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00:00:00
They are spoken of only in fragments,00:00:02
buried beneath half-truths, censored00:00:05
archives, and myths so old that even the00:00:09
Imperium has forgotten where they began.00:00:12
In a galaxy that devours entire00:00:14
civilizations, where death is the only00:00:17
constant, there exists a rare aberration00:00:20
in the human species. Individuals who do00:00:23
not age, do not remain dead, and do not00:00:26
pass quietly into oblivion. These beings00:00:30
are known as the perpetuals.00:00:33
A perpetual is not a god, nor a demon,00:00:36
nor a construct of forbidden technology.00:00:39
They are human entirely. So their curse00:00:44
or blessing lies in a singular00:00:47
horrifying distinction. When they die,00:00:50
they return. Their bodies rebuild00:00:52
themselves. Their souls re-anchor. Time00:00:56
does not claim them. Violence does not00:00:59
end them. Even catastrophic destruction00:01:02
merely delays their return. To the00:01:06
Imperium, this truth is deeply00:01:08
unsettling. In a culture that worships00:01:11
sacrifice, martyrdom, and finality,00:01:14
immortality is an affront to the natural00:01:17
order of faith. Perpetuals are not00:01:20
invulnerable. They feel pain. They00:01:23
bleed. They suffer injuries as grievous00:01:26
as any mortal. Many of them die00:01:28
repeatedly across their long lives. But00:01:32
death never becomes permanent. This00:01:34
regenerative rebirth is not uniform.00:01:37
Some rise within moments, others after00:01:40
days or longer. But the result is00:01:42
[music] the same. They endure. And in a00:01:45
universe shaped by war, endurance is00:01:48
power. Yet the Imperium does not00:01:51
celebrate them. [music] The existence of00:01:54
perpetuals threatens multiple00:01:56
foundations upon which Imperial dogma00:01:59
rests. First, it contradicts the idea00:02:02
that only the emperor stands eternal.00:02:06
Second, it undermines the concept of00:02:08
divine judgment through death. And00:02:11
finally, it introduces the terrifying00:02:14
notion that [music] humanity may possess00:02:16
an evolutionary path beyond control,00:02:20
beyond faith, beyond the ecclesiarchy's00:02:23
grasp. As a [music] result, perpetuals00:02:26
are erased from records, reclassified as00:02:29
aberrations or quietly absorbed into00:02:31
secrecy. [music]00:02:33
Many never realize what they are. Others00:02:36
spend centuries hiding it. But long00:02:38
before the Imperium, long before terror00:02:41
burned beneath old night, [music]00:02:43
perpetuals were already walking among00:02:45
humanity. They watched tribes rise and00:02:48
fall. They saw empires built from stone00:02:52
and ash. They learned languages that no00:02:55
longer exist and buried friends whose00:02:57
names history never recorded. While00:03:00
normal humans passed through generations00:03:02
like sparks in the dark, perpetuals00:03:05
remained, carrying memory forward when00:03:08
all else was lost. In this way, they00:03:11
became living archives of humanity's00:03:13
past, unbroken chains stretching from00:03:16
the dawn of mankind to the nightmare of00:03:18
the 41st millennium. Some perpetuals00:03:22
tried to guide humanity. Others tried to00:03:25
rule it. Many tried eventually to00:03:27
abandon it because immortality does not00:03:30
make one immune to despair. To live00:03:33
forever is to accumulate grief without00:03:36
end. Every friendship becomes temporary.00:03:39
Every culture collapses. Every victory00:03:42
fades. The perpetual remembers what the00:03:45
galaxy forgets. And that knowledge00:03:48
erodess even the strongest will. Many00:03:51
withdrew into isolation. [music] Some00:03:53
embraced cynicism. A few attempted to00:03:56
impose order upon a species they00:03:58
believed too fragile to survive without00:04:01
intervention.00:04:02
And it is here at the intersection of00:04:05
immortality and responsibility that the00:04:08
perpetuals become inseparable from the00:04:10
fate of humanity itself. For among them00:04:14
rose one who would not turn away. The00:04:17
emperor of mankind was not merely one00:04:20
perpetual among many. He was the most00:04:23
powerful expression of what a perpetual00:04:25
could become. Where others endured00:04:28
history, he sought to master it. Where00:04:31
others hid, he prepared. And where00:04:34
others despared, he planned on a scale00:04:36
that required millennia of patience. The00:04:40
Imperium, the Primarks, the Great00:04:43
Crusade, all of it was conceived through00:04:46
an immortal lens that only a perpetual00:04:48
could possess. Yet even the emperor was00:04:52
not alone. Throughout humanity's long00:04:55
ascent and near extinction, other00:04:57
perpetuals crossed his path. Some aided00:05:01
him, some opposed him, some loved him,00:05:04
feared him, or ultimately betrayed him.00:05:08
Their disagreements were not petty. They00:05:10
were philosophical, existential, and00:05:13
irreversible. They argued not over00:05:15
territory but over the future of an00:05:17
entire species. Whether humanity should00:05:20
be guided, controlled, uplifted, or left00:05:23
alone. Whether immortals had the right00:05:26
or the obligation to rule mortals. These00:05:30
conflicts did not always erupt into open00:05:33
war. Often they unfolded in secret. A00:05:36
whispered warning, a vanished ruler, a00:05:39
civilization nudged toward ruin or00:05:42
salvation. Perpetuals shaped history00:05:45
quietly, their fingerprints hidden00:05:48
beneath centuries of revision and00:05:50
propaganda. [music]00:05:51
The Imperium would later call such00:05:53
manipulation heresy. In truth, it was00:05:57
simply immortals doing what mortals00:05:59
could not, thinking beyond a single00:06:01
lifetime. And yet, for all their00:06:04
influence, the perpetuals failed to save00:06:07
humanity from its greatest catastrophe.00:06:09
[music]00:06:10
When the Horus Heresy tore the Imperium00:06:13
apart, many perpetuals were drawn back00:06:16
into the open, forced to choose sides in00:06:19
a war that would decide the galaxy's00:06:21
fate. Some gave their immortal lives in00:06:24
acts of ultimate sacrifice. Others00:06:27
survived, broken and diminished. A few00:06:30
vanished entirely, leaving only rumors00:06:32
and unanswered questions behind them. By00:06:36
the time the emperor was intombed upon00:06:38
the golden throne, the age of the00:06:40
perpetuals was already ending. [music]00:06:43
In the Imperium that followed, there was00:06:45
no place for beings who contradicted the00:06:47
Emperor's singular divinity. No room for00:06:51
immortals who did not fit neatly into00:06:53
dogma. And so the perpetuals faded into00:06:56
shadow myth and sealed vaults of00:06:59
forbidden knowledge. By the 41st00:07:02
millennium, even the Inquisition speaks00:07:04
of them only in the most restricted00:07:07
circles, if at all. Yet, they are not00:07:10
gone. Some [music] still endure, walking00:07:13
the galaxy under false names, hiding00:07:16
their nature, watching history repeat00:07:19
itself with grim familiarity.00:07:21
Others remain bound to ancient duties00:07:24
set long ago, [music] guarding secrets00:07:26
too dangerous to abandon. And at the00:07:29
heart of the Imperium itself sits the00:07:31
greatest perpetual of all. Alive,00:07:34
broken, and unending. Proof that00:07:37
immortality is not synonymous with00:07:39
victory. The story of the perpetuals is00:07:42
not one of triumph. It is a story of00:07:45
burden, of memory without release, of00:07:48
guardianship that never ends. They are00:07:51
not humanity's saviors nor its tyrants,00:07:54
but something far more unsettling. proof00:07:57
that mankind's destiny has never been00:07:59
shaped by mortals alone. They are the00:08:02
ones who remember. And before they00:08:05
became legends, before they became00:08:06
weapons or outcasts, [music]00:08:08
they were born into a world that had no00:08:10
idea what they were becoming. Long00:08:13
before the Imperium learned to fear00:08:16
mutation, before the Emperor's name00:08:18
became law, and before history was00:08:21
broken into sanctioned records and00:08:23
forbidden truths, the perpetuals already00:08:26
existed. They did not emerge as a00:08:29
unified order, nor were they created00:08:31
with purpose or hierarchy. They simply00:08:34
appeared, scattered across humanity's00:08:37
earliest ages, born into a world that00:08:40
had no language to describe what they00:08:42
were. The origins of the perpetuals are00:08:45
deliberately obscured in Imperial00:08:47
records. Not merely through ignorance,00:08:50
but through active suppression. Even00:08:53
among the perpetuals themselves,00:08:55
certainty is rare. What survives are00:08:59
fragments, memories carried across tens00:09:02
of thousands of years, half-remembered00:09:05
conversations and philosophical00:09:07
disagreements that span millennia. From00:09:09
these, a picture begins to form, not of00:09:12
design, but of inevitability.00:09:15
Some perpetuals believe they are a00:09:17
natural divergence within the human00:09:19
genome, an evolutionary anomaly that00:09:22
surfaced as humanity spread and00:09:24
diversified. This belief holds that00:09:27
perpetuals represent an early step00:09:30
toward a future humanity that could one00:09:32
day rival the gods themselves. Others00:09:35
argue the opposite, that perpetuals are00:09:38
an accident, the result of cosmic00:09:41
chance, warp exposure, or genetic00:09:44
instability triggered during humanity's00:09:47
earliest expansion into the stars. There00:09:50
is no consensus, only competing00:09:52
interpretations shaped by long memory.00:09:56
What is certain is this. Perpetuals00:09:59
predate the Imperium by tens of00:10:01
thousands of years. During humanity's00:10:04
prehistoric era, perpetuals walked among00:10:07
tribes and hunter societies, learning00:10:10
survival alongside mortals who would die00:10:13
before the next generation matured. As00:10:16
civilizations [music]00:10:17
formed, some perpetuals rose naturally00:10:20
into positions of authority. Kings who00:10:23
never aged, generals who outlived every00:10:26
war, scholars whose accumulated00:10:29
knowledge surpassed entire libraries. To00:10:32
early humanity, these figures were often00:10:34
revered, feared, or mythologized.00:10:38
Legends of immortal heroes and undying00:10:41
rulers were not metaphors. They were00:10:44
distorted memories of real individuals00:10:46
whose lifespans defied comprehension.00:10:49
But even in those ancient times,00:10:51
immortality bred [music] distance. A00:10:54
perpetual could not remain unchanged.00:10:56
While the world shifted around them,00:10:59
languages evolved. Belief systems00:11:02
transformed. Entire cultures vanished00:11:05
within [music] a single perpetual00:11:07
lifetime.00:11:08
Many immortals learned early that00:11:10
attachment was a liability. They buried00:11:13
children, lovers, [music]00:11:15
comrades, and nations. Over centuries,00:11:18
emotional survival required detachment.00:11:22
Some withdrew from public life entirely,00:11:24
living as wanderers, hermits, or00:11:27
anonymous laborers. Others embraced00:11:31
power, reasoning that if they must00:11:33
endure, they may as well shape the world00:11:36
to justify that endurance. As humanity00:11:39
entered the age of technology, the00:11:42
presence of perpetuals became even more00:11:44
dangerous. This was an era defined by00:11:47
unchecked innovation, genetic00:11:49
manipulation, and the arrogance of a00:11:52
species that believed itself00:11:54
untouchable. Immortal individuals became00:11:57
valuable assets or unacceptable risks.00:12:01
Some perpetuals were hunted, studied, or00:12:04
imprisoned by early technocracies,00:12:07
seeking to understand their regenerative00:12:09
abilities. Others were recruited into00:12:12
ruling elites. Their longevity seen as a00:12:15
stabilizing force in an increasingly00:12:18
volatile civilization. It is likely that00:12:21
more than one perpetual was dissected,00:12:24
cloned, or erased during this era. Their00:12:27
uniqueness reduced to experimental data.00:12:30
Then came old night. As warp storms00:12:34
isolated humanity's worlds and00:12:37
civilization collapsed into00:12:38
fragmentation and barbarism, perpetuals00:12:42
faced a reckoning. Immortality did not00:12:45
protect against starvation, isolation,00:12:48
or madness.00:12:50
Many perpetuals survived the long night00:12:52
only by abandoning entire worlds,00:12:55
watching populations die out around00:12:57
them, powerless to stop it. Others00:13:00
attempted to rule shattered remnants of00:13:02
humanity, becoming tyrants or guardians,00:13:06
depending on perspective. For some, old00:13:09
knight confirmed a grim truth.00:13:12
Immortality did not [music] grant00:13:13
control over fate. Only front row seats00:13:17
to catastrophe. It was during this age00:13:20
that divisions among the perpetuals00:13:22
hardened. Some concluded that humanity00:13:25
could not be trusted to guide itself,00:13:27
that without firm, centralized00:13:30
authority, preferably immortal, humanity00:13:33
would always spiral toward00:13:35
self-destruction.00:13:36
Others believed intervention itself was00:13:39
the problem, that perpetuals had no00:13:41
right to shape the destiny of a species00:13:44
simply because they outlived it. These00:13:47
philosophical fractures were not00:13:49
abstract debates. They played out across00:13:52
centuries through alliances, betrayals,00:13:55
and quiet wars fought in the shadows of00:13:58
forgotten history. By the time warp00:14:01
storms began to recede and terror00:14:03
emerged, battered but intact, the00:14:06
perpetual population had already thinned00:14:09
dramatically. Many had been destroyed00:14:11
through extraordinary means. Others00:14:14
vanished deliberately, retreating from00:14:17
history after witnessing too much00:14:18
failure. A few, however, saw opportunity00:14:22
in humanity's desperation. Among them00:14:25
was the one who would later be known as00:14:28
the Emperor of Mankind.00:14:30
Unlike most perpetuals, he [music] did00:14:33
not withdraw during old night. He00:14:36
observed, he learned, he prepared. While00:14:39
others reacted to history, he planned00:14:42
across it. where they saw collapse as00:14:44
proof of futility. He saw it as evidence00:14:47
that humanity required guidance on a00:14:50
scale only an immortal could provide.00:14:54
This difference in perspective would00:14:55
define the future [music] and doom many00:14:58
of his relationships with other00:15:00
perpetuals.00:15:02
By the end of Old Night, Terra was a00:15:04
fractured wasteland ruled by00:15:06
technobarbarians,00:15:08
gene warlords, and psyker kings. Hidden00:15:11
among them were surviving perpetuals.00:15:14
Some ruling openly, others disguising00:15:17
themselves as warlords, scholars, or00:15:20
prophets. The emperor began to eliminate00:15:23
these rivals systematically. Some were00:15:25
offered alliance. Others were destroyed00:15:28
when they refused. These early conflicts00:15:31
are absent from Imperial records.00:15:33
[music] Yet, their echoes remain in the00:15:35
bitterness carried by surviving00:15:37
perpetuals who later opposed him. It is00:15:40
important to understand that the00:15:42
perpetuals were never meant to be00:15:43
[music] a unified faction. They did not00:15:46
share loyalty, culture, or even identity00:15:50
beyond their inability to die00:15:52
permanently. Their ancient origins00:15:54
ensured they developed in isolation00:15:57
shaped by wildly different experiences.00:16:00
One might spend centuries as a warrior,00:16:03
another as a healer, another hiding00:16:06
among peasants, [music] pretending to00:16:08
age while secretly watching dynasties00:16:10
rise and fall. This diversity made them00:16:14
dangerous. To the emperor, perpetuals00:16:16
represented both potential allies and00:16:19
existential threats. Immortals who00:16:22
disagreed with his vision could00:16:24
undermine it over centuries. They could00:16:26
outlast reforms, sabotage legacies, and00:16:30
reemerge long after mortal opposition00:16:32
was gone. This reality influenced many00:16:35
of his later decisions, including00:16:38
secrecy, control, and ultimately the00:16:41
creation of engineered beings who could00:16:43
rival perpetuals while remaining loyal.00:16:46
By the dawn of the unification wars, the00:16:49
age of ancient perpetual independence00:16:52
was ending. The Emperor was no longer00:16:55
willing to tolerate competing immortal00:16:58
agendas. Humanity's future, in his view,00:17:01
required a single guiding hand. The time00:17:04
of perpetuals wandering freely through00:17:07
history had passed. Some accepted this,00:17:10
others did not. Those who remained00:17:13
independent would soon be forced into00:17:15
exile, secrecy, or confrontation. Their00:17:19
ancient origins, once a source of quiet00:17:22
influence, now made them liabilities in00:17:25
a world moving toward absolute rule. And00:17:28
as the emperor prepared to reshape00:17:30
humanity through conquest and genetic00:17:33
mastery, the perpetuals faced a choice00:17:36
they had avoided for millennia. Submit00:17:38
to a vision greater than themselves, or00:17:41
resist and risk being erased from00:17:44
history forever. Among all the immortals00:17:48
who walked humanity's long road through00:17:50
fire and ruin, one stood apart so00:17:53
completely that comparison became00:17:56
meaningless.00:17:57
Others endured history. The emperor of00:18:01
mankind sought to command it. Long00:18:04
before he wore a crown or ruled from a00:18:07
throne of gold, the emperor lived as a00:18:09
solitary constant in a species defined00:18:12
by change. Born in humanity's earliest00:18:16
prehistory, he matured while00:18:18
civilization itself was still learning00:18:20
to speak. Across millennia, he lived00:18:24
