MALCADOR THE SIGILLITE

Malcador the Sigillite, also known as Malcador the Hero by decree of the Emperor of Mankind, was the powerful psyker and scholar who served as the Imperial Regent when the Emperor was away from Terra or otherwise engaged and also as the first Grand Master of Assassins during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy eras.

malcadorthree — Malcador using his psychic abilities.

By the dawn of the 31st Millennium, Malcador was over 6,700 standard years old and could remember his date of birth to the second. His title of "Sigillite", meaning "seal-bearer" in an ancient Terran language, was a measure of the esteem and trust the Emperor had in Malcador, for he was empowered to speak and act in the Emperor's stead with the Emperor's full authority wherever he went. It was also a reference to the Sigillites, an ancient and highly secretive organisation which had sought to gather and preserve all the greatest cultural artefacts of Mankind from before the Age of Strife overwhelmed humanity's early interstellar civilisation during the Age of Technology. Malacador had been a member of the Sigillites, and was likely their last survivor.

An extremely powerful psyker -- perhaps the second most powerful Mankind had ever known save for the Emperor Himself -- who could telepathically communicate over long, interstellar distances, Malcador was also a close advisor to the Emperor during the Unification Wars of Terra, and the man credited with founding both the Adeptus Administratum of Terra and the Officio Assassinorum, as well as creating the organisations that would become the Imperial Inquisition and the Grey Knights. He also secretly served as the first Grand Master of Assassins of the Officio Assassinorum and helped to establish that organisation in an early incarnation.Fandom may earn an affiliate commission on sales made from links on this page. Malcador is also noted for having delivered the Chaplain Edict at the Council of Nikaea during the Great Crusade, which created a new group of Space Marines, the Chaplains, who would maintain the order and discipline of their fellow Astartes Legions. The Chaplains were intended to keep watch for deviations from the Imperial Truth and the use of psychic powers which had been banned by the edicts of the Council of Nikaea. The former violations were to be dealt with summarily, the latter to result in harsh penalties for an Astartes Librarian who refused to voluntarily cease using his psychic abilities as the Emperor had commanded.

malcadortwo — Malcador the Imperial Regent

Finally, during the climax of the Horus Heresy, the Battle of Terra, it was Malcador who willingly took the Emperor's place upon the Golden Throne, using his psychic abilities to hold back the tide of Warp-spawn who sought to invade Terra through the extension into the Webway that the Emperor had built beneath the Imperial Palace. For this act of extraordinary sacrifice that the Sigillite knew would result in his death, the Master of Mankind declared that he was forever after to be known as "Malcador the Hero." Malcador's action freed the Emperor to face the Archtraitor Horus aboard his flagship the Vengeful Spirit in orbit of Terra, where he finally defeated and slew the Traitor Warmaster, bringing the Heresy to its pyrrhic end. Yet, when the mortally-wounded Emperor was returned to the Imperial Palace, Malcador used the last of his life energies to keep the Emperor alive long enough for Him to give His final instructions to the Primarch Rogal Dorn before being interred within the Golden Throne. Once Malcador was removed from the Throne, his body crumbled into ash, his final duty to the man he had honoured above all others complete.