this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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Entire thing is incredibly suspicious. Their civilization lasted for at least 65 million years. 65 MILLION years, meaning it was incredibly static and they didn't fallen at any point in this time. And we know they didn't until 20-something millenium because there was apparently peace with humanity, full power Eldar empire could destroy humanity at any time, but they instead allowed humans to take nearly entire galaxy (with their empire being fairly small territorially, most of their population concentrated in what later became Eye of Terror). Now can you imagine what would happen if entire Eldar empire was like drukhari? They would slaughter or enslave humanity, which didn't happen. Conclusion is that they weren't decadent as a species.
Incidentally, their fall happened roughly at the same time Emperor started to seek to lead the humanity. But what prevented him? Humanity being too powerful, Dark Age human empires would't accepted his rule easy, and Eldar with their incredibly powerful psykers posed a mortal threat too.
My theory is that being crazy deranged nazi (and most powerful psyker in galaxy) he caused the fall of Eldar, possibly using small decadent faction (remember that the main source on decadency of Eldar is Vect words and he's not really famous for truthfulness and he also have every reason to portray every Eldar as being as fucked up as he is) thus starting the turmoil that would eventually turn into Age of Strife and prepare the galaxy for his conquest.
I question it. Its likely they saw humans as beneath them but drukhari level deranged? I imagine the whole 40k galaxy would be as bad as the warp. Their weapons are made to inflict as much pain possible. One blade that causes the flesh to eat itself at the smallest scratch. Honestly you're morally obligated to wipe every last one of them frpm existence
Its like another I have about the other three chaos gods being formed when they did.... Why wasn't it during the war in heaven when it was the most devastating war on record? Maybe they did form and were not self aware or sentient. And time works weird in the warp. The old ones were insanely powerful psykers and they created the eldar who are psykers
First rule of Aeldari lore is to never take Aeldari lore seriously. It's the same old elf rule that dictates there is always enough elves for the plot and not one more.
That's exactly when they formed, Khorne likely being the first. Remember, the galaxy is a biiiiiiig place. There's anywhere between 100 and 400 billion stars. Even if Chaos spread across a thousand solar systems each year, it still wouldn't have spread through the whole galaxy in 60 million years. Entire species evolved, became sentient, built civilizations, and went extinct before they encountered Chaos. The Warp itself is even more vast and infinite. So before Chaos could expand outwards into the materium, it had to evolve and develop within the immaterium.
Another reason is because Chaos is us, the audience, and the Warp is the real world outside of 40k. Humans were more preoccupied with what's actually happening and not writing fanfic for their toys. Hence, the previous 65 million years where nothing ever happens.
During Great Crusade traces of chaos influence among xenos were subtle. What really caused it all to explode was Horus Heresy. And look how human chaos is (there's still barely any chaos xenos in lore), older lore even straight up said humans caused chaos gods to form, like first Bloodthirster was Genghis Khan for example. It also fit the original over the top satirical face of 40K that humans are the problem. Later it was retconned when Warhammer became serious and Imperium is hailed good.
Hmmm
weren't they only sentient in M2? At least khorne was said to have become that around this time because of the wars in M2 that triggered it. I guess the timing confused me because those wars were small time in comparison.
Then again time is wonky in the warp
The gods supposedly awakening between 0 and 2000 AD was from the Realm of Chaos supplements AFAIK. GW has since abandoned those plot lines, which is chalked up to unreliable narrators and warpfuckery.
Supposedly the first "pleasure cults" started springing up during the late Dark Age of Technology. my head-canon/theory is that humanity's explosive use of early warp drive weakened the Veil in ways the webway never did, and the sheer number of humans starting slow psychic awakening caused ripple effects in the Inmaterium which cascaded through the hyper-sensitive Eldar (and through the warp's amplifying effects was basically reflected back at humanity as well)
it was something that had never happened during that entire 65 million year period. the sheer scale of DoAT warp drive useage and the population of humanity, trillions of which were outside the post-scarcity utopian core worlds doing genocide, colonialism, and imperialism on untold planets and fighting small private wars, likely feeding the warp as well.
the highly disciplined Eldar suddenly found gnawing, whispering voices at the edge of their perception. new feelings. tempting, encouraging. alien voices.
Yeah that would be good explanation too. Both points out to humanity though and that development in Eldar society was something lightning fast for them, like if entire humanity suddenly turned to Jasenovac level of fuckery in 5 minutes.
Also fucking Old Ones, they set up Eldar for failure and suffering.
There is interesting fragment in Da Big Dakka by Mike Brooks that all usage of the warp is forbidden in Comorragh, but when the part of TekWaaagh invade one of the Comorragh outskirts they started to use teleportation tech (not even that much of it) it very quickly ends with a demon invasion.
as for what the Old Ones did: yeah it sucks to be made as sapient warp weapons, basically pretty-femme bio-android kill machines, and then just let loose and told good luck enjoy immortality and building a society
I don't know why but I've been obsessed lately with tying threads of the Dark Ages together into something coherent lately while also still remaining vague and mysterious. Painting some broad strokes about human culture and how to led to the one in 40k+ It seems disingenuous for the common wisdom to be that everything was the Eldar's fault, as in the warp destabilization that led to humanity's collapse (basically saying the xenophobes and the Emporer are right!)
It's more a mutual destruction from resonance and basically "spooky action at a distance", unknown to both parties. For humans, because they didn't truly understand what the warp actually was until it was too late. And for the Eldar, because they were too comfortable with thinking they had fully understood and mastered it and were protected by their Construct-Gods.
All this sudden, uncontrolled energy released into what is basically the underlying fabric of reality for sapient life is like when everything lines up perfectly in the sea and you get a Rouge Wave (Slannesh).
Originally Stoic, even ST Vulcan-like Eldar get a taste of exotic, compatible emotions from roiling humanity and as living weapons of the warp, amplify that shit and turn it inward like some kind of warp death ray against their own psyches