Unsolved Mysteries Of Warhammer 40K With Author Dan Abnett | Ars Technica

Today Ars Technica is joined by acclaimed author Dan Abnett to answer an army of questions about the epic Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Thank you to the /r/40kLore and /r/Warhammer40K subreddits for providing questions.
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Unsolved Mysteries Of Warhammer 40K With Author Dan Abnett | Ars Technica

[@Fatman311]

Learning that the Horus Heresy came into being because there wasn't enough moulds available to make different armies for the original Titanicus model game is hilarious.

[@IamLertimo]

Dan's memory appears to be deceiving him slightly there. I was a schoolkid already playing W40k when Titanicus came out in 1988. Rogue Trader, the 1st edition of WH40k, came out a year earlier and already included the basic Horus v The Emperor storyline (it names 'Horus' as the Emperor's greatest general, there's no primarchs then, that concept came along much later. GW wasn't yet obsessed with making characters stupidly big to emphasise their importance). The story about the Titanicus game only having one set of moulds is true though, which is why they picked up the 'Horus Heresy' concept from the first rulebook, and expanded on it. So what Dan is saying about the way these concepts get developed over time is still obviously 100% correct.

[@redenginner]

I think there was some sort of basic info about some sort of Imperial civil war in the past that lead to chaos marines being a thing,since CSM had been an army.

[@andilucas6926]

@@IamLertimo White Dwarf 99 (March 1988) has the very first bit of lore introducing chaos to 40K, as part of a preview of 'Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness'. It briefly describes the 'Inter-Legionary Wars' of the 31st Millennium between the Emperor and Warmaster Horus, "the most trusted of all the Emperor's servants". It states that the 'Treacher Legions' fled into the Eye of Terror and became mutated monsters. Although "extinct for millennia" they have "spawned legions of imitators" known as Chaos Renegades, who raid the Imperium whenever the warp-storms abate enough to allow it. This background had been retconned by the time the book actually came out, with the Traitor Legions still in existence. The first we heard of Adeptus Titanicus was in White Dwarf 107 (November 1988). Both it and Realm of Chaos were probably under development at the same time, though Realm of Chaos had notoriously been in development hell (appropriate) for much, much longer... since before 40K was a thing, in fact!

[@IamLertimo]

@@andilucas6926 I don't disbelieve you, I can vaguely recall reading those issues. Yet, I have my old copy of Rogue Trader open in front of me right now, and there's a double spread of the Emperor fighting Horus on his flagship, the whole story is here in it's essentials. So, it was there, a bit underdeveloped, but it was there. As you say it's a bit hard to know exactly what came first because both games would have been in development long before that, but I'm inclined to believe it was the main W40k game, given it came out an entire year earlier.

[@tomalexander4327]

It's a very British solution.

[@SerynZatos]

"Slaanesh, I like my weekends what can I say" great line right there.

[@megamangos7408]

He definitely knows how to throw a party!

[@isaacjones748]

What a lad

[@HenchmenNo616]

* inhales deeply * Truly a man of culture

[@jacobhamilton2473]

I read this right as he was saying it. Damn Tzeentch.

[@evillead1989]

You see all the gold rings? My man is out doing something on the wekeend

[@sportyeight7769]

"the emperor is dying and reincarnating over and over again to keep the throne going" Custodes slapes the roof of the throne*. That baby runs at 40k rpm and can produce enough energy for the whole immaterium

[@thefidgetspinnerofdoom]

With a terrible gas mileage of 42 psykers per hour, they ought to slap on a catalytic converter or something on it

[@Technoanima]

@@thefidgetspinnerofdoom Considering the entire human civilisation would go dark AGAIN if the light of The Emperor went out AND the Tyranid threat essentially guaranteeing the extinction of human civilisation. 42 psyker lives per hour is cheap.

[@sportyeight7769]

@@Technoanima do you think we can make the daddy E run lean?

[@snakeyman5560]

Oh my Emperor that's actually even more grimdark than anything else I've ever heard of.

[@yourneighbor6152]

the next crusade will be on Mars, to acquire their wealth of OmniCoin-mining graphics cards held deep in the Vaults of Moravec.

[@octaviusquentin3146]

Dan Abnett writing, Toby Longworth narrating...... Heaven

[@maxstr]

Not Mark Elstob narrating? Wait until Biggus Dikus hears of this!

[@autumnhannah2368]

Johnathan Keeble as well him and Toby sound very similar.

[@X3105i]

Me waiting for new audio books

[@swabilius]

Amen

[@Falpastymonster]

Amen!

[@AntonAdelson]

"This is a huge and unknowlable universe" YES! He gets it!

[@LordGrantius]

Well, he did write 37 books for the Heresy and 40k

[@specialingu]

i also figure it might be handy insurance for bad times... releasing the missing legions and primarchs would be huge for sales i would think ?

[@NATESOR]

I was doing a robert redford nod when he said he thinks the missing primarchs should stay a mystery.

[@Mrtango981]

Yeah, I absolutely love that he gets it. Sometimes saying less just adds so much. It creates an illusion of forgotten knowledge beyond that which has been stated, and adds the illusion of the great age of this fictional world.