many lives, adopting countless00:18:26
identities, always observing, always00:18:28
learning. Where other perpetuals blended00:18:32
into the background or retreated from00:18:34
the pain of endless loss, the Emperor00:18:37
remained engaged. He studied humanity as00:18:40
a whole, not as individuals. and from00:18:43
that vantage point came to a singular00:18:45
conclusion. Left to itself, mankind00:18:49
would destroy its own future. This00:18:52
belief shaped everything that followed.00:18:55
Unlike other perpetuals, the Emperor00:18:58
possessed psychic power on a scale that00:19:00
dwarfed even the strongest human psykers00:19:02
of later ages. [music] His mind could00:19:05
perceive patterns across centuries,00:19:07
probabilities unfolding far beyond the00:19:10
comprehension of mortals. That foresight00:19:12
became both his greatest weapon and his00:19:15
greatest burden. He saw what humanity00:19:18
might become. Sendant, [music] united,00:19:21
free of warp predation. And he also saw00:19:25
the narrowness of [music] the path00:19:26
required to reach that future. Where00:19:29
others hesitated, the emperor acted.00:19:32
During the age of technology, [music] he00:19:34
watched humanity reach staggering00:19:37
heights, mastering science, artificial00:19:40
intelligence, [music] and genetic00:19:41
manipulation. He also witnessed its00:19:44
collapse when hubris met the warp, and00:19:47
machine rebellion tore civilization00:19:49
apart. Old Knight was not merely a00:19:53
tragedy to him. It was confirmation,00:19:56
proof that human advancement without00:19:59
guidance was catastrophic. [music]00:20:01
While other perpetuals scattered or00:20:04
despared during the long night, the00:20:06
Emperor prepared. He conserved strength,00:20:09
[music] gathered knowledge, and waited00:20:11
for the storms to clear. When terror00:20:14
emerged from isolation, the Emperor no00:20:17
longer hid. The unification wars were00:20:20
not a sudden conquest, but the00:20:22
culmination of tens of thousands of00:20:24
years of preparation.00:20:27
Armed with technologies preserved from00:20:29
humanity's forgotten golden age and00:20:32
psychic mastery unmatched by any living00:20:35
being, the Emperor set out to bring00:20:38
terror under one rule. He crushed00:20:40
technobarbarian empires, shattered gene00:20:44
warlords, and erased rival psyker kings00:20:47
who threatened humanity's stability.00:20:50
Some of these rulers were perpetuals00:20:52
themselves, immortals who had carved out00:20:54
domains during old night. The emperor00:20:58
offered alliance to those who would00:20:59
submit. Those who refused were00:21:02
eliminated. This was the first great00:21:04
fracture between the emperor and his00:21:07
immortal peers. To the emperor, unity00:21:10
justified ruthlessness. To many00:21:12
perpetuals, his actions confirmed their00:21:15
worst fears. He was no longer a00:21:17
guardian. He was a conqueror, reshaping00:21:20
humanity by force. Those who once walked00:21:23
beside him drifted away, disillusioned00:21:26
or alarmed by the scale of his ambition.00:21:30
Erda would later remember this era as00:21:32
the moment when hope gave way to dread.00:21:35
When the Emperor's vision hardened into00:21:38
something uncompromising.00:21:40
Yet from the Emperor's perspective,00:21:43
compromise meant extinction.00:21:45
With terror unified, his gaze turned00:21:48
outward. Humanity was scattered across00:21:51
the stars, fractured by old night into00:21:54
isolated worlds, vulnerable to xenos,00:21:58
chaos, and stagnation. The Emperor knew00:22:01
that time was against them. Warp00:22:04
entities fed on fear and division.00:22:07
Psykers were becoming more common, more00:22:10
dangerous. Without intervention,00:22:12
humanity would collapse or be consumed.00:22:15
The great crusade was born from this00:22:18
urgency. But the emperor faced a problem00:22:21
even his immortality could not solve00:22:23
alone. Human armies were insufficient.00:22:27
Ordinary leaders aged, died, and00:22:30
fractured unity. Even perpetuals were00:22:33
unreliable, driven by personal00:22:36
philosophies shaped across millennia.00:22:38
The Emperor required generals who could00:22:41
operate on his level. Beings capable of00:22:44
commanding across stars, embodying his00:22:47
will, and enduring the horrors of00:22:49
galactic war without breaking. The00:22:52
solution was unprecedented. He would00:22:54
create his own kind. The Primark project00:22:58
[music] was not simply a military00:23:00
endeavor. It was an attempt to00:23:02
manufacture controlled immortality.00:23:06
Drawing upon his own genetic template00:23:08
[music] and the expertise of allies like00:23:11
Erda and Malcador, the Emperor00:23:14
engineered 20 sons, each designed to00:23:17
embody aspects of his power and purpose.00:23:20
[music] They were not true perpetuals,00:23:22
but something adjacent. beings of00:23:25
immense longevity, resilience, and00:23:28
intellect, capable of surviving where00:23:30
mortals could not. This act marked a00:23:33
turning point where the Emperor once00:23:36
walked among fellow immortals as an00:23:38
equal, [music] he now sought to replace00:23:40
them with creations bound to him alone.00:23:44
For perpetuals who had already grown00:23:46
uneasy, this was confirmation that the00:23:49
Emperor no longer trusted natural00:23:51
evolution or independent [music]00:23:53
immortals. Loyalty, not wisdom, became00:23:57
the priority. The scattering of the00:24:00
Primarks shattered [music] that plan,00:24:02
though the Emperor never abandoned it.00:24:05
When he found his sons across the00:24:07
galaxy, [music] he forged them into00:24:10
weapons of unity, launching the Great00:24:12
Crusade to reclaim humanity's lost00:24:15
worlds. For a time, it worked. The00:24:19
Imperium expanded at an impossible pace.00:24:22
Worlds were brought into compliance.00:24:25
Xenos empires fell. Humanity stood on00:24:28
the brink of galactic dominance. And yet00:24:31
the emperor's greatest flaw revealed00:24:33
itself during this triumph. He trusted00:24:36
that his long view was sufficient, that00:24:39
his foresight could compensate for00:24:41
secrecy, for emotional distance, for00:24:44
withholding truth from his sons and00:24:46
followers. Other perpetuals had warned00:24:49
him of this danger, that immortality00:24:52
breeds detachment, that seeing centuries00:24:55
ahead makes individual suffering seem00:24:58
negligible. The emperor believed such00:25:01
suffering was an acceptable cost. The00:25:04
Horus heresy proved otherwise. When his00:25:07
favored son fell when brother turned00:25:10
against brother, the emperor's plans00:25:12
unraveled with terrifying speed. The00:25:15
very creations meant to secure00:25:17
humanity's future became instruments of00:25:20
its near annihilation.00:25:23
Throughout the war, the Emperor remained00:25:25
bound to terror, engaged in a psychic00:25:28
struggle within the web way that drained00:25:31
even his vast strength. For the first00:25:34
time since prehistory, the Emperor was00:25:36
forced into a reactive posture, fighting00:25:39
to preserve what he had built rather00:25:41
than shaping what would come next. The00:25:44
final confrontation aboard the vengeful00:25:46
spirit ended the Emperor's active rule.00:25:50
His physical form was shattered. his00:25:52
mortal voice silenced. Yet even then,00:25:55
death did not claim him. As a perpetual,00:25:58
the emperor endured, interred upon the00:26:02
golden throne, sustained by arcane00:26:04
technology and constant sacrifice. His00:26:07
body remained locked in a state between00:26:10
life and death. His mind, however, did00:26:13
not fade. He became something new. An00:26:16
immortal consciousness bound to the00:26:18
survival of humanity. Projecting the00:26:21
astronomicanin across the warp, holding00:26:24
back chaos through sheer will. Some00:26:27
believe this fate represents failure.00:26:30
Others see it as the ultimate sacrifice.00:26:33
For perpetuals who survived the heresy,00:26:36
the emperor's condition became a grim00:26:38
le. Immortality did not guarantee00:26:41
victory. Power did not ensure wisdom.00:26:45
Even the greatest among them could00:26:47
miscalculate.00:26:48
The Emperor had sought to guide humanity00:26:51
forever and in doing so condemned00:26:53
himself to an eternity of suffering. Yet00:26:56
without him, humanity would already be00:26:59
extinct. This contradiction defines the00:27:02
Emperor's legacy among the perpetuals.00:27:05
He is revered, feared, resented, and00:27:08
mourned all at once. To some, he remains00:27:13
the last hope of mankind's salvation. To00:27:16
others, he is proof that no being, no00:27:19
matter how ancient or powerful, should00:27:22
wield absolute control over an entire00:27:25
species. Still, the galaxy turns because00:27:28
he endures. [music] And while his former00:27:31
allies and immortal contemporaries walk00:27:34
their own paths, [music] some loyal,00:27:36
some broken, some vanished, the emperor00:27:39
remains at the center of it all. [music]00:27:42
The ultimate perpetual. Not because he00:27:45
cannot die, but because even death was00:27:47
not permitted to take him. If the00:27:49
emperor was the architect of humanity's00:27:52
destiny, then Malcat the sigilite was00:27:55
the keeper of its foundation stones.00:27:58
Where the emperor embodied will and00:28:00
vision, Malcador embodied memory,00:28:03
[music] restraint, and consequence. He00:28:06
was never meant to rule openly, nor00:28:08
command armies in the field. His power00:28:11
[music] lay elsewhere in knowledge00:28:14
accumulated across lifetimes, in secrets00:28:17
carefully guarded, [music]00:28:19
and in an understanding of humanity that00:28:21
even the Emperor sometimes lacked.00:28:24
Malcatar was ancient when the Imperium00:28:26
was young, [music] long before Terror00:28:29
was unified, before the Emperor raised00:28:32
his banners. Malcador had already lived00:28:35
many lives. His true origins are00:28:38
obscured even to the most secret00:28:40
Imperial archives, yet fragments remain.00:28:44
He had walked old Earth during the age00:28:46
of technology and survived its collapse00:28:49
into old night. He witnessed humanity at00:28:52
its most enlightened and at its most00:28:54
monstrous. Where many perpetuals00:28:57
recoiled from those memories, Malcard00:29:00
absorbed them. He remembered what00:29:02
unchecked progress could do. He00:29:04
remembered how quickly ideals decayed00:29:06
into tyranny. It was this memory that00:29:09
bound him to the emperor. Unlike other00:29:12
perpetuals who drifted away as the00:29:14
emperor's ambitions sharpened, Malcado00:29:17
remained. He did not share all of the00:29:19
Emperor's certainties. Yet, he believed00:29:21
the alternative. Humanity unguided in a00:29:25
galaxy infested with predators, would be00:29:28
worse. Their relationship was not one of00:29:31
blind loyalty. It was built on debate,00:29:34
tension, and mutual respect forged over00:29:38
centuries.00:29:39
Malcador challenged the emperor when few00:29:42
others dared. He questioned decisions,00:29:45
raised concerns about secrecy, and00:29:47
warned of unintended consequences.00:29:50
Sometimes he was heard. Often he was00:29:53
overruled. Still, he stayed. As terror00:29:57
burned through the unification wars,00:29:59
Malcador became the Emperor's unseen00:30:02
hand. While the Emperor broke warlords00:30:05
and reshaped continents, Malcolor00:30:08
organized what came after. He00:30:10
established the administrative00:30:12
structures that would later become the00:30:14
Imperium's bureaucracy. He gathered lost00:30:17
knowledge, sealed dangerous00:30:19
technologies, and founded orders00:30:21
dedicated [music] to preservation rather00:30:23
than conquest. He understood that00:30:26
victory without structure would only00:30:28
lead to another collapse. This role00:30:31
expanded dramatically with the launch of00:30:33
the great crusade. As the emperor00:30:36
departed terror to reclaim the stars,00:30:39
Malcador remained behind as regent,00:30:42
ruling in his name. It was Malcador who00:30:45
managed the early Imperium's fragile00:30:48
balance between military expansion and00:30:51
civil governance. He mediated disputes00:30:54
between primarchs, oversaw compliance00:30:57
beyond the battlefield, and ensured that00:31:00
the Emperor's will translated into00:31:02
something resembling stability. His00:31:05
authority was absolute, yet he rarely00:31:07
wielded it openly. Fear was an00:31:10
inefficient tool. Malcador preferred00:31:13
influence. As a psyker, Maleter was00:31:16
among the most powerful humans ever to00:31:19
live, surpassed only by the Emperor00:31:22
himself. His mastery was precise rather00:31:25
than overwhelming. Where the emperor00:31:28
bent reality through sheer force,00:31:30
Malcolka shaped it delicately,00:31:33
unraveling minds, shielding secrets, and00:31:36
manipulating events with surgical care.00:31:39
This made him indispensable and00:31:41
dangerous. Even primarchs [music]00:31:44
felt unease in his presence. Lorggo once00:31:47
struck Malcar in a fit of rage,00:31:49
shattering his fragile looking body. The00:31:52
sigilite survived, rising again with00:31:55
calm fury that left no doubt. Beneath00:31:58
the robes stood an immortal who had00:32:00
endured far worse than a primar's blow.00:32:03
Malcol's true strength, however, lay in00:32:06
his understanding of failure. He knew00:32:09
the Imperium was built on compromises.00:32:12
[music] He understood that lies had been00:32:14
told about chaos, about the warp, about00:32:18
[music] the Emperor's nature, and that00:32:20
those lies carried a cost. Unlike the00:32:24
Emperor, Malcador never believed secrecy00:32:27
was sustainable forever. [music] He00:32:29
viewed it as a temporary shield, buying00:32:32
time until humanity matured enough to00:32:34
face the truth. The tragedy was that00:32:38
time ran out first. When Horus fell,00:32:41
Malcador recognized the danger00:32:43
immediately. This was not simply00:32:45
rebellion. It was systemic collapse.00:32:47
[music]00:32:48
The Primarks were not merely generals.00:32:51
They were emotional anchors for entire00:32:53
legions. Their corruption threatened00:32:55
everything the emperor had built. As the00:32:58
heresy spread, Malcol shifted from00:33:01
administrator to emergency architect,00:33:04
assembling hidden contingents and00:33:05
contingency plans meant for extinction00:33:08
level threats. One of these plans was00:33:11
the Knights errant. Handpicked from00:33:13
loyal legions, these warriors answered00:33:16
directly to Malcador. Operating beyond00:33:19
standard command structures, they were00:33:21
tasked with missions too sensitive, too00:33:24
morally ambiguous for open warfare.00:33:26
Through them, Malcolor prepared for a00:33:30
future he feared might come to pass. The00:33:33
death or incapacitation of the emperor00:33:35
himself. This was not disloyalty. It was00:33:39
foresight born of centuries spent00:33:42
watching plans fail. As the heresy00:33:45
closed in on terror, Malcador's burdens00:33:49
multiplied. He coordinated planetary00:33:51
defenses, managed dwindling resources,00:33:55
and oversaw the secret war beneath the00:33:58
Imperial Palace as demonic incursions00:34:00
threatened to tear reality apart. All00:34:04
the while, the Emperor was locked in a00:34:06
psychic battle within the webway, unable00:34:09
to intervene directly. Terror survived00:34:12
those months, largely because Malador00:34:15
refused to break. The final test came00:34:18
during the siege. With the Emperor00:34:21
preparing to confront Horus, someone had00:34:23
to take his place upon the Golden00:34:25
Throne, a device designed to channel00:34:28
unimaginable psychic forces and keep the00:34:31
Webway Breach sealed. No mortal could00:34:34
survive it. Even most perpetuals would00:34:37
be annihilated. Malcol knew this. He00:34:41
also knew there was no alternative. He00:34:43
took the throne willingly. The moment00:34:46
Malcador seated himself upon it, the00:34:49
device began to consume him, his body00:34:53
withered, his soul stretched thin across00:34:56
impossible distances as he held back the00:34:59
warp through sheer will. Every second00:35:02
was agony. Yet Malcador endured, pouring00:35:06
the last of his immortal strength into00:35:09
maintaining the emperor's great work.00:35:11
For hours, perhaps days, he held the00:35:15
throne, knowing it would cost him00:35:17
everything. When the emperor returned,00:35:20
broken but victorious, he found Malcador00:35:23
reduced to ash. There was no00:35:25
resurrection, no slow regeneration, no00:35:28
return. Malcador the sigilite, had given00:35:32
up his immortality entirely, expending00:35:35
his perpetual essence to preserve00:35:37
humanity's future. In doing so, he00:35:40
achieved something few perpetuals ever00:35:42
did. A final death chosen freely, not00:35:46
imposed by violence or betrayal. His00:35:50
loss reshaped the Imperium. Without00:35:53
Malcador, the delicate balance between00:35:56
power and restraint vanished. [music]00:35:58
The institutions he built remained, but00:36:01
their guiding conscience was gone. Where00:36:04
Malcador had tempered extremism, dogma00:36:07
hardened. Where he preserved nuance,00:36:11
absolutism took root. The Imperium00:36:14
endured, but it did so without the one00:36:17
immortal who understood its fragility00:36:19
best. Among surviving perpetuals,00:36:23
Malcador became a cautionary figure.00:36:26
Proof that immortality could end in00:36:28
sacrifice rather than isolation. [music]00:36:31
Proof that wisdom accumulated across00:36:33
ages still mattered, [music] even if it00:36:36
could not prevent catastrophe.00:36:39
For the emperor, Malcader's death was a00:36:41
wound deeper than any physical injury, a00:36:45
reminder that even an immortal empire00:36:47
