.
• Slaanesh said her birth had calmed the Warp and enabled travel, creating the brief opportunity that drove the Great Crusade’s pace.

The Night Haunter explained how the Emperor’s attempt to defy destiny led to the original betrayal of half the Primarchs, listing the brothers who fell in that timeline. He revealed Horus was one of the destined traitors, leaving the others to guess who the final traitor was.

• The Night Haunter said the Emperor broke his pact with the Warp Gods, but destiny struck back and made half the Primarchs destined to rebel.
• Oll Persson explained that the Emperor remained a prisoner of destiny, though the Father of Night and the Inquisitor had prevented the Ullanor Triumph and Warmaster appointment from causing disaster.
• The Night Haunter described how the Emperor’s neglect and the brothers’ flaws led Perturabo, the Night Haunter, Angron, Mortarion, Magnus, Lorgar, and Alpharius toward betrayal or ruin in the original timeline.
• Roboute counted seven traitors among the Primarchs and the Night Haunter pointed out that two more were needed to reach nine.
• Lion El'Jonson identified Horus as one of the remaining traitors, and the Night Haunter confirmed that Horus had been the first Primarch to fall.

The Night Haunter revealed that Fulgrim had joined Chaos in the original course of fate while Roboute had remained loyal, and explained how Fulgrim’s vanity had begun to grow before he met the Emperor. He then began recounting Horus’s fall, leaving the group shocked by the death of Sejanus.

• The Night Haunter told the Primarchs that Fulgrim, not Roboute, had betrayed the Imperium in the original course of fate, while Roboute had been its most loyal Primarch.
• The Night Haunter and Curze confirmed that Fulgrim would have become Slaanesh’s Daemon Prince, and Fulgrim recalled his growing vanity before meeting the Emperor.
• Roboute asked the Night Haunter to explain what had happened, and Horus asked him to begin with Horus’s own fate.
• The Night Haunter explained that after Horus became Warmaster, the Emperor returned to Terra to pursue the Webway Project, while tensions grew between mortals and Astartes and Horus made poor judgments.
• The Night Haunter revealed that Sejanus had died a year after the Ullanor Triumph, leaving no one to check Horus’s arrogance, and said Garviel Loken later took Sejanus’s place.

The Primarchs learned that Sejanus had been murdered after a diplomatic blunder, but Curze revealed that the Emperor’s guards had already erased Planet 63-19. Curze and another speaker then recounted how Horus was corrupted on Davin, before the discussion turned to the gods’ Sacred Numbers.

• Horus ordered Abaddon to find Planet 63-19 and use Exterminatus after learning Sejanus was dead.
• Curze said the Emperor’s guards had already physically erased the planet in secret, with only the Shadowbat Guard and a small Necron force aware of the operation.
• Curze recounted how Horus was wounded by Eugen Temba’s Cursed Blade on Davin and carried into the temple at Erebus’s urging.
• After Curze paused, another speaker said Erebus performed a Corruption Ritual that lasted seven days before Horus succumbed and began plotting a rebellion.
• Horus denied wanting to become the Dark King, while Curze teased him about his bitter words and Mortarion questioned Grandfather about the seven-day ritual.
• Grandfather explained the gods’ Sacred Numbers: seven for himself, eight for the God of War, nine for Tzeentch, six for Slaanesh, and thirteen for the Emperor.

The Night Haunter explained that the original Council of Nikaea forbade most psychic units, while their current fate allowed them because their father took a gentler approach and Magnus was more flexible. He revealed that Magnus’s original actions had helped prevent the Emperor from acting effectively, and the discussion ended with the Primarchs blaming the Emperor’s stubbornness and the Dark King’s influence for the chaos.

• The Khan questioned why the Emperor had done nothing during Horus’s ordeal, and the Night Haunter said he had been occupied with the flawed Webway.
• The Night Haunter connected the Emperor’s inability to act to Magnus and recalled the original Council of Nikaea, where the Emperor forbade psychic units other than Navigators and Astropaths.
• The Night Haunter explained that in their current fate the Emperor had consulted the Legions, and Magnus had discussed Legion Sorcery rather than psychic power.
• Mortarion insisted that his Numerology was science, and the Night Haunter accused him of disguising his psychic divination to save face.
• The Night Haunter, Oll Persson, and the God of War blamed the Emperor’s stubbornness and the Dark King’s influence for the worsening state of the world.

The Night Haunter explained how Magnus’s warning to the Emperor breached the Webway and how Horus manipulated Russ into attacking Prospero. He revealed that the Sixth Legion, the Salamanders, and Alpharius’s Twentieth Legion were the Emperor’s “Clover Legions,” intended to clean up the Astartes, then left the story as he began explaining how Prospero became a sea of fire.

• The Night Haunter explained that Magnus’s psychic message punched through the Webway barrier and let Daemons flood into the breach.
• The Night Haunter said Horus altered the Emperor’s order, sending Russ and the Sixth Legion to kill Magnus instead of bringing him back.
• The Night Haunter identified the Sixth Legion, the Salamanders, and Alpharius’s Twentieth Legion as the “Clover Legions,” created to clean up the Legiones Astartes.
• Perturabo kicked the Emperor while Sanguinius objected, and Malcador recalled that Old Han had argued for treating Psykers and Astartes well.
• The Night Haunter said Russ was used to turn Prospero into a sea of fire and that the Warp Gods forced Magnus to choose.

Curze described how the Thousand Sons and the Night Haunter fell in the original course of fate, then recounted how Fulgrim was nearly corrupted by the Laer Blade. Fulgrim learned that Han had helped him resist the blade and set him on a path toward hope.

• Curze told the others that Magnus sacrificed his body and split his soul to save the Thousand Sons, but became a Daemon Prince after the legion was defeated.
• Curze explained that his prophetic visions drove him mad and led him to join the rebels before his death as the Night Haunter.
• Curze recalled that Fulgrim’s obsession with perfection led him to take the Laer Blade, where a Greater Daemon tried to corrupt him.
• Slaanesh said Han had won their wager by helping Fulgrim resist corruption, and Fulgrim remembered the box and couplet Han had given him.
• Curze explained that Han had sent Fulgrim to work at a construction site to help him repent, and praised him for making good use of that chance.

Curze recounted the betrayal at Isstvan III, where Horus’s rebels sent loyalists to their deaths, while loyal warriors’ actions helped many survive and carry warning to Terra. The Night Haunter then returned to Fulgrim’s increasingly irreversible fall, leaving Fulgrim uneasy as he insisted on continuing the story himself.

• Fulgrim joined Magnus to listen as Curze explained how Fulgrim’s perfectionism, a Daemon’s influence, and his respect for Horus led him to join the rebellion.
• Horus’s forces deployed one hundred thousand loyalists on Isstvan III and attacked them with Virus Bombs, killing billions of mortals and forty thousand Space Marines.
• Saul Tarvitz, Garviel Loken, Torgaddon, and Nathaniel Garro helped the loyalists survive and carried news of the rebellion toward Terra.
• Angron descended to Isstvan III to punish the surviving loyalists, unintentionally prolonging the fighting and gaining Terra time.
• The Night Haunter said the rebels resumed their advance as Terra learned what had happened, then returned to Fulgrim’s fall despite Fulgrim asking him to let Curze tell the story.