The first three episodes of Blacktalon Season 2 are now available to watch on Warhammer TV – including the climactic mid-season finale.
Warning: This article contains serious spoilers for the latest episode of Blacktalon. Make sure you’re up to date on the series before continuing. You have been warned!
With the Stromrift Realmgate corrupted at the end of the previous episode, the Blacktalons face an unthinkable eventuality: the slow death of Hammerhal, Sigmar’s greatest city in the Mortal Realms, as the twin halves of the metropolis are deprived of the life-sustaining symbiosis of the other.
Worse than that, the corruption has not just severed the connection between Ghyran and Aqshy, it has now linked the Hammerhal Aqsha side to somewhere new – and from that shadowed place, a Dark Master plots his invasion of the city.
One of the architects of the corruption was revealed to be none other than the Chaos Lord Eternus during the last episode.
Eternus is an infamous warlord who rides at the head a feared and disciplined army of Chaos Warriors, Knights and other assorted Slaves to Darkness. We already saw him in episode two, wiping a Sigmarite settlement off the map, then dispatching most of the Blacktalons before toying with Neave in combat.
His very existence is a mockery of Sigmar’s Chosen. He is infused with the essence of slain Stomcast Eternals whose souls have been captured within the Cursed Skies. He has died many times in service to his master, and each time his essence is reclaimed in a bolt of black lightning and reborn, a dark mirror of Sigmar’s Reforging.
Eternus is, of course, only the champion of a more sinister and ancient evil – Be’lakor. Dark Master, First Prince of Chaos and all-round bad-guy, Be’lakor’s schemes run deep, and some play out across the course of many mortal generations. His eventual aim is to usurp the mantle of Everchosen from that Johnny-come-lately Archaon guy.
While Be’lakor has his sights currently set on the conquest of Hammerhal, he also seems to have a daemonic fascination with Neave. If Eternus’ words in the last episode are to be believed, Be’lakor and Neave have a history and a bond, one that repeated Reforgings have failed to sever.
As his plans for Hammerhal come to fruition, Be’lakor aims to manifest himself inside the city, setting up a showdown with our eponymous heroine. The stakes have never been higher as Neve prepares to face the daemons of her past, in a very literal sense!
Here’s a fun nugget of lore. The Mark of Ruin we’ve been seeing is now revealed to be the brand of Be’lakor. We’re quite sure some of you clocked that already, as the leering skull face has more than a passing resemblance, but did you spot that it also incorporates symbology from his many other incarnations, including one of his earliest Warhammer-appearances as the Dark Master, represented by the spiral symbols of corrupted Albion mages?* Even back then, Be’lakor’s followers sported that iconic eight-horn fashion.
You can watch the mid-season finale of Blacktalon on Warhammer TV now with a Warhammer+ subscription. Blacktalon will return later this year with the concluding three episodes of the season.
* From all the way back in 2001 with the Dark Shadows campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Battle…
