WFB: Beyond the End Times…
The End Times series literally destroyed the Warhammer Old World and almost everything in it. One reader follows the breadcrumbs to where it may lead:
guest editorial by “Yellow”
End Times… Or a New Beginning? Predictions about the future of Warhammer
Hi there and greetings from Finland!
I would like to present you an interesting (hopefully…) theory about the future of Warhammer. This theory is based on the End Times –series of books and also on some events from Warhammer World’s history. I will present some predictions of what might happen and after that I use facts from the ground-breaking series of books and comment a little about my educated guesses. Besides fluff, I also try to predict what this could mean for players themselves and what will happen to our favorite Warhammer armies and their characters.
Fair warning before I unravel my humble predictions, though. The events that I use in my theory are mainly happening at the end of Warhammer: Archaon and therefore I might add: SPOILER ALERT!
Are you ready? Here they come:
1. “Haven” still exists…
The idea of Haven was that if the end would come, then at least some could be saved into this mystical realm in another dimension. The existence of this another realm was the thriving factor for Lileath and Teclis during the End Times, who fought, schemed and even deceived so that others might yet live in a better world.
However, in Warhammer: Archaon Lileath tells Teclis that this mystical realm of safety is gone (Lileath says that she can´t feel its presence any longer) after the chaos gods hear about it (via Be´lakor). Suddenly their long struggle seems irrelevant as there is no longer hope for the Warhammer world´s inhabitants. As a reader I was shocked to read that it was no more… GW cut away the only hope for Warhammer´s current characters to escape the oblivion that was already surrounding them.
It´s indeed true that Lileath couldn´t sense the Haven´s presence any longer. This however doesn´t necessarily mean anything as it´s very possible that the location of Haven was concealed even from the all-seeing Lileath after the chaos gods heard from it. But who could do such a thing and why?
Old Ones, perhaps. There indeed is one earlier departure from the Warhammer world after the forces of chaos arrived the first time… that of the Old Ones. These ancient beings were said to have been like gods. They created the Warhammer world and all its races during the pre-history before they vanished when chaos came. Old Ones alone would be able to create a new world from scratch and also conceal it from the eyes of chaos gods… so they are ideal architects for a new Warhammer realm.
What if the Old Ones left the Warhammer world in the first place because they were hurriedly creating another realm to oppose the machinations of chaos gods? Even a place called Haven? We do believe that lizardmen were the prime guardians of the Old Ones but if we really think about it, the elves have played a quite big role on protecting the Warhammer world (especially during end times). Perhaps Lileath was working according to the Old Ones plans altogether? If we really think about it, the Lizardmen had their Exodus-plans which they quickly enacted so they had to know that eventually their world would fall. Lileath was also sure of this. Perhaps this knowledge came from the same origin?
It´s possible that Warhammer world had been a decoy in the first place. This could be based on the fact that when its end came, lizardmen fought quite little. They were more concerned to leave than to stop the spread of chaos with all they got. Elves on the other hand sacrificed themselves like before… and allowed the servants of the Old Ones to depart, thus buying time for them to reach their destination.
2. Our heroes are still alive…
This prediction relates quite much to the earlier prediction and once again into the very end of all things. In the end Archaon uses an ancient device (which original purpose is no longer known) in order to create a rift between realities so that the whole world is sucked into warp. When it activates in the end a huge vortex starts to rip the Warhammer world apart. Also our greatest heroes perish on the vortex… or do they?
I believe that the device might be one used by the Old Ones when they escaped. The very old age of the device might point into this fact and it would also explain how the Old Ones vanished without leaving a trace in the first place. This ancient device might be able to create wormholes or other loops, which teleports our heroes into the new realm of Warhammer, wherever that is. There is an interesting picture at the end of the book, where the remains of Warhammer world are indeed “spiralling” into multiple directions… perhaps Tyrion and the others are sent to various locations on the realm of Haven?
Malekith´s sensations are described when he enters the vortex and even though he hears the laughter of the chaos gods, it might also mean that he is actually moving within the warp. His life passes by and suddenly he no longer recognizes himself… perhaps because he has been born anew on Haven? It´s tempting to think that Malekith, Tyrion and Araloth would lead the three factions of elves on the new realm. Malekith certainly holds no love towards Tyrion and it´s possible that the Dragon of Cothique will turn against his king in the new realm, which makes three factions of elves possible again.
I personally believe that all the factions will continue on the new edition, just because GW seems to create totally new armies to 40K constantly, so new models are not an issue for them (and not all of these sell as much as Space Marines, I suspect). This leads to…
3. All our armies are intact in the new edition
I admit that skirmish might happen because of new players, but I think that all of the races will continue their path on the new edition. Lizardmen might be even led by the Old Ones which could very well mean that magic is in even greater role on the new edition (and lizzies might get new models!). Also the teleportation of the old world might mean that there indeed are different chunks of realities within this realm and magic is the way which armies use to reach each other’s realms (again focus is on magic… although there might be even more sci-fi based weaponry which functions via magical energy alongside the lizardmen space ships etc.). I also think that elves and lizardmen are the main armies of this new world, as they are its architects. Humans are little left behind on this new realm as the fate of Sigmar might predict… He´ll get there one day, but I believe it will take some time.
And chaos will arrive sooner or later. The real question is whether this new realm is ready for their coming or not…
How all this relates to new edition?
There has been rumours which indicate that new edition of Warhammer would not change too much rules-wise. There also has been rumours about new models which are limited edition only and besides all this there has been talk about bubblehammer etc. My version of future supports all this. Different chunks of realities might also mean new races, new allies and troops that are in varying shape of recognition from the eight edition. There could be endless possibilities for new encounters and the best part is that majority of this new realm would be left to discover. I personally wait with eagerness what the future holds for Warhammer and let´s see if any of this actually happens. Hopefully it has been at least entertaining if not anything else!
What do you guys think?
Regards, Yellow
