Isaac Young, the author of the Matrioshka Divide, explains how Games Workshop is “defacing” Warhammer 40,000 by adding female Adeptus Custodes into its lore.
Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2024), Black Library
The company introduced a female Custodes in its upcoming Codex: Adeptus Custodes. An excerpt reads, “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
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Another excerpt makes it clear the character is an Adeptus Custodes by revealing she wields a guardian spear, “Kesh was warned before anyone else aboard, sensing a sudden empyric energy spike coupled with the surge of overpressure and sharp temperature drop that presaged a teleport strike. Her guardian spear was levelled and armed before the first cry of alarm or howl of a klaxon rang through the bridge.”
An excerpt from Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2024), Black Library
This was a retcon from previous lore as noted by former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern who shared previous entries regarding the Adeptus Custodes that makes it very clear it was an all-male organization.
An excerpt from the Rogue Trader rules in 1987 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
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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
Despite it being a retcon, Games Workshop claimed there had always been females in the Adeptus Custodes.
The company wrote on X via the official Warhammer account, “Since the first of the Ten Thousand were created, there have always been female Custodians.”
Warhammer on X
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Young reacted to these changes and explained how it’s being done purely due to the current political climate in western countries and shared how it is “defacing” the story.
First, he wrote, “Of course, anything could happen in a story if we imagine it so. But no one, in the history of good storytelling, has ever written that way. Why do narratives abide by internal consistency? Why do characters fulfill archetypes? Why do we expect a logical progression of events?”
Of course, anything could happen in a story if we imagine it so. But no one, in the history of good storytelling, has ever written that way. Why do narratives abide by internal consistency? Why do characters fulfill archetypes? Why do we expect a logical progression of events? 1/ https://t.co/b3udSzHNMF pic.twitter.com/oWnCrG2xtT
— Isaac Young (@HariSel57511397) April 16, 2024
He continued, “Because stories aren’t just hypothetical word games where whatever we say goes. They are a reflection of our reality—however strange or distant. They are a part of the transcendent made manifest, no matter how silly or satirical. In short, they are important.”
“And when you compromise that internal structure—that internal beauty—you are defacing it. And it’s especially ugly when you deface a piece of art for a blatant political agenda that has no basis in transcendent reality. It’s downright disgusting, and we all know it,” he asserted.
And when you compromise that internal structure—that internal beauty—you are defacing it. And it’s especially ugly when you deface a piece of art for a blatant political agenda that has no basis in transcendent reality. It’s downright disgusting, and we all know it. 3/ pic.twitter.com/WieLOxfd1r
— Isaac Young (@HariSel57511397) April 16, 2024
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Next, he addressed the argument that Warhammer is not to be taken seriously, “‘But it’s Warhammer! It’s not meant to be taken seriously!’ If it wasn’t serious, you wouldn’t bother going after it. I’m especially tired of this argument. No matter how silly or over the top, stories are always serious, important business—because they are meant to be fun.”
“Humanity has invested more energy into fun than any other endeavor. It’s not something to be taken lightly. Just think how many trillions America alone has spent on every form of entertainment imaginable. Fun is a serious thing, and the Left want to control it,” he declared.
Humanity has invested more energy into fun than any other endeavor. It’s not something to be taken lightly. Just think how many trillions America alone has spent on every form of entertainment imaginable. Fun is a serious thing, and the Left want to control it. /5 pic.twitter.com/uru77e3GBC
— Isaac Young (@HariSel57511397) April 16, 2024
Young concluded, “This push for ceaseless inclusion is nothing more than a show of power by defacing something people love. Absent of today’s political climate, we all know they wouldn’t be making these changes. And people shouldn’t stand for it. It’s wrong to destroy people’s fun.”
This push for ceaseless inclusion is nothing more than a show of power by defacing something people love. Absent of today’s political climate, we all know they wouldn’t be making these changes. And people shouldn’t stand for it. It’s wrong to destroy people’s fun. /end pic.twitter.com/bDa0Ggj8Sa
— Isaac Young (@HariSel57511397) April 16, 2024
Young’s comments echo J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay On Fairy-Stories and his discussion regarding the true form of Fairy-story, which Tolkien calls the Eucatastrophe. In the epilogue of his essay, Tolkien shared, “Probably every writer making a secondary world, a fantasy, every sub-creator, wishes in some measure to be a real maker, or hopes that he is drawing on reality: hopes that the peculiar quality of this secondary world (if not all the details) are derived from Reality, or are flowing into it. If he indeed achieves a quality that can fairly be described by the dictionary definition: ‘inner consistency of reality,’ it is difficult to conceive how this can be, if the work does not in some way partake of reality.”
“The peculiar quality of the ‘joy’ in successful Fantasy can thus be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth,” Tolkien continued, “It is not only a ‘consolation’ for the sorrow of this world, but a satisfaction, and an answer to that question, ‘Is it true?’ The answer to this question that I gave at first was (quite rightly): ‘If you have built your little world well, yes: it is true in that world.’ That is enough for the artist (or the artist part of the artist).”
“But in the ‘eucatastrophe’ we see in a brief vision that the answer may be greater—it may be a far-off gleam or echo of evangelium in the real world. The use of this word gives a hint of my epilogue. It is a serious and dangerous matter. It is presumptuous of me to touch upon such a theme; but if by grace what I say has in any respect any validity, it is, of course, only one facet of a truth incalculably rich: finite only because the capacity of Man for whom this was done is finite,” Tolkien opined.
J.R.R. Tolkien via Sidh Aniron YouTube
Earlier in his essay, Tolkien also discussed how when one fails to maintain an inner consistency and convey the truth of the laws of a secondary world, in this case it would be making Adeptus Custodes female, readers now view that world as broken.
Tolkien explained, ” What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful ‘sub-creator.’ 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.”
“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,” he noted.
Warhammer 40,000: Codex: Adeptus Custodes (2022), Games Workshop
What do you make of Young’s explanation regarding what Games Workshop has done to its own lore?
