Wow... from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who has commented already on this video and also anyone new who might come in and leave their thoughts. For the first time ever, I did not receive one negative comment from anyone. No joke, I scrolled all the way down and didn't find one case of someone being an asshole, troll or doing anything else bad. I think that's indicative of the fan base of Warhammer that I've heard so many good things about. I was not expecting this video to blow up so fast. I went to the gym right after I dropped it and I come back and I see all this support its gotten slap me in the face lol. Again, thank you so much! I plan to hopefully one day get more into this world if I can since my schedule in life now is much busier but I will make sure I do my best.🙏
there is an animation you must see called Astartes, it was a short film project made by One man (who is now employed by gamesworkshop because of it) that annimation is pure fire hits hard youll love it. also, if you like audio books A Vox in the Void do a lot of 40k short stories some real powerful ones, id like to recommend a tale of an Ogryn called Gav, short stories in four parts Gav and Bob narrated by Vox in the Void. Welcome to 40k good sir, enjoy its grim dark bounty ✊️
40K fans have this bond with each other. Two things 1 -A collective understanding that our shared adoration is not palatable to the masses 2- do not dumb it down for the masses. Grimdark is in your soul or it isn't.
@@puromax7787 Titus is main guy in that episode imo i think - Sergent Materus is the second important character in the episode I think Titus is the UltraGood Boii
That's where he deserves to be. There is a reason why they keep them like that, they aren't being cruel to be cruel, they are conduits for literal demons.
The whole ep I was wondering what is in the box, but when it got opened i was surprised, felt pity for the psyker, then i remember how they were pulling and passing him around i laughed sooooo hard, it was kinda funy😂, especially since they started the ep with " In THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FAR FUTURE...", I should've expected that. They were like: [PSYKER] I CHOOSE YOU
To clarify some things in the show: Eyeball person is A “Sorcerer of Tzeentch”. Essentially, they are a literal demon serving the chaos god of Tzeentch, (pronounced Zeen tch), who embodies the mind and change. Thus they have extreme control over the mind and able to bypass the Space Marine’s armor. Titus is the protagonist of The Warhammer 40k: Space Marine Games. Both 1 and 2. The second one being the game the episode is based on, and takes place directly after. The astropath (or guy in the box) is presumably a Psyker. Basically a dude who is a space wizard and is able to counter the effects of the sorcerer via his prayer. Psykers are heavily unstable and gain their powers from the warp (Basically hell, and where Tzeentch and the other 3 chaos gods and their demons come from), and are highly regulated by the Imperium of Man. (The Imperium is the Religious Empire of All Humanity who worship their uniter (The Emperor of man) like a god. His Space Marines being the finest of Man and are in a sense given part of his godlike power. Hence why they can smash tanks and take so much physical punishment. The space marines founding words/motto are “They are my Space Marines, and they shall know no fear.” Hence the title of the episode.
The sorcerer of tzeetch is human chaos sorcerer, if it where a demon then the squad would have had a librarian with them. the guy in the box isnt an astropath hes just a sanctioned psyker
Fittingly, the line "and they shall know no fear" is how the chaos sorcerer finally killed such veterans with likely hundreds of years of experience each. Eyeball, esquire got into their heads, unleashed the fear long since suppressed from when they were mere child soldiers before the transformative, traumatic, and metamorphic transition to becoming Space Marines, and used it against them. Its how Titus seemingly resists. Even as a child aspirant, the show is telling us he's always been like this. He knew no fear since childhood. And its that that turns the tables on the clearly confused as fuck Eyeball, esquire.
@@watchonjar Was a human Chaos sorcerer. Homeboy probably gave up his humanity a long time ago. Also, you don't "need" a librarian when dealing with daemons... It's just a very useful thing to have when dealing with daemons. So I'm not sure why you think it isn't a daemon simply because there is no librarian. Librarians are not the magic anti-daemon people. I mean if we are going to think that way... Why didn't they just bring a squad of grey knights?Definitely daemon-be-gone then.
As a massive 40k nerd, this episode was damn near perfect. From visuals to characters--and especially the choreography--the exacting commitment to the spirit of the source material is palpable. I'd mention Astartes by Syama Pederson but a bunch of people have already done that, so... Love this series, love this episode. Welcome to the c̶u̶l̶t̶ fandom, bro.
There is a short film called ASTARTES, it was a fan animation film made by Syama Pederson before the Games Workshop hired Syama Pederson to work and canonize his short animation. the choreography and cinematography has some influence or similarity to it this is because Syama Pederson actually work on Secret Level as well, I don't know if you had view ASTARTES it but you should check it out it is on youtube
To show you how great this episode was, there's an extra layer of lore on the ending. The mission briefing said Mortality Absolute which means it's a suicide mission and the controller said "Die well brothers" after launching the missile from the ship because they're basically dropping a nuke on their position. There is a lore quote that goes "Only in death does duty end" so when the sergeant says "Our duty is done. It's time to go," what he really means is it's time to die. And THAT'S why Titus says "Not yet old man."
@@Art_for_Mage I think Calgar knows fullwell how impenetrable Titus' plot armour is, so if you've got a suicide mission to do, who better to send? Or maybe it's just Leandros being a dick again; "Look! Titus survived *another* suicide mission!! Heretic!!!"
The Warhammer episode is pretty much spiritual successor to Astartes by Syama Pedersen which is phenomenal. I am pretty sure he was involved making this episode.
What I liked about this was the portrayal of Astartes as what they are like, weapons, they are horrifyingly fast and strong, seemingly unstoppable and seem only focussed on fulfilling their mission, this makes the confrontation with the sorcerer even better, because suddenly you realize that these seemingly invincible angels of death, are not the scariest thing around.
Astartes are basically Frankenstines Monster (the book version that is) faster, stronger, more experienced and smarter than any ordinary men, They are both Awe inspiring and also terrifying to behold
One of us. One of us. I was converted by the ASTARTES ANIMATION BY Sayama Pedersen. He was hired and was accredited for this Amazon animation. Yes, this is true warhammer
I bought ten space marines three on bikes and a tank. Spent hours and hours base painting the ten and only ended up finishing two. Haven’t touched them for a year but this and space marines two makes me want to start painting them again
Huge 40k fan here. Loved it for 30 years. This episode put a lump in my throat. So much emotion. "Not yet old man" and the music gave me massive chills. They absolutely nailed the feel of 40k and the awesome and dreadful power of Space Marines. You will not regret looking more into the lore, it is fathomless, epic, terrifying and batshit crazy! The world is not ready for how good this franchise is
I remember when I was looking into it thinking it was something like a trilogy of books. No, there's hundreds! It's a deep-lore nerd's wet dream. I love how all the loose ends manifest in crazy ways.
This is arguably more accurate than most portrayals. The book descriptions of space marines are downright absurd, but the usual portrayal is nowhere near the same. This, however, was much closer.
In terms of their power flexibility mobility and staunch courage I agree but it's nowhere lore accurate Titus was rocking a primaris helmet which that time there was no such thing as a primaris marine
A wise man once said: “There are two kinds of 40k books: ‘Space Man Shoot Bad Guys With Big Gun’ and ‘Meditations on the dehumanizing nature of war and the futility of mutual kindness in the face of suffocating oppression and prejudice by Askaurazoth the Child Flenser’” You watched ‘big gun’.
This Secret Level episode is one of the best intros to 40k possible outside of the Astartes animation for showing people in just a few minutes the raw fun of 40k. As a long time 40k fan it brought tears to my eyes seeing the grimdark universe given such wonderful justice
As a fellow recent 40k Convert, fresh from the woefully mismanaged Star Wars and Halo IPs - a nerd-refugee if you will - you should absolutely take the dive down the rabbit hole! What a glorious universe it is, so rich in lore and wonderful storytelling!
@ViolosD2I yup, but much like anyone who would want to get into old Star Wars, there's more than enough content for new fans to enjoy before they catch up to modern day changes. 40k also seems to be a story told in a much different way, especially when it comes to lore updates. It seems they can really only affect the greater story moving into the future, while everything pre M41 seems pretty dang set in stone aside from details that are still left to vague for the time being.
3:49 - Don't worry, we don't know either. It was an entirely new creation for this show, it appears nowhere else in the lore, tabletop, or games. We know what Sorcerers are, we know who Tzeentch is, and the themes. This mutant/xeno? Nope. We got something delicious to chew on too. It was IMPORTANT for the show to do this to us too, and it succeeded. We're all on level playing ground now as we discuss this amazing thing. Syama Pedersen did the same thing with his creation of the Retributor Astartes chapter (which is now officially recognized) and the Xeno (alien) spheres and the things inside them. We know enough to appreciate what it could be like, but no one knew for SURE what any of it was. And that's the fun part, that's how it's supposed to go. There's room in the setting to be creative.
first off, welcome brother. 40k has lore so deep, and a hobby so vast in scale that its often hard to sum it all up without going into a TED Talk... but this is the best job I've seen anyone do, and its been fantastic for existing fans to see so many people wanting to explore our universe. Add in the very well-recieved SPACE MARINE 2 game that features our lad Titus here, and you will see many older GW/40k fans going out of their way to be welcoming to new fans.... I dont care if you are new to the fandom or a 40yr vet.... its just good to have new support! A LARGE reason for the effectiveness of this film was the involvement of a fan artist who created a lean, tight short called ASTARTES, that is highly worth seeing. Its DNA runs through this short and has the same "show, dont tell" vibe. As others have mentioned, the (almost right of passage) next step is for you to watch Bricky's three videos to give you that solid basis. They are fun and snappy (despite their length) and they really do help. 1) Every 40k faction part 1 and 2- this tells you every main race in the 40k universe. worth viewing first 2) 40k timeline - tells you the story of the universe, and where the factions fit 3) every space marine faction - overview of the most lore heavy aspect here.
Keep in mind, they only sent 4 to deal with this. If they sent in maybe 20 (out of 1000) or dispatched the Grey Knights (the spec ops anti-demon Space Marines), that would be considered overkill and a waste of resources.
Also, these 4 were one's of the ultramarines' finest warriors, all of them are complete veterans like Titus, who he has more than 200+ years serving the emperor.
I do find it puzzling that they didn't deploy a librarian along with the squad, they had to have known with the expected mortality being "absolute". Deploying a veteran sergeant and a lieutenant, the other two were most likely just as experienced does seem like a waste that could have been avoided if a librarian came down with them.
The atmosphere of the episode, the feeling that you've fallen into a world- no, a UNIVERSE- larger than you could ever comprehend, that feeling is with you wherever you enjoy the Warhammer 40K IP. The feeling that the detail and scale of this reality is too vast to fully comprehend, yet attempt to comprehend it, you must! There's very few IP Universes like it
@@TheUrizen It was listed in the summary of the episode that it was a Mutant Sorcerer. Many forget the Mutant and think only of the Alien and the Heretic. All must be purged.
@@TheUrizenno it was some tzeench daemon prince or sorcerer. All the greater daemons of tzeench are lords of change like you saw in SM2. The giant bird thing. All greater daemons are more or less the same generally. Khorne have bloodthirsters, slaanesh keepers of secrets, nurgle great unclean ones. The statue in the room that he was contained in was that of a greater daemons of tzeench. If it had 2 heads it is Kairos Fateweaver’s statue.
4:04 - This one we did understand. Our boy, the Astropath, is a Psyker who is able to tap into the energies of the Warp and wield them. They brought a powerful Psyker with them since none of the squad had this skill, but the Psyker was squishy so couldn't survive the walk into battle. Each of the Space Marines are wearing what is basically a suit of mobile tank armor, and the best they could do was slap Skinny in a ceramite coffin that was protected by its iconography (Faith has its own power too).
The great part of this ip is you won't get roasted. Ask, and a plethora of people will step in and help you. We are so passionate we will buy you a pint and say "join us brother"
I came here to say the same thing. 40K fans are some of the most dedicated, and also most welcoming (in general) fanbases out there, and it makes me proud.
