Helbrecht: Knight of the Throne summary

-Of the few and precious Gloriana ships, potent symbols of humanity's supremacy, none could match the Eternal Crusade's direct mastery of void warefare.

-Despite all of his years, Helbrecht could not look upon the sword of Sigismund without weeping. It was a blade of heroes that rose from grief and shame to be wielded in the name of duty and faith. Now it was his weapon and burden.

-Helbrecht received the Primarch aboard the Eternal Crusade. Though he wished that it was his Primarch that had returned, he was no less awed by the prospect of meeting a son of the Emperor. He had never journeyed to Macragge as a pilgrim to the Primarch's shrine so he wondered if Roboute would have any familial resemblance to the artistic renditions of Dorn. When he met the Primarch face to face, he was not disappointed. The Primarch was not a being of angelic light nor was he a wholly physical being. His presence was like a storm condensed into the shape of a man.

-Roboute tells Helbrecht that he was there when their brotherhood was founded. Had circumstances not intervened, then their founder Sigismund would have fought against the codex. Roboute then tells Helbrecht to rise. Warriors such as would not be on their knees before the Primarch, it was no place for them.

-Helbrecht tells the Primarch of his intention to continue hunting the Beast of Armageddon. (Ghaz) to avenge the blood split and the destruction wrought by him. The Primarch responds by giving Helbrecht a request. He would pursue service instead of vengeance. The Primarch suggests that the Black Templars should defend the shrine worlds of the Imperium such as Ophelia VII. Doing so would safeguard the morale of the Imperium.

-Helbrecht declines. He will not allow Ghaz to scurry back to the shadows and return once again with a bigger horde to threaten the Imperium. He insists that the Beast of Armegeddon must die.

-The Primarch remarks that Helbrecht is choosing vengeance over duty which angers him. Helbrecht will not allow anyone to question his honor, not even a Primarch.  Helbrecht responds to the Primarch that the Shrineworlds are already protected by many regiments, the might of the Sisters of Battle, and other marine chapters that are closer to those worlds. The Strength of the Black Templar would be better used to hunt down Ghaz. It's the task the Emperor set before the Black Templar.

-The Primarchs comments that he sees much of the Great Crusade in the Black Templar. However, it's distorted beyond recognition. The creed of the Black Templar is in opposition to everything the Emperor and Primarchs fought for. In the days of the Great Crusade, the marines fought for enlightenment, not superstition. The Black Templars represent the very chains that the Emperor sought to break mankind from.

-The Primarchs continued that there is much of Sigismund in Helbrecht. He did not say this to honour him. To Helbrecht, Sigismund was a revered legend. To the Primarch, he was a man. A great warrior and leader but a man nonetheless. He allowed his wants and emotions to dedicate his course of action, that was his mistake. A mistake that Helbrecht was falling into now.

-The Primarch explained the history behind Helbrecht's sword. The sword was forged from the shards of Dorn's sword after he broke it over his knee when he found the broken body of the Emperor. Complete grief consumed Dorn, he had failed the very reason for his existence. He failed to use that sword to defend the Emperor when it truly mattered. In victory, Dorn knew defeat

-Primarchs continues by saying that Helbrecht knows this history but he doesn't live it. The sword was reforged by order of Sigismund to transform dismal grief into a golden promise. A promise that duty bears more worth than personal glory or desire.  The Primarch bids Helbrech remember what can be gained by choosing duty over a desire to avenge an ego bruised by failure.

-After suffering the chastisement of the Primarch, Helbrecht changes his plans and directs the Black Templars to defend the Shrine Worlds. The Shrine World Crusades lasted years but now they are over, freeing Helbrecht from his obligation to the Primarch. During the Crusades the Black Templar erased the divisions between firstborn and Primaris among their ranks. The firstborn Templar stripped the Primaris of their machine-learning and their secular thoughts. They taught them zeal and faith through example. Even as they fought, the sermons of the chaplains rang in their ears. They Forged them into warriors that preached the same words and deeds as they with the same passion. Now Primaris and firstborn stood shoulder to shoulder, no longer divided by biology or creed. They were united in faith in the Emperor and hatred of the enemies of mankind. This sight made Helbrecht's chest swell with pride.

-Helbrecht feeling that it was the will of the Emperor, underwent the Primaris process. He was forged anew as a weapon of faith and fury. Helbrecht felt that the Primaris process somehow made him whole. Not in the sense that he was lacking something before but it was as if he was given something precious. Within he was the same man as before. The same fire that carried him through battlefield after battlefield still burned but it was sharper than before.

