I was right, Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4 will feature the first-ever playable Primarch in videogame history

I'm not going to say 'I told you so,' but you can imagine I rang you up and said four words with a similar sentiment down the phone. Out of the loop? Just last month, I noticed that one of the file names shown in a promotional video for Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4 looked pretty familiar and wondered if it was hinting at a certain Primarch joining the fray. The latest trailer makes it clear that, yes, the Lion is returning, marking the first playable Primarch in a videogame.

This is the moment many of us have been waiting for. Warhammer 40k Dawn of War 4 is already hugely anticipated for heading back to the series' roots, and my Dawn of War 4 preview was glowing. This has the potential to be one of the best Warhammer 40k games ever made, and adding a Primarch in may just seal the deal.

The Primarchs, for those of you out of the loop, are the progenitors of the 20 Space Marine Legions. Clones of the Emperor himself, every Space Marine is descended from one of these gargantuan warriors. They were lost for millennia after the events of the Horus Heresy, but returned to the tabletop a few years ago.

While we can duke it out with Guilliman, Lion el'Jonson, Fulgrim, Mortarion, Magnus, and Angron on the tabletop, no game has ever featured them as a playable character before now. Sure, you could maneuver Guilliman's battle barge in Battlefleet Gothic, but that clearly doesn't count.

Lion el'Jonson is the Primarch of the Dark Angels, and he's not a happy bunny. Forgiving the Fallen and distrusting of his loyal followers after so long lost in the Warp, he's a master swordsman and, in my mind at least, the only being in the galaxy with the skills to take on Angron in hand-to-hand combat. That's to say that he'll make short work of any Orks or Necrons in his way in Dawn of War 4.

It's unclear how often the Dark Angels will appear to aid the Blood Ravens in the game, but presumably the Primarch will make an appearance during the campaign's endgame to help with a seemingly insurmountable foe. The press release I was sent along with the trailer says that we will have the "chance to wield the legendary
might of a Space Marine Primarch in a climactic, unforgettable finale." If that's not exciting, I don't know what is.

This could have huge repercussions on the game and the series as a whole. Does the Dark Angels' involvement suggest that they are the Blood Ravens' progenitors? If the game is successful, could we see a Daemon Primarch enter the fray in Chaos-themed DLC? The Dark Gods are conspicuously absent right now.

All these questions await answers, but for the time being, we can get excited about wielding the might of the Emperor's son, the pride of the first Legion, on a virtual battlefield for the first time when Dawn of War 4 launches next year.