How The EMPEROR, HORUS and ABADDON made CONSTANTIN VALDOR | NEW WARHAMMER 40K LORE

[@SandmanofTerra]

Thanks so much to everyone who supports the channel, do be sure to hit that like button! If you are curious about the Siege of Terra and what things it has changed about 40K? Then join the channel to unlock exclusive content, like my latest video on the 10 greatest retcons.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

The eight-pointed star that Warhammer franchise uses as logo for the forces of Chaos actually was invented by author Michael Moorcock in his Eternal Champion Fantasy books and features especially in his Elric of Melniboné novels. Elric first appeared in print in Moorcock's novella The Dreaming City (Science Fantasy No. 47, June 1961). Moorcock's doomed albino sorcerer-warrior wielding his chaos-forged soul-drinking black runesword Stormbringer is from an ancient non-human species who served the Chaos gods but later turned to serve the Balance (a third power between the Gods of Order and the Gods of Chaos in the Eternal Conflict) is a famous characters in fantasy literature, and has crossed over into role-playing games, comics, (Heavy Metal) music, and film. The stories have been continuously in print since the 1970s.

[@kimmogensen4888]

Controlled opposition is what Valdor seems to be. That’s the way I understood the many hints that Valdor and the author gives is that after Horus is dead and the rebels are defeated and retreating, then the Emperor wanted Valdor to for fill a new role, a strategy which the Emperor would have known but not used in the Crusade, a very dirty strategy for dark times, controlled opposition, which Valdor is perfectly suited for, the most loyal servant of the Emperor who has seen some of the lives of all the traitors he has killed with his spear, which he can all remember because of his improved memory, He is the perfect candidate to play controlled opposition as the Yellow King, serving the Emperor by controlling the internal enemies in the Imperium of man, never letting them become a serious threat but seriously enough to be believable as a real opposition to Terra, attracting much of the potential traitors to his side, blunting the opposition.

[@davidhaaijema4521]

1. Blanks are never stated to be soullless, they are stated to be "essentially soulless" due to their lack of presence in the warp. But soul =/= having presence in the warp. 2. You can't just cut off your soul in the warp and prance around in reality. "he cut off his soul to not feel sympathy", and yet he hesitated. So nice theory, but debunked. Also all the aledari basically dropped dead when Slanesh went num num on their souls, seems that you die if you do this. 3. It's heavily implied threw the story of the first Saint and the first "Emporer protects", that it's not his soul in the warp looking out for people, but that the collective idea of humanity that the Emporer is watching over them birthed basically another "Chaos god". Or at least w/e presence of him gets strength from this. 4. "why would valdor torture space marines ?!?", he's not, he's trying to create berserker warriors he can unleash from everything you described. And you also called him stoic to a fault. Now would a stoic person sacrifice the sons of his friends to save his Imperium ? yes he would..... I'm sorry but I couldn't get passed half this video since it contradicts a lot with actual lore and you seem to be incapable of making logical deductions xD And you barely give sources too.

[@DSRJoker]

So, some info on why GW chose the 8 pointed star, GW, love 'em or hate 'em, like to... What's the most diplomatic way of putting this? Barrow things from other IP, which makes their whole going after creators thing a few years back super ironic. Many aspects of Chao, like the 8 pointed start, and the Dark Eldar, are taken from a series called Elric of Melnibone by English writer Michael Moorcock. Moorcock is one of those writers, that most people have likely never read, but so much of modern fantasy is inspired from his work. Edit: LOL looks like someone else got to it first.

[@blakemtg47]

Valdor is the star child

[@Dadecorban]

Big E gave Valdor the spear as a gift. The greatest gift he could have him; volition. The more he learns the more he becomes a real boy.

[@alejandrorp5160]

* Pinocchio INTENSIFIES *

[@jaffarito2557]

And Russ got the other part of the spear which gives volition to those he wounds, am I correct?

[@hassam363]

Doesn't hit as hard when Big E is also the one who took away his volition.

[@Bladelols27]

A custodian as strong as Valdor with true free will? That's terrifying.

[@Subject_Keter]

I dont get why you would want to shove all that knowledge into a man as it will break. You see a chairletter butt cheeks and you die.. so having a entire legion in your head is going to break a thibg.

[@dontgetmarried]

Valdor is physically a Primarch, he just is missing the Special Sauce that makes a Primarch a Primarch

[@frezzypop4973]

Hey I like those guys

[@MT-UK]

The warp god soul kind of special sauce ? Lol

[@raymoncism]

Hes a primarch as they should have been.

[@dontgetmarried]

@@MT-UK exactly lol

[@daijme]

Not a bitch that dies ?

[@SeaBass215AM]

Constantin insane? Maybe insane for a Custodian. A good insane....very good insanity. Winged Blood Angels, a tribute to Sanguinius. Grails could fight fire with fire against Chaos.

[@SandmanofTerra]

It does seem unlikely but I will say Malcador does literally say he sees valdor going insane

[@shaunsawyer5127]

@@SandmanofTerra When Constantine starts having to shout out the demon's true names as he kills them just to deal with the Appolonian spear's effects, I think that is what pushed him over the brink in my honest opinion.

[@vengeance8924]

wrong. a bad insane.

[@squeesmyth9025]

Will the current inquisitor destined for showdown be spoken to by big e residing in the city or valdor

[@squeesmyth9025]

@@vengeance8924 HERESY!! OR SOME XENOS SCUM

[@marcoghiotti7153]

The new story arch on Valdor and his whereabouts is the most fascinating asect of modern w40k lore. Maybe we are witnessing the very beginning of a new "horus heresy" massive book series.

[@GrubGang69]

Valdors Vengeance 😈

[@MrG0DW1N]

While I think GW will never give an end to Warhammer 40k because the grim dark setting is a great business model, but as a fantasy and sci fi nerd I do hope to see an end to the storyline of the characters like Valdor and the Primarchs and get some closure before I die.

