Review: Warden of the Blade

Warden of the Blade by David Annandale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Grey Knights are not the most beloved of the factions among the 40K fandom. One can understand why; being the super-secret special errand boys of the inquisition that are veritable Gary sues.

But, seeing as how they’re the imperium’s preeminent daemon hunters, there are some perks when it comes to following their exploits. Not to mention the sheer level of brutality and casualties put on display during your typical grey knights' missions.

Just take this into consideration. At any given time, the imperium is waging war, against half a dozen major enemy factions, over battlefields in hundreds of thousands of worlds. The imperial guard regiments who fight the majority of these wars, are legion, and constantly cycle from one battlefront to the next, if they don’t get annihilated.

Having said that, the IG are quite good at their job and manage to win wars in most of their engagements. Usually stabilizing the systems, when moving on. When things start getting out of hand, with say an Ork incursion, or a Tyranid swarm, and the whole planet or sector is in danger, that’s when the Astartes intervene.

Their wars often end in pyrrhic victories or exterminatus, it’s 50-50. Not because they are lacking; it’s just that the threats which qualify an intervention by a space marines' chapter are just that gruesome, and often world ending.

If you are an average imperial citizen, and you happen to see the silver/grey armored behemoths of the grey knights descend upon the battlefield, then your fate is forfeit, regardless of how the war ends up. As their role signifies, the kind of engagements in which the Daemon hunters intervene, involve full-scale chaos invasions, where the immaterium is literally bleeding into reality, and reshaping it to its whim. Where horrifying abominable monstrosities of the warp, as well as deranged psychotic heretic who’ve given themselves completely over to the warp are writhing in ecstasy.

Regardless of whether the emperor’s chosen succeed in their mission, which they often do, you and everyone in your planet are looking at best, towards a quick death in the righteous flames of the emperor. (Unless you’re lucky enough to have one of the founding chapters protecting you). The grey knights are thorough in their work and won’t tolerate even the minute possibility of the chaos taint spreading to other planets. To be fair, if you’re an average mook who experienced the horrors of the warp for the first time in life, and somehow manage to survive, you are forever under risk of being a host or gateway to future incursions. The imperium has trillions more souls to replace you, and better be safe than sorry. This is after all, 40K.

So, the exploits featuring the hammer to all daemons, promises to be a roller coaster ride, where titans clash, and the world rips and tears all around you.

Despite indulging myself war and wide in their lore, I have to confess, this is the first novel featuring grey knights which I’ve read. And I found it to be a compelling read. There is little in terms of character development. These are after all characters who are considered perfect, even compared to the standards of your regular marines. But the narrative, featuring not one, but two chaos tainted MacGuffins, how their conflicts literally tear worlds asunder, and how the lives of millions are casually snuffed out for the whims of the dark gods, have a lot of stuff going on. In the midst of all this chaos (heh), stride in the purifiers order of the chapter, as well as their future warden of the blade Castellan Garran Crowe, indifferent to the world ending entities around them. Forever stalwart in performing their sacred duty to the God Emperor.

Part of their duties, in addition to bodying daemons, include the retrieval and storage of dangerous artifacts tainted by chaos, and can lead to great calamities if left unchecked. The most troublesome of such artifacts is one called the ‘Blade of Antwyr’, or the black blade.

Think of it as your run of the mill demon blade; it gives you great power, helps slay your enemies, in exchange for stripping you of your sanity, very soul and turning you into a tool of mindless, horrific slaughter on the planetary scale. At the height of its power, it was able to subjugate the populace of entire millions to serve as the extension of its own being. Through which it could gain near perfect omniscience. Imagine a malevolent being with an unwavering army, capable of carrying out its every whim. A lesser version of the C’tan and the Necrons, pre their rebellion.

Even when the grey knights managed to defeat it, the thing was nigh indestructible. It couldn’t be contained in any physical cage, as despite the best protections, it would manage to break them over time. If left somewhere to gather dust, the blade had the annoying habit of yeeting itself away into the immaterium, to only reappear somewhere else in the physical realm, to repeat its horror all over again.

The only solution, at least something close to a solution, was it to be contained by pure force of will and psychic might. Not something everyone can do. You have to remember, this thing is so potent, the mere touch can consume a mortal whole, turning it into the blade’s host. Even space marines are not free from corruption. Even amongst the grey knights, the emperor’s chosen, and a group where a single member has yet to fall to chaos, being in proximity to the blade drained them mentally and physically.

So, it was decided to hand it over to the order of purifiers, who are utterly incorruptible and resistant to the temptations of the warp. Yet, even among this elite order, only their most revered warrior, the Castellan Champion, is bestowed the formidable duty of serving as ‘The warden of the Blade’. They have to not only contain the blade, but as champions must also carry it to battle during missions. Considering how ludicrously dangerous said missions tend to be, this is double the burden.

This too unfortunately is an imperfect measure. The influence of the blade, which is constantly whispering its promises of rewards and sweet temptations, is enough to wear on all around it. But, the warden, who has to always keep it in person as part of their duty? They’re assaulted full force by the blade’s psychic whispers, 24x7, 365 days, year in year out.

Castellans, after diligently serving as wardens, for years, decades, sometimes centuries, eventually get worn down, turn to hollow of their former selves. At which point, the blade begins to inflict even more attacks, to weaken them during crucial moments during combat, for that one weakness, which might lead to its freedom.

The current Castellan Garran Crowe is arguably the most diligent of the blade’s wardens. One most suited to his role. Being as close to immune to the corrupting influence of the blade. In fact, he treats the blade’s whispers as an adult would those of a toddler throwing tantrums, with utter indifference. He is the literal embodiment of the meme ‘couldn’t literally give a f**k’.

There is this hilarious scene in the book, where the black blade, when confronting daemons of slaanesh, shows great hostility towards them, and urges the castellan to use his power to slay them. He complies, by suppressing the blade’s chaotic power using his own psychic might and using the blade as nothing but a sharp piece of metal. You see, the blade is only able to corrupt the wielder, when they give in and use its power. But, by using it as nothing other than a physical blade, the Castellan was essentially spitting in face of the blade’s temptations. Leaving it to rage and thrash around in its impotence.

The novel, which deals with his first interactions with the blade, sees him take over the responsibility from his predecessor who fell in battle. Throughout the story, we see him come to terms with the role, and by the end, sees him fully imbibe it, using his will to chain the sword in nigh unbreakable prison.

So continues the legacy of Castellan Crowe; each battle he fights, each world he saves, each day he carries the blade without falling to its corruption, weaves the testament of his indomitable service under the light of the God Emperor.


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