exacts a [music] price. Malcador never00:36:50
sought to be remembered. There are no00:36:52
statues raised in his honor, no cult00:36:56
dedicated to his name. His [music]00:36:58
legacy survives instead in sealed00:37:01
vaults, forbidden protocols, and the00:37:04
quiet continuity of a civilization that00:37:06
might otherwise have collapsed entirely.00:37:09
He was the unseen spine of the Imperium,00:37:12
holding it upright long enough for00:37:14
history to continue. And now with00:37:17
Malcolor gone, the remaining perpetuals00:37:20
would face a galaxy without its quietest00:37:23
guardian, forced to confront their00:37:26
choices without the one immortal who had00:37:28
always understood the cost of survival.00:37:31
Before the Imperium, before the great00:37:34
crusade, before the emperor became a00:37:37
figure of worship or fear, there was00:37:40
Erda. She was ancient even by the00:37:43
standards of the perpetuals. Born in00:37:46
humanity's earliest prehistory, when00:37:49
survival itself was a daily struggle,00:37:52
where others of her kind gravitated00:37:54
toward power or withdrawal, Erda was00:37:57
defined by creation. She was a nurturer,00:38:01
a shaper, and a believer in humanity's00:38:04
potential as something more than a tool00:38:06
to be wielded. [music] Erda knew the00:38:09
emperor before he was an emperor. In00:38:12
those distant ages, he was known to her00:38:14
by another name, a warlord among00:38:17
warlords. Brilliant and driven, but not00:38:20
yet consumed by destiny. They walked the00:38:23
world together during humanity's00:38:25
infancy, sometimes as allies, sometimes00:38:29
as rivals, always bound by the shared00:38:32
curse of immortality.00:38:34
Where the emperor observed humanity from00:38:36
a distance, Erda lived among them. She00:38:39
learned their rhythms, their emotions,00:38:42
their capacity for love and cruelty00:38:44
alike. Over time, she came to see00:38:47
humanity not as a project to be00:38:50
perfected, but as a fragile species that00:38:52
needed protection from its own extremes.00:38:56
For centuries, Erda supported the00:38:58
Emperor's efforts. She believed, as he00:39:00
did, that humanity's survival required00:39:03
guidance. When old Knight descended and00:39:06
the galaxy fractured, she did not00:39:08
abandon him. She stood at his side as00:39:11
terror collapsed into barbarism,00:39:14
witnessing firsthand the horrors00:39:16
unleashed by unchecked psykers, [music]00:39:18
warp, corruption, and technological00:39:21
excess. Like Malcolor, she understood00:39:24
what humanity had lost and feared what00:39:27
it might lose again. It was during this00:39:30
period that the Emperor began planning00:39:32
something unprecedented.00:39:34
The failure of other perpetuals to00:39:36
remain unified convinced him that00:39:38
humanity could not rely on naturally00:39:41
occurring immortals. Their independence,00:39:44
their philosophies, their capacity for00:39:47
descent made them unreliable. If the00:39:50
species was to survive the coming age,00:39:52
it would need leaders engineered for00:39:54
purpose. Beings who combined immortality00:39:57
adjacent resilience with loyalty to a00:40:00
singular vision. The Primark project was00:40:04
conceived as an answer to that problem.00:40:07
Erda was instrumental in making it00:40:09
possible. She was one of the greatest00:40:11
geneticists humanity had ever produced.00:40:14
Her knowledge refined across [music]00:40:16
thousands of years of study and00:40:18
experimentation.00:40:20
Using her own genetic material alongside00:40:23
the emperors, she helped craft [music]00:40:25
the 20 primarks. They were not merely00:40:28
weapons. To Erda, they were children,00:40:32
living beings shaped from her flesh and00:40:34
the Emperor's essence, carrying the00:40:37
future of humanity within them. She00:40:39
believed they could become more than00:40:41
generals. She believed they could become00:40:44
guardians. But as the project00:40:46
progressed, a terrible realization took00:40:49
root. Erda was excluded from the00:40:52
Primarks' future. The Emperor never00:40:55
intended to raise his sons as children.00:40:58
They were to be instruments of conquest,00:41:00
forged in isolation, conditioned for00:41:03
war, [music] and deployed across the00:41:05
galaxy. Emotional bonds were00:41:08
liabilities.00:41:10
Compassion was inefficient. [music]00:41:12
Erda watched the gestation chambers fill00:41:15
with beings of extraordinary potential,00:41:17
knowing they would be denied choice,00:41:19
[music] denied guidance, denied the00:41:22
chance to grow as anything other than00:41:24
weapons. This was the moment when Erda's00:41:27
faith in the emperor broke. She00:41:30
confronted him, arguing that what he was00:41:32
creating would bring devastation, not00:41:35
salvation. She warned that sons raised00:41:38
without love would seek it elsewhere,00:41:41
[music] that beings designed for war00:41:43
would eventually turn that war inward.00:41:46
The emperor dismissed her concerns. To00:41:49
him, the primarchs were necessary00:41:52
sacrifices. Their suffering was00:41:54
justified by the future he envisioned.00:41:58
Erda could not accept that. In a00:42:00
decision that would echo across the00:42:02
galaxy, Erda acted alone. Using her00:42:06
immense psychic power and arcane00:42:08
knowledge, she tore open a controlled00:42:10
warp event within the Emperor's gene00:42:12
labs.00:42:13
>> [music] >> In an instant, the primarchs were ripped00:42:16
from their gestation chambers and00:42:18
scattered across the stars, flung onto00:42:20
distant worlds beyond the emperor's00:42:23
reach. Erda believed she was saving00:42:26
them. Removed from terror, they might00:42:28
grow as individuals, [music] shaped by00:42:30
culture and choice rather than rigid00:42:33
design. She did not foresee the00:42:35
consequences. The warp is not a neutral00:42:38
medium. Chaos watched, waited, and00:42:42
intervened. Though Erda acted without00:42:45
allegiance to the dark gods, her00:42:47
defiance created the opening they00:42:49
needed. The primarchs landed on worlds00:42:52
that would shape them in wildly00:42:54
divergent ways. Some nurturing, others00:42:58
brutal. The seeds of future tragedy were00:43:02
sewn in that single act. The Emperor's00:43:04
reaction was complex. He was furious,00:43:07
but he did not destroy Arida. He knew00:43:10
her motives. He understood her love for00:43:12
the Primarchs, even if he rejected her00:43:15
conclusions. Rather than hunt her down,00:43:18
he allowed her to flee into exile. Their00:43:21
bond, once intimate and collaborative,00:43:24
was severed beyond repair. Erda became00:43:27
in Imperial history an unspoken figure,00:43:31
a traitor whose name would be buried00:43:33
because her role threatened the00:43:34
narrative of divine design. Erda00:43:38
disappeared. For decades, she lived in00:43:40
isolation on old Earth, far from the00:43:43
centers of power. She abandoned ambition00:43:46
entirely, retreating into quiet00:43:48
anonymity. The Imperium rose without00:43:51
her. The Great Crusade thundered across00:43:54
the galaxy. Her sons were rediscovered00:43:57
one by one, shaped by worlds she had00:44:00
never chosen for them. Erda watched from00:44:03
afar as the Imperium became everything00:44:06
she had feared. Vast, merciless, and00:44:09
built on endless war. When the Horus00:44:12
heresy erupted, Erda could no longer00:44:15
remain hidden. The galaxy burned, and00:44:18
the Emperor's vision collapsed into00:44:20
civil war. Erda remained on terror,00:44:23
living in seclusion near the region of00:44:26
Galb, carrying the weight of her00:44:28
decision as reality proved both her00:44:31
fears and [music] her mistakes correct.00:44:34
She was neither absolved nor vindicated.00:44:38
The primarchs she sought to protect00:44:40
[music] had become monsters and heroes00:44:43
in equal measure. It was during the00:44:46
siege of terror that Erda was drawn back00:44:49
into the web of perpetual fate. John00:44:53
Grammaticus sought her out, desperate00:44:56
for answers, hoping she could aid in00:44:58
reaching the emperor or altering the00:45:00
course of the final conflict. Erda00:45:03
received him not as an ally, [music] but00:45:06
as a reminder of everything that had00:45:08
gone wrong. She refused to intervene00:45:11
directly. [music]00:45:12
Her era of shaping history had ended.00:45:15
Yet she did offer one thing, knowledge.00:45:19
She revealed where another perpetual00:45:21
[music] Olanius person might appear,00:45:24
providing a thread that would lead to00:45:26
the final confrontation aboard the00:45:29
vengeful spirit. That small act would be00:45:32
her last contribution to humanity's00:45:34
fate. Chaos had not forgotten Erda.00:45:38
Arabus, architect of so much suffering,00:45:41
tracked her down during the final days00:45:43
of the siege. He offered her power,00:45:46
absolution, a place among the gods she00:45:49
had inadvertently served. Erda refused.00:45:53
She had no illusions left. She would not00:45:56
trade one tyranny for another. Arabus00:45:59
responded with annihilation. He summoned00:46:02
greater demons of all four chaos powers,00:46:05
unleashing them upon Erda in her hidden00:46:08
sanctuary. What followed was one of the00:46:11
most extraordinary displays of perpetual00:46:14
power ever recorded. Erda revealed her00:46:17
true form, splitting her essence into00:46:20
multiple aspects, wielding psychic force00:46:23
refined over tens of thousands of years.00:46:26
She destroyed every demon sent against00:46:29
her, tearing apart manifestations of00:46:31
gods through sheer will. But victory00:46:34
came at a cost. Arida was left00:46:37
exhausted, her perpetual resilience00:46:40
stretched to its absolute limit. Arabus00:46:43
struck then using an Amy blade steeped00:46:47
in warp corruption. The wound it00:46:49
inflicted was final. Erida, mother of00:46:53
the primarchs, fell not in betrayal, nor00:46:56
in service to chaos, but in defiance of00:46:59
it. Her death was permanent. Erda died00:47:03
knowing her choice had reshaped the00:47:05
galaxy for good and ill. She died having00:47:09
tried to give her sons a chance at00:47:11
something better, even if that chance00:47:13
ultimately led to ruin. History would00:47:16
remember her only as a traitor, if it00:47:18
remembered her at all. But among the00:47:21
perpetuals, Erda's story became00:47:24
something else entirely. A warning that00:47:27
even love, when wielded against destiny,00:47:30
can fracture the future. That00:47:32
immortality does not grant clarity. And00:47:36
that the line between savior and00:47:38
betrayer is often drawn by those who00:47:40
survive to write history. Of all the00:47:44
Emperor's sons scattered across the00:47:46
stars, Vulcan alone embodied the00:47:49
perpetual condition in its purest form,00:47:52
the others were long lived, resilient,00:47:55
and mighty beyond human measure. Vulcan00:47:59
went further. Death itself refused to00:48:02
keep him. When the infant Primark was00:48:05
cast into the void by forces beyond his00:48:08
control, fate carried him to the00:48:10
volcanic world of Noctturn. It was a00:48:13
planet that tested every creature born00:48:15
upon it, where firestorms scoured the00:48:19
land, and survival demanded strength00:48:22
tempered by endurance.00:48:24
Vulcan was raised among the tribes of00:48:26
Nocturn as one of their own, growing not00:48:29
only into a giant of immense physical00:48:32
power, but into a leader defined by00:48:34
empathy. Unlike many of his brothers,00:48:38
Vulcan learned early that strength00:48:40
existed to protect, not dominate. This00:48:43
upbringing shaped him profoundly. When00:48:46
the Emperor finally found Vulcan during00:48:49
[music] the Great Crusade, he did not00:48:51
encounter a conqueror hungry for glory.00:48:54
He found a craftsman, a protector, and a00:48:57
ruler who valued the lives of ordinary00:49:00
humans as much as victory. Vulcan joined00:49:04
the Imperium willingly, bringing with00:49:06
him the 18th Legion, later known as the00:49:09
Salamanders.00:49:10
They would become a force unlike any00:49:13
other warriors who fought fiercely, yet00:49:16
never forgot those they defended. At00:49:18
first, nothing about Vulcan suggested00:49:21
true immortality. He bled in battle. He00:49:25
suffered wounds. He endured pain like00:49:28
any primarch. It was only during the00:49:31
cataclysm of the Horus heresy [music]00:49:33
that the truth of his nature was00:49:35
revealed. On Istvon Fi, when the traitor00:49:39
legions unleashed extermination level00:49:41
bombardment upon the loyalists, Vulcan00:49:44
was caught at the heart of destruction00:49:47
meant to annihilate even demigods.00:49:50
Atomic fire consumed the battlefield.00:49:53
Vulcan was obliterated. [music] Then he00:49:56
returned from ash and ruin. Vulcan rose00:50:00
whole once more. His death had not been00:50:03
symbolic. His body had been destroyed00:50:05
entirely. [music] Yet life reclaimed00:50:08
him, rebuilding flesh, bone, and mind00:50:12
through a mechanism no mortal science00:50:14
could explain.00:50:16
In that moment, Vulcan became something00:50:18
unprecedented,00:50:20
a primark who was also a true perpetual.00:50:24
This revelation did not bring clarity.00:50:27
It brought suffering. Captured by Conrad00:50:31
Kurs, Primark of the Night Lords, Vulcan00:50:35
endured torments designed to break not00:50:38
merely his body, but his spirit. Kurs00:50:42
was fascinated by [music] Vulcan's00:50:43
resurrection, viewing it as proof of the00:50:46
universe's cruelty. He killed Vulcan00:50:50
repeatedly, experimenting with different00:50:52
methods, testing the limits of his00:50:54
immortality.00:50:56
Each death was brutal. Each rebirth00:50:59
carried memory intact. Vulcan remembered00:51:03
every blade, every flame, every moment00:51:06
of helplessness.00:51:08
Immortality offered no mercy. Over time,00:51:12
the cycle of death and return fractured00:51:14
Vulcan's mind. His compassion, once his00:51:17
defining trait, twisted inward into00:51:20
guilt and despair. He began to question00:51:23
his own worth, his purpose, and the00:51:25
value of his endless survival. Unlike00:51:28
Kerzy, who embraced cruelty, Vulcan00:51:31
recoiled from what endless suffering00:51:33
revealed about the galaxy. He was not00:51:36
unbreakable. He was enduring.00:51:39
Eventually, Vulcan escaped captivity,00:51:42
though not unscathed. The psychological00:51:45
scars ran deeper than any wound Kuri00:51:48
could inflict. When Vulcan reemerged00:51:51
during the Imperium Secundis era, he was00:51:54
no longer the same. He carried the00:51:56
weight of countless deaths within him, a00:51:58
burden no other Primark shared. Gilaman00:52:02
and the lion struggled to understand00:52:04
him. Vulcan himself struggled to remain00:52:07
whole. It was during this period that00:52:09
Vulcan's perpetual nature became both00:52:12
liability and necessity. Unlike other00:52:15
primarchs, Vulcan could not simply fall00:52:17
in battle and be mourned. He would00:52:20
return, carrying trauma forward rather00:52:22
than escaping it through death. His00:52:25
immortality forced him to confront00:52:27
failure without release. Each mistake00:52:30
lingered, each loss compounded. The00:52:34
galaxy offered no space to heal. Yet,00:52:37
Vulcan endured. As the heresy drew00:52:40
toward terror, Vulcan played a critical00:52:43
role in safeguarding the Emperor's final00:52:46
contingencies.00:52:47
Entrusted with relics and secrets too00:52:49
dangerous to misuse, Vulcan became a00:52:52
living vault, hiding artifacts whose00:52:55
activation could doom humanity if00:52:58
unleashed recklessly. Even among00:53:00
perpetuals, Vulcan's resilience set him00:53:03
apart. Where others endured through00:53:06
regeneration alone, [music] Vulcan00:53:08
endured through will. When the siege of00:53:11
terror began, Vulcan returned to the00:53:13
heart of the Imperium. He fought beneath00:53:16
the Imperial Palace, defending critical00:53:18
installations against demonic incursion.00:53:22
In the depths of the Webway Wars00:53:24
aftermath, Vulcan stood as one of the00:53:26
last lines of defense, facing horrors00:53:29
that fed on despair and madness. Death00:53:33
claimed him again during these battles,00:53:36
and again, it failed to hold him.00:53:38
Through it all, Vulcan never abandoned00:53:41
his core belief. Human lives mattered.00:53:44
This conviction often placed him at odds00:53:47
with the Imperium he served. In a war00:53:50
defined by annihilation, Vulcan fought00:53:52
with restraint whenever possible. He saw00:53:55
each civilian death as a failure, each00:53:58
ruined world as a wound that immortality00:54:01
could not heal. Other primarchs measured00:54:04
success [music] in territory gained or00:54:06
enemies slain. Vulcan measured it in00:54:10
lives preserved. After Horus fell and00:54:13
the emperor was intombed upon the Golden00:54:16
Throne, [music] Vulcan did not remain to00:54:18
rule. The Imperium emerging from the00:54:21
heresy was harsher, more dogmatic, less00:54:25
forgiving than the one he had fought00:54:26
for. Vulcan recognized that his presence00:54:30
might do more harm than good. [music] As00:54:32
a perpetual primarch, he would00:54:34
inevitably become a symbol, perhaps even00:54:37
an object of worship or fear. He00:54:40
rejected both. Instead, he chose00:54:43
withdrawal. Before leaving, Vulcan set a00:54:46
final test for his legion. He scattered00:54:49
nine artifacts across the galaxy, relics00:54:52
bound to his legacy and values. Only00:54:55
when the Salamanders recovered them all,00:54:58
he declared, would he return.00:55:01
This was not abandonment. It was00:55:04
preparation.00:55:05
Vulcan understood that immortality00:55:08
without purpose corrods the soul. By00:55:11
leaving, he forced his sons to grow00:55:14