[@alecgleason]

I mean yeah. He and the rest of the authors "get it" more than anyone here. That's why they get to write the books.

[@saltyshackles5227]

"I chose the Alpha Legion because I didn't know much about them"... 😂🤣😂🤣

[@l.a.wright6912]

life imitates art eh?

[@60sSam]

Nobody really does, so that's fair.

[@Overdoseplus]

Hey, that's the same reason I'm an Alpha Legion fan. (spoilers: I still don't know much about them)

[@Anonarchist]

"Who is your favorite Primarch?" Dorn: *Yes.*

[@garysuarez9614]

Yeeeesss...

[@Imblu95]

I would have loved if some one would have asked him about the animations fans are doing, and specially Alfabusas hilarious takes on the story and ROGAL!

[@bigneto95]

wait wait wait, there is someone inside GW with a job called Loremaster?

[@anungunrama9344]

There are lore masters in lore too

[@TiboFPS]

A lot of companies that cover a large universe have the position of “LoreKeeper” who anyone in the company can go to with story ideas or suggestions and that person can then say yes or no and why. In terms of some famous ones: Critical Role- Dani Carr Star Wars- Dave Filoni I forgot the name for the guy at WoW

[@SMScorx89]

@@TiboFPS Dave Filoni is not the loremaster in Lucasfilm. That was Leland Chee. As for Games Workshop, Alan Bleigh was the closest to a loremaster. Sadly, he passed away in 2017.

[@badfoody]

Lore is a brand You need a Loremaster

[@somethinglikethat2176]

I'm guessing some are better than others.

[@Nordkiinach]

_"...reaction to Thatcher's Britain"_ LMAO BASED.

[@SenisterDenister]

Ghazghkull's full name is a parody of her name. Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka.

[@seanocd]

This used to be basic knowledge for 40k "fans". It still blows my mind that there are so many reactionary right wing types who think 40k is theirs to protect from "da antifa sjws what dat iz tryna knick it!"

[@user-tg3or4hl7d]

@@jl5799 yeh the writing has really been on the edge of that blade of parody, where it can either glorify or mock things based on who's reading it. For example I read a short story about the Krieg indoctrinating and abusing men and children for these meat-grinder wars. To the right it reads like honor for country and the glory of death. It is sad to see nationalism come back in such a large force.

[@shryke2a]

I really love that he doesn't shy away from the fact that this lore, when it comes down to it, was created for a wargame, and that it still is its main purpose. The reason I quote when I talk to people who have very big ideas about the lost legion is "Truth is they are here for you to create your own lore, so you can make plastic models that are really only your own".

[@Em90000l]

Yeah, a growing portion of the fanbade is only interested in the lore, primarily through KZbin videos and memes (which is absolutely fine) but they do tend to treat the lore in a very different way to people who play/ collect minis.

[@William-Morey-Baker]

@@Em90000l probably because it's more interesting than the game is... and free... But yeah, you aren't wrong... To someone who doesn't play the game, It feels as though GW neglects the lore in favor of selling models when they could be profiting more off of the media side of things if they were willing to clean up the lore a bit and make it somewhat consistent

[@tripod222]

@@William-Morey-Baker I'd argue that it's lack of consistency is not only one of its greatest strengths - because any fictional universe will run into contradictions - and also it's biggest draw. You can have any situation looked at from every possible angle. Is the Imperium the good guys? God(Emperor) no! And yet also yes. Are the traitor legions traitors, or did they choose freedom and refused to be used by an uncaring authority as meat for the grinder? How does a human live in this universe? Badly? Yes, probably, BUT there are also so many different lives led in so many different settings, from being a feral on a death world, to being a member of a middle class in Ultramar, you know, with wife, kids and a mortgage, to a Mass Effect "Commander Shepard" style Space Ranger in the outer reaches to a drug dealer in the Necromunda underhive to a peasant on a medieval world to a T'Au human auxiliary. No matter what facet of the 7 stories we tell as humans you want to tell, you can tell them in this universe, in whatever context you wish. And yet, it has to be said that there is a lot of consistent lore, as opposed to say StarWars (e.g. the discontinued extended universe) that was honestly a complete clusterf*** lorewise, with every author representing very specific aspects very differently, e.g. what does a Star Destroyer do, and how much 'damage' does a blaster do, etc.. These are very obvious basics that even people only passingly familiar with the universe will find weird. See "Old Leia" being dead in space and suddenly reawakening and flying through space. Compare that to the explanation we get from Yoda in the middle of the only three good Star Wars movies we ever got.

[@teagancombest6049]

@@William-Morey-Baker no I think selling plastic that costs $0.01/lb for $10/oz is actually making them enough money.

[@isaachenry3739]

@@teagancombest6049 yet somehow it keeps rising in cost 😅😓

[@rodneysandersii6997]

Chapter Master Valrek is smiling in his hospital bed now. Knowing Dan Abnett said Dorn was his favorite Primarch

[@christopherozouf]

Is something wrong with Valrek?

