The Extinction Of The Necrons - 40K Theories

[@unbreakablelag]

I imagine a mummified Necrontyr would be the single most valuable thing the Necron race could find. Imagine what Trazen would do to get it.

[@40KTheories]

Funnily enough one is featured in the first Twice Dead King book. I won't say what happens to it though cuz it's a big spoiler lol

[@Atlas2905]

thats also the main kind of idea in "the infinite and Divine" book

[@rustkarl]

I believe the potential of that was one of the driving factors of The Infinite and the Divine yes. A preserved Necrontyr said to be resistant to the genetic damage of their species. Sadly a rather cruel fiction of The Deceiver’s devising.

[@RaimoKangasniemi]

Even dinosaur fossils harbour proteins and scattered amounts of DNA - too little for our biotech to create any Jurassic Park - so that the Necron technology, or that some other advanced species, might be able to do something with mere Necrontyr fossils.

[@redthunderboar1323]

@@rustkarl Spoiler much

[@christopherg2347]

Eldar: "We are almost sterile." Necron: "Hold my Reactor."

[@adurbe]

I think the biggest blocker to the creation of "new necrons" would be their very strict hierarchy upheld by the society. If, say, a human was transfered, they would only be considered worthy of being front line fodder. They would Never be able to become lords or cryptechs. Especially as the current incumbents wouldn't Want to make more rivals to their own power and influence even if they can. A lord would much rather absorb the empire of a fallen lord/rival instead.

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

The Necron's really have come a long way since being "Chaos Androids" haven't they? It's part of what I like about the faction,the in lore and real life changes they've undergone

[@SolvietSoundtrack115]

i like the idea that, that was how they were perceived by the imperium before they discovered there true nature. they started popping up in earnest well after the heresy "Imperial scholars hold that the slaughter of the Sisters of Battle stationed at Sanctuary 101 in 897.M41 represented the first contact between Mankind and the Necrons."

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

​@@SolvietSoundtrack115 I do too! The Imperium assumed they were Chaos related until more and more encounters revealed their true nature...well..as close to that as The Imperium can come

[@chrisbeau76]

I wish the rules interpreted the reanimation protocols, or being able to heal when the bodies sustain critical damage while on the tabletop just as easily as Necron infantry. On the table top why do units containing multiple models get to trigger reanimation protocols right at that very moment, while a necron character has to spend 1CP and then roll a die and hope for a 4+ that brings him back at the end of the phase with only D3 wounds, and even then stratagem restricts character resurrection to Knoebels and Crypteks only. (The real kicker here…I believe there is another faction with a similar stratagem that comes back with more wounds and with a higher chance and 50%).

[@chrisbeau76]

Wasn’t there a recent short story regarding the silent king, after his appearance, had been firmly established that after having taking part in some significant battles somehow his forces grows larger almost as if you have the ability to create additional warriors? I believe it was other dynasties that began to notice this I could be wrong, but I thought I remember reading that.

[@dr.feelgoodmalusphillips2475]

They were still better back in 3rd Edition. The souless evil devoid of conscience beings bent on exterminating all life in the Galaxy to feed their Star Gods. Now, it's "What's Trazyn and Orikan gonna get up with their goofy antics today? Waka Waka!" They've given them too much personality and now they're just a bunch of metallic smug trolls who barely do anything now. Literally they were poised to be the big bad of 9th Edition and that quickly moved focus over to Chaos and now Tyranids again. The Silent King came back and hasn't done fuck all yet. I really think Games Workshop really doesn't know what to do with them. I know it's been done to death but Matt Ward really screwed a lot of legacy of the factions. Especially with that Grey Knights Sister Phiasco and Ultramarines.

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

No Universe for Old Necrontyr

[@canis2020]

You won the comment section.

[@MichaelSplatkins]

Lmfao 🤣 That made my day!

[@vee-bee-a]

Trazyn flips an ancient-as-fuck coin that once belonged to a now extinct civilization from your statement. Heads or tails? It's your call. 💀

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Hehe Guass hose gun Hehe

[@WestSideGorilla1980]

TRYNDO

[@Agenthellion]

The idea of some Necrons putting their pets into the biotransference process makes me smile. I want a Necron Doggo model now

[@40KTheories]

Necrover

[@MichaelSplatkins]

Basically the shards of the C'tan. Gotta catch 'em all.

[@housemana]

@@40KTheories stopppp lol

[@Furzkampfbomber]

I wonder if that would work with plants as well? Ah, the delicious Nec'tarine...