without him, to embody his ideals rather00:55:17
than rely on his presence. Where Vulcan00:55:20
went remains unknown. Some believe he00:55:23
walks the galaxy still, aiding the00:55:25
helpless in secret. Others claim he00:55:28
guards something far more dangerous,00:55:31
waiting for a time when his return00:55:33
becomes necessary.00:55:35
Unlike other perpetuals who hid out of00:55:37
fear or exhaustion, Vulcan vanished out00:55:41
of responsibility. He refused to impose00:55:44
his will upon a future he could not00:55:46
control. Among the surviving perpetuals,00:55:50
Vulcan's story carries unique weight. He00:55:53
is proof that immortality can coexist00:55:55
with compassion, proof that endless life00:55:59
does not require detachment from00:56:01
suffering. Yet he is also a warning that00:56:05
enduring pain without end can fracture00:56:08
even the strongest spirit. Vulcan00:56:11
survived death countless times, but00:56:14
survival alone was never his victory.00:56:17
His true triumph was choice. He chose to00:56:20
protect rather than rule. He chose00:56:22
restraint over dominance. He chose00:56:25
absence over control. In a galaxy shaped00:56:28
by immortal ambition, Vulcan became00:56:31
something rarer than a perpetual. He00:56:34
became a guardian who knew when to step00:56:36
away. And while the Imperium waits for00:56:39
signs of his return, another ancient00:56:42
perpetual continues to walk among00:56:44
humanity. One who chose a far humbler00:56:47
path, yet whose actions would alter the00:56:50
fate of the galaxy in a single decisive00:56:53
moment. While primarchs shattered worlds00:56:56
and perpetuals argued over the fate of00:56:59
civilizations,00:57:00
Olanius person chose a different path.00:57:04
He did not seek thrones, command armies,00:57:07
or impose visions upon the future. He00:57:10
marched, he fought, [music] he endured.00:57:14
And across tens of thousands of years,00:57:16
he remained a soldier long after every00:57:19
war should have ended. Olanius person00:57:23
was ancient [music] even by perpetual00:57:26
standards. He walked old earth in eras00:57:29
[music] so distant that recorded history00:57:31
could no longer name them accurately.00:57:34
Long before the Imperium, long before00:57:37
the emperor raised banners of unity,00:57:40
Ananius fought in wars whose causes had00:57:43
already been forgotten by the time Rome00:57:46
was young. Unlike other immortals, he00:57:49
never embraced rulership. Power held no00:57:52
fascination for him. What mattered was00:57:56
the person beside him in the line, the00:57:58
shield that needed holding, the stand00:58:00
[music] that had to be made. For a time,00:58:04
Olanius fought alongside the emperor. In00:58:07
humanity's earliest wars, when survival00:58:10
itself demanded violence, Olanius00:58:12
[music]00:58:13
served as a trusted commander, perhaps00:58:15
even a war leader under the emperor's00:58:17
command. The two shared history measured00:58:20
in centuries rather than years. They00:58:23
shared victories, losses, and a deep00:58:26
[music] understanding of the cost of00:58:27
command. Where the emperor learned to00:58:30
see humanity as a whole, Olanius never00:58:33
lost sight of individuals. This00:58:35
difference would eventually drive them00:58:37
apart. As the emperor's ambitions00:58:40
expanded, Olanius grew uneasy. He had00:58:43
seen too many conquerors justify00:58:46
atrocity in the name of necessity. He00:58:48
understood unity was vital. Yet, he00:58:51
feared what absolute authority would00:58:53
demand. When the emperor began shaping00:58:56
humanity on a specieswide scale, Olanius00:59:00
stepped away. He did not rebel. He did00:59:04
not denounce. He simply left. And for a00:59:07
long time, the galaxy forgot him.00:59:10
Olanius lived quietly during the age of00:59:13
technology and into old night. He worked00:59:16
fields. He served in small militias. He00:59:19
pretended to age. He watched families00:59:22
grow and vanish, nations rise and00:59:25
collapse, and learned to keep his nature00:59:28
hidden. Immortality to him was not a00:59:31
gift to be used, but a burden to be00:59:34
managed. The fewer who knew, the fewer00:59:36
who would seek to exploit it. By the00:59:39
time the great crusade began, Orlanius00:59:42
wanted nothing to do with it. He watched00:59:45
from the margins as the Imperium00:59:47
reclaimed the stars, recognizing both00:59:50
the brilliance and the danger of what00:59:52
the emperor had built. When the00:59:54
primarchs were rediscovered, Olania saw00:59:57
familiar patterns repeating. Sons raised01:00:00
for war, destined to carry unbearable01:00:03
expectations. He chose distance again,01:00:06
believing history would unfold without01:00:08
his interference. History had other01:00:11
plans. When the Horus heresy erupted,01:00:14
Olanius found himself caught in its01:00:16
wake. Despite every effort to remain01:00:19
uninvolved, the galaxy tore itself apart01:00:23
and war followed him whether he sought01:00:25
it or not. On the world of Calf, amid01:00:28
the wordbearer's treachery and the01:00:31
devastation of Ultramar, Olanius01:00:34
encountered refugees fleeing demonic01:00:37
slaughter. He could have kept moving. He01:00:40
could have disappeared. Instead, he01:00:42
stayed. Elanius gathered survivors,01:00:46
soldiers, civilians, even remnants of01:00:49
long-forgotten warriors, and led them01:00:52
away from annihilation.01:00:54
This decision marked the end of his01:00:56
attempt to live quietly. The war had01:00:59
reached a scale where neutrality became01:01:01
impossible. Humanity was bleeding, and01:01:04
Oanius could no longer justify watching01:01:07
from the sidelines. It was during this01:01:10
flight through chaos that Olanius01:01:12
encountered another perpetual John01:01:15
Grammaticus. The two could not have been01:01:18
more different. Jon was entangled in01:01:20
alien plots and grand designs, burdened01:01:24
by choices that spanned [music]01:01:25
galaxies. Olanius cared only about01:01:28
getting people through the next day01:01:30
alive. [music] Yet fate bound them01:01:33
together, their paths converging toward01:01:35
terror as the heresy reached its climax.01:01:39
Along the way, Orlanius displayed a01:01:41
resilience that went beyond his01:01:43
immortality. He led by example, fought01:01:46
when necessary, [music] and never asked01:01:48
others to endure what he would not. His01:01:51
perpetual nature revealed itself openly01:01:54
during this journey. Olanius died01:01:56
protecting his people more than once.01:01:59
Each time he returned without01:02:01
explanation, brushing off fear and01:02:03
confusion with quiet resolve. To those01:02:06
he led, he became something more than a01:02:09
man, an anchor in a reality unraveling01:02:12
under the weight of demons and betrayal.01:02:15
To Olanius, it was simply duty01:02:17
continuing after death. As the siege of01:02:20
terror began, Olanius reached the heart01:02:23
of the Imperium at its [music] darkest01:02:25
hour. The Imperial Palace was a fortress01:02:28
under constant assault. Reality itself01:02:31
breaking under the pressure of the war.01:02:34
Amid this chaos, Olanius [music] found01:02:37
himself drawn back into the Emperor's01:02:39
orbit for the first time in millennia.01:02:42
Old wounds reopened. Old disagreements01:02:45
resurfaced. Yet, there was no time for01:02:48
reckoning. Humanity stood on the brink01:02:50
of extinction. Elenius understood01:02:53
something few others did. Wars are not01:02:57
won by gods alone. As Horus prepared for01:03:00
his final confrontation with the emperor01:03:03
aboard the vengeful spirit, Olanius01:03:06
joined a desperate plan to reach the war01:03:08
master's flagship. [music]01:03:10
It was an act bordering on suicide. Even01:03:14
immortality offered no guarantee against01:03:16
the power Horus now wielded. Olanius01:03:20
went anyway.01:03:22
What happened next would echo across01:03:24
10,000 years of imperial myth. In the01:03:27
final moments of the heresy as the01:03:30
emperor faced Horus, the war master01:03:33
unleashed power capable of annihilating01:03:36
anything that [music] stood before him.01:03:39
Between the emperor and that killing01:03:41
blow stood Olanius Perc. No armor of01:03:45
legend protected him. No psychic shield01:03:49
flared to life. He was a soldier01:03:52
standing [music] in defiance of a01:03:53
godlike traitor. Olanius acted without01:03:57
hesitation. He placed himself between01:04:00
Horus and the emperor, not as a symbol,01:04:03
but as a reflex born of countless01:04:05
lifetimes in battle. Protect the one01:04:08
beside you. Hold the line by time. In01:04:13
that instant, Elanius embodied01:04:15
everything humanity could be at its01:04:17
best. courage without expectation of01:04:20
reward. Accounts diverge after that01:04:23
moment. Some say Horus obliterated01:04:26
Olanius completely, destroying body and01:04:29
soul in a burst of warpfueled violence.01:04:33
Others suggest Olanius spoke, reminding01:04:36
the emperor of what he fought for,01:04:38
grounding him long enough to strike01:04:40
back. The truth remains deliberately01:04:43
obscured, folded into layers of01:04:46
propaganda and myth. What matters is01:04:49
what followed. The emperor rose. Horse01:04:53
fell. Humanity survived. In the01:04:57
aftermath, the Imperium rewrote the01:04:59
story. Olanius person became Olanius01:05:03
Pierce, a nameless godsman elevated into01:05:06
legend. The perpetual was erased.01:05:10
Immortality did not fit Imperial01:05:12
doctrine. A simple soldier's sacrifice01:05:15
did. And so history reshaped him into01:05:19
something safer, something inspirational01:05:22
yet incomplete. For those who knew the01:05:25
truth, the eraser was fitting. Olanius01:05:29
never wanted recognition. He never01:05:31
sought statues or remembrance. His01:05:34
victory was not surviving, but standing01:05:37
when it mattered. Whether his perpetual01:05:39
nature allowed him to return again after01:05:42
that final stand remains uncertain. Some01:05:45
whispers suggest he endured, walking01:05:48
away into obscurity once more. Others01:05:51
believe that moment finally ended his01:05:53
long road. Either outcome would [music]01:05:56
have suited him. Among the perpetuals,01:05:59
Olanius person [music] stands apart. He01:06:02
was not a planner like the emperor, not01:06:05
a guardian of secrets like Malador, not01:06:08
a creator like Edda, nor a demigod like01:06:12
Vulcan. He was a soldier who carried01:06:14
immortality like a scar rather than a01:06:17
crown. His story proves that perpetuals01:06:21
did not shape history only through grand01:06:24
designs. Sometimes they shaped it by01:06:26
refusing to step aside. And while his01:06:29
legend was rewritten, his influence01:06:32
remained, [music] echoing through every01:06:34
guardsman who held the line, believing01:06:36
that even the smallest stand could01:06:39
change the fate of [music] the galaxy.01:06:42
Whereanius person embodied loyalty01:06:45
without ambition, John Grammaticus01:06:47
represented something far more01:06:49
unsettling. He was not born to01:06:52
immortality. He was chosen for it,01:06:55
reshaped by alien hands and pushed into01:06:58
a war whose stakes extended [music]01:07:00
beyond humanity itself. John Grammaticus01:07:03
began life as an unremarkable man on old01:07:06
Earth. [music] He was intelligent,01:07:09
linguistically gifted, and possessed a01:07:11
latent psychic sensitivity that marked01:07:14
him as unusual but not extraordinary.01:07:17
In another age, he might have become a01:07:20
scholar or diplomat. Fate had far01:07:23
harsher plans. During the final stages01:07:26
of Terara's unification, Jon briefly01:07:30
crossed paths with the Emperor. The01:07:32
encounter left a mark on him, though he01:07:35
did not yet understand why.01:07:37
Soon after, Jon died, killed violently,01:07:41
his life cut short before it had truly01:07:43
begun. Death did not end his story. Jon01:07:48
awoke reborn, his body restored and01:07:51
altered by the Cabal, a secretive01:07:53
coalition of ancient Xenos species who01:07:56
had watched the galaxy rise and fall01:07:59
long before humanity discovered [music]01:08:01
fire. The Cabal did not resurrect Jon01:08:05
out of mercy. [music] They required a01:08:07
human agent who could move freely among01:08:10
mankind, someone who could die and01:08:13
return, someone expendable and01:08:15
controllable. They turned Jon into a01:08:18
perpetual and bound him to their cause.01:08:21
From that moment, Jon Grammaticus01:08:23
belonged to a war older than the01:08:25
Imperium. The Cabal had foreseen the01:08:28
Horus Heresy long before its first shots01:08:31
were fired. In their vision of the01:08:34
future, chaos was the ultimate enemy, an01:08:37
infection that would eventually consume01:08:39
all sentient life. They believed the01:08:41
heresy offered a singular opportunity to01:08:44
destroy Chaos forever. Their solution01:08:47
was horrifying in its simplicity. If01:08:50
Horus won, humanity would burn itself01:08:53
out in a brief apocalyptic frenzy,01:08:56
starving the chaos gods of belief and01:08:59
emotion. If the Emperor won, humanity01:09:02
would survive, stagnate, and continue01:09:05
feeding chaos for eternity. The Cabbell01:09:09
chose extinction.01:09:11
Jon was tasked with helping engineer01:09:13
that outcome. Unlike Oanius, who fought01:09:16
for people he could see, Jon was forced01:09:19
to think in abstractions, species,01:09:21
epochs, probabilities, his immortality01:09:24
came with memories that did not belong01:09:26
to him. Fragments of alien history and01:09:29
long-term consequence pressed into his01:09:32
mind by his handlers. He understood the01:09:35
Cabal's logic, even as it repulsed him.01:09:38
Saving the galaxy by murdering humanity01:09:41
was not a choice any human should have01:09:43
to make.01:09:44
Yet Jon obeyed. His most significant01:09:47
mission brought him into contact with01:09:49
the Alpha Legion. Disguised as an01:09:52
Imperial agent, Jon arranged a meeting01:09:55
between Alftherius and the Cabal. There,01:09:59
[music] the Primarch was shown two01:10:01
futures. One in which Horus triumphed01:10:04
and chaos burned itself out alongside01:10:07
mankind and another in which the Emperor01:10:10
prevailed and the galaxy endured under01:10:13
endless war and decay. Alfaras was left01:10:17
to choose which future deserved to01:10:19
exist. Jon watched the Primark decide.01:10:24
That moment haunted him more than any01:10:26
death he experienced afterward. The01:10:29
Alpha Legion's path through the heresy01:10:32
became a tangle of secrecy, half01:10:35
measures, and hidden loyalties,01:10:37
reflecting the unbearable weight of that01:10:40
choice. Jon had helped set it in motion.01:10:43
He could never undo it. As the heresy01:10:46
[music] spread, Jon's doubts deepened. He saw01:10:50
worlds annihilated, [music]01:10:52
populations slaughtered, and legions01:10:55
turned into monsters. Each event pushed01:10:58
him further from the Cabal's cold01:11:00
certainty. Immortality did not shield01:11:03
him from guilt. If anything, it made it01:11:06
worse. [music] He could not die to01:11:08
escape it. At one point, overwhelmed by01:11:11
what he had done, Jon attempted to end01:11:14
his own life permanently, hurling01:11:16
himself into the void. His perpetual01:11:19
nature restored him regardless. The01:11:21
Cabal reclaimed him and sent him back to01:11:24
work. Jon learned then that immortality01:11:27
could be a prison. His path eventually01:11:30
crossed with Vulcan, and this meeting01:11:32
changed everything. The Cabal ordered01:11:35
Jon to assassinate the salamander's01:11:37
primark using a fragment of Fulgrite, a01:11:41
weapon capable of ending even a01:11:43
perpetual existence.01:11:45
To the Cabell, Vulcan was an01:11:47
unacceptable variable, an immortal01:11:50
primark whose survival threatened their01:11:52
calculations.01:11:54
Jon could not do it. Standing before01:11:57
Vulcan, broken by Kerz's tortures, yet01:12:00
still driven by compassion, Jon saw01:12:03
something the Cabal had never accounted01:12:05
for. Vulcan represented proof that01:12:08
humanity could endure without becoming01:12:11
what chaos desired. Rather than kill01:12:14
him, Jon used the Fulurite to heal01:12:17
Vulcan's shattered mind, restoring01:12:20
clarity at the cost of his own01:12:22
immortality.01:12:24
In that moment, Jon chose humanity over01:12:26
the galaxy. The Cabal did not forgive01:12:29
betrayal. Jon was captured by Damon01:12:32
Pratanis, another perpetual agent whose01:12:36
loyalty to the Kabell was absolute.01:12:39
Unlike Jon, Damon never questioned the01:12:41
mission. He represented the logical01:12:44
endpoint of immortal detachment,01:12:46
efficient, remorseless, and convinced01:12:49
that ends justified any means. Jon's01:12:53
survival depended on forces beyond his01:12:55
control. Elar intervention ended Damon's01:12:59
life permanently, freeing Jon, but01:13:02
leaving him mortal, wounded, and a01:13:04
drift. With his immortality gone, Jon01:13:08
continued anyway. As the siege of terror01:13:11
closed in, Jon returned to humanity's01:13:14
cradle. Driven by the belief that01:13:16
something still needed doing, he01:13:18
reconnected with Olanius person and01:13:21
sought out Erda, hoping she could help01:13:24
avert the coming catastrophe.01:13:27
Erda refused direct intervention. Yet,01:13:30
she provided knowledge that guided Jon01:13:32
and Olanius toward their final role in01:13:35
the war. Jon's contribution to the end01:13:38
of the heresy was not marshall. During01:13:41
the final confrontation aboard the01:13:43
Vengeful Spirit, Jon was present not as01:13:46
a warrior, but as a catalyst. When Horus01:13:50
confronted the Emperor, Jon spoke a01:13:53
word, a phrase, something carried01:13:55
through time and memory that disrupted01:13:57