This is heavily inspired by the 40K fan animation Astartes made by Syama Pederson which is 16 mins long, took 2 years to complete and then was then bought by Games Workshop, the owners of the 40K ip. Syama is in the credits for this episode so we know he was directly involved and GW recently confirmed that Astartes 2 is still in the works which a lot of fans had assumed was dead as there hadn’t been any news in a long time. I would recommend watch Astartes but find the originals on RUclips instead of the official version as they had to change the score due to copyright reasons (the original score includes music from the Dredd soundtrack I believe). Lots of people here are going to say watch Bricky videos but those are lore dumps so if you are looking for something like this short it’s pretty much the opposite.
@@filmobsessednerd If ur going to watch bricky just bare in mind that a lot of nuances he gets wrong, and just in general with 40k youtubers there are a lot of nuances they miss just because there is so much to read. Honeslty how i would recommend you approach is maybe ot use videos like brickies as jumping off points where you see something you find interesting, and then just dive into that specific part of it whether it be a faction or character.
I will say space marines 2 is my first exposure into warhammer as well as one of my newer employees at work getting me interested enough to buy it and tell me about the board game. Playing online operations with randoms, I have been met with an unbelievably welcoming and helpful community who are just happy to see people wake up to something they are passionate about. It is very refreshing
I was like you! But instead of Secret Level *making* me a fan of 40k, it more solidified why I enjoy it so much. I only really got into Warhammer after I played Space Marine 2. Before that, I only ever loosely heard about it or knew some loose things. What's super neat about the Secret Level episode, is that it ties into the actual games, it's not just a random short story. It takes place after Space Marine 2, and follows Titus on the mission he's sent on after the game's concluded campaign. It was really awesome to see a continuation to the game that I, quite frequently, play to this day. Also, footnote, that "eyeball creature" is a sorceror/Daemon of Tzeentch. What it was doing, was entering the minds of the marines and preying on their fears, manipulating them and causing them to die at the hands of their own minds. The reason that it didn't work on Titus, though, was because he has no fear. The reason that the Daemon sees him as a child in his own mind, is because that's what Titus is at his core. A brutal, fearless, pained, and enraged killer. He is the epitome of a Space Marine. Cold, fearless, loyal, and employs calculated brutality in any battle he sees himself in. You play as him in the Space Marine games!
A lot of 40k content is what you imagine in your head. We rarely get something like this, but it's always awesome. Biggest thing, there are different factions and you can pick whatever floats your boat :]
I've been loving every single episode honestly. Knowing the games they're great in their adaptions and easter eggs but even those I don't know well it's so well done. The story telling is immaculate and each one has been somewhat thought provoking. Great advertisements for the games too.
I still have to watch the 2nd half of episodes, which I will do tonight but I agree I think this show was affective even if not all episodes hit me as hard. They confirmed a Season 2 is coming which is great!
Hey man, it was so cool seeing you have this reaction! I've been a 40k fan since the very late 90s/early 2000s, and it's always nice to see outsiders' perspective. I see lots of other people have commented here, and I'm sure there are tons of different viewpoints and tips and so on, but I thought I'd give my own since I've seen quite a lot come and go in the hobby. The first, and honestly most important thing I want to share is that warhammer 40,000 is not PRIMARILY a narrative universe. There are stories in it, lots of them, and nowadays there are some bigger main stories that drive a kind of "meta-plot" forward, but by and large Warhammer is a lot more about the mood, the theme, the vibes than many other settings, especially video-game centric settings. Warhammer originates from, and is still mainly anchored in the tabletop wargame, where hobbyists assemble and paint their own models, often customizing them and making up background for their own army. It is, in short, primarily an aesthetics-centric setting. A lot of things exist which don't make sense except because they enhance the atmosphere (for example, a lot of 40k armies fight like WW1. The main explanation for that is because it makes war look as miserable as possible.) For a LONG time, the only thing we had to go on were the short fiction, descriptive text and painted art in the rulebooks, and they all do a fantastic job of conveying the mood to the player. Warhammer 40k is an almost farcically horrific dystopian future, and it's MEANT to evoke a kind of miserable dread in you, it's MEANT to feel unnerving, almost horror-esque. But that is combined with a kind of goofy machismo, where high-octane action and hyperviolence is thrown in, creating a universe that treats itself very seriously, but can loop around to being admittedly quite silly and funny at time. The best comparison I have is something like when horror movie fans get excited over the most gorey kills in a slasher, or how cool a horror villain is. It's very serious in-universe, but from the hobbyist/fan perspective there's a kind of awareness that we really shouldn't take things TOO seriously, if that makes sense. (some people, admittedly, lack this awareness, but then that's probably true for a lot of fandoms.) There is a tendency among 40k fans to hype up the amount of "lore" (we used to call it "fluff" back in my day) 40k has, with the assumption that you're almost expected to make it your mission to learn as much of it as possible, and I'd just like to push back against that. Binging 40k lore isn't really a good idea. Instead of trying to understand everything by reading 36 Horus Heresy novels as a set-up to prepare to understand the 40k setting and whatever, I really just suggest that you pick a faction you think is cool, and then you google something like "[faction name] codex 4th edition pdf". And then you leaf through that pdf, read whatever snippets stand out to you, look at the pictures and let it all stew a bit. Don't get hung up on the details, just read whatever you find cool and skip the rest. ENJOY not knowing everything, that's half the fun! The setting was originally set up to be murky and so impossibly vast you never quite knew what was going on. This is how I an many others got into the hobby and it's a lot more gentle and sustainable than obsessing over novels and stuff, and it also bypasses the incorrect info some 40k youtubers say in their videos. (No shade, but some of them are less reliable and others, and many also sometimes miss context or tone in the original. For example, most 40k lore is written like propaganda to get you hyped for you favorite faction, not necessarily as 100% true.). I would personally strongly recommend getting familiar with the main 40k setting before going into the Horus Heresy stories that I'm sure lots of people have suggested already. A lot of the story beats in the Horus Heresy hit a lot more when you know where things are going to end up. Lots of cameos and foreshadowing are missed entirely by new fans. The depiction of Space Marines tend to vary with sources and artists. There is A LOT of variety and inconsistency in 40k media, and a lot of 40k stories lean more into humanizing marines by making them more dramatic and emotive, and doing things like making them telegraph their attacks and shouting battlecries when ambushing and really dumb things. Sometimes it works, other times you're left feeling like there's a disconnect between general lore and what you're seeing in a story or a cinematic or whatever. It's... well, it is what it is. A lot of depictions kinda have an underlying assumption that you're not going to overanalyze what's going on. I personally prefer the more hypercomepetent and disciplined depiction we're seeing in 'They Shall Know No Fear' (and "Astartes" before it), but the silent badass isn't always going to cut it. Some space marines are more "extra" than others, lol. The overall point is just that the setting has been around for so long, and adapted to so many different media by so many different writers that there's always going to be something that feels "off". I hope this wall of text didn't hit you like a powerfist. Tl;dr: Enjoy the aesthetics, that's the setting's strongest aspect.
A new Brother joins the fold! If the episode got you interested then it did its job. Warhammer and especially 40K has been slow burning for decades, snowballing into an unstoppable juggernaut of a franchise. Games Workshop makes some weird moves sometimes but they've made enough good and great ones to become so successful now. With them finalising a deal with Amazon Studios to make a TV series this episode is basically a indicator of the direction they want to go next. More media projects getting to different people and bringing them into the Hobby...
It's so cool as a fan hearing the reaction of someone coming into it cold! I would say the Secret Level episode is an _exceptionally_ good example of 40k in visual form, probably one of the two best pieces of visual media the franchise has - the other one being the Astartes fan film others have mentioned. Most Warhammer content has been in books, codices, and magazines, with only a few efforts at moving to a film or TV medium - most of which didn't do well. In terms of content and tone, it's definitely representative of a good chunk of 40k stories. The thing about Warhammer is that it's _incredibly_ broad and expansive. It's been running for nearly forty years, with stories set across the galaxy and across 65 million years, with six major species most of which are divided into multiple distinct factions, so while Secret Level is definitely representative of many 40k stories, there's _huge_ variety. My personal favourites are the Ciaphas Cain novels, which offer a rather more lighthearted, character-driven look at the grim darkness of the 41st millennium. Next steps - I'm sure a lot of people have recommended the Horus Heresy novels, but I'm going to buck the trend and recommend against that. Not because they're not good - many of them are excellent, and the overall story is great - but I don't think it's a good starting point. It's set 10,000 years before the 'current' era of the 41st millennium where most of the stories are set, and the Heresy series is richer and more enjoyable if you have a solid understanding of what it's setting up. Instead, I'd suggest checking out some lore channels here on RUclips. Luetin is fantastic for raw lore, Baldermort and Oculus Imperia give great performances, or if you want something lighter you could check out Adeptus Ridiculous. Plus of course, the Space Marine and Space Marine 2 games are both really solid.
Welcome to the rabbit hole. If you want a good primer guide for new folks, Bricky has a solid series of videos that breaks down the universe and the main factions in a way that’s easy for the uninitiated, and fun for existing fans with a sense of humor. The secret level episode is a great depiction of space marines doing their thing, but there is something for every genre and niche in 40k depending on what faction you want to focus on.
Even if the point is to entice you to go pick up a game that the "short story" is based on, a 20-minute runtime is hardly a lot of screen time. 30 or even 40 minutes would still be able to tell a short story and end a cliffhanger but give more background into an IP.
Totally hear you on that I think some of the episodes in this first season being less than 10 minutes was bad move, the Mega Man episode for a lot of people was one of the most anticipated stories and they did nothing with it. It could've been the best had it been longer.
@@filmobsessednerd I mean, it's often said that animation is expensive to make. And this is really good animation based on the clips that were in your video. Not too sure who paid to produce this series, maybe the game developers didin't want to spring for the extra runtime, but if you're going to this effort, you might as well go all the way.
I will sums up the answers to your question as easy to understand as possible: - Sooo.. the "weird eyeball-creature" is in fact, a Human! A heretic to be exact!! He (or she, idk. I gonna call that thing as "it") is a worshiper of a Dark God (or Chaos God, as we call them) named Tzeentnch!! As a worshiper, it was blessed by the Dark God to be able to use magic (time stop, invading minds)!! - Titus is the main character of both the game Space Marine 1 and 2!! He were "the boy who know no fear" (because this mtfk basically dragging a big ass dagger to slay demon in the ages of 10)!! The reason why he know no fear is because he was a blessed child since birth, with the ability to ignore Warp (Warp is the common-name we use to call the realm where demon and Chaos Gods rules. Or you can just view it as the HELL)!! With that ability, he cannot be affect by the demon and the Chaos Gods, he can resist their temptations and are a threat to their effort to invade the real world. Hence how he able to break through the mind invading attempt from "it" and kill it while the other can't!! That's why the Chaos Gods were always tryin to convince peoples around Titus that "he's a Chaos worshiper, kill him"!! That's why in the game, the jackass mtfk named Leandros is always trying to expose Titus, because this guy was a idiot who got tricked by the Chaos Gods to believe Titus is humanity's enemy!! - The guy in the coffin (or the box as you called it) were a Psyker, basically a Space Wizards!! Aside from the fact that they having ability to use magic, they are still human!! So he inside the coffin all along so that he don't DIES in the battle!! He cast a spell to protect the Space Marine boys from being attack by the Demons (you can see the hands trying to reach them when the Psyker is praying)!! Still, his magic comes with risks, to be able to use magic, one must siphon the energy for the spell from the Warp (or from Hell itself). And that involve EXPOSE YOURSELF to demons and Chaos Gods! That's why he's praying, he send his prayer to The God Emperor to protect him from demons so he can fulfill his duty!!
Titus was able to beat the demon because he has somewhat of a genetic difference which allows him to resist warp (immaterium/daemonic) influence which is a plot point for the two Space Marine video games which he is the protagonist of. However Titus is not a Blank which is something in the 40K universe. A Blank is a person who has no warp signature and in fact even cancel out warp influence in their area. Because of this effect people look at them in revulsion and they are often killed at birth because people can't stand to be around them. Those that survive at least in the Imperium go on to be anti-demon agents of the Inquisition if they're male or become a Sister of Silence who are female guards to the Emperor of Mankind that work with the Custodes.
For lore I’d honestly recommend Weshammer’s timeline video. It’s a good lore primer since in about the span of 40 minutes he covers all the biggest events in order
I'm also a recent 40K convert, thanks to Space Marine 2, Secret Level, a whack of free PDFs of the best lore novels and friends showing me their gorgeous miniature armies. Trust me, it's fun to descend into the grimdark!
