Editing Lion El'Jonson (section)

==Later==
{{Topquote|You never learned! You should have been faster! It was your pride that kept you in the void! And I am guilty, just as you are. So fight me, and we will pass sentence on each other, the guilty slaying the guilty. I will not ask you again!|the Lion maddened by grief confronts Russ under the monument of [[Faash|Dulan]]}}

Near the end of the Siege of Terra, the Lion's campaign to destroy the traitor worlds came to a close and he decided it was time to make his way back towards Terra. The Primarchs led their armadas into the warp, where they were then assaulted by daemons attempting to stop them from reaching Terra. Many Space Marines and ships were lost, and warp storms personally sent by the Chaos Gods swept them off course and drove them to the many shadowy corners of the universe unseen by men before or since. The fleets drove onwards in an attempt to make it back on course, but many soldiers were lost as they succumbed to starvation, plague, or madness.

*Note: Corswain and a portion of the Dark Angels legion (the legion had been split up into many different fleets, each under the command of a legion master- in order to take the fight to the traitors over a wider portion of the galaxy) which he was put in charge of before the Lion headed for Macragge, arrived to aid Terra long before the arrival of their Primarch. The Lion has below 30,000 marines currently with him (he arrived on Macragge with only around 20-30,000 Marines), due to losses sustained on the journey to Terra and his battles against the traitor forces. Only 70,000 out of the legion's (roughly) 200,000 marines took part in the fighting at Thramas, leaving around 130,000 Marines scattered across the galaxy fighting their own battles. Corswain should have roughly around 40-50,000 Marines with him when he arrives to help Terra, unless he was able to pick up additional numbers along the way. These numbers would have made a real difference, however Corswain seems to have been unable to recall the rest of the legion after his hunt for the Death Guard forces had ended. He was able to grab a good number of Marines from Luther, though. The Luther loyalists were instructed to accompany the loyalist forces and "inconvenience" them as much as possible. The Marines loyal to Luther planned to kill Corswain as soon as they were able to, but just like Luther, after hanging around the Hound Lord for a bit they started to question their conviction. One of them even saved Corswain's life on more then one occasion. They would arrive at Terra with a force of around 10,000 marines, and immediately seek to reignite the Astronomican.

The [[Space Wolves]] and the [[Dark Angels]] dropped into the fighting around the ruins of the Emperor's Palace. Joining forces with the remnants of the [[White Scars]] and the [[Blood Angels]], they swiftly drove the forces of Chaos from the rubble. The arrival of Russ and the Lion had broken the forces of Chaos, and with the death of Horus they beat a hasty retreat from the system, but for the first time the Primarchs felt no joy in victory and saw no glory in their deeds.

Both the Lion and Russ took the Emperor's loss very badly; maddened with pain, heartbreak and despair, bitter words were spoken ''(the Lion believed that if Russ had not insisted on stopping to deal with every besieged world they stumbled across, then they could have made it on time).'' Filled with rage, the Lion prepared to strike Russ down. Russ simply exposed his chest, offering his heart to Jonson's blade. At the last second, the Lion perceived the madness of the situation. As his blade pierced Russ's primary heart, he turned his stroke aside, deflecting the blade from bone and missing the second heart. When Russ awoke he found Dorn and Jonson standing over his bed. The Lion approached his brother and bowed his head, begging his forgiveness, which Russ gladly gave. The three Primarchs swore a great oath never to do battle against each other again.

The Horus Heresy had taken a heavy toll upon the First Legion. With their Legion scattered across the galaxy fighting battles alone and without support, it was not the loss of lives that the First sacrificed to Horus' ambition. No, not for them the honourable toll of blood paid by the other loyalist legions, but a heavier burden paid with the sacrifice of the legion's unity and identity. Who they were and who they might have been had slowly but surely eroded away, piece by piece surrendered to Horus' war. With the trust, friendship and brotherhood that had existed among the legionnaires shattered beyond repair, Caliban would prove to be the final breaking point.

