Warhammer Iron Within

Recently, I watched the Iron Within animated feature on Warhammer+, and this is my review of it. The feature is about 30 minutes long, of beautifully rendered by somewhat rigid 3D animation. There may be very minor spoilers, but ideally no more than you'd get from the episode description.

Iron Within

In the grim dark future of Warhammer, there is only disappointment. That's the lesson of Iron Within. It's a lesson any new fan may as well learn early, because it's a consistent hallmark of the setting.

This one has a clever setup. There's a war happening on whatever-planet. The Drukhari are raiding the palace, killing Astra Militarum and driving forces into retreat. Things are looking dire when it's uncovered that the governor struck a deal with the Drukhari that was meant to protect him in exchange for the lives of some insignificant number of his citizens. An angry sergeant shoots him dead on the spot, and her lieutenant doesn't so much as scold her.

Her lieutenant confirms that their duty remains unchanged: protect the citizens. It's clear, however, that the Astra Militarum forces just aren't capable of doing that under the present circumstances. From the shadows, a priest offers to undertake an ancient rite to call down the angels of the Emperor for protection.

They say it's a myth, of course. There are no angels, and if there are they're not going to suddenly appear to rescue everybody from the Drukhari forces that are even now slaughtering everyone in sight. Nevertheless, the lieutenant concedes, harbouring the barest hope that there might be some shred of truth to the ancient stories of angelic protectors who descend from the sky in moments of crisis.

Iron Warriors

Well, it turns out that it wasn't just a myth. The ancient rites send a distress signal out into space, and soon drop pods break through the atmosphere.

It's a moment of real relief, too. All you've seen in the episode up to this point is Astra Militarum being shot down, one after another. Retreat, stand, retreat. It really does feel hopeless. But even the lieutenant starts to believe that the angels might appear, and he bolsters the morale of his troops with several 5+ rolls, and then it actually happens. Drop pods.

It's exciting. Your heart skips a beat. You don't have to imagine the incredulity of the Astra Militarum in that moment, because you feel it too. They've come to the rescue! Some great faction of Space Marines have heard the beckoning call, and are here to deliver the Emperor's wrath.

There's just one minor detail. The Astartes who brought this planet into compliance so many centuries ago were the Fourth Legion, the Iron Warriors. And since that time, the Horus Heresy happened, and Perturabo's Iron Warriors are a traitorous legion.

Good scifi

This episode is great scifi. It's dystopic and horrific, but it's got humans against aliens and then it adds trans-humans.

A lot of these Warhammer shows are proving to assume, fairly, an audience that's intimately familiar with Warhammer lore. This show doesn't take a moment to identify the alien invaders as Drukhari. You're just expected to know that from their general shape and technology. It doesn't explain the significance of the Fourth Legion (although IV appears prominently on heraldry in several shots). You just have to know your lore, or else just have faith in the story.

I do believe the story would be just as effective without the additional context of 40K lore. Essentially, this is a (rather depressing) story of loving the enemy you're with, because sometimes your salvation is even worse.

Scifi or horror? Why not both!

Good Warhammer

This episode is great Warhammer 40K. I don't always love the Astra Militarum, because their stories usually feel basically like any old military story. It's a bunch of humans with guns shooting things, and then a bunch die, and the survivors yell angrily at the sky before doubling down and shooting more. It does absolutely nothing for me. At best, I have no emotional response.

But the Astra Militarum compared to Space Marines is a different story. I love the stark contrast between the Astartes and humans. It's the same fascinating difference between RoboCop and the rest of the force. I find it fascinating, both when it's Astartes and humans on the same team or against one another.

It's also very cool to see the Iron Warriors legion at work. In the Horus Heresy books, there are comments about the Iron Warriors and its fighting style, so I knew they were infamous for a methodical, ruthless, and almost programmatic strategy. You see that reflected in the way the approach the battle in this show. They move almost like clockwork, advancing, clearing all the Drukhari in sight, and then advancing again, clearing out the Drukhari that have advanced, and so on. Slow, methodical, uncaring.

Of course it's the uncaring part that makes the Astra Militarum sergeant realise that the "angels" who have answered the distress call aren't exactly the angels everyone had been hoping for. Different people deal with that in different ways, and the results are better for some than for others.