the war master's certainty for a01:14:00
fraction of a moment. That moment was01:14:03
enough. The Emperor struck. Horus died.01:14:07
The galaxy staggered onward. Afterward,01:14:10
Jon vanished. Records of his fate are01:14:13
fragmentaryary, contradictory, and01:14:15
deliberately obscured. Some suggest he01:14:18
continued walking the galaxy as a mortal01:14:21
man, [music] burdened with memories no01:14:23
one else could share. Others hint that01:14:26
the warp itself refused to release him,01:14:28
that his connection to the Cabal left01:14:31
scars deeper than [music] death. What is01:14:33
certain is that John Grammaticus never01:14:36
returned to power, never claimed credit,01:14:39
[music] and never sought absolution.01:14:42
Among the perpetuals, Jon occupies a01:14:45
unique place. He was neither born01:14:47
immortal nor content to remain so. His01:14:50
story is defined by choice rather than01:14:52
endurance. Where others used immortality01:14:55
to shape history, Jon rejected it to01:14:58
preserve meaning. He proved that long01:15:01
life does not [music] automatically01:15:03
grant moral clarity and that sacrificing01:15:06
eternity can be the most human act of01:15:09
all. As the Imperium rebuilt itself at01:15:13
top the ruins of the heresy, Jon's role01:15:16
faded into shadow. Yet his influence01:15:19
lingered, woven into the choices [music]01:15:22
that spared humanity annihilation,01:15:25
even if it condemned it to an endless01:15:27
war instead.01:15:29
And while Jon chose mortality, another01:15:33
perpetual continued her vigil far from01:15:36
battlefields and thrones, guarding a01:15:38
secret older than the Imperium itself.01:15:42
Olivia Surka never sought eternity.01:15:46
Unlike many perpetuals, she did not01:15:48
crave influence, legacy, or dominion01:15:51
over history. Her immortality was01:15:54
something she endured rather than01:15:55
embraced. A quiet persistence that01:15:58
followed her across ages she would have01:16:01
gladly left behind. Where others shaped01:16:04
empires, Olivia guarded a single secret,01:16:07
and that secret would one day draw the01:16:09
war master himself. Olivia was already01:16:13
ancient when she first encountered the01:16:15
Emperor. She had lived through forgotten01:16:18
centuries on old Earth, surviving the01:16:20
slow churn of history with little01:16:23
interest in guiding it. Her temperament01:16:25
was inward, reflective, shaped by01:16:28
empathy rather than ambition. This01:16:30
disposition set her apart from many of01:16:33
her immortal contemporaries and made her01:16:36
uniquely suited for the task she would01:16:38
eventually be given. That task began on01:16:41
Molech, long before the Imperium. The01:16:45
Emperor traveled to that distant world01:16:47
to access a hidden gateway into the01:16:50
warp. What he gained there was never01:16:53
fully explained, only hinted at through01:16:56
the consequences that followed. The01:16:58
emperor did not go alone. Olivia Sura01:17:02
accompanied him, bearing witness to01:17:05
something so dangerous that even she was01:17:07
never permitted to fully understand it.01:17:10
When the emperor returned from the gate01:17:13
changed, armed with knowledge and power01:17:16
that would later make the Primark01:17:17
project possible, Olivia remained01:17:20
behind. She became Mole's warden. The01:17:24
Emperor entrusted her with guarding the01:17:26
warp gate, ensuring no one else could01:17:28
exploit it. This was not a role of01:17:31
glory. It was an eternal vigil on a01:17:34
quiet world far from the great currents01:17:37
of history. Olivia accepted without01:17:40
complaint. She understood the stakes.01:17:43
Some doors once opened could never be01:17:46
closed again. As millennia passed,01:17:49
Molech transformed. Imperial settlers01:17:52
arrived. The planet was folded into the01:17:54
growing Imperium, its secret buried01:17:57
beneath layers of bureaucracy and01:17:59
ignorance. Olivia adapted, blending into01:18:03
colonial life. She lived among mortals,01:18:06
forming attachments despite knowing01:18:08
their fragility. She took a husband. She01:18:11
helped raise children not her own. To01:18:14
the people of Moolik, she was simply01:18:16
Olivia, a woman of unusual insight and01:18:20
kindness, someone who seemed to age more01:18:22
slowly than most. They called her a01:18:25
saint. She never corrected them. When01:18:28
the Horus heresy erupted, Molech's01:18:31
obscurity vanished overnight. Horus01:18:34
learned of the warp gate and [music]01:18:36
understood its significance. If the01:18:38
emperor had gained power there, then so01:18:41
could he. The war master's invasion of01:18:44
Molech was swift and merciless. Traitor01:18:47
legions descended upon the planet,01:18:49
[music] tearing through Imperial01:18:50
defenses and civilians alike. Olivia01:18:54
knew what was coming. She abandoned the01:18:56
life she had built and revealed herself01:18:58
to Imperial loyalists, [music] guiding a01:19:01
desperate race toward the gates hidden01:19:04
location. For the first time in01:19:06
centuries, she [music] stepped fully01:19:08
into her role as a perpetual guardian.01:19:11
With Ultramarines at her side, Olivia01:19:14
enacted a ritual meant to seal the warp01:19:17
gate permanently. It was a dangerous01:19:20
improvised act fueled by will rather01:19:23
than certainty. She succeeded only01:19:26
partially. [music]01:19:27
Horus arrived before the process could01:19:29
be completed. The war master struck01:19:32
Olivia down without hesitation. His blow01:19:35
was final by any mortal measure. The01:19:38
gate remained accessible and Horus01:19:40
passed through [music] it, claiming01:19:42
whatever dark empowerment awaited him on01:19:44
the other side. Moolik was lost. Yet01:19:48
Olivia returned. Her perpetual nature01:19:51
reasserted itself, pulling her back from01:19:54
death once more. She awoke to a ruined01:19:57
world and a galaxy spiraling toward01:20:00
annihilation. With no reason to remain,01:20:03
she gathered survivors and fled aboard a01:20:05
refugee vessel. Carrying with her the01:20:08
guilt of failure and the weight of01:20:10
knowledge she could never share openly.01:20:13
The journey to terror was long and01:20:15
perilous. Warp routes were unstable.01:20:19
Traitor forces hunted refugees01:20:21
relentlessly. [music] During this01:20:23
voyage, Olivia's protective instincts01:20:26
surfaced again. She uncovered chaos01:20:29
cultists hidden among the survivors and01:20:31
destroyed them, ensuring the ship01:20:33
reached its destination intact. Though01:20:36
she lived among mortals, she never01:20:39
allowed her immortality to distance her01:20:41
from their fear. She stood with them,01:20:44
fought for them, and guided them as01:20:46
quietly as she could.01:20:48
By the time the ship reached the soul01:20:51
system, the siege of terror had begun.01:20:54
Imperial defenses [music] stretched to01:20:56
their limits nearly destroyed the01:20:58
refugee vessel outright. Olivia01:21:02
intervened at the last moment, using01:21:04
knowledge only a perpetual could01:21:06
possess. She contacted Jon Grammaticus,01:21:09
leveraging an old connection to secure01:21:12
safe passage. It was not an easy01:21:15
alliance. Old resentments lingered, yet01:21:18
necessity outweighed pride. Once on01:21:21
Terra, Olivia ensured the refugees01:21:24
safety before agreeing to involve01:21:26
herself further. Her personal01:21:29
attachments mattered to her even as the01:21:31
galaxy burned. Only after her family and01:21:35
companions were secured did she return01:21:37
to the shadowed world of immortal01:21:40
obligations. Malcador the sigilite01:21:43
called upon her. Deep beneath the01:21:46
Imperial Palace, Malcader awaited Magnus01:21:49
the Red, who sought a missing fragment01:21:52
of his soul. Olivia was present when01:21:55
Magnus arrived, not as a warrior, but as01:21:58
an observer. Another perpetual, watching01:22:02
the tragedy of the Emperor's sons01:22:04
unfold. The meeting ended in violence.01:22:07
[music] Magnus unleashed his power,01:22:10
burning Malcador to ash and shattering01:22:12
Olivia's body with equal ease. Once01:22:16
again, Olivia returned. Her resurrection01:22:18
came quickly, painfully, and with full01:22:21
awareness of what had just occurred. She01:22:24
rose in the silence left behind,01:22:27
standing over Malcador's remains. For a01:22:30
perpetual death was not unfamiliar. This01:22:33
moment was different. Malcard was gone.01:22:37
The Emperor's last confidant had fallen,01:22:40
and Terara could not afford his absence.01:22:42
Olivia made her choice. She knelt and01:22:46
placed her hands upon Malcador's ashes,01:22:49
drawing upon the full depth of her01:22:51
perpetual essence. [music]01:22:53
Immortality is not infinite. It is a01:22:56
reserve shaped [music] by soul as much01:22:58
as flesh. Olivia spent it all. She01:23:02
poured her life into [music] Malcador,01:23:05
reigniting what Magnus had extinguished.01:23:08
Malcador returned. Olivia did not. Her01:23:12
sacrifice was absolute. [music] She did01:23:15
not expect resurrection. She did not01:23:17
seek remembrance. She understood [music]01:23:19
that some burdens must be carried to01:23:22
their end. In giving up her immortality,01:23:25
Olivia ensured that Malcador could01:23:27
continue guiding the Imperium through01:23:29
its final trial. The siege would have01:23:32
failed without him. The Golden Throne01:23:34
would have gone unoccupied. Humanity's01:23:37
last chance would have ended beneath the01:23:39
palace. Olivia Surka died so that others01:23:42
[music] could endure. Her story did not01:23:45
survive intact. The Imperium had no01:23:48
place for [music] saints who were not01:23:49
sanctioned, nor for perpetuals who01:23:52
complicated doctrine. Her name faded01:23:54
from record, preserved only in fragments01:23:57
and forbidden archives. Those who knew01:24:00
the truth carried it quietly,01:24:02
understanding that immortality is not01:24:05
measured by how long one lives, but by01:24:07
what one gives when the end finally01:24:10
comes. Among the perpetuals, Olivia's01:24:14
story stands as a counterpoint to01:24:16
ambition and survival. [music] She did01:24:19
not seek to shape humanity's destiny.01:24:22
She guarded a door. She protected lives.01:24:25
She chose love over longevity. In a01:24:28
galaxy obsessed with endurance, Olivia01:24:31
Surka proved that sacrifice [music]01:24:34
could still outweigh eternity. And while01:24:37
her vigil ended beneath [music] terror,01:24:40
another perpetual walked a far darker01:24:42
path, one shaped not by protection, but01:24:46
by assassination and alien calculation.01:24:50
Where Alivia Sera guarded a secret out01:24:53
of devotion, Damon Pritanis served one01:24:57
out of conviction. He believed in01:24:59
conclusions, not mercy, outcomes, not01:25:03
lives.01:25:05
Among the perpetuals drawn into the01:25:07
Cabal's designs, Damon was the sharpest01:25:10
blade, purpose-built to end problems01:25:13
permanently, even when permanence defied01:25:16
nature itself. Little is known of01:25:19
Damon's life before the Cabal claimed01:25:22
him, and that [music] absence is01:25:24
telling. If he once had a past rooted in01:25:27
humanity, it was stripped away with01:25:30
deliberate efficiency. What remained was01:25:33
a perpetual whose immortality functioned01:25:36
as a tool rather than a burden. Damon01:25:39
did not wrestle with the morality of01:25:41
eternity. He accepted it as leverage.01:25:45
The Cabal valued Damon for his clarity.01:25:49
Unlike John Grammaticus, whose doubts01:25:52
complicated every mission, Damon01:25:54
approached the galaxy as a set of01:25:56
equations. Species rose and fell.01:25:59
Empires burned or endured. The only01:26:02
meaningful metric was whether chaos01:26:04
would ultimately be destroyed.01:26:07
Everything else, human suffering,01:26:09
cultural annihilation, individual lives,01:26:13
registered as variables to be adjusted01:26:15
or eliminated. In this, Damon embodied01:26:18
the Cabal's cold logic more perfectly01:26:21
than any other agent. As a perpetual,01:26:24
Damon possessed the usual resilience of01:26:26
his kind. Yet, his true strength lay in01:26:29
discipline. He did not form attachments.01:26:32
He did not pretend to be mortal. He01:26:35
accepted death as inconvenience and01:26:37
violence as language. Where other01:26:40
perpetuals struggled with memory and01:26:42
regret, Damon compartmentalized.01:26:46
Each life was a mission. Each death,01:26:49
including his own, was data. Throughout01:26:52
the early stages of the Horus heresy,01:26:55
Damon operated far from the spotlight.01:26:57
He eliminated threats to the Cabal's01:27:00
long-term strategy, human, Zanos, and01:27:03
otherwise. These operations were01:27:06
surgical and unrecorded.01:27:08
Entire bloodlines vanished without01:27:10
explanation. Key individuals disappeared01:27:13
before they could influence events in01:27:15
unforeseen ways. The Imperium never01:27:18
noticed. That was the point. Damon's01:27:22
path inevitably crossed with John01:27:24
Grammaticus. The two represented01:27:26
opposite interpretations of perpetual01:27:29
existence under the cabal. Jon01:27:32
questioned, Damon enforced. Where Jon01:27:35
was allowed flexibility due to his01:27:38
usefulness as a cultural intermediary,01:27:41
Damon answered only to results. Their01:27:43
partnership functioned because the Cabal01:27:46
needed both perspectives until Jon's01:27:49
conscience became a liability. The01:27:51
breaking [music] point came with Vulcan01:27:54
when Jon refused to assassinate the01:27:56
Salamander's Primark and instead used01:28:00
the Fulgurite to heal him. Damon01:28:03
recognized betrayal instantly.01:28:06
Volcan's survival threatened the Cabal's01:28:09
projected outcomes. [music] An immortal01:28:11
primarch introduced unpredictability on01:28:14
a scale that could not be tolerated.01:28:16
Jon's loss of immortality during the act01:28:20
was irrelevant. He [music] had made a01:28:22
choice that placed sentiment above01:28:24
extinction calculus. Damon was01:28:27
dispatched to correct the error. He01:28:29
captured Jon with ease. Mortality01:28:33
stripped Jon of the advantages that once01:28:35
protected [music] him. Damon imprisoned01:28:38
him within an Elear crafted containment01:28:41
illusion designed to disorient and01:28:44
degrade. This was not punishment. It was01:28:48
preparation. The Cabal still intended to01:28:51
use Jon, even broken, to nudge events01:28:54
toward their desired end. Damon's role01:28:58
was to ensure compliance. Yet in this01:29:01
moment, the Cabal miscalculated.01:29:04
Damon's certainty blinded him to01:29:06
resistance beyond force. He01:29:09
underestimated how many factions opposed01:29:11
the Cabal's vision. Not out of loyalty01:29:14
to humanity, but out of recognition that01:29:17
annihilation was not the only answer to01:29:20
chaos. Eldrad Ulron intervened. A01:29:25
renegade wordbearer aided the assault.01:29:28
The fulgarite Damon carried, the same01:29:31
substance meant to end perpetuals, was01:29:34
turned against him. For the first time01:29:36
in his existence, Damon Pratannis faced01:29:40
true finality.01:29:42
The strike that ended him was precise.01:29:45
His perpetual regeneration failed. There01:29:48
was no return, no delayed resurrection,01:29:51
no chance to reassess. Damon died01:29:54
knowing the Cabal's plan was unraveling.01:29:57
Undone not by overwhelming force, but by01:30:01
refusal, his end marked a turning point.01:30:05
The Cabal lost more than an assassin.01:30:08
They lost certainty. Damon's death01:30:11
echoes through perpetual history because01:30:14
it proves something vital. Immortality01:30:17
does not guarantee detachment forever.01:30:20
Damon believed himself immune to the01:30:22
emotional corrosion that plagued other01:30:25
perpetuals. He prided himself on that01:30:28
immunity. Yet his inability to imagine01:30:31
alternatives to account for compassion,01:30:34
defiance, or sacrifice was itself a01:30:37
flaw. The galaxy is not governed solely01:30:40
by probability. It is shaped by choices01:30:43
made in defiance of logic. In contrast01:30:47
to Jon, Damon never wavered. He never01:30:49
doubted the Cabal's vision. He never01:30:52
questioned whether humanity deserved a01:30:54
future. In many ways, he was the Cabal's01:30:57
ideal agent precisely because he had01:31:00
surrendered his humanity entirely. That01:31:03
surrender made him efficient. It also01:31:05
made him predictable. Among the01:31:07
perpetuals, Damon's story is a warning01:31:10
of a different kind. Where others suffer01:31:13
under immortality's weight, Damon01:31:15
avoided suffering by abandoning empathy.01:31:18
He reduced existence to function. In01:31:21
doing so, he became something less than01:31:23
human, even as he claimed to act for the01:31:25
good of the galaxy. His [music] death01:31:28
did not redeem him. It simply ended a01:31:30
line of reasoning that could not coexist01:31:33
with choice. Yet, Damon's influence did01:31:36
[music] not vanish with him. The Cabal's01:31:38
ideas persisted. Their willingness01:31:40
[music] to sacrifice entire species to01:31:43
defeat chaos would surface again, echoed01:31:46
in radical inquisitorial doctrines and01:31:49
doomsday philosophies across the01:31:51
Imperium's later millennia. Damon01:31:54
Pratanis was not unique in his thinking.01:31:56
He was simply the most refined01:31:58
expression of it. And he was not the01:32:00
last perpetual to be twisted by forces01:32:03
beyond humanity. While Damon served01:32:06
alien logic willingly, another perpetual01:32:09
would be reshaped through darker means.01:32:12
Raised from death by chaos [music]01:32:13
itself, trapped between faith and01:32:16
corruption. Her immortality a curse01:32:19
rather than a tool. Sirene Volanteon was01:32:23
never meant to be immortal. Her eternity01:32:26
