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Right now BL is busy fleshing out the origins of the Grey Knights with the Knights Errant created by Malcador.

The Sisters of Battle's origins are also well described, they are a product of the Age of Apostasy.

But what about the Deathwatch? They must surely have some great story behind their founding.

The Inquisition codex merely says they were formed by a conclave of Inquisitors and various Chapter Masters of the Astartes. They throw in 'esteemed' a lot but yeah, sounds like it was just a matter of 'hey we need this, send us some of your best' and the Deathwatch was formed. Of course, this is Codex fluff, so barely a drip from the bucket that could have been the founding of the Deathwatch in the hands of a capable author.

As far as I am aware there is nothing regarding their formation. For now my guess is that the Ordo Xenos inquisitors realized that there were going to be situations that the basic human henchman was going to be able to handle. They turn to the marines for help and at some point the Apocryphean Oath came about.

When I first read about Garro, Varren and Loken, I thought that they might be the founding members of the Deathwatch, due to the fact that they all came from different legions.

I believe it is said that the original core of the deathwatch was formed by loyalist death guard hence the name deathwatch

 Ustrello wrote:
I believe it is said that the original core of the deathwatch was formed by loyalist death guard hence the name deathwatch

Source?

 SharkoutofWata wrote:

 Ustrello wrote:
I believe it is said that the original core of the deathwatch was formed by loyalist death guard hence the name deathwatch

Source?

Its more of an implied hint but one of the books with nathaniel garro in it. Forgot which one

Wrong. The Deathwatch was formed when a conclave of esteemed Chapter Masters met to hold a meeting on the uprise of Xenos threats. They agreed that each Chapter should take a vow, which each did, that allows the Deathwatch to conscript from their ranks into the Deathwatch. Sometime in the M34-36 I believe. But no, it was long after the HH. Lexicanum I read it on, but double check.

It was certainly not Garro or anything to do with the Death Guard.

Yeah, Deathwatch was pretty mundane in it's founding, which with everything lately, I actually find pretty special in and of itself.

 Deadshot wrote:
Wrong. The Deathwatch was formed when a conclave of esteemed Chapter Masters met to hold a meeting on the uprise of Xenos threats. They agreed that each Chapter should take a vow, which each did, that allows the Deathwatch to conscript from their ranks into the Deathwatch. Sometime in the M34-36 I believe. But no, it was long after the HH. Lexicanum I read it on, but double check.

It was certainly not Garro or anything to do with the Death Guard.

This. I'm surprised by people trying to pull bits and pieces from unrelated sources when there's a giant tome with the name "Deathwatch" on the cover that they don't check.

I'll only add that the conclave was called together by the Ordo xenos based on a prophecy foretelling the rise of xenos. The chapter representatives were invited, but they were not the ones to call the initial conclave.