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Episode 12

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Published on:

23rd Dec 2024

CYPHER, Fallen Hero, or Unforgiven Villain? | Warhammer 40k Lore

Welcome to the TTP Field Manual’s End-of-Year Special!

In these FINAL DAYS, join Joshy and Jonny as they delve into the characters of Warhammer 40,000, exploring their stories, motivations, and roles in the grim darkness of the far future. Each episode in this series unpacks the "who, what, where, why, and how" of iconic figures, making it the perfect introduction—or reintroduction—for fans old and new.

Episode #4 delves into one of Warhammer 40,000’s most enigmatic and shadowy figures: Cypher. Nemesis to the Dark Angels, Cypher and The Fallen are shrouded in mystery, their motives and loyalties tantalisingly unclear. Is he a hero, a villain, or something in between? We trace his tangled history, from potential origins during the Horus Heresy to his rogue actions in the grimdark future. Join us as we attempt to unravel—or perhaps become ensnared by—the intricate web of intrigue surrounding Cypher.

–

TTP Field Manual is brought to you by Joshy and Jonny, best friends and gaming enthusiasts from their local group, Trust the Process Hobbies. Die-hard fans of the Warhammer universe, we use this podcast as a platform to share our passionate (and somewhat humorous) ramblings about all things Grimdark.

By day, Joshy is a therapist; by night, he's an RPG aficionado who grew up on (not-so) Final Fantasies and crafting his own Dungeons & Dragons worlds. Jonny, a hospitality manager, spends his downtime conquering more video games than Joshy can keep track of.

-

Notes:

  • Cypher is an enigmatic character whose true motives and loyalties remain a mystery, complicating his impact on the Warhammer lore.
  • His history intertwines with the Dark Angels' past, particularly with the Fallen Angels and their secrets.
  • Cypher's actions suggest he may aim to reach the Emperor for unknown reasons, leaving questions about his ultimate goal.
  • Despite being a Fallen Angel, Cypher has allied with both Imperium and Chaos forces, showcasing his unpredictable nature.
  • The Dark Angels pursue Cypher relentlessly, often at a cost, showcasing their obsession with their past.
  • Zahariel's connection to Cypher adds layers to both characters, raising questions about identity and redemption.
Transcript
Joshy:

Oh, hello there.

Joshy:

This is the TTP field manual.

Joshy:

TTP is trust the process.

Joshy:

I'm Joshy.

Joshy:

We have Johnny.

Joshy:

nt calendar, our countdown to:

Joshy:

Every episode's a different character, a character that you can play on the tabletop brief.

Joshy:

Lorebytes.

Joshy:

Hello, Johnny.

Joshy:

How are you?

Johnny:

Hi.

Johnny:

Welcome back.

Joshy:

Hi.

Joshy:

Thanks, dude.

Joshy:

Hey, what do you know about Cypher?

Johnny:

He's that chaos guy, right?

Joshy:

Well, is he?

Johnny:

Hey, he's in the book.

Joshy:

He is in the book.

Joshy:

He's a renegade, but I wouldn't call him chaos.

Johnny:

I don't know much.

Johnny:

So please enlighten me on what this lone operative does in the greater world.

Joshy:

I have a quote for you.

Joshy:

We love quotes, don't we?

Johnny:

Quotes are great.

Joshy:

He weaves in and out of my vision.

Joshy:

I see one who is many.

Joshy:

I see they who will test the unforgiven.

Joshy:

In one hand, he carries hope, in the other, despair.

Joshy:

I speak of Cypher.

Joshy:

He is coming closer all the time.

Joshy:

That is from Luther, the dark oracle.

Johnny:

That is terrifying.

Joshy:

Cypher is an extremely enigmatic individual, but I feel like I need to give a little bit of background context to how Cipher even came to be.

Johnny:

Oh, please.

Joshy:

So being a Dark angel, as most know, comes with a lot of paranoia, mistrust, miscommunication, misunderstanding, misdirection, secret missions, secret orders.

Joshy:

And all of these things will come back to bite you one way or another.

Joshy:

Right?

Johnny:

It's a lot of secrets.

Joshy:

So the Dark Angels.

Joshy:

Oh, yes.

Joshy:

So the Dark Angels were always a knightly order, like a medieval world, before they were brought in to the Imperium, before they were space marines.

Joshy:

Right.

Joshy:

But during the great Crusade, a large portion of the Dark Angels, who are, you know, raised up from these knightly medieval brotherhoods into Astartes, they started to really become quite unhappy with their assimilation into the Imperium.

Joshy:

You know, they're losing the old ways, they're losing their world as it rapidly became industrial.

Joshy:

And even though they were being brought into this imperial truth, as it was called, a lot of them still held onto the very secretive traditions of their order.

Joshy:

And even in the great Crusade, they were worried that one day they would be suspected of being heretics.

Joshy:

And this really, you know, came to a bit of a boiling point because around about this time, Luther, the lion's right hand man, the person who effectively raised the lion, primarch of the Dark angels before big EMPs came along, like Luthor, really wasn't happy with the direction things were going.

