What I love is how you cannot tell if the POV is the space marine or the bolt pistol (a lot of the guys the narrator talks about seem to be carrying the same gun and the wording is in such a clever way it could be applying to the marine or the gun). They're both weapons, it's almost impossible to say if the voice here is a dying space marine or a confused machine spirit.
Imagine bolter being jelaous of a space marine who got a proper barials and who's gene seed got harvested. If only bolter had gene seed to save... Well who said bolters can't dream
The Space Marine's original inspiration was of an old concept presented in a comic, with a recruitment officer for the army looking at a giant standing before him: muscled, broadshouldered man with crossed arms, looking quite fierce and indomitable, ready to fight, and no head. The recruitment officer says "At last a perfect soldier!"
I like that I didn’t see the metaphor I thought it was about the space marine until I seen the bolt pistol and thought wait was the bolt pistol speaking on the space marine not to leave it lol but your theory is way more sound 💯
@@NyQuil_WIL I think the whole thing is meant to be ambiguous. You can see it how you want. The marine is as much a tool as the bolt gun is. And we are still talking about WH40K. It CAN still be the Maschine spirit of that gun "talking"
@AleXxTM123 if we’re talking canonically then the Bolt pistol is the one talking. In the story it says I fought at Helsreach with Hegismund the battle of Helsreach resulted in every single Space Marine that was there to die except for Hegismund himself but he couldn’t possibly be the Space Marine in the story because he’s still alive.
I love this 40k comic because you never expected the twist at the end. After realizing the one narrating wasn't the dead Space Marine but the machine spirit of the Bolter to his side, then the whole thing about fighting side by side during the comic wasn't figurative but literal since the narrator wasn't some Space Marine who fought with those named characters but was the bolter they used. Thus we understand why the Bolter is upset, it has be used by these Space Marines for centuries and was proud of it's service but now laments it will never be use again to kill the enemies of the Imperium and be forgotten.
Or, it could be a metaphor where it shows you that both are just killing machines. Pieces of metal in a grand mechanism, and both destined to be forgotten
if it is that of the bolter, it will be found, and returned... used by another, and continue it's legacy. if it is that of the Spacemarine, he will be lost... gone... forgotten... uncounted, and used as material. both will be used as tools. both will be used again... the diffrence is one will be used for good. the other for evil...
it was the gun speaking about its wielders, the gun for all the space marines it mentions all have the same chain. it is asking for its lord. (the wielder) (his lord gets taken away from him in the end, and it begins to repeat itself)
Lol. Life of Astartes is more valuable as an military and economical asset, BUT it is NOT more valuable then life of a single guardsman. This guy is a prime candidate for turning traitor as he sees himself above other humans, he's walking the same road as unstable Thunder Warriors did. Except those guys were fully aware of whom they are and what future awaits them. Meanwhile he is tone deaf. Plus yeah, the video is not about the marine😂
@@Koppu1doragon I was talking about the marine as to me it sounded that op meant the marine, not the machine spirit so it implied the marine if it was his dialogue. That's why I also separately mentioned that it wasn't about the marine at all below.
I think perturabo wanted one thing, for the emperor to recognize his sacrifices, his sons deaths. in the end, the emperor scoffed and told him he was arrogant.
@Ben-jl2rh Nobody knows what the Emperor was like anymore nowadays in the current setting, except the Primarchs. Since His ascension to the Golden Throne, he has quite literally become the divine figurehead for an empire with over a million worlds spanning across the entire galaxy. Nevertheless, I doubt anyone would concern themselves over the deeds and actions of the previous Emperor of Mankind, and focus on worshipping the current God-Emperor of Mankind over distances in light years.
