Secret Level & Space Marine

[アンジェル]

Can someone explain to me what actually happened in the Secret Level episode? The amazon original / MGM show

So far what I got: squad deployed to kill demon and only two/one survivor(s) which is Titus and the protagonist.

Titus having seemingly the stronger soul overcomes the demon - but what the protagonist turned into the nightmare realm into a Chaos Space Marine who killed him - so how come Titus rescued the protagonist by the end of the episode?

Is the protagonist not about to become a traitor?
And considering the upcoming bombardment, would it not better to evacuate the area?
What about the other fallen brothers?
Is there no Apothecarius coming?

I had expected Titus to extract the gene seeds and then move on solo - but then I would also wonder if the whole story would not make him even more suspicious of being an agent of Chaos.

[Deckire]

The Mission was by Space Marine standards, a suicide mission, from what I understand, it was a mission that chose people to not return from. Aka they were to be sacrificed and not die. Metaurus the Protagonist knew that this "Projected Mortality: Absolute", which is why he said at the end "It's the end of our Duty", being the sign, "only in death does our duty end". It was a one way trip for anyone who was part of it, and with so much warp energy it was likely for any of their dead bodies to be tainted, thus losing those gene seeds.

The chaos sorcerer twists their hidden fears and manifests the fear. First guy seemed like his fear was his weak self, how him being a space marine will crush him, and so he was killed by his power armor crushing his skull, which materialized in the real world.

For Metaurus, it was the fear that Titus the young boy he recruited will become a Traitor and will one day Stab them in the back. Titus did not see this and he is a brother to the end, saved his last surviving comrade

[Twelve]

Story was based around Titus having no fear, which makes him uncorruptable, which is directly tied to the campaign finale

So the mission was designated as terminal to all marines who went, the goal was to destroy the statue/idol which would create a beacon that the battle cruiser could then target and destroy the chaos creature that was bound to/trapped within.

Im not sure if it was designated "Absolute" because they planned to bomb the whole planet killing any marines left, or just that they would never take any survivors off planet due to the risk of corruption from the creature.

Titus again proved his faith, as the Chaos demon manipulated the fears of the other marines, that fear then manifesting into the actual thing that killed them, (this is very much a warhammer chaos god thing to do.)

The 'Old Man' is the lens we get to see the Titus backstory. He survives, but that is only ( think) to tell the final arc of the story.

It leaves enough open ended questions to keep you wondering if Titus lives through the bombing of the planet.

I thought it was well done, maybe a bit simplistic for most warhammer 40k fans. (the books are so much more complex) but for an amazon show (from the same guys that did love,death and robots), it did a good job of telling a 40k story for people that dont know 40k. (Basically a warhammer 40k trailer for the universe)


thats my take anyway

[w10-20-2000]

I don't get why they send Titus on a suicide mission after all the trouble to keep him alive. Also he is 100% going back into inquisition dungeon

"So the demon killed two of your brothers immediately, wounded the third, but when it was your turn, you destroyed the source of his sorcery, with..... You're..... Mind...... And after that you slaughtered thousand's of cultists with a knife and a chainsword...... There is some gentlemen's from the inquisition who would like to get to know you Titus, you should go with them"

[Stalwart K***ht]

It really cements how much of a total bad ass Titus is, that he manages to defeat a demon which effortlessly killed 2 of his brothers and wounded a third to the point he was immobile and had to be carried out.
Titus is just built different.

[アンジェル]

Thanks for sharing your insights!

That was clarifying. I already forgot about the absolute mortality from the beginning, as it did not cross my mind to see the mission as a suicide mission.

With the enemy they had to fight off it seemed weird to begin, because it did look like they were doomed to fail to begin.

It also makes little sense to me that: if the cruiser is going to bombard the planet anyroads, why the beacon to destroy the chaos demon?

And if the chaos demon could not be destroyed by bombardment alone, what is the point? To me it felt like the demons could only be destroyed by righteous wrath which is personified in Titus. But then again, Leandros may want to put him under inquisition watch again? Why not just have Titus killed at that point if they do not trust him enough for coming back from a suicide mission...

Anyroads, I have watched so far Warhammer, Sifu and Pac Man from Secret Level and each episode is quite the atmospheric delight to watch.

