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Headcanon for me....

Tau are the Big E's secret anti-chaos forces and Etherals are descendants of one of the lost Primarchs.

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 EmpNortonII wrote:


One of my favorite fan-based theories about the Tau is that they're an Eldar experiment. The Eldar have a switch that they can throw that will make the Tau capable of being psykers, and the Eldar are waiting until the right moment to reveal their battlesuit-wielding trump card to Chaos.

Personally, I prefer the theory that they're a Necron experiment to the same ends.

Would make more sense too considering the Tau look nothing like the Eldar, while we haven't a clue what Necrons looked like besides them probably having feet instead of hooves.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 EmpNortonII wrote:


One of my favorite fan-based theories about the Tau is that they're an Eldar experiment. The Eldar have a switch that they can throw that will make the Tau capable of being psykers, and the Eldar are waiting until the right moment to reveal their battlesuit-wielding trump card to Chaos.

Personally, I prefer the theory that they're a Necron experiment to the same ends.

Would make more sense too considering the Tau look nothing like the Eldar, while we haven't a clue what Necrons looked like besides them probably having feet instead of hooves.

Necrons look like..Necrons

Necrontyr built the bodies they use now, so maybe they were not so different from what we have with Necrons.
Robots in the Image of the Human aren't rare in sci-fi....

In one of the Necron books, a Necron remarks to a human that they (the human) remind him of the Time of Flesh, and finds it ironic that their two races should appear so similarly.

This implies that the Necrontyr were, at least in general, human-like in appearance. Maybe they had red skin and glowing green eyes or strange (to us) colorations and the like, but still human-like enough for them to draw the comparison.

I think we need to understand what the Leadership and Civilization 'know' and what various groups within the Tau 'know.' Ethereals know lots about the wider galaxy. Daemons, Chaos, the Imperials, etc. They know this information and use it to make decisions about expansion and tactics. When Farsight realized the Ethereals had been holding out on them, it was time to split. When your average Pathfinder looks at a Chaos (World Eater) Rhino, he sends the tactical information to his superior, he sends it to his. When the Shas' in charge gets it he forms a battle plan and converses with his Ethereal for spiritual support. No one down the chain will know or care what flavor of human in power armor is driving the thing. They will just follow their orders and shoot the thing.

Water caste Tau will know much more, but only about the area which they are working. If an area has a bunch of Chaos dudes, they will know much more about CSM.

Earth caste will know what they need to do their research, if anything at all.

Remember that for the greater good to succeed, knowledge must compartmentalized, but not removed or destroyed. Ethereals must still be able to make meaningful decisions.

 Psienesis wrote:
In one of the Necron books, a Necron remarks to a human that they (the human) remind him of the Time of Flesh, and finds it ironic that their two races should appear so similarly.

This implies that the Necrontyr were, at least in general, human-like in appearance. Maybe they had red skin and glowing green eyes or strange (to us) colorations and the like, but still human-like enough for them to draw the comparison.

Tau look like humans too and eldar more

I think that Etherieals came from Eldars , when all other Tau are just "native population"
If Necrons made them then Etherials should be Necron lords, overlords ect, but Etherials die so it cant be

Well, other than the fact that the Tau have hooves and no noses, sure they look like human...

Actually, they don't. They are what we would call "humanoid", because they are a bipedal species with a centrally-located, top-mounted head and two arms.

The Tau are also tend to be short, and blue, with small ears, and most often with rounded, blunt features. This is nothing like the Eldar in any way. The Air Caste is small and thin, true, to fit better within their ships (and also an evolutionary trait of their former residences)... but the Eldar are taller than the human average, with long, tapering ears and sharp features.

Why would Ethereals be necron lords? That makes no sense.

Especially if it was just a side project by the Silent King after he cut everyone loose. The howling dragon from Tau mythology that brought the first Ethereals could just as easily be a reference to a Night Scythe's dissonance engines as it could be to an Eldar vampire or equivalent.

On top of that, surely the Eldar would have given them psi-mastery, instead of psi-ignorance.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Why would Ethereals be necron lords? That makes no sense.

Especially if it was just a side project by the Silent King after he cut everyone loose. The howling dragon from Tau mythology that brought the first Ethereals could just as easily be a reference to a Night Scythe's dissonance engines as it could be to an Eldar vampire or equivalent.

On top of that, surely the Eldar would have given them psi-mastery, instead of psi-ignorance.

In same way Necro-Inqusitiors exist ( see for ex.Xenology).
Im more fond what are Eldar are the reason.
I think Eldars can create Etherials as they made their Avatars, from the warp.
Also igrorance makes them able to live a life whith no chaos temptesions, when even the bigest psi-master have temptetions and are a treat

 Pada wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
In one of the Necron books, a Necron remarks to a human that they (the human) remind him of the Time of Flesh, and finds it ironic that their two races should appear so similarly.

This implies that the Necrontyr were, at least in general, human-like in appearance. Maybe they had red skin and glowing green eyes or strange (to us) colorations and the like, but still human-like enough for them to draw the comparison.

Tau look like humans too and eldar more

I think that Etherieals came from Eldars , when all other Tau are just "native population"
If Necrons made them then Etherials should be Necron lords, overlords ect, but Etherials die so it cant be

The plural form of Eldar is Eldar, note the lack of an "S". If it wasn't, then the title of the Eldar codex would be "CODEX: Eldars".

Oh sorry , i forgot it sometimes , im not native speaker of engilsh