Warhammer 40K: Szarekh – The Silent King of the Necrons
Today we learn about the Necron’s last, and eternal ruler – Szarekh the Silent King. One of the greatest enemies of the living.
Szarekh, also known as the Silent King, was the last ruler of the Triarch of the Necrontyr and later Necron race.
The Necrontyr Triarch
The Triarch was the ruling council of the Necrontyr empire before their transformation into the Necrons. Frequently undermined by rebellions in the Wars of Secession, the Triarch repeatedly attempted to find ways to unify the Necrontyr race once more, be it through a common enemy such as the Old Ones or the promises of immortality made by the C’tan.
The Triarch itself consisted of three Phaerons and the rulers of individual Necrontyr dynasties were themselves governed by the Triarch. The head of the Triarch was known as the Silent King, for he addressed his subjects only through the other two Phaerons. Nominally a hereditary position, the short lifespans of the Necrontyr ensured that the title of Silent King passed from one royal dynasty to another many times. The last Silent King of the Triarch was Szarekh.
Silent King Szarekh and the Great Sleep
At the time of his rule, the Necrontyr empire was already engaged in a vicious struggle against the Old Ones. In desperation, Szarekh agreed to form an alliance with the C’tan and transfer the Necrontyr into new bodies of living metal, becoming the Necrons. However while they now lived immortal lives and were finally able to emerge victorious in the War in Heaven, Szarekh realised that his people had become soulless pawns of the C’tan and before the war even ended was determined to exact vengeance against the star gods.
Biding his time, Szarekh waited until the Old Ones were defeated before finally leading a Necron revolt against the C’tan, eventually defeating their former masters and shattering them into shards. However Szarekh saw that the new races created by the Old Ones such as the Eldar were now becoming dominant, and the Necrons, exhausted by aeons of war, could not stand against them.
He ordered that the Necrons withdraw into their Tomb Worlds and slumber in the Great Sleep, to reawaken sixty million years in the future and assert their dominance over the galaxy once more. The Silent King, however, did not join his people in slumber. He destroyed the command protocol that allowed him control over the Necron race and journeyed into the void of intergalactic space, where he may find not only solace but also penance for dooming the Necrontyr race.
Szarekh’s Exile
The Silent King took to the stars in a massive planet-sized sepulchral engine and set out for the void. With him went legions of his own Szarekhan Dynasty in stasis-crypts for despite his shame, it was not befitting the Silent King to travel without an entourage.
For millions of years, the Silent King traveled in the void between galaxies. He was the only Necron to completely remember his past and time as an organic lifeform, suffering the memories of what he had done to his race. The aeons of grief would have destroyed the minds of any lesser lifeform. However he still had a plan, and sought to redeem himself by achieving it on behalf of his people. Szarekh sought to have his people slumber until such a time when the enemies of the Necrons such as the Eldar were overcome by internal discord and the ravages of time. Using their immortal bodies and radical weaponry, the Necrons would then lead his people to dominate the galaxy. In the meantime, Szarekh’s exile in the void would achieve other ends knowable only to him, though some speculate it was to find a way to reverse Biotransference.
However, Szarekh eventually encountered the Tyranids and saw the threat they posed to the Necron race. If the Tyranids consumed the biomass of the galaxy, the Necrons may never be able to reverse their transformation. While his duty to defeat the Tyranids was clear, he had no desire to preserve other civilizations.
The Return of The Silent King
n 744.M41, the Silent King ended his self-imposed exile and returned to the galaxy. He discovered the Tyranids were just one of many threats facing the Necrons. Other alien races had swarmed over their Tomb Worlds and the Warp now seeped across the Galaxy. He has begun a journey across the galaxy with a band of his loyal Triarch Praetorians to reawaken Tomb Worlds that still slumber so they may unite against the Tyranids. The returned Silent King was at first careful to not reveal his true identity, even to fellow Necrons. He worked primarily through Triarch Praetorians or unwitting Crypteks and Necron Overlords to achieve his goal, and has steadily influenced the galaxy from one side to the other. Slowly, he has pursued his great work from the shadows. He intends to unite the Necrons against the Tyranids while also manipulating the younger races to his own schemes. Szarekh has claimed that he has encountered Sanguinius, who may have been on the verge of establishing an alliance with the Necrons.
When the Silent King returned openly, he bid his Triarch Praetorians and other followers return to him on the Tomb World of Antrakh. He then chose two Phaerons of minor Dynasties to form the new Triarch: Hapthatra the Radiant and Mesophet the Shadowed Hand. The two Phaerons were joined into the Dias of Dominion, itself powered by a captured shard of the C’tan Nyadra’zatha. After joining with the platform, they began to speak with the same voice and never overruled the Silent King.
During the Pariah Crusade Szarekh was at first content to leave the defense of his Pariah Nexus to Szeras and other vassal Lords, but eventually intervened himself as the Imperial invasion gained size. He met his vassals and 3,000 Triarch Praetorians on Xendu, being offered captured Human Blanks for experimentation. After this ceremony he took personal command of a massive counteroffensive of millions of Necrons that caused several major defeats to the Imperials.
The Silent King is patient beyond mortal understanding, and his plans are in motion.