It's a great introduction to the IP for sure. There's a similar one about another group of elite space marines, that's Called Enemy Without. It showcases a different enemy faction in a short compact way, and is somewhat similar stylistically. As a side note, I'm glad you got such a positive reaction to this video!
The great thing about Warhammer is it covers a whole range of interests and you're under no obligation to like everything. Many only paint minis, some only dig into the lore, a bunch are all about the tabletop game, plenty just like the video games. And you can pick and choose at will. Welcome aboard, feel free to dive in and enjoy the ride at your leisure.
Probably the most lore accurate look we’ve gotten at space marines so far outside the books. In some of the books it’s implied a relatively small amount of them can conquer entire star systems. They’re insanely strong in the lore but on the tabletop and video games they tend to have to be toned down for balance and gameplay reasons
I just started getting into the lore six months ago you are in for one hell of a ride yes it’s a lot like this. It does the series justice, and a lot of ways other franchises for Warhammer couldn’t do and the way they didn’t put a lot of exposition so you can enjoy the grim dark world of Warhammer.
As someone who got into Warhammer Fantasy post endtimes, then found 40K through the hilarious shenanigans of the Orks and now tries to figure out the lore of the Age of Sigmar I always love seeing people come into contact with warhammer for the first time, since whatever it is that they see it is but a droplet in the ocean of more than three decades of lore, novels, tabletop game editions and so much more. 40K though it started of as the spin-off of Warhammer fantasy battles quickly became it's own thing, and what a thing it has become! Spaceships looking like cathedrals destroying worlds on a whim, hordes of orks that are a bioweapon from the war in heaven, and those are just the mundane stuff. To say the amount of lore of each warhammer setting is gigantic is an understatement, and with 40k it is no different, as such I am glad that for the secret level animation they went with a space marine mission which masterfully shows some of the in lore stuff without toning it down from it's grimdark theme, you see the power of the astartes, you feel the horror of Tzeentch and his sorceries, hells they even show an astropath (the guy in the box, a psyker that is not tonly immensely powerful but also is responsible for interstellar communications through telepathy). this is in my opinion a good thing, by starting simple, while showing hints to the insanity that is the setting and all it's lore it sparks curiosity, making people want to find out more about it. Anyways, enough rambling, welcome to the Grimdark future of 40K my friend, May the Emperor be with you!
I recently got into the 40k universe too. I heard the new space marine game was coming out, saw some trailers, went to the store and bought the starter kit with my kids. I've never seen a more welcoming community, especially online. No gate-keeping, just helpful people excited to share what they love with you. So glad I found my way here. Feels like a very exciting time to come into it
Near life-time fan of 40k here, this is the best representation of the universe I've ever seen in any form of media. Prior to this, it was the fan series series of shorts called Astartes, which I'd also HIGHLY recommend as its absolutely amazing as well. Welcome to the fandom. Also, check out the Eisenhorn trilogy if you want some truly outstanding books.
@@forcemarine I mean .. sort of. It's still just marines vs cultist. People love it because marines are just tearing through an outclassed enemy. Canonically group of Banshees or Wyches would in essence do the same thing, just with a different style. I'd be more interested in seeing non-plot armor depictions of space Marines fighting stuff like Eldar, where they are going to need to work real hard to get out alive.
To note, the Daemon exploited the marines fears. The first marine feared his own weakness, and hid it from others. He attempted to destroy that weakness but he destroyed himself. The second Marine we don’t know. The third marine found and recruited Titus. He found a child who was filled with pain and rage, and he had always feared Titus could become an adherent of Chaos. Titus… has no fear. His pain and rage is ever burning, and he is steadfast. He has no weakness for the warp entities to exploit.
The thing that this animation got right that I hadn't yet seen is the astartes' speed. The brutality and power is always there, but the speed is the key ingredient. In the lore there's this phenomenon called "Transhuman Dread". Normal humans often go through extreme reactions when they are in the presence of a space marine especially on the battlefield. If it's their first time it's not uncommon for them to go cataplectic losing control of their body or catatonic as their brains try to reconcile the sight of something that big and that powerful moving faster than anyone should. Even after prolonged exposure it's a mark of a hardened human character if they are able to look a space marine in the eyes. This exaggerated effect is difficult to translate into visual media. We are used to big, hulking things in video games smashing stuff like Space Marine 2, but look closely at the animation of the 4 marines fighting the chaos cultists - their movements are lightning fast, those punches are heavily pulled and yet they still throw a cultist beyond the horizon, and that axe swing into a backhand overhead axe swing followed by a downward punch through the crown of a cultist happens in a second. It won't make you catatonic, but that's the first time I've seen hand-to-hand space marine combat animated in a way that feels true to the novels I've read. My biggest gripe - maybe I'm wrong, but the bladeguard never activate the disruption fields on their swords and power axe. They should be rippling with blue energy. then again, it's feasible that the bladeguard veterans deemed it unnecessary for the chaff.
As someone whose been a fan of 40K since childhood and has since read almost 50 novels and spent an embarrassing amount of time and money on this franchise, I'll say this: What you witnessed is what I could best describe as a microscopic, surface level example of just one tiny TINY part of a VAST, intriquite fascinating and fun universe, the best fictional setting and franchise mankind has ever conceived. No that is not a joke. This franchise is such a goddamn rabbit hole, but every nook and crevise is so rewarding. Specifically, what you witnessed is a high-budget depiction of Imperial Space Marines of the Ultramarines chapter. There are many kinds of Space Marines, and as powerful as they are, the wider universe is stuffed to the brim with threats that make them look like little insects. You love tabletop wargaming? 40K is the best. You like deep and iterconnected roleplay systems? 40K has several. You love Videogames? 40K has many, and some of them are actually good! (Boltgun, Space Marine 2, Dawn of War, Mechanicus, Inquisitor Martyr, Darktide, Necromunda: Hired Gun) And if you love books... Oh. My. GOD. 40K has almost 300 novels, and so many of them have become my favorite books of all time. RUclips is chock-full of lore breakdowns, introductions to the wider franchise, places to start, but I'll break it down easy for you. Pick whichever faction you like the most. "looks cool!" is good enough. Pick whichever medium appeals to your tastes, budget and time. Videogames, tabletop, the hobby, the books, etc. DO NOT try to engage with the whole thing all at once. You will never succeed, it's too big for any one person, and that's okay. My personal recommendation for getting started: Tabletop: get a killteam set. It's like the wargame, but much smaller. Videogames: Space Marine 2. Best with controller, on most consoles and PC. RolePlay: Dark Heresy. Rules heavy, but very VERY deep Books, several reccomendations: Ghostmaker, The Fall of Cadia, Brutal Kunnin', The Infinite and the Divine, The Ciaphus Cain series, The Eisenhorn series. Honestly just watch Bricky lmao 😘
@@Viktor_JohanssonYeah, its probably among the best, if not THE best as a video game rather than just simply a "warhammer game". Itd be incredible even if it wasnt warhammer, but of course its so integral that you couldnt just take out the setting lol. It is also probably the best entrypoint for anyone into warhammer due to the brilliant tooltips and in-game dictionary/encyclopedia, as well as being a rogue trader just being a good starting point to begin with. Youre a special person, and get all the privileges to do almost whatever you want in this universe. You get a taste of most of the different species and factions which you often wouldnt in one of the more focused games/media. You basically get a taste of most groups in the imperium of man interacting with xenos, etc. Such a good starting point.
Glad to hear it. Now if you're interested in more WH40k, there are few ways that you can approach it. Either go into the media directly, or watch some lore videos and other fan made content. Personally, I'd recommend choosing the latter only to get a brief overview of the most basic parts of lore, and to get the vibe. Then switch to official media, which is mostly books, video games, few videos and animated tv shows here and there, and in few years probably a live action tv series (and of course the tabletop game, but you're not gonna get much lore from that, and it's by far the most expensive part of the WH40k). So, in terms of lore videos and other fan-made videos, I'd recommend these: 1) Every 40k faction part 1 and 2 2) 40k timeline 3) Every space marine faction These are all by Bricky, and they do a decent job of introducing you to WH40k. They're not mega deep, elaborate, 4 hours long videos that some other lore youtubers do (which do have their place, but certainly not for newcomer), but at the same time, they're long enough, and with right mix of official lore and memes to be entertaining. In terms of other fan-made videos, I'd recommend these: 1) Astartes by Syama Pedersen (very similar to the secret level episode, it is probably what inspired that episode in the first place) 2) Warhammer 40,000: An Intro to the Dark Millennium by Garrot (probably the best in terms of getting the correct vibe of at least old-school Warhammer, and also serves as short lore intro into the world) 3) Warhammer 40,000: ++ IMPERIUM ++ by Garrot (basically the same as previous recommendation, only it's purely about atmosphere, don't expect any lore, story, etc. it's just vibes) 4) Death of Hope by SparksArtifex (this is unfortunately unfinished, but it has 2 trailers, and part 1, all of which are pretty great, probably the 2nd best production for fan-made video right after Astartes) 5) All of the WH40k videos by SODAZ (unfortunately nowadays they only appear as reuploads, but they had nice short action) As far as official content goes, I'd recommend first watching trailers. There are plenty to choose from, I can recommend: 9th edition trailer, 10th edition trailer, Horus Heresy trailer, Killteam trailer, Darktide trailers, Space Marine 2 trailers (btw. in that game you play as Titus, from the secret level episode), Dawn of War I, II & III trailers, Boltgun trailer, and many others that I don't remember as of now. Then you can go down the route of either videogames, or books. When it comes to videogames, my recommendations are more or less the same as trailers: Space Marine, Space Marine 2, Dawn of War games (if you like RTS), Darktide, Boltgun, Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2, and Mechanicus. As far as books go: Eisenhorn series (includes 4 Eisenhorn books, 3 Ravenor books, and 3 Bequin books, one of which didn't come out as of now), Gaunt's Ghosts series, and Horus Heresy series. There are plenty more that are probably great, but I didn't get to them yet, so can't recommend because I don't even remember their names.
Ah yes.... the Horus Heresy series as a beginner recommendation..... definitely not the largest and most confusing book series to ever exist to the point of needing a flow chart to read it chronologically..... all 64 books of it.....
As someone who reads 40k, and is halfway through the Horus Heresy, this Secret Level episode is the perfect representation of how Astartes are described fighting - economical, no wasted flourishes and every movement is the death of an enemy. Most chapters of Marines fight silently after maybe having a battle cry relevant to their Primarch. It genuinely made me giddy seeing this perfectly represented on screen. They are unstoppable murder machines, who just happen to essentially be child soldiers. Titus being the genuine “no know fear” marine is excellent, as they were originally created by the Emperor to not know fear, but during the Heresy, revealed the lie that that was. They are extremely resilient to fear, but when you have literal demons striding the battlefield, fear creeped in. It was never strong enough to make them flee, but doubt would rear its head. Chaos feeds on that doubt, demons taunt marines for their doubt. Titus has none of it. He is utterly faithful. I can’t wait for the day we see Guilliman or the Lion appear on a show. Seeing them fight would make this episode look like children play-fighting.
The action and music sold me. So nice just to see some epicly portrayed carnage without any strings attached. I liked reading the scenes through watching rather than having it all told to the audience via dialogue.
One of the things that is getting missed a bit today. Warhammer started out in the 80s as an reaction to the uk gov at that time. It was every scifi clichee turned up to 11 and didnt take itself too serious . That is still part it. It is sooo over the top.
[A decades long Indian, New Zealander 40K fan says] This short was brilliant as a well executed introduction to Warhammer 40K. Brutal, science fiction combat...against grim dark sorcery... (It's not Star trek. It's not Disney's 'The Acolyte'...).
I got into 40k last year through coming across random lore videos, moving into animations and now reading the books. I'm a sucker for sci fi so it didn't take much to grab me but i've showed this episode to my friends who aren't really into this sort of stuff and they loved this simply because of the action and how cool it looked.
@@Xarthys I've found Star Wars to be up and down and up and down a lot. I like a lot of stuff and then other stuff has definitely been more meh in quality.
