Games Workshop doubled down on gaslighting its Warhammer 40k hobbyists and enthusiasts after retconning the Adeptus Custodes and claiming females had always been part of the organization.
Adeptus Custodes via Warhammer YouTube
Games Workshop introduced female Adeptus Custodes in their latest Codex: Adeptus Custodes with a short story featuring Custodian Calladayce Taorvalia Kesh. An excerpt that was leaked ahead of the Codex’s release detailed, “Custodian Calladayce Taorvalia Kesh stood upon the bridge of a Cobra-class destroyer. Named Vigilant Flame, the warship belonged to the mighty Battlefleet Solar. She lingered in the shadows at the back of the bridge, positioned at a spot where she could observe the actions of every crew member be they in the instrumentation pits, at the armament shrines or — in the case of Shipmaster Lethwyck — stood ramrod straight before his command throne.”
An excerpt from a Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2024), Black Library
This was a clear retcon of the Adeptus Custodes given previous codexes and lore entries made it abundantly clear that the Adeptus Custodes were an all-male organization.
Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern shared to X an excerpt from the Rogue Trader rules in 198. It states, “The Adeptus Custodes is the Emperor’s inner guard, the members of which are privileged in being permitted to serve upon the Emperor, attending to his needs, receiving and recording his directions. These men never leave Earth and only rarely leave the Imperial Palace – an endless, black hive of forbidden technology and subterranean passages delving deep within the bowels of the planet.”
Warhammer 40k is a grimdark sci-fi tabletop game that is the #1 miniature gaming IP in the world.
The Adeptus Custodes are the Emperor’s inner guard and much stronger, better in every way than space marines.
Introduced in the Rogue Trader rules in 1987 as MEN from the VERY… pic.twitter.com/oeTlARrPuf
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024
He also shared excerpts from the 2017 and 2018 Adeptus Custodes Codexes that refer to them as the Brotherhood of Demigods and make it clear they were recruited from the sons of nobles.
One excerpt reads, “It is known that all Custodians begin their lives as the infant sons of the noble houses of Terra. It is a mark of incredible prestige to surrender one’s child to this most glorious of callings within the Imperium, and many notable clans amongst the Terran aristocracy have willingly given up almost entire generations of newborn sons to earn it.”
In the 7th and 8th edition of the official Custodes codexes, they are repeatedly referred to as the BROTHERHOOD of Demigods, recruited from the SONS of nobles.
*2017 and 2018
(Con’t) pic.twitter.com/CORWSbjYay
— Grummz (@Grummz) April 15, 2024
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Despite this being an obvious retcon, Games Workshop gaslit its hobbyists claiming that female Custodes had always existed. The official Warhammer account on X posted, “Since the first of the Ten Thousand were created, there have always been female Custodians.”
Warhammer on X
The company has since doubled down in a blog post on their Warhammer Community website. Instead of noting that Adeptus Custodes are recruited from the sons of nobles, the blog post states, “Potential Custodians are taken in at a very young age to better survive the rigours of their transformation – no older than late infancy – for the fundamental changes that will be wrought upon their flesh, minds and souls are tantamount to apotheosis. It is considered a great honour for those of Terran noble houses to submit a child.”
As YouTuber Endymion notes, “Not a male child anymore, just a child. You see how easy it is to retcon things and push narratives? All it takes is a simple push. A little change here or there until eventually people don’t know the truth anymore. And that’s what irks me the most, is that we’re seeing things getting deliberately changed in front of our eyes [and] when we question it we’re being called crazy.”
READ: Warhammer 40K Fan Site Attacks Players As “Bigots” For Disliking Female Adeptus Custodes Retcon
He later noted why these changes are important, “The point here is that history, lore, the very concept of what is fact versus what isn’t is important whether it’s non-fiction or fiction itself. Ideas and concepts need to be respected and the fact these things keep getting changed to fit an agenda that leans only in one direction proves that it’s being done deliberately.”
Still later he aptly compared this change to males being added to Amazonians in the DC Universe, “It would be like me writing a Wonder Woman comic book and suddenly going, ‘Actually, there’s always been male Amazonians and actually, most Amazonians are men and the women are but a small section of Themyscira that defends the male Amazonians from harm. Feminists would go, ‘But Themyscira is the paradise of female Amazonians only. This damages the lore.'”
“And yes, it would be. It would definitely damage the lore in more ways than one, but that’s what this is the equivalent of,” he asserted.
Warhammer 40,000: Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2018), Games Workshop
Endymion’s comments echo what J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in his On Fairy Stories essay. Tolkien detailed that a story-marker proves himself a successful sub-creator when he “makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is ‘true’: it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside.”
However, Tolkien adds, “The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside. If you are obliged, by kindliness or circumstance, to stay, then disbelief must be suspended (or stifled), otherwise listening and looking would become intolerable. But this suspension of disbelief is a substitute for the genuine thing, a subterfuge we use when condescending to games or make-believe, or when trying (more or less willingly) to find what virtue we can in the work of an art that has for us failed.”
Warhammer 40,000: Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2022), Games Workshop
Given this doubling down, it’s likely that Games Workshop will continue to break the immersive spell that they had crafted with Warhammer 40k and it will drive more and more of their customers away as they will only see an abortive Secondary World.
And while they drive customers away competitors will rise up to meet the demand and the immersion that Warhammer 40k once offered.
Combat Patrol: Adeptus Custodes
What do you make of Games Workshop doubling down on gaslighting hobbyists and enthusiasists over female Adeptus Custodes?
It’s easy for me to not spend money on Games Workshop stuff since I’ve only been tangentially interested in their properties over the years. I’ve read a few books and bought a few miniatures to paint for fun. But I do feel for those who are seeing their hobby altered, not because females are being added to the Custodes but because you know this is just step one in a dismantling of what was thought to be a bastion of non-wokeness.
I hope Games Workshop goes out of business.
Imagine being so arrogant you think you can insult your entire demographic with a couple tweets and not expect your stock to plummet. GW gets what they deserve. I hope Cavill walks away from the show as well