was not the result of evolution,01:32:28
foresight, or ancient design. It was an01:32:32
accident [music] born of grief, hubris,01:32:35
and the predatory curiosity of chaos.01:32:39
Where other perpetuals carried01:32:41
immortality like an inherited burden,01:32:44
Sirene carried it like a wound that01:32:46
never closed. Before the heresy, Sirene01:32:50
was an ordinary human woman of Culkus.01:32:53
She possessed no psychic gift, no hidden01:32:56
power, no destiny written in the stars.01:33:00
What she had was faith. Absolute01:33:03
unyielding faith in Lorgar Aurelion and01:33:06
in the emperor he once worshiped. She01:33:10
followed the wordbearers not as a01:33:12
warrior but as a living symbol of01:33:14
devotion. To the legion she represented01:33:18
purity of belief, proof that faith could01:33:21
elevate humanity beyond fear and doubt.01:33:25
That faith would destroy her. When01:33:27
Monarchia burned and Lorgar's belief01:33:30
shattered, Sirene remained loyal. Even01:33:33
as [music] the wordbearers descended01:33:35
into bitterness and heresy, she stood by01:33:38
them, convinced that purpose would01:33:40
return. This loyalty made her useful.01:33:44
Arabus and Cor Feron understood the01:33:47
power of symbols [music] and Sirene01:33:50
became one of them. A reminder of what01:33:52
the legion had been twisted into01:33:55
justification for what it would become.01:33:58
Her death came during the Legion's01:34:00
purges. As the wordbearers cleansed01:34:03
themselves of weakness in preparation01:34:05
for the heresy, Sirene was betrayed. The01:34:08
exact details vary between accounts, yet01:34:12
the result is consistent. She was killed01:34:15
deliberately, sacrificed as part of a01:34:17
wider ritual of transformation.01:34:20
Her faith did not save her. It marked01:34:23
her. Larars's reaction was not what01:34:26
Arabus expected. The Primark was01:34:29
devastated by Sirene's death. For all01:34:33
his descent into chaos, Lorgar still01:34:36
clung to fragments of his former01:34:38
compassion. He demanded her return.01:34:42
Arabus, ever eager to bind his master01:34:45
further into damnation, agreed to01:34:48
attempt the impossible. Sirene was01:34:51
resurrected through warp sorcery. The01:34:54
ritual succeeded in the most perverse01:34:56
way possible. [music] Sirene rose again,01:34:59
her body restored, her soul bound to01:35:02
something vast and hungry. Arabus had01:35:05
intended to raise a servant, perhaps01:35:07
even a prophet. What emerged instead was01:35:11
something far more dangerous. Sirene had01:35:14
become a perpetual. Her resurrection was01:35:17
incomplete, unstable, and unnatural.01:35:21
Unlike other perpetuals, Sirene's01:35:23
immortality was not woven into her being01:35:26
from birth or ancient transformation.01:35:30
It was grafted onto her through chaos.01:35:33
Death could no longer claim her, yet01:35:36
life did not fully return either.01:35:38
She existed in a liinal state, [music]01:35:41
sustained by powers that despised her01:35:43
humanity, even as they preserved it.01:35:46
Sirene herself understood none of this01:35:49
at first. She remembered dying. [music]01:35:52
She remembered betrayal. What followed01:35:55
was confusion layered at top terror. Her01:35:58
faith fractured under the weight of what01:36:00
she had become. She lived, yet she no01:36:03
longer belonged among the living. To the01:36:06
wordbearers, she became something sacred01:36:08
and profane in equal measure. A walking01:36:11
miracle that proved the favor of the01:36:13
dark gods. To Sirene, she was trapped.01:36:17
As the heresy escalated, Sirene remained01:36:21
close to Lorgar and Angrron during the01:36:23
Shadow Crusade. Her presence had [music]01:36:26
a stabilizing effect on Angrron, whose01:36:29
rage teetered constantly on the edge of01:36:32
oblivion.01:36:33
Sirene [music] spoke to him as a human,01:36:36
not a monster or a god. For brief01:36:39
moments, she reminded the Red Angel of01:36:42
what he had lost. That alone made her01:36:45
valuable. Yet her role was never her01:36:48
own. She was moved where the Legion01:36:51
required her. She was displayed, hidden,01:36:54
[music] invoked, [snorts] silenced. Her01:36:57
immortality ensured she survived horrors01:37:00
that shattered other humans. Yet01:37:02
survival only deepened her suffering.01:37:05
She could not escape what she had01:37:07
become. Death offered no release. It was01:37:11
during this time that Sirene learned the01:37:13
truth. John Grammaticus and Damon01:37:16
Pratannis encountered her on Securus and01:37:19
Damon revealed what Arabus had done.01:37:22
Sirene was now like them, a perpetual.01:37:26
Unlike them, her condition was01:37:28
irreversible and bound to chaos. This01:37:31
revelation broke whatever remained of01:37:33
her certainty. She had been remade into01:37:36
a tool of the very forces she once01:37:39
feared. Kept alive so that her faith01:37:42
could be exploited endlessly.01:37:45
Sirene's immortality was not freedom. It01:37:48
was captivity without walls. As the01:37:52
heresy progressed, Sirene faded from the01:37:55
main currents of the war, drawn deeper01:37:57
into the esoteric workings of chaos.01:38:00
Some accounts suggest her identity began01:38:03
to fracture, her soul merging with warp01:38:06
constructs designed to act as conduits01:38:09
for prophecy. Others imply she became01:38:12
bound to future figures of chaos01:38:15
worship. Her existence stretched across01:38:17
centuries as a living oracle of ruin.01:38:20
What remains consistent is this. Sirene01:38:24
never regained control of her fate.01:38:27
Unlike Jon, she never had the chance to01:38:29
reject immortality.01:38:31
Unlike Damon, she never embraced it as01:38:33
purpose. Her perpetual existence was01:38:36
imposed upon her through violation. The01:38:39
warp preserved her not out of kindness,01:38:42
but because her suffering was useful.01:38:45
Among the perpetuals, Sirene Volanteon01:38:48
stands as the darkest cautionary tale.01:38:51
Her story exposes a truth the others01:38:54
only brush against. Immortality does not01:38:57
require consent. It can be weaponized.01:39:00
It can be inflicted. When chaos grants01:39:03
eternity, it does so to extract endless01:39:07
value from the soul it traps. Sirene's01:39:10
faith, once her greatest strength,01:39:13
became the chain that bound her forever.01:39:16
Where Erda defied destiny out of love01:39:20
and Olivia sacrificed eternity out of01:39:22
duty, Sirene endured eternity as01:39:26
punishment. She could not die to escape01:39:28
it, and she could not live freely within01:39:31
it. By the end of the heresy, Sirene was01:39:34
no longer simply a woman. She was a01:39:37
symbol of what chaos offers in place of01:39:40
salvation. A reminder that resurrection01:39:43
is not redemption and survival is not01:39:46
victory. Her name would be forgotten by01:39:49
Imperial history, erased alongside01:39:52
countless other victims of the warp's01:39:54
cruelty. Yet, she persists. Somewhere01:39:58
within the Immaterium's shifting tides,01:40:01
[music] Sirene Volantion continues to01:40:03
exist. Her perpetual curse ensuring that01:40:06
the lesson of her suffering never truly01:40:09
ends. [music] In a galaxy where01:40:11
immortality is coveted, her story stands01:40:14
as proof that eternity can be the most01:40:16
merciless fate of all. And far beneath01:40:19
the red sands of Mars, another perpetual01:40:23
began her vigil in silence, chosen not01:40:26
by chaos, but by necessity to guard a01:40:29
secret older than the Imperium itself.01:40:33
Dalia Sierthera never marched beneath01:40:36
banners or stood before armies. Her fate01:40:39
unfolded far from the thunder of bolters01:40:42
and the roar of legions in a [music]01:40:44
place where secrecy mattered more than01:40:46
strength. While other perpetuals shaped01:40:50
history [music] through war or01:40:51
sacrifice, Dalia shaped it through01:40:54
vigilance, an unending watch over a01:40:57
threat so catastrophic [music]01:40:59
that even the Imperium's greatest lords01:41:01
feared to name it openly. Before her01:41:05
transformation, Dalia was unremarkable01:41:07
by Imperial standards. She was a01:41:10
remembrancer and transcriber, a woman01:41:13
whose talents lay in comprehension and01:41:15
patience rather than command. She01:41:18
possessed an instinctive understanding01:41:20
of symbols, histories, [music]01:41:22
and hidden meaning, able to piece01:41:25
together truths that others overlooked.01:41:28
It was this sensitivity, not ambition,01:41:31
not power, that drew her into events far01:41:34
larger than herself during the schism of01:41:36
Mars. At the heart of that schism lay a01:41:40
secret buried beneath the red planet.01:41:43
Deep within the Noctis labyrinth slept a01:41:46
fragment of the void dragon, one of the01:41:49
ancient Saton entities that had once01:41:52
ruled reality itself.01:41:55
Long ago, the Emperor had defeated and01:41:58
imprisoned this being, sealing it01:42:00
beneath Mars to prevent its influence01:42:03
from ever resurfacing.01:42:05
The dragon's presence shaped the01:42:07
Mechanicum in subtle ways, whispering to01:42:10
machine spirits and influencing01:42:13
technological dogma across millennia.01:42:16
Its awakening would not merely doom01:42:18
Mars, it would destabilize the Imperium01:42:22
beyond recovery.01:42:24
Dalia discovered this truth by accident.01:42:27
During the chaos of the Martian civil01:42:29
war, she followed fragmented data trails01:42:32
and cryptic visions into the depths of01:42:35
the labyrinth. There she encountered01:42:38
Semon, an ancient perpetual tasked with01:42:41
guarding the dragon since the dawn of01:42:43
the Imperium. Semon was old, even by01:42:46
immortal standards, worn thin by01:42:49
centuries of isolation and01:42:51
responsibility.01:42:52
His vigil was ending. The burden he01:42:55
carried required succession. He chose01:42:58
Dalia. The decision was not arbitrary.01:43:02
Dalia's mind possessed the rare balance01:43:04
required for such a role. Curiosity01:43:07
without ambition, devotion without01:43:09
fanaticism.01:43:11
Seamon explained the truth to her fully,01:43:14
offering no comfort. If the dragon ever01:43:17
woke, Mars would fall, the mechanicum01:43:20
would fracture, and humanity's01:43:21
technological foundation would collapse.01:43:24
Someone had to remain eternally to01:43:27
ensure that never happened. With the01:43:30
Emperor's tacid approval, Dalia was01:43:33
changed. Her transformation into a01:43:35
perpetual was controlled, deliberate,01:43:38
and unlike the chaotic resurrections01:43:41
inflicted by the warp upon others. She01:43:44
did not awaken with overwhelming power01:43:47
or regenerative spectacle.01:43:49
Her immortality was quiet, internal,01:43:53
marked by endurance rather than01:43:55
dominance. Dalia became ageless, her01:43:58
body resistant to decay, her soul01:44:01
anchored firmly in real space. From that01:44:04
moment onward, her life ceased to be her01:44:07
own. She descended into the Noctis01:44:09
labyrinth and never truly returned. As01:44:13
the Horus heresy erupted across the01:44:15
galaxy, Dalia remained beneath Mars,01:44:18
guarding a threat older than chaos. She01:44:22
felt the tremors of betrayal ripple01:44:24
through the planet as the mechanicum01:44:26
split between loyalty and rebellion.01:44:29
Demons clawed at reality. Machine forges01:44:32
burned. Still, the dragon slept. Dalia's01:44:37
presence, calm, resolute, [music]01:44:39
unwavering, kept it that way. Unlike01:44:42
other perpetuals, Dalia did not wrestle01:44:45
with philosophical doubt. Her purpose01:44:48
was absolute. There were no01:44:50
alternatives, no hidden agendas, no01:44:53
future where her duty ended. She did not01:44:56
attempt to guide humanity or influence01:44:58
events beyond her post. [music] In her01:45:01
stillness, she represented a different01:45:03
kind of immortality,01:45:05
one defined by containment rather than01:45:07
[music] intervention. Time passed01:45:10
differently beneath Mars. Centuries01:45:13
blurred together. Empires rose above her01:45:16
head. The Imperium hardened into01:45:19
something harsher than the one she had01:45:21
known. Dalia watched the Mechanicum01:45:24
evolve into the Adeptus [music]01:45:26
Mechanicus. Its rituals and dogma01:45:29
increasingly shaped by superstition and01:45:32
fear of innovation. She understood the01:45:34
irony better than most. Beneath their01:45:37
feet slept a god of machines. Yet they01:45:40
worshiped ignorance as safety. She did01:45:43
not interfere. Her role was not01:45:46
correction, but prevention. The dragon's01:45:49
influence seeped through Mars subtly,01:45:52
shaping technological reverence without01:45:55
triggering awakening.01:45:57
Dalia learned to recognize its pulses,01:46:00
its attempts to reach outward, and01:46:02
countered them with wards and rituals01:46:05
older than the Imperium itself. Each01:46:09
success reinforced her isolation.01:46:12
No one thanked her. No one knew. As01:46:15
millennia passed, Dalia's humanity did01:46:18
not vanish, but it changed. She stopped01:46:21
measuring time in years. She stopped01:46:24
expecting contact. Mortality became an01:46:27
abstraction. Her memories of life above01:46:30
the surface faded [music] into something01:46:32
dreamlike. What remained was resolve. In01:46:36
this, she differed sharply from01:46:38
perpetuals like John Grammaticus or01:46:41
Vulcan, whose immortality was defined by01:46:44
repeated trauma. Dalia's suffering was01:46:47
quieter, more profound. She lived01:46:51
without end so others could forget.01:46:53
Occasionally others passed through the01:46:56
deeper vaults, mechanicus explorers,01:46:59
forbidden cultists, lost adepts, chasing01:47:02
fragmented myths. None reached the01:47:05
dragon. Dalia intervened silently,01:47:09
redirecting paths, collapsing corridors,01:47:12
erasing data. In some cases, she killed01:47:17
not out of malice, but necessity. To01:47:20
guard a god requires decisiveness01:47:23
unclouded by sentiment. Her immortality01:47:26
ensured that no lapse of vigilance01:47:28
occurred. Even when the galaxy tore01:47:31
itself open during the great rift, when01:47:33
warp storms swallowed entire systems,01:47:37
the dragon remained contained. Mars01:47:40
endured. Humanity's industrial heart01:47:43
continued beating. Billions of lives01:47:46
depended on Dalia's continued existence01:47:49
without ever knowing her name. Among the01:47:52
perpetuals, Dalia's role is unique. She01:47:56
did not rebel against the Emperor, nor01:47:59
sacrifice herself in a blaze of01:48:01
defiance. She did not shape destiny01:48:04
through choice or tragedy. She became a01:48:07
constant, a living seal placed upon01:48:10
something humanity could never afford to01:48:12
confront. Her immortality was not01:48:15
glorious. It was functional. And therein01:48:19
lies its significance. Dalia Sierthera01:48:23
represents the Imperium's deepest truth.01:48:26
Survival often depends not on heroes,01:48:29
but on those willing to disappear01:48:31
entirely. Her story challenges the01:48:34
assumption that perpetuals exist [music]01:48:36
to act. Sometimes their greatest01:48:39
contribution is restraint. As the01:48:42
Imperium stumbled into the 41st01:48:44
millennium, believing itself besieged by01:48:47
Zenos and [music] demons alone, one of01:48:50
its greatest threats remained locked01:48:52
away by a woman who would never see01:48:54
sunlight again.01:48:57
Dalia's vigil continues uninterrupted,01:49:00
unseen, and unceelebrated.01:49:03
Yet her existence carries a sobering01:49:06
implication. If the Emperor deemed a01:49:09
perpetual necessary to guard a single01:49:11
secret, how many others remain hidden?01:49:14
How many immortal watchers stand between01:49:17
humanity and oblivion without01:49:19
acknowledgement or relief? As Dalia01:49:22
keeps her silent watch beneath Mars,01:49:25
another perpetual walks openly among01:49:27
warriors once more. One whose01:49:29
immortality has not been hidden, but01:49:32
rediscovered in the fires of endless01:49:34
war. By the 41st millennium, the age of01:49:38
openly walking perpetuals had all but01:49:41
vanished. The Emperor was silent upon01:49:44
the Golden Throne. Vulcan was gone.01:49:47
Others were dead, hidden, or erased from01:49:50
memory. Immortality had become a rumor01:49:54
rather than a presence. And then, amid01:49:56
the endless war against the warp, Anval01:49:59
Thornne rose from the dead. Anval Thorne01:50:03
did not know he was a perpetual when the01:50:06
Imperium first found him. He was01:50:08
discovered as a child by the black ships01:50:11
bearing the psychic mark that drew the01:50:14
attention of the Inquisition. Unlike01:50:16
most who were taken, Thorne did not01:50:19
scream or resist. He waited. Those who01:50:23
encountered him later would remark on01:50:25
that detail, how he seemed to understand01:50:28
that his path had already been decided.01:50:31
From the outset, Thorne displayed an01:50:33
unsettling calm, as though fear itself01:50:37
had learned it would gain nothing from01:50:38
him. He was delivered to Titan. There01:50:42
among the Grey Knights, Thorne was01:50:44
subjected to trials that broke most01:50:46
aspirants in body or mind. The Grey01:50:49
Knights were more than space marines.01:50:51
They were living weapons forged to fight01:50:54
demons at the soul level. Aspirants were01:50:57
tested not only for strength and01:50:59
discipline, but for incorruptability.01:51:03
Thorne endured every trial placed before01:51:05
him. He did not excel through aggression01:51:08
or ambition. He survived through01:51:11
resolve. His brothers noticed something01:51:13
strange. Thorne was reckless in battle,01:51:17
yet never careless. He volunteered for01:51:19
missions others avoided. He advanced01:51:22
where logic dictated withdrawal. Again01:51:25