Considering Loyalist Land Raiders routinely tear off and go psycho on enemies AFTER the crew has been disabled... Yeah I'm gonna take damn good care of any equipment in this universe.
they get it from the void dragon TBH. scientists and their arrogance i guess. looking at you tau (and necrons before they underwent the living metal transformation)
Space Marines after 1 reality check: "Why do we have to die for mere mortals?" "We should give ourselfes to the ruinous powers!" Imperial Guard after suffering millions of losses to not let chaos go further: "The planet is literally falling apart. You will stand your ground in the name of the Emperor." "Yes"
Also imperial guard: "what were the choices again?" Imperium: "you can potentially die to a genestealer to the face, or you can *definitely* die to a bolter round to the back of your skull, just like *blam* private what's-his-name just did." Imperial Guard: "oh. For the Emperor, I suppose..."
@@alanmechling9822 The guard does not break. We remain the emperor's faithful to the very last, no matter what twisted horrors of the ruinous powers or foul xenos seek to darken the emperor's light. The guard have no fear of death, no lust for glory and power, only the righteous urge to carry out the emperor's will across the galaxy. Primarchs break. Even the very sons of the emperor lusted for power. Astartes break. Even the emperor's angels can fall to the ruinous powers. Planets break. Even the rocks beneath our feet can crumble away. The guard remains. A guardsman's only regret is that he has but one life to give for his emperor. LONG LIVE CADIA LONG LIVE THE GUARD LONG LIVE THE GOD-EMPEROR OF MANKIND
what really hit me the most was at 3:36 when he says 'no such fate for me' as it pans to the guardsmen around him. it seems like despite a space marine being so conditioned he is getting philosophical. he sees the mortal guardsmen, who die in millions commonly with no burials, no war songs, no lauds of honor and decorations of combat, and its implied it makes him think. he sees himself, despite his age, despite his victories, despite everything, die not as a hero, not a treasure and a memorial, but as a mortal, dead in a ditch, forgotten as the bodies of the slain are ignored. perhaps it humbles him seeing these guardsmen's corpses in his immobility, realizing despite all, they both died the same way, serving the emperor and disregarded as tools at best and fodder at worst. perhaps it just makes him fall deeper into despair, bringing home the point further the uselessness of his death.
Yes. Yes, this is the fate that awaits the Emperor's faithful. An ending. No more wars. No more fear. No more tears. No more nightmares. Your debts shall be paid in full and your sins absolved.
Virgin Astartes : *This sucks I can't believe the Emperor would abandon me like a spent bolter shell after all the battles I've fought* Chad Guardsman : _Ah thank the Emperor, I can finally get some shut eye._
"..." There's an olive clad soldier in the fighting hole. In front of them, a medicae's box. Open, with every wrapper torn apart. They are wrapped in bandages and dressings, some reddening already. But there is no pressure applied. Beside them is their autogun, ready and loaded, if some threat would come knocking. "...Well, lord emperor. It's been some time, hasn't it?" They take off their helmet. Rough dark hair spills out, cropped battle short. Trembling hands fumble at cracked flak goggles, but give up halfway. Red seeps out from the imperfect seal. "...did I do good, milord? I think you'd be proud. I hope you would be. I think I owe you that much." The barrel is burned black from sustained fire, their armor pitted and scarred. Below the breastplate is a shard of metal, embedded through flakweave uniform. "...I did as ordered. We held the line... I think we did that pretty good, until we ran out of rockets. Tanks hit our trenches then. But we still put up a fight... And I helped put one of those tormented spirits to rest, just like the enginseer told me. Can I sleep now lord?" A battered face looks up, jerkily. It gazes across the ichor that's spilled across the ground, from wounds that wouldn't stop even from the smallest nick. Tens of thousands of millions, all helping to wash this world. "Please don't order us to hurry up and wait, milord. I'd like to have a rest before the next fight..." The helmet slowly tumbles from weakening fingers. It rolls, and rolls... and stops, beneath an old poster of an aquilla, half torn. The guardsman frowns as they see it. "If... that's a sign... I'll take my chances with the commissar...! Just..." A grimace. The bandages are more red now. Their eyes fluttered behind the goggles, and that draws a strong flinch. "...let me have a break... Please mil..."
that ending..... that ending cut deeper than any knife known to mankind. The words."don’t leave me here, Lord I can’t see you."cut deeper than any knife.
