They are one of the fundamental secrets of the Warhammer 40.000 Universe. The two lost Space Marines Legions: Legion II and Legion XI. Omitted originally to give players the freedom to invent their own, they quickly became the ultimate no-go tease of Warhammer 40K lore. Or have they? Black Library may just be getting ready to spoil the mystery starting next spring.
Warhammer 40K and the Lost Legions II and XI
The bedrock of the Warhammer 40K setting, at least for the Imperium, is clearly the creation of and later schism among the Space Marine Legions. The Emperor created twenty Space Marines Legions to aid him in his conquest of the Galaxy. Later, when the story turns to the infamous Horus Heresy, nine Space Marines led by Horus rebel against the Imperium and nine Space Marine legions remained loyal to the Emperor.
Two Legions remained unexplained, unmentioned even. Legion II and Legion XI received no name (as in Legion XIII, which are the Ultramarines, or Legion VIII, which are the Night Lords). The initial idea back in the 1980s allegedly was to leave them “blank” so players could make up their own Legions and thus slot their personal Space Marine army neatly into the broader context of the Warhammer 40K universe.
Yet few people these days seem to go down this route. The far more popular choice for DIY (Chaos) Space Marine armies appears to be loyalist successor chapter or chaos warbands that split from the founding legions at a later point.
The “historic” background of the Warhammer 40.000 universe was originally just that. A few lines of background giving a brief rationale for the eternal war between loyal and traitorous Space Marines. Eventually, Black Library started their Horus Heresy Novel Series, which proved to be incredibly popular. With every new book, the Heresy became more detailed, more fleshed out. GW’s Forge World subsidiary recently launched a Horus Heresy series, that allow fans to play Warhammer 40K in this great conflict.
Rules for the Heresy
The two lost legions remained no-go for Black Library authors. Or almost no-go.
Black Library’s Lost Legion Teasers
As the Horus Heresy Novel went along, it become something of a Black Library sport to write in small teasers about the two lost legions.
The First Heretic, for example, “named” the lost legions ”the forgotten” and the other “the purged” and implies that the “purging” of the XI Legion coincides with the Ultramarines legion eclipsing the other Space Marine Legions in number.
A Thousand Sons also teases the reader in a conversation between two Primarchs.
”Brother,” said Magnus,ignoring Mortarion’s words. “A great day is it not? Nine sons of the Emperor gathered together on one world, such a thing has not happened since…” Mortarion ”I know well when it was,Magnus,” said Mortarion, his voice robust and resolute in contrast to his pallid features. “And the Emperor forbade us to speak of it again. Do you disobey that command?”
Plenty of other examples exist. But with the announcement of the Audiobook “The Sigillite“, Black Library seem to be moving forward on this mystery quite aggressively.
For one, take a look at the cover-art.
Skulls; left and right
And going by this Black Library blog post, they are quite deliberate at chipping away at the lost legion mystery.
This stunning piece of art will be the cover for a new Horus Heresy audio drama by Chris Wraight called The Sigillite, set for release next year. On the cover we see Malcador himself, with his two-headed aquila staff of office. [...] If you look closely, you can see that the skulls adorning his throne have roman numerals on them. What could the numbers II and XI possibly mean…?
Seems to me like the lost legions are no longer a no-go zone for Black Library. Now, I doubt they will spill all the beans in this audio-drama. It is too obscure for that. And even if it wouldn’t be, I am sure the editors of the line would want to string the mystery along as long as they possibly can (just take a look at the bloating Horus Heresy line).
That said, it would make sense for them to test new waters. No matter how thin they spread themselves with the Horus Heresy, including a re-run as graphic novels, the material will stop laying golden eggs at some point.
So will the lost legions follow after that?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on that. Leave a comment!
Z.
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