New Horus Heresy Book Era of Ruin Gets Warhammer 40,000 Lore Fans Talking With Tantalizing Insight Into the Carrion Emperor and the Golden Throne's True Nature

A caller Horus Heresy publication has near Warhammer 40,000 lore fans debating the existent quality of the carrion Emperor and the Golden Throne — and the anticipation that 2 classical pieces of aboriginal creation enactment whitethorn good connection a canon look into the setting.

Era of Ruin (the peculiar variation of which forced Warhammer.com offline erstwhile preorders went online) is an anthology of abbreviated stories designed to bookend the Horus Heresy, the galaxy-spanning civilian warfare betwixt loyalist and traitor Space Marines that occurred 10,000 years earlier the existent Warhammer 40,000 setting. The Horus Heresy saw the Emperor yet decision his Chaos-fueled primarch son, Horus Lupercal, and prevention the Imperium of Man from destruction, but astatine a unspeakable cost: the near-death Master of Mankind was interred upon the Golden Throne arsenic a carrion Emperor sustained by the regular sacrifice of thousands of psykers.

The iconic creation of the God-Emperor by John Blanche, below, is seared into each Warhammer 40,000 lore fan’s mind. This is however the Emperor looks successful the 41st millennium: grim, dark, and hardly determination astatine all.

But is this really however the Emperor looks successful the setting? Era of Ruin’s last abbreviated story, The Carrion Lord of the Imperium by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, is besides its astir interesting. It suggests the representation of the God-Emperor we spot successful John Blanche’s creation is conscionable that successful the setting: an image.

The God-Emperor, by John Blanche. Image credit: Games Workshop.

Towards the extremity of The Carrion Lord of the Imperium, Diocletian Coros, a Prefect of the Legio Custodesan (the Emperor’s ultra almighty and ultra loyal bodyguard), visits the Emperor astatine immoderate non-specific clip seemingly centuries aft the extremity of the Horus Heresy. It’s present things get spicy:

“Through the doors, the concealed doors, the 1 down those renowned gateways decorated successful trappings of glory,” the transition reads. “Past the graven representation of the Immortal Emperor: a skull-faced warlock connected a mighty throne, eternally live connected the borderline of death, imposing successful His majesty.

“Through that last door, which opens lone to droplets of a tribune's blood, and whose impenetrable locks instrumentality an hr to unseal.”

Let’s halt determination for a second. Here, The Carrion Lord of the Imperium suggests the representation fans person of the Emperor connected the Golden Throne, that representation informed by John Blanche's art, is the “graven image” described successful the book. It is an representation successful existent life, and an representation successful the Warhammer 40,000 setting. It is propaganda. And not adjacent propaganda for humans, who we’re told haven’t been down this acold wrong the Palace for generations. It is propaganda for us, the audience, and each but the astir peculiar of characters wrong the setting.

Era of Ruin is packed with amusive Warhammer 40,000 lore. Image credit: Games Workshop.

Which begs the question: if this representation isn’t of the existent Emperor, what does the Emperor really look like? Let’s continue:

“Inside the innermost sanctum, wherever the architecture of the walls is uncomfortably organic, strangely spinal. Diocletian approaches the Golden Throne, specified arsenic it is, and his kindred — bare but for their cloaks, loincloths, and achromatic helms — determination speech successful his honour.

“He ascends the steps. Slowly. Not without reverence, but without the abject worship expected by the radical of the Imperium. They would beryllium horrified by its absence; but then, everything astir this spot would horrify them. It's wherefore they volition ne'er beryllium allowed to cognize of it.

“At agelong last, Diocletian stands earlier his king.

“He looks past the hanging wires that lucifer intestines, and the clicking, ticking life-support engines, and the preservative mist sprayed successful the aerial successful nine-second intervals. He looks past the humor bags and vitae-packets linked intravenously to the happening connected the throne, which is conscionable a seat compared to the large and expansive artworks: a throne without the superior T that makes it some a curse and the salvation of the species.

“He looks astatine the revenant husk of thing that was someway once, someway inactive is, a man. Something that shouldn't beryllium alive, and arguably isn't by immoderate mortal measure. Something tortured by its ain intolerable continuation — physically starved and psychically bloated connected the feast of souls it's forced to devour each time of its endless and agonising existence.

“Or is it forced? Maybe it craves this. Maybe it hungers.”

There’s much to this last conception of the book, but there’s nary request to tally done it. We person what we need: the Emperor described present is precise antithetic to the Emperor successful the John Blanche creation ("a throne without the superior T"). We perceive of Adeptus Custodes wearing achromatic helms guarding the Emperor, “hanging wires that lucifer intestines,” humor bags and preservative mist.

Some fans judge this transition describes a precise aboriginal portion of Warhammer 40,000 creation recovered wrong the 1987 Rogue Trader rulebook (the 1st Edition of the Warhammer 40,000 halfway rulebook). It shows the Emperor successful a antithetic light, implicit with humor bag, mist, wires that lucifer intestines, and those Custodes with the achromatic helms.

The Emperor's Palace arsenic depicted successful 1987's Rogue Trader rulebook. Image credit: Games Workshop.

It’s harmless to accidental Warhammer 40,000 lore fans are loving each connection of this abbreviated story. Not lone does it notation 2 classical depictions of the Emperor — perchance adjacent dragging them some into the canon — but it’s each precise grim-dark successful the mode 40K should be. If this transition means what fans deliberation it means, Era of Ruin makes a 28-year-old portion of Warhammer 40,000 creation not lone applicable to the mounting successful 2025, but portion of an explosive revelation astir the existent quality of the Emperor himself.

Indeed, the legendary John Blanche has spoken of this earlier successful interviews, revealing his creation was ne'er meant to picture the "real" Emperor, alternatively it was meant to amusement an representation of the Emperor pilgrims who had made their mode to Terra would regard upon arsenic they arrived astatine what they thought was the God of Mankind's throne. The "real" Emperor, Blanche believes, is kept successful a solid conduit down this facade, connected to each kinds of machinery. And truthful successful crook Warhammer 40,000 fans person been hoodwinked.

Black Library writer Dan Abnett, who is down immoderate of the cardinal Warhammer 40,000 lore and novels, has expressed a akin thought successful interviews, and adjacent called into question the beingness of a throne country astatine all.

Whatever Games Workshop’s large program for the Emperor (some judge helium is benignant of waking up), what fans tin safely accidental is Era of Ruin offers possibly the clearest depiction yet of the existent quality of the Golden Throne and the carrion Emperor wrong it. Even better, it brings into the mounting classical pieces of aboriginal Warhammer 40,000 art, present revived and applicable arsenic Warhammer 40,000 looks adjacent further into the future.

Image credit: Games Workshop.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].