Secret Levels on Amazon Prime Video focused on many popular video game franchises, including Warhammer 40k, led by its most recent video game lead.
Traditionally a table-top miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, Warhammer 40K has had video games based on it for decades, with its most recent success being Space Marine 2. So, it was only natural for such an impactful IP in both industries to have its own episode in Amazon's Secret Levels.
It is even less surprising, considering Amazon's prior investment in Warhammer 40k with a cinematic universe planned by actor Henry Cavill. However, its arrival is still pending, with it only officially entering development in December 2023 and is focused on "getting the first script written and into production."
Explaining Secret Level's Warhammer 40k Episode
Episode 5 of Secret Level, "And They Shall Know Fear," opens with narration from Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Metaurus, who gives newcomers an explanation for the creation of Ultramarines like him.
Conscripted by the Imperium, children are broken "over decades of conditioning" to purge them of their fear and forging that fear into obedience. However, centuries ago, Metaurus had chosen a child "filled with pain and rage" who had "never known fear."
Metaurus asks, clearly afraid, what a soul that has never known fear, that therefore cannot be controlled, be capable of as the monologue ends with that same boy angrily telling Metaurus, "Out of my way, old man."
The rest of the episode is in silence, with the Bladeguard Veteran and his squadron of Ultramarines, which includes Lieutenant Titus, being tasked, in what is designated as a suicide mission, to destroy a relic of the Chaos God Tzeentch.
As the four Ultramarines make their way through the Chaos-held world Zsah'uj, with Titus dragging a chained sarcophagus, they're confronted by Heretics and a tank. To Metaurus' frustration, Titus abandons his duty of guarding the sarcophagus to straight head-first into the enemy.
While he swiftly dispatches the enemy, Metaurus silently hands him back the reigns of their package as they continue their trek to the relic. A relic soon revealed to be a statue of a Lord of Change Greater Daemon.
As they prepare to destroy it, the sarcophagus is revealed to have been holding an Imperial Psyker, who helps protect them from the influence of Chaos behind a shield. But, the statue was being guarded by a Tzeentch Sorcerer who immediately disposed of the Psyker, leaving the Ultramarines vulnerable to its touch.
One by one, the Sorcerer entered their minds, showing them their worst fears, killing them, until it came to Metaurus. It showed him the boy he saved, how he was indeed forged into an Ultramarine, but quickly falling to the influence of Chaos and stabbing Metaurus, leaving him severely wounded in reality.
But when the Chaos-being entered Titus' mind, instead of finding fear, it only found a child. He approached the Sorcerer, unafraid, as he grew into a full-fledged Ultramarine, breaking its staff. As it tried to flee, Titus quickly bisected it, sending the coordinates of the statue to be orbitally bombarded.
The short bookends with Titus, voiced again by Space Marine 2's Clive Standen, more respectfully addressing Metacrus as "old man" as he prepares to defend themselves against oncoming Heretics. As Metacrus looks at Titus, he no longer sees a boy destined to fall to Chaos but one fully dedicated to fighting against its forces for the Imperium.
How Warhammer Video Game Connects to Anthology Short
It's not explicitly stated when this short takes place in relation to Space Marine and its sequel, but it's evident with the Laurels of Victory on Titus' helmet that this happens just after Space Marine 2.
It's even likely that this is the mission Titus was assigned at the end of the sequel by Marneus Augustus Calgar. At the end of Space Marines 2, Calgar even stated that "no evil will ever overcome a devotion such as [Titus']," which was on full display in this short.
Amazon recently confirmed that Secret Levels was renewed, but it's unclear whether any of these properties, like the one for Warhammer 40k, will return in the second season. But, considering their investment in the Warhammer property with Henry Cavill in 2025 and beyond, it's almost assured.
Season 1 of Secret Level is available on Amazon Prime Video.
