The dreadnought of the legion of the dammed still serve the emperor even beyond ÜBER death.

The embodiment of "Even in death, I still serve."

"So now that I'm a Space Marine, I pledge my service to the Emperor which ends only at my death?" "Yes but no."

The legionnaire the Ventris was looking at was captain Titus coming back to bitch slap leandros

“For The Emperor, Beyond The Point of Death.”

I usually go with the idea that they’re the emperor’s own”daemons”.

The Emperor: "I am not a god!" * procedes to summon an army of ghost Space Marines *

It's widely believed across the Imperium that the Emperor cares for the souls of the dead. It's hardly unimaginable that Big E might choose to select a few of these souls - the strongest, most stubborn, most loyal, most skilled of his Astartes - and grant them a portion of His power. It's not that different from when He grants power to His Living Saints. It's similar to when the other Chaos gods create Daemon Princes, just perhaps of a slightly lower order. Living Saints would be Daemon Princes (or Princesses, given that they're generally gorgeous young women), while the Legion of the Damned would be more like lesser daemons. Personally, I'm also expecting the Legion to get some Imperial Guard support troops soon, charging heedless into battle wearing the uniform of lost Cadia. The planet may be broken; the Guard isn't.

They are Ghost Rider Marines. Needless to say, they fit RIGHT IN the universe of Warhammer 40K.

The "ghosts of fallen Astartes summoned by the Emperor" makes the most sense. How else would you explain them showing up at the time when they're needed the most?

Istvaan was a massive emotional moment , victory , betrayal , blood lust , fear , rage .....I can see that being a scar that could make the Legion it would make Sense.

No matter how often the Hereticus Inquisitors shout “Heretic!”, they will never claim their pride, for the Ordo Theoreticus always protects its allies within the Logos Historica Vertia!

Theory 1: these are the souls of loyal marines from a traitor legion. When the traitors purged their loyal kin these warriors gave their souls to the emperor, pledging to fight against chaos for all eternity until they are redeemed. I am drawing on the "damned" element. Marines that became demons of the imperium. Theory 2: these are the souls of all fallen space marines, and they automatically become demons of the emperor upon death. Theory 3: they are just regular imperial demons. Cuz ya. Have at it

See i always thought the The Legion of The Damned could of come from the II & XI Legions, trying to prove themselves to the Emperor.

Possibly a reward for the Sororitas' sacrifice. The "Sunny side Pin-ups" the lord has promised.

if we go by religious symbolism, I like to think the Legion of the Damned represent Old Testament Angels, horrifying and absolutely unsettling in appearance but resolute and noble in the duties they perform, as such a single Damned Legionnaire in the Perditions Flame audio drama ended up destroying the Penal legion ship it was on as it had absorbed the psychic essence of psykers of the Inquisitor kept trying to use to restrain it that it became an intense inferno as it slaughtered an entire boarding force of Nurgle cultists and plague zombies. While the Living Saints such as Saint Celestine and Saint Sabbat represent the New Testament Angels, more human-like, beautiful visions of holy purity and yet still extremely powerful and all encompassing performing deeds that a normal human would consider impossible such as bringing dead or wounded Guardsmen back to full vitality and wreathed with golden light.

A bunch of damned badasses is what...

What I can guess, they are the Emperor's own warriors during his time on the Golden Throne, the skeleton aesthetic of the armor represents the Emperor's dying decaying body and the fire represents the Emperor's psychic fire, EoM sometimes demonstrated that he also have the same effect on him when he is angry or fighting he will burn really bright like a star not to mention that his sword is also on fire. What I can gather they are the Emperor's own army made out of warp energy.

Big E is now perpetually surrounded by hyped up Astartes souls hounding him with pleas of "C'mon coach, put me in. I'm ready."

Glad you covered these guys, they are one of my favorite things related to the power of the Emperor

of course an aldeari would say they're daemons, because they can't admit Big E beat them to death godhood

I kinda hope Rylanor has become part of this Legion, just so he can continue to dunk on Traitors.