[@themelon_1785]

@@MrG0DW1N I personally hope they do something like end times in 40k with the imperium except reality isn't destroyed and only the imperium is fragmented The setting would benefit from a major shake up without a reset ofc, and the collapse of the imperium might be that shake up the setting needs. All the factions will remain, the space marines, custodes, guard, sisters etc etc, while the setting progresses.

[@B.U.K.O.]

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT 8 POINTED STAR: There is less known relatively new bit of lore, which was introduced in book Burning of Ohmn-Mat which is free Horus heresy publication on Warhammer comunity website. There are some rules for demons in tabletop, lore about forge world Ohmn-Mat, and most importantly, lore about eight pointed star! Each point of star represents one Aetheric Dominion (true name for chaos god). According this new lore, there are four aetheric dominions born and four unborn/waiting to be born. Those four born are represented with points that on chaos star draws X, from top right corner clockwise they are: Infernal Tempest (Tzeentch), Rapturous Sensation (Slaanesh), Putrid Corruption (Nurgle), Heedless Slaughter (Khorne). Those four unborn, are represented by points on chaos star that draws cross +, from top one in clockwise direction: Encroaching Ruin (probably Dark King), Malevolent Artifice (probably Vashtor Arkifane) Ravenous Dissolution (probably Malal/Malice/Raptor god/Great horned rat) Formless Distortion (probably god of dark biomancy and unleashed mutation). As I said, everyone could download that book on Warhammer comunity, it's only 25 pages.

[@Accretion-Ranch]

Thank you! Great intel!

[@davidthompson3729]

The symbol of Chaos is from a series written by Michael Moorcock. You're out to lunch

[@B.U.K.O.]

@@davidthompson3729 I know, but that is old lore, this is newest one about Chaos Gods, and it makes sense and sits along with lore about Dark King, Vashtor Arkifane and Malice.

[@zednotzee7]

@@davidthompson3729 Indeed, it was the sign of chaos in Moorcock's Eternal Champion books. And guess what ? Many years ago, GW did a set of Elric figures for a sort of D&D game. The rules for which they published.

[@layton1362]

Interesting. I do wonder if this tracks to AoS, given there exists a 5th Chaos God in the setting with the horned rat. Ravenous Dissolution kinda fits him in a way, given the Skaven are the backstabiest of backstabers.

[@JoeMagician]

The inclusion of the blood angels and growing wings is interesting, because it seems so weird and cruel. Perhaps Valdor is trying to up his experiments through iteration. First, he tried to bind grails within blanks. Okay cool that worked, he figured it out eventually, next a step up in power. Maybe he tried with more powerful warp entities as in the dead primarchs and specifically Sanguinius. The reason for the winged Blood Angels being trying to create a vessel that Sanguinis' soul could be contained within, the black rage and red thirst a result of them being overwhelmed by his memories and presence. Some kept in stasis as the next in line to be attempted on, the roaming ones failed experiments. Sanguinius' sons and gene seed being the logical place to start as something...familiar and close to the vessel that previously contained Sanguinius. I assume if he could get the body of Sanguinius itself Valdor would use that instead, good luck taking that from the Blood Angels. Valdor trying to recreate the secret of creating the Primarchs not in the sense of their genetic code but how to make extremely powerful warp entities bind with material bodies permanently without killing them. And he's starting with his old friend Sanguinius, the one he likes best. And if he can resurrect Sanguinius and perfect that secret, the next logical step is the Star Child and the Emperor himself as it's not a difference of concept but scale. Perhaps that is the secret that the emperor stole from the warp gods and used to make his primarchs: the warp entities true names allowing him to force them into a mortal form. Maybe it's his spear that is the key, using it to kill a warp entity to learn its name then having control over it. That'd make sense for the idea that Valdor is also after the Emperor's true name if he has discovered that is how you create a being like a primarch and the star child. Imagine if Valdor has to stab the emperor to learn his name to resurrect him, and fight his Custodes brothers to do it. That'd be a wild story.

[@geofft7664]

Ooh that could be something right there. Valdor realized he's gonna have to stab the emperor at some point to gain some galaxy changing knowledge. Maybe that's what the emperor always knew would have to happen and knew it would have to be valdor to do it

[@ryanlindstrom3564]

I think the Grails are demons that Valdor learned the names of through his spear and bound to his will. Jest Demonhosts that synergies with blanks

[@ShadowlessFist]

Well, it was said that Grails were POSITIVE Warp entities, so they could have been Demons that he fought on the Vengeful Spirit with the Spear 🤔

[@kimmogensen4888]

The way I understood the many hints that Valdor and the author gives is that after Horus is dead and the rebels are defeated and retreating, then the Emperor wanted Valdor to for fill a new role, a strategy which the Emperor would have known but not used in the Crusade, a very dirty strategy for dark times, controlled opposition, which Valdor is perfectly suited for, the most loyal servant of the Emperor who has seen some of the lives of all the traitors he has killed with his spear, which he can all remember because of his improved memory, He is the perfect candidate to play controlled opposition as the Yellow King, serving the Emperor by controlling the internal enemies in the Imperium of man, never letting them become a serious threat but seriously enough to be believable as a real opposition to Terra, attracting much of the potential traitors to his side, blunting the opposition. Malcador the Sigillite would have been proud of the immoral cunning if he wasn’t dust.

[@Zachfive]

There is an entry about the Inevitable City on pages 36-37 on the old 1988 "Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness" that I stumbled on a bit ago. Was surprised at how old some of the lore that authors are digging into is

[@MrTrees77]

I think he gave it to him him because the emperor made his sons remember... Who's to say that he didn't want Constantine valdor to become essentially him, or basically a miniature emperor. Immortal, extremely intelligent, super human strength, just not psychically powerful. What if he wanted him to become the king in yellow to begin with. What if he went to the other side of terra to get him because using his knowledge in foresight he envisioned the future where constantine would save the imperium.

