Space Marine 3 could introduce Warhammer’s most mysterious villain

Space Marine 2 ended by teasing a much larger conflict as well as a Warhammer 40K character and faction that could shake up the entire setting. Spoilers for the game and tabletop lore lurk below.

As we mentioned in our ending explainer, the conclusion of Space Marine 2 has implications for the wider 40K setting. This, in turn, will impact what a potential Space Marine 3 will look like, as the games follow the current narrative of Warhammer 40K and use it as inspiration for their enemies and setting.

The Fourth Tyrannic War against the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan is currently one of the big stories in Warhammer 40K, but it’s not the only one. Space Marine 2 alluded to humanity’s other conflicts. Of course, the Imperium’s struggle against Chaos has been going on for more than ten thousand years, but another enemy is waking up after being in hibernation since the dawn of man.

The Necrons wake from their slumber

We’re talking, of course, about the Necrons. A race that’s so ancient that they were colonizing the galaxy before humanity even emerged from the primordial ooze. The final mission of Space Marine 2 took place on a Necron Tomb World, which, ironically, humanity had turned into a graveyard.

However, deep under the ground, millions of Necrons slumber, awaiting the call from their King to awaken and reclaim the galaxy. While they sleep, though, both the forces of the Mechanicum, and, later, the Chaos Space Marines of the Thousand Sons Legion, pillaged their technology. Some of their automated security sentries even attacked the graverobbers before being eventually defeated.

The Mechanicum were trying to get their hands on something called the Pariah Nexus, technology the Necrons use to dispel the Warp or Immaterium (the Hellish mirror dimension that houses Chaos), as they believed it would be a useful tool in humanity’s fight against The Archenemy. However, the Gods of the Ruinous Powers anticipated this and manipulated events to use the device to do the opposite, flooding the planet with Chaos/Warp energy.

Luckily, the Ultramarines and Titus put a stop to this plan, defeating Chaos and turning their attention back to the Tyranids. However, if the Imperium and Forces of Chaos think that the Necrons are just going to ignore their actions, they’re in for a nasty shock. Space Marine 3 will likely need a new enemy for the Astartes to shoot, and Space Marine 2 essentially sets up the Nercons for this role. Then there’s their enigmatic leader to consider. Enter the Silent King.

Who is the Silent King?

The Silent King is a complicated character in the 40K universe and a figure who’s keen to preserve life in the galaxy, yet, sees any race that isn’t the Necrons as nothing more than insects. The Silent King was the ruler of the Necrons when they were still a race of flesh and blood. After a period of bloody civil war, he took control of the civilization and led them into the stars to colonize the galaxy – but more importantly, to find a cure for the Necron’s agonized and short lives.

You see, the Necron homeworld was in the orbit of a sun going supernova, and this caused the Necrons (then called the Necontyr) to suffer and die young, their bodies wracked with cancer and pain. It also spurred them to great feats of engineering to escape their planet and find safety elsewhere. A militaristic warrior race, the Necrons conquered various planets and subjugated alien worlds, only to discover their suffering was now engrained into their DNA. No matter where they ran, their misery would follow.

This revelation only made the Necrons more aggressive as they scoured the galaxy to find something to fix them. Eventually, their fierce nature caught the attention of a godlike race known as the Old Ones, whose people/creations had been attacked by the Necrons. Understanding their power, the Silent King begged the Old Ones for the key to immortality, but the Old Ones refused.

He then begged the Old Ones to at least help his race, saving them from their plight. However, as the Necrons were not the Old Ones’ creation and had attacked their followers, they refused this request, too. This caused the Silent King to declare war on the Old Ones, but the war was short and did not go well for the Necron forces. Defeated and broken, the Necrons returned to their world, resigned to their fate.

Becoming a race of metal

However, the Necron’s amazing technology soon detected the reason why their sun had gone supernova was that it was being slowly eaten by another godlike entity called the C’tan. There were more C’tan too, and these creatures had beef with the Old Ones, one theory is that they may have had their physical forms destroyed by the rival gods. The C’tan promised the Necrons immortality – by essentially turning them into robots, something the Silent King agreed to and forced his people to do.

The Necrons and the C’tan then led their metal armies against the Old Ones, defeating them. It’s also worth pointing out that the Orks (then a noble race called the Krork) and the Eldar were creations of the Old Ones and mobilized to battle the Necron armies in this conflict. However, the C’tan had deceived the Necrons and consumed their souls. They had only used the Necrons to consume more souls and now rampaged through the galaxy, killing entire worlds to slake their never-ending hunger.

