New Necrons are on the way to Warhammer 40k, so here’s everything we know about them and Szarekh, the Silent King. Don’t miss this rundown!
Surprisingly, it looks like earlier rumors of the Silent King could be coming true. On top of that, he may have a new unit hitting the scene with him. But before we jump into the latest, here’s what we saw from Warhammer Community earlier on to get caught up.
Everything We Know About Necrons & Szarekh The Silent King
New 40k Necrons Incoming In GW Preview
Over time, even the most powerful rulers can become little more than legends, no longer worshipped, no longer feared. But while some may speak of them in hushed whispers to frighten the weak, there are still true believers who await their return.
Take a quiet moment of reflection to think about what you’ve seen, and then join us on the Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page to let us know what you think this foretells…
All signs seem to be pointing to the return of the Silent King on May 23rd.
Who is Szarekh the Necrons Silent King?
A quick scan of the wiki gives us a pretty good idea of who he is and why he is a big deal.
Szarekh, also known as the Silent King, was the last in the line of Silent Kings to lead the ruling Triarch of the ancient Necrontyr Empire. It was during his reign that the Necrontyr encountered the C’tan and underwent the grand biotransference process that transformed the Necrontyr into the undying and soulless Necrons.
However, the biotransference process that allowed this to happen robbed the Necrontyr species of their souls and it was only afterwards that Szarekh realised the terrible fate he had unleashed upon his people. Embittered by his folly, he betrayed the C’tan after the Old Ones had been defeated in the War in Heaven, shattering them into C’tan Shards and imprisoning them in the arcane extradimensional devices known as Tesseract Labyrinths.
So he was the ruler, who essentially made the Necrons what we think of today. He also gave his people their revenge against the C’tan as well that they spoke of in the preview video.
Hidden In Plain Sight: The Return of the Silent King
Szeras was mentioned as being the character that GW gives a new model/focuses on. Reaching back to November of 2019, Kirioth on YouTube mentioned Szeras as getting a new model.
Hollownerox on Reddit also said:
…one thing that has stood out is the ever-increasing mention of the Technomandrites. The conclave of Crypteks behind most of the Crons’ insane weaponry and constructs, who were struck down by the Silent King.
First mentioned as kind of a footnote in 5th edition, 8th has been making ever more mentions of them. Culminating in Forgebane where it is said that The Silent King has called for them to return, and create anew. Thus it makes sense for Psychic Awakening to focus on Szeras, the premier Cryptek special character, if its related to this development. Since he is the sort to play around with his own body, having a big centerpiece model more suited for warfare would be reasonable.
Someone in Gold is Back…
Spotted in PA: Faith and Fury may be yet more clues:
The interrogation of an Astropath looks to have led to the small poem in bold at the bottom. The King on his Throne, Gold, Old & Bold sound like he could be the Emperor.
But we know now that this is probably a teaser for the Silent King Szarekh coming to 40k. He is also old as dirt, and when Dante met the Silent King a long time ago, he saw the Silent King wearing a golden mask to pay ode to Sanguinius. The Silent King also said he knew Sanguinius, which is neat.
So overall it looks like the preview video all but confirms Szarekh’s full swing return. from the lore, imagery, and especially the symbol at the end…
Now, if you are familiar with the Necron symbols, you may recognize that this is in fact, Szarekh’s personal seal, and/ or the symbol for the Triarchs,
Big, You Say?
Two years ago an industry insider made a two-part off the cuff remark to us about “new” Necrons that were in the 40k production queue. The problem is that sometimes our sources don’t have as much experience with the background and lore of 40k, so there can be a bit of deciphering between what we are told, and what the end product may be.
That being said, at the time we were told that “an undead model for 40k was coming, some sort of king the size of Nagash- bigger than Robby G for sure”.
Of course with the Bonereaper release, we thought perhaps there was a mistake, and those were the rumored models…
Well, the insider could have very well been talking about the Silent King himself. Now, we said this was all a part of a “two-part off the cuff remark”. So what’s the second-half of the rumor…
Necrons Getting Bigger Sculpts (Primaris Necrons?)
