#the end and the death

[jinian-ginias]

【常世】

⚠️Epilepsy Warning

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Video:纪年Ginias

Music:常世 by ATOLS

B站：https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Mt421N7yY/

[cyle]

only in the warhammer 40k universe could there be 100+ books covering 10,000+ years of history and yet somehow there are thousands of pages across multiple books to come out about one event that lasts a few days. an event we’ve all assumed we knew everything about and yet there’ll be at least three 1,000+ page books about it.

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

Having read The End & The Death 3: Death Harder, I have one foremost suggestion. A request, even;

[incorrect-primarchs-quotes]

I was thinking.

Imagine you're a random guy on the Vengeful Spirit, Terra is falling, corruption and daemons are everywhere and you randomly see Horus, all happy, talking to his imaginary friend about shit happened years ago.

I'd shit my pants so hard.

[dongnan001]

As long as I don't post the original text from The End and the Death i,they look like they are on a date...

Vassago:Does anyone care about my death?

[skunts-own-truth]

You’re fucking right. What could be more devastating?

[sirpuddingcup]

Before I get into it

SPOILERS FOR THE END AND THE DEATH VOLUME 3

Holy shit this book is great! It genuinely is everything I wanted and more. Volume 3 ties everything up so well that even though I knew the plot outline already just from lore it had me gripped from cover to cover. An emotional and bloody ending to the to the galaxy spanning series.

First off I really enjoyed getting the little updates on what some of the other players are doing while it all goes down. Bobby G and his endless strategy meetings as he tries to figure out how to get to Terra. Lorgar pulling a jonestown as he arrogantly misinterprets prophecies. Perturabo wallowing in self pity as he destroys his room like an angry teenager (the image of him pouting in his broken chair as the room lies devastated around him gives me life). Finally Eldrad and the others arguing over shoulda woulda coulda as they realize this is way worse than they thought. It was nice to check in with everyone before we dive into the trauma of it all.

Speaking of trauma let's talk about the black rage! We see sanguineous's mangled corpse in the lupercal court as the psychic shock sends the entire ninth legion (minus Zephon) into a berserk rage. I really can't think of a better word for it than traumatic. After all they've been through together during the siege to have the blood angels turn into actual monsters against their will is just twisting the knife for the loyalists. From Rans desperate fight for survival against a man he idolizes to Amit waking up dazed and confused at the end of a trail of corpses ("why do the bodys end here?" "That's as far as you got" kills me), it's safe to say nobody is having a good time.

Scratch that you know who is having a pretty good time? Rogal Dorn. Fresh out of the desert of endless boredom Rogal finally gets to let loose a little as he fights his way to Valdor. I love their dynamic and I wish we got more of them hanging out("damn you!"(frustrated) "damn you too."(affectionate)).

We check in with Fo and the genocide crew which ends predictably. I saw him completing the Terminus sanction then getting killed trying to escape a mile away. I did not see him making a fucking clone body and replace Xanthus! I love me a devious old scientist causing problems on purpose! I really hope he comes back in a big way.

The library crew didn't do a whole lot other than Ariman being a creepy magic man. It is buck wild that the archivist turned out to be Lilean Chase at the beginning of her career she goes on to found the fucking Cognitae so get it girl I guess.

The did my boy Loken so dirty in the end but fuck me was it good. They planted seeds earlier on talking about how a demon is made, a reaction in the warp to a traumatic event in real space, how in the warp effect can come before cause. But fuck me I wasn't expecting this. After the dust settles and Loken almost convinces Abaddon to give reconciliation a chance Erebus (fuck Erebus) stabs him in the back dooming the galaxy to endless civil war. And why did he do this? Because Samus is the man beside you, Samus right behind you, Samus is the guy she told you not to worry about, look out it's fucking Samus! The abrupt murder of Loken gives birth to the Demon Samus kicking all of this shit into motion. It truly is all Erebus's fault.

I saved the best for last. The showdown on the vengeful spirit. This is where Horus really gets tho shine. I haven't loved his character like this since the first couple of books. He's a fucking mess and I love it this is the man who's daddy issues burned the galaxy to the ground, and as someone who has a difficult relationship with my father fuck me I get it. Dan Abnet is so good at making fights feel intimate, Horus isn't a one dimensional avatar of evil hes a son confronting his abusive father. Horus doesn't want to kill his father he wants to be better than him, and not just stronger but a better person. He needs the Emperor to acknowledge that he had hurt Horus. Horus loved his father and wanted to reach out him on an emotional level so badly, but the Emperor was simply no longer able to do that. When the Emperor purged himself of the infant god the dark king his kindness and empathy went with it ( going on to create the star child). This emperor is nothing but power and cold fury. He enters the room having already written Horus off as dead. It's such a tragedy from top to bottom because we know from Malcador in his all knowing position on the golden throne, that there is a version of this confrontation where they both walk out alive. That does not happen.

