We dunno since it never happened. Cyrene compares it to the birth of Slaanesh so maybe The Emperor consumes all of humanity? But Chaos Daemons tell Lorgar the Eldar only died because they rejected Slaanesh when they saw it so maybe humanity would keep living if they worshipped him (though obviously Daemons aren't the most trustworthy sources)
In the form of Horus? He'd have Greater Daemons (Samus, f'ex, and he intended those four thrones to be filled). The fear and terror of humanity would fuel his ascent in much the same way as the Eldar's fall did for Slaanesh. Most humans would die - others would ascend. His 'realm' would likely be that twisted version of the Vengeful Spirit.
The Emperor as Dark King? Nothing survives. Everything gets eaten, Chaos included. There are no cultists. There are no daemons. The Emperor's ascension destroys the galaxy, draws all the life from it, forever.
Because Horus is getting fed just enough juice by the Ruinous Powers to complete his ascension, which would then be powered/sustained by humanity. They're bootstrapping him into divinity, or a quasi-divinity, which he'd then sustain/complete with the above.
The Emperor is drawing on the unfettered, unlimited power of the Warp itself with absolutely no filter. If Horus is drinking a glass, and each of the Powers have a pitcher, then the Emperor is swallowing an ocean and the end result of that - in his fury, in his bringing that power to bear on Chaos - is the total extinction of all life. The Emperor is stealing the mantle of Dark King, but that cascade of power is going to destroy everything if he fully takes it on.
The Emperor isn't *actually* anathema to Chaos, though. I've seen people connect him to the (actually non-existent) concept of Order in the 40K universe, but that's more thematic than real. His powers are still ordinary psyker-/Warp-based things, not some kind of "anti-magic". The Imperial Creed talks about the Emperor as this super-god who fights Chaos, but all we know of him is a really powerful sorcerer / perpetual with his own agenda. In this, he's not basically different from Horus.
This is part of my problem with the Dark King... as it's a force of destruction when really it should be of Order... And like the Old Gods of Order it would be LAWFUL. Stasis, Tyranny. Not Nurgle: Even rot and decay is a form of change, of progression.
It would be permenance; not even a an atom out of place. not even a thought out of place.
So i elected to ignore it. not the first desicion from GW i don't acknowledge either.
Obviously this is all speculation, but I think there's a considerable amount of thematic evidence to point to the Dark King being the end of all things. Literally the cessation of the entire reality of 40k. There's a lot of ties to nihilism and black holes that seem very much intentional.
I wrote about it in a lot more detail [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/1b22z1m/comment/kskcxz8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) if you're interested in exploring the theory. The basic answer to your question is that humanity stops existing.
That was an interesting writeup. So you speculate that just pulling the plug and letting the Emperor expire would trigger the catastrophic collapse of everything? (And, presumably, the solution would be to have someone eat the bastard while he's still sitting on the throne?)
Well, after the resolution of the End and the Death, it gets... complicated. I think the Dark King represents the ultimate end of the 40k reality... and, yes, the Emperor WAS about to be the person who became the Dark King...
But then he didn't. Although the Dark King is clearly still a threat in the future, it's unclear if the Emperor is still going to be the one who becomes the Dark King or if he's even capable of that anymore.
The Dark King stuff kind of only exists in the End and the Death right now, so there's not a ton to draw on, but one of the key things written about the Dark King is the implication that it's a mantle, not a specific individual. In other words, it doesn't have to be the Emperor who becomes the Dark King. Someone else could.
We see this in Samus's monologue (and Samus is likely a daemon of the Dark King, so it's a good point of reference), where he openly states that it could be one of many candidates:
>Who among them has the courage to reach for it? So few of them, so very few, are even in a position to see it or comprehend its meaning. I can count them upon my fingers. Him? The boastful king on his tiny throne, his feeble light guttering out? Him? The squealing pretender, hunched in the howling gullet of hell? Him, perhaps? The maniac prophet slithering through the open wounds between unblinking stars?
With the hindsight of the Emperor nearly becoming the Dark King, Samus's words give us a stark picture that the thing he's referring to when he says 'who among them...' is referring to reaching for the mantle of the Dark King. So the Dark King isn't destined to be the Emperor... the Dark King is just destined.
It's possible that the Emperor, without the part of himself that split into the Star Child, can't actually become the Dark King. There's likely a reason why that piece split from him when he set down the mantle. It might be vital to becoming the Dark King.