@@filmobsessednerd The Mandalorian was by the best they've put out in recent years, I thought Ahsoka was decent and Obi -Wan Kenobi purely for the nostalgia and Vader ofc. The book of Boba and The acolyte were for me, awful. We then have the sequel trilogy which I don't care to speak on lol.
@@Xarthys I love Mandalorian and Andor, really liked Visions, Bad Batch, Ahsoka and the Tales of series. I thought Boba Fett, Obi-Wan and Mando S3 were just ok. Acolyte a little bit lower than that but didn't think it was trash trash.
One of my favorite short stories on RUclips on the WH40k hammer and bolter is "Bound for greatness" It essentially shows the backstory of how a planet ends up to this point. Writing in this universe is on another level, good to see such a good story on a 20 min short
That moment when the Astartes charge at demon psyker (the weird eyeball thing) after she kill human psyker almost scare the shi*t outta me. Syama Pedersen is the Emperor's chosen to direct Warhammer animated series, and the dream sequence is mindblowing, the sound, the camera, the visual, etc. If GW and some billionaire out there want to invest W40K animated series, i hope Syama Pedersen is in total control. And welcome to the rabbit hole brother, you should see Astartes fan project on RUclips.
One great detail that people seem to miss is that as the daemon began entering each marine's mind, their pupil was shown dilated fully (due to fear), but on Titus the pupil remained at the exact same size symbolizing that Titus really can't feel any fear. Fucking dope!
Honestly as a fan for 30 years, 40k can mean a lot of diffrent things for diffrent people but in general, what makes 40k 40k is the world building and this nailed it. Like you can have a funny story, or a sad one, or maybe horror but you place that anywhere in the 40k setting and it feels like 40k. I think one example, and I'm gonna butcher this but there is a detective series that takes place in the city, Varengantua. Which cool, it's Dick Trace but a hive city is a city that holds billions of people in like an upside down 100 km wide funnel designed like a Vatican church. What setting has stuff like that?
Very accurate depiction of Warhammer 40K. I have never played the tabletop. I love the lore and fell in love with the lore way back in 1991. I have hundreds of books and the codexes. I am just obsessed with the story.
Never played the tabletop? That's good, you've saved yourself from a money sink. Kill-Team is a decent game, Necromunda is even better- both are much more affordable.
Glad to hear another person is getting into 40k! If you want to get more questions answered, I would recommend 40k lore channels like Luetin or Weshammer, theres also an excellent overview of every faction in the verse by Bricky, nice beginner stuff. There are also over 150 books that take place in the Warhammer universe, and just about none of them are in any particular order so you can just pick whichever one looks most interesting. May the Song of Slaanesh guide your way, and may Warhammer become an interest of yours for years to come!
@@tau-5794 It's fun though and easier for introduction. Of course no other than Luetin is correctly named the lore master. But Bricky is good for intro.
I’ve been into 40k since 2003, and I mostly read lore. I have a small library at this point. This video is very lore accurate. The veneration for the customs, traditions and process of their chapter workings and the imperium at large. The superhuman abilities and levels of training and experience, decades to centuries of non stop battle or training) of the Astartes (space marine). They are so far beyond the average human and this really shows it. Their power armor essentially makes them walking tanks. Weapons that turn most problems to the past tense quickly and brutally. The discipline of the Ultramarines battle doctrine is shown really well. The way Titus charges the tank but leaves the sarcophagus behind, and how the brother brings it back to him and shows his annoyance at breaking doctrine with a sideways look. That is spot on. I could keep going and going. But that’s for another day… This episode made me giddy. If they make the show to this level of lore accuracy we are in for a treat. A horrifically terrifying gore filled treat. With indoctrinated super murders. Oh yeah, the Imperium is meant to be dark satire. Remember that.
And the being the ultramarines were fighting was just a sorcerer, a human mutated by the 'gifts' of one of the 4 chaos gods (Tzeench), imagine when the Astartes must fight a Lord Deamon of Tzeench!
I think the best thing about this is that this is only surface level 40k and it’s still this compelling, you are not at all prepared for much that there is to see and you’ll love it.
I'm a few months in and i gotta say the community is the best part of this hobby, also the eye-ball guy is new and I can't wait to see if they expand on him or make a mini of it
Welcome to Warhammer! I just played my first 40k game yesterday and won. About to put on a Luetin lore video now and get some sleep before work. I enjoyed your analysis and I have also had a positive experience with the Warhammer fanbase.
“Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear.” - The Emperor of Mankind
Always glad to see a new fan ! The episode was good and a good adaptation of the universe. I'll water down some of the comments however with some minor remarks : 1.) The choreography of the fights was a bit over the top, like the space marines were "posing", which, to me, made it feel a bit weird. I mean, sapce marines are not known to put on spectacle (at least not those ones). 2. ) The idea that a child never knew fear and somehow this makes him a more powerful space marine is pretty ridiculous. And it completely undermines the amount of transformation, endoctrination, training a teenager goes through to become a space marine. Of course this makes for a cool scene when he kills the sorcerer. (And i get why it's like that, Titus is the main character of his game (Space Marines 2, very good) so he has to be even more badass.) The really strong point for me (appart from the quality of animation, of course) is the psyker in a box. The Imperium is the most cruel, abusive, obscurantist, supersticious regime you can think of. It has no regards for individuality, understanding or anything close. Nothing says grimdark like dragging around a magic guy in a metal box to use it as a one time energy shield. Wether or not Secret Level gives an accurate portrayal of the physical capabilities of Space Marines cannot really be answered, because the descriptions of those capabilities vary wildly from one source to the other. If you want to learn more about the life in the Imperium the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett is probably a good start because it happened to be good story with good writing (something that cannot be said about all 40k books). It is centered around an inquisitor, some sort of above the law, autonomous, space federal agent investigating occult or alien threats. Storm of Iron by Graham McNeil is another really good book depicting human soldiers facing a siege by Chaos Space Marines (yup, corrupted versions of space marines). Oh and if you see "40k is under siege !!!!" comments, don't pay any attention to it. Some people spend too much time on Twitter and can't see a decision they dislike (which is their right) as just that, it needs to be the proof of a conspiration. The hobby has always been full of people from all walks of life getting together to share their passion of playing with the miniatures they painted, it's a community full of positivity, and we always welcome newcomers.
I appreciate your last point cause I've had some of those twitter like users come into my comments with their bullshit and I just have no time for that. All I have time for are respectful and passionate fans who will treat me right and get me more into this world if I want to learn more.
Welcome to the family, I call the Warhammer community a family because these are some of the most helpful, creative, and absolutely nerdy people I’ve ever met. I got into Warhammer about a year or so ago and I had no idea how or where to start, so I decided to try asking around and then the magic happened. So in short you’re in for an interesting, very confusing, and absolutely fun ride. Also if you’re looking for something to get yourself started into Warhammer’s lore then I would suggest the Lorehammer podcast. They cover all of the lore from the dip your toes in stage to the vague and obscure stage.
As long as you come into the hobby/ip with the intention to enjoy it for what it is and not change it to be how you think it should be, then you'll find people will be very open arms
Hell yeah dude. I've known of the warhammer 40k universe, but didn't know a thing about it. Started playing Space Marines 2 this week and I'm officially hooked. Bought some more games of the 40k universe and just going down the rabbit hole. The table top game interests me too, but that's a commitment idk that I'm ready for.
This episode was one of the best 40k representations I've seen; even many of the prose explorations don't come close. Whoever crafted it, I reckon they thought ling and hard about what Space Marines would look like, move, fight. The atmosphere was compelling, though there are a million different environments to explore. The daemon creature at the end was amazing. The 'priest dude' was an astropath, essentially a psychic radio who would broadcast their location for the orbital strike, due to the lack of vox/digital comms.
Wow... from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who has commented already on this video and also anyone new who might come in and leave their thoughts. For the first time ever, I did not receive one negative comment from anyone. No joke, I scrolled all the way down and didn't find one case of someone being an asshole, troll or doing anything else bad. I think that's indicative of the fan base of Warhammer that I've heard so many good things about. I was not expecting this video to blow up so fast. I went to the gym right after I dropped it and I come back and I see all this support its gotten slap me in the face lol. Again, thank you so much! I plan to hopefully one day get more into this world if I can since my schedule in life now is much busier but I will make sure I do my best.🙏
Well hey if you like this you should play Space Marine 2, you get to play as Titus in the story and hes one of the guys in the Secret Level Episode. 👍
there is an animation you must see called Astartes, it was a short film project made by One man (who is now employed by gamesworkshop because of it) that annimation is pure fire hits hard youll love it. also, if you like audio books A Vox in the Void do a lot of 40k short stories some real powerful ones, id like to recommend a tale of an Ogryn called Gav, short stories in four parts Gav and Bob narrated by Vox in the Void. Welcome to 40k good sir, enjoy its grim dark bounty ✊️
also... another banger from a Vox in the Void... Abomination.
40K fans have this bond with each other. Two things 1 -A collective understanding that our shared adoration is not palatable to the masses
2- do not dumb it down for the masses.
Grimdark is in your soul or it isn't.
@@puromax7787 Titus is main guy in that episode imo i think - Sergent Materus is the second important character in the episode I think
Titus is the UltraGood Boii
By the emperor; his eyes are open! Welcome to the rabbit hole 🫡
We must remain cautious, brother, it could be a trap set by heretics.
Ave Imperator!
"No world shall be beyond my rule; no enemy shall be beyond my wrath."
Emperor Protects!
To where he is heading, he does not need eyes to see! For the glory of the Chaos Gods!
*_" The Emperors Glory will find fertile soil everywhere. Whoever denies this, smells of Heresy ! "_*
The best part is the poor psyker in a box. It encapsulates the imperial approach to problem solving perfectly.
That's where he deserves to be. There is a reason why they keep them like that, they aren't being cruel to be cruel, they are conduits for literal demons.
Better than being one of the thousands they sacrifice daily to the Golden throne to keep the God Emperor alive and the Astronomican shining.
humanity is another tool of the Imperium to be used up, the protection of psyker attacks included.
The whole ep I was wondering what is in the box, but when it got opened i was surprised, felt pity for the psyker, then i remember how they were pulling and passing him around i laughed sooooo hard, it was kinda funy😂, especially since they started the ep with " In THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FAR FUTURE...", I should've expected that.
They were like: [PSYKER] I CHOOSE YOU
Go go pocket psyker
Dead.
No no, "weird eyeball thing" just about sums it up.
Yes. It was pretty much Lore accurate description.
Yeah, "weird eyeball thing" is basically a core design element for Tzeentch's forces.
Protect your soul Brother for the force of chaos come in unending forms but all seek to devour you.
He wants to get roasted tho. Call him goofy
Yeah, those fckin demons man
To clarify some things in the show:
Eyeball person is A “Sorcerer of Tzeentch”. Essentially, they are a literal demon serving the chaos god of Tzeentch, (pronounced Zeen tch), who embodies the mind and change. Thus they have extreme control over the mind and able to bypass the Space Marine’s armor.
Titus is the protagonist of The Warhammer 40k: Space Marine Games. Both 1 and 2. The second one being the game the episode is based on, and takes place directly after.
The astropath (or guy in the box) is presumably a Psyker. Basically a dude who is a space wizard and is able to counter the effects of the sorcerer via his prayer. Psykers are heavily unstable and gain their powers from the warp (Basically hell, and where Tzeentch and the other 3 chaos gods and their demons come from), and are highly regulated by the Imperium of Man. (The Imperium is the Religious Empire of All Humanity who worship their uniter (The Emperor of man) like a god. His Space Marines being the finest of Man and are in a sense given part of his godlike power. Hence why they can smash tanks and take so much physical punishment.
The space marines founding words/motto are “They are my Space Marines, and they shall know no fear.” Hence the title of the episode.
The sorcerer of tzeetch is human chaos sorcerer, if it where a demon then the squad would have had a librarian with them.
the guy in the box isnt an astropath hes just a sanctioned psyker
@ according to the credits, he’s an astropath.
Fittingly, the line "and they shall know no fear" is how the chaos sorcerer finally killed such veterans with likely hundreds of years of experience each. Eyeball, esquire got into their heads, unleashed the fear long since suppressed from when they were mere child soldiers before the transformative, traumatic, and metamorphic transition to becoming Space Marines, and used it against them.