[@pyrokine1868]

The Emperor wanted Enuncia, so Valdor could be doing it all for him

[@narusawa74]

But then what of the weird Alpha Primus guy case? Seems like a chunk of the Emperor's soul is stored inside him, like a Phylactère works for a lych. So he could reincarnate in this perfect astartes in the future. And he would keep Valdor as a better regent option than Bobby G?

[@MrTrees77]

@@narusawa74 no, I don't think part of the emperor's soul is in alpha primaris. His soul is improperly set in his body. Yes. It says so in gene father. But it's never said that he has the soul of the emperor. It's implied that he's actually the genetic sun of bellosarias. And has a bunch of the different primarks DNA in him. With Magnus the reds DNA being some of the strongest in him. That's why he's such a powerful psycher. Bellatorius and fabius bile talk about this in gene father after alpha primaris is defeated and fabius bile spares his life. Also he is not perfect. It literally states that in multiple books that he is a failure of a creation. Bellatorius tried to mix the primark's DNA and it didn't work. Alpha primaris even says that he is in pain and agony everyday because bellisarius went too far.

[@BriarLeaf00]

Man you are a true loremaster. Having your videos to come to after reading all these books helps it all "solidify" in my mind, if you know what I mean? The way you approach the work is top notch and is my go to for commentary after reading. I'd love for you to do a video about what happens next, particularly regarding the Scouring and where you think they will finish the narrative in terms of 30k/HH.

[@SandmanofTerra]

Thank you so much! 🙏

[@gawkthimm6030]

@@SandmanofTerra which books are this lore from, ? only the new siege of terra or what? I would really appriciate references to which books the lore is from

[@sivartevafal]

Isn’t the “Tree of Life” mentioned when Horus/Emperor are having their inter dimensional fight? Like Horus hides in a fortress in like the “Plains of ecstasy” and I’m almost positive the tree gets mentioned, I’m pretty sure it’s an actual dimension of the Warp, Russ is probably “nailed” to it Odin style until the Wolftime.

[@Grimbop]

If the Emperor was trying to groom Valdor for some sort of leader role it makes sense that he would wield a weapon that would basically extend his own experiences past his current life since the Emperor himself has live thousands of years and multiple lives of his own. Maybe the spear was the Emperors way of giving Valdor a short cut into the Wisdom the Emperor possesses. It is however still a short cut and has consequences for its use which is why instead of having purely just the wisdom he also gets a bit of insanity too.

[@squeesmyth9025]

sanguinious will turn up with the burning legion with wings of flames like balrog and a sword of molten steel!

[@stackzyy9032]

we can only hope for now

[@squeesmyth9025]

@@stackzyy9032 also whorus soul still around ! Think he'll be like bitch gimme back my fist and banish failbbadon

[@wmen48]

Doubt it. Isn't he 2 angels in one? And bought manifest in characters already.

[@dontgetmarried]

Watch out saying the Balrog had wings, you'll summon obstinate Lord of the Rings fans

[@vulfpet3568]

@@dontgetmarried I was just about to say that watching someone unknowingly mention Balrog Wings is like watching someone swing a baseball bat at a wasps nest while blindfolded

[@alfredandersson875]

I really appreciate the service you provide with these cuts of the streams. I have read a few e-books but unfortunately I don't have the resources to consume a ton of the books, hence your summary and analysis are really valuable to me. I do my best to follow developments in the lore but even when it comes to stuff I already know about, your insights and theories are very interesting and appreciated. I specifically remember watching your second stream cut when it was just uploaded and have been following these cuts ever since. Your dramatizations of scenes from the books are also awesome! I was just re-watching your stream about Godblight and the narration of Guilliman's resurrection (however controversial the scene might be) really added a lot! Keep up the great work, and may the Emperor always smile upon you.

[@Roofless11]

We will find out in the next few years how Sanguinius went from dead to speaking to Dante.

[@jonharrison9222]

Already implied it was nothing more than an NDE and not Sanguinius speaking to Dante.

[@RichardStrong86]

​@@jonharrison9222 I don't see how those are mutually exclusive, given that in this universe the warp is where souls reside (or are consumed) when they have no bodily anchor (ie dead).

[@calummacdonald1081]

​@RichardStrong86 I would say a NDE would more be a hallucination conjured in your own mind, (DMT being released possibly having something to do with it) rather than it being closer linked to another dimension

[@nekocup5524]

We already know how, and it's not going from dead to anything different. Primarch souls don't just disappear after death, they very much can fuck about as long as their souls aren't destroyed

[@MyXyle666]

​@nekocup5524 take magnus for example. He was killed early in the heresy, yet he's still running around

[@daijme]

King in yellow, it is rather clever naming him that if you've read all the plays. Everything about valdor lore is a reference to them, carcosa for example

[@willhenry7305]

I believe the eight pointed star is a reference to the Chaos powers in Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné series. The symbol is the same and represents the infinite directions that chaos takes. The series was written well before 40k (or even fantasy) lore, and we know the original authors loved to pay homage to their favorite series.

[@gawkthimm6030]

and "the eight fold path" is just straight up Buddhist I think

[@quitamgogh]

This. It’s very clear where the 8-pointed star comes from and why GW chose it.

[@docholliday9741]

All I know if that GW better bring Constantin, the surviving Astartes from Istvan 5, and a whole bunch of Grails to the tabletop as its own army to play in 40K. I’ll gladly take a second mortgage out on my home to finance building that army

[@percymacdonald6657]

Even in debt, I still serve.

[@MrFlashpoint1978]

​@@percymacdonald6657that is, quite possibly, the funniest games workshop gag I have ever heard. I shall be quoting it when next I go in store. Well played, sir, well played.