-Helbrecht has heard rumors that the Crimson Fists have launched a new crusade of vengeance to purge the Orks from the stars.

-Free from obligation, Helbrect heads to Octarius to resume his of Ghaz. He gives a speech to his men about the Orks. He said that the Orks have ever been the most tenacious and enduring foe of mankind. Man and Ork have been in conflict since humanity left Terra for the stars. During the Great Crusade, the Emperor and the Primarchs defeated them at Ullanor. When the Great Beast rose, it was the sons of Dorn that smote him. The Aeldari claim that the galaxy was theirs before the Imperium took it from them. This is a lie they tell themselves for comfort. In truth, the galaxy has forever belonged to the Orks.

-However, despite all his espoused hatred of the Orks, Helbrecht knew that they were overshadowed by humanity's oldest enemy. The vilest of alien breeds struggled to surpass the primal foe of mankind. Chaos. Man can defeat thousands of alien races yet he can never conquer a single daemon born from his soul. And of all the slaves of darkness, the most hated for Helbrecht were the dark reflections of his blood. The Sons of Perturabo, the Iron Warriors.

-Helbrecht gets a vision of fighting by the side of his Primarch in all his golden matesty. From the sights and sounds of the vision he recongises where this ancient battle took place. Hevaran. It was one of the worlds the Sons of Dorn and the Sons of Perturabo clashed on on their way to the Iron Cage. The world sided with the Iron Warriors and for this crime Dorn burned it and judged that planet must never be rebuild so that its people and their descendants would forever be marked with shame.

-Another battle brother received this vision. Brother Apothecary  Bolheim. The very same Apothecary that oversaw his elevation to the Primaris. Bolhiem was transformed from a guardian of the flesh to a guardian of the chapter's soul, he was now the Emperor's Champion. As he guided Helbrecht through the Primaris process, he will guide him to Heravan.

-Sidetracked once again from pursuing Ghaz, Helbrecht believes that this is a vision from the Emperor a vision that calls for him to undergo a quest of penance to Hevaran and find shards of his Primarchs armor. More than ever the Imperium needs symbols and relics of hope. This must be what the Emperor demands of the Black Templar now. Rather than taking the whole Crusade, Helbrecht takes a  task force with him to begin the search.

-More than even Imotekh the Storm, The Beast of Armageddon truly deserved his ire. Yet it was not by their Xenos hands that the Emperor's domain was cleaved into two and humanity's very soul was attacked.

-The Black Templars chapter is the most numerous of all the marine chapters. This means they are burdened with a great amount of loss from all the failures, wounds, and deaths suffered in their many crusades.

-The marines of the Blood of Dorn feel a sacred bond in ritual combat. The urge to face down rivals and honor brothers in glorious duels burned hot in the Black Templar. A trait they perhaps inherited from their founder Sigismund who legends say was among the most accomplished duelists of the Old Legions

-Having arrived to Haravan, the Black Templar land on the planet and get one of the populace to guide them where they needed to go. They were taken to a sacred ground of executions where heretics and criminals are forced to dig their own graves as a final act of service before being beheaded. What The Black Templar found there shocked them.

-It was an idol of the oldest enemy. The Iron Warriors. Helbrecht unpowered his sword and smashed it across the head of their guide all while asking why would he go to his knees in worship of false gods and idols. In response, the dazed guide began to recite the teachings of the Iron Warriors. "From Iron cometh strength. From strength cometh will. From will cometh faith. From faith cometh honor. From honor cometh iron. May it ever."

-Helbrecht crushed the skull of the guide with his hand, as he and his men came under attack by cultists. They were wearing helmets that mimicked the design of the Iron Warrior helmets. The Black Templar made quick work of the cultists but found their lines of communication were cut. They were stranded on a hostile world. To make matters worse, the ship that transported them to the planet was destroyed in orbit.

-During their march, the Black Templar are confronted by more cultists. This time they were led by an Iron Warrior. He introduces himself Lykas of the Fourth. An ancient warrior who strode Terra before ancestors Helbrecht were conceived. He was the sworn servant of Warsmith Torven Vakra the true master of Hevaran.

-Lykas mocks the sons of Dorn, telling Helbrecht that the Fourth just need a squad of their numbers to defend the world. The Imperial Fists on the other hand used nearly all their strength to defend Terra. A show of weakness. They used all their strength to act as glorified watchmen for a coward that already created ten thousand warriors of his own.