Its how Titus seemingly resists. Even as a child aspirant, the show is telling us he's always been like this. He knew no fear since childhood. And its that that turns the tables on the clearly confused as fuck Eyeball, esquire.
Not a Demon. It is a human sorcerer that is juiced up to the tits with chaos.
@@watchonjar Was a human Chaos sorcerer. Homeboy probably gave up his humanity a long time ago.
Also, you don't "need" a librarian when dealing with daemons... It's just a very useful thing to have when dealing with daemons. So I'm not sure why you think it isn't a daemon simply because there is no librarian. Librarians are not the magic anti-daemon people. I mean if we are going to think that way... Why didn't they just bring a squad of grey knights?Definitely daemon-be-gone then.
As a massive 40k nerd, this episode was damn near perfect. From visuals to characters--and especially the choreography--the exacting commitment to the spirit of the source material is palpable. I'd mention Astartes by Syama Pederson but a bunch of people have already done that, so...
Love this series, love this episode. Welcome to the c̶u̶l̶t̶ fandom, bro.
I read this whole thing, didn't understand any of it but yet I appreciate you welcoming me in haha!
@@gaiusfulmen it's not a Cult, if your local Black Chaplain, Sororita, and Inquisition saids so
i still havent heard any hardcore fan thoughts about Hammer and Bolter. i personally loved it. the episode about lucius gave me chills.
There is a short film called ASTARTES, it was a fan animation film made by Syama Pederson before the Games Workshop hired Syama Pederson to work and canonize his short animation. the choreography and cinematography has some influence or similarity to it this is because Syama Pederson actually work on Secret Level as well, I don't know if you had view ASTARTES it but you should check it out it is on youtube
@@satrio.d.c.purnomo9973 Astartes is what got me introduced to warhammer 40k. It's hardcore
To show you how great this episode was, there's an extra layer of lore on the ending. The mission briefing said Mortality Absolute which means it's a suicide mission and the controller said "Die well brothers" after launching the missile from the ship because they're basically dropping a nuke on their position. There is a lore quote that goes "Only in death does duty end" so when the sergeant says "Our duty is done. It's time to go," what he really means is it's time to die. And THAT'S why Titus says "Not yet old man."
Which really makes no sense. Sending Titus, one of their strongest Marines, that he has proven again and again, to a suicide mission.
@@Art_for_MageWelcome to the grimdark that is the 41st millennium. It’s not pretty and some missions HAVE to succeed.
@@Art_for_Mage I think Calgar knows fullwell how impenetrable Titus' plot armour is, so if you've got a suicide mission to do, who better to send?
Or maybe it's just Leandros being a dick again; "Look! Titus survived *another* suicide mission!! Heretic!!!"
@@TehJumpingJawa Probably Leandros. "Survive a nuke to the face, heretic!"
@@gawkersdeathrattle1759 That little bitch Leandros most definetely has a finger on this.
The Warhammer episode is pretty much spiritual successor to Astartes by Syama Pedersen which is phenomenal.
I am pretty sure he was involved making this episode.
He's credited at the end as a layout artist (basically planning the flow / action of the scenes for the animation team to come in and fine tune later)
Bro the Credits was listed him majority.
I hope Caville and his team reach out to Syama to work on the movie
@@nullakjg767 Sure, but his style permeated the entire thing. There is no way to deny he didn't influence this to an incredible degree.
@@mechaslav8520 thats not "his style" thats just what 40k is. he was influenced by 40k, not the other way around.
What I liked about this was the portrayal of Astartes as what they are like, weapons, they are horrifyingly fast and strong, seemingly unstoppable and seem only focussed on fulfilling their mission, this makes the confrontation with the sorcerer even better, because suddenly you realize that these seemingly invincible angels of death, are not the scariest thing around.
They are not even trying hard, just efficient in killing mobs. And they are already fast 🎉🎉. Cant wait to see more challenging opponent
They do the whole thing in silence.
Astartes are basically Frankenstines Monster (the book version that is) faster, stronger, more experienced and smarter than any ordinary men,
They are both Awe inspiring and also terrifying to behold
One of us. One of us. I was converted by the ASTARTES ANIMATION BY Sayama Pedersen. He was hired and was accredited for this Amazon animation.
Yes, this is true warhammer
I bought ten space marines three on bikes and a tank. Spent hours and hours base painting the ten and only ended up finishing two. Haven’t touched them for a year but this and space marines two makes me want to start painting them again
I found out abt it after grinding helldivers. Since then ive been filling my brain with wh40k lore and SM chapters
Fun fact he was ABSOLUTELY involved in making this episode! He’s even mentioned in the end credits!
The creator of Astartes? That video is what got me hooked on the 40k universe. It's metal as fuck.
Same
Huge 40k fan here. Loved it for 30 years.
This episode put a lump in my throat. So much emotion.
"Not yet old man" and the music gave me massive chills.
They absolutely nailed the feel of 40k and the awesome and dreadful power of Space Marines.
You will not regret looking more into the lore, it is fathomless, epic, terrifying and batshit crazy!
The world is not ready for how good this franchise is
I remember when I was looking into it thinking it was something like a trilogy of books. No, there's hundreds! It's a deep-lore nerd's wet dream. I love how all the loose ends manifest in crazy ways.
@@davewebster5120 the horus heresy book chart almost killed me the first time i seen it XD
They are almost ready
The deafening ring into the beat drop as the combat starts is absolutely peak cinema. Loved it.
This is arguably more accurate than most portrayals. The book descriptions of space marines are downright absurd, but the usual portrayal is nowhere near the same. This, however, was much closer.
Eh it depends on the chapter and book in particular
In terms of their power flexibility mobility and staunch courage I agree but it's nowhere lore accurate Titus was rocking a primaris helmet which that time there was no such thing as a primaris marine
@ yep that’s also something that is not accurate
@@marvelouslukpata5345 eh, what time? This is set after SM2.
@@marvelouslukpata5345you are lost
A wise man once said: “There are two kinds of 40k books: ‘Space Man Shoot Bad Guys With Big Gun’ and ‘Meditations on the dehumanizing nature of war and the futility of mutual kindness in the face of suffocating oppression and prejudice by Askaurazoth the Child Flenser’”
You watched ‘big gun’.
We lov' big gunz ! Paint 'em red makes them shoot faster !
This Christmas, give her the best gift one could ask for: a Psyk in a box.
This Secret Level episode is one of the best intros to 40k possible outside of the Astartes animation for showing people in just a few minutes the raw fun of 40k. As a long time 40k fan it brought tears to my eyes seeing the grimdark universe given such wonderful justice
It was a glorious love letter to 40k.
As a fellow recent 40k Convert, fresh from the woefully mismanaged Star Wars and Halo IPs - a nerd-refugee if you will - you should absolutely take the dive down the rabbit hole!
What a glorious universe it is, so rich in lore and wonderful storytelling!
40k is under siege as well, but so far it holds.
@ViolosD2I yup, but much like anyone who would want to get into old Star Wars, there's more than enough content for new fans to enjoy before they catch up to modern day changes. 40k also seems to be a story told in a much different way, especially when it comes to lore updates. It seems they can really only affect the greater story moving into the future, while everything pre M41 seems pretty dang set in stone aside from details that are still left to vague for the time being.
Play Space Marine 2, then start reading some books. Eisenhorn or Horus Rising are good places to start
Happy nerding!
It is the most accurate depiction of the Warhammer 40K world I've ever seen, and I've been a fan since 2001
No it's not lol
@@marvelouslukpata5345 what is then?
@@timbob1145 lore isn't accurate at all
@@marvelouslukpata5345 tf are you on about, be specific.
@@timbob1145 the helmet they're wearing are for primaris which Titus at his young age there was no such thing as primaris yet
3:49 - Don't worry, we don't know either. It was an entirely new creation for this show, it appears nowhere else in the lore, tabletop, or games. We know what Sorcerers are, we know who Tzeentch is, and the themes. This mutant/xeno? Nope. We got something delicious to chew on too. It was IMPORTANT for the show to do this to us too, and it succeeded. We're all on level playing ground now as we discuss this amazing thing.
Syama Pedersen did the same thing with his creation of the Retributor Astartes chapter (which is now officially recognized) and the Xeno (alien) spheres and the things inside them. We know enough to appreciate what it could be like, but no one knew for SURE what any of it was. And that's the fun part, that's how it's supposed to go. There's room in the setting to be creative.
first off, welcome brother.
40k has lore so deep, and a hobby so vast in scale that its often hard to sum it all up without going into a TED Talk... but this is the best job I've seen anyone do, and its been fantastic for existing fans to see so many people wanting to explore our universe.
Add in the very well-recieved SPACE MARINE 2 game that features our lad Titus here, and you will see many older GW/40k fans going out of their way to be welcoming to new fans.... I dont care if you are new to the fandom or a 40yr vet.... its just good to have new support!
A LARGE reason for the effectiveness of this film was the involvement of a fan artist who created a lean, tight short called ASTARTES, that is highly worth seeing. Its DNA runs through this short and has the same "show, dont tell" vibe.
As others have mentioned, the (almost right of passage) next step is for you to watch Bricky's three videos to give you that solid basis. They are fun and snappy (despite their length) and they really do help.
1) Every 40k faction part 1 and 2- this tells you every main race in the 40k universe. worth viewing first
2) 40k timeline - tells you the story of the universe, and where the factions fit
3) every space marine faction - overview of the most lore heavy aspect here.
you are so right
You have explained everything perfectly, you just basically are the perfect guide
Do not forget the Lore Father himself (Luetin09)
Dang... that's a lot but so helpful at the same time thank you so much for sharing!
Yes luetin!!!
This is probably the most accurate depiction of Space Marines and their strength and brutality that I've seen in film, fan or official.
Keep in mind, they only sent 4 to deal with this.
If they sent in maybe 20 (out of 1000) or dispatched the Grey Knights (the spec ops anti-demon Space Marines), that would be considered overkill and a waste of resources.
Also, these 4 were one's of the ultramarines' finest warriors, all of them are complete veterans like Titus, who he has more than 200+ years serving the emperor.
Once they deployed in the tens of thousands.
My first thought was, why not send the whole company up in the ship? They would have steamrolled that sorcerer.
I can only spare 3 men
I do find it puzzling that they didn't deploy a librarian along with the squad, they had to have known with the expected mortality being "absolute". Deploying a veteran sergeant and a lieutenant, the other two were most likely just as experienced does seem like a waste that could have been avoided if a librarian came down with them.
The atmosphere of the episode, the feeling that you've fallen into a world- no, a UNIVERSE- larger than you could ever comprehend, that feeling is with you wherever you enjoy the Warhammer 40K IP. The feeling that the detail and scale of this reality is too vast to fully comprehend, yet attempt to comprehend it, you must! There's very few IP Universes like it
Eyeball guy is close enough. It is likely a sorcerer of Tzeentch (The changer of ways) So there is no one else exactly like that. 👍
I thought it was a Greater Demon, judging by the size of the temple dedicated to it, and the strange Warp powers that it had.
@@TheUrizenthis
@@TheUrizen It was listed in the summary of the episode that it was a Mutant Sorcerer. Many forget the Mutant and think only of the Alien and the Heretic. All must be purged.
@@TheUrizenno it was some tzeench daemon prince or sorcerer. All the greater daemons of tzeench are lords of change like you saw in SM2. The giant bird thing. All greater daemons are more or less the same generally. Khorne have bloodthirsters, slaanesh keepers of secrets, nurgle great unclean ones.
The statue in the room that he was contained in was that of a greater daemons of tzeench. If it had 2 heads it is Kairos Fateweaver’s statue.
Well alright then I will role with that haha
It was an excellent example of the things u can expect
But trust me
The 40k rabbit hole goes SOOOO much deeper
4:04 - This one we did understand. Our boy, the Astropath, is a Psyker who is able to tap into the energies of the Warp and wield them. They brought a powerful Psyker with them since none of the squad had this skill, but the Psyker was squishy so couldn't survive the walk into battle. Each of the Space Marines are wearing what is basically a suit of mobile tank armor, and the best they could do was slap Skinny in a ceramite coffin that was protected by its iconography (Faith has its own power too).