[@royalripper7453]

What if thats the reason behind Spyders looking the way they do

[@muskrat1983]

Great vid Rem, as a necron player, i wouldnt want to see them become flesh again. But the idea of other species going through biotransference is intriguing. It'd be a great way to get some new necron units or variants of current models.

[@davetycho8330]

I have a theory about bio transference in which the process is more than just simply downloading Necrontyr minds into robot bodies, that maybe their minds are somehow fused to the robot bodies, which explains why Necrons go to some much effort to preserve their bodies so much, and are reluctant to modify their bodies too- because the robot bodies, despite being easily repairable, are essentially irreplaceable, and that mental damage the necrons suffer is in relation to the physical damage that they suffer.

[@cookingonthego9422]

Not if you can download them after death.

[@poodlescone9700]

I can see Orikan going back in time to get Necrontyr DNA to bring back and clone new Necrontyr in secret.

[@40KTheories]

Oh yeah, I forgot about his chronomancy bollocks xD

[@xaga8794]

@@40KTheories well to be honest. I think even he is confused about it

[@somebody4399]

In the Infinite and the Divine Orikan states that he has no Intention of returning to Flesh .Instead he wants to become a Being of pure Energy.

[@sebastianpetersen5694]

@@somebody4399 well yes - untill he became a being of pure energy.

[@molybdaen11]

If you can go back in time, why not catch a few healthy individuals for breeding purposes? Surely there are some who would have died without your interbengion so no risk of polluting the time line.

[@bowenorcutt78]

This reminds me, I have a question after hearing about what the Necrons and their technology are capable of in the lore: how in hell do they ever lose?!

[@Matt-md5yt]

Impfighting mostly

[@Paintchk218]

Mostly through attrition/overwhelming firepower. They're tough but not unstoppable. An example is when they allied with the Blood Angels to stop the Nids. But a nuke or something equal in power in their main tomb ,power source or in a vital area can cripple or outright a Tomb World or Necron army within seconds.

[@allster0crowly]

infighting, wait and see tactics, needing flesh/organics for the goal of regaining organic forms themselves, viruses like the flayer virus, control modules that can be overridden by higher necrons, tomb worlds being destroyed before they awake, many necrons still asleep, and ctans/shards still screwing them over to some extent

[@Subject_Keter]

They are strong but for pretty much any foe, just need one good shot to take out them. Also infection and destorying Tomb Worlds. I am sure Nurgle could find a way to take them out.

[@bowenorcutt78]

@@Paintchk218 Okay, but what about that save-scumming thing Trazyn did that one time?

[@codemon1352]

The necrons looks and lore is what made me really dive deep into 40k. I mean who wouldn't want a army of reanimating metal Eddie's pouring out of a futuristic pyramid. Really enjoying learning everything in the 40k universe, well done Rem and thank you

[@warhawk4494]

Now I want a iron maiden album cover with Eddie as a Necron stand on a field of guardsmen corpses.

[@codemon1352]

@@warhawk4494 exactly what I envisioned, spot on.

[@ForageGardener]

Same

[@viewernewest]

Maybe Szarekh has found a method during his exile and that's why he has chosen this era to return?

[@40KTheories]

I know he wants to find a way to reverse/undo the biotransferrence process, which is part of the reason he's so invested in fighting against the Tyranids.

[@CynUnion-ji9uj]

I love the idea of Necron's struggling with either getting their souls back or making souls for New Necrons, meanwhile my boys The Leagues of Votann figured that shit out thanks to the ancestor cores. Stay Humble, Necrons.

[@svagglaorde4387]

Now we wait for the Biotransferred Lost Legion Space Marine Necrons to happen if Trazyn decided to trade one with the Cryptek Necron who is making Pariahs in the next-next editions.

[@encarn]

That thought crossed my mind. Story could be like even though The Emperor wanted all traces erased of those Primarchs, some neural brain matter was found. Or at death the Primarchs released a psychic scream that was somehow used to make a copy of their brain. Or lastly the Primarch was already dealing with the Necrons and their technology thinking it would be a way to better surve his father, which is why they were erased.

[@AnshumanKantiBose]

10:37 I wanna point out that there's a Grey Knight novel where the biggest class of Imperial titan was revealed to have an A.I. piloting it. And that A.I. got corrupted by chaos. I'd say that points pretty decisively to the fact that A.I. can have souls.

[@scratthesquirrel5242]

swords can get corrupted by chaos. do swords have souls? i think the one youre talking about was an ai scared it was going to get killed, so it made a deal with chaos, and got possessed by a demon. its not the same as having a soul. in 40k soul seems to be synonymous with having a psychic presence.

