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But given what little we 'know' of Janus in the new Codex?
It seems less likely...
...sadly!
what hints have there been of that?
Honestly if I was inclined to bet I'd be betting on Janus being Garro.
now what stands out for me is Janus is a roman god noted for having two faces. he's the god of beginnings and endings, of transition. which is... potentially intreasting. was his name chosen to be the antithesis of Krios Fateweaver perhaps?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/08/28 22:06:26
Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two
Zael was never possessed. He was knocked out by Slyte's awakening because of his latent mirror-psi talent.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
He's over-powering Frauka's Untouchable nature while they're alone on the ship (a point is made in an earlier novel that nosebleeds are a common sign of active psychic effects), and is also, apart from the crew (who freak the feth out) the only other person aboard when Kys is sitting in the brig.
Zael had also been a flect addict, thus opening his mind to the Warp (as Thonius did, which is where Slyte got in).
Maybe not directly possessed, but definitely "reflecting" Slyte's growing presence. Also, iirc, speaks *of* Slyte to Frauka not long before Slyte's manifestation. Maybe he was simply "reflecting" Thonius, but this is still a really close association with a daemon.
... and all of this besides the fact that the Daniverse makes some pretty significant divergences from "Codex" 40k.
It is best to be a pessimist. You are usually right and, when you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
He's over-powering Frauka's Untouchable nature while they're alone on the ship (a point is made in an earlier novel that nosebleeds are a common sign of active psychic effects), and is also, apart from the crew (who freak the feth out) the only other person aboard when Kys is sitting in the brig.
Zael had also been a flect addict, thus opening his mind to the Warp (as Thonius did, which is where Slyte got in).
Maybe not directly possessed, but definitely "reflecting" Slyte's growing presence. Also, iirc, speaks *of* Slyte to Frauka not long before Slyte's manifestation. Maybe he was simply "reflecting" Thonius, but this is still a really close association with a daemon.
... and all of this besides the fact that the Daniverse makes some pretty significant divergences from "Codex" 40k.
[spoiler] he was a red herring, the deamonic posession was always Thonius. I imagine he was tested pretty heavily for any signs of taint. apparently the GKs didn't find any{/spoiler]
Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two
Well, it is official, the codex finally comes out and says that the Grey Knights are made with the Emperor's gene-seed. From the topic heading in the new 7th edition codex on page 7 entitled "In The Emperor's Image": "...a Grey Knight is the same as any other Space Marine - a potent solider of the Emperor's armies but nonetheless a mere shadow of his true potential. Few warriors since the Horus Heresy have matched the flawlessness of the Grey Knights, nor are any so closely linked to the Emperor. It is the unique quality that the Emperor possesses, the nature of his spirit that allows him to touch the warp, shape it to his will and yet remain beyond its madness, that he has gifted to the Grey Knights. Even the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes are too far removed from their creator to embody such purity; their genetic integrity faded by hundreds of generations and thousands of years, given varying degrees of imperfection. Not so the Grey Knights, whose unblemished line reaches back to their maker in an unbroken chain"
So there we have it, the codex finally coming out and saying what it has been hinting to for quite awhile, the Grey Knights are indeed of the Emperor's gene-seed. Also the Grey Knights just straight up banish the Bloodtide without any help of the SoB, which aren't mentioned at all in the new codex.
Janus' true identity is only known to be of the original 8 Knights Errant but in the audio drama Mortarion's Heart, Mortarion tells Draigo that he feels personally betrayed by Janus so there is that large hint.
"Even the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes are too far removed from their creator to embody such purity; their genetic integrity faded by hundreds of generations and thousands of years, given varying degrees of imperfection."
The Grey Knights geneseed is still 10k years old at this point too, and has just as many generations. That sentence doesn't make sense unless they have never harvested geneseed and are still somehow using the original unimplanted genseed from 10k years ago.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/08/29 03:54:42
ClockworkZion wrote:I have an issue with this sentence:
"Even the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes are too far removed from their creator to embody such purity; their genetic integrity faded by hundreds of generations and thousands of years, given varying degrees of imperfection."
The Grey Knights geneseed is still 10k years old at this point too, and has just as many generations. That sentence doesn't make sense unless they have never harvested geneseed and are still somehow using the original unimplanted genseed from 10k years ago.