and again, he placed himself in01:51:27
positions that should have meant certain01:51:29
death. At first, this was attributed to01:51:32
zeal. Then came the incidents that could01:51:35
not be explained away. Anval Thorne died01:51:40
during a campaign against demonic01:51:42
forces. Thorne was cut down completely.01:51:45
His body destroyed beyond recovery. His01:51:48
brothers recovered what remained and01:51:50
prepared him for intombment. Honoring01:51:53
his sacrifice as one more name added to01:51:56
Titan's halls of remembrance.01:51:59
Days passed. Rituals were observed. The01:52:03
Grey Knights moved on. Then Thorne01:52:06
returned. He emerged alive, whole and01:52:09
confused from a sealed reoquary. His01:52:13
resurrection was not the result of01:52:14
sorcery or medical intervention. It01:52:17
simply happened. The chapter's01:52:20
librarians examined him exhaustively. No01:52:23
warped taint could be found. No demon01:52:26
presence lingered. Thorne was as pure as01:52:29
he had ever been. The Grey Knights01:52:32
understood the implication immediately01:52:35
and Valth was a perpetual. This truth01:52:39
altered how the galaxy looked at him and01:52:42
how he looked at himself. Elar Sears01:52:45
would later refer to Thor as the last01:52:48
perpetual, a phrase laden with warning01:52:51
rather than reverence. To them, his01:52:53
existence represented a dangerous01:52:55
convergence of fate. A human immortal01:52:58
embedded within the Imperium's most01:53:00
secretive anti- chaos order was [music]01:53:03
not coincidence. It was preparation. For01:53:07
Thor, immortality brought no clarity.01:53:10
Unlike other perpetuals, he had no01:53:13
ancient memories, no centuries of01:53:15
experience to contextualize his01:53:17
condition. His resurrection carried01:53:20
shock rather than wisdom. He did not01:53:22
know why he returned, only that he did.01:53:26
The Grey Knights did not elevate him.01:53:29
They did not isolate him. They continued01:53:32
to deploy him where he was needed most.01:53:35
And death followed him relentlessly.01:53:38
Thorne fell again and again across the01:53:40
centuries, slain by demons, crushed01:53:43
beneath impossible forces, [music]01:53:46
consumed by warp entities that erased01:53:49
lesser warriors entirely.01:53:51
Each time he returned, sometimes within01:53:54
days, sometimes after longer intervals,01:53:58
always intact, always changed.01:54:01
Immortality did not harden him. It01:54:04
exhausted him. With each resurrection,01:54:07
Thorne became more aware of the weight01:54:09
he [music] carried. His brothers aged01:54:11
and died while he endured. Victories01:54:14
felt temporary. Loss accumulated without01:54:17
release. He began to understand what01:54:20
older perpetuals had learned long ago.01:54:23
Endless survival strips, death of01:54:26
meaning, leaving only duty behind. Yet01:54:29
Thorne never refused a mission. One01:54:32
incident would define his legend. During01:54:35
a catastrophic engagement, Thorne was01:54:38
swallowed whole by Kugath, [music]01:54:40
a great unclean one whose body was a01:54:43
walking plague engine. Within that01:54:45
bloated, rotting form, countless souls01:54:48
dissolved into nothing. Thorne did not01:54:51
die. He fought. Trapped within the01:54:54
demon's flesh, he carved his way free01:54:57
from the inside, destroying Kugoth and01:55:00
emerging alive from its ruin. Even among01:55:04
the Grey Knights, this act carried01:55:06
mythic weight. Thawn's survival was no01:55:09
longer merely strange. It was01:55:11
terrifying. The question was no longer01:55:14
whether he would return from death, but01:55:16
why. Some whispered that the emperor had01:55:19
marked him. Others feared that his01:55:22
immortality made him a focal point, a01:55:24
beacon in the warp that [music] chaos01:55:26
itself could not ignore. Thorne felt01:55:29
that attention. Where others fought01:55:32
demons as enemies, Thorne felt hunted.01:55:36
The warp responded to him differently,01:55:38
as though aware that something01:55:40
persistent [music] had entered the game.01:55:42
This knowledge did not inflate his sense01:55:44
of purpose. It deepened his weariness.01:55:48
He came to see his immortality as a01:55:50
sentence rather than a gift. He spoke of01:55:53
it rarely. When he did, his words01:55:56
carried no bitterness, only resignation.01:56:00
Thorne believed he would never know01:56:01
peace, that his duty would extend beyond01:56:04
any conceivable end. While others might01:56:08
die and find rest, however uncertain,01:56:11
Thorne would continue until something01:56:13
strong enough could end him permanently,01:56:16
if such a thing even existed. Among the01:56:19
Inquisition, Thawn became a closely01:56:22
guarded secret. Knowledge of his01:56:24
condition was restricted to the highest01:56:26
levels. The Imperium did not know what01:56:29
to do with a perpetual who could not be01:56:32
controlled through tradition or threat.01:56:34
The Grey Knights, for their part,01:56:36
accepted him as he was. He fought. He01:56:40
died. He returned. That was enough. In a01:56:45
galaxy obsessed with prophecy, Anval01:56:48
Thornne became one. Elar vision01:56:51
suggested that his presence marked a01:56:53
convergence point, a final stand yet to01:56:56
come. Whether he was meant to die in01:56:59
some ultimate confrontation or endure01:57:02
until the end of time was unclear.01:57:05
Thorne himself did not speculate. He01:57:08
prepared. Unlike the Emperor, Thorne did01:57:11
not attempt to shape humanity's future.01:57:14
Unlike Vulcan, he did not withdraw.01:57:17
Unlike John Grammaticus, he [music] did01:57:19
not choose mortality. He continued,01:57:22
"Anval thorn stands as the last visible01:57:26
echo of the perpetual age, a reminder01:57:29
that immortality did not vanish with the01:57:31
heresy. It simply became rarer, quieter,01:57:36
and more focused. Where ancient01:57:38
perpetuals argued over destiny, Thorne01:57:41
embodies endurance stripped of01:57:43
philosophy. He fights because someone01:57:45
must. If he truly is the last perpetual,01:57:49
then his existence carries a grim01:57:51
implication.01:57:53
Humanity's immortals no longer guide01:57:55
from the shadows. [music] They bleed on01:57:57
the front lines. They return to battle01:58:00
whether they wish to or not. [music] And01:58:02
while Thor wages war against the warp01:58:05
without end, the deeper question remains01:58:08
unanswered. What does immortality mean01:58:11
when the future itself is [music]01:58:13
collapsing? Immortality does not unite.01:58:17
It fractures. Across [music] the long01:58:19
history of the Perpetuals, no shared01:58:22
creed ever bound them together. [music]01:58:25
They were not a species, not a01:58:27
brotherhood, not an order. They were01:58:29
individuals scattered across time, each01:58:32
shaped by experiences no one else could01:58:35
fully understand. What connected them,01:58:38
endless life, proved to be the very01:58:41
thing that pulled them apart. The burden01:58:43
of eternity reshapes loyalty. For01:58:47
mortals, allegiance is often forged01:58:49
through shared struggle and limited01:58:51
time. Lives are brief. Choices are01:58:55
urgent. Consequences arrive quickly. For01:58:59
perpetuals, time dilutes urgency.01:59:02
Betrayal may take centuries to unfold.01:59:05
Regret can fester across millennia.01:59:08
Loyalties that seem absolute in one age01:59:11
can erode quietly in the next. What01:59:14
remains constant is memory, and memory01:59:16
becomes the sharpest weapon against01:59:19
certainty. This is why the perpetuals01:59:22
never agreed on humanity's future. Some01:59:25
believed humanity needed guidance, even01:59:28
control, to survive a hostile galaxy.01:59:31
The Emperor embodied this belief more01:59:34
completely than any other. His loyalty01:59:36
was not to individual humans, nations,01:59:39
or cultures, but to the species as a01:59:42
whole. Even if saving it required01:59:44
coercion, secrecy, and sacrifice on an01:59:48
unimaginable scale. To him, divided01:59:51
authority meant extinction.01:59:54
Others could not accept [music] that01:59:56
logic. Erda believed humanity deserved01:59:59
the chance to grow without being molded02:00:02
into tools.02:00:04
Olanius person believed no future02:00:07
justified abandoning compassion in the02:00:09
present. Olivia Sura believed in02:00:13
protection rather than domination. These02:00:16
were not ideological debates held in02:00:19
councils or treaties. They were lived02:00:22
disagreements unfolding over centuries02:00:26
through choices made in isolation.02:00:29
Immortality gave those disagreements02:00:31
time to harden. Every perpetual carried02:00:35
proof that their worldview had once02:00:37
failed. They had all witnessed collapse.02:00:41
They had all seen civilizations rot from02:00:43
within. What differed was where they02:00:46
placed the blame. Some blamed humanity.02:00:49
Others blamed intervention. Still others02:00:52
blamed fate itself. Over time, these02:00:55
interpretations became identities rather02:00:58
than opinions. The Horus heresy forced02:01:01
these divisions into the open. It was02:01:03
the first moment since old night that02:01:06
perpetuals were compelled to choose02:01:07
sides publicly. Neutrality became02:01:11
impossible. The war scale swallowed02:01:14
everything. Those who had spent02:01:16
centuries avoiding involvement found02:01:18
themselves dragged back into the center02:01:20
of history. Old alliances resurfaced.02:01:24
Old resentments ignited. The result was02:01:27
fragmentation rather than unity. John02:01:30
Grammaticus stood between futures,02:01:33
unable to fully accept [music] the02:01:35
Cabal's extinction logic. Yet unwilling02:01:38
to ignore Chaos's long-term threat,02:01:42
Damon Pratannis surrendered empathy02:01:45
entirely in pursuit [music] of a clean02:01:47
conclusion. Vulcan endured, choosing02:01:51
protection over dominance, even as it02:01:53
cost him his place in the Imperium's02:01:55
future. Malcol sacrificed himself to02:01:58
preserve a system he knew was flawed,02:02:01
but necessary. Each choice reflected a02:02:04
different interpretation of what02:02:06
immortality demanded. [music] Eternity02:02:09
does not grant clarity. It magnifies02:02:12
doubt. For many perpetuals, loyalty to02:02:16
institutions proved fragile. Empires02:02:19
rise with promises of permanence,02:02:21
[music]02:02:22
then decay into rigid, selfserving02:02:25
structures. The Imperium exemplified02:02:28
this transformation. What began as a02:02:31
desperate attempt [music] to save02:02:32
humanity hardened into a theocratic war02:02:35
machine that fed on its own people.02:02:37
[music]02:02:38
Perpetuals who had supported its birth02:02:41
struggled to recognize it. Centuries02:02:43
later, some withdrew completely. Vulcan02:02:46
[music] vanished rather than lend02:02:48
legitimacy to what the Imperium had02:02:50
become. Others retreated into secrecy,02:02:54
guarding singular duties rather than02:02:56
participating in governance. Dalia02:02:59
Scyther chose containment over02:03:00
influence. [music] These withdrawals02:03:03
were not cowardice. They were refusals.02:03:06
Rejections of the idea [music] that02:03:08
immortality obligated them to rule. Yet02:03:11
withdrawal carried its own consequences.02:03:14
When perpetuals stepped away, mortals02:03:17
filled the vacuum. Power concentrated in02:03:20
institutions less capable of long-term02:03:23
perspective. Dogma replaced nuance. Fear02:03:28
replaced foresight. The Imperium02:03:31
survived, but it did so by narrowing its02:03:34
world view, becoming less adaptable with02:03:37
every passing millennium. Some02:03:39
perpetuals saw this coming and still02:03:41
chose distance. They understood that02:03:44
immortals exert a gravitational pull.02:03:47
Their presence reshapes cultures,02:03:50
inspires worship, provokes fear. Even02:03:53
benevolent intervention risks02:03:55
dependency. Over time, humanity would02:03:58
stop standing on its own. For perpetuals02:04:01
haunted by the consequences of earlier02:04:04
guidance, restraint became the only02:04:06
ethical option left. Others could not02:04:09
let go. The Cabal believed in02:04:12
intervention taken to its extreme,02:04:14
ending a species to save the galaxy.02:04:17
Their perpetual agents reflected that02:04:19
philosophy, seeing loyalty not as02:04:22
emotional attachment, but as alignment02:04:25
with an outcome. To them, immortality02:04:28
justified calculation. at scales mortals02:04:32
could not comprehend. Compassion became02:04:35
noise. Resistance became inefficiency.02:04:38
The clash between these outlooks was02:04:40
inevitable. Immortality magnified02:04:44
responsibility without providing02:04:46
consensus. Every perpetual believed they02:04:49
were acting logically, ethically, even02:04:52
mercifully. Each had centuries of02:04:54
evidence supporting their position.02:04:57
Eternity allowed mistakes to be02:04:59
rationalized endlessly. Without the02:05:02
finality of death, course correction02:05:04
became harder, not easier. This is the02:05:08
hidden tragedy of the perpetuals. They02:05:11
were not corrupted by chaos as primarks02:05:13
were. They were eroded by time. Endless02:05:17
life stripped decisions of urgency while02:05:20
amplifying their consequences.02:05:23
A single choice could ripple across02:05:25
millennia. Walking that knowledge02:05:27
without breaking required either02:05:29
detachment or conviction.02:05:32
Few managed both. The emperor chose02:05:35
conviction. Others chose restraint.02:05:38
Still others chose surrender to abstract02:05:41
logic. By the end of the heresy, the02:05:44
perpetuals were no longer a loose02:05:46
constellation of immortals. They were02:05:48
isolated figures, each carrying02:05:51
incompatible conclusions about what02:05:53
humanity deserved. [music]02:05:55
Their loyalties no longer aligned, not02:05:58
with each other and often not with the02:06:00
Imperium they had helped create. In the02:06:03
millennia that followed, this division02:06:05
deepened. As the Imperium oified,02:06:09
perpetuals became increasingly02:06:11
anomalous. Immortality conflicted with02:06:14
dogma. Independent memory threatened02:06:16
sanctioned history. Anyone who02:06:19
remembered a time before the Emperor's02:06:21
worship was dangerous by definition.02:06:24
Survival required secrecy, withdrawal,02:06:27
or constant war. Anval's existence02:06:31
illustrates the final evolution of this02:06:33
burden. He does not debate philosophy.02:06:36
[music]02:06:37
He does not choose sides based on02:06:39
ideology. He fights because he must,02:06:43
returns because he cannot stop, [music]02:06:45
and endures without expectation of02:06:47
resolution.02:06:49
Where ancient perpetuals argued over02:06:52
destiny, [music] Thawn embodies02:06:54
endurance stripped of hope or ambition.02:06:58
This is what eternity becomes when02:07:01
choices exhausted. The [music] divided02:07:03
loyalties of the perpetuals were never02:07:05
resolved. They simply faded from02:07:08
relevance as time, war, and [music]02:07:10
doctrine erased nuance. Yet their02:07:13
influence persists in quieter ways,02:07:16
embedded in structures, secrets, and02:07:19
scars that still shape humanity's path.02:07:23
The burden of eternity is not living02:07:25
forever. It is living long enough to02:07:28
watch every answer fail. And as the02:07:30
Imperium staggers onward beneath that02:07:33
weight, the legacy of the Perpetuals02:07:35
lingers in the background, unseen,02:07:38
unresolved, and inescapable, casting a02:07:42
long shadow over the greatest war02:07:44
humanity has ever known. The Horus02:07:46
Heresy is remembered as a war of02:07:49
primarchs and legions, of titans and02:07:52
gods clashing at the edge of reality.02:07:55
Yet beneath those towering figures moved02:07:57
a quieter layer of the conflict, one02:08:00
shaped not by demigods, but by immortals02:08:04
whose names history tried to forget. The02:08:08
perpetuals did not command fleets or02:08:10
lead mass armies during the heresy.02:08:13
Their influence was subtler and in many02:08:16
ways more dangerous. They operated in02:08:19
the shadows cast by giants. The heresy02:08:23
unfolded at a pace even immortals02:08:25
struggled to anticipate. What the02:08:28
perpetuals had once debated as abstract02:08:31
possibilities became immediate02:08:33
catastrophe.02:08:35
Choices that might have been delayed for02:08:37
centuries were forced into days. Old02:08:40
philosophies were tested not by theory,02:08:43
but by planetary annihilation.02:08:46
For the first time since old night,02:08:49
perpetuals faced a future that could02:08:51
truly end everything they had endured to02:08:54
protect. The Emperor's incapacitation02:08:57
during the Webway war changed the nature02:08:59
of their involvement entirely. With him02:09:02
bound beneath the Imperial Palace,02:09:05
fighting a psychic war invisible to most02:09:08
of humanity, the Imperium lost its02:09:11
central will. This absence created02:09:13
[music] space. Space perpetuals were02:09:16
forced to fill whether they wished to or02:09:19
not. Malcata became the Imperium's02:09:23
stabilizing force. Olivia Sura guarded02:09:27
the remnants of the Emperor's great02:09:28
secret. John Grammaticus and Olanius02:09:32
Person were pulled back into events they02:09:35
had spent lifetimes avoiding. The heresy02:09:38
did not ask for consent. For perpetuals02:09:41
who had withdrawn from history, the war02:09:44
shattered the illusion that neutrality02:09:46
was possible. Chaos did not respect02:09:49
distance. It consumed entire systems02:09:52
indiscriminately. Worlds that had02:09:54
sheltered immortals for centuries burned02:09:57
overnight. Hiding places vanished.02:10:00
Silence became complicity. This pressure02:10:03
fractured old positions. Some perpetuals02:10:07