[@Farseer1995]

In the same novel, if I recall correctly, the GK came across an entirely new demonic possession, being a corrupted machine spirit but even more singular. Something like that. So, it doesn't necessarily mean that chaos has to corrupt souls. Just anything that is aware and can make choices.

[@detectivefoxley9912]

Accept the necrons souls were consumed by the C'tan and thus they have no warp pressence to corrupt.

[@NeoDragonCount]

So the Necrons basically becoming Warhammer 40 000's version of the Cybermen from Doctor Who: Abducting other races' members and bio-transferring them into ostensibly Necron fodder forces, thus making them a bigger threat to Imperial worlds with billions upon billions of humans available for transference, as well as making them a bigger pain in the neck for Tyranids with them ostensibly trying to save as many lifeforms from being converted into biomass for their own needs.

[@mugenokami2201]

They might not. Remember just how prideful these guys are?

[@stixinst5791]

Uf that happened imperium of men would willingly submit and go out thinking mechanicus have aomething to show them

[@Matt-md5yt]

You bless us with a great new theory and on the night that is on my Birthday. Glad you did this one my friend

[@40KTheories]

Happy Birthday :)

[@Matt-md5yt]

@@40KTheories thanks bud

[@joakimolsson9376]

The "soul" in 40K seems to be an emergent property, as even machines are regularly recorded as having spirits that can be subject to influences from the sea of souls that is the warp. So maybe the process of biotransference and transfer of Necron souls to new bodies isn't so much a transfer as it is the creation of new souls based on an existing template? It's been my understanding that this is how clones tend to work in the universe: clone Horus and the clone has a new soul all it's own that is similar to the warmaster's.

[@40KTheories]

In regards to human technology at least, the reason as to why they at least can have souls seems to be due to the fact that many pieces of human tech (typically larger, more complex machines such as tanks, titans, starships etc) incorporating at least some form of biological component within the construction. The very existence of the Pariah Gene also heavily implies that souls themselves are created through some sort of unknown biological process.

[@darkhighwayman1757]

Aren't machine spirits actually AI?

[@robertnelson9599]

I guess the Necrons could be considered extinct in the wild.

[@Snakedude4life]

Would not be surprised if Mr. Infinite happened to have a few individuals in captivity.

[@empireempire3545]

Well as a biologist i dont see a reason why Necrons couldnt just grow new flesh and blood Necrontyr in the lab. We are not far from it in the present day - i'd say next 100 years tops. The biggest challenge is the artificial womb and making the egg cell from scratch. After that the process basically goes on its own. I mean they didnt loose their genome sequence databanks, did they? Because THAT would be a massive, colossal failure on their side on the scale beyond stupid.

[@david8FCB]

Great video man, always good to hear your voice again!!

[@MSte21]

I knew GW had brought the Squats back, but I didn't know the details. Fascinating that they're capable of such advanced gene-tech. As noted in the video, souls are not necessary for sapience; they are purely a connection to the Immaterium. I imagine DNA would serve much the same purpose, if the Necrons could ever find and properly culture intact Necrontyr DNA, to produce artificially created organic Necrons, which may well spontaneously develop souls (We don't know how souls form in the first place, do we?). The idea of Xeno-Necrons is fascinating though. I can imagine figures like Belisarius Cawl or some Heretek being deeply interested in the possibilities. The perfect merging of Man and Machine...

[@leosciotti1389]

I've heard somewhere that pariahs have something that could be defined as a "negative soul"; like a mirrored version of it, just like antimatter is a mirror to normal matter....

[@SgtThiel]

I still think that "blanks not having souls" is either an insult or a misunderstanding and that they do have a soul of sorts.

[@chrissyclark7836]

Great point. I dont think they are absent of souls, they have a type of anti-soul. A natural evolution of humanity to counter the growing human psykers. There also been people born with the ability to annihilate chaos demons at distance.

[@MrAbraxus666]

You know, this video made me so happy hearing the passion in Rem's voice. Love you big guy!

[@michaelpetlicke]

Thanks!

[@Vandelberger]

Excellent to have you back!

[@AVoxintheVoid]

Hey chaps! Just leaving a message to reach out and offer my services if you ever need any further voice actors for projects. Would be a honour! Vox

[@T3nch1]

Just so everyone is aware. Pariahs and the 3rd edition Necron codex are from 2002 and Pariahs were present in the 2006 Dawn of War Dark Crusade game by THQ. The sole purpose of their existence was to give the Necrons an anti psyker option since they didn't have one at the time but mechanically(and narratively) they were replaced with Noctilith and quietly sunset. The bigger issue no one talks about is the how most GW writers have no idea what the Flayer Virus is and does to a Necron. If any of the current writers did, then Flayed ones and Valgul would be much MUCH more important, especially to the Sautekh dynasty.