-Amidst the raining artillery, Helbrecht and Lykas duelled. The High Marshal's sword clashed against the traitor's axe. Lykas relentlessly hacked at Helbrecht. He turned them aside with his blade or withstood them with his Primaris resilience. When a blow bit into his shoulder, Helbrecht fell back before lunging to bury his sword in the traitor's chest.  Lykas glared at him before drawing back his head and smashing his face into Helbrecht. The impact floored Helbrecht.

-Helbrecht tried to rise but saw that his strength was draining from him. The work of the traitor's weapon, a curse or a poison. Before Lykas could finish Helbrecht, one of the Templar intervened blocking the killing blow with his shield. The marine engaged Lykas. The marine fought with the fury of a berserker but the Iron Warrior's wrath proved stronger. Savage axe blows splintered the Templar's shield and cast him to the dirt and one final blow saw him beheaded.

-The wounded Helbrecht was taken to a gunship where he lost consciousness. A vision came to Helbrecht a specter from the past appeared to him. It was Mordred. Mordred told Helbrecht that they were not echoes of Dorn and Sigismund. They were the inheritors of their will. Helbrecht had dared the impossible to prove himself worthy of his title. He unleashed his chapter on the fiends and set a course for Armageddon. What was this if not duty?

-Mordred asks if Grimaldus has replaced him, and when Helbrecht confirms it, he nods in approval. He said that the chapter's soul would be well protected in his hands. From the shadows of this dream non-space a cheer came. Helbrecht could hear an angelic chrous.

-When Helbrecht told Mordred that he trusts Grimaldus to pick a suitable replacement for him, the spectral marine laughed. He laughed at the idea that Helbrecht thought he was going to die on this world. Mordred's final words to Helbrecht are to have faith. Not only in the Emperor but in himself as well.

-The next visitation was High Marshal Kordel. In response to Helbrecht guilt at guiding his brothers to a nest of enemies, Kordel tells Helbrecht that to be a High Marshal is not to be invincible or an exemplar.  Even the greatest of Space Marines fall. Helbrecht was reborn and witnessed the return of the Primarch. These are miracles they could only have dreamed of.

-When Helbrecht says that the dream cannot last forever, Kordel replies that it must. He bids Helbrecht to remember that the strength of the Imperium lies in the loyalty of its people and the strength of their faith.

The third and final visitation was the marine that gave his life to save him from the traitor. When the golden light faded, the marine appeared whole and hale. The marine spoke and told Helbrecht when he asked him for forgiveness during the battle it was because he feared that he would die with his duty unfulfilled.

-Helbrecht objected, saying that marines do not fear. They are beyond such things. The marine replied that marines master their fear, but they are not robbed of it. He pleads with Helbrecht not to be so eager to stand by His side. He still has much more to do. The galaxy still needs him.

-Before fading, the marine tells Helbrecht that it was an honour to have served him and watched him rise. Helbrecht responds that the honor was his and that one day they will be reunited by His side to fight His wars forevermore.

-Helbrecht finds a holdout of loyalists and leads them in battle against the Iron cultists. Ultimately, they reach the stronghold of the Iron Warriors. Within Helbrecht finds a black throne forged from the Warp and the materium. Helbrecht strikes the throne again and again. Each strike releases black lightning from the throne until it collapses and unleashes a pillar of black light skywards, causing the entire structure to quake.

-Suddenly, hidden vox speakers activate. From them issues the voice of Warsmirh Vakra. He tells Helbrecht that he was impressed and expected nothing less from a scion of Dorn.

-Vakra gives a speech on how the feud between the sons of the Lord of Iron and the Praetorian is much purer than the feud between the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves. The Angels and Wolves played at war while Pert and Dorn engaged in the ultimate test. Helbrecht and his Templar cannot imagine what it was like to walk on Terra during the Siege. To witness the apex of siege warfare. Instead, the Black Templar's endlessly crusade, wandering from one war to the next as if they are looking for a purpose.

-Helbrecht bites back at Vakra's words. He proclaims that all tyrants fall. He will not be different. The Iron Warriors failed at Terra and they will fail here as well. The Iron Warriors' legacy is that of failure.

-Vakra replied by asking about Sebastus.  He went on to say that the Iron Warriors wounded the Imperial Fists. They had broken their pride and their will to never submit. They reduced the Imperial Fists to obedient curs for the Avenging Son to shape to his whim.  He wonders do Helbrecht and his kind enjoy the lash as much as Dorn and Sigismund did.