Joshy:

And around one of the times when the Dark Angels brought a World into compliance.

Joshy:

The human empire they're up against really were tricky lot.

Joshy:

And they managed to plant a nuclear bomb on the Lion's flagship.

Joshy:

And when Luthor discovered this, he was hesitant to turn it off.

Joshy:

Oh, and the lion, he's got this real keen sense around him.

Joshy:

It's really hard to surprise him.

Joshy:

It's really hard to go behind his back.

Joshy:

He's kind of got this spider sense, you know.

Johnny:

I'm glad you said it.

Joshy:

And, yeah.

Joshy:

And the lion essentially diplomatically banished Luther and his most trusted circle of guys back to their homeworld, Caliban, under recruitment and garrison responsibilities, and just left them there for, like, decades.

Joshy:

He's like, I can't really trust you, but you're still my boys.

Joshy:

Now, when you leave all of these people on the homeworld to go and do your thing, all these insecurities, secretive traditions, they're going to keep going, right?

Johnny:

Oh, yeah.

Joshy:

And so being kept there, a lot of the Dark Angels were starting to feel.

Joshy:

Feel like they were already perceived as traitors or were just left behind, or they were just, you know, generally unhappy about the situation and tried to push, like, their agendas.

Joshy:

Now, eventually, the lion would come back to Caliban, except his fleet would be fired upon by the homeworld.

Johnny:

Uh, that's not good.

Joshy:

Because they were so worried that after all this time, the lion was coming back to get rid of them.

Joshy:

So instead of being, you know, extinguished, they decided to fight back ahead of time.

Joshy:

And so the rebellion of what would be called the Fallen Angels was very clear to the Lion.

Joshy:

And he orbital bombarded his homeworld so fiercely, it cracked apart.

Joshy:

And then in the ensuing fight, the lion, who went down to the surface, fought with Luthor.

Joshy:

Luther at that point was really juiced up with warp energies because Caliban was actually a warp infested planet to begin with.

Johnny:

Oh, they were screwed from the start.

Joshy:

That's why they were fearing suspicions of heresy.

Joshy:

And Luther was so just jazzed up, he actually brought the lion down.

Joshy:

And when he did that, all of a sudden, his warp trance evaporated and he was like, uh, oh, what have I done?

Joshy:

You know, my son, I've.

Joshy:

I've.

Joshy:

You know, I might have killed my son.

Johnny:

Man, this Luthor guy's a chad.

Joshy:

But then what happened was, because of all this chaotic interference and the planet cracking apart, a warp storm engulfed the planet, specifically picked up the fallen angels and just scattered them through space and time.

Joshy:

There are some fallen which have popped up in, like, millennia.

Joshy:

38, like days after this war.

Joshy:

There have been Dark Angels that were sent back in time.

Joshy:

You know, it's just very enigmatic.

Joshy:

Like the Dark Angels, the Fallen.

Joshy:

Because the Fallen actually come in many flavors.

Joshy:

Most commit to chaos powers of course, because it's like a bit of a savior vibe.

Joshy:

Like they don't want to die, so they turn to chaos.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

Or they become renegade war bands and warlords most often.

Joshy:

But some, you know, really remain loyal to the lion or they sought to redeem themselves.

Joshy:

So they go up like Hero's Journey, you know.

Joshy:

But regardless of where they stand, the Dark Angels and their successors, who they call themselves the Unforgiven because of what happened.

Joshy:

Despite the Dark Angels of modern day being loyal, they feel like they need to make up for what happened like 10,000 years ago.

Joshy:

And so they hunt the Fallen.

Joshy:

Right.

Joshy:

Without remorse.

Joshy:

It even costs them some conflicts and some loyalty with other Imperials because they're like oh, there's a Fallen over there.

Joshy:

And they just go get them.

Joshy:

They go after them.

Joshy:

They just abandoned the battlefield and just go get them.

Johnny:

Jeez.

Johnny:

These guys are very chaotic.

Joshy:

Yeah.

Joshy:

But there is one Fallen angel more notorious than others.

Joshy:

And that is our boy of today, Cypher.

Joshy:

Now who is Cypher?

Johnny:

I don't know.

Johnny:

We don't know.

Joshy:

We don't know who Cypher is.

Joshy:

And that's kind of on.

Joshy:

On purpose.

Joshy:

So Cipher as an individual is the definition of a rogue agent.

Joshy:

His motives and even loyalties are just straight up unknown because he's been seen to help both good guys, bad guys and in between.

Joshy:

But the title of Cipher actually existed in the very early days of the Dark Angels Legion.

Joshy:

Cipher would be a single member of the ancient orders elected to forsake their identity.

Joshy:

See where we're going with this?

Joshy:

And basically become a representation of their ancient codes and laws and tenants in overall ways.

Joshy:

Right.

Johnny:

So Cypher is Cypher.

Johnny:

Cypher is a title.

Joshy:

Cypher is a title.

Johnny:

He's a 007.

Joshy:

He's a double.

Joshy:

Oh seven.

Joshy:

There is one possibility of who Cipher might be however.

Johnny:

Okay.

