Editing Zahariel (section)

==41st Millennium?==
As the plot progresses, Zahariel is overwhelmed by the [[Ouroboros]] and becomes its vessel for its power, which he believes is the "Heart of Caliban", though it is strongly intimated that he does not really understand what he is dealing with. Zahariel kills the Lord Cypher of Luther's era and takes his place. This makes him a strong contender for the secret identity of [[Cypher]] in the 41st Millennium, especially considering that both figures have a strong connection to the Ouroboros device and are pretty much the only individuals outside of the [[Watchers in the Dark]] who are aware of its capabilities.

However, Luther points out that ''"his"'' Cypher was slain by Corswain during the battle over Caliban, though Luther only has hearsay to support this assumption, and it does not appear to fit the Dark Angels understanding of events.

The novel ''Pandorax'' threw an interesting spanner into the mix by introducing a [[derp|NOT-Fallen]] [[Fallen Angels|Fallen]]. ''Grand Master Epimetheus'' was one of the [[Grey Knight]] founders along with [[Knights-Errant|Janus, Khyron, etc]] and was trapped in stasis on Pandorax for ten thousand years. Grey Knights change their names to be anti-daemon, and 40k Epimetheus is very clearly a [[Psyker]] just as Zahariel was, unlike M41 [[Cypher]]. It is made quite clear in a conversation between Epimetheus and a [[Lord of Change]] that Epimetheus should not have existed in that timeline and that he somehow traded destinies with someone else. Though not actually ''Fallen'', this version of Epimetheus still considers himself "Fallen" since he really should have been, and so he avoids the 40k Dark Angels out of shame.

As an extension of this, the Lord of Change claims to be the one who corrupted half of the [[Dark Angels]] legion to become the [[Fallen Angels]], but remarks that Epimetheus was the one who "nearly spoiled everything." Epimetheus points out that he recognised this daemon even before it makes the claim of corrupting the legion proceeds to '''UNMAKE''' the fucker, true-deathing it into oblivion using its [[Truenamer|True Name]]. If a simple Lord of Change over a few pages of a much bigger storyline really was the entity that corrupted Luther's portion of the Legion, then it means that Zahariel and the Ouroboros are just one more party in the Fallen/Loyalist war that inevitably destroyed the planet. Luther was definitely summoning what appeared to be [[Horror|Blue Horrors]] without Zahariel's knowledge during his exile on Caliban, so there appear to be myriad factions of the Fallen. It also means that even though Zahariel was a pawn of the Ouroboros, he was not necessarily knowingly in league with one ''(or aware of)'' of the four chaos powers.

Therefore there are several things to consider regarding what happens to Zahariel:
*As the only currently identified Lord-Cypher in the fluff, Zahariel is unlikely to be the 40k Cypher, because it spoils the mystery of his identity. [[Gav Thorpe]] has pointed out that GW consider Cypher's origins to be as shrouded as the Two Missing Primarchs, because the revelation rarely matches the expectation. So Zahariel is either dead, or he bestowed the position on someone else prior to the fall of Caliban and moved on.
*Someone traded places with Epimetheus and whoever assumed the identity had significant knowledge of the Fallen; and later became imprisoned in the Damnation Cache on Pandorax. Unfortunately the fate and identity of ''EITHER'' individual is left unspoken, though the '''Nemean Reaver''' is name dropped by Nathaniel Garro when the first Grand Masters are selected.
**The point of the switch is left uncertain. Though considering that Epimetheus from the Damnation Cache was somehow the one who ''"nearly spoiled everything"'' is must have been at a crucial point. If someone switched prior to the Fall and Epimetheus has always been the "true" Epimetheus, then this places the Grey Knights on Caliban during Luther's uprising. The alternative is that a psyker with first-hand knowledge of the Fall of Caliban came into contact with the Grey Knights and then replaced Epimetheus.
*According to the Lord of Change, Epimetheus was not supposed to exist in that time or place and was thrown off by the unexpected revelation. Only the [[Watchers in the Dark]] and the [[Ouroboros]] itself have ever been shown or implied to have the capability of altering timelines and put fear into daemons by their mere proximity. This would mean that Epimetheus' presence on Pandorax is a paradox, but because of Zahariel's interaction with both the Ouroboros and the Watchers he is still the stronger candidate.

No matter who ends up becoming Epimetheus, the Grey Knight's "end" is to be captured by [[Abaddon]] during the Pandorax campaign and eventually be handed over to [[Fulgrim]] to gain his allegiance for the upcoming [[13th Black Crusade]] - wherein Epimetheus was to be used an an [[Noblebright|"unblemished receptacle"]] to become the [[What|Avatar]] of [[Slaanesh]]. This also makes Epimetheus a contender for the role of the '''Knight in Silver''' trapped in Slaanesh's realm that is sometimes associated with [[Kaldor Draigo]]. In fact Epimetheus was MORE POWERFUL than Draigo and even knew what was in his future, though wouldn't tell him.

A vision received by [[Ezekiel]] told a possible future in which he, [[Azrael]], [[Asmodai]], and some other Dark Angels went into the [[Eye of Terror]] and joined force with [[Kaldor Draigo]] to rescue Epimetheus. This new plotline has started to be developed, with Asmodai even making deals with the [[Relictors]] Chapter to capture a member of the Black Legion, all so he could ask him where Epimethius was, meaning the identity of the Grey Knight is potentially going to be revealed soon.

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[[Category:Dark Angels]]
[[Category:Fallen Angels]]
[[Category:Grey Knights]]