===Fall of Caliban===
{{Topquote| How? How can this be? Do you realise what you have done? That you have doomed yourself is terrible, but in so doing you have condemned your brothers, and even Caliban itself, to damnation. And for what? Look around you, Luther! Look at what you have become. Look at what this has done to us all. What promise did they make you that you would barter away your soul? What could be worth this price? |Lion El’Jonson, last recorded words of the Primarch during the Battle of Caliban}}

{{topquote|Damn you Luther – how could you betray us? We were your brothers, and now we must join you in eternal damnation.|Lion El’Jonson, Primarch of the Dark Angels}}

The events after the Horus Heresy are unclear; the forces of Chaos had been defeated, but they had left the Imperium in ruins. For the Lion and his Legion, one final, shattering betrayal remained to be discovered on their return to Caliban. As the Angels' unsuspecting fleet moved into orbit, they were met by a devastating barrage of defence laser fire ''(ordered by Astelan)''. Stunned by the attack, the Lion withdrew and attempted to find out what had happened. Luther had used his skills at oratory to lead the Dark Angels under his command to turn their backs upon the Emperor and their Primarch.

The fury of Jonson and the loyal Dark Angels at learning this information knew no bounds. They had fought from one end of the galaxy to the other and now they found that their own homeworld and their own brethren had turned against them. The Lion immediately ordered an assault on the planet. The massed guns of the fleet easily disabled Caliban's defence laser batteries and then scoured the planet, driving the rebel Dark Angels back to their fortress monasteries. The Lion personally led the assault on the greatest of the monasteries, knowing that this was where he would find Luther. The two opponents were equally matched, for Luther had been enhanced by the dark gods of Chaos, becoming a psyker of such power that not even the combined might of the Watchers could restrain him. [[Anime|The two former friends met in a combat the likes of which would not be seen again. The two combatants moved with inhuman speed and agility, their blade movements too fast for any observer to follow. When they connected, the impact produced shockwaves that shattered the massive cathedral, causing chunks the size of battle tanks to fall around them as they dueled. At the apex of their titanic struggle they had levelled the monastery but still they continued the battle amongst the ruins.]]

Meanwhile the massed guns of the fleet carried on pounding the planet, reducing the other fortress monasteries to rubble. As Caliban itself started to break apart under the bombardment, the battle between the Lion and Luther reached its climax. Luther, weakened by the long combat, staggered and fell, leaving himself open to a death blow, but the Lion could not bring himself to strike the finishing blow. As he hesitated, Luther unleashed a furious psychic attack that knocked the Lion to his knees and left him mortally wounded. At that moment, it was as if a curtain had been lifted from Luther's eyes, and he realised the full extent of what he had done. The truth shattered his sanity and he slumped down beside Jonson, no longer willing to fight.

A rent appeared in the very fabric of space and a Warp storm of unprecedented fury engulfed Caliban. Those 'fallen' Dark Angels who had served under Luther were sucked from the face of Caliban into the warp and scattered throughout space and time (read the Legacy of Caliban trilogy to find out who was responsible). Caliban, already weakened by the loyal Dark Angels' bombardment, was ripped apart and destroyed.

The Dark Angels flew down to the surface of what remained of Caliban and in the heart of the ruined wasteland they found Luther, who constantly repeated the same words over and over again: the Primarch had been carried away by the Watchers in the Dark and one day he would return to forgive Luther for the terrible sins he had committed. Of the Lion himself, there was no sign.

