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So we have experienced about 100 year time jump forward between 7th and 8th edition.

The average Tau lifespan is about 40 years.

Farsight survives because of his soul stealing sword. But Longstrike? Shadowsun? Shouldn't they all be several generations dead by now?

I would reckon that the time distortion created by the Great Rift might have something to do with their prolonged existence. Either that or GW hasn't got round to ripping all the named characters out in favour of new ones for the next Codex. I would hinge on the former being the case though.

 Lance845 wrote:
So we have experienced about 100 year time jump forward between 7th and 8th edition.

The average Tau lifespan is about 40 years.

Farsight survives because of his soul stealing sword. But Longstrike? Shadowsun? Shouldn't they all be several generations dead by now?

Same as most Imperial Guard characters - Harker having rejuvenants isn't something I can really see happening for a mere gunnery sergeant.

We also know the T'au have a history of putting their heros into cryostasis until they are needed - this could explain some of them.
the space pope is now a hologram so i doubt he has much to stop him staying around for as long as they want

and besides "they're dead" has hardly stopped GW in the past. IIRC colour sergent Kell is in the new AM codex

Well I was thinking it's possible they improved the engram technology. People they deemed worth it would actually fully overwrite the personality of the person the engram is implanted into. So it's not Longstrike in body but Longstrike in mind as his engram is just used to completely overwrite some other poor schlup.

But that hasn't actually been stated yet.

But without some kind of mind overwrite, massive amounts of cryo usage, and/or warp shenanigans (which would be really weird if they ALL got some warp extended life) all these people should be dead. Or at least some of them.

 Lance845 wrote:
But without some kind of mind overwrite, massive amounts of cryo usage, and/or warp shenanigans (which would be really weird if they ALL got some warp extended life) all these people should be dead. Or at least some of them.

Quoted from Lexicanum - "Since the Great Rift's creation, some worlds have felt centuries go by in an instant, while others have been all but frozen in time and still others have suffered constant temporal shifts". To me that could suggest that entire Septs could have been exposed to the warp phenomenon, which would be the easiest answer to how they have all survived. I suppose it would be convenient if all the characters are on worlds affected by it, but then throwing away developed characters is never smart compared to fitting them into more forward lore against certain logic.

Time exaggeration/travel is part an parcel with any warp shenanigans. Glad to still have the other characters around.

BrianDavion wrote:
and besides "they're dead" has hardly stopped GW in the past. IIRC colour sergent Kell is in the new AM codex

Kell is in the AM book, and the fluff write-up for him explicitly calls out his death. All of the other AM characters are implied to be alive, however.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Same as most Imperial Guard characters - Harker having rejuvenants isn't something I can really see happening for a mere gunnery sergeant.

Harker at least has excuse of Warp travel - when you're on a ship, mere days or weeks pass for you, while decades might pass for these outside. Tau have no such thing, though.

 Irbis wrote:

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:
Same as most Imperial Guard characters - Harker having rejuvenants isn't something I can really see happening for a mere gunnery sergeant.

Harker at least has excuse of Warp travel - when you're on a ship, mere days or weeks pass for you, while decades might pass for these outside. Tau have no such thing, though.

Actually, you have the exact same thing if you travel in "normal space". The faster you go, the slower time passes.

But in any case, GW doesn't really care about any of that. The new Eisenhorn mini is proof enough. Rule of cool is the most important thing for minis.

They could be dead, and other Tau have taken on their mantles as the Ethereals mythologize the characters into ideals for the Tau Empire.

This is just the crunch/sculpts justifying the lore, I think. It's too expensive to develop new Tau characters, so the old ones stay on and perhaps we'll get some handwavey explanation for why they're still around in M42.

If you ask me, they should all be dead. The only good Tau is a dead Tau.

I was always ok with the "This dude is dead, here's what it would have looked like if he were in this particular battle" mindset.
It's all a simulation man, we're just pawns of uncomprehendable, elder gods!

Good thing we can absolutely rule out the technology- and research-driven T'au developing their own version of Rejuvenat treatments over more than a century, or this whole thread would seem a bit presumptuous.

Seriously, though, the Ethereals are already known to be exceptionally long-lived, and the Empire probably wants to be able to have its best commanders far into the future AND have them functional during the present - y'know, have its cake and eat it, too. I wouldn't be surprised if truly exceptional T'au were given lifetime-enhancing treatments for the Greater Good, including but not limited to Air Caste admirals, Fire Caste commanders, Earth Caste scientists/engineers, and Water Caste spies/diplomats.