[@percymacdonald6657]

@@MrFlashpoint1978 stole it from someone else on the Internet. Can't remember who.

[@peterga3658]

now that the H.H. is finish i cant wait to see how they will continue the story . the Yellow King storyline is soooo interesting , i like Valdor a lot

[@thebayandurpoghosyanshow]

8 pointed star of Chaos is borrowed directly from Michael Moorcock. Moorcock describes the creation of the symbol as such: I drew a straightforward geographical quadrant (which often has arrows, too!) - N, S, E, W - and then added another four directions and that was that - eight arrows representing all possibilities, one arrow representing the single, certain road of Law. I have since been told to my face that it is an "ancient symbol of Chaos".

[@ruyman90]

Theory. What if the visions humanity has are visions from the dark king in the future? The rebirth of Guilliman, the visions of Valdor, the visions of Sanguinius, the visions of the shamans that gave birth to the emperor, and even the visions of the emperor himself. The warp is a strange place were time acts different, like Slaneesh being born but already existing, so who knows.

[@Deisan]

I love the idea that the Emperor chose out Valdor in the beginning to basically become the protector / guardian of the Star Child, to give the Godling of Humanity the time needed to grow into its power in the flesh.

[@gawkthimm6030]

man I would like for someone to make references to which books all this lore is from

[@AB-jt6ic]

I've watched a few reviews, but those are generally recaps. I appreciate this video. Thank you for expanding on things and connecting dots. I'm a part-time hobbyist, so it's hard for me to keep everything in my head.

[@SandmanofTerra]

Glad you like it!

[@tyrantrex734]

The Eisenhorn series is what got me absolutely hooked on 40k so I immediately sped through the Ravenor series and the first 2 Bequin novels within a few weeks and hit that wall. I was PISSED. I needed MOAR so I've since been churned through almost the entire Horus Heresy (I also ran through Gaunt's Ghosts, Ciaphas Cain, and a few other series which total well over 100 books) and it is absolutely CRAZY to me how insanely important my very first introduction into 40k is turning out to be. May the Emperor bless Dan Abnett and give him the strength to hurry up and resolve the cliffhanger that gave me the itch to consume 40k novels like a crackhead

[@Mister_Bucket]

I’ve only read HH novels. Are you saying Eisenhorn books have turned out to be important to the entire setting? If so I’m gonna pick em up asap!

[@AliceBowie]

​@@Mister_Bucket Eisenhorn, and also the Ravenor series, and now the Bequin series, are some of the best 40K writing. Ciaphis Cain is also great, as well as the Gaunt's Ghosts series.

[@Benthesniperof8]

​@@Mister_Bucketthe eisenhorn and ravenor book series is the preamble content to the bequin books. And the bequin books are what introduced the king in yellow to the setting. The very last sentence of bequin book 2 names the king in yellow as Constantine Valdor. Yeah the book series is crucial to the setting.

[@pyrokine1868]

​@ChrisToups definitely, they discover the name of the King in Yellow is Valdor and the Cognitae (Which is restarted/reshaped by Lillian Chase, a librarian basically of the emperors most arcane knowledge) were working together till Valdor turned on them

[@LordAbraxas]

The way blanks are discussed in the Bequin series, it seems like they more have a "negative" soul rather than no soul at all. They're often called "black souls" and when Bequin is taken to the ecclesiarchy to be sold, the priest and word bearers there evaluate her soul. Also the turning off the blankness thing isn't a special ability of hers it's acheived by an installed "cuff" device.(likely developed/widely adopted after the demise of Alizabeth). We see it used by Ravenor's blank Wyston Frauka and the other students of the Maze Undue as well

[@pyrokine1868]

I suspect it was developed by the Cognitae so they could produce pariahs without attracting the hatred their kind normally attract

[@daethwing188]

Beta Bequin doesn't have that ability naturally; she has a wrist cuff piece of technology designed to dampen her blankness. They said the other blanks from the cognitae school had the same.

[@daethwing188]

Additionally, I have always believed the influence for the 8-point star of chaos was related to the viking symbols of Vegvisir and Ægishjálmur, both of which feature 8 conjoined "branches"

[@Reddotzebra]

Same thing with other blanks in the Ravenor books, I think the Inquisition originally found or invented the tech and the cognitae stole it from them. Or the other way around. Both the Distaff and the Cognitae use the cuffs anyway.

[@gawkthimm6030]

@@daethwing188 8 point star is defenitly a reference to Chaos powers in Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné series. The symbol is the same and represents the infinite directions that chaos takes. The series was written well before 40k

[@RaimoKangasniemi]

I wouldn't discount the possibility of a Valdor having his own faction outside books eventually. It would seem to have more potential than Leagues of Votann, from a purely marketing but also story-telling purposes.

[@rossdiggle]

The reason GW chose the eight pointed star to represent Chaos is already known. It was what Michael Moorcock used to represent Chaos. It was to get his fans to play.

[@Reddotzebra]

Sanguinius is just such a gigachad, it's impossible for anyone to not respect him when he's in PR mode.

[@austinguthrie5528]

What Valdor is doing potentially with the star child possibility. Reminds me of Dr. Naurud from Starcraft 2. Having hands in a lot of pots trying to bring his master back to life with insane projects.

[@violinjosh]

GW cribbed the chaos symbol from Michael Moorcock's writing, thought that was fairly common knowledge.

[@_AvgWellInformedCitizen]

The eight pointed star as a symbol representing chaos predates written history IRL. Undoubtedly, that’s how Moorcock discovered it. If you research ancient symbology or the Mystery Schools of ancient Egypt, it is there. When I discovered this fact it raised my eyebrow as high as it could go, and kept it there for days.