I also like a theory about the Legion of The Damned claiming that the marines themselves have different insignia because they themselves are just products of faith in certain different chapters. As the common imperial citizen rarely sees Space Marines and upon seeing them tend to be struck by religious awe, and probably having the chapter insignia burnt into their memory, which turns into their vision of what an Angel of The Emperor is and as such gain a presence in the warp. This somewhat fits with how some claim that the Firehawks (regardless of whether they perished or not) appear among the ranks of the Legion since they were known to meddle in internal imperial affairs more than most marine chapters.

I’m in the camp of the LotD being Imperial Daemons. I wonder though why they would not then assume the form of Custodes as those are supposed to be the ultimate creation of the Emperor apart from the Primarchs themselves.

Sees the video has Oculus Imperia in it. Hell yeah instant click.

In my head cannon the Legion of the Damned are actually one of the two lost legions. The flaw in their geneseed gives them an unstable connection between real space and warp space.

Wonderful video. I always enjoy hearing Oculus, Rem, Baldermort and Rho on one another's channel

I like the idea of the Legion being made up of fallen marines, because that means, that one day, when Fulgrim reappears he will encounter a Flaming Contemptor Dreadnought ready to tear into his snake ass.

I would say bring back the Legion of the Damned models or new sculpts but they would cost £100000000 so actually GW don't bother............ Shame!

A very highly underrated narrative from both here.

Tinfoil Hat Time: Legion of the Damned are the remnants of the Eleventh Legion. The Eleventh Primarch was Malice, who sought to use chaos power in order to defeat chaos (against his father's will). Malice manages to achieve godhood, and the Emperor punished him by falling damning the souls of his now-demon Marines, and wiping him from all history. He can't draw power from cults if no one knows his name to worship him. And so there are only like six people left in the universe that still know the truth. The Legion has been forgotten even by reality at this point, and only when the Emperor is desperate does he allow himself to remember them and summon then into existence for aid, only to return to the void when they are no longer needed.

If the Legion of the Damned were ever divided up into successor chapters, would one of those chapters end up being called the Chapter of the Darned?

A very old awesome video as always 40k Theories, and thank you Oculus Imperia for helping 40k Theories.

Oculus Imperia on 40k theories?! sign me up baby! good work guys

Now I wonder will there be a guard “regiment” of Damned in the future that combine many different fallen guards.

As a 40k novice who just sticks with the lore and not table top, what was the "star wars episode 4" of 40k. The first actual 40k universe content. Then you get prequels, sequels, spinoffs, etc. But what was ground 0 for 40k?

This is such an awesome collab great work guys! Great way to start my Monday 😁

I think Legion of the Damned is the Loyalist version of Rubric Marines...

I like the idea of some righteous agents of retribution. So I’m gonna say the legion of the damned are a combination of the restless souls of the Istvan III becoming the Emperor’s demon army and a mixture of them getting reinforcements with the emperor plucking the fire hawks out of the warp. I personally feel the Legion is going to be joined soon with Cadian reinforcements. Could you imagine the ground opening up in front of you as demons are about to charge your line, and as the ground splits you hear the sound of millions of marching boots followed by the command fix bayonets.

Ah yes, the always steadfast Oculus Imperia. Been subscribed to him for a good while now.

I think the legion of the damn are the embodiment of the beliefs of the everyday human on the imperium. The emperor's angel's is a common thing among regular humans and a rare sight. What if the legion of the damned is a form of deamon based off of how humans of the imperium view them. Sorta like how the chaos gods was created just focused on "the emperor's angel's" instead. Might be crazy just thinking instead of big E making em it could of been humanity that made em without knowing

Does that mean Ferrus Manus was one of those ghostly Warriors summoned by Emprah? He died on Istavaan 🤔

Nice work on this Oculus Imperia

Normal Astartes: Only in death does duty end. Legion of the Damned: Amateur. Do you require your blankie? Perhaps a warm cup of milk and a fresh diaper?

if the legion of the dammed are beytrayed space marine ghost i take majority of them would be lamenters or the 2nd or 11th legion

I agree with the assessment that they're the the souls of Adeptus Astartes that Have fallen in battle only to be reborn to ride with the Emperor in battle forever!