The great part of this ip is you won't get roasted. Ask, and a plethora of people will step in and help you. We are so passionate we will buy you a pint and say "join us brother"
I'll take you up on that beer my friend thanks for the support🍻
Yeah, the main issue you will find with us 40K fans is making us STOP talking about 40K.
@@Fransens well you're not wrong.
I came here to say the same thing. 40K fans are some of the most dedicated, and also most welcoming (in general) fanbases out there, and it makes me proud.
No, you will get roasted, and if you prove you can hold your own you'll get the extended power gauntlet afterward.
I think it is not only pure warhammer essence, but also displayed in such a perfect (non-explicit) way.
This is heavily inspired by the 40K fan animation Astartes made by Syama Pederson which is 16 mins long, took 2 years to complete and then was then bought by Games Workshop, the owners of the 40K ip. Syama is in the credits for this episode so we know he was directly involved and GW recently confirmed that Astartes 2 is still in the works which a lot of fans had assumed was dead as there hadn’t been any news in a long time. I would recommend watch Astartes but find the originals on RUclips instead of the official version as they had to change the score due to copyright reasons (the original score includes music from the Dredd soundtrack I believe).
Lots of people here are going to say watch Bricky videos but those are lore dumps so if you are looking for something like this short it’s pretty much the opposite.
I mean he worked on this one too
I've seen some of Bricky's videos on other games so I do know him already
@@filmobsessednerd If ur going to watch bricky just bare in mind that a lot of nuances he gets wrong, and just in general with 40k youtubers there are a lot of nuances they miss just because there is so much to read. Honeslty how i would recommend you approach is maybe ot use videos like brickies as jumping off points where you see something you find interesting, and then just dive into that specific part of it whether it be a faction or character.
@@filmobsessednerd bricky does non 40k videos? 😮
@@cidtheslayer1 oh ya you didn't know that? Does he have a separate channel for Warhammer?
I will say space marines 2 is my first exposure into warhammer as well as one of my newer employees at work getting me interested enough to buy it and tell me about the board game. Playing online operations with randoms, I have been met with an unbelievably welcoming and helpful community who are just happy to see people wake up to something they are passionate about. It is very refreshing
I was like you! But instead of Secret Level *making* me a fan of 40k, it more solidified why I enjoy it so much. I only really got into Warhammer after I played Space Marine 2. Before that, I only ever loosely heard about it or knew some loose things. What's super neat about the Secret Level episode, is that it ties into the actual games, it's not just a random short story. It takes place after Space Marine 2, and follows Titus on the mission he's sent on after the game's concluded campaign. It was really awesome to see a continuation to the game that I, quite frequently, play to this day.
Also, footnote, that "eyeball creature" is a sorceror/Daemon of Tzeentch. What it was doing, was entering the minds of the marines and preying on their fears, manipulating them and causing them to die at the hands of their own minds. The reason that it didn't work on Titus, though, was because he has no fear. The reason that the Daemon sees him as a child in his own mind, is because that's what Titus is at his core. A brutal, fearless, pained, and enraged killer. He is the epitome of a Space Marine. Cold, fearless, loyal, and employs calculated brutality in any battle he sees himself in. You play as him in the Space Marine games!
That sounds awesome! Thank you for sharing!
@ Anytime, brother! May you strike swift and true as you venture the rabbit hole of 40k!
A lot of 40k content is what you imagine in your head. We rarely get something like this, but it's always awesome. Biggest thing, there are different factions and you can pick whatever floats your boat :]
The imperium of man in Warhammer is fanatically gruesome, dark and miserably fantastic.
I've been loving every single episode honestly. Knowing the games they're great in their adaptions and easter eggs but even those I don't know well it's so well done. The story telling is immaculate and each one has been somewhat thought provoking.
Great advertisements for the games too.
I still have to watch the 2nd half of episodes, which I will do tonight but I agree I think this show was affective even if not all episodes hit me as hard. They confirmed a Season 2 is coming which is great!
This single episode gives me so much hope for the Amazon series. Amazon did so much justice with the episode and I’m amped up
Hey man, it was so cool seeing you have this reaction! I've been a 40k fan since the very late 90s/early 2000s, and it's always nice to see outsiders' perspective. I see lots of other people have commented here, and I'm sure there are tons of different viewpoints and tips and so on, but I thought I'd give my own since I've seen quite a lot come and go in the hobby.
The first, and honestly most important thing I want to share is that warhammer 40,000 is not PRIMARILY a narrative universe. There are stories in it, lots of them, and nowadays there are some bigger main stories that drive a kind of "meta-plot" forward, but by and large Warhammer is a lot more about the mood, the theme, the vibes than many other settings, especially video-game centric settings. Warhammer originates from, and is still mainly anchored in the tabletop wargame, where hobbyists assemble and paint their own models, often customizing them and making up background for their own army. It is, in short, primarily an aesthetics-centric setting. A lot of things exist which don't make sense except because they enhance the atmosphere (for example, a lot of 40k armies fight like WW1. The main explanation for that is because it makes war look as miserable as possible.)
For a LONG time, the only thing we had to go on were the short fiction, descriptive text and painted art in the rulebooks, and they all do a fantastic job of conveying the mood to the player. Warhammer 40k is an almost farcically horrific dystopian future, and it's MEANT to evoke a kind of miserable dread in you, it's MEANT to feel unnerving, almost horror-esque. But that is combined with a kind of goofy machismo, where high-octane action and hyperviolence is thrown in, creating a universe that treats itself very seriously, but can loop around to being admittedly quite silly and funny at time.
The best comparison I have is something like when horror movie fans get excited over the most gorey kills in a slasher, or how cool a horror villain is. It's very serious in-universe, but from the hobbyist/fan perspective there's a kind of awareness that we really shouldn't take things TOO seriously, if that makes sense. (some people, admittedly, lack this awareness, but then that's probably true for a lot of fandoms.)
There is a tendency among 40k fans to hype up the amount of "lore" (we used to call it "fluff" back in my day) 40k has, with the assumption that you're almost expected to make it your mission to learn as much of it as possible, and I'd just like to push back against that. Binging 40k lore isn't really a good idea. Instead of trying to understand everything by reading 36 Horus Heresy novels as a set-up to prepare to understand the 40k setting and whatever, I really just suggest that you pick a faction you think is cool, and then you google something like "[faction name] codex 4th edition pdf". And then you leaf through that pdf, read whatever snippets stand out to you, look at the pictures and let it all stew a bit. Don't get hung up on the details, just read whatever you find cool and skip the rest. ENJOY not knowing everything, that's half the fun! The setting was originally set up to be murky and so impossibly vast you never quite knew what was going on.
This is how I an many others got into the hobby and it's a lot more gentle and sustainable than obsessing over novels and stuff, and it also bypasses the incorrect info some 40k youtubers say in their videos. (No shade, but some of them are less reliable and others, and many also sometimes miss context or tone in the original. For example, most 40k lore is written like propaganda to get you hyped for you favorite faction, not necessarily as 100% true.). I would personally strongly recommend getting familiar with the main 40k setting before going into the Horus Heresy stories that I'm sure lots of people have suggested already. A lot of the story beats in the Horus Heresy hit a lot more when you know where things are going to end up. Lots of cameos and foreshadowing are missed entirely by new fans.
The depiction of Space Marines tend to vary with sources and artists. There is A LOT of variety and inconsistency in 40k media, and a lot of 40k stories lean more into humanizing marines by making them more dramatic and emotive, and doing things like making them telegraph their attacks and shouting battlecries when ambushing and really dumb things. Sometimes it works, other times you're left feeling like there's a disconnect between general lore and what you're seeing in a story or a cinematic or whatever. It's... well, it is what it is. A lot of depictions kinda have an underlying assumption that you're not going to overanalyze what's going on. I personally prefer the more hypercomepetent and disciplined depiction we're seeing in 'They Shall Know No Fear' (and "Astartes" before it), but the silent badass isn't always going to cut it. Some space marines are more "extra" than others, lol. The overall point is just that the setting has been around for so long, and adapted to so many different media by so many different writers that there's always going to be something that feels "off".
I hope this wall of text didn't hit you like a powerfist.
Tl;dr: Enjoy the aesthetics, that's the setting's strongest aspect.
It definitely hit me but I took it in stride lol
A new Brother joins the fold! If the episode got you interested then it did its job. Warhammer and especially 40K has been slow burning for decades, snowballing into an unstoppable juggernaut of a franchise. Games Workshop makes some weird moves sometimes but they've made enough good and great ones to become so successful now. With them finalising a deal with Amazon Studios to make a TV series this episode is basically a indicator of the direction they want to go next. More media projects getting to different people and bringing them into the Hobby...
welcome brother! the episode did a great job. atmosphere, music, characters, brutality, it was very warhammer.
It was about as perfect an intro you can do in 19mins. Even the Title was perfect.
It's so cool as a fan hearing the reaction of someone coming into it cold! I would say the Secret Level episode is an _exceptionally_ good example of 40k in visual form, probably one of the two best pieces of visual media the franchise has - the other one being the Astartes fan film others have mentioned. Most Warhammer content has been in books, codices, and magazines, with only a few efforts at moving to a film or TV medium - most of which didn't do well.
In terms of content and tone, it's definitely representative of a good chunk of 40k stories. The thing about Warhammer is that it's _incredibly_ broad and expansive. It's been running for nearly forty years, with stories set across the galaxy and across 65 million years, with six major species most of which are divided into multiple distinct factions, so while Secret Level is definitely representative of many 40k stories, there's _huge_ variety. My personal favourites are the Ciaphas Cain novels, which offer a rather more lighthearted, character-driven look at the grim darkness of the 41st millennium.
Next steps - I'm sure a lot of people have recommended the Horus Heresy novels, but I'm going to buck the trend and recommend against that. Not because they're not good - many of them are excellent, and the overall story is great - but I don't think it's a good starting point. It's set 10,000 years before the 'current' era of the 41st millennium where most of the stories are set, and the Heresy series is richer and more enjoyable if you have a solid understanding of what it's setting up. Instead, I'd suggest checking out some lore channels here on RUclips. Luetin is fantastic for raw lore, Baldermort and Oculus Imperia give great performances, or if you want something lighter you could check out Adeptus Ridiculous. Plus of course, the Space Marine and Space Marine 2 games are both really solid.
Now you should watch "if the emperor had a text to speech device" the best fan creation of the warhammer fandom.
Welcome to the rabbit hole. If you want a good primer guide for new folks, Bricky has a solid series of videos that breaks down the universe and the main factions in a way that’s easy for the uninitiated, and fun for existing fans with a sense of humor.
The secret level episode is a great depiction of space marines doing their thing, but there is something for every genre and niche in 40k depending on what faction you want to focus on.
This is what it should be, yes. Many of the books capture this kind of feel perfectly.
Even if the point is to entice you to go pick up a game that the "short story" is based on, a 20-minute runtime is hardly a lot of screen time. 30 or even 40 minutes would still be able to tell a short story and end a cliffhanger but give more background into an IP.
Totally hear you on that I think some of the episodes in this first season being less than 10 minutes was bad move, the Mega Man episode for a lot of people was one of the most anticipated stories and they did nothing with it. It could've been the best had it been longer.
@@filmobsessednerd I mean, it's often said that animation is expensive to make. And this is really good animation based on the clips that were in your video. Not too sure who paid to produce this series, maybe the game developers didin't want to spring for the extra runtime, but if you're going to this effort, you might as well go all the way.
I will sums up the answers to your question as easy to understand as possible:
- Sooo.. the "weird eyeball-creature" is in fact, a Human! A heretic to be exact!! He (or she, idk. I gonna call that thing as "it") is a worshiper of a Dark God (or Chaos God, as we call them) named Tzeentnch!! As a worshiper, it was blessed by the Dark God to be able to use magic (time stop, invading minds)!!
- Titus is the main character of both the game Space Marine 1 and 2!! He were "the boy who know no fear" (because this mtfk basically dragging a big ass dagger to slay demon in the ages of 10)!! The reason why he know no fear is because he was a blessed child since birth, with the ability to ignore Warp (Warp is the common-name we use to call the realm where demon and Chaos Gods rules. Or you can just view it as the HELL)!! With that ability, he cannot be affect by the demon and the Chaos Gods, he can resist their temptations and are a threat to their effort to invade the real world. Hence how he able to break through the mind invading attempt from "it" and kill it while the other can't!! That's why the Chaos Gods were always tryin to convince peoples around Titus that "he's a Chaos worshiper, kill him"!! That's why in the game, the jackass mtfk named Leandros is always trying to expose Titus, because this guy was a idiot who got tricked by the Chaos Gods to believe Titus is humanity's enemy!!