[@40KTheories]

In terms of the Flayer Virus and Valgul, I recommend you check out the recent novel "Twice Dead King: Reign" if you haven't done so. It goes into wonderful detail about both subjects.

[@BohdanKaiba]

Glad to have to back, this is an awesome video!

[@Demigodish4o3]

In one of the recent White Dwarfs, Illuminor gets his hands on an entire prison full of human blanks.

[@40KTheories]

Do you know which issue, specifically?

[@Demigodish4o3]

@40K Theories Yes sir! Issue 483, page 91. The issue has lore regarding the recent activities of a lot of necron characters.

[@40KTheories]

Thank you

[@SwedetasticGames]

This is actually a very interesting conundrum on the question of post-humanism and AI life. Regardless of mode of transfer of the data, there will always be some tiny amount of 'packet loss'. Over time this would be akin to the way our own bodies age, where each copy of our DNA strands into a new cell to replace the old burned out one, starts containing more and more minute errors. How natural life solves this is the cycle or Gene Mixing in recreation (and sometimes assimilations of virus RNA and half-broken bacterial DNA strands). For post-humanism the easiest fix for this would be to have a biological population remain, where when they come of age, can opt anytime to have thier brain scanned and copied into a new mechanical shell, and then body put down if so choosing. For artificiall life, building and coding a new form of itself would be a much more conscious process of creation, than the ~800m odd years of natural evolution has taken us to where, other than the act of participating in intercourse, our brains next to entirely disconnected from the creation process of new life and it's growth. The closest you could potentially get is AI life made up of cell-sized nanomachines with as limited communication directives as our normal cells, to form an artificiall multi-cellular lifeform. But that would also throw away all the advantages an artificiall lifeform would have over a basic biological one.

[@radomircita9420]

If Trazyn did manage to catch Ghaz and Yarrick into his pokeballs and subjected them to biotransferrence! Best 40k sitcom material ever!

[@mugenokami2201]

That’s one way to make all of 40k fandom hate you

[@sigmar4564]

Great Video 🙂

[@BadandMadMartin]

Seem to be forgetting that the Necrons were nearly entirely automatons under the Silent King / C'Tan's control after biotransference until the Silent King gave them their memories/emotions/souls/consciousness back.

[@akumaking1]

Would it be possible transfer a Necron consciousness into a modified/cybernetic organism with a specialized nervous system?

[@encarn]

This video just made my mind jump to a cool army conversion. Let's say the Necron captured a high ranking Imperial Guard leader or leaders. Then use their tech of making copies of personality Ingram's, copy that leaders mind, with slight tweaks, and place it into a Lords body. Making him see other necrons as human imperial guardsmen, and leading them into battle. Kind of like how the Ghouls in AOS think they're a Knightley order. But then that might make them to much like the Borg.

[@Makorze]

The Necron's main hope is to return to flesh BUT they do not want to be as weak and frail as they were. Humanity is currently a potential solution to the problem because compared to every other race (besides the Tyranids) they are the most biologically malliable. They aren't intensely physic like the Eldar. They can exist while augmented with machinery so the Necrons can still interface with their technology. They can be enhanced into super-human states (Astartes and the various Assassins) The Space Marines alone literally have 2 of the things the Necrontyr sought the most... a way to increase life span and protection from all sources of Radiation (which most Astartes are or at the very least can out-heal the damage)

[@r.cdahuman7682]

Hell yeah, been looking forward to the new cron video! I hope you are doing well Rem, psych(er)ed for the vid!

[@dimensionalchaos8422]

Here's a theory for you: The necron souls were eaten by the ctahn. The Necrons, for the most part, have the ctahn in their possession. Therefore they might be able to extract whatever remains of their souls from the ctahn, enrich it with warp energy, then place them back within their metal bodies. I always thought that this was a very simple solution, and wondered why nobody ever considered this as a viable option. Perhaps the ctahn, when fashioning the necron's bodies, made it so that they would not figure out this method or never find the right solution on their own. However, they would then be susceptible to chaos, and as such would have to be very careful when figuring out how to re-attach their souls. Perhaps by binding it to what remains of their consciousnesses?