[@timolynch149]

@@_AvgWellInformedCitizen The Star of Ishtar predates ancient Egypt quite a bit and was also (usually) an eight-pointed star. It was used as a symbol for some goddess (Ishtar, Innana) or other in Sumer as much as 1,000 years before the beginnings of Egypt. It was, fun fact, also used on the Iraqi flag for around 30 years from 1930ish to the early 60s. That said, octagrams an eight-pointed stars are a fairly common geometrical shape that has been used in a many civilisations over the years.

[@_AvgWellInformedCitizen]

@@timolynch149 Thanks for your reply. I love it when people show they did the work. Cheers

[@gawkthimm6030]

and the "eight fold path" concept is just straight up Buddhism, there called; Noble Eightfold Path or the Eight Right Paths

[@Franpowah]

Imagine if at the end of the book, when the Starchild is born they describe a beautiful baby with white wings. Plot twist it wasn't the Emperor, Valdor's goal all of this time was to rescue the soul of Sanguinius from the dark gods and have him reincarnated.

[@joesatchton212]

Thank you. Your analysis of Valdor post Siege gives serious context to the events in the Bequin books....I love this direction for Valdor. He is the ultimate "ends justify the means" mechanism, with his end forever being the protection / resurrection of the Emperor. Whatever he needs to do to achieve that end, he will do it.

[@SandmanofTerra]

I can't wait to see what they do

[@joesatchton212]

@@SandmanofTerra Indeed! I just hope and pray they don't take the "easy way" out and simply turn Valdor into THE BAD GUY because he lost his way or somehow got corrupted from his contact with Abaddon's blood, etc...

[@piotrd.4850]

1:50 - my headcanon says, that since Thunderwarriors and Space Marines had Primarchs, so had the custodes and Valdor WAS for all intents and purposes full blown Primarch - except murky warp component.

[@danielcampbell9457]

Correct, but the thunder warrior legions only used the term Primarch ONLY as a designation of rank, it was an honorary distinction reserved for the highest ranked commander of there legion. TW Primarchs were baseline thunder warriors, that went on to earn that Primarch distinction by out performing there fellow TW peers thru there personal combat prowess and victories on the battlefield as well as there larger understanding of how to wage and win wars. Now the Primarchs of the Space Marines were LITERAL DEMI GODS that and were NOTHING like the SM's in there legions. So not only was Primarch there leadership title, but was also what they as a physical AND metaphysical living "being" was classified. So TW primarchs are just high ranking thunder warriors where as Primarchs of the SM legions are actual immortal warp infused demi gods with true galactic shaping capabilities.

[@epidemicsound]

🎶 track? It’s *Destiny Rising* by *FormantX* - and yes we are THRILLED to be your trusted provider. kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5qYe2yOZaiHf6M // Epidemic Sound

[@mikeolsen2578]

Awesome content, EPIC voice ! Thank you! Keep em coming

[@eloquentsarcasm]

Awesome stuff Sandman, I've been playing TT 40K for around 40 years now, diehard Space Wolf player, and I have a staggering amount of BL books, except for the recent stuff, and your videos have brought me up to speed on the newest novels and plot twists. Henry Cavill being the guiding hand behind the new movies/TV shows fills me with happiness, not since the Astartes shorts have I felt the rich history and background of 40K could be brought PROPERLY to life.

[@SandmanofTerra]

Great! Can't wait for the cavil series!

[@gplog7197]

That Henry Cavil Sanguinius goes kinda hard

[@thepeterwan]

... just a thought .. emperor's empathy and humanity is a such a complex thing to fit in the history , having two emperors is something hard to manage, the purpose of stay on the throne adquiring so much power from faith looks like what he was doing when he was at one step of becoming the Dark King fits better than healing him. And perhaps a vessel for this lost part of the Emperor's soul ending on the throne and emperor fusing it into a new entity that rightfully stays in physical plane and have the power of a chaos god (at this point of the story he seems to have more power that just one of them by itself, but tied to the throne). It's so big change doing anything with the emperor's condition that i think that will never happens and the start-child ended used for another thing.

[@indy007pb]

They'll have Valdor tap Big E's blood or something with the spear. Not like Big E can stop him now.

[@willogsdon7092]

Love the video. You're coming a way with your presentation and content variety. Keep it up man great job.

[@SandmanofTerra]

I appreciate that! Always trying to improve

[@Wineblood]

I really need to delve into the 40k books, sounds like there's a lot of lore and still room for interpretation and theories.

[@probablythedm1669]

Sounds like you need the name of a daemon to put it into someone. So perhaps Valdor needs the Emperor's name to put the Starchild into someone?

[@WhiteIkiryo-yt2it]

Does this mean the Sanginor is under the direction of Valdor and why it aids the Blood Angels? Also the forest the Lion was in is pocket dimension of the warp, I wonder if it is part of the same realm as the City of Dust and are his allies also the Watchers in the Dark?

[@Charlezworth]

From a meta perspective I imagine the 8 pointed star has become a reference to the noble 8 fold path in Buddhism- I know that’s not what the original creator said but it might be interesting to dig into as a comparative philosophy to chaos as a faith/belief system, as opposed to a physical force

[@nbmoleminer5051]

I really like your coverage of the more esoteric lore.

[@gr8avocado]

My prediction is we're going to have a new Empress when Beta becomes the vessel for the Emperors soul.

[@KaijuAdobo]

Valdor becomes the emperor’s vessel. I hope not but it might be.

[@benjaminmcnairii2142]

Okay, let me cook. 4 Chaos gods. They have to be able to be amalgamations of opposing things to be considered chaotic, right? God's doing things in contradictory ways would be two paths of opposing directions coming together to make something unique. So, each line would represent one god, and the meeting of the four lines showing each of them in the full spectrum of their natures would make what we see as the 8 sided star.