<s>The Dark Angels took the biggest remaining chunk of Caliban and turned it into their Fortress-Monastery, calling it "The Rock," and to this day, the Dark Angels and their successors hunt down "The Fallen," to torture them until they have confessed their sins and have been granted absolution, then execute them.</s> THERE WAS A SMALL ACCIDENT AND CALIBAN WAS DOWNSIZED BECAUSE IT WAS TOO BIG ANYWAY. IT'S COOL, WE GOT THIS. NOTHING TO SEE HERE, '''MOVE ALONG'''. The Lion is currently fully healed in a regenerative stasis-induced coma in a hidden section of The Rock, making him the only '''other''' loyal Primarch confirmed to be alive as of M41. The 7th edition goes at bit further by stating that when the clarion call of battle sounds for the last time, Jonson will be summoned forth from his millennial rest to defend the Imperium of Mankind from its enemies. Then shall all traitors quake in fear, for the Lion’s vengeance will be terrible indeed... And as of September 2022, if the model leaks are to be believed, that day might be sooner than later.

===The Invincible Reason===
[[File:.The invinsible reason..jpg|200px|right|]]
The ''Invincible Reason'' was the Lion's flagship during the Great Crusade. This mighty ''Gloriana''-class battleship was one of the largest of its kind and packed a massive amount of firepower, even when compared to its sister ships. During the story of the Lion and the Wolf, the ''Invincible Reason'' is described as packing more firepower than the entire Wolf fleet present. ''Lord of the First'' confirms that it has ''hundreds'' of macro-cannon batteries. The Dark Angels had a preference for Lance weaponry when it came to their void craft, and the ''Invincible Reason'' was no exception, having a large number of forward-facing lance batteries. These forward-facing lance batteries would fire in unison, creating a sword of destructive energy that obliterated everything in front of it (kinda like how Eldar Pulsars work in Battlefleet Gothic).
[[File:Thramas-void combat.jpg|200px|right|]]

Estimated armaments:
* Deck - 10x lance batteries
* Port - 20x (heavy type) plasma batteries / 13x launch bays
* Starboard - 20x (heavy type) plasma batteries / 13x launch bays
* Prow - 2x (heavy type) lances / 6x lance batteries / 2x Nova Cannons / 32x torpedo launches
* Hull - 7x orbital bombardment lances / 4x bombardment cannons
* Rear fins - 2x (heavy type) lances
* Close defense batteries - ?

The ''Invincible Reason'' currently acts as the Dark Angels' chapter flagship as of M42, and escorts [[The Rock]] through Imperial space.

===The 42nd Millennium===
[[File:Lion10th.jpg|300px|right|thumb|In the Grimdarkness of the 41st Millennium, not even the [[Emprah]]'s godly genes is entirely immune to the horrors that is: <u>'''Male Pattern Baldness'''</u>.]]
{{Spoilers}}
As previously mentioned, the Lion is back, mysteriously waking up somewhere before the [[Arks of Omen]] campaign. Unlike [[Roboute Guilliman|Bobby G's]] first class stasis manicure, the Lion was effectively dumped in [[The Rock]]'s garbage heap by the [[Watchers in the Dark]] for 10,000 years, and oh boy, were the ravages of time ''not kind'' with the Lion - he wasn't lucky enough to be put in actual stasis and consequently aged normally (as far as a Primarch can age "normally", anyway). Resembling an aging <strike>Tywin Lannister</strike> ''Davos Seaworth'' which is honestly quite fucking [[awesome]] in its own right, the Lion is now aged, with an ''obvious'' receding hairline.  It also means he's had a few minutes to fucking introspect; he hasn't mellowed at all, but he can now pull off his silent 'n solemn routine without coming off like an arrogant prick and he can actually talk to people now.  

WARNING: From here on out, everything is very heavily and explicitly spoilers for Lion: Son of the Forest and Arks of Omen: The Lion. No seriously, this next section is just a terribly written summary. Sorry.

Now, how the Lion woke up remains a mystery, although in ''The Lion: Son of the Forest'' it is heavily hinted to be the work of the Emprah and/or the Watchers. Whatever is the case, the Lion entered a [[Mirror-Caliban|dreamstate]] where he is half lucid and half hallucinating; seeing monsters hiding in the forest of what seems to be [[Caliban (Warhammer 40,000)|Caliban]], wearing the power armor of a Caliban Knight. What is interesting, is that Lion actually had a slight (temporary) hit of amnesia, having no recollection of the events of his life or even his own name.