embraced the Emperor's cause despite02:10:09
their doubts. [music]02:10:10
concluding that a flawed Imperium was02:10:12
preferable to annihilation.02:10:15
Malcol embodied this choice, throwing02:10:18
every remaining resource into holding02:10:20
terror together despite knowing the02:10:22
cost. Others acted locally, saving lives02:10:26
without aligning themselves fully to any02:10:28
banner. Olanius person never pledged02:10:32
himself a new. He simply fought where02:10:35
people were dying and some made darker02:10:38
calculations. The Cabal's presence02:10:41
within the heresy cast a long poisonous02:10:44
shadow. [music] Their manipulation of02:10:46
perpetuals like John Grammaticus and02:10:49
Damon Pritinis revealed a truth the02:10:52
emperor had always feared. Immortals02:10:55
could be weaponized against humanity02:10:57
just as easily as they could protect it.02:11:00
The heresy became a testing ground for02:11:03
this idea. If extinction ended chaos,02:11:06
was it justified? For the Cabal, the02:11:09
answer never wavered. [music] For Jon,02:11:12
it broke him. His actions during the02:11:15
heresy were driven less by allegiance02:11:17
and more by damage control. Each02:11:20
intervention aimed to limit catastrophe02:11:22
rather than shape victory. He no longer02:11:25
believed in clean outcomes. His final02:11:28
involvement aboard the Vengeful Spirit02:11:30
was not about saving humanity's future,02:11:33
but preventing its immediate eraser. In02:11:36
that moment, the long philosophical war02:11:39
collapsed into a single choice measured02:11:41
in seconds. Other perpetuals remained02:11:44
bound to singular duties. Dalia Scyther02:11:48
did not fight in the heresy at all, yet02:11:51
her role was essential. While legions02:11:54
slaughtered one another, she maintained02:11:56
her vigil beneath Mars, ensuring the02:11:59
void dragon remained contained. Had she02:12:02
failed, the heresy would have become02:12:04
irrelevant. The Imperium's technological02:12:07
heart would have been lost, and with it02:12:10
any chance of survival beyond terror.02:12:13
This was the perpetual paradox of the02:12:15
heresy. Their greatest contributions02:12:17
often occurred far from the battlefield,02:12:20
unseen and unrecorded. Where primarchs02:12:23
won glory through destruction,02:12:25
perpetuals preserved fragile threads02:12:28
that kept the Imperium from unraveling02:12:30
entirely. [music] Their victories were02:12:32
invisible, their failures catastrophic.02:12:36
Vulcan's presence during the later02:12:37
stages of the heresy illustrates this02:12:40
tension perfectly. As an immortal02:12:43
primarch, Vulcan occupied an impossible02:12:46
position. His repeated deaths and02:12:48
resurrections placed him outside the02:12:51
symbolic economy of martyrdom that02:12:53
defined Imperial morale. A hero who02:12:57
could not stay dead, unsettled allies02:12:59
and enemies alike. Vulcan's role shifted02:13:03
away from leadership and toward02:13:05
containment, guarding weapons, secrets,02:13:08
and fail safes the Emperor feared to02:13:10
unleash prematurely.02:13:12
In this way, Vulcan functioned more like02:13:15
a perpetual than a primarch. His02:13:18
endurance became a shield against02:13:20
despair rather than a banner for02:13:22
victory. Yet, even he understood that02:13:24
his continued presence risked distorting02:13:27
the future. When the heresy ended,02:13:30
Vulcan stepped away, recognizing that02:13:32
immortals lingering too long create02:13:35
dependency rather than resilience. The02:13:38
siege of terror marked the final02:13:40
convergence of the perpetuals influence.02:13:43
Malcolar's sacrifice on the golden02:13:45
throne. Olivia Surka's final gift of02:13:49
immortality, Olanius persons stand02:13:52
before Horus, and John Grammaticus'02:13:55
final intervention all occurred within a02:13:58
narrow span of time. Thousands of years02:14:01
of divergent paths collapsed into a02:14:03
single brutal climax. The heresy burned02:14:07
away hesitation, forcing perpetuals to02:14:10
commit fully or disappear forever.02:14:12
Afterward, almost all of them were gone.02:14:16
This disappearance was not accidental.02:14:17
[music]02:14:18
The Imperium that emerged from the02:14:20
heresy had no tolerance for beings who02:14:23
complicated its narrative. The emperor02:14:26
was to be singular, eternal, and divine.02:14:29
[music]02:14:30
Other immortals blurred that image.02:14:33
Records were sealed. Names were erased.02:14:36
Legends were simplified. Olanius became02:14:40
a guardsman. Malcador became a footnote.02:14:44
Erda [music] vanished entirely.02:14:47
Surviving perpetuals understood the02:14:49
message. Those who remained active would02:14:52
be hunted, studied, or turned into icons02:14:55
they never wanted to become. Survival02:14:58
demanded obscurity. [music] Some02:15:00
retreated into hidden duties. Others02:15:03
vanished into war zones where death was02:15:06
constant [music] and anonymity assured.02:15:09
A few, like Anval Thawn, were absorbed02:15:12
into institutions that could contain02:15:15
their anomaly. [music] The heresy did02:15:17
not end the perpetuals. It ended their02:15:20
era. Before the war, perpetuals argued02:15:23
about humanity's destiny. After [music]02:15:26
it, they reacted to a destiny already02:15:28
broken. The Imperium was no longer a02:15:31
project to guide or correct. It was a02:15:34
machine grinding forward on momentum and02:15:37
fear. Immortals no longer debated02:15:40
philosophy. They mitigated [music]02:15:42
damage. This shift defines their02:15:45
shadowed legacy. The Horus heresy forced02:15:48
the perpetuals to confront the limits of02:15:50
immortality. Living forever did not02:15:53
grant authority over fate. It only02:15:55
extended responsibility.02:15:58
The war proved that even with centuries02:16:00
of foresight, catastrophe could still02:16:03
arrive faster than preparation. In the02:16:06
end, the perpetuals did not win the02:16:08
heresy. They prevented it from becoming02:16:10
absolute annihilation. Their influence02:16:13
was not measured in conquered worlds,02:16:16
but in disasters that did not occur. A02:16:19
gate that remained sealed. A throne that02:16:22
stayed occupied. A moment of hesitation02:16:25
that changed everything. History02:16:28
remembers primarks because they were02:16:30
visible. The perpetuals remain obscure02:16:33
because their success depended on02:16:35
remaining unseen. [music] As the02:16:37
Imperium staggered into its long02:16:39
decline, believing the age of heroes had02:16:42
ended, it did not realize how much of02:16:45
its survival rested on immortals who02:16:47
chose silence over recognition. And yet,02:16:51
even in that silence, their presence02:16:53
echoes. Because while the heresy02:16:56
shattered the galaxy, it did not erase02:16:58
the consequences of what the perpetuals02:17:01
had done or failed to do. Their choices02:17:05
continue to shape the Imperium in ways02:17:07
no chronicle dares acknowledge. And as02:17:10
the long night of the 41st millennium02:17:13
stretches onward, one final question02:17:16
remains. What becomes of immortals when02:17:19
the future itself is dying? When the02:17:22
fires of the Horus Heresy finally02:17:24
guttered out, the galaxy did not heal.02:17:28
It endured. That distinction matters02:17:31
because endurance, not victory, has02:17:34
always been the Perpetual's true legacy.02:17:37
They did not build a perfect future.02:17:39
They prevented the worst possible ones02:17:41
from arriving too soon. In the Imperium02:17:44
that followed the heresy, immortality02:17:47
became an uncomfortable contradiction.02:17:50
The emperor lived yet could not rise.02:17:54
Malcatar was gone. Vulcan vanished. The02:17:58
other perpetuals either faded into02:18:00
secrecy or were erased from record. What02:18:03
remained was a civilization that02:18:05
worshiped eternity while fearing those02:18:08
who embodied it too closely. The02:18:11
Imperium proclaimed the Emperor immortal02:18:14
and divine, yet quietly ensured no other02:18:17
immortal presence could challenge that02:18:19
singular myth. This was not paranoia. It02:18:23
was survival through narrative.02:18:26
Perpetuals represented memory that could02:18:28
not be controlled. They remembered the02:18:30
Emperor as a man, [music] Malcador as a02:18:33
counselor, the Imperium as an experiment02:18:36
rather than an inevitability.02:18:39
Such memories were dangerous in a regime02:18:41
that required faith more than truth.02:18:45
Over time, those memories were buried02:18:47
beneath dogma, [music] ritual, and02:18:49
sanctioned ignorance. Yet, legacy does02:18:52
not require recognition. The emperor's02:18:55
continued existence upon the golden02:18:57
throne remains the most visible remnant02:19:00
of the perpetual age. His mind anchors02:19:03
the astronomicanin, guides ships through02:19:06
the warp, and holds back forces that02:19:08
would otherwise devour terror itself.02:19:12
This is immortality transformed into02:19:15
function. He no longer shapes the future02:19:17
[music] directly. He sustains the02:19:20
present at unbearable cost. That state02:19:23
mirrors the fate of many perpetuals who02:19:26
survived. They became sustainers rather02:19:28
than architects. Dalia Sierthera02:19:32
continues her vigil beneath Mars,02:19:34
ensuring humanity's technological heart02:19:36
does not awaken its own executioner.02:19:39
Anval Thawn fights on, dying and02:19:43
returning in wars that blur together.02:19:45
His existence now less a miracle than a02:19:48
grim constant. Vulcan's absence itself02:19:51
has become part of his legacy. A lesson02:19:54
encoded into his legion. [music] That02:19:56
strength must sometimes withdraw to02:19:59
preserve meaning. These are not heroic02:20:02
endings. They are necessary ones. The02:20:05
Perpetual's greatest influence lies in02:20:07
what the Imperium never notices. Entire02:20:10
doctrines exist because of them. Entire02:20:14
catastrophes failed to occur because02:20:16
someone immortal stood watch, chose02:20:18
restraint, or paid a price. History02:20:21
never recorded. The Imperium believes02:20:24
itself besieged by Zenos and demons02:20:27
alone. Unaware how often it has been02:20:30
spared by hands it never acknowledged.02:20:33
This invisibility is deliberate.02:20:35
Perpetuals learned early that visibility02:20:38
invites worship, exploitation, or02:20:41
annihilation.02:20:42
The Imperium tolerates symbols better02:20:45
than people. Olanius person survives as02:20:48
a legend because the truth of him, a02:20:50
[music] perpetual soldier choosing02:20:52
defiance, complicated Imperial theology.02:20:56
Sirene Volanteon vanished because her02:20:59
cursed resurrection undermined the02:21:01
promise of salvation. Erda was erased02:21:05
because acknowledging her meant02:21:07
admitting the primarchs were scattered02:21:09
by choice, not fate. What the Imperium02:21:12
forgets, the warp remembers. Chaos02:21:16
understands the perpetuals intimately.02:21:19
Immortals deny it the clean victory of02:21:21
despair through death, yet provide an02:21:24
endless canvas for suffering. Sirene's02:21:27
fate proves that eternity can be twisted02:21:30
into torment. Damon Pritanis02:21:33
demonstrates how immortality can be02:21:36
hollowed out into pure function. Chaos02:21:39
does not need to kill perpetuals to win.02:21:42
It only needs to corrupt the meaning of02:21:45
their survival. This is why the02:21:47
Emperor's long war was never solely02:21:50
against demons. It was against02:21:52
inevitability.02:21:54
Perpetuals exist outside the normal02:21:57
rhythm of history. And in doing so, they02:21:59
disrupt the warp's preferred patterns.02:22:02
They remember alternatives. They persist02:22:05
after plans fail. They complicate02:22:08
prophecy. Even when they withdraw, their02:22:10
very existence denies the universe a02:22:13
neat conclusion. Yet immortality does02:22:16
not grant immunity to despair. The02:22:19
perpetual stories share a common02:22:21
erosion. Over centuries, hope becomes02:22:25
quieter. Certainty gives way to02:22:28
maintenance. The future shrinks from02:22:30
something to be shaped into something to02:22:32
be delayed. By the 41st millennium, few02:22:36
perpetuals still believe in salvation.02:22:39
Most believe only in postponement. This02:22:42
is not cowardice. It is realism earned02:22:45
over millennia. Humanity, as it exists02:22:48
[music] now, is not the species the02:22:50
perpetuals once debated saving. It is02:22:53
something harsher, more rigid, sustained02:22:56
by fear and inertia. The Imperium no02:22:59
longer asks what kind of future it02:23:02
wants. It asks only whether it can02:23:04
survive the next day. Perpetuals adapted02:23:07
to that reality long before mortals02:23:10
noticed it. Their legacy is written into02:23:13
the Imperium's contradictions. A02:23:15
civilization obsessed with eternity yet02:23:18
incapable of imagining peace. A god02:23:21
emperor who cannot die and cannot rise.02:23:25
A galaxy locked in endless war because02:23:28
the alternative change terrifies it more02:23:32
than extinction.02:23:34
Perpetuals helped build this system.02:23:37
They also understand its [music] limits02:23:39
better than anyone. That understanding02:23:41
is why so many stepped away. Immortality02:23:45
does not entitle one to rule forever. It02:23:47
obliges one to know when to stop ruling02:23:50
at all. Vulcan understood this. Erda02:23:54
learned it too late. [music]02:23:55
John Grammaticus paid for it with02:23:57
eternity itself. Olivia Sera02:24:01
demonstrated it in a single final02:24:03
[music] act. Each reach the same02:24:06
conclusion from different paths.02:24:08
Survival without humanity is not02:24:11
victory. And yet humanity survives. That02:24:15
fact alone ensures the Perpetual's02:24:17
legacy endures even if their names do02:24:20
not. Every imperial ship that navigates02:24:23
[music] the warp, every forge world that02:24:26
still functions, every demonic incursion02:24:29
that fails to breach reality carries the02:24:32
imprint of immortal choices made long02:24:34
ago. The perpetuals are not watching02:24:37
from thrones or temples. They are02:24:40
embedded in outcomes. The future of the02:24:42
perpetuals remains uncertain. Some may02:24:46
still exist beyond imperial knowledge,02:24:49
walking forgotten paths, guarding02:24:51
singular duties or fighting wars that02:24:54
will never be commemorated. Others may02:24:57
have finally found true death, their02:24:59
purpose fulfilled or exhausted. The02:25:02
galaxy no longer produces them openly,02:25:05
and perhaps that is intentional.02:25:08
Immortality, once widespread enough to02:25:10
be debated, has become rare enough to be02:25:13
feared. In the end, the perpetuals leave02:25:16
behind no empire, no unified philosophy,02:25:19
[music]02:25:20
no final answer. They leave behind time.02:25:24
Time bought through sacrifice,02:25:26
restraint, defiance, and endurance. Time02:25:30
that humanity continues to spend poorly,02:25:32
yet still spends. Whether that time will02:25:35
ever be used to build something better02:25:38
remains unknown. The perpetuals cannot02:25:40
answer that question anymore. They have02:25:43
already done what immortals do best.Description:
Step into the hidden history of Warhammer 40,000 and uncover the truth behind the Perpetuals — the immortal humans who shaped the fate of the Imperium from the shadows. This deep-dive lore documentary explores the Emperor of Mankind as the ultimate Perpetual, alongside figures like Malcador the Sigillite, Erda, Vulkan, Ollanius Persson, John Grammaticus, Alivia Sureka, Anval Thawn, and others whose endless lives influenced humanity’s darkest hours. From the ancient origins of human immortality to the Horus Heresy’s unseen battles, this video reveals how Perpetuals guided, betrayed, protected, and sacrificed themselves to keep humanity alive in a galaxy consumed by war. Learn how immortality became both a weapon and a curse, why the Imperium erased many of these beings from history, and how their legacy still shapes the 41st millennium. This is a fully lore-accurate Warhammer 40K breakdown, drawing from Black Library novels and canonical sources, presented in an immersive, in-universe storytelling style. No fan fiction. No speculation. Just the grim truth behind the immortals who remember everything the Imperium wants forgotten. If you love Warhammer 40K lore explained, deep lore documentaries, Horus Heresy history, and the dark secrets of the Imperium, this is a must-watch. 🔥 Subscribe for more Warhammer 40K lore 📜 Canon-accurate storytelling ⚔️ The secrets the Imperium buried
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- right-click on "Copy link";
- open VLC-player;
- select Media - Open Network Stream - Network in the menu;
- paste the copied link into the input field;
- click "Play".
- copy the video address (URL);
- select "Open Network Stream" in the "Media" item of VLC player and paste the link to the video into the input field;
- click on the arrow on the "Play" button and select "Convert" in the list;
- select "Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4)" in the "Profile" line;
- click the "Browse" button to select a folder to save the converted video and click the "Start" button;
- conversion speed depends on the resolution and duration of the video.
For this purpose you need VLC-player, which can be downloaded for free from the official website https://www.videolan.org/vlc/.
How to play streaming video through VLC player:
To download streaming video via VLC player, you need to convert it:
Warning: this download method no longer works with most YouTube videos.
What's the price of all this stuff?
It costs nothing. Our services are absolutely free for all users. There are no PRO subscriptions, no restrictions on the number or maximum length of downloaded videos.