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So there are a lot of Custodes in the Horus Heresy books, acting along with marines and also as individual agents. So what about them in the current times? They all just hang around the palace? I can't think of any mention of them in 40k times.

Yeah, fair enough. They were basically "super Marines" (the equivalent of a Space Marine Sergeant in rule terms, I have heard suggested) and should be formidable. That said, perhaps most of them were wiped out in the Siege of Terra and they just really aren't around anymore? (Like the Thunder Warriors of old?)

Who guards the Golden Throne these days? Is it still Custodes?

 pantheralegionnaire wrote:
Yeah, fair enough. They were basically "super Marines" (the equivalent of a Space Marine Sergeant in rule terms, I have heard suggested) and should be formidable. That said, perhaps most of them were wiped out in the Siege of Terra and they just really aren't around anymore? (Like the Thunder Warriors of old?)

Who guards the Golden Throne these days? Is it still Custodes?

Custodes are laughably above a Sergeant in terms of power. They're able to go toe-to-toe with Gal Vorbak and come out on top.

The HH novels make it clear that they are both have strengths and weaknesses. One on One Custodes would likely win, but astartes are trained to fight as a unit. Makes sense given their individual jobs.

For what I know Gals slaughtered them, but I may be wrong. Any way they are said to just chill at terra.

The Custodes still guard the Golden Throne and the Imperial Palace. Some still engage in covert (and less so) operations within the Imperium, but more as assassins than as soldiers. In fact, "soldiering" is not a skill the Custodes possess. They aren't trained in strategic operations or small-unit tactics. Individually, however, their combat prowess is extremely exceptional.

 Naberiel wrote:
For what I know Gals slaughtered them, but I may be wrong. Any way they are said to just chill at terra.

The Gal Vorbak significantly outnumbered the Custodes they fought and the Custodes still made a good account of themselves. That said, I don't think those Custodes were just "average" Custodes; if I recall correctly they were supposed to be superior to the rank and file.

After the Emperor was interned on the Golden Throne, the Custodes abandoned their traditional gold and red armour in favour of black, and they have rarely left the Imperial Palace since then. The only instance I can recall is with that business with Goge Vandire, when it was the Custodes who convinced the leader of the Brides of the Emperor to come with them to see the Emperor Himself.
Normally, the Custodes, being the personal bodygyuard of the Emperor never leave His side, and seeing as that the Emperor hasn't moved since the Heresy, that justifies the fact that they haven't been seen much since. They still guard the Throne Room however, and are the only ones who decide who gets to enter and who not. They also have a rotating seat on the Senatorum Imperialis, suggesting they may still be involved in Terran politics to some degree.

Yeah, they're desired as a amazing individual warriors/bodyguards, and a few of the HH shorts even show them operating tactically extremely well, but the consensus is that in army-scale soldiering, an Astartes force would win.

After the siege of terra, many were dead and they were said to have retreated into the Palace to confine their duties to protecting the Emperor and the Golden Throne. However....

I read somewhere that the Custodes guarding the golden throne are on leave from

There's no example of them leaving Terra after the HH.

The Custodes could only be deployed at the direct own of the Emperor. So after the internment of the Emperor to the Golden Throne, with nobody to order them, they've been sitting in the Imperial Palace doing squat. They've also painted their armor black due to their failure to protect the Emprah.

The Beast Arises book will probably feature them now at least, with Terra under threat anda ll.

If custodes/astartes are supposed to be immortal unless they die from violence then there should be custodes from the age of heresy still alive.

Why? It's not like there isn't violence inside the Palace.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
After the Emperor was interned on the Golden Throne, the Custodes abandoned their traditional gold and red armour in favour of black, and they have rarely left the Imperial Palace since then. The only instance I can recall is with that business with Goge Vandire, when it was the Custodes who convinced the leader of the Brides of the Emperor to come with them to see the Emperor Himself.
Normally, the Custodes, being the personal bodygyuard of the Emperor never leave His side, and seeing as that the Emperor hasn't moved since the Heresy, that justifies the fact that they haven't been seen much since. They still guard the Throne Room however, and are the only ones who decide who gets to enter and who not. They also have a rotating seat on the Senatorum Imperialis, suggesting they may still be involved in Terran politics to some degree.

Thanks for this @Iron-Captain. Some good info here. Plus the SPOILERS go a long way towards explaining why they might be a bit busy...