[@IustitiaOmnibus15]

@@christopherozouf he was in an accident and has a few broken bones. Seems to be in good spirits.

[@christopherozouf]

@@IustitiaOmnibus15 Thanks. Glad its nothing more serious.

[@IustitiaOmnibus15]

@@christopherozouf Well I think he’s going to be in the hospital for a full month and maybe need surgery. I’ve just been following his discord post. People tried to start a gofundme for him and he had to remind them UK healthcare is free lol.

[@Gunship888]

@@IustitiaOmnibus15 must be nice having free healthcare, damn. Greetings from 3rd world America...

[@Zac_95]

His description of the Throne Room is so great. Love how he layered it in The End and The Death.

[@Deckaio]

I did not expect to see Dan here. He created some of my most favourite characters in the 40k univers. The only one coming close to his characters, is Ciaphas Cain (Hero of the Imperium). I wish to shake his hand someday and thank him for his work.

[@marcmurphy8205]

I managed to meet him and Graham McNeill at a book signing in London. 2 of my favourite authors and both were very nice blokes too. Gems of the 40k novel universe.

[@alihart7849]

He signed Prospero Burns for me at the store in Nottingham, he was a proper gent

[@zachaustin-humphries7029]

He signed my copy of Horus Rising and posed for a pic, met tens of warhammer authors at a book signing event and as nice as every one was (special shout out to Guy Haley), but Dan was by far the nicest, even had a ciggy with me, top gent

[@donshipman8441]

God I love how 40k basically writes itself in many ways. These writers just let the story unfold! I am obsessed with this story!

[@TheAverlorn]

Dan Abnett is such a blessing, with fan-base universes being twisted and mutated over time for the worse. I'm so glad he is around in this verse.

[@breckenridgelong7692]

The leftist cult will ruin it eventually.

[@TheAverlorn]

@@breckenridgelong7692 They have to not hire any one with that agenda in mind and not bend the knee. That's what has ruined a lot of companies, they either give in to the fast money grab and turncoat or hire people into administrative roles with hidden SJW identities and they turn companies inside and out when the time is right.

[@OlviMasta77]

What are we supposed to do to the mutant, the heretic, the xenos again??

[@99Plastics]

@@breckenridgelong7692 You do realize literally everyone who writes for GW and original creators were all liberal. My god you kids in America are just brainwashed momos lol

[@cf453]

@@breckenridgelong7692 You somehow missed that the whole 40k universe is explicitly a left-wing parody of right-wing governments. Love it! You guys are so cute.

[@alihart7849]

His foreward to a special version of First and Only clarifies how many new words he came up with while writing that book which are now used regularly in 40K. We have so much to thank him for

[@chunkycornbread4773]

His Eisenhorn series is one of main things that sucked me into 40k.

[@thomasbriscoe7439]

whatyatalkingabeet

[@thegorgan3501]

Thank you, Sassy. Very cool. But your Googly eye hat is surely heretical

[@Nevets1073]

I would say that it wasn't *almost* a reaction to Thatcher's Britain, it was absolutely a reaction to it.

[@Alex-tn7pv]

And yet, he works for one of the most greedy, corporative abusive companies in the miniatures business. Sweet sweet irony, labor man bending over for his corporate overlords.

[@Nevets1073]

@@Alex-tn7pv Well, very few people from the original GW team still really work for GW in a real, decision making capacity. That all began back in the mid 90's.

[@wawawuu1514]

@@Alex-tn7pv You do realize that we all have to bend over for our corporate overlords, lest we choose to live a hermit's life in a cabin in the woods? At least until we topple their rule through collective action (one aspect of which are strikes), that is.

[@stefancampbell9167]

If Dan Abnett writes a Warhammer novel then you can bet it's damn good.

[@cf453]

I Am Slaughter was so bad I assumed someone else had written it and slapped Abnett's name on it. Otherwise, I agree with you.

[@Mystyx-Sama]

2:40 "I chose the Alpha Legion. Mainly cause I didn't know much about them." Alpha Legion: "Working as intended."

[@treyjowers]

Great to hear all these questions answered by one of the best authors involved.

[@kayleighohler9999]

painful to hear the robot ask them

[@ianopenskies]

@@kayleighohler9999 I prefer to think that the voice is after effects and that the interview was done normally at first. The second hand embarrassment would be too great otherwise.

[@maevethefox5912]

The amount of stuff this man keeps in his mind is astonishing. I got to sit and have a few pints with him a dozen years ago while running a Games Day, and we were told some secrets about novels that didn't come out until recently. The plans go deep.

[@baklapjr]

My favorite thing is that I know everything he talked about since im an incredibly huge fan and I've probably read every novel so far hahah. It's absolutely amazing to see that an author I love and really respect also just knows all these things from the top of his head wich shows his love for the universe and only makes me love the love that goes into it even more.