Whatever is the case, the book is ''very'' heavy in its [[Bretonnia|Arthurian legend]]. As he explored his surroundings (Which is giving him the galaxy's worst collection of deja vu). He found a lake with an old decrepit king sitting in a boat in the middle that is obviously the Emprah. The Lion then tried to ask the King who he was, getting angry when the King refused to answer him, and then tried to go through the lake, but was stopped by a Watcher who warned him of the 'shadows' inhabiting the lake (Most definitely alluding to the [[Chaos Gods|Chaos Sweat Goblins]]). The Watcher then tells the Lion that the King will not answer him, because he isn't asking the right question. Looking around, the Lion spots a path leading away to a clearing with a strange building in the center, but the Watchers once again stop him, saying he is not ready for what awaits him in there. The Watchers then tell the Lion to trust his instincts, as another path appears with distant sounds of people shouting and monsters roaring. So the Lion continued to follow the advise of his personal group of munchkins until he met the aforementioned monsters attacking some local humans.

Instinctively, the Lion came and carved out these monsters, saving the locals who then lore dropped him with exposition on where he is and who was attacking them. Turns out the Lion had emerged from the Calibanite forest dreamscape and had emerged onto a whole other forested planet known as Camarth. The group of locals told the Lion that they are looked after by a being they called the "Protector" who, surprise surprise, turns out to be a [[Fallen Angel]]. The Fallen immediately attacks the Lion which... ''somehow'' caused the Lion to regain nearly all his memories (PTSD?). In a uncharacteristic way, the Lion subdued his wayward son rather than bitchslapping his head off and learned that the Fallen is named Zabriel. Both Zabriel and the Lion accused each other of being traitors, but after the brief awkward stint, they kind of settled down and decided to cooperate after they realised it was all a 10,000 year later misunderstanding.

For Zabriel, he has been active for 400 years and then later dumped another exposition overload to the Lion on the nature of what the fuck he missed for 10,000 years. Suffice to say, on this planet specifically, the Fallen explained that he was stuck after being attacked by a Chaos warband called The Thousand Eyes. Members of the warband are still present and it turns out that the monsters the Lion was carving up like a turkey where Chaos Space Marines. After locating the warband's HQ (Which turns out to be a former [[Blood Angels]] successor chapter) and mercy-killing the tortured and chained up Blood Angels, the Lion, got high on [[Drug|Warp Dust]] and began tripping balls....''[[derp|again]]''. This time, the forest [[Wat|''literally gave him a very real power sword'']]. Exactly where the fuck the sword just... popped out of nowhere is unknown. Whether via the work of the Emperor or the shenanigans of the Fallen, it is uncertain.

After clearing out the Chaos warband, the rest of the Thousand Eyes became aware that something was off, as they lost contact on the HQ which turns out to be a testing ground for a plot to induce the Red Thirst in the Blood Angels....which is [[Herp|''weird'']] given that the Red Thirst isn't anything new for the Blood Angels, but whatever (it definitely couldn’t be the Black Rage because…?). The warband is led by a pair of Fallen, the sorcerer Seraphax and a more ordinary marine, Baelor. The two homies have a pretty productive relationship as far as Chaos Space Marines goes, as Seraphax makes sure that Baelor is free of mutation and corruption, while Baelor stops Seraphax from going full kookoo crazy. They are also accompanied by another prominent Chaos marine called Markog who is a bit of a [[Anime|Tsundere]] towards how [[Gay|homoerotically gay he perceives Baelor and Seraphax are.]] But Markog is a filthy [[Slaanesh|Slaaneshi]], so his [[Fail|weird Yaoi fanfic]] kind of makes sense.