To be fair, the Index Astartes article in WD #247 explained those imperfections to be the result of millennia of decline in technological know-how within a Chapter. Put loosely, those Tech-Priests and Apothecaries don't have as much of a clue about the stuff as the Emperor and his scientists used to have, and have introduced a ridiculous amount of ritualised nonsense into their Chapter-specific creation processes. Over time, this led to a degradation in quality, up to and including entire organs becoming inert.
Spoiler:
Although the Chapters are careful to select only the most suitable candidates, not all neophytes survive to become initiates. This is due in part to the degeneration of knowledge amongst the individual Chapters that makes screening procedures less effective than they once were. Nor are operational methods entirely satisfactory in some cases. In many Chapters implant surgery is heavily ritualised, and is often accompanied by scarring, incantation, periods of prayer, fasting and all sorts of mystical practices which compromise medical efficiency. For example, the Space Wolves' Phase 17 implant has slightly mutated so that Space Wolves' canine teeth continue to grow throughout their lives, turning them into vicious fangs over several centuries. The length of fangs is a source of Chapter it tradition, and is even part of their organisation, hence the veterans of their heavy weapons squads being known as Long Fangs.
Another Chapter about whom there is widespread rumour regarding their gene-seed are the Blood Angels. They often lapse into a battle-induced frenzy, known as the Black Rage, and can become berserk warriors who thirst for blood and raw flesh. The Blood Angels search eternally for a cure to the Curse of Sanguinius, but at the same time the Death Companies made up of such Marines are highly valuable shock troops, who are almost impervious to pain and rend apart their foes with their bare hands.
Another extreme example of gene-seed deterioration can be found in the Black Dragons Chapter, whose Ossmodula implant functions in an abnormal way. This leads to the growth of bony crests on the head, and blade-like protuberances from the forearm and elbow. Like the Death Company of the Blood Angels, warriors inflicted with such abnormal developments are formed into a separate fighting unit. Known as the Dragon Claws, they sharpen their additional protrusions and sheath them in adamantium to turn them into vicious close combat weapons.
If an implant fails to develop properly, it is likely that a Marine's metabolism will become badly out of synchronisation. He may fall into a catatonic state or suffer bouts of hyperactivity. In either event, he will probably die.
Those unfortunates that do not die almost invariably suffer mental damage, degenerating into homicidal maniacs or gibbering idiots. When a Chapter is at full strength these misfits may be put out of their misery. However, if the Chapter is short of Marines they are often allowed to live, and may be placed within their own special units. Those who display uncontrollably psychotic tendencies can be recruited into suicide assault squads.
Some Chapters deliberately foster such creatures, even going so far as to implant deformed zygotes into some initiates. This is very dangerous, and the practice is discouraged by Imperial edict. But old traditions die hard."
I know you dislike those older sources, but even if you regard them as optional it still poses one possible explanation for how that sentence you quoted might not be a contradiction: perhaps the Grey Knights, being under direct guidance of the Inquisition and close to Terra itself, just have better and more reliable tech that was not subjected to millennia of local customs and wacky trans-Mechanicus superstition.
ClockworkZion wrote:@Lynata: I was mostly just annoyed that the description of how Sisters are chosen isn't consistent from edition to edition in the codexes. I don't care that it was in a WD at one point, or that it's been brought back, it's just one of those things that I would like to see not change because it doesn't need to be. If anything I'd like it to be expanded on with more detail (like they did for Storm Troopers) but not changed to seem fundamentally different.
How was it changed to seem fundamentally different?
"they are raised from infancy in the Schola Progenium" is an expansion of "they are raised in the Schola Progenium". The expansion being the infancy-bit. Any expectations you may have developed about their recruitment age as a consequence of missing out on that 2E fluff are entirely a product of you filling in the blanks with your own ideas - only then does it qualify as a change, but not when looking solely at GW's material.
ClockworkZion wrote:@Lynata: I was mostly just annoyed that the description of how Sisters are chosen isn't consistent from edition to edition in the codexes. I don't care that it was in a WD at one point, or that it's been brought back, it's just one of those things that I would like to see not change because it doesn't need to be. If anything I'd like it to be expanded on with more detail (like they did for Storm Troopers) but not changed to seem fundamentally different.
How was it changed to seem fundamentally different?
"they are raised from infancy in the Schola Progenium" is an expansion of "they are raised in the Schola Progenium". The expansion being the infancy-bit. Any expectations you may have developed about their recruitment age as a consequence of missing out on that 2E fluff are entirely a product of you filling in the blanks with your own ideas - only then does it qualify as a change, but not when looking solely at GW's material.