[@michaelhowell2326]

Can "dead" Necrons be forged into other weapons like swords or bolters by there other races?

[@Telamont]

I could be mistaken but I was under the impression that part of the the process to convert them into necrons was the removal of their soul which the C'tan devoured as it left the forges?

[@40KTheories]

Check the video we link in the top right corner at the 8:00 mark :3

[@solaraura8278]

Wow! An interesting theory. I will certainly ponder this one

[@claymore2of9]

so if the necrons got their hands onto Ferrus Manus's head they could create something interesting

[@milekhh]

In Dark Crusade there was Pariah that was telling humans to join Necrons and become like him.

[@Snakedude4life]

The Species may be functionally extinct. Although, I wouldn’t put it past Mr. Infinite to have a few individuals in “captivity.” Imagine if they put a tyrannosaurus through the biotransference process. Now that would be one heck of a model. 🎩 🐍 no step on Snek! 🇺🇸🇭🇰

[@40KTheories]

Tyrannonecron

[@flavortown3781]

I always seem to bump into you places

[@fixedG]

Be interesting if Vashtorr succeeds, becomes elevated to the 5th Chaos God and forms a pact with Necrons to forge new souls, engrams, bodies, whatever. None of it should necessarily be beyond a Chaos God of invention who makes demon engines on the daily and rules the Forge of Souls.

[@daniellandon6811]

His model kinda looks like a necron, too. At least the head sculpt

[@117Haseo]

Having read Twice Dead King Reign/Ruin it put a spotlight on just how bad some parts of the old Necron empire have gotten.

[@Farseer1995]

Apart from the paraiahs... Do we even have any examples of biotransference after the great sleep? I always thought that once the biotransference was complete and the deep sleep enacted, no new necrons were made.

[@ilolalotlol]

Necrons using other species, Thank the Emperor they're not using Orks. Imagine a living-metal-fungal Ork experiment got out of hand?

[@Deridus]

Ave, Orkissiah.

[@weldonwin]

"As Blanks prove, it is not necessary to have a soul in order to have a personality" Now, there's no need to talk about Gingers that way!

[@Zeosinclair]

Aren't the majority of necrons closer to automatons than individuals? If that's the case then they could realistically use biotransferance on another race to improve the numbers of their more common troops at least. Or it's possible there are some descendants of the original necrontyr hiding somewhere in the galaxy. This idea is a bit more out there but if that's the case and they're discovered by the necrons it could be possible to use them as a template to create more beings of that nature and in essence farm new sources of necrontyr. Trayzyn is familiar with geneseed so perhaps something could be created to convert other species through genetic engineering or (perhaps more simply) through cloning

[@slowking2088]

I personally don't really know about this, Necrons are very strict so wouldn't like other races to be "necrons" and they also don't like the "fake" necrons so it's a hard one for them. They are in some ways similar to the Chaos Space marines who now struggle to create new Marines because of the curpited gene seed of thier legions

[@squidlipssupreme168]

Great narration. Screw the necrons! They're Dix

[@birthday_Jake]

Ah, how I've missed your work ❤

[@matthewrummler1854]

You didn't think about the other way necrons could keep themselves from going extinct, they could essentially do bio transference in reverse with a bunch of human or other xenos slaves transferring there consosniess into the aline body and making them mortal again

[@dracorex426]

I mean, an easier way to replenish their ranks would be to find the tombs containing Necrons who weren't woken up and, you know, wake them up. Also, they may be able to recover some of the "dead" Necrons by recovering their remains or repairing their facilities, and they could certainly forestall their extinction by evacuating tomb worlds without fully functional resurrection systems. More interesting question: With the C'Tan gone, would biotransferance now produce a "Necron" with a fully intact soul?

[@MSte21]

Yeah, but ultimately there are a finite number of sleeping Necrons. And the resurrection system will always be subject to entropy. Without true reproduction, Necrons can't grow as a species.

[@davetycho8330]

C’Tan never ate souls. They feasted on life force of living beings. The point of bio transference was to get the Necrons to transfer their minds into robot bodies as so the C’Tan can eat the mindless Necrontyr bodies without losing any of their followers. Edit: the soul was never connected to the minds of the Necrons, at least in what’s mentioned about bio transference, so the souls were still in the mindless bodies that the Necrons left behind.

[@chenli9778]

The bigger problem was, would a race as arrogant as Necron ever consider these options?

[@40KTheories]

I imagine it depends on individual Overlords and Phaerons.

[@Aarseth421]

​I'd imagine some Necrons would prefer staying as they are in strong, powerful Necrodermis bodies instead of transferring back to weak, disgusting flesh sacks. Ewww.

