This is one case that is strongly supported by the background materials as well. The Lion has reportedly been sleeping at the centre of the Dark Angel's Rock for a long while. Possible beside Luther (or maybe not). The last we saw of the Lion was when he descended for his battle with Luther on the (then) surface of Caliban. Following its destruction, the Lion was nowhere to be seen. Luther whimpered something about the Watchers in the Dark having taken him.
Hence, there is no contradiction in the background materials about him coming back. I'm far more at ease with the Lion coming back than I was about Guilliman re-materializing after healing in a stasis field. Heck, I'd also be fine with the re-emergence of at least:
The Khan,
Leman Russ,
Vulkan (because, you know, he's immortal and all),
Corax,
Alpharius (or Omegon) (or someone being Alpharius at any rate),
and any Daemon Primarch in general (because why aren't they attacking the rotten heart of the Imperium already?).
Can Alpharius Omegon please turn out to be loyal? You know, just to wrap up that story line. Pretty please? And the only person he told was someone else who went missing at a similar time? I don't know where I'm going with this really.
Bottom line, I feel re-invigorated by the new fluff that seems to be coming out recently. And I'm feeling very positive about the future of the hobby in the near and medium term! Long may it last!
Sorry Jabaer I disagree completely:
ReplyDelete1stly from a 'fluff' perspective: the missing loyalist primarchs whether it was Robute enthroned in the Fortress of Hera, or the Lion sleeping beneath the Rock emphasised the mystical 'king beneath the mountain' aspect of 40k (at least from a Space Marine perspective). Like the fabled warriors of European Christendom that were said to Guard their respective nations and to return at the hour of need.... I don't think you can bring back legends in a manner that truly satisfies (I for one thought that Guilliman's return was a damp squib). Giving the Vilka Fenryka the 13th company back was in my view a good thing as it allowed a peak beyond the veil and gave us hope for the survival of Russ and Corax, without definite answers.
Consider the way that Vulkan was used in the Beast Arises series; it fell flat, didn't work out and ultimately threatened to steal the limelight from the likes of Koorland and Maximus Thane, who although Chapter Masters were just 'ordinary' Space Marines.
2nd from a game play perspective: At my club we have a rule that we cannot use the Primarchs (or special characters) on the tabletop unless we're playing a campaign that necessitates it e e.g. when we played the Battle of Calth the XIIIth players were allowed to use Guilliman, Ventanus etc. etc. Initially this was because of the number of Primarchs that hadn't been released, but more recently simply because we realised that once one of us was using a Primarch, everyone else felt the need to use one because of their potential as force multipliers or line breakers. We found that it really took the fun out of the game, as the Primarchs almost inevitably ended up in inconclusive combats with one another or got mowed down by the sheer volume of fire they attracted.