It didn't really expand anything, it just took out the part about being orphans (which is a given in a Schola, but I can imagine some unwanted nobility being shoved off that way to make sure the child never takes power) and replaced it with "infancy" as their defining trait of choice. We're losing whole sections of old fluff in these codexes and it's pretty darn silly that it's happening.
Not to mention the descriptions of how they're chosen keep getting shorter. We're at what, a sentence, maybe two that defines the traits that are used now? I honestly would expect a page by now considering how in depth Space Marine chapter selections are described.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/29 05:00:09
ClockworkZion wrote:It didn't really expand anything, it just took out the part about being orphans [...] and replaced it with "infancy" as their defining trait of choice.
It didn't take out anything, the word "orphans" is mentioned in the very same sentence, merely also repeating some old fluff that just hasn't been published in every edition.
If you believe that the "from infancy" bit is their defining trait, I suppose you have a point, but just being orphans has never been it, because they share this "defining" trait with every single Administratum clerk, Arbites grunt, and Naval petty officer that graduates from the Schola.
ClockworkZion wrote:I honestly would expect a page by now considering how in depth Space Marine chapter selections are described.
If you'd collect all fluff written by GW on this topic thus far, similar to how it was done with the Space Marines, I believe you could easily get a page. See my research here.
But it won't get printed until we get a proper Codex. An actual, full codex, with the Sisters as the only army. Like that one book we had almost two decades ago.
Maybe some day White Dwarf will feature a Liber Sororitas again, who knows?
Until then, all I could suggest would be to read up on the old fluff ... or, well, learn to live with what little we have now. The choice of what material you include in your interpretation of the 41st millennium is entirely up to you.
But given what little we 'know' of Janus in the new Codex?
It seems less likely...
...sadly!
what hints have there been of that?
Honestly if I was inclined to bet I'd be betting on Janus being Garro.
now what stands out for me is Janus is a roman god noted for having two faces. he's the god of beginnings and endings, of transition. which is... potentially intreasting. was his name chosen to be the antithesis of Krios Fateweaver perhaps?
[/spoiler]
Yes, and Alpha and Omega are the beginning and end of the greek alphabet, looking two ways like only A and O can....
Except that when Malcy found the 8, he took them straight to the Emperor. Big E was able to recognise Primarchs from systems away just through word of mouth. He probably took a look inside their heads too. There is no way Alpharius could slip the Emperor's notice, nor could anyone infiltrate the 12 Malcador gathered, such was the level of scrutiny they were under during selection. Malcador personally hand picked each member. There's no way he could mostake Alphy for a normal Legionary even with all his subterfuge, because Malcador would know who's who.
Furthermore, its pretty hard to fake psychic powers. I know each Primarch had latent ones but only Magnus and Lorgar actually engaged them.
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"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
The GK have always, always, ALWAYS used the blackest of magics and the darkest of sorceries to do what they do and be what they are. These are not Boy Scouts in power armor. No, these are all, each and every one, potent psykers with mastery of the Immaterium, steeped in the ancient lores of the Daemon, in all its many guises, armed with the tools of sorcery, warfare, and faith, to combat the Darkness Conceptual.
They maintain purity through these actions. If you want to apply a bit of Christian mythology to it, it is the blood of the innocent that washes away sins.
Exactly. Biggest misconception about Grey Knight "purity" or "immunity" is that they have some sort of OmniPower(tm) which makes them immune to anything Chaos. If this was true, they would be immune to all Chaos psychic powers and abilities - which they clearly are not. Hence there is absolutely no basis to assume they would be automatically immune to something like Bloodtide.
Grey Knights remain "pure" and "uncorrupted" because they are willing to go to any length to protect themselves from Chaos, including use of Sorcery. Sometimes it may necessite killing innocents so their blood can be used for protective spells or amulets. Sisters of Battle being more 'pure' likely has nothing to do with it - they were simply only 'innocents' available as everyone else was dead or corrupted.
The GK have always, always, ALWAYS used the blackest of magics and the darkest of sorceries to do what they do and be what they are. These are not Boy Scouts in power armor. No, these are all, each and every one, potent psykers with mastery of the Immaterium, steeped in the ancient lores of the Daemon, in all its many guises, armed with the tools of sorcery, warfare, and faith, to combat the Darkness Conceptual.