- The guy in the coffin (or the box as you called it) were a Psyker, basically a Space Wizards!! Aside from the fact that they having ability to use magic, they are still human!! So he inside the coffin all along so that he don't DIES in the battle!! He cast a spell to protect the Space Marine boys from being attack by the Demons (you can see the hands trying to reach them when the Psyker is praying)!! Still, his magic comes with risks, to be able to use magic, one must siphon the energy for the spell from the Warp (or from Hell itself). And that involve EXPOSE YOURSELF to demons and Chaos Gods! That's why he's praying, he send his prayer to The God Emperor to protect him from demons so he can fulfill his duty!!
Titus was able to beat the demon because he has somewhat of a genetic difference which allows him to resist warp (immaterium/daemonic) influence which is a plot point for the two Space Marine video games which he is the protagonist of. However Titus is not a Blank which is something in the 40K universe. A Blank is a person who has no warp signature and in fact even cancel out warp influence in their area. Because of this effect people look at them in revulsion and they are often killed at birth because people can't stand to be around them. Those that survive at least in the Imperium go on to be anti-demon agents of the Inquisition if they're male or become a Sister of Silence who are female guards to the Emperor of Mankind that work with the Custodes.
For lore I’d honestly recommend Weshammer’s timeline video. It’s a good lore primer since in about the span of 40 minutes he covers all the biggest events in order
Welcome to the Emperors light brother !
Remember the Emperor protects! 😂🙏
I'm also a recent 40K convert, thanks to Space Marine 2, Secret Level, a whack of free PDFs of the best lore novels and friends showing me their gorgeous miniature armies. Trust me, it's fun to descend into the grimdark!
It's a great introduction to the IP for sure. There's a similar one about another group of elite space marines, that's Called Enemy Without. It showcases a different enemy faction in a short compact way, and is somewhat similar stylistically. As a side note, I'm glad you got such a positive reaction to this video!
The great thing about Warhammer is it covers a whole range of interests and you're under no obligation to like everything. Many only paint minis, some only dig into the lore, a bunch are all about the tabletop game, plenty just like the video games. And you can pick and choose at will.
Welcome aboard, feel free to dive in and enjoy the ride at your leisure.
Welcome to the fandom brother.
The amount lore and media is massive and ready for you to enjoy!
Probably the most lore accurate look we’ve gotten at space marines so far outside the books. In some of the books it’s implied a relatively small amount of them can conquer entire star systems. They’re insanely strong in the lore but on the tabletop and video games they tend to have to be toned down for balance and gameplay reasons
I just started getting into the lore six months ago you are in for one hell of a ride yes it’s a lot like this. It does the series justice, and a lot of ways other franchises for Warhammer couldn’t do and the way they didn’t put a lot of exposition so you can enjoy the grim dark world of Warhammer.
As someone who got into Warhammer Fantasy post endtimes, then found 40K through the hilarious shenanigans of the Orks and now tries to figure out the lore of the Age of Sigmar I always love seeing people come into contact with warhammer for the first time, since whatever it is that they see it is but a droplet in the ocean of more than three decades of lore, novels, tabletop game editions and so much more. 40K though it started of as the spin-off of Warhammer fantasy battles quickly became it's own thing, and what a thing it has become!
Spaceships looking like cathedrals destroying worlds on a whim, hordes of orks that are a bioweapon from the war in heaven, and those are just the mundane stuff.
To say the amount of lore of each warhammer setting is gigantic is an understatement, and with 40k it is no different, as such I am glad that for the secret level animation they went with a space marine mission which masterfully shows some of the in lore stuff without toning it down from it's grimdark theme, you see the power of the astartes, you feel the horror of Tzeentch and his sorceries, hells they even show an astropath (the guy in the box, a psyker that is not tonly immensely powerful but also is responsible for interstellar communications through telepathy).
this is in my opinion a good thing, by starting simple, while showing hints to the insanity that is the setting and all it's lore it sparks curiosity, making people want to find out more about it.
Anyways, enough rambling, welcome to the Grimdark future of 40K my friend, May the Emperor be with you!
I recently got into the 40k universe too. I heard the new space marine game was coming out, saw some trailers, went to the store and bought the starter kit with my kids. I've never seen a more welcoming community, especially online. No gate-keeping, just helpful people excited to share what they love with you. So glad I found my way here. Feels like a very exciting time to come into it
I've had a couple of gatekeepers in the comments of this video the last day or so but the majority are very positive
Near life-time fan of 40k here, this is the best representation of the universe I've ever seen in any form of media. Prior to this, it was the fan series series of shorts called Astartes, which I'd also HIGHLY recommend as its absolutely amazing as well. Welcome to the fandom. Also, check out the Eisenhorn trilogy if you want some truly outstanding books.
@@forcemarine I mean .. sort of. It's still just marines vs cultist. People love it because marines are just tearing through an outclassed enemy. Canonically group of Banshees or Wyches would in essence do the same thing, just with a different style.
I'd be more interested in seeing non-plot armor depictions of space Marines fighting stuff like Eldar, where they are going to need to work real hard to get out alive.
To note, the Daemon exploited the marines fears. The first marine feared his own weakness, and hid it from others. He attempted to destroy that weakness but he destroyed himself.
The second Marine we don’t know.
The third marine found and recruited Titus. He found a child who was filled with pain and rage, and he had always feared Titus could become an adherent of Chaos.
Titus… has no fear. His pain and rage is ever burning, and he is steadfast. He has no weakness for the warp entities to exploit.
The thing that this animation got right that I hadn't yet seen is the astartes' speed. The brutality and power is always there, but the speed is the key ingredient. In the lore there's this phenomenon called "Transhuman Dread". Normal humans often go through extreme reactions when they are in the presence of a space marine especially on the battlefield. If it's their first time it's not uncommon for them to go cataplectic losing control of their body or catatonic as their brains try to reconcile the sight of something that big and that powerful moving faster than anyone should. Even after prolonged exposure it's a mark of a hardened human character if they are able to look a space marine in the eyes. This exaggerated effect is difficult to translate into visual media. We are used to big, hulking things in video games smashing stuff like Space Marine 2, but look closely at the animation of the 4 marines fighting the chaos cultists - their movements are lightning fast, those punches are heavily pulled and yet they still throw a cultist beyond the horizon, and that axe swing into a backhand overhead axe swing followed by a downward punch through the crown of a cultist happens in a second. It won't make you catatonic, but that's the first time I've seen hand-to-hand space marine combat animated in a way that feels true to the novels I've read. My biggest gripe - maybe I'm wrong, but the bladeguard never activate the disruption fields on their swords and power axe. They should be rippling with blue energy. then again, it's feasible that the bladeguard veterans deemed it unnecessary for the chaff.
Warrior Tier channel is great - Custodes, Krieg, Tyranids - Short stories in first person. Brilliant acting.
As someone whose been a fan of 40K since childhood and has since read almost 50 novels and spent an embarrassing amount of time and money on this franchise, I'll say this: What you witnessed is what I could best describe as a microscopic, surface level example of just one tiny TINY part of a VAST, intriquite fascinating and fun universe, the best fictional setting and franchise mankind has ever conceived. No that is not a joke. This franchise is such a goddamn rabbit hole, but every nook and crevise is so rewarding.
Specifically, what you witnessed is a high-budget depiction of Imperial Space Marines of the Ultramarines chapter. There are many kinds of Space Marines, and as powerful as they are, the wider universe is stuffed to the brim with threats that make them look like little insects.
You love tabletop wargaming? 40K is the best. You like deep and iterconnected roleplay systems? 40K has several. You love Videogames? 40K has many, and some of them are actually good! (Boltgun, Space Marine 2, Dawn of War, Mechanicus, Inquisitor Martyr, Darktide, Necromunda: Hired Gun) And if you love books... Oh. My. GOD. 40K has almost 300 novels, and so many of them have become my favorite books of all time.
RUclips is chock-full of lore breakdowns, introductions to the wider franchise, places to start, but I'll break it down easy for you.
Pick whichever faction you like the most. "looks cool!" is good enough.
Pick whichever medium appeals to your tastes, budget and time. Videogames, tabletop, the hobby, the books, etc.
DO NOT try to engage with the whole thing all at once. You will never succeed, it's too big for any one person, and that's okay.
My personal recommendation for getting started:
Tabletop: get a killteam set. It's like the wargame, but much smaller.
Videogames: Space Marine 2. Best with controller, on most consoles and PC.
RolePlay: Dark Heresy. Rules heavy, but very VERY deep
Books, several reccomendations: Ghostmaker, The Fall of Cadia, Brutal Kunnin', The Infinite and the Divine, The Ciaphus Cain series, The Eisenhorn series.
Honestly just watch Bricky lmao 😘
You forgot the game Rogue Trader! The 40k turn based RPG is a banger.
For me it was equal starwars but not since disney buy it unfortunatly now it's far better
@@Viktor_JohanssonYeah, its probably among the best, if not THE best as a video game rather than just simply a "warhammer game". Itd be incredible even if it wasnt warhammer, but of course its so integral that you couldnt just take out the setting lol.
It is also probably the best entrypoint for anyone into warhammer due to the brilliant tooltips and in-game dictionary/encyclopedia, as well as being a rogue trader just being a good starting point to begin with. Youre a special person, and get all the privileges to do almost whatever you want in this universe.
You get a taste of most of the different species and factions which you often wouldnt in one of the more focused games/media. You basically get a taste of most groups in the imperium of man interacting with xenos, etc. Such a good starting point.
"In their arrogant suspicion, the Inquisition failed to recognize the truth, that no evil will ever overcome a devotion such as yours."
Glad to hear it. Now if you're interested in more WH40k, there are few ways that you can approach it. Either go into the media directly, or watch some lore videos and other fan made content. Personally, I'd recommend choosing the latter only to get a brief overview of the most basic parts of lore, and to get the vibe. Then switch to official media, which is mostly books, video games, few videos and animated tv shows here and there, and in few years probably a live action tv series (and of course the tabletop game, but you're not gonna get much lore from that, and it's by far the most expensive part of the WH40k).
So, in terms of lore videos and other fan-made videos, I'd recommend these:
1) Every 40k faction part 1 and 2
2) 40k timeline
3) Every space marine faction
These are all by Bricky, and they do a decent job of introducing you to WH40k. They're not mega deep, elaborate, 4 hours long videos that some other lore youtubers do (which do have their place, but certainly not for newcomer), but at the same time, they're long enough, and with right mix of official lore and memes to be entertaining.
In terms of other fan-made videos, I'd recommend these:
1) Astartes by Syama Pedersen (very similar to the secret level episode, it is probably what inspired that episode in the first place)
2) Warhammer 40,000: An Intro to the Dark Millennium by Garrot (probably the best in terms of getting the correct vibe of at least old-school Warhammer, and also serves as short lore intro into the world)
3) Warhammer 40,000: ++ IMPERIUM ++ by Garrot (basically the same as previous recommendation, only it's purely about atmosphere, don't expect any lore, story, etc. it's just vibes)
4) Death of Hope by SparksArtifex (this is unfortunately unfinished, but it has 2 trailers, and part 1, all of which are pretty great, probably the 2nd best production for fan-made video right after Astartes)
5) All of the WH40k videos by SODAZ (unfortunately nowadays they only appear as reuploads, but they had nice short action)
As far as official content goes, I'd recommend first watching trailers. There are plenty to choose from, I can recommend: 9th edition trailer, 10th edition trailer, Horus Heresy trailer, Killteam trailer, Darktide trailers, Space Marine 2 trailers (btw. in that game you play as Titus, from the secret level episode), Dawn of War I, II & III trailers, Boltgun trailer, and many others that I don't remember as of now. Then you can go down the route of either videogames, or books. When it comes to videogames, my recommendations are more or less the same as trailers: Space Marine, Space Marine 2, Dawn of War games (if you like RTS), Darktide, Boltgun, Battlefleet Gothic Armada 2, and Mechanicus. As far as books go: Eisenhorn series (includes 4 Eisenhorn books, 3 Ravenor books, and 3 Bequin books, one of which didn't come out as of now), Gaunt's Ghosts series, and Horus Heresy series. There are plenty more that are probably great, but I didn't get to them yet, so can't recommend because I don't even remember their names.