[w10-20-2000]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

It also makes little sense to me that: if the cruiser is going to bombard the planet anyroads, why the beacon to destroy the chaos demon?

And if the chaos demon could not be destroyed by bombardment alone, what is the point?

If i remember correctly bombing warp infused place it a REALLY bad idea. In Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader game it is stated by member of inquisition that you absolutely should not bombard daemon world, because that may have catastrophic consequences. So they got down, destroyed the source of corruption and made it safe to bombard from orbit

[dasKoRn]

For them to have any chance at success (meaning killing the Tzeentch Sorcerer/Demon) they need Veterean SpaceMarines, all 4 of them are that.
Probably Ultramarines with exemplary service records, while the mission brief states "Absolute" in terms of "YOU ALL GONNA DIE!", that is bascially just a guess based off on what they face.

Warhammer always has possibilities to pull of something impossible. The cost maybe high, but it is not unheard of.
Also, maybe Calgar knew that if he added Titus to the mission (I think thats what he tasks him with at the End of the Campaign),he would improve the chances of success and maybe Calgar even believed, that Titus had a good chance of surviving the mission. Our boy pulled it off twice now, why not a thrid time (all good things come in threes after all).
The only dangerous thing was the Tzeentch Sorcerer/Demon after all, run of the mill cultists are no danger to Space Marines (usually).

[Inhibitor]

His place is with the Watch.

[Twelve]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

And if the chaos demon could not be destroyed by bombardment alone, what is the point? To me it felt like the demons could only be destroyed by righteous wrath which is personified in Titus. But then again, Leandros may want to put him under inquisition watch again? Why not just have Titus killed at that point if they do not trust him enough for coming back from a suicide mission...

I could make up a reason that they couldnt lock on the target from orbit, because it was shielded by the statue or targetting was interfered with by the warp demon... those are the typical 40k reasoning. End of the day, i think its just a typical plot device.

Leandros chose Titus because he was the best chance to get the job done. One thing to know about 40k, is everyone is expendable. Leandros is a devout ultramarine (not very likeable, sure) but duty always comes first.

Why i think Titus will stay an Ultramarine this time is Calgar.

Leandros still may have doubts, but i dont think the Chapter Master has any.

[Ragnar]

...and we shouldn't forget who send Titus to that mission...

[Copenboro]

the fact we didnt destroy leandros immediately upon seeing him- insert that GIF of the space marines demolishing their little human psyker from 'Astartes'- is wildly disappointing.

[Astronimo]

In Space Marine 3 we will start on that planet with a message from Calgar, that we are going to evacuate before bombing.
And the final boss will be corrupted Leandros (so, normal one).

[Chaoslord 87]

Originally posted by Astronimo:

In Space Marine 3 we will start on that planet with a message from Calgar, that we are going to evacuate before bombing.
And the final boss will be corrupted Leandros (so, normal one).

Corrupted by exploiting his own inner fears, doubts, anger and jealousy kept at bay by his increasingly fanatical adherence of the Codex.
Only to give in for the briefest moment, when Titus succeeds against all odds and remained pure yet again. And that brief lapse is all what Chaos needs to get their claws into Leandros.

[Realigo Actual]

IMO this ambiguity is because the writing was kind of weak by SM1/SM2 standards. It was basically just a way to make Space Marines look badass and make Titus look like the leading man. But yet they only gave him one line.

I think the idea of the mission was that the psyker would kill the demon but all the space marines would go down almost instantly much like what happened. However, the psyker failed, and Titus being Titus, he is resistant to all things Warp and killed the demon instead.

As was already mentioned, there is probably something to Titus being sent on a suicide mission. Very likely Leandros/Inqusition trying to cover things up/do the work of Chaos, and possibly Calgar expecting Titus to once again prove immune. Perhaps Calgar has his own agenda.

I still much prefer the Titus we got in the games to the one in the show. No nuance. He has no fear! I still thought it was pretty sweet tho ngl

[Major Lemons]

Do y’all think that this is taking place sometime after SM2? I noticed Titus’s helmet had the Laurels on it that he got at the end of SM2 so it made me think this is part of the time away from the second company that Calgar was referring to.