As the Third Edition of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy is now arriving in the hands of the fans, first look reports (via Wargamer) claim that much of the gendered language used in previous editions has now been neuterized. This means all the references to the Adeptus Astartes have now become gender-neutral.
Since the lore of the Warhammer franchise is more vast than any ocean on Earth, fans learn more about it as new source material is officially released by Games Workshop. And with the recent edition of The Horus Heresy, preparing to release, subtle changes point to bigger shifts in the future, more specifically, for the introduction of the female Astartes.
How Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Third Edition Changes History
Ever since the dawn of the Warhammer franchise back in the 70s, there have been many fundamental elements of the lore regarding the universe that have been firmly established. Yet, slowly but surely, these elements have either been revised or completely changed as they enter a new era.
And now, as Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, which is the prequel tabletop game of the current 40K setting, is on its way to do so again. As the newly released Third Edition has now been held by the fans, they have observed a peculiar revision in the new core rulebook.
Many have reported that instead of the usual references to the Adeptus Astartes in terms of their gender, which has always been masculine until now, have been either made neutral or removed. This has been most prominently read in one of the sidebar sections of the rulebook that specifies the gender of potential recruits of Space Marines needing to be male.
This has opened up speculation for the fandom, where talks have been ongoing about the potential of Games Workshop introducing the female Adeptus Astartes in the future.
The Addition of Female Astartes Will Be a Bold Shift For The Franchise
While it’s still up for debate whether we will see female Space Marines anytime soon, this type of change has already been applied to the legendary Adeptus Custodes in the past.
In the animated series on Warhammer TV, titled The Tithes, fans were introduced to the first female Custodes in the form of Custodian Calladayce Taurovalia Kesh. Thus, it’s highly likely that Games Workshop will pull the trigger on female Space Marines.
This is a big point of contention for many, because the lore previously stated that women could not become Space Marines as their biology was unsuitable for the bio-augmentations that the Adeptus Astartes and Adeptus Custodes recruits have to go through before they earn their titles.
Although many also speculate that this is the franchise just dropping hints for the fans to base fanon on. But seeing as they have already rolled back on the Adeptus Custodes’ creation being gender-specific to men, this might point to a complete revolution that is soon to arrive in the franchise.
Thus, until the first set of female Astartes tabletop models is announced, we might never know what the intentions of Games Workshop were.
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