The second-half of the rumor was that there were going to be bigger undead models….maybe Primarisized Necrons on the way to 40k. After seeing the video, it doesn’t seem like something that’s too far off…
In this frame from the video above, we can clearly see some hieroglyphics of a frail body begging to what looks to be the Silent King. From there, the people look to be turned into JACKED warriors.
There Are Still “Normal” Necrons With the King
One big thing to note here as well is that while the Silent King went off into the void to think about what he had done, there are normal-sized Necrons on his ship. These are probably Warriors if we had to take a shot in the dark. But the fact that AFTER the Silent King did his work, there are still normal-looking Necrons points to the fact that he could have just turned some of his followers into bodybuilding robot people.
Finally, as the narrator says that they’ve awoken and are “surrounded by frail newborn empires”, we see these hulking fighters standing twice as high as what a human stands. We could very well be seeing some kind of new bigger Necron unit splash along with the Silent King that are tired of seeing their faction picked on.
The only big question that we have to ask is: In the hieroglyphics, why is the Silent King clearly Necron-looking, but these new warriors look like a bodybuilder you’d see on a late-night gym equipment infomercial? Are they actually made of living flesh? Or is that just the artist’s depiction of these guys?
Wait Are You Saying The Silent King Made The Tyranids?
Alright, so. There have been some rumors making some serious waves across the web that the Silent King is the mastermind behind making the Tyranids. Well, if this is true, then GW left some critical plot holes in their story that will take years of filling and retconning to recover from.
With that said, the Silent King has definitely made something according to a recent White Dwarf article. Let’s break it all down CSI Robbie B style!
Let’s tackle the rumor first. So where did the rumor saying the Silent King made the Necrons come from?
This was taken somewhat out of context in White Dwarf 450, which, if you can believe it, had Inquisitor Draxus involved in the story. She met with some kind of Xenos (most likely the Shadowseer from the first Psychic Awakening Video) that gave her a heads up about lets say a lord…
Here’s the full story for your reading enjoyment from January’s White Dwarf 450:
This excerpt taken entirely from context seems to have spread like wildfire that the Silent King created the Tyranids. Which honestly, when you ONLY look at that small snippet and don’t know anything about the lore, you could say that Tyranids would fit the bill 100%
But looking flipping back just one page in that same White Dwarf, and considering the background information of the characters involved, there may be another explanation.
So while Szarekh seems to have respected and noted the Tyranids voracious appetite, he still considers them a threat to the biomass he needs for the apotheosis of the Necrons.
Why The Necron Silent King Szarekh Didn’t Make the Tyranids
A pretty big pillar in the 40k lore dates back to the origins of the Tyranids. Who made them and why? There are a bunch of sources out there, but it’s pretty much assumed (not confirmed) that the Old Ones made the Tyranids to act as a delete button for the other races in the universe (Necrons, Orks, etc.) as well as acting as a DNA bank if they needed to create something again.
But regardless if the Old Ones made the Tyranids or not, if the Nids were around back while Necrons were roaming the planets, then why would the Silent King make them to kill the very thing he needs: biomass.
Next, we know that the Necrons teamed up with Blood Angels in the past to help get the Tyranids off their back. Way back in the day, Dante and the Silent Kind actually had a truce of sorts during the Gehenna campaign so that they could kill off the bugs that showed up trying to crash the party.
Again, these Tyranids were ready to eat Blood Angels and the Necrons- So why would the Silent King make something that could even threaten him?
He’s Trying To Stop The Nids From Eating His People
On top of these two bits of lore, it is interesting to note that the Silent King returned at the same time a Tyranid Hive Fleet was spotted. Although he was bent on stopping the Tyranids and protecting his kingdom:
However, in the late 41st Millennium, the Necrons began their Great Awakening and Szarekh returned to the galaxy after discovering the approaching Tyranid Hive Fleets during his sojourn in the intergalactic void.
The Silent King recognised them as a major threat to his people’s chances of reconquering the galaxy and regaining their organic forms. It was Szarekh’s dream that the Necrons might find an organic species whose bodies would prove to be suitable vessels for Necron minds, thus finally ending the curse of biotransference.