Joshy:

But it's not guaranteed.

Joshy:

There was a Fallen angel known as Zahariel.

Joshy:

And like the other Fallen, Zahariel believed the Imperium would not accept the warp tainted Caliban should its secrets be revealed.

Joshy:

And became a key agent of the would be Fallen.

Joshy:

The uniting rebel elements of the homeworld before they would fire upon the lion.

Joshy:

Right.

Joshy:

Zaharia was one of four individuals who.

Joshy:

Who would actually activate the orbital bombardment batteries.

Joshy:

But Zahariel was always a very powerful psyker who was actually known to the Emperor before becoming an actual Astartes.

Joshy:

Because when the Emperor came to Caliban, the Knights of the world didn't trust him.

Joshy:

They didn't trust what he would do and bring about.

Johnny:

I mean, that's fair.

Joshy:

And the inner circle of the Dark Angels actually plotted an assassination of the Emperor.

Joshy:

But Zahariel saved him, saved the Emperor, and then would actually become an Astartes after the Emperor wiped his mind off the whole plot.

Joshy:

So Zahariel actually lost awareness of the paranoia and mistrust of the Dark Angels from Daedot.

Johnny:

Hold on.

Johnny:

So he.

Johnny:

But Cypher's not a Psyker, is he?

Joshy:

That's where it all gets a bit messy.

Joshy:

But to understand what Cypher could be, we have to.

Joshy:

You know, I really feel like we have to have a brief examination of Zahariel.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Joshy:

Now, Zahariel also actually saved the lion as well, because that human empire that planted the nuclear bomb, they were allied with Warp entities.

Joshy:

And Zahario and his little cabal of Librarians defeated a Warp entity and actually saved the Lion.

Joshy:

But he was also with Luthor in hesitantly disarming the nuclear bomb.

Joshy:

He almost didn't do it because he also was not a fan of the direction of the chapter or the Legion.

Joshy:

And so Zahariel, like Luthor, would be banished to Caliban despite his heroics and his prestige.

Johnny:

Okay.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

He would actually be radicalized even further into the Fallen agenda after himself, defeating a cabal of Chaos sorcerers that had made their way to Caliban to further corrupt the Fallen.

Joshy:

It's all very like Shadow War, Cold War vibes in defending the Chaos.

Joshy:

Sorry.

Joshy:

In defending Caliban from the Chaos sorcerers, he would actually be left for dead by the at the time Lord Cipher.

Joshy:

Because the at the time Lord Cipher, who had, you know, if we go back, was always an actual titled member of the orders of Caliban.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

But at that time, that Lord Cipher wanted to puppet Luther.

Joshy:

Right.

Johnny:

Everyone's got an agenda.

Joshy:

And he.

Joshy:

He didn't want Zaharia to mess it all up.

Joshy:

But when Zahariel would eventually free himself from his trap, he would kill the at the time Lord Cipher.

Joshy:

And it would be Luthor who raised Zahariel to the title of Cipher around about this same time.

Joshy:

Caliban's Warp essence, in a way, was giving Zahariel these strange visions which showed Zahariel what Caliban itself wanted Cipher to be, which was essentially the actual mythological green knight, A defender of the forest, a defender of the balance of nature.

Joshy:

It's all pretty intense.

Joshy:

It's a bit hard to make sense of if I'm being real, but that's essentially what happened on Caliban.

Joshy:

Now Luther would actually feel pretty bad about everything that's going on and sent various Dark Angels that would later be referred to as the Fallen, to actually reinforce the Siege of Terra.

Joshy:

Like on the good guys side.

Johnny:

Oh, they showed up during the siege.

Joshy:

Zahariel, not Luther.

Joshy:

But Zahariel showed up during the siege and he would fight at the Siege of Terra alongside the very legendary Dark angel warrior, Corswain.

Joshy:

And Corswain was like the first Captain Vibe of the Dark Angels.

Joshy:

Same with Kaan of the World Eaters.

Johnny:

Yeah, yeah.

Joshy:

Raldoran of the Blood Angels.

Joshy:

He was that kind of figure.

Joshy:

And Corswain was leading the Dark Angels at the Siege of Terra.

Joshy:

Zahariel worked with him.

Joshy:

It was Zahariel's mission to actually reactivate the Astronomicon so that Guilliman and the Ultramarines could actually find Terra as it was being smothered by the warp storms, so that they could come and reinforce Terra.

Johnny:

Yep, that makes sense.

Joshy:

And Zahariel would have to fight the Death Guard.

Joshy:

He'd have to fight Typhus.

Joshy:

He was fighting to save the Imperium.

Joshy:

And during the battle, he finally decided to don the hood, the ceremonial hood and robe of Lord Cipher, and was never observed as Zahariel ever again.

Joshy:

There was no further record of Zahariel since the Siege of Terra.

Johnny:

So at some point he became Cipher.

Johnny:

But that doesn't necessarily make him the Cipher we have now.

Joshy:

Exactly.

Joshy:

Okay, he killed the previous Cipher, Luthor made him Cipher, and then during the Siege of Terror, he accepted the role of Cipher and then was never seen again.