I was thinking the whole time that he would doubt the emperor and fall to chaos in the end. Alas, this was a far deeper and emotional ending. Thank you for voicing it.
As a viewer, the dichotomy of the reveal is thrilling. As an actor, and 40k fan, I just can't help myself imagining how different the two monologues would be, if given from an unambiguous perspective. A man and his weapon, having the same feeling of loneliness in death, sharing one last moment together.
the bolter, aka. the machine spirit, was the one who was passed over and over and fought eternal. However, both the Astartes and the bolter are tools to the imperium, tools to the Emperor himself, and such was the fate of both, the question and philosophy lingering are from each as well as both: "did they serve Him well?" at least the implication behind goes both ways, for it's possible the Astarted was saved by the tech priests, thusly leaving the bolter behind and the machine spirit being upset about that, samely for the Astartes having finally died and not seen the Emperor ever shining his light upon him from the grim ending. Both are tools... and both were left behind...
"Immortal, but not invulnerable. Yes, they might live forever, but they would never get the chance. Immortality was a by-product for their Astartes strengths, but those strengths were gene-built for combat. They had been immortal only to die in war. That was the way of it. Brief, bright lives. Like Hastur Sejanus, the warrior Loken was replacing. Only the beloved Emperor, who had left the warring behind, would truly live forever."- Dan Abnett (Horus Rising)
More then likely the bolt pistol since space marines wouldn't lay around lamenting so long if a space marine is on his back for more then half a second he's likely dead
'religious zeal is misplaced' MFs when they realize literally every single xeno currently populating the universe is absolutely terrible, even worse than the imperium's decadence. like the tau and MAYBE the craftworld eldar are decent enough to have some agreements with the imperium that will last longer than immediate betrayal but thats it.
Many Astartes Space Marines die in battle and war. Many to never receive a memorial. Many to never receive recognition for their duty. Many to never be praised and respected for their service to The Imperium, The Emperor and their Chapter of their Primarch Father. A truly sad fate.
Oh no, they are absolutely recognized, and their recovery is a major priority. Even if their body is not recovered, they always will take their geneseed- which in of itself is a great honor. If an Astartes is to die, they only have one fear: their gene seed will not be recovered, and their chapter die off.
Space Marines after 1 reality check: "Why do we have to die for mere mortals?" "We should give ourselfes to the ruinous powers!" Imperial Guard after suffering millions of losses to not let chaos go further: "The planet is literally falling apart. You will stand your ground in the name of the Emperor." "Yes"
They basically recieved the same honours as Vietnam's bravest of heroes over the course of the war. Their names carved or drawn onto a plaque in a holy shrine, gathering dust on the walls while they go forgotten and their deeds go unheard @@techypriest7523
It makes me wonder if mortally wounded marines with a shattered sense of reality/purpose would be ripe pickings for chaos marines. Not just their armor, but converting them instead as their mindset would be likely easily shifted towards hate in that state.
Man that twist at the end showing the one speaking was actually the bolter pistols machine spirit showing it was proud to serve the astartes and the emperor and doesn’t want to be left and forgotten and wants to keep serving hits different and makes you think what the machine spirits of all the weapons of 40k think of the service and battles they serve in
You can interpret it in a few different ways. To me it makes more sense that it's the Space Marine talking until he's taken away. Then when the lines from the start are repeated, this time it's the bolter saying them, showing the Space Marine is to the Emperor what the bolter is to the space marine.