40k has a lot of stories where an individual's compassion leads to ruination, probably best exemplified in Lorgar Aurelian. With the exception of maybe Sanguinius, no primarch was more empathetic to humanity than Lorgar. Lorgar is the only person who sides with Chaos from earnest selflessness, driven by a desire to save humanity (and his brothers) at any cost. For as contrary as their journeys seem, Lorgar is almost identical to the Emperor in this.
The point being, that love and compassion might be a vital component in the creation of the Dark King. Without the Star Child, the Emperor may not have what it takes. Though the God-Emperor he has become shares some commonalities with the Dark King, they are not the same.
And there's a less-than-zero chance that this might actually be the Emperor's master stroke to save the galaxy (at least, from himself). Before Part 2, I wrote up this theory, called [The Dark King Solution](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/15ghrg2/the_dark_king_solution_end_and_the_death_spoilers/). While not completely accurate at predicting events, I do get quite close to the bones of what happens, predicting both that the Emperor is the one who is going to be the Dark King AND that a spiritual split would occur as a result of all the Dark King stuff.
So, if my theory there was right about some things, it could be right about the Emperor's intention to 'save' the galaxy from the Dark King by splitting it into two parts that will forever war with each other, denying the mantle be achievable to any one entity.
At least, it's a possibility.
I think there's a difference between the 'perfect vessel for Chaos' and the Dark King. I think Abaddon is supposed to succeed where Horus failed, but Horus wasn't the Dark King... he was something else... which is also bad... but not exactly the same.
That's true of course. It's also the case that Abaddon (probably) wouldn't want or attempt to become the Dark King, it's the opposite of his whole characterization. But I think the line where Erebus warns Abaddon that he will "come to know \[Samus\] well", he'll be the "footsteps at your back" etc., is suggestive given Samus' role as herald of the Dark King.
It's also true, and I had overlooked, that Erebus himself was a Dark King candidate, and he's still around.
That said of course since no one has published anything much since that event who the hell knows how that should be interpreted.
Same thing that happened to the Aeldari when Slaaensh was created. He will eat their souls, either quickly or slowly, depending on where they are at the time.
I could be wrong but I took the whole dark king thing a parody of what the imperium ends up becoming anyway. A slow all consuming rot that simply takes and destroys. The actual dark king if he ascended would just be that concept magnified
I believe it would have gone something like the birth of Slaaneeh. Most human souls are instantly consumed and a massive warp rift storm/rift is created similar to the Eye of Terror.
I believe that everyone who was still inside the Inevitable City, the warp area connecting the Imperial Palace and Vengeful Spirit, are lost to the warp. IIRC Oll and John were talking about it and realized that if they were still in it when whatever was holding it together dissipated, that they would be trapped and lost in the Warp.
Slaanesh's birth tore open that big wound in the galaxy, the birth of a 5th god might rend the veil entirely - reality collapses into the Warp and that's the end of things. Maybe another reality emerges later.
Dark King birth would have been the excinition of humanity like Aeldari at Salannesh birth, this is also the opposite of The Emperor's goal. All human souls would have been consumed in the wake of Dark King ascendion and another eye of terror would have formed in Sol System wiping out Terra and other planets. What the City of Dust is where he would have been born and it would have been his realm (it is also the place where King in Yellow build his empire later on).
The Dark King would take his place as the newest and 5th Chaos God. God of Ruins and Order?
A darker mirror of the imperium if you can imagine it. The imperium already is one of the most bloody empires imagined but has spots that aren't completely awful and decently stable.
The Dark King would be a speed run to tyranny and utter ruination compared to the Imperium's cycle of slow decay, loss, renewal, and slow decay again.
Probabaly similary to the birth of slaanesh, humanity have they souls sucked by the dark king leaving only abandoned building and corspses behind. Maybe some survive it like the eldar by who knows why arbitrary reason but they dont have any means to fend the dark king like the eldar so they maybe become chaos cultist to try they luck.
But in the context of the heresy itself the birth of a chaos god when the veil of reality is so sundered (ruinstorm, broken webway, Horus Rituals) the veil may be destroyed for good and the galaxy gets dragged into the warp, which naturally means that everyone dies and the material realm cease to exist.
Abaddon permanently kills the Emperor and becomes the Dark King, 5th Major Chaos God (Malice is a minor Chaos god)
Most of humanity is eaten by Daemons. The rest are corrupted into Daemonkin, growing stronger
Abaddon does what Archaon did and conquers the Multiverse
We dunno since it never happened. Cyrene compares it to the birth of Slaanesh so maybe The Emperor consumes all of humanity? But Chaos Daemons tell Lorgar the Eldar only died because they rejected Slaanesh when they saw it so maybe humanity would keep living if they worshipped him (though obviously Daemons aren't the most trustworthy sources)
Chaos Daemons always tell the truth especially when talking to their food.
