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So now with know no fear, we have a few tidbits of info.

* there are more than three perpetuals around.
* oll and possibly others hung out on the argo.
* john and oll, know what wicked weaves of fate there is.
* oll if defeated by horus, will possibly just be reincarnated, again.

to me this brings out further questions due to other retcons that have been introduced in the BL HH books.

What are the consequences brought forth by the concept of perpetuals?

* are they puppetmasters?
* are they still players in the world of 40k?
* what does this imply for 6th ed fluff?

What we don't know is WHY there are perpetuals.

We know that Oll is much, much older than John. We also know that, at some point, they both worked for the Cabal. But we don't know exactly how long the cabal has been around for. Which leads us to two likely scenarios.

- Perpetuals are created by the Cabal. The Cabal has been influencing things since the time of the argo. Even if you stop working for the Cabal, you don't stop being a perpetual.

- Oll is immortal for some reason we don't know and John is immortal because the Cabal keep bringing him back. 'Perpetual' is a term for anyone who is immortal, whatever the reason.

I'm also wondering what the AL scheming will result in with the cabal and their perpetuals.
its all so very interesting for the plot

I assume since this whole thread is spoilered, we can discuss freely, so here goes:

It doesn't sound like Oll reincarnates, rather that he's been the same age forever.

Also, in my opinion, it doesn't seem there's necessarily a "reason" for the Perpetuals to exist. They just do. The Emperor is one, most likely, but he was supposedly created through reincarnated shaman spirits. John seems to be a pet of the Cabal, and may or may not be immortal thanks to their resurrecting him. Oll was employed by them, but apparently is immortal without their intervention, possibly making him different from both John and the Emperor.

The only common thread is, they've all been around in one way or another for aeons, pretty much, and they all know each other. There are probably others too, but I don't think any have even been hinted at (correct me if I'm wrong).

My personal take is one I've seen other people mention: the Emperor was the original, the others are the new "Sensei", his offspring born throughout the ages and immortal thanks to their kick-ass sperm donator.

John and Oll certainly have a low opinion of the Emperor, which would make sense if he was their immortal estranged father who's been snubbing them for 30,000 years.