@@dearcastiel4667 true but to me it seems more impactful to be the bolter speaking since the space marines are trained/brainwashed to never falter in their beliefs but not the machine spirits of the bolters which is to me more interesting and unique and it makes more sense to me for a bolter to be close to so many named characters during their last stands and live to tell their tales
What an absolutely MAGNIFICENT version! Mine has been sitting on the backlog for quite some time, but you know darn well I'll take inspiration from your vid. ;)
Don't worry lad. We live for the emperor, we die for the emperor. Most of us veterans are just glad we can finally get some shuteye when we finally die.
you can tell it wasn't the marine speaking because even astartes cannot survive a headshot it was the pistol's machine spirit that spoke, and it lamented the indignity its final wielder suffered as if it was the astartes himself
Space Marines can survive headshots. So can normal baseline humans. It depends largely on what they were shot with and how the projectile pierced the skull, both in real life and in 40K.
@@Schwarzvogel1 normally if it's to the side of the skull or the velocity was heavily slowed, but considering the things that go in 40k it's unlikely for either of that. Orks couldn't be bothered aiming, Nids would cover him in bio-plasma, Tau and heretic astartes would remove his head in a single shot, so that leaves only Eldar or a Vindicare for a clean shot through the eye lens
Everyone’s talking about whether the POV is the space marine or the machine spirit of his bolt pistol But nobody’s questioning if it’s the machine spirit of the marine’s armor itself, it’s developed such a 1:1 connection to its marine that it’s adopted his mindset and sees itself and its marine as 1 whole being, and it understands that the dark-mechs are gonna desecrate its untainted material for their heretical machinations
it is the gun. the gun is in the hands of all the other space marines that are mentioned. you can see the chain hanging from it. which makes sense when it speaks about killing the ork warboss.
"Wounds I had given them." Since when is armor used to wound someone? Noone talks about the possibility of this being the POV of his armor because everyone uderstands that its clearly not true.
I love this little thing of a comic. Is it the spirit of the dead Astartes, begging the God Emperor to send him deliverance? Or is it the machine spirit of the bolter, begging for the fallen warrior to rise, to carry it away to new battle, to not be abandoned like scrap on the field in ignoble defeat. One may never know.
Thank you for posting this! I remember reading this years ago and couldn't find it. I love the twist that it's the bolt pistol's machine spirit crying out for it's master.
This 4 minute, 40 second poem by a sentient gun is one of the saddest entries in the WH40k lore that I have ever seen. That could have been my gun! Rippy, the Rippergun, noooooooooooooooo!
This sucks to listen to the way the space marine talks is like a child to his dad he sounds so determined but is slowly crushed by the silence it’s so sad to watch despite the space marines job of simply killing. You can tell he sounds like a little kid. He says he can do it again 0:55 He states all the battles showing experience 1:24 And then his faith slowly crumbles in on itself 4:05 And like a child believes it’s his fault 4:22
Space Marine after facing mortality: I am high and mighty and have been laid low! Chaos doesn’t sound so bad. Guardsmen: Bro the planet is cracking apart beneath our feet. Hell is literally overrunning the planet. If we even manage to survive the inquisition and grey knight will exterminate us. JUST ANOTHER TUESDAY!!! FIX BAYONETS!!!!!
Don't worry, sacred machine spirit, you shall be reclaimed soon. It's just that Magos Biologis must collect the geneseed soon because flesh is weak. Toasters and bolters are next.
rewatching this I love to see the hints that its the bolter talking. The panel at 2:09 the narrator mentions "his shots" and talks about how they were inseparable, and at first you think its just the soldier talking about how he shot the ork and was close with the champion, but once you know the ending its obvious, especially since BTs chain their weapons to themselves. They were literally inseperable.
It's either the Bolt Pistol talking or the Marine... If it's the Marine, I got good news for everyone. I believe his motto in his present life is _"TANKRED ENDURES!"_ If it's the bolt pistol... dang gun, that's tough. Toy Story and now You are gonna make me sad when i accidentally drop something.
