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Anval Thawn

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Anval Thawn is a Justicar of the Grey Knights. He is thought to be the last of the Perpetuals[2], at least by the Eldar and members of the Inquisition. Though nothing is known of his life before the Grey Knights, it is likely that he has lived for thousands, even tens of thousands, of years. Why he finally chose to become a Grey Knight is unknown. [2]

History

Found by the Black Ships of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Thawn was said to be "waiting to leave with them" and marked with the Imperial Eagle upon his brow. Deemed suitable for the Grey Knights, Thawn was swift to fulfill expectations. He laid the deathblow to the Bloodthirster Kor'agar'and, guarded the fallen Grand Master Leorac against Bloodletters until help arrived, and held off vast legions of Daemons when lost in the Hellgates of the world of Halkin VI.[1b]

Whilst purging Daemons from the deserted Eldar Craftworld of Malan'tai, Thawn was slain, split on the boar of the Keeper of Secrets N'Kari. Brought back to Titan to be laid to rest, Thawn miraculously burst from his sarcophagus, unharmed, during the funeral procession. Thawn's seeming resurrection attracted the suspicion of his Battle Brothers, but after many years not even the Chapter's Librarians could offer an explanation and he has been returned to duty. Dying several times in the line of duty, Thawn always returns several days later. Yet for Thawn, immortality is a curse. Over his long life he has seen the destiny of Mankind grow even darker and the state of the Imperium more desperate. He knows, as few others can, that humanity is fighting an increasingly desperate battle. Yet still he fights against the inevitable, determined to uphold his duty as a Grey Knight until the Emperor should return to vanquish the dark gods once and for all.[1b]

In 927.M41, on the planet Curwen, Justicar Thawn led the charge against the daemonic forces of the Great Unclean One, Ku'Gath Plaguefather. Although Thawn was swallowed whole by Ku'Gath at the climax of the battle, he carved his way out and in doing so destroyed the daemon from within.[1a]

Canon Conflicts

In the 5th Edition of Codex: Grey Knights, Anval Thawn has shown the ability to die any number of times and revive back to perfect health with days, hours or even minutes of death. Some believe he is an agent of prophecy, who will only truly die at the foot of the Golden Throne surrounded on all sides by foes.[1b]

In the 7th Edition of the Codex, Thawn is not given rules to be used on the tabletop, and his background is restricted to a timeline passage, retlling the battle against N'kari on Craftworld Malan'tai. In this version of the battle, Thawn does sacrifice himself for his Brother-Captain, spitted like a boar by N'kari. However, the short passage describes no resurrection like the previous Codex and Thawn is not mentioned again. It is logical to conclude that Thawn's immortality was retconned with the new edition and he simply died on Malan'tai..[3] It is also reasonable to assume that Thawn was a member of the Grey Knights' First Brotherhood, as the leader of the force sent to Malan'tai was Brother-Captain Pelanas of the same Brotherhood.

Sources


Grey Knights Forces
Command Supreme Grand MasterGrand MasterBrother-CaptainBrotherhood ChampionLibrarianTechmarineChaplainApothecaryAncient
Elites Paladin SquadPurifier SquadJusticarsDreadnoughtVenerable Dreadnought
Troops Terminator SquadStrike SquadInterceptor SquadPurgation Squad
Vehicles RhinoRazorbackLand RaiderLand Raider CrusaderLand Raider RedeemerNemesis Dreadknight
Aircraft StormravenStormtalonStormhawkThunderhawk
Characters Kaldor DraigoCastellan CroweAldrik VoldusArvann Stern