My theory on the big reveal that is coming...

[jmotivator]

So I'm basing this theory entirely on rumor, so this is obvious wrong, but fun to think about.

 

The rumors/evidence:

1) The final book in the Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin series is written and on hold to coincide with the major announcement
2) We have the revelation already as to who the King in Yellow actually is.
3) Before the emperor's confrontation with Horus he was working of a way to tap into the Webway and bypass the Imperium
4) There are hints that the body on the throne isn't the Emperor

5) Henry Cavil's favorite army is Custodes

So here is my theorycrafting of what we have coming up:

A major sequel universe shift of about the scale of The Horus Heresy prequel where we find out that the City of Dust doesn't lead to the Warp, but instead is a gate to the Webway.  What Bequin saw was the war secretly being fought by Valor, The Emperor and a new breed of Astartes that were created from Sanguinius' gene seed and fight along side Constantine for control of the Webway under the command of the Emperor.

This way they release a series of new armies: a new Custodes army based on Sanguinius gene seed, a female Custodes army -see below, at least one new Eldar faction and.. the old ones) 

 

This also opens the door for where some of the MIA Primarchs went and a path to bring some back.  Khan especially since he went MIA when he chased the Drukhari into the Webway, so it would be easy to reveal he joined the King in Yellow in the fight for the Webway.

 

It might also explain the GW position on Female Custodes as they reveal that Bequin's gene seed is very unique and they used it to create a series of female Custodians who were also blanks.

In the end I think my theory fits nicely with the overall plot of WH40K:  The Emperor had great plans that fell apart and doomed humanity... again.

Ah the Emperor, the cause and solution of all of our problems.

Edited July 16 by jmotivator

[Captain Idaho]

Fun conjecture as opposed to rumours and news so moved to Amicus. 

[jmotivator]

Thank you.  Now I know where to put this stuff.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Bequin doesn’t have geneseed.

 

the emperor could probably use her to make a geneseed based off of her I imagine, but we already have the sisters of silence which is the emperor’s army of female blanks…

[jmotivator]

If I recall, the blank Mutation was in introduced to the humans by the Necrons?   

It's one of those issues that is never fully explained, so they can just say that Bequin's genetics are very old, and the first Bequin we meet in Eisenhorn wasn't the first, and her blank ability has been used for a Custodian army.  Maybe the very first Bequin is the original recipient.

The fact that neither of the Bequins in the books have a family would indicate that neither had a traditional birth, which could lead to a reveal that she is part of a long running Custodes project.

As I think about it, it would make narrative sense to have the human blank phenomenon connected to the webway, like some species in the webway are powerful blanks and their existence is why the Webway is warp free.  That would lead me to add a Pre-Necron C'tan race in the Webway to my list of assumptions.

 

Sorry for the many edits... it's a theory in progress.  haha

Edited July 16 by jmotivator

[Remain_Indoors]

Custards aren’t made using geneseed.

[Wibbling]

As cool as blank Custodians would be, I think as the Emperor's bodyguard it'd probably not work. 

 

What's this 'big rumour' rolling about? If such, my money would be on a Warhound, to head off the summer sale slump (with Warhammer being a cooler weather/indoor hobby) but that may be irrelevant these days, with new Necromunda and what not. 

[phoenix01]

8 hours ago, Remain_Indoors said:

Custards aren’t made using geneseed.

Whisk 1 gene seed with 1 T granulated corpse starch until frothy. Add 1/2 cup warm milk, continuing to whisk. Bake at... Wait, you need an egg yolk and granulated sugar? Nevermind then.

[TheWarmaster]

I love to see people’s imaginations run wild, it’s fun. 
 

There’s a few issues with your lore knowledge, but that’s alright. 
 

Custodes don’t have geneseeds. 
Neither does Bequin. 
 

I feel like your grasp of what a geneseed is, is a little off. It’s like you seem to view it as DNA or a persons genes, and everybody has one? 
 

Geneseeds are implants surgically placed into Astartes aspirants. They re-write an Aspirants DNA with information coded from their Primarch. This helps the body adapt and change, along with the other surgeries and organs implanted in them. 
 