They maintain purity through these actions. If you want to apply a bit of Christian mythology to it, it is the blood of the innocent that washes away sins.
Exactly. Biggest misconception about Grey Knight "purity" or "immunity" is that they have some sort of OmniPower(tm) which makes them immune to anything Chaos. If this was true, they would be immune to all Chaos psychic powers and abilities - which they clearly are not. Hence there is absolutely no basis to assume they would be automatically immune to something like Bloodtide.
Grey Knights remain "pure" and "uncorrupted" because they are willing to go to any length to protect themselves from Chaos, including use of Sorcery. Sometimes it may necessite killing innocents so their blood can be used for protective spells or amulets. Sisters of Battle being more 'pure' likely has nothing to do with it - they were simply only 'innocents' available as everyone else was dead or corrupted.
Well, this point is moot because in the new codex it talks about the Bloodtide and the SoB have nothing to do with it anymore. The Grey Knights go in now and just straight up banish the Bloodtide. The new codex also goes into detail about how the Emperor's gene-seed conveys the Grey Knights the ability to mold the warp to their will without much risk of corruption. This makes them all but immune to Chaos. This is why Tzeentch has been the only one to even come close to "corrupting" a Grey Knight and he didn't do it through traditional means but did it by reasoning with the Grey Knight to make him question everything.
On the topic of the gene-seed of the Grey Knights remaining pure, there is a reason why only Paladins can be apothecaries. Every other Space Marine Chapter let's anyone who shows the aptitude to be an Apothecary but only the elite, the best of the best and the purist of the pure (Seriously, have you read what it takes to be a Paladin?) can be an Apothecary which lends itself to asking why? Why do the Grey Knights put such a huge restriction on this? Well, the answer it seems is to utterly preserve the purity of the Grey Knights. I know people get tired of hearing about the purity of the Grey Knights but it is apart of the thing that makes them Grey Knights the Grey Knights. They obsess about purity to the point of being a character fault and I personally like that aspect of them. They have a group of warriors called the Purifiers for Emperor's sake so to go along with this, is it that hard to imagine that the Grey Knights would have in place ways to keep their gene-seed utterly pure? Unlike the other Chapters, their gene-seed and genetic stocks are maintained on Titan, not with the Tech-Priests of Mars so they can put in place the measures they need to keep their gene-seed pure and it talks of ways of producing more gene-seed without needing the progenoid so unlike the other Chapters, they probably destroy progenoids that have lost their function since they have more waiting on Titan.
Lynata wrote: If you'd collect all fluff written by GW on this topic thus far, similar to how it was done with the Space Marines, I believe you could easily get a page. See my research here.
But it won't get printed until we get a proper Codex. An actual, full codex, with the Sisters as the only army. Like that one book we had almost two decades ago.
Stormtroopers got more than a page and their book is largely digital only (save for the small print run it saw). It could have been done now.
Deadshot wrote: Except that when Malcy found the 8, he took them straight to the Emperor. Big E was able to recognise Primarchs from systems away just through word of mouth. He probably took a look inside their heads too. There is no way Alpharius could slip the Emperor's notice, nor could anyone infiltrate the 12 Malcador gathered, such was the level of scrutiny they were under during selection. Malcador personally hand picked each member. There's no way he could mostake Alphy for a normal Legionary even with all his subterfuge, because Malcador would know who's who.
Furthermore, its pretty hard to fake psychic powers. I know each Primarch had latent ones but only Magnus and Lorgar actually engaged them.
It is speculated that Garro is Janus. James Swallow, who writes everything that deals with Garro, has gone on record saying that Garro isn't Janus and that Garro doesn't even become a Grey Knight but then in Mortarion's Heart, Mortarion talks to Draigo and says that Janus was not who Draigo thinks he was which at first would make you think it could of been Alpharius but the dialogue continues where Mortarion goes on to say that Janus' loyalty was in question because he turned his back on his brothers and Mortarion basically says that he feels personally betrayed by Janus which would hint to it being Garro since Garro was a Death Guard and a son of Mortarion before betraying his Legion by staying loyal to the Imperium. This still could fit with Alpharius being Janus but I interpret it as Garro being Janus. The way the characterized this scene, Mortarion actually appears hurt by the betrayal which does a great deal for you to sympathize with the Daemon Prince Primarch. I really love that audio drama and it saves Draigo's character as well before this new codex came out to make all that crappiness that came with 5th.