I believe the Tau have some mindchips that can transfer memory and consciousness from one person to another. If that is the case, people like Shadowsun and Longstrike might have died and reborn into new bodies.

Another thing that could be happening is that the "current" Longstike, Shadowsun, etc are merely the descendants of the originals that have taken up the moniker.

At the very least Farsight is already edging on 300 years old. The giant massive sword of his is feeding his immortality. I assume he'll start growing horns and a taste for heavy metal soon.

The Tau do freeze and unfreeze their heroes as needed. Since the 4th never got past the initial wave, these heroes are probably still available for the fifth.

This isn't much different to WFB where you had the option to have Vlad Von Carstein in a battle with Karl Franz which (until the end times retcons) The two were alive in totally different centuries. Battles can take place anywhere from the current date back to the Heresy, depending on whatever narrative you want to forge.

 ChargerIIC wrote:
At the very least Farsight is already edging on 300 years old. The giant massive sword of his is feeding his immortality. I assume he'll start growing horns and a taste for heavy metal soon.

The Tau do freeze and unfreeze their heroes as needed. Since the 4th never got past the initial wave, these heroes are probably still available for the fifth.

Isn't the current theory that his blade is one of the Crone Blades? It was found on Arthas Moloch in an ancient temple. If I recall correctly, the planet sounded like there were shattered wraith constructs all over the place without actually naming them as such. The daemons invaded and he grabbed the blade from a statue. It wasn't actually a daemon blade or found on a daemon planet. It also sounds like it steals the souls of those around him at the time of their death and adds their power and longevity to his... which is basically how the Ynnead triumphirate's weapons (all Crone Blades) work.

If that's the case, the blade doesn't corrupt him. It just makes him long lived.

To stay on topic, Shadowsun would be alive as she's definitely placed in stasis in between battles. Aun'va is dead and has been secretly replaced with a hologram of himself. All of the other named heroes would likely be dead, but could be alive with a little "also placed in stasis handwavium". More likely, they're dead but still in the Codex. Lots of AM dudes are dead. Kell is dead. Creed is in one of Trazyn's Pokeballs, so isn't available to do anything in the current timeline. Tycho of the Blood Angels has been dead for awhile. Etc, etc. They're still in the codex and we still get to use them because they have models and this is a game. If you don't have a model and a new codex comes out, you lose your rules. Mordrak isn't in the GK codex anymore, is he? What about Vect? Etc, etc.

I think the real answer is that if you have an in production model, you're always going to be in the codex. If you don't have a model, you'll be removed.

Those are probably legacy titles, not the same people.

With the Codex out, we can confirm at least a few of the characters' fates.

Farsight is obviously still alive thanks to the Dawn Blade, but we already knew that one would be a thing.

Aun'Va is a hardlight hologram given his death during the Third Sphere of Expansion.

Shadowsun was placed back in stasis following the Third Sphere of Expansion and was revived to lead the Fifth Sphere of Expansion through the Startide Nexus. (Kais has a similar story, in case anyone was wondering).

Those are the ones we know for sure. As for the other three named characters in the book (Longstrike, Darkstrider, and Aun'Shi), things are a bit murkier. We don't know exactly what their fates are yet. It is possible the three of them were on the Fourth Sphere of Expansion and kept alive because of the Warp messing with time. It is possible the three of them were placed in stasis to preserve them for when they were most needed. Or it is possible they are dead and simply included in the codex because they all have official models and to allow for legacy battles to be played.

I will point out that Tau don't normally do legacy titles. Any title a Tau has is quite literally their name. Tau change their names as they live their life based on their deeds, thus when Shadowsun or Longstrike earned those names through their deeds, they quite literally changed their names to that. The Tau don't normally pass down names to the next generation, unless they too can earn the name. There are exceptions to the rule, (FSE has Brightsword which is noted as being a name passed down through I think 7 warrriors so far?) but they do seem to be the exception, not the norm.

In reality, we won't know for sure until GW gives us another campaign involving the Tau to confirm their fates, but most likely we can assume they were either on the Fourth Sphere of Expansion and kept alive because of Warp time, or were placed in stasis until the Fifth Sphere.