Warhammer 40K Theories: Is Commissar Yarrick Really Dead?
Is the great Imperial Hero really gone? The jury may still be out on Commissar Yarrick.
Commissar Yarrick is an old an venerable Hero of the Imperium. He’s probably the greatest of the (recently) active Imperial Guard heroes and a fan favorite. Yet now it seems he may have met his end. Things in the Grim Dark are however rarely what they seem. So today lets take a look at if he’s really dead, and if dead – is he really gone?
The End of A Hero
The recent Imperial Guard Codex contains a section talking about the death of the Great Imperial Hero Yarrick. This section combined with the fact that Yarrick does not have rules in the codex implies his death. The announcement goes on to speak about how he has joined the Emperor at least.
Inconsistencies
However there are a few odd things about the announcement. First off its presented as an in universe announcement, and thus like pretty much anything the Imperium puts out is suspect. It’s clearly written by an unreliable narrator. There are also a few inconsistencies here. For instance it describes him as the Hero of the First War for Armageddon. However Yarrick was the Hero of the second and third wars, he did not take part in the first. The notice has misidentified the second and third wars as the first and second (possibly knowledge about the Chaos incursion of the first war was hidden). It also gives no details on his death and is only meant to be distributed to troops in a single warzone. Honestly, it seems very odd that the Imperium would trumpet the death of one of its greatest heroes like that.
How Did Commissar Yarrick Die?
Lack of details on his death have led to a lot of speculation. Some think he just died of old age. He is after all getting on it years. Others put his death at the hand of his mortal foe Ghaz. This would make some thematic sense, but it would be odd to have such a dramatic event happen “off screen”. Others say Angron killed him, though its not clear what this is based on. Maybe the upcoming World Eaters codex will shed light on it. If that’s true it seems lame – they are not really rivals and to have Commissar Yarrick just be killed off screen like that is pretty poor treatment.
I’m Not Dead Yet
The lack of details and strangeness around it all have lead many to theorize that Yarrick isn’t dead at all. Perhaps this is just Astra Militarum misinformation, meant to confuse the Imperium’s foes, or manipulate the common troops somehow. Maybe the reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated. This could just be a place holder to explain why he doesn’t have rules, only to see his return in the next codex with rules and a model. After all Warhammer 40K is a big place and it’s easy for people to slip in and out of time. Maybe he’s even hanging out with another Guard commander in a certain Necron’s vault.
The Imperial Saint
Another theory states that Yarrick is in fact dead, but not gone. Somehow the great hero has fallen. However he is set to return, as a living saint. It’s already been theorized that Yarrick is powered by the Waaagh. What if he returns now powered by the Emperor? Yarrick as a Greater Daemon of the Emperor would be kind of rad and lead to a cool new model. The announcement of his death kind of leans into this idea as well. The last couple paragraphs talk about Yarrick being ready for the greater war. This would be a pretty awesome powerup for one of 40K’s most beloved heroes.
Let us know what you think is going on with Yarrick, down in the comments!