The actual physical fight is nothing to write home about besides the fact that different people see it happening in different ways Dusk sees it as a clumsy slugfest between two lumbering giants while LE2 saw it as the greatest display of skill he had ever seen. In truth it was both. The psychic battle had them tossing each other across time and space and fighting through the sites of each other's greatest sins. They use the settings to try and undermine each other emotionally holy shit. Then the do the next logical step AND HAVE A FUCKING TAROT DECK YU-GI-OH DUEL! I need an imperial tarot card game right now GW take my fucking money. It ends with the cards predicting the fall of cadia (the despoiler unlocking the silver door) and the emperor loses. It has become obvious by this point that the Emperor can't beat Horus. Horus outclasses him in every way but Horus doesn't want to kill his father he wants acknowledgement. So what we get is several desperate attempts by the emperor and several others to fight back as Horus beats his father bloody. But nothing works until Oll and John show up having magically teleported much closer than they ment to. They stand right in front of Horus. Horus is bemused at best giving John just enough time to use the word he learned from the tower of Babel directly in Horus's smug face. The resulting blast nearly kills everyone in the room, but it's the first thing so far to actually damage Horus. While her recovers John makes a run for it but Oll goes to the Emperor gives him the athame (stone knife used to commit the first murder) and tries to wake him up. Only for Horus to wake up first and turn poor Oll to a fine red mist.

Finally Horus stands there triumphant and who is there but his own favorite son Loken. Loken is the only one who tries to reason with Horus to make him see the the chaos gods are using and manipulating him. It was a great touch to frame Horus pov in 2nd person as if someone is telling Horus his thoughts. Loken convinces Horus that he's not really in control anymore and the only way Horus can take back control is to give up the power that the gods gave him. The moment he does back on Terra Keeler uses the power of millions of praying souls to relight the astronomicon and and give the Emperor a font of power to tap into. The emperor rises as if from the dead. Horus at first tries to pull the power back but the gods hold onto it as punishment for spurning them. Then Horus looks at the Emperor empowered as an avatar of humanities faith and he finally understands. The gods panic and try to force their power back into him and Horus begs his father to kill him now while he can resist. Then it happens a father murders his son. The emperor tells Horus "I forgive you and I'll wait for you". Excuse me Dan Abnet what exactly does that mean? Horus returned? Ghost Horus? Reincarnated? What the fuck? From there it's mostly just wrapping up they teleport home and we get the last gasp of Malcador as they place the Emperor on the golden throne.

If you read this thank you this was mostly for me because I needed an outlet for my feelings and I don't want to bother my friends to much with Warhammer. It's been a wild ride and I can't wait to see where it goes from here (especially the third Bequin book).

[firstchaplainerebus]

The End and the Death Review

What even is there to say about it. It’s over. It has been magnificent.

Looking back on the Horus Heresy back when I started reading it, I can’t believe that this is where we ended up, with such an absolutely beautiful landing.

Whether you like, love or hate these books, they are an achievement without precedent. This kind of narrative, on this scale, with this word count, that amount of different authors, that vision… The fact that it was ever completed is in itself amazing.

The fact that not only it was completed, but in a way that stays true and respectful to existing lore while putting its own spin on it and remaining relevant to its mission statement 18 years ago(!!!!) is nothing short of miraculous.

This final book, written in its dizzying, inspiring present tense opens and closes with effortless grace. Dan Abnett nails the stakes of it all home, he draws the parallels, he twists the knife, again and then again, and again. He explores every urge and emotion, from heroic, to insane, to pathetic, to simply thirsting for life, to bloodthirsty, to nonchalant… Everyone is their best and worst selves simultaneously, every card that must be played is played.

From the desperate end of the siege, to the journey into the Vengeful Spirit, to the duel with Sanguinius and the final confrontation with the Emperor, the book is a constant nail biter and page turner. The stakes are simply too high to put the damn thing down.

There are plenty of Dan Abnettisms throughout, with wild concepts and lore additions (and callbacks to incredibly obscure tidbits of lore) being thrown at the reader consistently and without pause. I have no doubt I will forget most of this book until I have to read it again, and then I will be just as surprised as last time. This is not a bad thing. In an IP where the fandom is so religiously adherent to its version of the lore and characters, a good slap on the face to remind the fan base just who came up with all this crap in the first place is always welcome.

All in all, there is little to say to recommend this book, as its enjoyment hinges on reading upwards of 50 more of them. But what a journey, and what a relief it is, that all these endless hours and days of reading, re-reading, thinking and walking forlornly around town considering the plight of the Emperor and his sons ends as it was promised, with inglorious, raw tragedy, a testament of human folly and defiance both, and for a select few, just a little bit of comedy. The gods laugh, but Terra stands. And there is no way to adequately describe the Horus Heresy’s impact.