[@danzo5521]

Can you give examples

[@maevethefox5912]

@@danzo5521 Most notable one was he rattled off a ton of Loken's Knights Errant story arc to us years before it was even revealed that he was still alive. He and Graham and Laurie and a couple others had a wild roadmap for a bunch of the major characters within the Heresy arcs right from the beginning

[@danzo5521]

@@maevethefox5912 that's really neat, thanks for sharing

[@Mrtango981]

Man, I love Dan. He's got such a good grasp on how important maintaining a sense of mystery is in a universe to make it see larger than the sum of its parts, as well as an appreciation that tragedy is basically what defines the 40k universe. Keeps it nice and grim dark as well as a stupidly expansive/living world.

[@tomalexander4327]

This guy is a fantastic writer and a great 40k ambassador.

[@_A.d.G_]

I don't agree.

[@JCavinee]

@@_A.d.G_ You also think a full strength Pre-Heresy Space Marine Legion could have no more than 23,000 Marines.

[@_A.d.G_]

@@JCavinee that it is. Read "Fulgrim", again. Read about the Great Scouring too. Be informed that, in an interview, Andy Chambers himself (but I'm sure you don't even know who he is) confirmed that a Space Marine Legion was 10,000. After more years than I can remember, why ignorant fanboys still refuse to acknowledge simple, documented facts?

[@JCavinee]

@@_A.d.G_ They could be anywhere from 10,000 to 250,000.

[@ianw5663]

@@_A.d.G_ I bet you think the Roman Legions were capped at 1,000 a piece too don't you? Amazing how living through the Republic and Empire has taught you nothing... or wait... You are a false Emperor, a vacuous shell of Warp-falsity and can expect a visit from His Divine Majesty's Holy Inquisition shortly, heretic. Srsly: 15 years of novels and Codex's have clearly stated the Word Bearers swelled to over 100,000 by the humbling at Monarchia and by the start of the Heresy , the Ultramarines were estimated at 250,000 standing legionaries.

[@kanarokan6060]

His opinions about the emperor are so good it really opened my eyes and gave me a whole different point of view. Maybe the emperor simply chose to stay at the golden throne for his people .

[@TK-qg5tf]

He is trapped on the golden thrown for 10000 years.......'dying over and over and over' 😭

[@DigitalContentNetwork]

He worked on Alien : Isolation as well. Superawesome to see him.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

How did that game not get a sequel?

[@adamplentl5588]

@@somethinglikethat2176 doesn't need one. Still looks fine. Still great gameplay. I could maybe get behind a Mooncrash style dlc with some randomized elements tho.

[@paullittle835]

He worked on so much stuff you wouldn't believe!

[@NineSeptims]

@@adamplentl5588 It was gonna get one but the publisher opted to make it a mobile game.

[@adamplentl5588]

@@NineSeptims doesn't count then.

[@weavelcow9596]

The line "it was like conversing with a star" makes so much sense now. It's not referring to it emotionally as more physically.

[@mduckernz]

I like to think that it's really both.

[@rareraven]

Immaterial ofcourse. The God Emperor lives as much in the Immaterial as in real space.

[@Robert-sq7bp]

@weavelcow9596 I missed this line, what’s he talking about or do you remember where in the video it is? I’d like to know the context

[@bagrym]

wow. its Dan the best writer in the imperium of Man, Abnett.

[@landotucker]

He's an authorial powerhouse. He's written so much great stuff for 40k & fantasy. I know that he's done comics and also books in settings that he's come up with himself, and I'm a little bit ashamed to say I haven't read any of them, considering he's my favourite author.

[@KeeperofthePeace]

@@landotucker I’m with you there, my man. Dan Abnett is the reigning champ, although he’s got serious challengers in Sandy Mitchell and William King for me. Tbh, I’m a little ashamed to admit I forgot about his non-Warhammer stuff. Thank you for reminding me, I should go track it down. Plus, I’m only about 10 minutes in and it’s incredible how chill this man is.

[@_A.d.G_]

DA Is the best writer GW has. That gives you an idea of how endangered the 40K lore is...

[@chadsknnr]

Seemingly likable guy, too . . . .

[@MikkelKjrJensen]

That was an absolute delight. Thank you Dan for being so generous with your time!

[@hunterofajax1963]

Astartes are rare. Papa Smurf: hey guys I’m back, and I’ve got like 100,000 new space marines

[@haroldsandahl6408]

100,000 in comparison to trillions. That means you measure the concentration of space marines in ppm

[@vinayvenkatram8535]

There's literally over a million worlds under the Imperium of Man, each with billions of people. 100,000 Astartes is nothing, they're akin to a grain of sand on the entirety of the desserts of Mars.

[@XraynPR]

that whole Space Space Marines introduction was so silly tbh, it was so abrupt and done way too fast imo

[@thewildcardperson]

The imperium should be printing space marines like candy seriously if there not hard or rare to make aka primaris why don't they spam out millions of them and take over the galaxy again

[@vinayvenkatram8535]

@@thewildcardperson For the same reason the Legions of the old don't exist. Too many Astartes means a greater internal threat. When I read the books, I just add a couple of zeroes to every count of every mention of any army.

[@misterscienceguy]

Gonna be honest, as much as I love this video; the questions being asked via space marine vox is a bit grating to listen to for an extended period of time but it is amusing hearing it say wacky usernames. Props to Dan mentioning how 40k was partly influenced as a response to Thatcherite Britain. A lot of people seem to miss that in surface level takes of 40k, especially with that aspect being virtually absent these days.