[@mahe7744]

"Erebus has to be killed by samus somehow" yes please

[@acousticnoisemachine]

Games Workshop uses the 8-sided star because it's borrowed directly from Michael Moorcock's Symbol of Chaos. The sign originates in his Eternal Champion series and was adopted by occult practitioners of 'chaos magic' in the 70s. Any meaning GW attaches to it is retroactive (other than being associated with Chaos), as it's just a direct lift from another IP. In other words, the number 8 isn't some significance that GW created, but GW uses the number 8 for Chaos because of the symbol already used in Moorcock's work. The reason Horus is the 8th death is because 8 is the number of points in the Chaos star because Moorcock invented the 8-pointed star to represent them in his universe and GW is making a direct reference to that.

[@peterkallend5012]

The King in Yellow sounds a lot like The Sphynx in Mystery Men. What do we know about him? Well, I hear he's terribly mysterious. 😂

[@lowbrowminis]

the 8 pointed chaos symbol was taken from Michel Moorcock's multiverse where it is also the symbol for chaos

[@bobbbbino]

Great work sandman as always. :) Do wonder on the vashtor part though.. I read somewhere that Uigebealach (think its in end and the death) can be accessed from the city of dust which is a major part of the starchild story which involves the shining path which refers too an exact route, including gaps where one must exit and re-enter the Webway which sounds very similar to route that vashtor is taking to achieve appothiosis on worm wood and Uigebealach is interestingly something that the eldar fear, lots of coinciedences but something tells me there is more to it.

[@MandoSki464]

Valdor should have stomped Abaddon in all honesty don’t care if he was beginning to get pumped up in the chaos juice. The Custodes are chaos killing specialists in almost every sense of the term. But then again it is abaddon so not surprised he’s just grabbing the top Custodians spear like is a paper weight lol just my opinion and I’m honestly not a giant Abaddon hater heck I’d rather see him turn against chaos that’d be awesome in my mind given that it’s literally always betrayers of the imperium but never betrayers of chaos when said persons aligned to chaos. 18:51 hadn’t made it this far when I commented and holy crap that is so badass about the Istvann survivors and makes me very happy & excited

[@Kristian.B.Kristiansen]

A relatively minor character (which Valdor remains until further development) Fighting the settings supreme antagonist legend? Obviously Valdor wasn't winning that one. And Custodians are overrated. 6 Justaerin Terminators are equivalent to killing one, if they attack from ambush.

[@metroplextitan8816]

​@@Kristian.B.Kristiansen except Valdor kills 30 TS terminators who jumped at him in absolute unison who can see into the future and he kills all of them while getting hit only once. Valdor is THE custodian, someone who is recognized by primarchs for his combat abilities. Remember that Kharn was hitting Abaddon so hard that the demon sword was starting to scream in pain and was forbidden to continue the duel because he would've killed him even though he was juiced up on chaos even more. Same Kharn that got killed by younger Sigismund who in his old age almost killed same Abaddon with talons of Horus and Drach'nyen, and you're telling me Valdor is no match bruh, talking about lacking context...

[@Kristian.B.Kristiansen]

@@metroplextitan8816 you are the one getting context mixed up. That first Valdor feat was from a Forgeworld Black Book. They have always done context and scaling differently that Black Library. Secondly Drach’nyen didn't scream against Khârn in that fight, Khârn wasn't winning and Khorne interfered to tell him, that Abaddon was right and that Khârn had to work for him to uphold the bargain struck between Warmaster and Khorne. And your attempts to draw "character A did this well against character b so we can establish rules and scaling"... that simply isn't how Black Library or Warhammer works.

[@metroplextitan8816]

@@Kristian.B.Kristiansen black library absolutely does establish powerscaling especially considering the fact that the lore is there to engage the audience and give them background of the setting in order to incentivize them then buy models and that is why there's lore even in supplementary stuff for tabletop. Btw 7th edition Custodes codex - "They are to the Space Marines what those transhuman warriors are to common Guardsmen, an elevated elite whose raw strength and willpower are wholly insurmountable" As for the Valdor himself he's literally stated in the Master of Mankind (the point of Inferno being forgeworld is moot and honestly irrelevant as it's canon nonetheless) “It is easy to see how, Constantin Valdor, Captain General of the Adeptus Custodes could match a Primarch in blade work” Even Garro (a battle captain btw) was holding for his dear life in a sparring match, which he did win due to Custodian's overconfidence but could never hope to win if it was fight to the death Even someone like Trajann Valoris managed to keep up in speed and kill Norn Emissary, let alone peak of custodian combat prowess Valdor. I'm a Black Templar and an Ork player (even though 1000 of them gitz massacred 100k of ma boys) and I will never say marines stand a chance vs Custodes because that's ignoring the lore, you don't have to like them but saying they're overrated is a braindead take when they're the mightiest warriors of the Imperium and the main point was that Abaddon wasn't anywhere near his peak of power in volume 3 when he approached the level of power of Valdor which is consistently described as just below that of a primarch yet at his strongest he's Sigismund level Edit: obviously there will be inconsistencies as naked world eater punching a hole through a Custodian or the thing with Harlequins, even though the author himself said he mistook Custodes for regular guards

[@Kristian.B.Kristiansen]

@@metroplextitan8816 I am not really interested in what tabletop faction you play or like. Overrated is very much the word, as many argue absurd positions like a Custodian should win 1 vs 100 marine or buy that line about them being that much better.... But novels don't support that on aggregate. Yes, Custodians are indeed the best individual warriors in the Imperium without a "legend name"(Primarch etc) But they are as vulnerable to a plasma or melta-blast to the face as a marine. Weapons able to kill marines can kill Custodians, even though it definitely is tougher and they are better armed. The actual strength of a factions warrior is determined in context, so it matters only so much what an individual Codex says, if we see them killed by 6-15 marines often/repeatedly... then that is a fine baseline.