I love how the knife ears always think they're right. Even when they're not. 👍👍👍 Great work as always.

Honey! It's 1 am! Time for your yearly legion of the damned video!

Great video!! Thanks for the info!

I prefer the theory that the Legion of the Damned is formed by Astartes, who were corrupted by the Chaos but the God-Emperor was able to redeem during their permanence in the Eye of Terror and turned them in what they are now: a legion of daemon-like Space Marines

Was just thinking about this today. Also the Grey Knights.

Can we just appreciate the formality of Oculus Imperia?? So formal🙂

Fantastic collaboration

In my opinion, the legion of the damned are a very specific group of space marines. I dont think they are the lost fire hawk chapter, nor do I think they are selected from the badest of the badasses who die in battle. they are the legion of the betrayed astartes on istvan 3 at the very beginning of the horus heresy. Soldiers who fought to the last man despite knowing that they could do nothing to either stop or convince their battle brothers. Who were heartbroken in betrayal from their own brothers and primarchs. These astartes on istvan 3 embodied humanities futile struggle against the absolute power of the warp. And it only suits them to serve humanity in that end.

Love the presentation of the theories here

"So we're undead spectral daemons, eh? ...Emperor be praised, I can kill SO many more daemons this way."

the Emperor is becoming a god of order, and assembling his warp bound legions from the souls of those who even in death have an unbroken will

Maybe the common belief and faith in "the angels of death" by the imperium also gives them form, much like the belief in the Emperor?

Great episode!!!👍🏼

Nice, two of the best lore masters combined.

"The Lost and Forever Damned", referring to either the 2nd or 11th legion. Perhaps this was the fate of one of the missing legions, to forever bear the burning shame of their fall from the Emperors grace and seek recompense through eternal service in His name? Just a thought.

Good to hear this crossover; well done!

Mad love and respect to you both for your awesome work!

i enjoyed this. legitimately sounds like a scholar recording a log for his professors. yes.

Lovely to see a crossover between your two channels. I think one or both of you might also benefit from a loyal servant, a Baldermort servo-skull, perhaps? :)

Fell in love with them when I read Baal. And they just keep getting cooler

I always liked the idea that they represent the slain of Istvaan III and V, come to get revenge on the traitors who slaughtered them. And perhaps they were augmented by the fallen of the Imperium's fallen astartes since then as well.

I want Stephani Swan Quills to do an entire audio book series.

Regardless of the particulars of how the legion of the damned came to be, it seems clear that they are either birthed from, or individuals consumed by the imperiums own psychic gestalt. As to the particulars one slightly novel explanation for this(slightly because someone else in the comments already mentioned the idea) is that they might have begun as an imperial version of rubric marines. How could this be though? Imagine that there were a cursed founding loyalist chapter descended from the stock of Magnus the red. This chapter might have seemed to have a stable gene-seed, but underneath they carried 2 legacies: a subtly protean genetic code leaving them open the the flesh change and a link to Ahrimans rubric. But shouldn't they have been just turned into rubric marines if they were sons of Magnus? Here's the thing though: they didn't *know* they were related to Magnus, and neither did the thousand sons. As crazy as it sounds, when it comes to the warp, something like that may very well matter. Symbolism matters, and the fact that they weren't symbolically linked with the thousand sons might have caused the affects of the rubric to be negated, diminished or altered. Symbolically they are linked to the imperium by more than just being space marines. They are wreathed in flames, which in the imperium represents the purification of that which was once unclean, and they are also undead. Undead, much like the Emperor himself. Further the Emperors state is symbolically representative of the imperium itself:static, stagnant, agonized, frozen in the moment before complete death and clinging to an existence that can in no way be described as life through sheer force of will. One can imagine a situation where these marines find themselves at once beset by foes(probably demons) and forced to fight a doomed battle, not only against the manifest foes before them but also against the voices whispering into their souls and even their own traitorous flesh. So full of faith, hate and determination were they that their will to keep fighting itself became manifest as a flame, a flame which eventually consumed them body and soul.