After ''literally'' single-handedly retaking the entire planet all by himself, the Lion expressed his usual expression of extreme disappointment over the lack of [[Navigator]]s and [[Astropath]]s, leaving him perpetually trapped on the world. Before the Lion can mope around, he heard a voice calling for him within the forest. He then goes there along with Zabriel and the Lion Guard (Which are ''NOT'' [[Space Marine]] [[Honour Guard]]s, but literal [[Neckbeards]] [[LARP|LARPing]] as bodyguards. Yes, it is as [[lulz|hilarious as it sounds]]). The Lion's merry band of misfits than found themselves in the NOT-Caliban forest and later ''somehow'' emerge on a completely different planet called Avalus. So literally, the Emperor is sending his [[Green Knight]] through the warp-manifestation of Caliban's [[Athel Loren|Magical Forest]], appearing wherever he is needed, which hopefully signals a more badass, purely knightly direction for the Dark Angels rather than their current self-critical catholic aesthetic.

The Lion then did a phone call to the planet's government. Fortunately for the Lion, Avalus is a pretty advanced and modern planet, so he could actually have a space port to fuck off. Hell, they even have a ([[Just As Planned|''Suspiciously'']]) fancy [[Archeotech]] pistol big enough for a [[Primarch]]'s hand to fit. Huh...[[Plot armour|''what a coincidence eh?'']] As they book their five night stay in Hotel <s>Travago</s> Avalus, the Lion orders Zabriel to investigate a seemingly empty ship that had recently crashed into the planet's capital, believing it may hold another Fallen. To no one's surprise, he found three Fallen Angels. All of them agreed to speak with dad and then agreed to work with him. The Lion then sends a ship to do a flyby on <s>Caliban</s> Camarth and orders all Astropaths in Avalus to broadcast the news that the Lion is back as far as they can.

This unfortunately, attracted the attention of the Thousand Eyes who then attacked Avalus so they could ''somehow'' capture the Lion. This escalated into a space battle where the Lion's ship was assisted by a flotilla of pirates who just so happens to be led by another Fallen, who is pretty ecstatic to meet up with dad. To be fair, the lore does show even pirates and crime syndicates are still fanatical devotees of the Emprah. On his way to the space station, the Lion tripped balls....[[Wat|''AGAIN'']] (Seriously, Johnson needs to see a shrink immediately after this shit), this time meeting the Emprah. So what happens when you have two of the galaxy's most socially inept people? [[Fail|You go fucking nowhere that's what]]. After several awkward questions and silences, the Emperor saves the Lion from the shadows that are trying to [[rape|tentacle rape him]] by waking him the fuck up from his drug trip. On the space station, the Lion realise that more Fallen have joined his merry band, and his private army is getting bigger by the minute.

After these shenanigans, both the Lion and Zabriel receive a distress call from Camarth and flew right to the planet's location. Once they arrived, the entire forest world was lit up in flames by the Thousand Eyes in retribution for messing with their plans. The only unmolested part of the world was a wrecked space marine outpost. They go down there to find Markog, who tells Lion that Seraphax wants to speak with him on the planet Sable then fucks off like the Slaaneshi pussy he is. The Lion's intuition made him believe that it is trap, but they went there anyway. On the way to Sable, the Lion realised that his frequent drug trips is actually a hidden latent psychic ability that he never knew he had. Like Bobby G, this revelation came as some sort of surprise for the Lion. The Lion's special psychic ability? He can '[[Magic: The Gathering|forestwalk]]', which is a layman's term for [[Awesome|"HE CAN FUCKING TELEPORT!"]] Yeah, pretty cool and he started training like a [[Anime|Shonen protagonist]]. When his ship arrived in the system, he briefly spoke with Seraphax, who invited him to the surface. Lion, correctly assuming that his ship would be attacked if they got too close, instead [[Just As Planned|forestwalks with his Fallen right into Seraphax's keep,]] much to Seraphax's [[Meme|Surprised Pikachu Face]].