Johnny:

Well, as him, as him.

Joshy:

And since the Heresy, none have been actually sure of the identity of Seifer, who has actually appeared in every segmentum across the galaxy.

Joshy:

Dude, he has fought and allied with Imperium and Chaos forces alike.

Joshy:

He will avenge a Dark angel grandmaster so that the Dark Angels could recover his relics, only to then, you know, be hunted by the Dark Angels because he's a Fallen.

Joshy:

And then the Dark angel grandmaster that replaced the guy he avenged, he would attempt to slay for daring to hunt him down, you know.

Johnny:

Oh, man, Dark Angels just, you know, they all just need to calm down a little bit.

Joshy:

Yeah.

Joshy:

Cipher has defended like space Marine chapters against like a plague spreading chaos warband, only to himself spread the next one on purpose.

Joshy:

He has led Imperial Guard regiments to victory against Chaos forces, but he has also Assassinated and replaced an Inquisitor assimilated his whole network of contacts and then caused the downfall of an entire hive world.

Johnny:

But why?

Joshy:

No one knows.

Joshy:

Now, whether these are the actions of multiple entities or one, none are sure.

Joshy:

But all witnesses claim the sight of a robed power armoured individual wielding two pistols with extreme accuracy and strapping a large sheathed sword at their back.

Joshy:

And it is never wielded.

Johnny:

That's the guy I remember seeing in the Codex.

Joshy:

How are you going so far with Cipher?

Johnny:

It's giving me Assassin's Creed vibes.

Joshy:

Yeah.

Joshy:

Kinda like a Green Knight Assassin, but.

Johnny:

I'm still missing the why.

Joshy:

The why is the key question.

Joshy:

Because no one really knows.

Joshy:

Now it is all of these sightings.

Joshy:

And much like your boy Fabius bile, he's done a lot in the 10,000 ish years since the great crusade.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

But every time there is confirmed sightings, even if it's a lowly guardsman who said he thought he saw him like six months ago, the various chapters of the Unforgiven, which is all the Dark angels and their successors, they will just drop all of their activities and begin pursuit.

Joshy:

Even when that results in losses or ridicule.

Joshy:

You know, regardless of Cypher's intentions, which some believe he wishes to actually reach the Emperor himself.

Joshy:

Either to seek forgiveness for the fallen by offering what some believe is the Sword of the lion or upon his back, or use the sword and free the Emperor of his suffering.

Joshy:

None are exactly sure which way he's gonna go, but all are pretty understanding that it's the Emperor he's trying to get towards for one reason or another.

Johnny:

But killing the Emperor would be such a bad thing.

Joshy:

Yeah.

Johnny:

For everyone else.

Joshy:

Which is what really leans into the Izzy, Good or bad, no one really knows.

Joshy:

But I find that particularly interesting because if it is Zahariel, the Emperor knows him.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Joshy:

And Zahariel knows the Emperor, which leans.

Johnny:

More into the maybe wanting to put him out of his misery.

Johnny:

But putting him out of his misery means chaos wins.

Joshy:

Yeah.

Joshy:

There are various individuals who really do think the Emperor needs to just like hang up the phone and just let whatever happens happens.

Joshy:

Some think that when the Emperor kicks it, his body will go away and his soul will reform as like Chaos God number five and therefore be like an imperial deity.

Joshy:

Like some people do believe that.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Joshy:

But the Dark angels will not let him achieve his mysterious agenda, whatever it is.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Johnny:

Because he hasn't told him what it is.

Joshy:

They don't let him.

Joshy:

Every time he shows up they're like, go get Him.

Johnny:

Someone just needs to have a conversation with the poor bloke.

Johnny:

Be like, so what's the end game here?

Joshy:

Well, funnily enough, there actually has been a recent part of history where he made his way back to the rock, which is the biggest surviving chunk of Caliban.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Joshy:

And effectively strong armed several of the named Dark Angels, Ezekiel, Belial, etc.

Joshy:

To activate one of those various like Caliban Old world technology devices.

Joshy:

Right.

Joshy:

Because Typhus wanted it.

Joshy:

Of course he did.

Joshy:

And he basically.

Joshy:

What he did in basically getting the Dark Angels to activate this piece of technology was he sabotaged it.

Joshy:

And it actually recreated the warp storm that scattered the Fallen in the first place.

Joshy:

Like a causal loop.

Joshy:

It was an exact replica of the warp storm that happened in like 30,000, but in 40,000.

Johnny:

And what did this accomplish?

Joshy:

People aren't quite sure, but there's.

Joshy:

There's a lot of like wondering if the Fallen scattering warp storm at the end of the Heresy was actually the Warp storm Cipher caused in like 40,000 going back through time.

Johnny:

Oh, no.

Joshy:

To actually create this sort of network of Fallen Angels, which I neglected to mention was like 20 or 30,000 individuals that have been scattered across space and time.

Johnny:

But that.

Johnny:

I feel like I'm going to ask this a lot, but when they're looking at this, why, what does he accomplish by creating that warm storm and sending Fallen all over?