GREAT. Thank you both.

Excellent Video 👍.

I absolutely adore seeing the parallels between the God-Emperor and the Chaos Gods. Seeing how he isn't... really that different from them, in that it's not only the Dark Gods that can spawn Daemons that carry his will. I doubt that we'll see any major changes if this information became more widespread, if the Inquisition would ever let that happen... but just imagining the sort of shock some of the Imperials would feel, realizing that their god does similar things to that of the Dark Gods. Makes it much harder to see him as better than the others.

yay i've being waiting about the legion of the damned for ages

2:44 - Even a Plague Marine would be outmatched? | The Emperor Protects! | 16:20 - (monotone) All hail the Ultrasmurfs.

I see them as big E's deamons. His physical body acts as an ancor for them to spawn throughout the imperium without much issue, while his spiritual body gathers strength and the soulsnof his fallen sons to create more in the warp

Last time I was this early the WAr in heaven had ended

When you hit a 40k Theories video without really looking and find Oculus at the head of the Adeptus Bamboozleus.

Never really thought about that one it's the ghosts of the betrayed marines from the drop site massacre

To be real, given the lack of any solid information / evidence, the Legion of the Damned are exactly whatever the future writers of 40k lore/stories need them to be.

Personal headcanon is that they are daemons of the emperor, like the living saints are.

Holy demons of the emperor, of course.

Always glad to see this entry updated. Still don't agree with the 'Master of Mankind' thing, but it's part of the 'theoryscape,' so I just have to accept it's presence.

Great video.

Oculas Imperia is the best. Great video

Notification recieved, my lord inquisitor.

i have a theory about the legion and that is that they are the souls of fallen astarties and guardsmen who is fueled by piece of the emperors rage and fury

I like the idea of them being summoned by emperor or manifest from his power and they are ghost of fallen. Be cool if they fleshed it out and had them fighting with the emperor as he battles chaos in the warp- like a the wild hunt thing or twist on Valhalla

Great video, i have the space marine battles novel and the anthology. They appear to time travel strong evidence suggests that they are the missing Fire hawks such ass bodies in stasis coffins with equipment issued to fire hawks plus at another site a banner - the gnarled chapter flag of the Fire Hawks - and inscribed upon it was the motto (For the Emperor beyond the point of death). As well as the banner there was a recorder and sundry other sealed items.

This is the collaboration we’re looking for

Grand Notifacatus reporting in , My Lord Inquisitor!

i remember once seeing a comment suggesting that Ferrus Manus leads the legion of the damned and that idea is just too awesome to put away (what with the first rule of 40k being the rule of cool). i love the idea that Ferrus Manus was _SO_ pissed off at Horus and Fulgrim that, even dead, he refused to stop fighting. with power that only a primarch could hope to wield (on top of having a very organized/single-minded personality, which would help in resisting the temptations of the gods), his soul gathers the fallen dead when and where he can, and gives them a chance to fight on. we know the emperor can do it. why not his sons? honestly, aside from just being cool, it would give Ferrus Manus the chance to be interesting for once. his personality is basically that of Dorn, except he's got metal arms. this way, GW could bring him back as a bad-ass reveal for the loyalists, but since he can only materialize when its absolutely necessary, he wouldn't be OP for the lore like bringing back others primarchs would be.

Thanks for this video. The legion of the damned is one of my faves, going all the way back to 1st edition, rouge trader rule book. 🔥☠🔥💀🔥☠🔥💀🔥

40K theories, let me know if you are interested in script from my own files, I would be honoured to service the inquisition!

Dope cross over.

Awe yeah a sweet treat

+1 sub fancy voice man!

Nice 😁👍

Spaces Marines + Ghost Rider = Legion of the Damned

The ultramarine reference is just the blue boys claiming everything badass in the 40k galaxy is somehow a member of the smurf army..

I like to think they're a descendant chapter of the Sons of Horus who wish to return to the fold of the imperium but know that they will never be trusted or even forgiven, so they use their Warp-based powers to try and slowly build up a name for themselves that will enable them to return one day.