After making the Thousand Eyes [[anal circumference|bend over and spread their anus]], the Lion chased Seraphax (which turns out to be part of Seraphax's plan anyway) as he managed to trap the Lion in [[Bullshit|Warp-induced bullshit chains]] (Possibly the same ones that chained Robo Gorillaman during the Terran Crusade), which was forged from the iron from the blood of Sable's butchered populace (Wow...how [[Edgy]]). Seraphax then did his Bond villain monologue, where he explained his scheme: [[Lolwut|he was going to remove Lion's soul from his body, turn what remained into his own meat puppet and have it go to Terra, gain an audience with the Emperor, and kill him so that Big E can be released from his husk on the Golden throne to become the next Warp god.]] Seraphax also claimed the creation of a Fifth Warp god from the Emperor's soul would enable the permanent defeat of the Ruinous Powers itself and secure mankind's survival. A pretty fucking ambitious plan for some third-rate nobody of a Chaos lord who would most likely be krumped in the face by the likes of [[Vashtorr]] before he even gets the chance of becoming a demigod, let alone a ''god''.

Of course, being a Primarch means that the Lion has some [[Star Wars]]-levels of [[plot armour]], as the Lion ''of course'' shrugged off Seraphax's shenanigans long enough for the Fallen to arrive and wreck Seraphax's shit. A bar brawl broke out, and in order to stand even a millisecond against someone as fucking lethal as the Lion, Seraphax went full Chaos and transformed into a [[Daemon Prince]]....''somehow'' (Don't ask how he withheld his Daemon Prince power up for that long, guess we can blame it on Baelor for convincing him not to go bananas). This horrified Seraphax's <s>boyfriend</s> homie, so Baelor turned on him by stabbing him in the back, although Seraphax returned the favour and stabbed him in turn with a corrupted blade before dying. Baelor than explained that he was misled to believe the Emperor would be freed rather than killed, and that the creature Seraphax became at the end was no longer Baelor's brother. He begged for Lion's forgiveness, and the Lion pulled one of the most unexpected moves that no one thought off. The Lion ''forgave him''. Not in the usual Dark Angels-style of [[Blam|'forgiveness']], but actually outright sparing him. Yeah, turns out spending 10 millennia sleeping and contemplating his life's choices did make the Lion a tad bit more considerate now huh?

The Lion then called Baelor one of his "Risen" (<s>Ha! We got the Fallen and now we have the Risen!</s>{{Blam}}), even as he asked the Lion to mercy-kill him to spare him from the blade's corruption. Which the Lion obliged. The Lion's Fallen then renamed themselves the Risen and wrecked Seraphax's keep before departing. Afterwards, time passed on for god knows how long. But by this point, the Lion was [[Lion's Protectorate|establishing a protectorate]] in order to safe keep these systems within Imperium Nihilus. The Risen spread out among the various human groups to lend their expertise like some supped up Robin Hood-expies. In the meanwhile, Lion entered the Forest again. This time, he did not find the Emperor, but he does follow the path to that strange building he'd seen the first time he was here. There, he fought a shapeshifting entity that takes the form of each of his brothers, trying to break his spirit and his body alike. This entity turns out to be a [[Daemon]] and, in a pretty hilarious and rare example of the Lion dunking on [[Magnus the Red|Magnymagick]], told the entity that his Magnus-copycat is [[lulz|too strong to be the real deal.]] Lol, the Lion called the nerd ''a wimp''. The Lion obviously won, and [[wat|''somehow'' gains possession of the Emperor's Shield]], which seems to be somehow tied to the psyker aegis the Emperor had cast over the palace during the [[Siege of Terra]]. While his entire journey so far is just one long-ass rearmament quest, like Archaon's search for the Treasures of Chaos, at least he actually had to work for it unlike some pencilpusher who was handed literally everything.