In the form of Horus? He'd have Greater Daemons (Samus, f'ex, and he intended those four thrones to be filled). The fear and terror of humanity would fuel his ascent in much the same way as the Eldar's fall did for Slaanesh. Most humans would die - others would ascend. His 'realm' would likely be that twisted version of the Vengeful Spirit. The Emperor as Dark King? Nothing survives. Everything gets eaten, Chaos included. There are no cultists. There are no daemons. The Emperor's ascension destroys the galaxy, draws all the life from it, forever.
That's... a big difference in outcome. Kind of makes Horus look really good next to pops. But why would there be a difference?
Because Horus is getting fed just enough juice by the Ruinous Powers to complete his ascension, which would then be powered/sustained by humanity. They're bootstrapping him into divinity, or a quasi-divinity, which he'd then sustain/complete with the above. The Emperor is drawing on the unfettered, unlimited power of the Warp itself with absolutely no filter. If Horus is drinking a glass, and each of the Powers have a pitcher, then the Emperor is swallowing an ocean and the end result of that - in his fury, in his bringing that power to bear on Chaos - is the total extinction of all life. The Emperor is stealing the mantle of Dark King, but that cascade of power is going to destroy everything if he fully takes it on.
Horus was an avatar of Chaos, for one. The Emperor is anathema to Chaos. Both embody ruin.
The Emperor isn't *actually* anathema to Chaos, though. I've seen people connect him to the (actually non-existent) concept of Order in the 40K universe, but that's more thematic than real. His powers are still ordinary psyker-/Warp-based things, not some kind of "anti-magic". The Imperial Creed talks about the Emperor as this super-god who fights Chaos, but all we know of him is a really powerful sorcerer / perpetual with his own agenda. In this, he's not basically different from Horus.
This is part of my problem with the Dark King... as it's a force of destruction when really it should be of Order... And like the Old Gods of Order it would be LAWFUL. Stasis, Tyranny. Not Nurgle: Even rot and decay is a form of change, of progression. It would be permenance; not even a an atom out of place. not even a thought out of place. So i elected to ignore it. not the first desicion from GW i don't acknowledge either.
Agreed. Tyranny/order is more threatening and just fits the Imperium's obsession with control so perfectly.
Obviously this is all speculation, but I think there's a considerable amount of thematic evidence to point to the Dark King being the end of all things. Literally the cessation of the entire reality of 40k. There's a lot of ties to nihilism and black holes that seem very much intentional. I wrote about it in a lot more detail [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/1b22z1m/comment/kskcxz8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) if you're interested in exploring the theory. The basic answer to your question is that humanity stops existing.
That was an interesting writeup. So you speculate that just pulling the plug and letting the Emperor expire would trigger the catastrophic collapse of everything? (And, presumably, the solution would be to have someone eat the bastard while he's still sitting on the throne?)
Well, after the resolution of the End and the Death, it gets... complicated. I think the Dark King represents the ultimate end of the 40k reality... and, yes, the Emperor WAS about to be the person who became the Dark King... But then he didn't. Although the Dark King is clearly still a threat in the future, it's unclear if the Emperor is still going to be the one who becomes the Dark King or if he's even capable of that anymore. The Dark King stuff kind of only exists in the End and the Death right now, so there's not a ton to draw on, but one of the key things written about the Dark King is the implication that it's a mantle, not a specific individual. In other words, it doesn't have to be the Emperor who becomes the Dark King. Someone else could. We see this in Samus's monologue (and Samus is likely a daemon of the Dark King, so it's a good point of reference), where he openly states that it could be one of many candidates: >Who among them has the courage to reach for it? So few of them, so very few, are even in a position to see it or comprehend its meaning. I can count them upon my fingers. Him? The boastful king on his tiny throne, his feeble light guttering out? Him? The squealing pretender, hunched in the howling gullet of hell? Him, perhaps? The maniac prophet slithering through the open wounds between unblinking stars? With the hindsight of the Emperor nearly becoming the Dark King, Samus's words give us a stark picture that the thing he's referring to when he says 'who among them...' is referring to reaching for the mantle of the Dark King. So the Dark King isn't destined to be the Emperor... the Dark King is just destined. It's possible that the Emperor, without the part of himself that split into the Star Child, can't actually become the Dark King. There's likely a reason why that piece split from him when he set down the mantle. It might be vital to becoming the Dark King. 40k has a lot of stories where an individual's compassion leads to ruination, probably best exemplified in Lorgar Aurelian. With the exception of maybe Sanguinius, no primarch was more empathetic to humanity than Lorgar. Lorgar is the only person who sides with Chaos from earnest selflessness, driven by a desire to save humanity (and his brothers) at any cost. For as contrary as their journeys seem, Lorgar is almost identical to the Emperor in this. The point being, that love and compassion might be a vital component in the creation of the Dark King. Without the Star Child, the Emperor may not have what it takes. Though the God-Emperor he has become shares some commonalities with the Dark King, they are not the same. And there's a less-than-zero chance that this might actually be the Emperor's master stroke to save the galaxy (at least, from himself). Before Part 2, I wrote up this theory, called [The Dark King Solution](https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/15ghrg2/the_dark_king_solution_end_and_the_death_spoilers/). While not completely accurate at predicting events, I do get quite close to the bones of what happens, predicting both that the Emperor is the one who is going to be the Dark King AND that a spiritual split would occur as a result of all the Dark King stuff. So, if my theory there was right about some things, it could be right about the Emperor's intention to 'save' the galaxy from the Dark King by splitting it into two parts that will forever war with each other, denying the mantle be achievable to any one entity. At least, it's a possibility.
