Argall's Wake

Argall's Wake is a pivotal chapter in Viltrumite history, held ages ago on Viltrum as the people mourn their slain first emperor. The gathering closes the golden era named for Argall and becomes the stage on which Thragg begins his climb to absolute power. It is an original event created for the series rather than adapted from the comics.

On the fatal night, Argall returns to his chambers unaware of the dagger-wielding, dark-cloaked Thaedus waiting for him, and the emperor is slain before his killer escapes justice. Days later, red-cloaked Viltrumites carry the casket through Viltrumite City in a solemn descent, joined by the council and a scarlet-uniformed Thragg, all heads bowed. Taking his place as Argall's prelate, Thragg delivers the eulogy, grieving how suddenly his mentor was lost and vowing that the fled traitor will be hunted down and made to pay. He frames the death as proof of a sickness festering within Viltrumite society, a cancer he means to cut out.

Thragg turns to an older councilor and asks whether he harbors any wish to betray the Empire. The man denies it, but Thragg, unconvinced, beheads him before the entire body of Viltrum, deciding their people have gone soft. Taking supreme command for the first time, he orders every Viltrumite to fight to the death, and the warriors fall upon one another, spilling blood across Argall's casket. Thragg then withdraws to his quarters, easing into the late emperor's throne to await the purge's end. The event cements Thragg as Grand Regent and sets in motion the Great Purge that will remake the Viltrumites into a peerless power.