Seeing what he had unleashed, the Silent King used his astonishing technology to escape the C’tan’s servitude and turned the Necron guns on them, shattering their bodies and trapping shards of them for all eternity so that the evil gods could do no more harm. However, the vengeful Eldar still existed and had built a mighty empire – they also now had the Necrons in their crosshairs.

Seeing his soulless people now trapped in living metal bodies and tired of war. The Silent King built massive Tomb Worlds for the Necrons to sleep in for millions of years, hoping to awaken to an unpopulated universe and one free from war. The Silent King remained awake and went into exile to reflect on his many mistakes and what he could do to atone and save his people.

The Necrons in Warhammer 40K

The Necrons have been gradually waking up in the current era of 40K and are dismayed to see that not only is the galaxy still populated, it’s in a state of perpetual war. The Eldar still hate them, humanity has built cities on their Tomb Worlds, and since the defeat of the Old Ones who first controlled it, the Warp has now been overrun by the malicious Gods of Chaos – who remind the Necrons of the worst aspects of the Old Ones and the dreaded C’tan.

It’s also revealed that the Silent King has been out in the void between galaxies and has seen vast Tyranid invasion fleets on their way that dwarf even Hive Fleet Leviathan. Where Chaos can’t corrupt the Necrons, as they have no souls and the Tyranids don’t want to eat their metal bodies, the Necrons recognize both Chaos and the Tyranids as the ultimate threat to life in the galaxy.

While the Necrons have no love for the Eldar, the Imperium of Man, or the emerging Tau Empire, the Silent King wants to help his people return to flesh and blood to restore their souls. One day, humanity or the Eldar may be the key to this, and he can’t do it if Chaos has corrupted all life or if the Tyranids have consumed it in their relentless pursuit of biomass.

Therefore, the Necrons work to undermine both Chaos and the Tyranids at every turn – something the Hive Mind and the Four Dark Gods have also recognized.

The Pariah Nexus

To this end, the Necrons have begun to experiment with the technology they used to defeat the Old Ones, the Pariah Nexus, using this to create pockets of space where the Warp has no power. If the Necrons could use this galaxywide, not only would it wipe out Chaos, but it could also sever the Tyranid’s link to the Hive Mind, saving the galaxy from both antagonists. As humanity and the Eldar are psychic races, it would destroy them, too, as our connection to Warp ensures we can function.

While the Necrons recognize this is the key to their dominance and care little for the fates of the Eldar or humans that get caught in their experiments with the Pariah Nexus, the other races aren’t about to sit back and let them do it – even if it could mean an end to the Tyranids and Chaos. The Silent King also knows that more work needs to be done on the Pariah Nexus and likely understands he’ll eventually need to reach some kind of accord with “the lesser races” if his ambitions are to come to fruition.

The Necrons and Imperium have worked together before to battle Chaos and the Tyranids, but both factions have a long way to go before this can happen in a more meaningful and long-term way. Let’s not pretend that humanity isn’t a violent and Xenophobic menace themselves in the year 40,000. However, seeds of cooperation between the Eldar, Tau, and Necrons have sprouted, the question is will they grow?

Putting it all together in Space Marine 3

We predict that Space Marine 3 will focus on the Necrons as the main enemy, as SM1 did for the Orks and the sequel did for the Tyranids. This makes a nice contrast between previous villains and allows Games Workshop to showcase another increasingly important faction in the tabletop game. The Necrons will likely launch an attack on the Imperium for the Mechanicum’s meddling with their Tomb World.

Then, Titus and the Ultramarines will need to go and take care of the threat as the Necrons attempt to activate a Pariah Nexus to banish the remnants of Chaos and the Tyranids from the system. As this is bad news for humanity, the fight will be on. However, we don’t think the Necrons will remain the main bad guys of Space Marine 3. Just like in the first two games, we suspect a Chaos plot will be uncovered, and this will turn out to be an even bigger threat.

You see, in the current 40K lore, The Silent King’s latest Pariah Nexus experiment has not only faced heavy resistance from Imperial forces (with even the Eldar warning humanity about how dangerous the Necrons are), but the ancient ruler now faces a rebellion from his own people as some don’t want to go back to being biological lifeforms and think their immortal robot selves are far superior.

But that’s not the only problem, Abaddon the Despoiler, the Warmaster of Chaos, and his daemonic ally Vashtor the Arkifane have invaded the war zone, with their own agenda. Therefore, a four-way conflict is about to kick off, and it’ll be interesting to see if any strange alliances are formed.

Lore moves at a glacial pace in Warhammer 40K, but we expect this conflict to be explored in a potential Space Marine 3, and for the Necrons and the Silent King to finally get their chance to shine after being teased in Space Marine 2.