[@joedarling5175]

Khorne does respect face to face combat. maybe he gave the dude a boon instead of killing him for throwing shit right at him lol

[@Orpha3us]

If i remember well Penitent, the survivors of Istvaan are fighting against the Greals, not with them. You said that they are allies to the King but it seems they are fighting to stop him ?

[@kyub3y467]

Big E's true favorite Custodes is still Kitten.

[@arsumbris6392]

Came to many of the same conclusions you cover here. Something I've loved about the Bequin and EATD series has been trying to predict how lore will unfold, both getting it right and being pleasantly surprised when I get it wrong.

[@kamaeq]

So, the Emperor stole knowledge from the Chaos goes about how to use warp powers to complete the Primarchs... Now he stole the Parish gene from the Next one to make other warp powered entities.

[@brandonlordbaltimore5182]

Thoroughly enjoyed your video brother. I definitely think you're more than onto something here. 🤘 Keep up the great work.

[@Ollaniusperrson]

I would love to see an ambiguous short story of a figure on the throne, putting on a gauntlet on an overly scarred hand implying that he has been utilizing the spear to see his own destiny and a companion out and be the king in yellow in the city of dust

[@DarkCellsCustos]

Valdor is the most legendary character in Warhammer.... In my opinion. He's been my favorite character for years. I hope they don't fail him on his return.

[@KingNisch13]

I love how (seemingly) the mass belief in the Emperor's divinity is not only mandatory for everyone living in the Imperium, but also might be empowering the Star Child version of the Emperor. Again, it brings me back to the scene in the novel Black Legion where they first encounter the Black Templars, and Telamachon almost dies laughing at the irony of the Imperium. Millennia after the destruction of Monarchia due to the zealous Emperor worship of the Word Bearers, the ENTIRE Imperium is now based on the same zealotry the Word Bearers once tried to spread, leading to one of my favorite quotes in ALL of Warhammer 40K: "The Word Bearers won. They eat dirt and drink shame. They chant prayers to the unwanted truth through bloodied lips. They lost everything. And yet they still won." The Word Bearers lost EVERYTHING for worshiping the Emperor as a god, and now it the Imperium-wide worship of the Emperor as a god that empowers him, and facilitates the "miracles" he performs.

[@evilmelez]

Bequin in the very first book mistakes someone in the chair with emperor but then she finds it ridiculous that out of all people in imperium he would come to her? that part was highly sus to be honest.

[@hypoluxas]

Primus is going to end up on the golden throne

[@Esodum]

That'd be too crazy. I think Primus will just show himself to be something little below a Captain-General custodes like Valdor or Valoris. Like, something at the cusp of what could be a primarch level being, but that didn't quite got there.

[@RaimoKangasniemi]

@@Esodum Primus seems to have Magnus-connection when it comes to his composition, and beyond Magnus himself there are few candidates beyond Primus to replace Emperor on the throne... but nothing indicates that Primus is (yet) on the level needed.

[@hypoluxas]

Them pushing the magnus connection is what makes me think that. Along with regularly mentioning what a powerful psycher he is. I doubt we will find out anytime soon though. Big sad.

[@khalidrabab5021]

Cool work man

[@kmitch92]

Are the grails the demons that KV killed on the VS, and therefore has the names for?

[@effinjamieTT]

New to 40k, your videos have been great

[@corporealexistence9467]

Valdor embodies the Emperor with all of the forces at his command to cleanse Tera and re-unit both parts of his soul? I am less than a newbie to the lore, but everyone's thoughts make me wonder.

[@simonwilliams4315]

I really have the feeling that the redacted codex that is due out this year is going to be Valdor and his army. Pandemonium will be released sometime in the spring and then at the end of the novel Valdor will come forth into the setting this giving Games workshop a whole new line of models to release ….. just a theory

[@WhiteIkiryo-yt2it]

The thing with Russ is his description of the Wolf Time, as vague as it is, suggest he will be the last loyal Primarch to return...at least of the living Primarchs. As for Cypher, I am guessing he is going to be the one who tells the Lion of the City of Dust and Valdor and I suspect Cipher has been aiding Half of for some time. As for the City of Dust....I am expecting the Thousand Sons will make their way there at some point.

[@jamesespinosa690]

I hope Valdor turns out to be The Emperors son!!

[@arthurdumontiv1989]

That would be cool

[@jamesespinosa690]

Curveball take here. But what if. Big IF. What if, by Valdor becoming the 'King in Yellow', he can 'take the fall' for The Emperor. Think about Dante's vision of someone jumping in the way to save the emperor from a killing blow from who we know/think is Abaddon. We also suspect that Cypher is going to kill The Emperor to unlock his soul or something. So, what I'm saying is. Valdors 'King in Yellow' moniker, is kind of a meme opposite to Abaddons 'The Despoiler' moniker. Knowing how Warp magic works, and how unreliable prophecy is. Now that we have this scene from part 3, we know Valdor understands Chaos' true plan. To plunge the galaxy into never ending war. Now that he understands the 'grand plan', his Custodian instinct will kick in. And he will go what Im going to call 'Golden Batman Mode', and go for a end game win. He may be trying to do what The Emperor does, bend the rules, and amass his own empire. But as I'm listening to this video, its kind of sounding like Valdor may just be going mad. He might be growing into a baddie sadly.

[@johnlucas2838]

Nah, he wouldn't have to go all over Earth to even get him and turn him into a Custodian if he was the Emperor's son. I prescribe to the theory that Constantin Valdor was born a perpetual on Earth no less and that the Emperor foresaw it.

[@jamesespinosa690]

@@johnlucas2838 That's an interesting theory!

[@jamesespinosa690]

@@johnlucas2838 Bro!!! Why not both theories??!?!?!?!?!? :D The Emperors son being a Sensei Perpetual sounds fricking awesome!!! And it also makes a lot of sense!!!