[@davetycho8330]

It is mentioned in some of the codexes that the objective of some necrons lords is to biologically rebuild their race and bio transfer their minds into new flesh bodies.

[@ltcinsane]

Part of me has always wondered if some canny Necrontyr didn't maybe hide a genetic bank so that they could be cloned .. since i would think this wouldn't be beyond their technology.

[@ltcinsane]

Basically create what the squats do & create genetically altered clones of their former biological forms and i would assume the squats & votann do not create souls as i suspect souls are just born from new born sentient beings and the squats / votann merely modify whether the new born being's soul shines brighter or not depending on thier intended role.

[@axelNodvon2047]

I had this thought for ages, just a plot hole from good old GW

[@axelNodvon2047]

In warhammer fantasy, the inspiration for the necrons the tomb kings still have one single city with living people (Numas).

[@eddiegrathwohl624]

Ohhh if only the Oracle could have foreseen the demise of all those tomb worlds lol

[@mukingdom]

3:00 you forgot to mention that some necrons stasis chambers failed and they were concious thoughout the great sleep, but unable to move or do anything. So some necrons just straight up went insane. 5:25 a) weren't pariahs retconed to have never existed, b) when pariahs existed, they didn't undergo full biotransference. They got bodies from necrodermis, but they also still had some of internal organs to allow them to function. So they weren't full on necrons- destroy the body and the pariah is gone

[@jakehinton732]

What about...... "Nid-crons"??! ..... Yea, that's fucking terrifying, I'll see myself out!

[@dark7element]

The way I see it, even if the number of necrons is theoretically decreasing over time, since new ones can't be created and those with no tomb-world in phasing range (or whose tomb world was destroyed) are permanently lost if they're destroyed, as well as the sentient intelligences they rely on for leadership being whittled away for attrition... it doesn't really matter. The currently active necrons are just the tip of the iceberg. If all of them were to awaken at once, there would be more than enough necrons to overwhelm every species at once. Even the Chaos Gods themselves would be in deep shit, thanks to the power of noctilith.

[@ditmarvanbelle1061]

I think you're forgetting Chronomancy. They can fetch their number from whatever time they choose. Rules do not apply to the Necron. I also think they're in a "forever awakening" state precisely because time does not matter to them. If they would choose to be anything else than they are now, they already would be that for all eternity. Such is their lot.

[@40KTheories]

The problem with using Chronomancy in this regard is potentially causing damage to the space-time continuum, and that by removing Necrons from certain places in the ancient past it could change the future for their race as a whole. It's fair to assume most Necrons wouldn't risk such an option unless they literally had no choice left. On a similar note you could also ask that since Szarekh wants to completely undo the Biotransferrence Process, why doesn't he go back in time and stop it from happening in the first place?

[@ditmarvanbelle1061]

@@40KTheories That's the whole point: they're stagnant. Eternal, but forever unchanging. Because everything they would have done at any point in time they already have done; basically they're just going through the motions but their entire hand has already been played. Well .... that's my theory of course. When all time altering shennanigans is taken into account, what you end up with is ... exactly what we see. It's headcanon of course, but I feel it suits the race perfectly: soulless grinding towards nothing at all, trapped in their own immortality.

[@chrissyclark7836]

Also if i remember, all their memories regarding their pysical forms was erased so the necrons could never rebuild their species. They wouldn't know their own species if they saw them. (Hint. Its humanity)

[@MagicHamsta]

Since even dogs can become Necrons, nothing is stopping the Necrons from taking other sentients and turning them into new Necrons via biotransference? Then as long as they can make and maintain their stuff they won't go extinct.

[@stephen19590]

Actually there was a unit that could talk that were supposed to be fresh necrons made from human souls

[@scorpioncoreuniverse8981]

That gives me a lot to think about I like where you're going with this.

[@patrickswayze3086]

Imhotek the stormlord and his canoptek corgi

[@SenHai]

I think it's silly that a Race as advanced as the Necrons can't just create AI that are just as good if not better than original engrams. I think Necrons that are even more calculating and efficient would be scarier as they would fall to the foibles of Necrons with flawed personalities.

[@crystalcortexx]

Never stop theorising!! 🙏💯

[@eclipseslayer98]

If the Necrons decided to appropriate Krieg's methods, they could do great things with it.

[@GoEatATowel]

The stink of the crons

[@GurenPlasma]

The stink of a used towel

[@RobouteGuilliman-M41]

It makes no sense for them to want to become robots with souls, as opposed to spend more resources in trying to transfer their "minds" (if that's what they think they still have) into living bodies, such as that of a T'au, or even a Squat or Aeldari.

