Warhammer 40,000 is an environment besieged by heretics, mutants, aliens and corrupt politicians and preachers. There are no good guys in this world; just a cavalcade of convincing villains. And just when things seem at their bleakest, an ancient hero emerges from the shadows – although it remains to be seen if he actually does anything better or just causes more problems. A second loyalist son of the Emperor has returned, and Lion El’Jonson is ready to kick some demon ass.
Over 10,000 years ago, the Emperor of Man made 20 sons in a laboratory. These Primarchs were created with the secret sauce of the Warp, an extradimensional realm. As such, they are incredibly powerful beings built to rule legions of transhuman Space Marines. In an attempt to anger the Emperor, the Gods of Chaos scattered these sons across the galaxy. Each primarch was raised in very different ways, and when they were reunited for a Great Crusade Across the Stars, they had some workplace disputes. These grudges and disagreements were slow to simmer until Horus led a heresy in which half the Primarchs and their legions rebelled against the Emperor. The empire technically won, and the traitorous primarchs fled.
While the traitorous primarchs have returned to the prevailing environment (most of them turned into massive and powerful demons), the loyalist side has been much calmer. Roboute Guilliman was revived in 2017 and brought out of stasis during the Gathering Storm campaign books at the end of Season 7. Poor Guilliman was the only loyalist who dealt with all his evil brothers; Magnus tricked him, Mortarion tortured him, and Angron smashed and corrupted part of his fleet.
Return of the Lion is intriguing because it gives Guilliman a possible ally – and a fun character to buck off. Lion El’Jonson is Primarch of the Dark Angels, the First Legion. He was born on the death world of Caliban, so crammed with murderous beasts that each day was a succession of Monster Hunter boss fights. When the Emperor found the Lion and showed up to add another Primarch to the Great Crusade, the Lion brought his Order of Chivalry with him to become the Dark Angels. As such, the Legion has a very Knights of the Round Table vibe, wearing robes over their armor and working with a squad of small helpful Jawa-style squires known as the Wardens in the Dark.
Leo is incredibly capable and competent, but also aloof and secretive. Unlike Guilliman, he was not in stasis and as such he has aged visibly. He is very similar to his father the Emperor – in fact the Dark Angels had their own heresy when part of the order seceded and went rogue. Known as the Fallen, these Dark Angels will no doubt play an important role in the Lion’s story.
For now all we know is that the lion is getting his own book in the Arks of Omen campaign series where he will fight Angron. why is he back Is he cool with Guilliman? How does he feel about the current empire? We’ll have to wait for answers, but for now we can only appreciate the return of a much-hyped character primed to join a 10,000-year-old grudge game.