[@XraynPR]

many scifi universes are shaped by current politics, e.g. the biggest german scifi series Perry Rhodan changes quite alot over time too

[@jasoncoates1835]

No art can be properly understood outside its context.

[@speeddemon217a]

I remember trying to convince a guy on youtube who was apparently an adult by the release of Rogue Trader that 40k was and still is a giant work of satire of the mood of the 80s among other things. Despite me giving clear examples of how 40k and specifically Rogue Trader were products of the 80s he refused to accept that 40k could be extremely political and was a kind of protest against the status quo of the time. It's unfortunate that he was so indoctrinated by the modern political dichotomy of progressivism vs conservatism that he couldn't entertain the fact that 40k wasn't a conservative work. This is probably down to the fact if he did accept that fact it would jeopardise his worldview and bring a whole host of other beliefs into question.

[@Aarkwrite]

I couldn’t even get past the first few questions. I think I’ll just put it on mute and read the captions.

[@jasoncoates1835]

That'll show em.

[@smoss9813]

It's such a joy to see how much this chap really loves his work and the world's he plays with. Thank you Dan!

[@MOTARACTUAL]

Dan Abnett gave the 40K universe substance and verisimilitude. Fantastic work.

[@davedogge2280]

I admire these guys scribbling away into the night writing stories, expanding the lore. The Horus Heresy books are solid sci-fi. It's Black Library reveals today for Games Workshop on the day this video was updloaded.

[@joeguy5989]

Dan Abnet, in my opinion, is one of the greatest authors of books that I have read in my 57 years on this planet. Yes, I was reading a book when I came out of the womb.

[@tebbix]

What Dan says at the end is so true, I love the fact that you can be a Warhammer 40k fan in so many ways, playing a video game, painting miniatures, reading or listening to books, collecting action figures and hopefully soon movies and shows.

[@madmachanicest9955]

I think it was sad once that a Custodes is to a Space Marine what they are to the guardsman.

[@somethinglikethat2176]

There's always a bigger fish.

[@franciosdeaeruiu7555]

The Emperor is to a custodes what a chaos god is to a normal human lmao

[@launchpad62]

I like how even a Custodes questioned whether or not he could take out Asterion Molec.

[@sportyeight7769]

@@somethinglikethat2176 summon bigger fish

[@zacharymalone9901]

I'm surprised no one noticed that the Space Marine in the Hologram is a retributor from astartes LOL

[@loreman2803]

I finally know why Gaunts Ghosts is so good

[@housecaldwell]

The answer to the "is there Hope" question is interesting. I started playing when it was WH40K Rogue Trader and my favorite piece of artwork in that book is of 2 space marines drinking down at the pub after a mission. Yes, there is "only war" -- it's a wargame -- but the future wasn't completely bleak. It had a punk sensibility of "this all sucks and we're going to smash it" -- Dan I think correctly says that it's a backlash against Thatcher's Britain -- and it is grim and dark but in a gleeful way. A "we're going to smash things but then we're going to the pub with our battle brothers" that I think is missing from the current incarnations. I think Dan's got it right that there's no Hope (ie, we're trapped in a game) but there is hope for individuals.

[@GGCrick]

Damn, Dan's point on The Emperor dying and reincarnating is some serious lore drop!

[@_A.d.G_]

Really? Then tell me: how did Humankind explore the whole galaxy without him being in command? How did they travel during the Great Crusade? What about the Webway?

[@GGCrick]

@@_A.d.G_ Hi buddy, I don't quite understand your point. Dan is referring to The Emperor on the throne post Horus heresy here. Do you mean how did the throne work without Big E before his entombment?

[@_A.d.G_]

@@GGCrick my point is simple: the Imperium worked even better with no Golden Throne at all. The entombment of the Emperor seems just like an excuse to justify him of the picture and the ensuing lawlessness of the "current" Imperium. Getting the Emperor out of it would revert the setting in a pre-Heresy environment.

[@JCavinee]

@@_A.d.G_ You haven't read enough lore yet if that's what you think.

[@_A.d.G_]

@@JCavinee in all honesty, I've quit buying HH books after "Battle For The Abyss", "Fulgrim" and "No Fear". Bullshit-o-meter went out of scale.

[@Misanthropic-King]

This is such a high quality interview, really excellent 40k content right here. Thanks for posting

[@bigneto95]

I would love if this video could happen again, but speaking about/based on TTS verse. featuring voice actors and even alfabusa.

[@AntonAdelson]

YES!!!

[@tablekun8690]

Hell yeah

[@20storiesunder]

mmmmmm yeeesssssss

[@archongaur1191]

cringe

[@Imblu95]

Ive commented that also haha, and hell yea specially bcuss its interesting and hilarious and even more bcuss the prominente ise of ROGAL DORN.

