Here we go again.
Just when you think the 41st Millennium couldn’t get any more chaotic, the loremasters at Games Workshop decide to toss a grenade into the middle of the fandom. This time, the explosion is happening right at the foot of the Golden Throne itself. The topic? Female Custodes.
For decades, the lore has been crystal clear: the Adeptus Custodes, the shimmering golden demigods who serve as the Emperor’s personal bodyguards, were all male. Recruited as infants from the noble houses of Terra, they undergo brutal genetic alchemy to become something more than human. It was a foundational, unquestioned fact of the setting.
Until it wasn’t.
The Reveal That Broke the Internet
It started subtly. A single line in the new 10th Edition Codex: Adeptus Custodes mentioned Custodians with feminine pronouns. For a moment, the community paused. Was it a typo? A simple editing error in a book with thousands of words? It was possible.
Then came the Warhammer+ animated series, The Tithes. In a brief but unmistakable shot, we see a Custodian removing her helmet… and she is clearly a woman.
The typo theory went out the window. This was intentional. The reaction was immediate and explosive. Suddenly, one of the most iconic and exclusive boys’ clubs in the galaxy had opened its doors, and a significant portion of the fanbase was not happy about it.
Production Error or Genius Retcon?
The debate raging across Reddit, X, and every 40k forum is split into two main camps, with a healthy dose of what fans are jokingly calling “schizo theories” thrown in.
On one side, you have the belief that this is a lore expansion. Proponents argue that the 40k universe is immense and our understanding of it has always been incomplete. Who’s to say there wasn’t a secret contingent of female Custodes all along? This camp sees it as a positive step towards inclusivity, allowing more people to see themselves in the Emperor’s finest. They argue that if the lore can accommodate psychic space elves and sentient fungus, it can certainly accommodate female demigods.
On the other side is the “mistake-turned-canon” theory. This group believes it started as a genuine production error—either in the book or the animation—and Games Workshop, rather than admitting a mistake, decided to double down and make it official lore. They point to mountains of preceding text, including recent publications like The Ultimate Guide and novels like The Silent King, that explicitly reinforce the all-male origins of the Custodes. To them, this isn’t an expansion; it’s a clumsy, contradictory retcon that disregards established canon for modern-day corporate reasons.
This has fueled countless analytical videos and posts, with fans dissecting every piece of art and text for clues, trying to prove or disprove the change. Was this planned for years, or was it a flub that the lore team is now forced to justify?
We’ve Been Here Before: A Brief History of 40k Tinkering
To be fair, Games Workshop has never been shy about changing its mind. Longtime fans have seen this movie before.
Remember the Squats? The space-faring dwarfs of the original setting were unceremoniously written out of the lore, famously “eaten by Tyranids.” For decades, they were a meme, a relic of a bygone era. Then, suddenly, they came roaring back as the Leagues of Votann, a fully reimagined and incredibly popular faction. A massive retcon that worked.
Or consider the Chaos God Slaanesh. There was a period, particularly during the transition to Age of Sigmar, where it felt like the company was trying to phase out the Prince of Pleasure, likely due to the mature themes associated with the deity. Slaanesh was captured, marginalized, and almost forgotten. But fan demand and the core identity of Chaos brought the Dark Prince back to prominence.
These examples show that the lore is not a sacred, unchanging text. It’s a living, breathing thing that the creators can and will alter. The question with the female Custodes is whether this change feels organic and earned, or forced and disruptive.
The Culture War for the Grimdark Future
So, why is this one specific change causing such a firestorm?
Because it taps into a deeper conflict about what Warhammer 40,000 is.
For many, the appeal of 40k is its “grimdark” purity. It’s a setting defined by its oppressive, dogmatic, and hyper-exaggerated nature. The Imperium isn’t just a dictatorship; it’s the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. In this view, the all-male Custodes weren’t just a detail; they were a part of that specific, over-the-top flavor. Changing it, for them, feels like sanding down the very edges that make the setting unique, all to cater to modern sensibilities. It’s not about hating inclusivity; it’s about protecting the established tone.
For others, this is a long-overdue move towards better representation. They argue that clinging to old, exclusionary lore holds the hobby back. The universe is big enough for everyone, and seeing powerful female warriors in one of the Imperium’s most elite factions is inspiring. They believe the “grimdark” can coexist with inclusivity and that a more diverse setting is a stronger and more interesting one.
The result is a digital battlefield. Memes are flying, threads are descending into multi-day arguments, and YouTubers are racking up millions of views analyzing every angle. It has become a flashpoint for the soul of the setting.
Whether you see this as a glorious new chapter for the Golden Legion or a crack in the foundation of the lore, one thing is certain: people care. Deeply. And in the ever-turbulent galaxy of Warhammer 40,000, that passion is the one constant we can always count on.
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