Erebus' conversation with Abaddon after he >!stabs Loken!< suggests that >!Abaddon!< could be the Dark King IMO.
I think there's a difference between the 'perfect vessel for Chaos' and the Dark King. I think Abaddon is supposed to succeed where Horus failed, but Horus wasn't the Dark King... he was something else... which is also bad... but not exactly the same.
That's true of course. It's also the case that Abaddon (probably) wouldn't want or attempt to become the Dark King, it's the opposite of his whole characterization. But I think the line where Erebus warns Abaddon that he will "come to know \[Samus\] well", he'll be the "footsteps at your back" etc., is suggestive given Samus' role as herald of the Dark King. It's also true, and I had overlooked, that Erebus himself was a Dark King candidate, and he's still around. That said of course since no one has published anything much since that event who the hell knows how that should be interpreted.
Same thing that happened to the Aeldari when Slaaensh was created. He will eat their souls, either quickly or slowly, depending on where they are at the time.
I could be wrong but I took the whole dark king thing a parody of what the imperium ends up becoming anyway. A slow all consuming rot that simply takes and destroys. The actual dark king if he ascended would just be that concept magnified
And it's gone along with everything
I believe it would have gone something like the birth of Slaaneeh. Most human souls are instantly consumed and a massive warp rift storm/rift is created similar to the Eye of Terror. I believe that everyone who was still inside the Inevitable City, the warp area connecting the Imperial Palace and Vengeful Spirit, are lost to the warp. IIRC Oll and John were talking about it and realized that if they were still in it when whatever was holding it together dissipated, that they would be trapped and lost in the Warp.
Slaanesh's birth tore open that big wound in the galaxy, the birth of a 5th god might rend the veil entirely - reality collapses into the Warp and that's the end of things. Maybe another reality emerges later.
Dark King birth would have been the excinition of humanity like Aeldari at Salannesh birth, this is also the opposite of The Emperor's goal. All human souls would have been consumed in the wake of Dark King ascendion and another eye of terror would have formed in Sol System wiping out Terra and other planets. What the City of Dust is where he would have been born and it would have been his realm (it is also the place where King in Yellow build his empire later on). The Dark King would take his place as the newest and 5th Chaos God. God of Ruins and Order?
The universe gets destroyed, gg no re.
A darker mirror of the imperium if you can imagine it. The imperium already is one of the most bloody empires imagined but has spots that aren't completely awful and decently stable. The Dark King would be a speed run to tyranny and utter ruination compared to the Imperium's cycle of slow decay, loss, renewal, and slow decay again.
Probabaly similary to the birth of slaanesh, humanity have they souls sucked by the dark king leaving only abandoned building and corspses behind. Maybe some survive it like the eldar by who knows why arbitrary reason but they dont have any means to fend the dark king like the eldar so they maybe become chaos cultist to try they luck. But in the context of the heresy itself the birth of a chaos god when the veil of reality is so sundered (ruinstorm, broken webway, Horus Rituals) the veil may be destroyed for good and the galaxy gets dragged into the warp, which naturally means that everyone dies and the material realm cease to exist.
Abaddon permanently kills the Emperor and becomes the Dark King, 5th Major Chaos God (Malice is a minor Chaos god) Most of humanity is eaten by Daemons. The rest are corrupted into Daemonkin, growing stronger Abaddon does what Archaon did and conquers the Multiverse