They wouldn’t use Sanguinius geneseed to create Custodes either. 1, Custodes don’t have them as they aren’t Astartes. 2, his geneseed is massively flawed. 3, If you implanted Sanguinius’ geneseed into somebody you would end up with Blood Angels (provided they got all the other implants etc, not a Custodian). 
 

The Emperor wasn’t working on a way to bypass the Imperium. He was working on a way to never have to use the Warp or have humanity rely on it in anyway. 
He knew that the less humanity knew of the ‘gods’ then they would lose their power. The less chance they’d have to corrupt realspace.  The webway specifically was an alternative to warp travel. 
 

I do however agree that the third book is being held off, along with ADB’s 3rd Abaddon book, because of direct incoming lore changes and also possibly reveals in those books. Along with ties to the upcoming Cavill shows/movies. Which sucks because I really want both of those books in my hands. 

Edited July 18 by TheWarmaster

[jmotivator]

I get that, the issue is whether that the blank ability isn't really genetic, or not inheritable, so it has to be added to a person, and originally was.  So the geneseed is just a short hand on my part to mean something that is passed artificially to other humans.

The Sanguinius thought was because of the ending of the book Penitent that is leading into the to-be-released Pandemonium.  I didn't want to get too much into the specifics there because it is a major teaser, and probably one of the reasons why Pandemonium is currently on hold.  But..

spoilers (and what it could mean):

When Bequin enters the Impossible Palace she witnesses a huge battle waging that included what appeared to be winged Custodes, and her path to the Impossible Palace lead her passed what seems to be the remains of Sanguinius. 

I'm thinking that the Impossible Palace isn't a pocket dimension in the warp but rather a gate to the Webway.  The reveal will be that Constantine Valdor (The King in Yellow) has been waging a war in the Webway all this time with a new hybrid of Custodian and Blood Angle, and the second, as yet decoded name in the book will be "Neoth", or one of the other various names used by The Emperor.  

So I further guess that The Emperor is actually behind the war that Bequin witnessed, and he wants to undo the Imperium of Man, but needed to secure the Webway to do it.

It's not his real body on the throne... Primarch Kahn will return... there will be another rift in the Space Marines, one loyal to the Imperium, one loyal to Valdor and the Emperor (who the others will view as an imposter)

The 2 missing Primarchs will return, this will piss off Russ who has returned only to find that the Emperor played mind games with him and made him believe he executed his brothers when he didn't... this will lead to a fragile alliance between Russ and Abaddon who both now want to end all of it (a sort of US/Soviet detente in WWII) for different reasons.

And so on. 

 

None of this is going to happen, obviously, but it does all line up...

Anyway, based on the secrecy and how much is being lined up for simultaneous release, it's feeling like they are have a Horus Heresy sized content release and it all revolves around the teasers at the end of the novel Bequin: Penitent. 

[Shadowtracks]

On 7/16/2026 at 9:32 PM, jmotivator said:

So I'm basing this theory entirely on rumor, so this is obvious wrong, but fun to think about.

 

The rumors/evidence:

1) The final book in the Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin series is written and on hold to coincide with the major announcement
2) We have the revelation already as to who the King in Yellow actually is.
3) Before the emperor's confrontation with Horus he was working of a way to tap into the Webway and bypass the Imperium
4) There are hints that the body on the throne isn't the Emperor

5) Henry Cavil's favorite army is Custodes

So here is my theorycrafting of what we have coming up:

A major sequel universe shift of about the scale of The Horus Heresy prequel where we find out that the City of Dust doesn't lead to the Warp, but instead is a gate to the Webway.  What Bequin saw was the war secretly being fought by Valor, The Emperor and a new breed of Astartes that were created from Sanguinius' gene seed and fight along side Constantine for control of the Webway under the command of the Emperor.

This way they release a series of new armies: a new Custodes army based on Sanguinius gene seed, a female Custodes army -see below, at least one new Eldar faction and.. the old ones) 

 

This also opens the door for where some of the MIA Primarchs went and a path to bring some back.  Khan especially since he went MIA when he chased the Drukhari into the Webway, so it would be easy to reveal he joined the King in Yellow in the fight for the Webway.