[@davidgardiner2373]

I wish the Ghosts had met the Raven Guard in Salvation's Reach to get the contrast between the different stealth styles

[@brobogan5102]

Love the interview. Shows why Dan is such a great author as he cares so much about the mythos of what he is writing. They I will differ with him regarding hope in the 40k universe. I feel that it is a fundamental aspect of the whole setting. 40k, to me, is a time about the failing of the light and the raging against the darkness. And that can not happen in a place bereft of hope.

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

My favorite Black Library author hands down, with ADB a close second.

[@whataheapofpish]

I can't understand anyone who thinks differently. They're astonishingly good.

[@paullittle835]

Abnett is on another level

[@TheCyricson]

adb takes the grim dark to the extreme

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

@@TheCyricson Yeh, his night lords trilogy is the good stuff. His Horus Heresy stuff isn't bad either.

[@carlosthejakl8493]

@@JamesLaserpimpWalsh adbs written some of the best hours heresy stuff, the angel tal khan bromance and subsequent pummelling of erebus for example

[@DHGameStudios]

21:22 "They have both been trained to hate the other, and that is the sadness of the human state *CUT* ..in the Warhammer universe." kek

[@alphariusomegon4432]

If you wanna know what the Emperor looks like, there's a line in one of the books from the perspective of one of the Sisters of Silence. Good luck.

[@MoonBeamLaser]

He looks like Henry Cavill

[@carlstanford7607]

Someone knows their stuff. Good man

[@korawitbuttramee618]

@Ярослав Л Yep, Corvus saw an unremarkable middle aged man in a robe for a second before he turned into a golden giant with a golden halo. But it's heavily implied that wasn't the Emperor's true form. Even Sister of Silence's perception of the Emperor affects how she sees him plus her blank power causes her to perceive a frail old man on the Golden Throne. John Grammaticus met him once and implied to have seen a glimpse of the Emperor's true form, and he had a panic attack for just trying to recall it. Ollanious Pious referred Him as a *thing* rather than a human or a god.

[@korawitbuttramee618]

@Ярослав Л Well, its the Emperor we're talking about here.

[@isaachenry3739]

@@korawitbuttramee618 saw a theory that he was a creation from the daot and escaped to gain warp powers etc

[@paulinuss]

And nothing about Squats. Seriously, we need another episode

[@William-Morey-Baker]

Agreed...

[@Ginric99]

Squats are dead, there world destroyed, and that’s a good thing a very good thing.

[@doubleheadedeagle6769]

They aren’t gone. It’s official, sort of.

[@carlstanford7607]

Some survivors. They have been in some books

[@RemTV]

Squats are lame lol

[@irishmarine3]

Convenient this came out today with the re-release of Gaunt's Ghosts

[@trajicsolitude5791]

Nice to see the new tanith models. A fine fighting force worthy of the warmaster abnett

[@dornfist3913]

Dan Abnett is the Lord Commander of 40k lore hands down. His Heresy books are simply the best IMO. I have also started reading Gaunt's Ghosts which is another gem. Thank you for this amazing video @Ars Technica! It was an honour to hear from the man himself.

[@djm.o.d.9376]

5:05 I love this part of it because it opens the door for you to make your own unique faction and even have your own primarch if you really wanted and was so inclined.

[@HowToMolly]

This channel fuels my nerdy soul. Thank you for these awesome uploads.

[@ilyasisonepunchman6212]

So the emperor is reincarnating himself every time to save humanity, wow.

[@chadsknnr]

Yeah! That is waAAYYY bigger than people are giving credit for . . . .

[@seasons1745]

@SXM: Xairid it’s already been hella implied see warp energy and gods are powered by actions and beliefs the emperor has been praised for 10 thousand years by humanity to the point the golden throne keeping him from ascending is starting to fail theres a book where guilliman after he re awakes visits the palace chamber and demands to know why he exists the emperors essence now no longer having humanity brutally tells him he wasn’t seen as a son but rather as a tool for his empire guiliman calms down from his essence and takes the emperors flaming sword and then Wields the title of lord commander not in honor of his dad but purely out of spite and the fix the imperium enough

[@Emperor_of_all_Badgers]

@@seasons1745 what a child, even the space furries knew that the primachs and space marines were tools. They knew that Leman's purpose was to an executioner.

[@Deathskull0001]

That was a speculation on his part to be fair

[@Deathskull0001]

@@seasons1745 That was writen from the perspective of a Custodes however. All the books are, it's even referenced in this video, don't take that conversation of a word for word rundown of what was said and what was meant. Guiliman was also heavily traumatized and depicted with slight signs of PTSD, could very well be the Emperor put him on a "simple" military mission to prevent him from breaking.

[@markwiesenmeyer8838]

I have read the first 54 Horus Heresy novels !!!!!! I can't get enough of this world . I have read the first 3 Terra novels and emotional about them. Dan , you and your fellow authors of 40k are the best sf writer's of all time !!!!! I can't wait to see what y'all do next . Thank You for keeping me sane !!!!

[@Inucroft]

Interesting statement about the Throne Room, contry to what is implied with Gulliman in the Gathering Storm & Dark Imperium

[@GorbadIronclaw]

Ultramarines never fail at anything - is that not the lore?

