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So, the next primarch coming is anyone's guess. We all know it's going to likely be a loyalist primarch, and odds are good it'll be either Leman Russ, bundled in with the Space Wolf codex whenever it releases later this year (I suspect spring to summer, but we'll see). Of course, a case can be made for Lion El'Johnson as well.

My theory is as follows.

All of the 'big four' chapters from both the Chaos and Imperial side, meaning those with model ranges, will likely be the ones to get the Primarchs return first. For chaos, you've got Thousand Son's (Magnus the Red), Death Guard (Mortarion), Emperor's Children (Fulgrim), and World Eaters (Angron). We already have two of these primarchs, and Fulgrim was specifically teased in Gathering Storm 3 before 8th edition was released. Which of these two remaining primarchs, be it Fulgrim or Angron, is coming next, is anyone's guess. I personally feel like Fulgrim will be the next to return and receive a model, but obviously that's just my own speculation.

As far as the Imperial side is concerned, we have Ultramarines (Guilliman), Dark Angels, (Lion El'Johnson), Space Wolves (Leman Russ), and Blood Angels (Sanguinus). Yes, yes, Sanguinius is dead, everyone knows this. More on speculation later.
Obviously, we have Guilliman out. The obvious next options are Russ or the Lion, either-or. I'm expecting to see Russ return to his chapter in the wake of the Space Wolf's homeworld being decimated by Magnus and the fallout from the fall of Cadia having far-reaching effects on the galaxy as a whole. Plus releasing Russ's rules contained in the codex alongside his chapter, as noted above.

Each primarch ties in nicely with an existing line of models. Many of which are getting some awesome new models alongside their chapter/legion primarch. Thousand Sons got some cool new stuff along side Magnus. The Death Guard got some awesome resculpts along side Motarion. I suspect we'll see the same treatment with World Eaters once Angron arrives in plastic, and the same for Emperor's Children with the arrival of a Fulgrim model as well. Emperor's Children, especially, need a re-branding of sorts. GW seems to be moving away from the sex/drugs element of Slannesh, and is instead working on the excess/noise/speed side instead. World Eaters suffer from old models, and I suspect their line of models will be drastically overhauled along with Emperor's children once they get to their release point for both armies. I do look forward to seeing what they come up with, especially looking at the quality of the Death Guard and Thousand Sons new model kits.

The Dark Angels, and Space Wolves both have very complete model lines, unlike the Emperor's Children, and World Eaters above. Very little would need to be updated or changed to accompany the primarch releases for either army, save a named special character or two perhaps (Azrael, and Ragnar Blackmane come to mind). Of course, expanded and re-mastered kits would be welcome for Dark Angels (a-la the Blood Angels tactical squad box, but for Dark Angels) but the recently released chapter upgrade sprue does help off-set that, both for standard power armor, and the new primaris marines. GW is in the business of making money, so releasing primarchs for their eight major model lines (4 chaos legions and 4 major loyalist chapters) makes extremely good business sense. The people who collect these armies will want their corresponding primarch for sure.

Other primarchs would of course be released eventually, if available and able to be brought back using whatever plot devices/hand-wave-ium that GW would wish to employ, after the initial 8 are released. Vulkan, Rogal Dorn, Lorgar, Perturabo, etc.

Now, the last bit of personal speculation. I draw this from the recent Devastation of Baal novel, so I'm going to spoiler it for anyone who might be wanting to read it and doesn't want to spoil the story.



