Is Russ coming back?

[Knight of Caliban]

So, the next dawn of fire book is coming out, Wolftime, didn't russ say "I will return for the wolftime" before he disappeared. That said, is he coming back, and what will he do if he does?

[TrawlingCleaner]

I've moved this to the Amicus, this is not an appropriate topic for the News, Rumours and Board Announcements section

[Dark Shepherd]

Ah theyve been perpetually teasing his return for 5 years or more

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Supposedly world eaters are getting a codex so mebbe ……

[Brother Tyler]

I've moved this to the Space Wolves forum since it's about the Primarch of the Space Wolves Legion.

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

I'll believe it when I see an announcement from GW (hopefully with accompanying model) and not before. They've been hunting and teasing since Guilliman was released and as that never came true I've decided a wait and see is most prudent from me

[Karhedron]

Spoiler alert

 

The book is set fairly early in the Indomitus Crusade and does not feature the return of Russ. Basically the Space Wolves are wondering if this is the Wolf Time, whether they should accept Guilliman's Primaris reinforcements and what it means for the prophecy and the future of the Chapter.

 

Shortly before Magnus was released, one of the more reliable rumour mongers of the day claimed to have seen detailed design artwork for 5 Primarchs: Magnus, Guilliman, Mortarion, Angron and Russ. We are now 3/5 on that score and World Eaters are strongly rumoured to be coming soon. Many SW players are hoping or expecting Russ to appear but we don't know when. If he does come, I would be surprised if it was before the start of 10th but GW has surprised us in the past.

[Guest Triszin]

Nothing confirmed only murmurs of long aged rumors.

 

If world eaters get a dex next year, and if, IF, it has angron.

 

Then a old rumor rings true again. And that rumor ended with Russ arriving after angron

[Redrandy93]

I would  love to see Russ return!     Guilliman needs  more help in claiming the Imperium back from Choas forces imho.  

[Sarvis]

I can’t see them releasing one loyalist primarch and leaving it at that. It’s only a matter of time until we see another. And the most likely (imo) are Russ or the Lion. And since Russ has been rumored before, that’s the best bet.

[Karhedron]

I agree, more Primarchs are probably coming. However there are a couple of things to bear in mind that GW staffers have said at various events.

 

Firstly, they don't want to churn out Primarchs too quickly and lose the magic. They want their returns to be sgnificant both in the lore and the game. Magnus and Morty both launched their legions as stand-alone armies rather than just part of Chaos and Angron is rumoured to do the same. Guilliman effectively launched 8th edition which was the biggest shake-up of the rules and setting for decades.

 

Secondly, they want to play up Guilliman's isolation in the fluff. He is a man out of time. There are only a handful of beings in the galaxy who are his equals and they are either dead or his sworn enemies. He single-handedly trying to hold together the disintegrating remains of his father's dream. He cannot let go and he cannot allow himself to fail because there is literally no one else who can do it and he does not even have a shoulder to lean on. He was not especially close to Russ and his differences with Johnson are well covered in the HH novels. But if either of them came back, he would be so grateful for the chance to share the burden that I think old differences would be put aside.

[DarkChaplain]

I firmly believe that Russ will return in the not-too-distant future, but it's not his (wolf)time yet.

 

Narratively, there are various aspects that'd build up to his return - but not just his, also Constantin Valdor's. The two have been closely linked in recent works, to the point where their spears are a set, and they both left at the same time. With Valdor being teased for a new revelatory lore development already, we'll probably start hearing about it within the next 5ish years, depending on how the Studio + Black Library partnership shakes out. Black Library has multiple projects dealing with them, and between Dawn of Fire, Vaults of Terra, Watchers of the Throne and Abnett's Inquisition, it would frankly be the smartest idea to hold off on confirming or showing anything until they have the direct lead-in novel ready and properly built up to.

 

If there's anything we can take away from the way 8th was launched, it should be that the setting really needed better support on the fluff side. Primaris and their overall acceptance was hugely hurt by the very delayed coverage from stuff like Dark Imperium (which, as a trilogy, only ended THIS year), Dawn of Fire or Watchers of the Throne. The Conquests books we got just didn't cut it.

 

And Cawl in particular only had his fluff properly developed after the fact - and in hindsight, he makes sense in the lore and is actually mostly likeable! It took a couple of years for Dawn of Fire, Dark Imperium, The Great Work, but also the Horus Heresy series to properly implement him into the setting as it is now.

 

I see similar problems arising with bringing any further non-daemon primarch back onto the table. While they do have development through the Heresy, their disappearances are too shrouded in mystery to leave their actual fates unsupported on the narrative site. I still think the biggest weakness of Guilliman's return is that we never actually saw his resurrection by Cawl and the Ynnari in proper narrative form - and I frankly don't count a few paragraphs of Rise of the Primarch fluff as satisfactory. It lacks all the nuance and drama it needs to resonate, as well as character-driven plausability.

 

Then, I still think the Lion would be more interesting to bring back first. It's a pity nothing really happened with Cypher since Rise of the Primarch, and even the audio box set was delayed ad absurdum, it might not even exist as a project anymore. There's some buildup for the Lion to return, and hints at potential plot points and conflicts with him, but right now I'd still say that Russ is more likely just from how well a lot of the teasers would slot in together.

[MegaVolt87]

I would prefer Vulkan or the Khan to return honestly instead to 40k. I think they would have a more interesting effect than the predictable Russ/Lion. 

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I don't want Russ to be released. I just don't think he will be different enough from Guilliman. I think the Khan or Corax would be interesting because they'd be faster. But Russ would basically be the assault blob primarch to Guillimans shooty blob. I wouldn't mind having him, I just would prefer other kits coming our way. 

[LemanPuss]

I want Russ to return but I also don't. It would be such a big thing for me. If he didn't have a mini I liked or I didn't like how they brought him back I'd be a bit crushed.

 

Maybe the excitement that he might return is better... Christmas eve and all that.

 

But I'd love to see proper SW primaris. 'Space wolf intercessors' doesn't have the right ring to it imo.

[Brother Kraskor]

I think Magnus would start to sweat if Russ did return! 

[spjaco]

Oh, Magnus would do something.  But it would involve a change of trousers as well as sweating.

[CCE1981]

Yes, eventually. Probably at least a year more likely a couple.

[Slave to Darkness]

Id love Russ to return as long as he isnt all Wulfened up... I wont be happy if he comes back all Furry McDoggoface, but it would still be more interesting than hearing about the amazing efforts of Guilliman, Russ walking around the Emperors palace chewing on the royal rug would be amusing.