 

It might also explain the GW position on Female Custodes as they reveal that Bequin's gene seed is very unique and they used it to create a series of female Custodians who were also blanks.

In the end I think my theory fits nicely with the overall plot of WH40K:  The Emperor had great plans that fell apart and doomed humanity... again.

Ah the Emperor, the cause and solution of all of our problems.

Gees I hope not, I’ve spent four years on and off building a backstory for something like this… I’d better get it done before GW change the canon and I’m back to square one!

[LSM]

On 7/18/2026 at 3:41 AM, TheWarmaster said:

Geneseeds are implants surgically placed into Astartes aspirants. They re-write an Aspirants DNA with information coded from their Primarch. This helps the body adapt and change, along with the other surgeries and organs implanted in them. 

 

I'm not sure if this has changed over the years (or if I'm misunderstanding what you're saying), but per the Index Astartes: Rites of Initiation - Creation of a Space Marine (2000) there is no singular "gene-seed" which is implanted. 

 

"The Gene-seed" (when used as a singular term) is just shorthand for the 19 gene-seeds used to clone the suite of 19 "zygotes"/organs that create a Space Marine: "There are nineteen varieties of gene-seed corresponding to the nineteen different superhuman organs that are surgically implanted into a Space Marine." It talks about how over the millennia various Chapters have lost certain gene-seeds or had them become mutated: "As well as mutant implants, many Chapters have lost one or more types of gene-seed due to accident, genetic failure, or some other cause. Very few Chapters therefore possess all nineteen implants." It's also noted that many Chapters have lost the technical understanding of the implantation process, and rely on ritual - causing a "degree of debasement of its surgical procedures".

 

So, for example, the Blood Drinkers "gene-seed" (at large) consists of 19 gene-seeds - and the one for the Omophagea (which allows for the absorption of knowledge via the consumption of genetic material - something that I have to assume is inherently psychic) creates an organ which seems to be a bit overactive compared to other lineages.

 

In the Space Wolves, the gene-seed for the Betcher's Gland (which creates the poisonous/corrosive spit) has mutated, causing their fangs to continuously grow over their lifetime.

 

Many other Chapters have mutations to the gene-seed of their Melanochrome organ (which creates reactive protection to radiation), causing a degree of uniformity in skin and hair colour. (The example given is the Death Spectres, who are all albino.) The Black Dragons famously have an overactive Ossmodula, causing bony growths. Etc. etc.

 

The 18th organ(s) implanted are the two Progenoid Glands, which (re)absorbs the genetic material of all 19 organs. One Progenoid Gland is harvested after five years, the other after death. "When mature, each gland contains a single gene-seed corresponding to each zygote implanted into the recipient Marine. Once removed by surgery, the progenoid must be carefully prepared, its individual gene-seeds checked for mutation, and sound gene-seeds stored. Gene-seeds can be stored indefinitely under suitable conditions." From a Progenoid Gland (which contains all 19 gene-seeds) a new suite of organs is cloned, to be implanted into a new Initiate. 

Edited July 26 by LSM

[jaxom]

On 7/16/2026 at 11:33 AM, jmotivator said:

If I recall, the blank Mutation was in introduced to the humans by the Necrons?   

 

I'm not sure how it made the transition to the new Necron lore, but originally the Necrons were studying it as something new in humanity; with humanity not existing prior to the Necrons entering their sleep. They took it to make Pariah Necrons. The updated lore has Necrons using Blackstone to repel and negate Warp effects, both during the War in Heaven and in M41. I don't know if they're still studying blanks.

 

On 7/18/2026 at 3:41 AM, TheWarmaster said:

Custodes don’t have geneseeds. 
Neither does Bequin. 
 

I feel like your grasp of what a geneseed is, is a little off. It’s like you seem to view it as DNA or a persons genes, and everybody has one? 
 

Geneseeds are implants surgically placed into Astartes aspirants. They re-write an Aspirants DNA with information coded from their Primarch. This helps the body adapt and change, along with the other surgeries and organs implanted in them. 