Now, having read this, and knowing that Blood Angels have a full model line (one of the most expansive, truth be told.) with very few models still needing to be updated/replaced outside of a few special characters (Dante, Mephiston, Tycho, and Corbulo), I have hit upon a theory for how Sanguinius might be revived with minimal hand-wave-ium on GW's part. Sanguinius's soul may still be preserved in one of the most obvious of places: the very blood of his chapter.
That may be the source of the flaw, the Black Rage. That rage is the manifestation of the soul of the Blood Angels primarch himself showing through them. This is made especially clear in the vision that Dante saw, where he spoke with Sanguinius in his near-death state. He was able to actually commune with Sanguinius and speak to him briefly because of that, tapping into the soul of his gene-father he holds within himself. Sanguinus's body is still preserved on Baal, deep beneath the fortress monastery of the chapter, held in a stasis field sarcophagus and untouched since his death and removal of his blood to re-build his legion immediately after the siege of terra was ended. Perhaps that blood, and the Black Rage it carries, is the baser elements of Sanguinius's soul manifesting.
If enough of the blood was perhaps returned to the body of the primarch, he might return/resurrect. Though, not the same as he was before Horus killed him. Perhaps darker, or broken/scarred mentally. An angry, brooding, or more macabre version of the great angel. One more suited to the grim darkness of the 41st millenium, especially compared to who he was before, and during the heresy. A Sanguinius not clad in crimson, or gold, but wearing black armor in mourning; mourning what has been lost, how many of his sons died because of him & the Black Rage he caused in them over the millenia, and of course the loss of his lost brother and former friend Horus to the machinations of chaos.
The vampiric elements of the Blood Angels lead to this conclusion as well. The returning from death, reviving, resurrecting, etc.

I think we'll see Sanguinius return, and it won't be done stupidly or in a way that will make people angry. Lots of folks say "I'll quit this hobby if they bring Sanguinius back!". To those people I say: No, you won't. You'll gripe and and moan, but if it's done well, and makes sense, then you'll keep right on going like the rest of us.

So that's my theory. We'll see what happens, and if they bring Sanguinius back. I could of course be completely off-base, but I know GW wants to make money, and I also know if they release a Lion El'Johnson model, a Leman Russ model, and a Sanguinus model, all three of them will sell like crazy.

Thanks for reading, and take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

TL;DR: Sanguinius could return and it make sense, GW wants to make money and primarch models sell REALLY well.

Sanguinius will return as a venerable furioso dread with wings

I'll quit this hobby if Sanguinius comes back!

No I won't. I'll rejoice and go buy him

 Yarium wrote:

I'll rejoice and go buy him

You're damn right you will. I'll be at the front of the line waiting to buy him right along side you, also.

If and when they do bring him back & make a model for him, I may paint mine up as a 'mourning' Sanguinius. Black armor with red and gold accents. Not that he's fallen to the rage, but that he's seeking penitence for his failure to either kill (or save) Horus, the injury and subsequent near-death state of his father on the golden throne because he couldn't stop Horus, and the millenia of his sons dying to the black rage because of his failure.

Just thinking out loud so to speak. Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

Some cool ideas about the Blood Angels but you're off the mark with a few of the others.

Fulgrim won't get a release. Slannesh has been squatted for a while now.

Ah that's why slaanesh is getting released in aos. Because they are squatted. Makes sese. Squatted so gets released.

Or you seriously think they release slaanesh stuff in aos and squat in 40k? As if

I don't see Sanguinious coming back. His death is too integral to the story of the Horus Heresy and it would cheapen the whole final act to just hand wave him back to life.

OP, a logical and relatively believable posit. Better than the usual dakka garbage.

I fall into the sacrifice of Sanguinius camp however. He foresaw his death if he faced Horus on the Vengeful Spirit yet took that course of action in any event. I think his martyrdom is what makes the very essence of the chapter itself.

Not saying they wouldn't release Sangy but that would be one great bastardisation of established fluff.

Also, why does nobody consider Corax or Khan for the next primarch?

I'd love it if Corax were the next primarch, but GW doesn't seem to give RG a lot of love. Their rules are great of course, but in terms of model releases it's pretty lackluster. We don't even get transfers for our symbol.

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
OP, a logical and relatively believable posit. Better than the usual dakka garbage.

I fall into the sacrifice of Sanguinius camp however. He foresaw his death if he faced Horus on the Vengeful Spirit yet took that course of action in any event. I think his martyrdom is what makes the very essence of the chapter itself.

Not saying they wouldn't release Sangy but that would be one great bastardisation of established fluff.

Also, why does nobody consider Corax or Khan for the next primarch?

Well for one Hasting naming Russ as one of 5 primarch he named as coming is good reason

As for Sanquinus coming...Well logically he shouldn't but GW isn't against screwing with fluff. I'm 99% convinced even Horus will come back sooner or later with the way GW writes stuff these days.

Sangunius returning?

I too like death to have no meaning in my fiction.

 Sim-Life wrote:
I don't see Sanguinious coming back. His death is too integral to the story of the Horus Heresy and it would cheapen the whole final act to just hand wave him back to life.