However, if the Tyranids were allowed to consume all life in the Milky Way Galaxy, there would be no species left to serve as Necron vessels, and so the Silent King now travels across the galaxy, seeking to awaken and unite his people against this terrible extragalactic foe.
But if that is true, then what does he plan on unleashing on “kingdom after kingdom” as Inquisitor Draxus was told above?
So What Did the Necrons Silent King Szarekh Make?
The key point of the story in the White Dwarf is that the Silent King DID make something. So what’s that “something” that fits the bill better than the Tyranids?
First, we have to know the backstory of the Silent King. He had some pretty big feels badsies when he turned 99% of his kingdom into mindless robots. Because of what he did, he went on a penance voyage sailing into the voids of space. He traveled the vastness of space where nobody would find him.
Remember back when the Necrons killed the C’tan Llandu’gor the Flayer? This brought about the disease that corrupts Necrons and drives them into insanity, wanting to kill anything that breathes. This description from the 40k fandom matches pretty well with the “horrors of infinite hunger” description from the White Dwarf above.
Flayed Ones are twisted and ghoulish Necron terrors afflicted by an ancient infection that breeds a hunger for organic flesh in them.
Flayed Ones kill in order to sate an unnatural hunger for flesh and blood; they kill so that they might feast.
Did the Necrons Silent King Szarekh Perfect The “Disease”?
One key attribute about the Flayed Ones is that they teleport in and out of existence. Nobody really knows where they go other than some sort of pocket dimension (similar to Dark Eldar Mandrakes). On top of that, we know that the Flayer disease can be spread to other Necrons.
So it’s even possible that this is where the Silent King disappeared to their pocket dimension and perhaps, just perhaps addressed the disease and made some kind of new Flayed One-type of warrior that we haven’t seen yet.
Why would they even answer the door if Szarekh came knocking you ask? It turns out the Silent King and the Flayed Ones are homies already!
Legendary even before the War in Heaven for their savagery and malice, the Maynarkh Dynasty were bloody, ruthless agents of the Silent King. So it is said that, on the order of the Silent King, their hands were the ones to utterly annihilate the C’tan called Llandu’gor the Flayer.
Then he showed his new (or old) creations the shining light of the world as he returned back to the galaxy proper. Knowing what we know about these new “lesser races” of humans etc- it’s possible that these kingdoms that are being destroyed are not ones of the biomass he craves, but kingdoms in the old sense… kingdoms of Necrons who refuse to bend knee to their king.
A battle may be brewing, and ultimately, we’re not sure what the Silent King created or if it will have anything to do with the Flayed Ones at the end of the day.
What we do know is that there are rumors of Flayed Ones getting new kits, and after looking at so many angles throughout the lore, it’s probably safe to say that the Silent King Szarekh is NOT behind the Tyranids’ creation.
With the clock running down to late May, we may have to keep asking these kinds of questions until then.
Featured image from Andrea Busca’s Warsinger Page who we featured recently on the site.
What do you think we’ll be seeing the Necrons get? Do they need an anvil unit that can take a beating as well as dish out the pain in melee? If the Necrons Silent King Szarekh did become a model on the tabletop, how much do you think he’d cost points-wise?
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About the Author: Andrew Schrank
Andrew Schrank
Job Title: Miniatures & Warhammer Hobby Staff Writer
Socials: Facebook
About Andrew Schrank: Over the past 15 years, Andrew has played all the games, including tabletop and video games, and immersed himself in the associated lore. Andrew joined the Spikey Bits team in 2018 and covers the Warhammer hobby and tournament scene, along with the latest in tabletop miniatures, each week.
Aspiring diplomat, Lord of Fluff, and Master of Ice Hammer, He loves Star Wars, Chaos Undivided, and Gundam. During his free time, he hunts Platinum trophies on PS5 and reads international news. On weekends, Andrew plays commander and cEDH games, often with unique strategies that push the limits.
He believes each day presents a new opportunity to grow and be challenged.