[@darkhighwayman1757]

Hmmm ... I wonder if Ferrus Manus' arms were actually necrodermis and could they repair his body eventually? Or teleport them away to rebuilt over time. Where would it go?

[@KillTeamHungary]

During their transference to their new bodies, the Cathan feasted on the souls of the Necrontyr. So I don't know from where this notion of "they still have a soul" comes from. They dont. Its in the lore.

[@40KTheories]

The whole "C'tan devoured the souls of the Necrontyr" thing has only been out-and-out stated since the 9th edition codex. Previous codecies mentioned that the C'tan devoured their "lifeforce", with the 3rd edition one in particular even outright stating (both in the background lore and in the included short story "Visions of a Sleeping God") that the C'tan only feasted on the discarded bodies of the Necrontyr and let their souls drift aimlessly into the warp. There's also the fact that the 7th and 8th edition codecies allude to the presence or "residue" of a soul within Necron shells and stuff like that. It's why at around the 8:00 mark we put an in-video card in the top right corner of the screen, so people can check out the whole video we did on that subject. :)

[@Dryzark]

Hey cool, a new member of the 40K community. Welcome! 😊 Just so you know - Games Workshop are a notoriously inconsistent company, and just because something is in the lore doesn’t mean the exact opposite isn’t also to be found somewhere canonical - be it a codex, novel, or wherever else. You mention the C’tan “feasting” on their souls. It is a matter for debate whether that was intended in a literal or figurative sense. Souls are believed to exist in the Warp - and the C’tan are noted for their inability to understand the Warp. It is also hinted that they cannot survive in it. Thus, them literally consuming something that only exists there is… improbable. One argument in favour of Necrons in fact having souls would be the Necron known as the Phasing Sword. It fell victim to Lucius the Eternal’s unique ability to effectively possess and become any that kills him - and it isn’t clear whether such a Warp-based power could affect someone truly soulless. There’s lots of reasons to think Necrons don’t have souls. There’s just also lots of reasons to think they do. Whether it’s intentional or a matter of incompetence, that’s just how things are with GW.

[@rustkarl]

Or to possibly revert the Biotransference as has been implied by Szarekh.

[@40KTheories]

True, but that would simply make revert the Necrons back to Necrontyr rather than making new Necrons.

[@rustkarl]

@@40KTheories I mean yes, but that’s kind of splitting hairs. Semantically speaking they are essentially the same species pre and post cyber-metamorphosis.

[@alexd1139]

You will never be a real necron

[@NarFlux]

Trazyn always talked about returning to the Flesh Times, with some connection to or use of humans. New Souls would obviously be a result of that.

[@rosalbafuda447]

Remember on their Tombs there's the ancient warning: "I'll Be Back"

[@Ironfrenzy217]

That would be quite cool. Capturing enemies enemies to biotranfer. Perhaps like the forerunner they could weaponize it.

[@anthonybrown9875]

will their be any thunder warrior fanfiction stories and 40k homebrew thunder warriors chapters.

[@40KTheories]

If people submit Thunder Warrior homebrews I'm sure they'll get featured on Homebrew of the Week at some point.

[@anthonybrown9875]

@@40KTheories I really hope that some day some one will make some thunder warriors homebrew 40k chapters some day.

[@oldeskul]

This brings up an interesting question. I know it's at least partially unrelated to the video. Because the C'tan consumed the souls of the Necrontyr as they went through the process of biotransference, would the C'tan, including their shards, have a presence in the warp and could a powerful/skilled enough psyker be able to pull the Necrontyr souls out of the C'tan shards and return them to the Necrons, or would their souls be too fragmented to be of any meaningful use?

[@40KTheories]

Maybe? C'tan lore in general is all kinds of... well, it's a mess tbh lol

[@stephen19590]

So you keep last nights chicken dinner inside you for millions of years?

[@MSte21]

My personal headcanon (subject to obliteration by GW retcon/revelation at any moment...) is that the C'tan don't retain the integrity of what they consume; they are subject to Materium physics and anything they eat is, well, digested. C'tan are the Material antithesis to Chaos. Unlike the Chaos Gods, who live in the Immateirum, and can have all sorts of Warp bullshit to explain away how things they 'eat' still have any coherent form after millenia.

[@davetycho8330]

It was expressly mentioned in the 3rd edition Necron codex that C’Tan only ate the life force of living beings, not souls. The souls were basically discarded.