Honestly, Sanguinius and his sacrifice has always been a Jesus allegory. It only makes sense that he would come back as some sort of redemption just like Jesus. I don't think it would cheapen the sacrifice in Horus Heresy.

I really doubt Slaanesh will be squatted. They had every chance in the world to completely stop the line when AoS and/or 8th edition was released and in 2017 they released Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix novel showing that The Emperor's Children and Slaanesh are still alive and well.

Now, they might tone down the sex and drugs, but instead might make it more about seduction, grace, and whatnot. Slaanesh might change compared to the Slaanesh of old, but they are not gone.

glados wrote:Some cool ideas about the Blood Angels but you're off the mark with a few of the others.

Fulgrim won't get a release. Slannesh has been squatted for a while now.

No, it hasn't. Slannesh is getting re-branded to be more kid friendly. This has been needed from the start. I've literally seen land raiders with a giant sculpted penis along the top. I wouldn't want a mother to walk into the game shop with her kid(s) and see that thing bombing around the table. Talk about making sure she NEVER lets her kid or kids set foot in the store ever again.

Sim-Life wrote:I don't see Sanguinious coming back. His death is too integral to the story of the Horus Heresy and it would cheapen the whole final act to just hand wave him back to life.

You said it yourself, the story of the horus heresy. We're in the 41st millenium now. It doesn't cheapen the final act if he resurrects now, when the galaxy again teeters on the brink of utter destruction.

Grimtuff wrote:Sangunius returning?

I too like death to have no meaning in my fiction.

It does have meaning, him returning doesn't lessen the nobility of his sacrifice, especially with Sanguinius knowing he was likely to die. The literal allegory is Christ and Christianity here.

Emissary wrote:

 Sim-Life wrote:
I don't see Sanguinious coming back. His death is too integral to the story of the Horus Heresy and it would cheapen the whole final act to just hand wave him back to life.

Again, integral to the horus heresy. This is the 41st millennium we're talking about now. The times, they are a-changin'.

Honestly, Sanguinius and his sacrifice has always been a Jesus allegory. It only makes sense that he would come back as some sort of redemption just like Jesus. I don't think it would cheapen the sacrifice in Horus Heresy.

Exactly. Not only the angelic influence and Christ allegory, but the vampire elements of the Blood Angels as well heavily infer this also. It seems obvious to me, anyway.

Eldarsif wrote:I really doubt Slaanesh will be squatted. They had every chance in the world to completely stop the line when AoS and/or 8th edition was released and in 2017 they released Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix novel showing that The Emperor's Children and Slaanesh are still alive and well.

Now, they might tone down the sex and drugs, but instead might make it more about seduction, grace, and whatnot. Slaanesh might change compared to the Slaanesh of old, but they are not gone.

They also mention (not by name, but the description is obvious enough) Fulgrim in the Gathering Storm 3. I'll have to try and find the entry later once I can dig the book out. I think the new re-brand of slannesh is going to be all about excess, with emphasis on noise, and speed, not sex.

Just my opinions on that. Take it easy folks.

-Red__Thirst-

 Red__Thirst wrote:

Grimtuff wrote:Sangunius returning?

I too like death to have no meaning in my fiction.

It does have meaning, him returning doesn't lessen the nobility of his sacrifice, especially with Sanguinius knowing he was likely to die. The literal allegory is Christ and Christianity here.

No, his death in the HH would be rendered meaningless. The entire genesis of present 40k universe rests on Sanguinius' sacrifice. Without his death the entire Imperium as we know it would not exist. It is one of the most crucial points of 40k history and should not be tainted by bringing him back from the dead.

How would you feel if Uncle Ben or Thomas and Martha Wayne came back from the dead? All of these play a massive role in their respective character's developments and bringing them back would just cheapen everything. Same goes for Sanguinius. I cannot stress how much of a crucial tipping point in the narrative his death is. Bringing him back would be pure stupidity.


But all bets are off anyway. They brought back Mortarion, a character who was well established to have never left the Plague Planet, yet here he is- cheapening Typhus' entire raison d'etre.

I feel like once the train in loyalist primarchs has been rolling for a while that Valdor is likely to return.

Which would easily be the most intetesting Imperial character to come back, sinxe we don't know why or how he left Terra, or what conditions he would return under.