-Fighting his way deeper into the Iron Warriors' stronghold, Helbrecht finds a vault made out of Auramite. Burn marks on the exterior of the vaults showed that the Iron Warriors fruitlessly attempted to cut through the material.  While his men held off the cultist hordes, Helbrecht activated the vault's gene-lock, and it recognized him as a member of Dorn's lineage.  The vault opened, and Helbrecht stepped in.

-The walls were golden and were carved with the scenes of the Imperial Fists' history. The pillars that held up the vault's chamber were carved in the image of the legion's heroes, including Sigismund. In the center of the vault was a stasis field that contained a fragment of Dorn's armor that was cleaved from his pauldrons. The sense of awe stoked Helbrecht's faith into an inferno, and he raised his sword to mirror Sigismund.

-The Iron Warriors had their servants bombard their own stronghold making Helbrecht note that the weapons of the enemies of mankind always get turned on themselves.  He said to himself that the traitors are not men. They cannot build. They can only corrupt and destroy. There is no end to it but in blood.

-From the shadows came a mocking voice. "Is that what you believe?". Warsmith Vakra emerged from the shadows accompanied by Lykas and two other Iron Warriors.

-Vakra lectures Helbrecht that what happened on his world was the result of Dorn's guilt. Dorn would have drowned the entire galaxy in blood to extinguish his guilt. He failed in his every undertaking. He failed to protect the Emperor. He failed against Roboute's will to reshape the Imperium to his whims. And for it, world after world suffered.

-Helbrecht had enough of Vakra's heresies. He detonated the hidden grenades he placed in the event of an ambush. The rubble crushed the other two Iron Warriors while Lykas and Vakra shouldered forward toward Helbrecht.

-Lykas came first at Helbrecht, and for his eagerness, he received a slash that opened his face reducing his speech to slurred screams of pain and rage.  He swung his axe against Helbrecht, who caught its haft and slammed his head into Lykas' face, further mutilating it. Lykas's counter-swing caught Helbrecht in the shoulder and wounded him. But this time, the poisons held no power on Helbrecht. His body rallied and pushed back. Helbrecht ran his sword through Lykas' chest and then finished him off with a punch to his face that sent him smashing to the ground.

-Then came Vakra whose hammer blow shattered Helbrecht pauldrons. The rage of the traitor drove Helbrecht back. The next blow hit Helbrecht in the breastplate, and he felt his fused rips break.  Helbrecht ducked the third hammer swing and it hit the statue of Sigismund, shattering it.

-Blood loss threatened to undo him but being this close to the relic of his Primarch filled him with renewed vigor. Like Dorn and Sigismund before him, he would endure and face every challenge. No matter the odds, no matter the madness set against him.

-The momentum of the duel shifted. Fury filled Helbrecht. From across the generations, the strength and rage of past Sons of Dorn blazed within him. They were all with him now.

-Helbrecht locked his sword with Vakra's hammer and didn't allow him to break free. He trusted in the endurance of himself and that of his sword. The sword's power field overcame the hammer's. Helbrect drew back and smashed his sword into the hammer, causing it to explode in the face of its owner.

-Fragments of the hammer stabbed into the face of Vakra sending him staggering. Helbrecht exploited this and cut into the traitor's leg, forcing him into a forced crouch. Helbrecht looked down on the crippled traitor and announced his judgment. Death for his treachery against the Emperor. Then Helbrecht beheaded the Warsmith.

-In the aftermath of the battle, Helbrecht gives the rule of the planet to the faithful men and women that fought alongside them. Moreover, he undoes Dorn's judgment on the planet. His reasoning is that Dorn's judgment on the world achieved nothing but tying the planet's people to their past and preventing them from attaining redemption. It left them open to be predated by their own weaknesses and that guile of the enemy.

-Helbrecht commandant is for the people of the world to build in honor of the Emperor. They would cultivate their warrior spirit and send men to serve in the Emperor's armies. This way, the planet can earn its redemption,

-Helbrecht returned to the Eternal Crusader, and he was questioned by Grimaldus if he would resume his pursuit of Ghaz. Would he choose desire over duty? Helbrecht assured his old friend that he walked the path of shame, and carved his way out of the darkness into the light.  It's the Emperor's will if Ghaz or the Stormlord are put in the path of his crusade. Helbrecht is nothing but His instrument of judgment. Until his death, it's his purpose.