The Destroyer of the Age of the Heresy Site of the New Horus has gained 40,000 legendary fans of Warhammer, temptingly insight into the real nature of the carrion emperor and the throne of the Golden Throne
Blog Andrew Joseph 02 Jul , 2025 0

A new Horus heresy book makes Warhammer 40,000 legendary fans debate the true nature of the Emperor of Carrion and the Throne of Golden, and two classic early works of art may provide the environment with the possibility of canon.
The era of ruins (When booking online, the special edition forces warhammer.com to offline) is an anthology of short stories designed to book the Horus Heresy, a spanning galaxy civil war between the loyalist and the traitor Space Marines, 10,000 years before the current Warhammer 40,000 setting. Horus heresy sees the emperor finally defeating his chaotic primitive son, Horus Lupercal, and saves the human empire from destruction, but at a terrible price: the near-death master of humanity is kidnapped on the golden throne because thousands of psykers sacrificed every day.
The following John Blanche's God-emperor was burned down by John Blanche's idea of 40,000 legendary fans per Warhammer. This is how the Emperor looked in the 41st Millennium: grim, dark, and almost nothing.
But is this actually what the emperor looks like in the environment? Ruin's last era of short stories, Aaron Dembski-Bowden's “The King of the Carrion of the Empire” is also the most interesting. It suggests that the image of the God Empire we see in John Blanche’s art is in the environment: the image.

At the end of the Imperial King of Carrion, Legio Custodesan's county magistrate (the emperor's super powerful and super loyal bodyguard) had visited the emperor for centuries at a non-specific time, and it seemed to be the end of Hol Heresy. This is a spicy thing:
The article reads: “Through the doors, the secret doors, the doors behind those famous portals decorated with the trap of glory.” “Beyond the image of the grave of the immortal emperor: a warlock played by a skull on a powerful throne, living forever on the brink of death, under je.
“Through the last door, this can only begin, with blood on a forum, its indestructible lock takes an hour to open.”
Let's stop there for a second. Here, the Imperial Carrion Lord shows that the image of fans on the Golden Throne is what John Blanche art tells about, and is the “image of the tomb” described in the book. It is a real life image, and it is an image in the Warhammer 40,000 settings. This is publicity. There is even no propaganda on humanity, and we are told that generations have not gone too far inside the palace. It's a publicity for us, the audience, and everyone except the most special characters in the environment.

This raises the question: If this image is not the actual emperor, then what does the emperor actually look like? Let's continue:
“Inside the most introverted sanctuary, the walls are uncomfortable, organic, and the spine is strange. The Dioccians approach the golden throne, such as it, his kindness (naked) – but thanks to their capes, li ropes and blackheads, blackheads, helm bones – moved with his honor.
“He got on the step. Slowly. It was not without reverence, and without the noble worship that the people of the Empire expected. Their absence would be fearful; but everything in this place would scare them. That's why they would never be allowed to know this.
“Finally, the Dioccian stood before his king.
“He looked at the hanging wires like intestines, clicked, ticked life support engines and preservatives sprayed in the air at nine seconds intervals.
“He looked at the polish of something that had once been in some way, and was still a man. What should not be alive, arguably not by any deadly measure. It was something tortured by its own impossible continuation – starved to death on the body, forced to devour its endless and struggling survival every day at the feast of the soul.
“Or it's forced? Maybe it's longing for this. Maybe it's hungry.”
There are more to the last part of the book, but there is no need to be done throughout it. We have what we need: The emperor described here is very different from the emperor in John Blanche's art (“The Throne Without Capital T”). We heard that the Adeptus custodian in a black helmet guarded the emperor, “hanging wires that resemble guts”, blood bags and preservatives.
Some fans believe that this passage describes the Warhammer 40,000 art found in the 1987 Rogue Trader Rulebook (the first edition of the Warhammer 40,000 core rulebook). It shows the emperor in a different light, equipped with blood bags, mist, wires similar to the intestines, and hosting with a black helmet.

It is safe to say that Warhammer's 40,000 legend lovers all love every word of this short story. Not only does it quote two classic descriptions of the Emperor – it is even possible to drag them into the classic – but it is all very grim. If this passage means what fans think, Ruin’s time will make the 28-year-old Warhammer 40,000 art not only related to the environment of 2025, but also part of an explosive revelation about the true nature of the Emperor himself.
indeed, The legendary John Blanche talked about this in an interview earlierrevealing that his art never wanted to portray the “real” emperor, but to show the image of the pilgrim emperor, who arrived at Terra, because they stared when they reached the God they believed to be the throne of mankind. Blanche believes that the “real” emperor was fixed in a glass tube behind the facade, connected to various machinery. As a result, Warhammer's 40,000 followers were blinded.
Black Library Author Dan Abnett Similar thoughts were expressed in the intervieweven question the existence of the throne at its root.
Regardless of the game workshop’s major plan for the emperor (some think he is waking up), fans can say for sure that Age of Ruins, perhaps most clearly depicting the true nature of the Golden Throne and the rotten Emperor in it. Even better, it incorporates classic Warhammer 40,000 Art, and now relevance has been restored as the Warhammer 40,000 views have been further restored.
Image source: Game seminar.
Wesley is IGN's news director. Find him on Twitter via @wyp100. You can reach Wesley via [email protected] or secretly visit [email protected].