As more undescribed time passed, the Lion's personal fiefdom also grew. The Lion, still having [[Imperium Secundus]] fresh in his mind, was understandably worried about the [[Heresy|reactions]] of the wider Imperium. Just as he was worrying, a force of Blood Angels led by [[Dante|Lord Commander Dante]] arrived to investigate rumours of the Lion's return. The Lion was initially pretty [[rage|''fucking pissed off'']] when he saw that Dante was wearing the death mask of [[Sanguinius]]. Dante, sensing the Lion's ire and wanting to avoid getting unceremoniously bitchslapped to death, took off his helmet, knelt and infodumped the Lion with yet ''another'' exposition to update the Lion on the current state of affairs. The Lion, initially thinking he was the only remaining loyalist Primarch, was pleased to hear that Ole Rob' was alive and well. The Lion then departed with the Blood Angels and his Risen to explore the galaxy and give Chaos <s>a</s> multiple new assholes.

He also met Dante out at another point in time, having to save him from finally keeling over in a fight against [[Angron|Angry Ron]]. Of course, he used his Forest-walking power just in time to save the (relatively) young whippersnapper from a chainaxe to the midsection and then smashed the Emprah's shield so hard in Angron's face that it literally split his skull in two... y'know, just in case you needed proof about how much Daemon Primarchs are jobbers.

====The Lion, <s>the Witch, and the Wardrobe</s> the King, and the Question====

Within the Arc of the ''Son of the Forest'', the visions the Lion enters while walking through the dreamscape of Caliban's forests raises questions about several new factors: '''The Lion''', his psychic potential and purpose; '''The Watchers''', their intentions and their connection to Caliban; and '''The Emperor''', his psychic influence and plans for the Lion.

When it comes to the forests of Caliban and the Watchers within, it can be speculated that these forest dreamscapes the Lion wanders through are in fact a form of pocket dimension or passage, like a mini-Webway that the Watchers can access, allowing them to mysteriously appear and disappear in impossible places. More specifically, it manifests as a forest due to the Watchers' connection to Caliban and their cryptic purpose that bound them to it. 

It was always speculated that each of the Primarchs, even those that outright denied it, all had some form of psychic potential within them given their Warp-infused nature when the Emperor created them. Perhaps when the Watchers snatched the Lion away after Luther dealt him his psychic attack, they brought him into this pocket reality, and through the millennia as he healed, the Lion became psychically attuned to using this space, with the Watchers seemingly teaching and guiding him through such passages in the beginning of the book.

Tangentially related is the literal question that the Lion has to ask the King. This requires a bit of basic background in the tales of King Arthur (that the Dark Angels draw heavy inspiration from). In many of the Arthurian romances, beginning with the unfinished Parzival, there is a character known as the Fisher King. The Fisher King is the last guardian of the Holy Grail, who has been badly wounded in the thigh, groin, stomach, or genitals, and who must be asked the “healing question” to recover and restore his lands.

Sound familiar?

Within the first chapters of the book the Lion comes across the aforementioned King. In a boat. Bleeding. He has the opportunity to ask a handful of questions to the King (who is clearly the Emperor) throughout the book, but the Watchers tell him he is asking the wrong question. This is another strange link between the xenos Watchers and the Emperor. It begs the question, are the Watchers and the Emperor aware of each others presence, and if so, is the Emperor in this Fisher King shard/manifestation actually working with the Watchers? Far from impossible. After all, both The Watchers and Big-E are known for being enigmatic, transcendent psykers, who disdain and are anathema to Chaos. If we are to assume that they are indeed allies, the question with regards to the Lion, is to what aim? Perhaps to guide and test the Lion in preparation for something (like what we see in his later mental trial)? This could possibly explain how the Watchers and the Lion were able to obtain his sword Fealty and the Emperor's Shield throughout these visions.

Furthermore, later in the book, the Lion finds the King, accompanied by three relics: a candelabra, a chalice, and a bloody lance (in Arthurian legend, a lance wound is often the origin of the Fisher King’s injury).

...Under Construction...