Joshy:

Here's the thing.

Joshy:

It seems that only he knows why he's doing it.

Johnny:

Seems like he doesn't even know why he's doing it.

Joshy:

Perhaps not.

Johnny:

He seems like an agent of pure chaos.

Joshy:

He definitely seems like an agent of pure chaos.

Joshy:

Everything seems to have this Alpha Legion esque amount of layers to it.

Joshy:

It's kind of insane.

Joshy:

But I can give you his most recent big appearance in the main storyline, if you will.

Johnny:

Oh yeah.

Johnny:

What has he done recently to piss everyone off?

Joshy:

He actually.

Joshy:

This is one of his more noble actions.

Johnny:

So he's on the Imperium side.

Joshy:

So do you know what the Terran Crusade was like?

Johnny:

The original one?

Joshy:

No.

Joshy:

The recent one?

Johnny:

No.

Joshy:

The Terran Crusade was when Bobby G.

Joshy:

Rowboat Girlyman.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Joshy:

Roboute Guilliman was resurrected by a combined effort of Ynnari characters.

Joshy:

Belisarius Cawl, Saint Celestine, Black Templar, dudes on Ultramar.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

This coincided with the opening of the Great Rift.

Joshy:

Because Cadia fell.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

So Guilliman, to figure out what the heck's gone on with the galaxy since he's been sleeping, had the Terran Crusade, he and all those various people that resurrected him.

Joshy:

And like, Ultramarine dudes, whatever, they all basically partied up and tried to make it way make their way back to Terra to get an understanding of the situation.

Joshy:

Because the Great Rift just opened.

Joshy:

Guilliman's been unconscious for 10,000 years.

Joshy:

What's going on?

Johnny:

Right, yeah, yeah.

Joshy:

But because of all this big Chaos power bump.

Joshy:

So many agents of Chaos were after Guilliman, Kairos, Fateweaver, Big Tzeentian Demon Prince.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Johnny:

Two headed bird.

Joshy:

Two headed Birdman essentially led Guilliman and his fellows into a big old trap and basically forced Guilliman to surrender himself so that his forces would live.

Joshy:

And Kairos Fateweaver imprisoned Guilliman inside a Blackstone fortress.

Johnny:

Nice.

Joshy:

Guess who saved Guilliman from an almost eternity of rotting away inside this fortress?

Johnny:

I don't know who saved him.

Johnny:

All I know is he goes by the name Cypher.

Joshy:

Cypher and several fallen angels.

Joshy:

But Cypher was not alone.

Joshy:

He had a new ally.

Joshy:

You might know this person.

Joshy:

A Harley Quinn by the name of Salandri Veilwalker.

Johnny:

Oh, I'm so overhearing the name.

Johnny:

Vale Walker.

Johnny:

I need to know what this story is.

Johnny:

Suddenly, Fabius and Cipher are connected.

Joshy:

Solandri, Vale Walker and her Harlequins with Cipher and several of his fallen buddies rescued Gilliman from the fortress and helped him along to Terra.

Joshy:

Because Salandri decided to mention that there's always been a webway portal on Luna.

Joshy:

As in the Moon of Terra.

Johnny:

Yep.

Joshy:

And so Cipher, Vale Walker, Guilliman and his cohort went through the webway to go to Terra.

Joshy:

Now, Cipher had one demand of Guilliman before letting him out.

Joshy:

What do you think it was?

Johnny:

Let me see.

Johnny:

The Emperor.

Joshy:

Correct.

Johnny:

And he got declined.

Joshy:

Well, Guilliman said sure.

Joshy:

But then when they got there, well, Guilliman was in no real choice to.

Johnny:

Say, nah, sorry, Rowboat Girly man said yes.

Johnny:

So this dude almost accomplished what he was going to accomplish.

Joshy:

Sure did.

Joshy:

So Guilliman, Vale, Walker, Cipher, bunch of others went through the webway, except they were once again ambushed by Chaos.

Joshy:

But it was Magnus and his Thousand Sons.

Joshy:

And they had an inevitable battle on Luna.

Joshy:

You had Guilliman, the Imperial Fists, who defend the Sol system.

Joshy:

That's their job.

Joshy:

The Sisters of Silence, who are actually based on Luna.

Joshy:

All these folks, the Harley Quinns, Saint Celestine, everybody was fighting Magnus and the Thousand Sons.

Joshy:

And they won, obviously, because Magnus can't win.

Johnny:

Poor Magnus.

Joshy:

Salandri decided to accept Gilliman's conditions of close that fricking portal.

Joshy:

We can't have people just arriving next to Terra like that.

Joshy:

And so she's like, okay, bye.

Joshy:

And then took her Harley Quinns and went through the portal, and, like, they closed it forever.

Johnny:

But did they break it?

Joshy:

Yeah, maybe Harlequins.

Joshy:

So within hours of joining up on Terra, Cipher was imprisoned.

Joshy:

He's like, all right, where's my meeting?

Joshy:

And Guilliman's like, look, thanks, but I don't, like, fully trust you.

Joshy:

I haven't even spoken with dad yet, you know?

