One of the biggest — if not biggest — questions from fans of Warhammer 40,000 lore is: who will be the next returning loyalist primarch? In a rare Q&A video, Games Workshop actually addressed the question — but failed to provide a meaningful answer.

For the uninitiated, the primarchs are the overpowered, genetically-engineered demigod sons of the Emperor, created to lead the Space Marine legions before they were broken up into chapters following the catastrophic civil war known as the Horus Heresy. Warhammer 40,000 as a narrative operated for decades with most of the primarchs either thought dead or lost in the warp, but recent years have seen two loyalist primarchs return to the current setting, sparking speculation that more are on the way.

The two primarchs confirmed alive and active in the Warhammer 40,000 setting are Ultramarines boss Roboute Guilliman, who returned to the galaxy during the Gathering Storm event in 2017, and Dark Angels chief Lion El'Jonson, who miraculously popped back into existence as part of the Arks of Omen storyline in early 2023. These were galaxy-shaking plot developments for the Warhammer 40,000 setting, and with the upcoming release of the 11th Edition of the tabletop game, some are wondering if a third loyalist primarch will return to shake things up further.

And so, in the Q&A video, Games Workshop’s Adam Troke and Eddie Eccles brought up the question themselves: “Who will be the next returning loyalist primarch?”

“It’s a good question, but I’m really sorry to break it to you Adam, they’re actually all dead,” Eccles replied.

“All of them?” Troke said.

“I’m pretty sure they’re all dead,” Eccles insisted.

Troke then began to have a bit of fun with his response: “Well, so, we do know that Russ is back… as a tank. Rogal Dorn… as a tank. If I was a betting man, you could maybe expect a battle tank called a Khan or a Manus or a Sanguinius at some point.”

Then, finally: “Interesting that the question was ‘who,’ rather than ‘will.’ They’re dead, according to Eddie.”

While Games Workshop had a cheeky response to a question that was probably never going to include a definitive answer, many Warhammer 40,000 fans have already picked it apart, pointing out that in the lore, it’s not entirely clear that all the other loyalist primarchs are indeed dead. You see this debate pop up now and again on Warhammer subreddits, discords, and across social media. For example, Jaghatai Khan, primarch of the White Scars, is thought to be lost in the Webway, the weird area between realspace and the Warp the Aeldari use to get about the galaxy. Rogal Dorn, boss of the Imperial Fists, is presumed dead, but could be out and about doing primarch things behind enemy lines. Space Wolves leader Leman Russ, meanwhile, is said to be awaiting the Wolf Time before he makes a dramatic return to save his kin. Sanguinius though, he's properly dead. RIP.

The thing is, Games Workshop could bring back any loyalist primarch at any time, creating some lore to make it make sense within canon just as it did with Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson, and that would be that. Any new model for a returning primarch would no doubt prove to be a big seller, too. So it does feel like a question of when, not if, it actually happens. Money talks, after all.

Perhaps 11th Edition isn’t the right time, though, as fans are eagerly awaiting another momentous primarch-related moment, one Games Workshop has actually properly teased: the meeting of Guilliman and Lion El'Jonson. A new campaign book released earlier this year includes an intergalactic message written by Lion El'Jonson and intended for Roboute Guilliman that reads: “Brother. We need to talk.”

So, will the Lion and Guilliman finally meet this edition? That was another lore question Troke and Eccles brought up during the Q&A.

“I mean, the galaxy is a big place,” Troke said, once again keeping his cards close to his chest. “So, maybe. Maybe not. I kinda hope so. You’ve got to imagine the Lion’s got things to say.”

“It will be an interesting meeting for sure, whenever it happens,” Eccles added.

For me, it feels more likely that this meeting of brothers, 10,000 years in the making, will be the big narrative moment of 11th Edition, rather than the introduction of a new loyalist primarch, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong. Any new primarch turning up is a huge moment for Warhammer 40,000 lore fans and a shot in the arm of the setting. It would move things forward and perhaps even the odds against the forces of Chaos and all those daemon primarchs who are running amok.

So, in that case, who's next?

Image credit: Warhammer Community / Games Workshop.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.