[@hopelesspresbyterian6332]

Guillimaan is not an ordinary human, is he?

[@AzraelSoulHunter]

Guilliman is a Primarch. I'm sure he can handle that

[@guardianofthetoasters2323]

I wish I could read their minds to know it's secrets. Just like the first captain of the thousand sons trying to enter the black library without a membership card

[@yeoboshong]

Dan Abnett, God Emperor bless him, is the only person I have to slowdown KZbin videos to fully understand him.

[@PeteTheBrazilian]

Dan is such a charismatic, creative dude. Really glad someone like him is in my favorite fictional universe.

[@thebravesirrobin.]

This is amazing, Dan Abnett is such a fantastic writer. I really do appreciate his focus on human drama and how naturally he works symbolic and thematic elements into his writing.

[@zerothehero123]

The horus heresy deserves a movie series. It's such an amazing universe with so much potential. I love the gothic dark future aesthetic of it all!

[@Tornath3099]

They will never be able to do 40k justice, much less the horus heresy. Mainstream movies cant handle it.

[@DenethorDurrandir]

loved this, love Dan, the First and Only was the reason I got into 40k lore and that ultimately made me come back to the tabletop years later, amazing work

[@gaz-atollahofrockandrolla7519]

I’ve got the cover art for Titanicus signed by Mr Abnett, really nice bloke!

[@darkscholar625]

I would have asked if he'd seen TTS

[@samuelsignori]

I do believe Dan helps in one of the podcasts (particularly the one about The Last Church).

[@darkscholar625]

@@samuelsignori Nice.

[@jmh8697]

I was lucky enough to speak to Dan at a book signing. Fantastic guy, generous with his time and an all round dude!

[@router9717]

Nice to see Syama’s work on official stuff

[@peregrinedace8505]

I absolutely love that the subtitles transcribe "Thatcher's Britain" as "fascist Britain".

[@breckenridgelong7692]

Today's Britain is far more of a fascist state than during the 80's.

[@Vapourwear]

@@breckenridgelong7692 There's nothing the left hates more than an actually strong woman, lol.

[@ezra3518]

Stop in here for a sampling of delicious salt produced by only the finest copium-huffing alt-right chuds.

[@Ryanorzone]

Fantastic interview. I love the level of understanding and care Dan shows for every aspect of the 40k universe. No wonder his books are so damn good.

[@kiernanmcclelland7212]

Please Ars Technica, please. More 40k content. The Emperor wills it.

[@Dabs_4_Dayz]

i want to know if the golden throne ever needs maintenance and whos the poor soul whos assigned that task lmfao

[@Northbravo]

Its does but no one has the knowledge to fix it anymore

[@adaeptzulander2928]

Constant. There are very special Mechanicus Adepts who maintain it along with other santioned Psykers.

[@KT-pv3kl]

About 1000 poor souls per day to be precise. The lack of knowledge on how to maintain the throne correctly is the entire reason for the psyker sacrifice to begin with. They are essentially fixing a waterleak by pouring in more water

[@macplow2234]

Thank you so much Dan for all your fantastic novels!

[@chadsknnr]

This might be the best WH40k video that I've seen thus far about the lore in the last 3 years. Also, this author is very likable. That said, I disagree with him about the Custodes. I like the idea that they are a powerful yet limited resource only reproducable by the Emperor. If there are only about 1000 Custodes left from the original 10,000 in the current timeline, imo that would naturally fit into the themes of hopelessness of 40K . . . .

[@ChadGPTu]

Dan is peering into the 40k world rather than coming up with stuff to put into it, it’s awesome

[@ChaplainHaladriel]

This was brilliant! Thank you!

[@bfragged]

Thank you so much for this. Combination of my favourite news site plus my favourite universe.

[@dazman76]

Some great questions, and always nice to hear Dan Abnett talking about this stuff. Thanks!

[@LtScarecrow87]

He said Slaneesh, I was expecting Lucius from TTS to pop up behind him

[@Ubiquitous1984]

67 heresy books - interesting comment from Dan. 54 main line novels, 8 siege novels … hinting at five siege novellas then? Two so far with three to follow?

[@gerlokwolkenbrutzler6616]

This video is incredible. Thank you! Everybody who was involved in this!

[@MaximeCHEVASSON]

Great interview & great questions, and what a lovely voice from Dan. Thanks for your kindness and sharing your knowledge :)

[@Michael.Virtus]

23:19 - How were the Primarchs named? Lion El'Jonson (Dark Angel's Primarch) is named after Lionel Johnson, whos greatest work is called "Dark Angel": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Johnson

[@XraynPR]

there's that, and then there's GWs typical naming conventions: Ferrus Manus (Iron Hands but in gothic), Angron (he angery), Corvus Corax (Ravenboi)

[@daveemerson6549]

@IAN HEINE I'm not sure whether they did it for the "Firstname Lastname" cleverness, or whether they were going off of the Alpha and Omega biblical associations (the beginning and the end), but either way, it works.

