I feel like Warhammer Storyforge learned something big in the time between the production of Interrogator to the production of Blacktalon. When I got news that Blacktalon was coming out, I was almost dreading it. The production and release schedule gave me such anxiety. There were so many times where the I felt like Warhammer Storyforge was sabotaging Interrogator for little to no reason.
However, and this is a giant however, Blacktalon is a full opposite. Where Interrogator felt too long at times due to the release schedule, Blacktalon felt short and concise. The entire story was wrapped up in six episodes, and I didn’t feel like I any momentum built up by the writing was lost once. This was the first foray Warhammer Storyforge has given us into a full fledged Age of Sigmar story, and the writers knocked it out of the park. The entire six episode series took the best of Interrogator, and made the worst of the show better.
Having a main character that wasn’t a drug-fueled psychopath like Jurgen made the story of Blacktalon a lot easier to digest. I didn’t feel like I had to watch two or three times just to understand the plot points that keep the story going. The biggest draw for me, however, is that Blacktalon introduces us to a faction in a version of Warhammer that doesn’t get a lot of press.
Neave was a surprisingly great main character. On the surface, you think that the Stormcast Eternals, the faction from Age of Sigmar Neave belongs to, is your stereotypical fantasy paladins. The lore that’s dropped onto their faction for those uninitiated into the lore made the Stormcast Eternals in general stand out from paladins. Of course you have your seemingly stereotypical good paladin, but that turns around real quick.
There was enough going on with the subplots that kept the episodes going. The entire story was Neave trying to circumvent “the forge taking it’s toll,” meaning the reforged’s memories. By the end of the series, Neave is betrayed by Hendrick. This is later shown to be something that’s happened over and over in different fights, because Hendrick would do anything and everything possible to keep his team on point. This was obvious from the first episode, but the execution was so god damn good.
However, the one misstep was that the final episode felt so incomplete. There wasn’t enough to feel like there was enough to make it a season finale. There was all sizzle but no filler. However, “Sorrow” had all of the filling exposition, but no sizzle. The best case scenario would have been to put both episodes together and give us one whole finale. This two-part finale didn’t hit for me as hard as it should. However, “Returned” ended with a great cliffhanger with a possible ending we wanted for this season.
If you need a reason to get into any Warhammer game, Blacktalon is it. You will get a great look into the biggest “heroes” (there are no real heroes in any Warhammer game) and villains of the game. Once you watch Blacktalon, you’re going to want to get more lore. The integration of the show with the ongoing lore of the tabletop game is ingenius.
Blacktalon’s first season was an absolute banger. I had a blast finally taking an in depth look into the Age of Sigmar, seeing a faction that didn’t get a lot of time or focus from a game that doesn’t get a lot of time and focus. Hopefully, Blacktalon is the start to get Age of Sigmar on its way to the same popularity that Warhammer 40K has. You need to watch this if you’re a fan of the game.