“no, foul xenos carrion eaters! don’t touch me! i shall die cursing you with the emperors zeal!” “bro, we’re with the mechanicus, calm tf down. ur kinda hurt bad, so you gotta go in the dreadnought.” “oh.”
God I love this, I can't tell if it's the Marine or the Pistol talking, the wording, the scenes and the sentiment makes it vague enough to where you can't distinguish between the two. Maybe it's by design but it's so beautiful either way.
Remember to tell your boltgun they were a good gun before you are dying. Poor guy probably doesn't even know his lord died. Hes afraid he failed his duty and was abandoned.
It’s sad for all divisions they fight for their leaders until the end and when they fall in battle they often die alone forgotten replaced for a new solider just like all those dead around him.
Stories like this are what made me fall in love with Star Wars (the Clone Wars in particular but I love it all now) given the similar themes of "The disposable soldier" and stories of those unfortunate souls's points of view.
It's amazing how enraged the faithful can get when they realize faith has given them nothing, yet taken all they could give, and sometimes more. You can warn them, you can discuss logically, but faith has a way of convincing people to cling desperately to their ignorance, until there is no other option but to see their foolishness.
The Space Marine is obviously dead. And his soul now either joined the Golden Army, or became one with Warp, depending on his life's choices. So while it is purposefully not made clear, it being the Machinespirit of the Bolt-Pistol to speak, that makes much more sense. And it is not speaking to the Emperor, the Machinegod or anyone else, it is speaking to the Space Marine. Glorious.
Had to rewatch but yeah he refers to the marine as "Lord" and says things like "emporer knows" which would be weird to say to the emporer. Half way through I was thinking this was a wildly heretical series of thoughts for a marine.
It /IS/ the Bolt Pistol's machine spirit. "My shots" "Precious arms and armour were repaired and bestowed upon his successor" "Don't forsake me!" as they carry the astartes away
Big E: "You and your chapter, which I might add is way above regulation strength even for a legion, go around poking proverbial hornets' nests, you worship me as a god _in violation of the Imperial Truth,_ you slaughter loyal Imperial citizens simply because they have slight, stable variances in genetics, and you kill and torture psykers who I have personally approved and soul-bound to. Do you really think I have any reason to be proud of you?" Black Templar: "Um... yes?" Big E: "And my other shards ask me why I have a constant migraine..."
A son of dorn finally knows what it feels like to be the one leading the charge and dieing and then getting no recognition for it at least with us we we're iron
@@NicknameDS i was thinking mechanicus, but i forgot dark mech exist. Aside from that, the shot of him being whisk away is just hilarious. warhammer 40k can try to be serious, but no matter it's goofy at times like this.
The gun is right. He should not be abandoned. He shouldn't be left to rot. He is more precious than the hundreds of thousands of guardsmen. For so long he served. He witnessed the glory of the Chapter. He is the most loyal servant of the Emperor, for easier it is to tread the battlefield as a Titan rather than as a Bolter. But he shouldn't despair. "Hegesmund's Right Hand" he is, and rot he won't. For in the great light of the Emperor he shall bask again. The Blood Ravens will come and save him.
You serve the Emperor and the entirety of Humankind with highest splendor. You are someone the Emperor can believe into, in His eyes you are a saint, a god of war and where you lie is a sanctuary to your honor.
this made me think how horrifying machine souls must be, theyre not exactly proper living AI or life but theyre still Something in practically every machine, i wonder how they must feel, its probably like an animal that cant do anything except follow orders
I like to imagine a small fragment of The Emperor's already fragmented psyche, representing his 'caring' side. Maybe in the form of a young boy, watching this marine, listening and desperately trying to break through the warp. Like banging on glass, crying inconsolably, trying to break through while yelling. 'YES! YES YOU DID! I'M SORRY'
Black Templar forgot to chain his weapons to his hands. He failed to clutch his weapons in death. Tradition is why he has not been saved. Get trolled lol