32 minutes ago, LSM said:

 

I'm not sure if this has changed over the years (or if I'm misunderstanding what you're saying), but per the Index Astartes: Rites of Initiation - Creation of a Space Marine (2000) there is no singular "gene-seed" which is implanted. 

 

I'm going to get a bit teacher-ish here, because 

Spoiler

Gene-seed is used differently by some authors/lore sources. Collectively, and by description of process, gene-seed is an isolated (and probably modified in the case of Astartes) portion of DNA for producing a specific biological feature from that seed. This roughly fits the definition of gene, a portion of DNA containing the instruction for making a protein. Proteins do the actual functional work in the body. Per the central dogma of molecular biology: DNA is transcribed to RNA and RNA is translated into Protein. If DNA is the machine schematic, then RNA is the builder, and protein is the resulting machine. In the context of DNA to making protein, it is called expressing a gene. 

 

The original 20 x 18 gene-seeds (20 primarchs x 19 - 1 progenoid glan) were isolated by the Emperor and his scientists from the genetic information of the primarchs. Those gene-seeds were modified to create transplantable versions of the organs they expressed. I imagine the first time they just tried implanting a non-modified, Primarch secondary heart in someone, the heart pumped once and the chest cavity exploded. Like any organ transplant, there has to be compatibility between donor and recipient, which is why one can't just slap Astartes organs into anyone. Once transplanted, the organs do their things, either mechanically (secondary heart, Lyman's ear, etc.) or by expressing select portions of their chromosomes to make proteins (mucranoid, ossmodulea, etc.). This process could theoretically be used to create gene-seed from anyone for any of their organs. In our time, that would be cloning and culturing someone else's organ for transplant. The progenoid gland is what makes the Astartes process different from cloning. More on that later.

 

Assuming there is a distinct, genetically identifiable trait for Blankness - contrary to in-universe beliefs that Blankness is a Warp phenomenon - then it could be isolated from Bequin. The problem is expression. Presumably there is no organ specific to Blankness (or it would have been found already instead of being a mystery). Gene editing is then required. This is where we introduce the Custodes.

 

Each Custodes is made bespoke, using gene editing. They actually have their DNA altered. The con is the massive difficulty of gestalt alterations at the genetic level. The pro is a physiologically unified transhuman based on a coherent design. One would not need gene-seed to create a Blank Custodes, just the foundational knowledge of how Blankness arises at a genetic level because each Custodes is made from first principles rather than assembling pre-made parts.

 

I'm ending with the progenoid gland because it is an outlier from extrapolating modern science and technology. Lamarck was almost correct about transgenerational inheritance. He thought physical changes would be passed onto the next generation; e.g. cut the tail off a mouse and it's children wouldn't have tails. Physical changes are not inheritable, but biochemical changes do impact offspring. This is called epigenetics: altered observable traits without change to DNA. The simplest way to think about it is how your DNA doesn't change when you go through puberty, but your physical appearance and behaviors become noticeably different from your childhood. Epigenetics for inheritance is thought to be short term adaptation to near-term environmental and life stressors (hormones can be stressors). The progenoid gland is scientifically Weird S because it gathers hormones and specific parts of DNA from 18 separate, transplanted organs in the body. The former isn't too odd, the brain does it all the time. The latter is bonkers and would require an entirely new metabolic system. The hormone gathering is what causes the epigenetic effect on the gene-seed in the progenoid. The longer the progenoid stays in, the more "adaptation" occurs for the next generation, and "adaptation" can change from generation to generation.

 

And then there's the Warp stuff... so I'm going to stop here.

 

[Adeptekon]

Would the elephant in the room be the Emperor's own children? What if Alizebeth was a daughter or granddaughter of E?

[jmotivator]

On 7/26/2026 at 5:23 AM, Shadowtracks said:

Gees I hope not, I’ve spent four years on and off building a backstory for something like this… I’d better get it done before GW change the canon and I’m back to square one!

 

Well, I think the saving grace of my theory for the backstory crafters, for the most part, is that all of this would be new to everyone in the universe as well.  For those playing legions that are missing the Primarch, they'd get two to choose from, or neither.