Honestly, so far it seems like Garro is one of the original 8 but the series on him hasn't progressed to the point where the 8 have been gathered so there is a good chance that Garro lives the rest of his days as Malcador's Knight Errant while gathering 8 others to become the founding members of the Grey Knights. We do know these characters are part of those 8 though: Tylos Rubio, an Ultramarines Librarian; Macer Varren of the World Eaters; Garviel Loken of the Luna Wolves; Iactan Qruze also of the Luna Wolves; Severian another Luna Wolf (Starting to see a pattern here...); Ares Voitek of the Iron Hands; Bror Tyrfingr of the Space Wolves (Irony!) and then there is Nathaniel Garro. There were others but they were killed leaving these 8 still alive so these are the 8 as of right now that we know are the Knights-Errant which will become the Grey Knights. Whether Malcador recruits others in future installments of the Horus Heresy is unknown at this point.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/29 14:27:24
Envihon wrote:Well, this point is moot because in the new codex it talks about the Bloodtide and the SoB have nothing to do with it anymore. The Grey Knights go in now and just straight up banish the Bloodtide.
Omission does not always equal contradiction. Is anyone argueing there are no Whiteshields anymore because the current codex doesn't mention them? What about the Black Templars and the Vinculus Crusade?
ClockworkZion wrote:Stormtroopers got more than a page and their book is largely digital only (save for the small print run it saw). It could have been done now.
If the studio had any vested interest in this, yes. But arguably they don't.
The material is there, they just weren't willing to devote the resources. The ST 'dex is quite clearly of a much higher quality than the SoB one - in layout and content.
Deadshot wrote: Except that when Malcy found the 8, he took them straight to the Emperor. Big E was able to recognise Primarchs from systems away just through word of mouth. He probably took a look inside their heads too. There is no way Alpharius could slip the Emperor's notice, nor could anyone infiltrate the 12 Malcador gathered, such was the level of scrutiny they were under during selection. Malcador personally hand picked each member. There's no way he could mostake Alphy for a normal Legionary even with all his subterfuge, because Malcador would know who's who.
Furthermore, its pretty hard to fake psychic powers. I know each Primarch had latent ones but only Magnus and Lorgar actually engaged them.
It is speculated that Garro is Janus. James Swallow, who writes everything that deals with Garro, has gone on record saying that Garro isn't Janus and that Garro doesn't even become a Grey Knight but then in Mortarion's Heart, Mortarion talks to Draigo and says that Janus was not who Draigo thinks he was which at first would make you think it could of been Alpharius but the dialogue continues where Mortarion goes on to say that Janus' loyalty was in question because he turned his back on his brothers and Mortarion basically says that he feels personally betrayed by Janus which would hint to it being Garro since Garro was a Death Guard and a son of Mortarion before betraying his Legion by staying loyal to the Imperium. This still could fit with Alpharius being Janus but I interpret it as Garro being Janus. The way the characterized this scene, Mortarion actually appears hurt by the betrayal which does a great deal for you to sympathize with the Daemon Prince Primarch. I really love that audio drama and it saves Draigo's character as well before this new codex came out to make all that crappiness that came with 5th.
Honestly, so far it seems like Garro is one of the original 8 but the series on him hasn't progressed to the point where the 8 have been gathered so there is a good chance that Garro lives the rest of his days as Malcador's Knight Errant while gathering 8 others to become the founding members of the Grey Knights. We do know these characters are part of those 8 though: Tylos Rubio, an Ultramarines Librarian; Macer Varren of the World Eaters; Garviel Loken of the Luna Wolves; Iactan Qruze also of the Luna Wolves; Severian another Luna Wolf (Starting to see a pattern here...); Ares Voitek of the Iron Hands; Bror Tyrfingr of the Space Wolves (Irony!) and then there is Nathaniel Garro. There were others but they were killed leaving these 8 still alive so these are the 8 as of right now that we know are the Knights-Errant which will become the Grey Knights. Whether Malcador recruits others in future installments of the Horus Heresy is unknown at this point.
As you say, the series hasn't reached that point yet. And seeing as how neither Loken nor Qruze and to my knowledge Garro, are psykers, they can't be GK.
It is possible Mortarion was referring to another Daeth Guard member who was a Psyker.
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Lynata wrote: Omission does not always equal contradiction.
Nor does it always mean it's still valid either. And to new players the things you were talking about mean nothing if they don't spend time learning about stuff that the codexes doesn't even list which makes it all a lot more convoluted to keep on top of than it should be.
