Over the years, the Primarchs have become a foundational aspect of Warhammer 40,000. Gene-crafted warlords created by the Emperor to lead his Great Crusade and unify the stars, the Horus Heresy pitted these close-knit brothers and feuding rivals against each other. That civil war tore the Imperium asunder and saw many Primarchs dead – and in the aftershocks of the Great Scouring and petty wars that followed, all of the Emperor’s sons wound up incapacitated, transfigured into daemonic monstrosities, or lost to the vastness of the galaxy. Roboute Guilliman, for instance, was laid low by his brother Fulgrim and interred in a stasis chamber – lore that dates back to the early 90s.
As the years passed and the grand narrative of Warhammer 40,000 progressed, the possibility of any Primarch returning to the setting seemed remote. These were mythic figures, belonging to the dawn of history… until the bubble burst, and Magnus the Red returned to wreak havoc on Fenris.
The Primarch gap was now firmly in Chaos’ favour, but signs pointed to a new revelation during the Gathering Storm campaign. After a narrative of twists and turns, the impossible occurred – Roboute Guilliman, the Primarch of the Ultramarines, returned from living death to an unrecognisable Imperium.*
This was a showstopper event. The Imperium finally had a Primarch to guide them in its hour of need – with a seriously impressive miniature to boot.
Guilliman was now clad in the Armour of Fate, crafted in secret by Belisarius Cawl as equal parts armour and life support. Infused with the power of a newborn Aeldari god and delivered through an alliance of convenience between Cawl, Saint Celestine, and Yvraine of the Ynnari, the Armour of Fate is covered in intricate filigree and scrollwork – truly befitting a demigod.
The Hand of Dominion was also tinkered with by Cawl, a reconstructed version of Guilliman’s tried and tested wargear from the Horus Heresy, and a symbol of his unimpeachable authority. The crowning glory of Guilliman’s panoply of war, however, is nothing less than the Emperor’s Sword itself. A master-crafted weapon blessed by the Emperor's psychic might, this flaming sword carves crimson arcs through the air when swung, its blazing edge a rallying torch in the darkness of the 41st Millennium.
This version of Guilliman brings in various influences from his Horus Heresy Character Series incarnation, whose more restrained Armour of Reason fits the time period. This version carries all the authority and weight of a leading statesman, framed by the polished marble and metal of Macragge, but in Warhammer 40,000 the Primarch is not merely a mighty general and respected leader – he is a demigod, the unwilling subject of worship for trillions of desperate souls.
Guilliman’s return marked the arrival of Primaris Space Marines in the tabletop game and the lore, but was soon followed by all manner of malevolent threats from Chaos. Abbadon the Despoiler was redesigned shortly after as a dark mirror of Guilliman, right down to conscious mirroring of their poses and profiles, and both with braziers, corpses, and shattered Imperial architecture on their bases.
Mortarion, the Daemon Primarch of Nurgle, was Guilliman’s first major foe, as his putrid brother lashed out at Ultramar from the Plague Stars. Then, as the Arks of Omen narrative reached a peak, another lost brother made his presence known – Angron, the Daemon Primarch of Khorne. Murder made manifest, this maelstrom of muscle and fury lent Abaddon and Vashtorr the strength to achieve their dark designs.
It seemed the power of one Primarch could only be matched by the return of another. Heralded by uncanny omens, the mighty Lion El’Johnson stalked from the shadows in a magnificent new form. Armed with the blade Fealty and grasping the Emperor’s own shield,** he represents the darker half of the Imperium – a hunter prowling the corrupted Imperium Nihilus even as his brother brings order to the Imperium Sanctus.
* All the Gathering Storm books are on the Warhammer Vault, so you can check them out yourself.
** What other parts of the Emperor’s armoury might be kicking around? His boots?