Joshy:

And so the Adeptus Custodians imprison Cipher and his fallen boys in the dark cells, which are their pitch black jail below the palace.

Joshy:

Within hours, Cypher broke free, but probably not for the reason you would expect.

Joshy:

How do you think he was freed?

Johnny:

Before we get down to how we thought he was freed, yeah.

Johnny:

How much does Rowboat Girlyman know of the Fallen?

Johnny:

Aren't they on, like, the opposite side of the galaxy?

Joshy:

Look, I think Guilliman saw old Dark Angels and that they weren't exactly like a cohesive force and were like, hmm.

Johnny:

They don't fight like Dark Angels should fight.

Joshy:

Yeah, they're, like, all, like, in their old baroque armor.

Joshy:

They got, like, scrap together bits of armor and weaponry.

Joshy:

They're allied with Harley Quinn's.

Joshy:

You know, they're just ducking in and out of Blackstone fortresses.

Johnny:

If anyone should be okay with them being teamed up with the Harlequins is the dude that was rezzed by Aeldari.

Joshy:

Yeah, I think Guilliman was just very protective of dad.

Johnny:

Yeah, either that or someone's whispering in girly man's ear.

Joshy:

Yeah, but at this point, you know, Guilliman hadn't even spoken with dad, I'm fairly sure, and was just like, look, you know, we can talk about it later, but for right now, I need you to just, like, stay put and not do anything.

Johnny:

Just get into a jail cell.

Joshy:

But then the Custodians would be aware of the Fallen, so.

Joshy:

But how do you think Cipher was.

Joshy:

Was freed from the dark cells?

Joshy:

Notoriously hard prison to get out of, by the way.

Johnny:

I swear, if you told me, Veilwalker.

Joshy:

Was there something more humorous than that?

Joshy:

The Dark Angels.

Johnny:

What?

Joshy:

The Dark Angels got word Cipher was on Terror.

Johnny:

They're like, we gotta kill our brother.

Joshy:

They snuck into the dark cells and damaged the plasma generators powering the gates.

Johnny:

Of the cell so they could get in.

Joshy:

I don't know if you knew this, Jonny, but when the Great Rift opened up, Khorne himself was like, yeah, bet.

Joshy:

And sent, like, an insane amount of Chaos Demons to Terra.

Joshy:

And so the actual palace was a bit weakened, the infrastructure a bit shaken, and then the Dark Angels just like broke open the cells to get to.

Johnny:

This boy to kill him.

Joshy:

Yeah, and Cypher and his brethren really good at getting out of problems.

Joshy:

And.

Joshy:

And that's exactly what happened.

Joshy:

They got out and fled.

Johnny:

Terra, man, if you're the Dark Angels, you're like, oops.

Joshy:

Well, it actually got way worse for the Dark Angels.

Joshy:

Not because they were censured by the Custodians, but because in their pursuit of Cypher and his boys, the various librarians of various Unforgiven chapters all had this similar psychic vision that Cipher would be at the planet of Darkmoor.

Joshy:

And so roughly a thousand Marines, which is a decent amount in this setting.

Joshy:

Yeah, went to Darkmoore to ambush Cipher and the Fallen.

Joshy:

Except when they arrived, Darkmoor was no longer an Imperial world, but a graveyard crawling in renegade Marines and demons.

Joshy:

And Darkmoore was actually a trap set by Fallen to basically get the Dark Angels to stop fricken chasing them for a while.

Johnny:

What, by killing them?

Joshy:

Yeah, so.

Johnny:

So the Dark Angels worst enemy is themselves.

Joshy:

Essentially.

Joshy:

They went gung ho after the Fallen got led to the planet Darkmoor, which was a trap.

Joshy:

What was once an Imperial world was now like a dead world covered with demons and renegade Marines ready to just kill him.

Joshy:

Of about a thousand Dark angel and their cousins, about a hundred survived only because they were so relentless in pursuing Cipher across the battlefield.

Joshy:

In his own escape of Darkmoore, he went through a teleportarium and they also like went with him.

Joshy:

So there's this weird thing of like, he was kinda responsible for leading them to a trap, but he also saved a few of them.

Johnny:

Yeah, but that doesn't seem like he saved them.

Johnny:

It feels more like they're Blood Angels who saw Horus.

Joshy:

Yeah, but it wasn't so much Cipher's plan as it was the Fallen's plan.

Johnny:

But he is a Fallen.

Joshy:

Yes, that's the hard part.

Joshy:

Cipher has also since been pursued by his Custodian jailers, because they weren't none pleased that he got away.

Joshy:

And this is the last we know of Cipher.

Joshy:

He was pursued by his Custodian jailers.

Joshy:

He crossed the Great Rift into the Imperium Nihilus, the northern part.

Joshy:

And the Custodians had no real choice but to follow him across the Great Rift.

Joshy:

The Great Rift had damaged their senses just enough that they weren't able to tell that their senses weren't picking up a black painted small void craft that's kind of like trailing them.

Joshy:

Like a barnacle to a ship.

Joshy:

Who is more than likely Cipher himself, sneakily following the custodians as they sheepishly try and follow him.