[@DaneInTheUS]

I see Necron content. I click. Simple as that.

[@vee-bee-a]

Other species being Necron'd?! By Curze, imagine Orkrons, Aeldarcrons, T'aucrons...

[@deadbeat4542]

could you imagine a warband of Necron Orks? storing and cultivating the spores wouldn't be hard and they would likely be powerful warriors.

[@chenli9778]

How the hell that can be stopped...

[@40KTheories]

To quote Dr Hibbert: "Fire. And lots of it."

[@OtaOpz]

"use a gun. an if that don't work, use MORE gun"

[@christopherg2347]

@@chenli9778 "Kill it with fire before it lays spores!"

[@molybdaen11]

I think not even the necrons would risk a conflict with Gork and Mork.

[@unkleturpis9253]

Trazyn likely already has the tech in his labyrinth.

[@Momao92]

Lion wake up! Remz has uploaded a new video!!

[@octavius32a64]

G8 vid good to hear you well!

[@LordDreggar]

Wow. If I didn’t know better, it’s almost sounds like big E’s primarch project was messing around with bio furnace dabbling😊project

[@UGNAvalon]

Take a page from Star Trek: Use the phaseout transport technology to “clone” a consciousness into a new body, even when the original has not yet been damaged.

[@kerlyenai]

You've made me reflect on something I shoudl have thought of way before. How are Necrons so numerousto start with? Weren't their race weak and vulnerable and their numbers small when they encountered theC'tan? Did I perhaps miss something in the lore? I know Necron lore has seen drastic changes over the years and some jarring retcons have happened. Nevertheless, the existence of Pariahs is something I hope they bring back. It brings the added fear of being forever bonded in servitude to terrifying "robotic" undead.

[@stixinst5791]

Imo the Necron is a nationality and not a species. Back in the days the old ones did not only anger necrontyr, but also many other races in the galaxy. Necrons then united the galaxy and led a rebelion against old ones. As the biotransferance can be done on anything with a soul and necrons had no free will there was basically no rist at transfering anyone and anything they came across

[@Icspiders247]

Couldn't the Necrons just store their personalities to hard drives and just save scum so that way if their body is destroyed, a new body is created with the most recent data?

[@40KTheories]

Possibly, but there's also the risk of being unable to copy that over to new bodies, like with how a lot of Tomb Complexes are experiencing right now.

[@Icspiders247]

@40K Theories You make a good point. I just feel like that with the technology to transfer consciousness between bodies should they be damaged must just as easily be able to store them if their bodies can do it.

[@Vandelberger]

Funny enough, I am reading a book about a man who’s brain was scanned into a computer, who’s family later put into an ever growing computer, thus giving his soul or consciousness in a place to create and bend to his will. Other beings are being uploaded into this computer. It’s called “Fall or Dodge in Hell”.

[@captainteutonica5474]

Old Necrons don't die, they just fade away.

[@Perkustin]

Isn't it the/a Goal of the (smart) Necrons to rescue/restore the minds of their degenerated brothers? I am pretty certain this was well established at the Codex level, not hidden in some novel, and one of the few good things about the lore changes in 5th edition, giving the Necrons an understandable goal. I don't think they actually care about extinction per se, they just want their entire existing population fully restored. It's also pretty cool as it turns the Necrons into a more morally grey faction, they just want to free their race's minds from eternal slavery and let them enjoy the immortality they were promised (or possibly choose to die). Now of course there are likely Evil Necron Lords who like having legions of slaves and that their class structure forever set in stone etc but it opens the way for 'Good' Necrons.

[@jondw]

I wonder if it would be possible to copy 2 necron's engrams and, for lack of better term, mix them together to make a new necron as a digital facsimile of genetic reproduction

[@molybdaen11]

This gives „cyber sex” a whole new meaning.

[@amenhotekhthephasedscythe]

I guess they could use artificial intelligences to make Warriors since they can only defend if not ordered around, maybe even Immortals since Spyders have AIs about as ressourceful as them

[@davidcauley9400]

"Superficially resemble skelet.... I mean a mashup of the Terminator and Cylons, because Games Workshop"

[@awesomehpt8938]

As a loyal citizen of the imperium the prospect of these foul Xenos going extinct fills me with joy

[@Nalebranc]

Interesting to know that the descendants of the Men of Stone might hold the key to artificially creating intelligences/souls. That’s how the Men of Iron came to be.

[@Uncommoner]

Imagine the Necron find a group of Men of Iron or Steel and manage to duplicate their machine spirits...