The Riddle of the Fallen

It's weird that no one seems to be discussing the significance of the Fallen being present in all the Rise of the Primarch (RotP) pictures and videos. A lot of the focus seems to be on Cypher himself, and whilst that's significant, it's really interesting to see black armoured Dark Angels running around.
Although the image for RotP shows a Dark Angel helmet (forever to be referred to as Dangles from here on out), the models we're shown are not the Green Wing Dangles we have in modern 40K.

And in the video above, those are certainly not loyalist Marines hovering in the shadows behind Cypher.
So... what's going on?
Honestly I couldn't tell you. Green Dangle armour is actually the colour of Caliban, the former home of the Dangles before the fall. Black was the colour of the original 1st Legion, which is why we can identify the models in the picture as The Fallen.
In case you weren't aware, the Fallen were Dangles that fell to Chaos, lured to Chaos by jealousy they shared with Lion El'Jonson's second-in-command Luther. They had been left on Caliban to guard the planet, and were upset about not getting to go off world and join the Great Crusade.
The thing is that Dangle history is a tangled mess. Some sources claim that loyalist Dangles wore the green armour, but some claim green was worn by the traitors. This leads people to make the claim that modern Dangles are traitors in the midst of the Imperium, and that The Lion himself was a traitor Primarch.
There's even some time warp jumbling up of the time line leading up to the destruction of Caliban, leaving behind just the void shielded fortress monastery which became the Dangle mobile space station, otherwise known as The Rock.
Adding Cypher into the mix, he appears to bounce around the Imperium doing his best impression of the Alpha Legion, neither being on one side or the other, and giving the Dangles an absolute merry chase around the galaxy. Some say he's on a quest to save the Imperium. Some say he's working for Chaos. Basically, no one has any idea what he's doing, or why he has a big sword strapped to his back he never uses.
And now, he's turned up, with his Chaos infused buddies, and appears to be fighting alongside Guilliman. If you zoom in on the Fallen in the above picture, you can see they definitely not Codex Space Marines:
Two plasma guns (because Dangles like to live dangerously) and I can make out at least three power fists in that unit, and at least one power maul. These guys are more in line with Chaos Chosen than their loyalist counterparts.
We can't say any more than this with confidence. The implications are staggering though. Whilst Cypher is known for doing random things to annoy/guide the Dangles, this is quite a big step in making the Fallen public knowledge.


If these are loyalist Dangles painting their armour black, does that mean the Unforgiven are now Forgiven?


If these are Fallen working alongside Guilliman, does that mean the rumours of the modern Dangles being secret traitors is true?


Does this mean that Guilliman himself is corrupt? Does it just mean he's anti-Imperial? He appears to be working alongside people against the Imperium.


What are the Dangles going to do? Their secret will be out in a big way if Cypher is allowed to march alongside Guilliman. Will they admit what happened and join the Primarch? Will they fight against Guilliman?


What will happen if Lion El'Jonson wakes up?


This is a great deal to process, and I'm not all that convinced it has been thought through. Clearly Games Workshop has decided to rocket the story along, most likely to capitalize on the popularity of the Forge World Horus Heresy models. Getting more of these crowd pleasing Primarchs, demons and giant robots means more sales, and easier marketing.


But I can't help but feel it's getting pushed too fast, with all the logical results being put to one side whilst the main narrative drives forward.


We'll see. 40K lore has ever been flexible. When your main villain for the setting is the embodiment of randomness in the universe, you have to just ride the wave of plot, and then make sense of the debris behind you. This is part of the fun of 40K, giving you creative space to put in Your Dudes.


Until next time!





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