Does the Eldar race have a hopeful future again?

[DrLove42]

First off this is a background/fluff discussion. We all know Eldar are very hopeful on the table top

The old eldar fluff was all about a dying race. Dwindling numbers, extinction, permanantly stalked by Slanesh, a growingnumber of dead craftworlds and more and more wraith costructs all leading to the great final battle, the Rhana Dandra wherethe Eldar are made extinct, but go down fighting

However in some of GWs newest content....the eldar have hope again.

Valedor and the Iyanden codex talk about the Flame of Asuryan, symbolising the fate of the eldar race, reigniting itself.

The Harlequin codex talks of the book of Cegorach opening, revealing how to trick slanesh into restoring the eldar to their prime and destroy she who thirsts at the same time. It talks of how the Rhana Dandra can bewon, not lost.

Is it just me or in this time of grim dark, have the eldar had their future made more bright and hopeful, with the fluff pointing towards success, not just a slow decline to extinction?

[KhornishGameHen]

>Warhammer 40K
>Ever being hopeful

Yeah... probably not. Grimderpness sells, and the only time GW would tone that down a bit is to either add some humor to keep it from being overly crazy, or if they only plan on making it even more grimdark and kicking them at the exact moment things were supposed to start looking up.

Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and GW will actually fully resolve a story arc, but I'm not holding my breath.

[David Crossley]

40K is the cash cow that keeps on giving, consequently blowing it all up in an 'End Times' Time of Ending fashion would be a poor move, but advancing the storyline would still generate more interest and more sales.

So what do?

Any sort of victory for Chaos or the Tyranids in a final battle type scenario would pretty much put a lid on 40K and allow everyone to move on to new things. Like Warmachine or Warpath, so that won't do. Having the 'good' guys win however, along with perhaps a few interesting upsets and developments keeps the universe alive and well, while also moving things along without further stagnating.

Dangerously assuming they're ever going to advance the storyline past the start of the 13th Black Crusade again any time soon.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

No.

The Harlequins have always been "hopeful". They think they can win. But their plan on how this can be achieved has always been made out to be utterly horrifying.

It's more a case I think of them adding elements of raging against the dying light rather than just always losing. They're still circling the drain.

[Charon]

They always had... kinda.
Ynnead is still a thing and is even featured in the Masque "Dance without end", so it seems like even the Harlies put trust in Iyandens plans.
Rhana Dandra was never a defeat. Yes it was the last apocalyptic battle between Eldar and Chaos but the prophecies always pointed out that chaos will be destroyed by the sacrafice of the Eldar race. For them as a truly immortal spiritual race, this already IS a win as they can exist in the Warp peacefully again.

[-Tom-]

I guess the problem was that in the fluff the Eldar were painted to be so low on numbers, and with such a low birth rate, that combined with all the heavy losses they've taken in subsequent fluff and publications (like IA11, Valedor, etc), that you'd have to really start worrying about them going extinct if their outlook didn't change. This potentially limits the lifespan of GW being able to release new stuff for them.

They're probably quite a unique race in 40k in this regard, in that keeping their fluff static actually causes a problem. For example, with the Imperium, there's always going to be more humans to keep sacrificing to the golden throne, or falling to Chaos, or fighting and dying against Chaos or other Xenos races.

That aside, I'd also agree with other comments. There has always been talk of Ynnead as a glimmer of hope for them, and a rebirth of the Eldar race after the Rhana Dandra where they would sacrifice everything to destroy Chaos (but that would also open up the possibility of rebirth).

[StingrayP226]

Perhaps its means the Eldar will get the chance to make a massive choice: sacrifice their race and destroy Chaos once and for all, or allow Chaos to survive so they can survive.

[Morgrim]

I guess it depends on what one defines as 'the eldar race'. The craftworlds are, on average, decreasing in number and population. But simultaneously the dark eldar have had their population steadily increase. No official word on the exodite numbers.

[Path Walker]

If the souls of all Eldar are in the Infinity Circuits, this discounts the Dark Eldar presumably as they have no similar structure, then Ynnead arrises to destroy the Ruinous Powers, then the Dark Eldar can leave the Webway, no longer relying on torture and pain to save their souls.

Therefore, the Eldar race will be reborn in the Dark Eldar, whether once free of the need to wreak havoc and pain they will actually stop, however, is another thing, but, that is closer to the pre-Fall Eldar than the Eldar of the Craftworlds.

[Mr Mystery]

We also now have the Dark Eldar significantly expanded upon, including how they replenish their numbers.

They're damned hard to kill with any finality, and are equally capable of breeding new 'stock'

This suggests they be shockingly numerous.

Now, let's assume that we see a Warhammer End Times style of unification of the Eldar societies - Dark, Craftworld, Exodite and Harlequin. That breeding process could be used to repopulate entire Craftworlds. How quickly, hard to say, but I'm willing to bet that, if they wanted, Commoragh could provide very safe harbour for the Craftworlds whilst the great repopulation was under way.

[Mike X]

Commoragh could provide very safe harbour for the Craftworlds

I don't think "safe harbor" means what you think it means! ;)

[Morgrim]

There are some closable offshoots of the webway that are connected to Commoragh that might fit the bill a little better. They'd just need to find one with a door big enough to drive a craftworld through!

[Charon]

Which is a problem, they are rare and do not cover a lot of ways... that is part of the reason why craftworlds seem to never leave "their" part of the galaxy.

[Katharon]

I really prefer the old fluff, before 6th Edition came out, where it had Craftworld Eldar and the Dark Elder far more opposed and lethality pitted against one another. It made so much more sense, since the craftworlders see their Dark Kin as the hanger-on's of those who brought their empire down in the first place.

[Morgrim]

The latest DE codex still has them viewing craftworlders as naive, arrogant fools who squander their lives with denial and self-sacrifice, and I presume that craftworlders still have an equally bleak outlook on kabalites. I think the key point though is that they still recognise each other as cousins if not siblings and think that individuals of the opposing race can be 'enlightened'.

A bitter civil war is easier to wring peace deals out of than most of the setting. (Even if I do get the impression that it is the very sibling "I want you to hurt badly, but I'm the only one that is allowed to hurt you" deal.)