You just had to have been there, when Horus slew the Emperor.

[the-sisters-library]

A longer excerpt, from the End and the Death Vol 2, involving a Thousand Son and a famous former Remembrancer:

SPOILERS BELOW - although no major plot reveals

This was such an unexpected encounter in this book. 3 humans including Kyril Sindermann have been hanging out in Malcador’s secret library, Call of Cthulhu RPG style, trying to find the books that will help them fight daemons.

In pops Ahzek F-ing Ahriman, rocking his full Tzeentched-up armor plate, says hello ladies and gents, I’m here to read some books, have you seen any good ones? He starts to mess with them but then realizes one of the humans is Kyril Sindermann. And what do you know? Ahriman is a Big Fan of Mr. Sindermann’s work!

So they have a nice discussion, Kyril convinces Ahzek not to look so scary for the others. He tries and fails. Then the humans hang out and watch Ahzek read, and he eventually treats them to a couple readings from his Super Badass Tarot Deck.

I can’t include it all, especially the Tarot part because that contains a major plot reveal. But oh my goodness, Ahzek and Kyril’s Book Club was such a fun little part of this novel.

[simon-newman]

Apparently Big E and Malcador knew each other for some +6000 years and remained close friends all this time.

Now I feel sad.

[sister-calliope]

SPOILERS FOR THE END AND THE DEATH

(Very sorry I did not flag this upfront before so I’m editing now. Readmore doesn’t work on my phone app)

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Malcador: As you know, your Dad has decided to get up off that chair and go fight Horus. Here’s his plan: you all stay here.

Sanguinius: No.

Rogal: No

Valdor: Oh hell no.

Vulkan: *disapproving stare*

Mal: Okay okay, He has a new plan. Rogal and Constantin, get your top men. Vulkan and Sanguinius stay.

Vulkan: Whatever.

Sanguinius: …….

Mal: You are obviously too pretty to go. You need to stay here to keep being pretty. Emperor’s orders.

Sanguinius: ….

Sanguinius: *looks up at the ceiling* Fuck you Abnett, I’m out.

[mournivaldisco]

I'm still obsessed

(EatD2)

Excuse me Horus what did you mean by this

[soraka-in-warhammer40k]

I must say that we need to give a compliment to Dan Abnett for achieving the impossible with The End and the Death Vol. 3 - and that's somehow managing to make the universally reviled and hated character who you'd think has already reached the peak of audience contempt metaphysically possible somehow EVEN MORE HATED.

Once you reach the hated-level of Erebus just how are you going to one-up that without just piling on to his existing pile of shitty-ness and reaching a new level instead? Somehow, going by the fan reactions, Abnett achieved just that.

Out of all things that were going down in that finale, that's one of the things I definetly did not expect or that I thought was even possible. Guess it will now only be a matter of time until we see that little shit Erebus active in 40k again, because no author will leave a character that activates the audience to such degree sit on the sidelines for too long.

[ask-mortarion-the-death-lord]

so end and the death vol II had a scene where the spirit of Ferrus said to Sanguinus that their brothers deceased or turn demon Prince spirits are watching this fight and that they are in internal torment. Some people see it as the demon primarchs aren't the actual primarchs. I don't know how to feel about this since it feels likes it lessens the demon primarchs a bit.

id wait until p3 to make a decisive judgment call [atleast if this gets addressed], but stuff like this has already happened in the series with magnuses soul getting shattered and split into many different magnuses and all his good qualities not fusing with the demon version of himself and all that [i am not a magnus expert].

i think what arguably makes this kinda bitter in this context is two things though. one the general 'retconny' nature of teatd where it feels like dans doing whatever the fuck he wants regardless of what anyone else has set up in past books, making the whole affair feel less like a conclusion to the series people got but the conclusion to some alt universe horus heresy series. this just being thrown out there and on the winds is arguably just one more instance of that. two, it so very very very much feels like some sort of marketing hedging of bets shit or something. like, somehow after the teatd were going to get loyalist versions of everyones fave traitor primarchs because gws marketing insisted the primarchs souls be split in two so they could make further bank off of 40ks unavoidably most popular and marketable characters because some jack in marketing noticed that people seem to enjoy the idea of redeemed primarchs and redemption stories are cool at the moment.

but again, im gonna wait until we get part 3 to make any decisive call.

[ask-valerian-40k]

I actually almost cried at the end; goddamn

[thamechanist]

Went to buy 'The End and the Death PT.2' and made 2 discoveries:

1. You can't buy ebooks through the main site, you still have to go through black library for that

2. Someone dun goofed the formatting