Johnny:

Are you sure Seifer is a dark angel?

Joshy:

No, no one's sure about Seifer at all.

Johnny:

Because he's.

Johnny:

He's giving me Alpharius vibes.

Joshy:

He might be Alpharius.

Joshy:

That's how much we don't know.

Johnny:

That would be a hell of a twist to throw into their lore.

Joshy:

I could see it.

Joshy:

I can very well see it.

Joshy:

But that's about as much as I got for Cipher, lore and bio for you today.

Johnny:

I will say, after hearing all this, I had no clue what Cipher was about.

Johnny:

And that hasn't changed.

Joshy:

That hasn't changed.

Johnny:

I was always curious why he had a sword but used two pistols in melee.

Johnny:

And that hasn't changed.

Joshy:

It's maybe the Lion's sword.

Johnny:

But hasn't the lion got a sword?

Joshy:

Well, he's got a new sword.

Johnny:

So why doesn't he just give lion back his sword?

Joshy:

I don't think he's met him yet.

Johnny:

I don't think he's tried hard enough.

Joshy:

In the lore, lion just got back.

Joshy:

He probably doesn't know the in the lore timeline.

Joshy:

The lion coming back is after the last known appearance.

Joshy:

It might happen, just not yet.

Joshy:

We're up to date.

Joshy:

If there is something that the lion is doing, though, it's redeeming the Fallen.

Joshy:

His book, The Lion's book was him waking up from his weird, you know, green night coma.

Joshy:

He's going from world to world as an individual by coincidence, meeting up with various fallen angels that aren't exactly bad boys.

Joshy:

And he's like, I forgive you.

Joshy:

And then he gets his little posse of redeemed angels who are definitely not the inner circle champions.

Johnny:

That sounds like it could be both a good thing and a bad thing.

Johnny:

Redeeming fallen and being like, sorry, guys, I understand why you did what you did.

Johnny:

My bad.

Joshy:

Well, there are some that he just straight up didn't redeem.

Johnny:

But what if they're just.

Johnny:

I guess he's got that spidey sense, right?

Johnny:

I was going to say, what stops them from lying to him?

Joshy:

Great.

Joshy:

Crusade Lion, Petulant man child, much like all of his brothers.

Johnny:

I was going to say, like all the Primarchs.

Joshy:

42Nd Millennium Lion, Old wise man.

Joshy:

That's like, I just want peace.

Joshy:

He hates Gilliman notoriously, but almost wept when he realized that he has a brother still alive.

Joshy:

Like, dudes, dudes had a little Bit of a change of heart of his ways.

Johnny:

He has a couple of brothers alive.

Johnny:

They just don't look the same.

Joshy:

He woke up and had to 1v1 Angron.

Joshy:

I'm sure he's pleased about Guilliman existing.

Johnny:

They just haven't met yet.

Joshy:

No, he's been hanging out with Dante instead.

Johnny:

But Dante hasn't told Guilliman that the lion is back yet either.

Johnny:

So here these two brothers are like.

Joshy:

I'm the only brother in the Arcs of Omen, the lion was, like, picked up by Dante, and he's like, why the heck are you wearing a Sanguinius mask?

Joshy:

Like, that's disrespectful.

Johnny:

And.

Joshy:

And Dante had to be like, actually, no, it is respectful.

Joshy:

This is our ways now.

Joshy:

Like, it's like 10,000 years later.

Joshy:

And Lyon's like, oh, okay.

Joshy:

And then, like, after a couple of battles, Dante's like, oh, yeah, we just got word from Lord Guilliman, blah, blah, blah.

Joshy:

And Lion's like, huh, Guilliman's alive.

Joshy:

I'm not the only one.

Joshy:

And that was kind of like the end of that.

Joshy:

That was it.

Joshy:

That's like, Dark Angel's caught up now.

Johnny:

You know, the more I hear about the Dark Angels, the less I like them.

Joshy:

I don't like them much myself, but I like Cypher for being an absolute mad lad.

Johnny:

I used to think the models looked cool, and I was like, oh, yeah, I kind of get it.

Joshy:

They do look cool.

Johnny:

And now the law just makes them seem like the worst people in the Imperium just because they're so dumb.

Joshy:

You have some characters like Azrael, Lazarus, they're not bad.

Joshy:

But then you have absolute unhinged retards like Asmodai, but they're just.

Johnny:

They're just doing stupid shit.

Joshy:

Yep.

Joshy:

Azmodai basically got told by the lion, shut the heck up.

Joshy:

You're being crazy.

Joshy:

And Azmodai was like, is the Lion a traitor?

Johnny:

Oh, my God.

Johnny:

Well, I think that's a really good place to leave it.

Joshy:

His data sheet first.

Johnny:

Oh, we still have a data sheet.

Johnny:

Go ahead.

Joshy:

Yeah, real quick, though.

Johnny:

He's.

Johnny:

He's a chad in game.

Joshy:

his second sculpt ever in the:

Joshy:

He got a model.

Joshy:

It's not bad.

Joshy:

It's relatively detailed.