ClockworkZion wrote:Stormtroopers got more than a page and their book is largely digital only (save for the small print run it saw). It could have been done now.
If the studio had any vested interest in this, yes. But arguably they don't.
The material is there, they just weren't willing to devote the resources. The ST 'dex is quite clearly of a much higher quality than the SoB one - in layout and content.
I believe there are people in the studio who do care, but the codex we got was an obvious rush job to placate us over the lack of an available codex for so long. It wasn't made with even half the care that it should ahve been and it shows.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/29 17:07:10
I think that another major problem with the Bloodtide is how it completely doesn't fit. Blood being a shield against Chaos is not a thing. Furthermore, it was the Sisters' faith and purity that protected them - their blood is blood, and cannot have faith in anything. Chaos is made from thought, and so thoughts and emotions (such as devotion to The Emperor) can influence it. If anything, coating themselves in blood should have weakened them to the Bloodtide because it is heavily symbolic of Khorne.
Also, I find it seriously hard to believe that the blood of the faithful is a stronger shield than the Grey Knights' own faith (backed up by their well-known anti-daemon psychic powers) combined with the formidable magical protection afforded by their Aegis armour. It might be considered an impressive feat, but Castellan Crowe has wielded an extremely powerful daemon weapon for over a thousand years and has not succumbed to it, not even through corruption. I find it extremely hard to believe that the Grey Knights were incapable of resisting the Bloodtide.
As it was, the story came off as a dumb excuse to murder some Sisters, even when there were much better ways that same thing could be done. I am quite pleased that it is gone.
Regarding GW's treatment of the Sisters in terms of rulebooks, obscure portions of single Chapters of Space Marines (Clan Raukaan and Sentinels of Terra), along with single units from the Imperial Guard (Stormtroopers), get far more attention in both models and books. All because of "something something plastic sleeves"? I seriously doubt it.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/29 18:35:10
I think that another major problem with the Bloodtide is how it completely doesn't fit. Blood being a shield against Chaos is not a thing. Furthermore, it was the Sisters' faith and purity that protected them - their blood is blood, and cannot have faith in anything. Chaos is made from thought, and so thoughts and emotions (such as devotion to The Emperor) can influence it. If anything, coating themselves in blood should have weakened them to the Bloodtide because it is heavily symbolic of Khorne.
You're taking it too literally, and are talking around it by your own points.
Yes, Chaos is very "conceptual" in its applications and practice. Faith/Belief is also very "conceptual" ("Proof denies faith."). It is not the literal fact of the blood that provides the shield, but the sympathetic aura of a group of extremely faithful innocents being martyred in this cause. Through their sacrifice, the sympathetic energies of their faith, combined with the sympathetic energies (all of these "energies" being actual manifestations within the Warp, in a sense) of the shedding of innocent blood, and being martyred in the cause of purity, is what creates that mystical shield.
Chaos is very much tied up into the ways and "rules" of magic, as shifting and mutable as they may be. This scenario is really no different.
It is best to be a pessimist. You are usually right and, when you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised.
There is no rest of that line. That's kind of why Khorne is usually the most powerful of the Gods. That's not the point, though.
The Grey Knights are meant to kill daemons and resist Chaos. It's their niche thing that they do better than anyone else (except, arguably, Harlequins/Solitaires). All of their feats against Chaos are rather unimpressive if something such as "the sympathetic aura of a group of extremely faithful innocents being martyred" is more powerful than they are, not to mention what this means for the power of the Bloodtide.
If the Bloodtide was this bad, why did they know that the blood would protect them? Or better yet, why didn't they just, you know, not walk in it? They could have just crashed a Storm Raven through the basilica and multi-melta'd Ka'jagga'nath to death. They could have done some protective ritual, uniting each Grey Knight's psychic strength into a single shield of purity. They could have brought Purifiers in, because this sort of thing is exactly their job. They could have done a lot of other things rather than somehow know that anointing themselves in blood would be a good idea and not just count as sacrifices to Khorne (the whole "betrayal" aspect of the slaughter makes it sound even more Khorne-esque).
If the writers ever wanted to give Sisters any credit, maybe they could have brought the Sisters in with them, using their immunity to the Bloodtide to clear a path. Shocking, I know, actually giving the Sisters any kind of active role. Even if the Knights had killed them all afterwards, it would have been a much better story.
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