[@nofuxgivens2797]

Wow...I never knew that the emperor is actually dieing over and over on the Throne

[@ilyasisonepunchman6212]

yeah I know,

[@BlasterCA2000]

That's his [& others] 'head canon'. It's not official 40k canon tho.

[@andromalius9595]

I didn't know how much I needed this interview. Thank you sir

[@rareraven]

And he writes for Fatshark and Darktide! 🤩🤩🤩

[@FlubbedBunion]

I could listen to Dan talk about 40k for hours

[@rickswordfire9839]

Geez imagine dying over and over for ten thousand years.

[@StarFyodperor]

Maybe it is not really so far fetched... Reincarnation may be a good way to recycle...

[@NueThunderKing]

Actually Dan here provided an answer I hadn’t thought about. I always imagined the Emps having his massive will put into the Astronomicon, Golden Throne and in a much smaller scale but still big, his body to keep that link to the Golden Throne. But now that we know he is a perpetual and that he might be the mightiest of them all, he really could reincarnate as fast as merely seconds while still being so heavily damaged physically that his body would still look like a corpse. That would put a new perspective into how much suffering he has had for 10k years, and why he answered Guilliman with such a lack of emotions.

[@rickswordfire9839]

@@NueThunderKing Exactly it makes sense when you think about it and why the empror hasn't been that active until recently.

[@Imblu95]

@@NueThunderKing The emperor is basicly a firekeeper from Dark Souls but the diference of the emperor is he can get out of the throne, but if he does what in the name of god would happen, the intriguw is killing and terriefies me.

[@pabloarroyo2322]

The notion of the Emperor constantly dying to keep thing working just made it 100 times more epic, but also crushed all my hopes of getting the Big E back... that's 40k for you

[@zenthious666]

The Eisenhorn trilogy was a favorite of mine growing up. Outstanding

[@somethinglikethat2176]

Biggest unsolved mystery of 40k, that would be Shadowsun and "what was she thinking?"

[@StarboyXL9]

Actually it would be: "Is Kitten and Shadowsun's secret romance canon?"

[@chadsknnr]

@@StarboyXL9 A boy can dream, right?

[@XFondueX]

Dan Abnett: "Thatcher's Britain" Subtitles: "Fascist Britain" Checks out.

[@angryman132]

Cringe

[@user-gj7lp5iz6k]

@foxtier1970 "I had to [compromise my ideals] so as not to deny myself."

[@exnihiloadnihilum5094]

@@user-gj7lp5iz6k Art can stand alone from it's creator in fact that is a fundamental aspect of art. If a piece of music speaks to you does it suddenly not if you find out the composer holds an opinion you don't like?

[@SonicoBomo]

Awesome intervju. You really get the sense he knows his stuff. Not only how to write a good book but also how to create and sustain a cohecive world.

[@TheSentinel909]

This was so great - a lot of valuable insight and a good bit of fun too

[@grailknightofenoch1263]

Loooooved this!!!

[@DmGray]

The point about hope in a grimdark setting is SO important. Without the "small h" hope, without REAL human stories & character archs, without achievement, glory or aspiration... then it is just misery-porn. I think the presence of hope within 40k makes the setting hit SO much harder. The fact that the future is SO bleak and that there is so little an individual can do to change that is important... but the fact that choices ALSO matter and that often as a reader we can SEE that the outcome is so often a consequence of a choice makes 40k even more special.

[@jhoughjr1]

Baldemort reading the longest second part of dorms story was transcendent

[@tripod222]

@Dan: thank you. Thank you for all those enjoyable hours, with great and fascinating characters, and a great writing style. I recently read one of the 40k Crime novels, and while it wasn't a bad book, I soon after started the new Guilliman book and the prose was just something else. Also, thanks for "guaf" moments in your books.

[@Philtho]

Re: Emperor dying over and over. That conflicts with Dark Imperium when Guilliman spoke to the Emperor and was given his sword. Sure, we don't know what was said, but we do know Guilliman wouldn't lie about this right after being revived. He's too goody goody to even consider misdirecting at that point. Dark Imperium has to be canon because it was THE turning point of the 40k univerise in nearly 30+ years. You don't wake a primarch, have him speak to the Emperor and then retcon it.

[@isafatcat]

well for the emperor to die he has to become alive again, (where he can communicate with girlyman), he doesn't have to die immediately, perhaps he dies over the course of a day until he gets his psyker lunch which gives him a boost to revive again

[@boxmanderkistenmensch2268]

@@isafatcat that’s probably it

[@Philtho]

@@isafatcat Sure, but he'd have told GMan about that and have him fix it somehow. His intent wasn't to be the battery the universe needs, had a solution for that beforehand. I have a feeling Abnett spoke out of turn on this particular subject to be honest. Dying over and over is pretty dumb, imo.

[@isaachenry3739]

@@Philtho he's a perpetual, and he can communicate to the custodes i think, so think hes there by choice at this point

[@sindrimyr5351]

OI....that magnus part hurt...

[@paullittle835]

Same, I disagree with that SO HARD!

[@matthewstevenson6604]

What a great interview. Great questions and great answers.

[@cyberbilge]

Brilliant questions. Dan is so awesome