Joshy:

Showcases a lot of the Horus Heresy era Dark angel design.

Joshy:

He is a modest 90 points.

Joshy:

He's more of a lone operative action monkey.

Joshy:

He's not too different in stat line to other Marine characters.

Joshy:

Humorously, his weapons are as effective in melee as they are at range with a sustained hits assault base profile.

Joshy:

So he runs around quite a lot.

Joshy:

He hits on 2s and has a relatively decent chance of taking down a few marines or similarly tough infantry.

Joshy:

He uses his signature bolt and plasma pistols in melee.

Joshy:

Not the sword at his back or the.

Joshy:

Wait for this.

Joshy:

This is going to be a sentence to just throw you for a loop.

Joshy:

The C'tan phase blade he has supposedly used in the lore lost to time after he fought the Nightbringer with it during the 13th Black Crusade.

Johnny:

Whoa.

Joshy:

Cipher fought a Necron C'tan shard with a Necron blade and then lost the blade.

Joshy:

That's just another thing he's done.

Johnny:

Who the hell is this bloke?

Joshy:

Alpharius?

Johnny:

Maybe it's Omegon.

Joshy:

Maybe.

Joshy:

Now, he does have a couple of abilities.

Joshy:

It allows him to increase the cost of stratagems used near him.

Joshy:

So let's say you want to command, reroll or save if you're within 12 inches, it now costs 2, etc.

Joshy:

And he also has the Necron Hex Mark Destroyer vibe of if he's next to a friend and you shoot his friend, he'll just shoot you.

Johnny:

Yeah, he's.

Johnny:

He's a cool dude in game.

Joshy:

Notably, he does not lead the unit known as the Fallen.

Johnny:

That would be because the Fallen aren't in the Codex.

Joshy:

All my other characters won't be this in depth, I imagine.

Joshy:

What do you think of Cypher?

Johnny:

I.

Johnny:

I don't know if I like him.

Joshy:

Yeah.

Johnny:

I just don't know enough about him to trust him.

Joshy:

He's too much of a question mark.

Johnny:

Yeah.

Johnny:

I need to know a little bit more about his motives.

Joshy:

If he has them.

Johnny:

See, if he didn't have motives, I could accept that.

Johnny:

Everything points to there's a reason.

Johnny:

Like, you're doing this weird stuff.

Johnny:

There has to be an end goal.

Joshy:

Yeah, the Emperor.

Johnny:

But why?

Johnny:

Again, questions.

Johnny:

I do like the enigmatic characters.

Joshy:

It's like Solandri Veilwalker.

Johnny:

Man, you should have picked her for one of the advents next year.

Johnny:

Oh, man, that's a lot of messy stuff.

Johnny:

Harlequins are weird.

Joshy:

Next year's Advent calendar.

Joshy:

I'm picking Veilwalker.

Joshy:

Done.

Johnny:

All right.

Joshy:

All right.

Joshy:

Brilliant.

Joshy:

That is another of our character vignettes for our countdown.

Joshy:

The:

Joshy:

This was Cypher.

Joshy:

Who?

Joshy:

Is he a Dark angel or is he an Alpha Legion?

Joshy:

I don't know.

Joshy:

I am Joshy.

Johnny:

And I'm Johnny.

Joshy:

Bye.

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About the Podcast

TTP Field Manual
Joshy and Jonny are here to Play Games, Read Books, Roll Dice, and Trust the Process
Our Community Discord: https://discord.gg/Q6CTSrcbPT
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TTPFieldManual
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ttpfieldmanual

From the grimdark depths of Warhammer to the weird corners of indie skirmish games, we’re here to help you explore, expand, and enjoy 'hobby'—wherever it takes us. Expect insights, unfiltered opinions, and an approachable take on miniature wargaming, model releases, lore deep-dives, rambles, and the occasional video game or book chat.

Join us as we light the way for gamers, hobbyists, and lore fanatics through the ever-expanding worlds of tabletop gaming, with new episodes weekly. Whether you're a battle-hardened gamer or eyeing your first box set, you're in good company.

About your hosts

Joshua Bryant

Profile picture for Joshua Bryant
By day, Joshy is a therapist; by night, he's an RPG aficionado who grew up on (not-so) Final Fantasies and crafting his own Dungeons & Dragons worlds.

Josh loves sci-fantasy, and so is quite at home with Warhammer! He plays Necrons, Adepta Sororitas, and Aeldari. His playstyle is reserved and cagey, preferring to outmaneuver his opponents before delivering the killing blow. His painting approach is a blend of fast painting styles and technical effects. He's the resident lore expert and wishes he could apply his encyclopaedic brain to other areas of life.

Jonathan Langtree

Profile picture for Jonathan Langtree
Jonny, a technician, spends his downtime conquering more video games than Joshy can keep track of.

Jonny is a big fan of magic in his games and putting together vicious combos. He's the de facto Champion of Chaos when it comes to Warhammer, playing Chaos Knights, Thousand Sons, and Chaos Space Marines. He loves synergistic army lists and is always putting together new ideas. His painting approach is classic 'Eavy Metal.