On the downside, it looks like they are heading for a major canon upheaval whenever the Amazon show and Pandemonium is released. (haha, the title of book itself is foreshadowing for the fate of canon)

[jmotivator]

On 7/26/2026 at 12:14 PM, jaxom said:

I'm not sure how it made the transition to the new Necron lore, but originally the Necrons were studying it as something new in humanity; with humanity not existing prior to the Necrons entering their sleep. They took it to make Pariah Necrons. The updated lore has Necrons using Blackstone to repel and negate Warp effects, both during the War in Heaven and in M41. I don't know if they're still studying blanks.

 

Honestly not really sure either, I'm relying on third party for the actual origins of the blanks.  The idea that it's not inheritable would just lead me to believe that there is tampering going on.

The push by GW to include females in the Custodes seems too convenient a connection for the lore that was hinted at at the end of the novel Penitent.   She is somehow connected to the major revelartion, and he mysterious history and being regenerated from genetic code  just screams to me that her genetics are part of the revelations to come.

[Lathe Biosas]

I'm thinking we will see characters from that series supplement or replace the current (see older style) Custodes named heroes. 

 

It would be nice to see Ravenor as a model...

[Jalleo]

The flying custodes are probably the 30k flying custodes unit not ones with actual wings but look like actual wings from a distance. Outside of that its probably the most direct explanation that will fit and will begin to be hinted to following on from End and The Death with the spear. We have the scouring series to add into Valdors pre 40k lore.

[DukeLeto69]

On 7/31/2026 at 3:08 PM, jmotivator said:

 

Well, I think the saving grace of my theory for the backstory crafters, for the most part, is that all of this would be new to everyone in the universe as well.  For those playing legions that are missing the Primarch, they'd get two to choose from, or neither.

On the downside, it looks like they are heading for a major canon upheaval whenever the Amazon show and Pandemonium is released. (haha, the title of book itself is foreshadowing for the fate of canon)

Sorry to be THAT GUY but Abnett’s third Bequin novel is called Pandaemonium not Pandemonium. Subtle but different and more unique to the W40k setting, ie they call them Daemons and it means the city of daemons.

[DukeLeto69]

Nice theories but I am sticking to the one I have been saying since Pariah came out.

 

The Yellow King is actually The God Emperor Himself! He is a ruler who wears gold AND this persona of TGE is the antithesis of The Dark King that He nearly became. It *could* be the shard of himself that he cast off? In fact TYK by another name may now be an updated Star Child concept!
 

The identity of TYK in Penitent is, IMO, a bait and switch by Abnett.

 

The BIG REVEAL is that the Emperor is alive and well and operating in the psychic realm / Warp and still very much steering things albeit esoterically.
 

Why? Because Abnett is harking back to the 1st edition lore and the books by Ian Watson. Because the Star Child idea has been revived (and Haley has been peppering hints in his Dark Imperium trilogy and entries in the Dawn of Fire series). 

[Indy Techwisp]

Here's a theory.

The 3rd book is on hold waiting for a big reveal.

They've started refreshing the HH Custodes.

HH Custodes have had a rule that references fielding Big E himself for multiple editions but never actually had stats or a model for Big E.

40k Lore has pivoted in the direction of the Starchild being a thing again.

 

The 3rd book is on hold so it can release alongside the HH Big E model and the 40k Starchild model.

Also plastic remake of the old resin Eisenhorn model as well, just because.

[Astartes Consul]

May be my lack of current 40k lore knowledge, but what are the rumours / hints that the body on the Throne isn’t Big E? 

[Adeptekon]

I'm going with Valdor being the King in Yellow with The Dark King and the Starchild as E's dual natures.  Since the Starchild's powers are still nascent, the Dark King will seek to destory the starchild in the warp so it's only hope is to be born as a son or daughter? of man into real space in order to escape annihilation.

 

The salvation of mankind hangs in the balance.

 

 

 

Edited August 5 by Adeptekon

[Scribe]

lol GW wouldn't be so dumb, even if Abnett would love to do it.

[Adeptekon]

27 minutes ago, Scribe said:

lol GW wouldn't be so dumb, even if Abnett would love to do it.

Oh I'm sure they will milk every last tid bit they're tossing out there for another 10 years before anything like that happens in the slightest.