But two things are clear: His return would probably have direct consequences for the Emperor himself, and no one (whoncan come back) has a better understanding of what the Emperors true end goal was than him.

As a BA player and lore fan, part of me would love for Sanguinus to return. However, I feel it would cheapen a lot of the existing BA lore for him to just show back up, so I'd prefer if he didn't.

To complete the Jesus circle, I can see him resurrecting as a heavy warp fueled incarnation for one pivotal campaign battle or something. He returns to kill some other primarch (angron would work) sticks around briefly after to provide moral support, and then fully ascends to the warp to be with 'his father.'

GW gets thier model for sales, but there is no lasting presence of the character.

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
OP, a logical and relatively believable posit. Better than the usual dakka garbage.

I fall into the sacrifice of Sanguinius camp however. He foresaw his death if he faced Horus on the Vengeful Spirit yet took that course of action in any event. I think his martyrdom is what makes the very essence of the chapter itself.

Not saying they wouldn't release Sangy but that would be one great bastardisation of established fluff.

Also, why does nobody consider Corax or Khan for the next primarch?

because the raven guard and white scars are not part of the "big four" most people are assuming that the primarchs that return will be the "big four" at least to start.

 Porphyrius wrote:
I'd love it if Corax were the next primarch, but GW doesn't seem to give RG a lot of love. Their rules are great of course, but in terms of model releases it's pretty lackluster. We don't even get transfers for our symbol.

At least you are not iron hands.

 Valentine009 wrote:
To complete the Jesus circle, I can see him resurrecting as a heavy warp fueled incarnation for one pivotal campaign battle or something. He returns to kill some other primarch (angron would work) sticks around briefly after to provide moral support, and then fully ascends to the warp to be with 'his father.'

GW gets thier model for sales, but there is no lasting presence of the character.

I'd be OK with this.

 Desubot wrote:

 Porphyrius wrote:
I'd love it if Corax were the next primarch, but GW doesn't seem to give RG a lot of love. Their rules are great of course, but in terms of model releases it's pretty lackluster. We don't even get transfers for our symbol.

At least you are not iron hands.

Ain't that the truth

As someone not religious I could care less if bringing back my favorite Primarch would "render his death meaningless"... so over stated and so trite.

I'd rather they go with Leman Russ. Of all the primarchs he seems like someone I could have a beer with .

As a Space Wolves player, I'd like Leman Russ.


I will also be disappointed if the return of Lionel Johnson does not involve his handsome prince finding him in the basement of the rock guarded by 7 watchers.

I do really expect Lion El'Johnson to be released from his sleeping beauty state in one or two years.

Nice take on Sanguinius. That doesn't seem too out of the loop and makes a bit of sense. But them you're trying to make him more edgy than Corax, and we all know that's not possible!

If Sanguinis does return I'd rather not see him be reduced to "uber edgy" I'd rather see they continue with him as normal for him and his children, the noblist exterior, wrapped over a grim and dark weakness/secret.

Who is the second most boring Loyalist Primarch? That is who will be next. I swear Bobby G would be the last Primarch I would pick to come back. Chaos got Morty and Mags. Those are Primarchs. They really need to give the next Loyalist Primarch some Zazz. And no, I am nots going to stop saying Zazz.

I hope the dead primarchs are kept dead, and GW even kill off one of two other primarchs. I support the return of some primarchs but it's a bit boring if they're all brought back one by one at the same point in time

It does have meaning, him returning doesn't lessen the nobility of his sacrifice, especially with Sanguinius knowing he was likely to die. The literal allegory is Christ and Christianity here.

Literally the opposite. Christ knew he was going to resurrect. Sanguinius knew he was going to die. Bringing him back would be the ultimate in 'our fluff its utterly stupid' from GW. If we are going to do the story doesn't matter at all Primarchs, I'd rather see Ferrus Manus.

Who is the second most boring Loyalist Primarch?

Probably Dorn. Who I would not mind seeing. But he would be approximately the same as RG with a defensive slant. Russ and Khan would be good to see also, especially if Khan has a giant Primarch sized bike.

I support the return of some primarchs but it's a bit boring if they're all brought back one by one at the same point in time

Well its been a couple hundred years already since Gulliman returned. At that rate it would take a couple millennia to get them all back.