Good lord... this is so much haha but I love that you shared, thank you!
Ah yes.... the Horus Heresy series as a beginner recommendation..... definitely not the largest and most confusing book series to ever exist to the point of needing a flow chart to read it chronologically..... all 64 books of it.....
@@Noobuh The books I recommend after doing everything else I listed before that. At which point he's no longer a beginner anymore.
As someone who reads 40k, and is halfway through the Horus Heresy, this Secret Level episode is the perfect representation of how Astartes are described fighting - economical, no wasted flourishes and every movement is the death of an enemy. Most chapters of Marines fight silently after maybe having a battle cry relevant to their Primarch.
It genuinely made me giddy seeing this perfectly represented on screen. They are unstoppable murder machines, who just happen to essentially be child soldiers.
Titus being the genuine “no know fear” marine is excellent, as they were originally created by the Emperor to not know fear, but during the Heresy, revealed the lie that that was. They are extremely resilient to fear, but when you have literal demons striding the battlefield, fear creeped in. It was never strong enough to make them flee, but doubt would rear its head. Chaos feeds on that doubt, demons taunt marines for their doubt. Titus has none of it. He is utterly faithful.
I can’t wait for the day we see Guilliman or the Lion appear on a show. Seeing them fight would make this episode look like children play-fighting.
The action and music sold me. So nice just to see some epicly portrayed carnage without any strings attached.
I liked reading the scenes through watching rather than having it all told to the audience via dialogue.
One of the things that is getting missed a bit today. Warhammer started out in the 80s as an reaction to the uk gov at that time. It was every scifi clichee turned up to 11 and didnt take itself too serious .
That is still part it. It is sooo over the top.
[A decades long Indian, New Zealander 40K fan says] This short was brilliant as a well executed introduction to Warhammer 40K.
Brutal, science fiction combat...against grim dark sorcery... (It's not Star trek. It's not Disney's 'The Acolyte'...).
I got into 40k last year through coming across random lore videos, moving into animations and now reading the books. I'm a sucker for sci fi so it didn't take much to grab me but i've showed this episode to my friends who aren't really into this sort of stuff and they loved this simply because of the action and how cool it looked.
Star Wars has always been my go to sci fi fantasy but 40k has quickly taken over (Especially with how poor Star Wars has been recently).
@@Xarthys I've found Star Wars to be up and down and up and down a lot. I like a lot of stuff and then other stuff has definitely been more meh in quality.
@@filmobsessednerd The Mandalorian was by the best they've put out in recent years, I thought Ahsoka was decent and Obi -Wan Kenobi purely for the nostalgia and Vader ofc.
The book of Boba and The acolyte were for me, awful.
We then have the sequel trilogy which I don't care to speak on lol.
@@Xarthys I love Mandalorian and Andor, really liked Visions, Bad Batch, Ahsoka and the Tales of series. I thought Boba Fett, Obi-Wan and Mando S3 were just ok. Acolyte a little bit lower than that but didn't think it was trash trash.
A new brother has opened his eyes to the glory of the Emperor ! May his life be filled with honor and his hearth with fire.
One of my favorite short stories on RUclips on the WH40k hammer and bolter is "Bound for greatness" It essentially shows the backstory of how a planet ends up to this point. Writing in this universe is on another level, good to see such a good story on a 20 min short
All of this wouldn't be made possible by the man, the myth, the legend, Syama Pedersen.
He was part of the team who made this too.
Edit typo
Pedersen* Not a big deal but yea.
@Vlad-sj5yw tq good sir
The fuck it would have absolutely been possible without him
That moment when the Astartes charge at demon psyker (the weird eyeball thing) after she kill human psyker almost scare the shi*t outta me. Syama Pedersen is the Emperor's chosen to direct Warhammer animated series, and the dream sequence is mindblowing, the sound, the camera, the visual, etc. If GW and some billionaire out there want to invest W40K animated series, i hope Syama Pedersen is in total control.
And welcome to the rabbit hole brother, you should see Astartes fan project on RUclips.
This and the armored core one were masterpieces
One great detail that people seem to miss is that as the daemon began entering each marine's mind, their pupil was shown dilated fully (due to fear), but on Titus the pupil remained at the exact same size symbolizing that Titus really can't feel any fear. Fucking dope!
Honestly as a fan for 30 years, 40k can mean a lot of diffrent things for diffrent people but in general, what makes 40k 40k is the world building and this nailed it. Like you can have a funny story, or a sad one, or maybe horror but you place that anywhere in the 40k setting and it feels like 40k. I think one example, and I'm gonna butcher this but there is a detective series that takes place in the city, Varengantua. Which cool, it's Dick Trace but a hive city is a city that holds billions of people in like an upside down 100 km wide funnel designed like a Vatican church. What setting has stuff like that?
It's an excellent showcase for just how unbelievably hard space marines are compared to normal people and even demons. LOVED this so so much
Very accurate depiction of Warhammer 40K. I have never played the tabletop. I love the lore and fell in love with the lore way back in 1991. I have hundreds of books and the codexes. I am just obsessed with the story.
Never played the tabletop? That's good, you've saved yourself from a money sink.
Kill-Team is a decent game, Necromunda is even better- both are much more affordable.
Im im the same boat as you. Books, youtube videos, and video games. Never touched the tabletop.
I had your exact same experience. Really evocative, intriguing episode. Been digging into the lore ever since
welcome to the chapter,brother.
Glad to hear another person is getting into 40k! If you want to get more questions answered, I would recommend 40k lore channels like Luetin or Weshammer, theres also an excellent overview of every faction in the verse by Bricky, nice beginner stuff.
There are also over 150 books that take place in the Warhammer universe, and just about none of them are in any particular order so you can just pick whichever one looks most interesting.
May the Song of Slaanesh guide your way, and may Warhammer become an interest of yours for years to come!
3:52 it’s a deamon (demon) specifically from Tzeench which is famously known from the chaos space marine faction Thousand Sons
It wasn't a demon but a wizard of Tzench
You're in luck then, as Henry Cavil is officially bringing Amazon an entire 40k live action cinematic universe.
'Bricky' for the lore, 'Counterpoints' for this episode's explanation ! You're welcome....
Don't watch Bricky for lore, he gives a very introductory, inaccurate explanation with a lot of misleading statements.
@@tau-5794 It's fun though and easier for introduction. Of course no other than Luetin is correctly named the lore master. But Bricky is good for intro.
"Bricky" for the intro to the lore
"Leutin" for the deep lore.
@@theodoremccarthy4438 the books for the deep lore.*
I’ve been into 40k since 2003, and I mostly read lore. I have a small library at this point.
This video is very lore accurate. The veneration for the customs, traditions and process of their chapter workings and the imperium at large. The superhuman abilities and levels of training and experience, decades to centuries of non stop battle or training) of the Astartes (space marine). They are so far beyond the average human and this really shows it. Their power armor essentially makes them walking tanks. Weapons that turn most problems to the past tense quickly and brutally. The discipline of the Ultramarines battle doctrine is shown really well. The way Titus charges the tank but leaves the sarcophagus behind, and how the brother brings it back to him and shows his annoyance at breaking doctrine with a sideways look. That is spot on.
I could keep going and going. But that’s for another day…
This episode made me giddy. If they make the show to this level of lore accuracy we are in for a treat. A horrifically terrifying gore filled treat. With indoctrinated super murders. Oh yeah, the Imperium is meant to be dark satire. Remember that.
You have to watch the Bricky Warhammer 40k factions explained videos, they are pretty much mandatory for new 40k fans.
It's a great example of a contemporary Space Marine story in the universe. beautifully done. Great backstory with one of the animators as well.
And the being the ultramarines were fighting was just a sorcerer, a human mutated by the 'gifts' of one of the 4 chaos gods (Tzeench), imagine when the Astartes must fight a Lord Deamon of Tzeench!
I thought It was a demon.
I think the best thing about this is that this is only surface level 40k and it’s still this compelling, you are not at all prepared for much that there is to see and you’ll love it.
I'm a few months in and i gotta say the community is the best part of this hobby, also the eye-ball guy is new and I can't wait to see if they expand on him or make a mini of it
Welcome to Warhammer! I just played my first 40k game yesterday and won. About to put on a Luetin lore video now and get some sleep before work. I enjoyed your analysis and I have also had a positive experience with the Warhammer fanbase.
“Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear.” - The Emperor of Mankind
Always glad to see a new fan ! The episode was good and a good adaptation of the universe. I'll water down some of the comments however with some minor remarks :
1.) The choreography of the fights was a bit over the top, like the space marines were "posing", which, to me, made it feel a bit weird. I mean, sapce marines are not known to put on spectacle (at least not those ones).
2. ) The idea that a child never knew fear and somehow this makes him a more powerful space marine is pretty ridiculous. And it completely undermines the amount of transformation, endoctrination, training a teenager goes through to become a space marine. Of course this makes for a cool scene when he kills the sorcerer. (And i get why it's like that, Titus is the main character of his game (Space Marines 2, very good) so he has to be even more badass.)
The really strong point for me (appart from the quality of animation, of course) is the psyker in a box. The Imperium is the most cruel, abusive, obscurantist, supersticious regime you can think of. It has no regards for individuality, understanding or anything close. Nothing says grimdark like dragging around a magic guy in a metal box to use it as a one time energy shield.
Wether or not Secret Level gives an accurate portrayal of the physical capabilities of Space Marines cannot really be answered, because the descriptions of those capabilities vary wildly from one source to the other. If you want to learn more about the life in the Imperium the Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett is probably a good start because it happened to be good story with good writing (something that cannot be said about all 40k books). It is centered around an inquisitor, some sort of above the law, autonomous, space federal agent investigating occult or alien threats. Storm of Iron by Graham McNeil is another really good book depicting human soldiers facing a siege by Chaos Space Marines (yup, corrupted versions of space marines).
Oh and if you see "40k is under siege !!!!" comments, don't pay any attention to it. Some people spend too much time on Twitter and can't see a decision they dislike (which is their right) as just that, it needs to be the proof of a conspiration. The hobby has always been full of people from all walks of life getting together to share their passion of playing with the miniatures they painted, it's a community full of positivity, and we always welcome newcomers.
I appreciate your last point cause I've had some of those twitter like users come into my comments with their bullshit and I just have no time for that. All I have time for are respectful and passionate fans who will treat me right and get me more into this world if I want to learn more.
Welcome aboard check out the astartes animation. Same guy worked on it
Welcome to the family, I call the Warhammer community a family because these are some of the most helpful, creative, and absolutely nerdy people I’ve ever met. I got into Warhammer about a year or so ago and I had no idea how or where to start, so I decided to try asking around and then the magic happened. So in short you’re in for an interesting, very confusing, and absolutely fun ride. Also if you’re looking for something to get yourself started into Warhammer’s lore then I would suggest the Lorehammer podcast. They cover all of the lore from the dip your toes in stage to the vague and obscure stage.
One of us!
I’ve watched it multiple times already. I swear this show just opened me to a whole new fan world😭😂🔥Thank you for making this video bro!
As long as you come into the hobby/ip with the intention to enjoy it for what it is and not change it to be how you think it should be, then you'll find people will be very open arms
Hell yeah dude. I've known of the warhammer 40k universe, but didn't know a thing about it. Started playing Space Marines 2 this week and I'm officially hooked. Bought some more games of the 40k universe and just going down the rabbit hole. The table top game interests me too, but that's a commitment idk that I'm ready for.
Welcome brother
Thank you!
This episode was one of the best 40k representations I've seen; even many of the prose explorations don't come close. Whoever crafted it, I reckon they thought ling and hard about what Space Marines would look like, move, fight. The atmosphere was compelling, though there are a million different environments to explore. The daemon creature at the end was amazing. The 'priest dude' was an astropath, essentially a psychic radio who would broadcast their location for the orbital strike, due to the lack of vox/digital comms.