Watchers in the Dark

[Brother Captain Arkley]

We know that they follow notable members of the Dark Angels, but what of Successor Chapters?

 

Do you think some Watchers will attach themselves to some others? given their secretive nature and their near omnipotent abilities would it be out of the realms of possibility for say a few to be in another Unforgiven Chapters Fortress Monastery?

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Good question. I would say since they are Caliban natives that they only exist in "The Rock". But they do whatever they please so If they wanted to follow the Sucessors as they split up, there would be no way of stopping them.

[Brother Captain Arkley]

I do wonder if the Lion was raised by them?

 

It would explain a few things... Given the Dark Angels love of Xenos :)

[Grand Master Belial]

I always thought they would be found by those they deem worthy. Even with the Dark Angels, they are rarely seen and not at all by the rank and file. So it think it is entirely possible that they would among the Successors but perhaps not ALL of them.

[Phoebus]

The Watchers in the Dark  may or may not be native to Caliban, but it would seem that they are able to be absent from "Calibanite soil" (if that's how we want to term the Rock):

 

“Ancient relics from the old Legion that have been recaptured by the Deathwing are sometimes carried into battle by the wraith-like figures known as Watchers in the Dark.”

Excerpt From: Games Workshop. “Codex: Dark Angels (Enhanced Edition).” Games Workshop, 2013. iBooks. https://itun.es/us/oLrXI.l

 

We can also plausiblt assume that the Watchers can be absent from Caliban for significantly extended periods of time:

 

“Again the Lion stopped, with a slight shake of the head. He turned his gaze to his left, and out of the shadows appeared a diminutive figure. It was no taller than the height of a man's knee, clad in an ebon robe, tiny and nimble black-gloved hands visible, but the rest of its body and face hidden in shadow. The diminutive creature looked up at the Lion and two coal-like glows briefly lit the inside of its hood.

‘No, it is too important,’ said the primarch. ‘Even if what you say is true, I cannot return to Caliban yet. Come what may, I have to stop Horus and Guilliman.’
The small figure bowed its head, and the Lion did the same, his whisper full of sorrow.
‘Yes, even if it costs me my Legion.”

Excerpt From: edited by Christian Dunn. “The Primarchs.” iBooks.

 

I say this because the timeline of the Horus Heresy has the Lion trapped by Warp Storms in Thramas sub-sector for more than two years at the time of The Lion.

 

Furthermore, when Zahariel first meets the Watchers in the Dark, they say to him:

 

“Corrupt? Corrupted by what?’

The diminutive figure shook its head.
No, such things are not for humans to know. Your race already knows too much and seeks to tamper with things that should never be.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Zahariel. ‘What are you doing here?’
We are members of a brotherhood, much like yourself… a cabal dedicated to thwarting the most ancient evil.
‘What evil?’ asked Zahariel. ‘You mean the great beasts?’
No, they are but a symptom of a greater ill. I will not name this evil, suffice to say it is the bane of your race and will one day consume you.”

Excerpt From: Mitchel Scanlon. “Descent of Angels.” iBooks.

 

Emphasis added by me.  I think it's safe to say that the Horus Heresy series is rife with hints and tie-ins that link multiple novels and plot-lines with one another.  Thus, the following scene, included in the novel immediately following Descent of Angels, acquires added weight:

 

“John, we have tested them all, one by one. The Dark Angels first, centuries ago. There is too much inherent corruption in them. The gene-seed weakness in all of the older Legions has been exacerbated by the need to keep them up to strength for the Great Crusade. They have all, one way or another, weakened themselves. They are vulnerable. ”

Excerpt From: Dan Abnett. “Legion.” iBooks.

 

The nature of the "corruption" referred to in Legion is, I think, irrelevant to this topic.  What's more important is that the Watchers in the Dark are most likely a part of a galactic group dedicated to stopping Chaos/the Primordial Annihilator.  Thus, I think it's safe to assume that their ongoing association with the Lion and the Dark Angels Legion and, later, the Dark Angels Chapter doesn't come down to just the fact that they lived on the same planet for a time (if it was ever the Watchers' native world to begin with).

 

If the Lion and the Dark Angels were meant to be a weapon to be used against Chaos, then I would argue that the Watchers would have a vested interest to watch over not just the Dark Angels Chapter but the Unforgiven as a whole.  It's quite clear that the Lion is important to the Watchers (hence their rescuing him when he was mortally wounded and then watching over him for the last ten millennia), but if he is to be a weapon against Chaos again, then he would need his Legion.  I think that is the best argument for Watchers in the Dark to be included in other Unforgiven Chapters.

 

Well, there is another one:  I think it would be pretty bad business for GW to release a Codex with cool stuff like Perfidious Relics of the Unforgiven and then turn around and say that none of the other Unforgiven Chapters cited in said Codex could use them.

[shabbadoo]

The Dark Angels Succesors are mostly...Dark Angels to begin wiith. They were not part of far future foundings where only geneseed was used, but are in fact parts of the original Legion which was broken up into the smaller Chapters. As such, the initial Inner Circle members of most of the extant Successors would have come directly from the original Dark Angels' Inner Circle, carrying with them all of the same background.  Furthermore, as the Chapters still operate clandestinely as a Legion, it makes the most sense that The Watchers will have maintained at least somewhat of a presence among all of the Successors.  Also, the later Successors were formed by direction of the Dark Angels, and so they should be fully linked into the doctrine (overt an covert) of the Legion as well.  One big happy family they are.  One could create a successor that was made using Dark Angels genseed at the direction of the Lords of Terra, and have the Chapter form fully separate from the Dark Angels, such that it has no link to anything related to the Dark Agnels ( i.e. Dark Angels in name only). Unlikely, but but not impossible.  In that case you might not have Watchers present, but in all cases where there is a direct link I think they would be present to some degree.