[@jonathanluusuaniemi6322]

They are getting sanguinius back, so they dont mind the torture i bet

[@chestercopperpot8647]

Wait. At the end of the Master Of Mankind, wasn’t The Emperor standing with Ra in a city much like the one they are describing in this book?

[@tylerrobins3390]

What if the vessel is the special child that Saint Celestine gave to the Alpha Legion under the Emperor's order?

[@kabirpica]

Valdor will stab the Emperor with the Spear

[@jamesespinosa690]

On the subject of Bequinn clones filled with Graels.... It makes me think about that chaos assassin one of the word bearers makes by 'possessing' a blank???? I always thought it didn't make sense and was a cannon mistake. But this Bequinn thing squares the circle. I can't for the life of me remember the name of this evil deamon blank assassin or find it on google.

[@SandmanofTerra]

That is a great comparison! Wish I'd thought of that

[@jbw065]

Really cool video. What if Valdor is breeding blanks and merging them with warp entities as it is the first step in creating the Star Child? The body needs to be strong to contain the Emperor’s soul and a possessed blank would have such a body. It also may be that Valdor is using this technology to create the blank/warp entity hybrids as tests to ensure everything is working properly before he uses it on the Emperor’s soul. Ironing out any kinks in the process would be high on his priority list.

[@SandmanofTerra]

I like it and am thinking something similar

[@ScottAT]

The inevitable city’s architecture is unparalleled in human history? Sounds like Dorn might be living there.

[@emergenceproxy]

I think Valdor could have learned about the City of Dust, as well as all of his other arcane knowledge, from a combination of insights from his spear and interrogation of the demons whose names he learned from the spear. Since the warp is timeless, it is possible many demons whom Valdor has killed with his spear over the millennia have been to the city of dust many times, maybe even before it was created from the point of view of the imperium. Imagine a tourist spot where demons go to examine "timeless" aretefacts and exhibits. Many people risk their lives to gain the kind of control over demons Valdor can easily access with his spear and its ability to instantly teach him a demons true name. A demons true name is something most people spend years trying to find for just a low level demon.

[@orestislazanakis4960]

By the way, remember how in the new books *totally forecasting the lore of the subsequent timeline* , the Emperor is identified as Alexander the Great? This is NOT posterboyism, it is a hint. THINK, Alexander's kingdom broke as his *four* generals claimed it as their own, beginning a civil war. "Four" is everywhere in 40k: - "4"0k - 4 Gods of Chaos - 4 C'tan in the good old days of 4th edition (ironic?) So who are these four generals of Alexander in 40k? - Guilliman - Cawl - Valdor - ....Lion????

[@elgingaragegym]

The lore says there are "two" lost primarchs (no records)... Maybe one will soon be found, not because he was ever really lost, but because he was yet to become one (Valdor), and the other existing in obscurity as a twin (Alpharius/Omegon). That completes the 20. The return of Valdor and Alpharius/Omegon

[@eldoriath1]

These Grail-bearers sounds like its gonna be a new unit for custodes, or that they along with bat-shit crazy (but angel winged) blood angels is gonna be iconic units for a completely new army that is supported by something in between imperial guard and pants stealer cult units. They use story to sell models after all, and feels weird to make this build up of a completely new army that is vast in numbers without selling any models related to it.

[@profc9916]

Mate you have got a top shelf lore delivery voice. Have you ever considered a career as an savant lol?

[@SandmanofTerra]

I havent but thank you!

[@AlriikRidesAgain]

The Emperor is Le'Garde confirmed.

[@AxolotlInMC]

The eight arrows of the star were not chosen by GW, they were adopted. The star is a circa 60 years old symbol for the occult practice of chaos magick. The eight arrows it has after the eight world directions, S, N, W, E, and the betweens.

[@DominicMaez]

The day the Emperor died, Constantine cried.

[@daijme]

Also, he is not obsessed with the number 8, what it is are infinity symbols. ♾️

[@davidross7931]

In space wolf lore, when Russ fell to his knees on the banquet table, eyes glassy and his mouth moving wordlessly before issuing orders to his retinue to depart. Could this be valdor summoning Russ to him and a quest using his secret warp name or via telekinesis?

[@peterga3658]

i like this video so much still coming back at it

[@Mark-gt5jt]

I'm thinking many of these thing's such as the 8 pointed chaos banner comes from the Moorcock books. These books would have definitely influenced the people at gw back in day.

[@Osentalka]

Games Workshop chose the Eight Pointed Star because they nicked it from Michael Moorcock like so much of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy. Stormbringer was an incredibly popular book back in the mid-80s.

[@rumorcontrol7873]

Big Brain Time: the Star Child will be born from the geneseed stolen by Bile from Alpha Primus as he tries to perfect "whatever Cawl was trying to do" since that's what he'd do, but it turns out Primus was Cawl's attempt to reverse engineer The Emperor's own body. When the Golden Throne fails the Emperor's soul will seek out the closest thing it could have to a new body and 1234 Bile and who knows who else end up confronted by Big E reborn in full kickass mode.

[@mykelengieza7057]

I hate that Dan hates Jaghatai

[@jonesgregg]

I'm curious if they'll choose to reveal that Alpharius is working with Valdor. It would close a loop from their first meeting and Valdor could benefit from Alpharius' subterfuge abilities. Would also be a great way to re-animate all those Alpha legion marines that are still in stasis.

[@Reddotzebra]

The Inevitable City in 40k kind of sounds like Commoragh, I mean it sits between the Warp and Realspace just like the Webway does. And it has keys just like the Webway does, so maybe Horus got his own little baby Webway pocket?

[@sparkypom2547]

Is Valdor not just trying to recreate the way the emp was origonally created, all the possesed blanks destroyed at the same time