Web Animation / The Last Church

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Based on the Horus Heresy short story of the same name, The Last Church is a fan-animated adaptation by Tyler Portoghese, released on YouTube in 2021. While the dialogue has been rewritten and rephrased for legal reasons, the story remains the same:

In the 31st Millennium, the Emperor of Mankind is on the verge of conquering Terra, saving it from a slow and painful death at the hands of warring techno-barbarian tribes. Infrastructure is rebuilt, quality of life improves dramatically and countless tyrants are slain by His genetically-engineered super soldiers: the Thunder Warriors. Building the foundation for the Emperor's greatest gift to humanity: The Imperium of Man. Unfortunately, a big part of the Emperor's plan is the systematic destruction of religion and replacing it with the atheistic "Imperial Truth." Ostensibly to free humanity from ignorance and superstition, but in truth, to starve the gods of Chaos and save humanity from their demonic influence.

Meanwhile, a Christian priest by the name of Uriah Olathaire, the last caretaker of the Church of the Fulgur Lapis, is visited by a mysterious man known only as "Apocalypsis", who wants to know why he refuses to embrace the Imperial Truth...

Though the original video was taken down due to Games Workshop's controversial copyright policies, you can still watch it here.

Contains examples of:

• Actual Pacifist: Uriah's done with his violent past and refuses to be provoked.
• Armor-Piercing Question: A lot of them are fired back and forth in the conversation between Uriah and Apocalypsis. Though Uriah's final retort is arguably the most poignant:
  Uriah: Even if it is for the best, are you ever delighted to leave everything behind and be thrust into the unknown? No one is. Life is a gift and our chance to make ourselves into someone before our time in the afterlife. Who would give that up willingly? If you cannot see that plainly, then you are a FOOL!
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The Battle of Gaduare saw 5,000 of the Emperor's gene-crafted Thunder Warriors defend themselves against 40,000 hastily-assembled rebels. Not a single Thunder Warrior ends up with so much as a scratch while the rebels are ripped apart with such ease that Uriah was left dumbfounded as to how so many people could simply die so quickly.
• Earth That Used to Be Better: A given, since this is Terra from the 40K universe, but it's emphasized by the description of places like the Mariana Canyon and the Mediterranean Wastes.
• End of an Era: The story not only marks the end of the Emperor's conquest of Terra, but the end of anything resembling real-world religion in the 40k universe.
• Good Shepherd: Uriah is selfless, intelligent, noble and good-humored, preaching about love, acceptance and forgiveness instead of divine retribution or punishment. Sadly, he's arguably the one true example of this trope in the entire 40k franchise.
• I Hate Past Me: Uriah was a spoiled brat as a child and a drunken lech as an adult before the Battle of Gaduare. He's not proud of his past at all.
  Uriah: I wish I could say I was treated badly as a child. You know, to give reason for why I turned out the way I did. But I could not. Instead, I was indulged and became something of a spoiled brat, given to drinking and carousing and bouts of petulance. Looking back, I realize what a little shit I was. But of course, it's the lot of old men to look back upon their youth and realize too late all the mistakes they made.
• Healing Spring: A small basin was built around the Fulgur Lapis after the stone produced a spring that, according to church records, could heal injuries and illnesses. Apocalypsis tries to debunk this, telling the story of an alleged healing spring that turned into a veritable sewer because of all the sick people turning up to be healed.
• Heel–Faith Turn: Uriah went from mercenary to ministry.
  Uriah: Have you come here just to provoke me? I am no longer a violent man, such a goal would be boring and fruitless for the both of us. If this is all you're here for, I suggest you leave.
• Impostor All Along: Apocalypsis is not who he says he is.
• Let the Past Burn: The ultimate fate of the Church of the Fulgur Lapis and Uriah himself. Under the Emperor's command, his Thunder Warriors torch the building with heavy flamers. And after a few words of warning to the Emperor about His future, Uriah goes down with the rest of his religion with dignity by returning to the burning church to pray for one final time.
• King Incognito: After their argument, Uriah tries to recompose himself through prayer before tearfully snapping at Apocalypsis, demanding him to drop the act. And he does, revealing himself to be none other than the Emperor of Mankind.
• Meaningful Name:
  • "Apocalypsis" is a corruption of the Greek word for "Revelation", his name in the original short story. Considering that this is a story called The Last Church...
  • Uriah is named after Uriah the Hittite from the Book of Samuel, an elite soldier in the army of King David.
• My God, What Have I Done?: After realizing he's the only surviving rebel at the Battle of Gaduare, Uriah breaks down in tears as he realizes, all too late, that all he ever did in life was hurt and ruin people for his own selfish desires.
• Mythology Gag: At the Battle of Gaduare, Uriah is nearly killed by a flying hunk of bone from an exploded comrade. This was an oddly common occurrence in the (in)famously brutal critical hit charts of Dark Heresy and its various spinoffs.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Apocalypsis. Doesn't help that he's a muscular giant of a man.
• Self-Deprecating Humor: When Apocalypsis tells him that nobody came to his midnight sermon, Uriah jokes it's because his own ugliness scared them away.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Havuleq D'agross, the leader of the rebels at the Battle of Gaduare is shown to be little more than a wannabe warlord way in over his head who was guilty of the crimes he was accused of, as Uriah concedes to Apocalypsis. Yet at the time, it seemed as if he would lead the first spark of freedom on Terra against the Emperor, only for his hastily-assembled militia to be massacred, and Havuleq himself unceremoniously sawed in half by a Thunder Warrior before he could even react.
• Spoiled Brat: Uriah, due to his royal upbringing and his family's poor parenting. A flashback shows him gleefully stealing a bottle of wine and running away from an angry merchant as a kid.
  Uriah: Looking back, I realize what a little shit I was.
• Title Drop: Twice, when Apocalypsis says the Church of the Fulgur Lapis is the "last church on Terra" and says it again later to emphasize his point.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • The Battle of Gaduare, which had 40,000 soldiers charging against 5,000 of the precursors to the Adeptus Astartes. Uriah barely survived.
  • Uriah's first encounter with the Thunder Warriors while piss-drunk has him hurling insults at them while his friends beg him to run away before they leave him to his fate. He gets thrown into the sea.
    Uriah: I called them many names: Freak. Slave. The minor demons of a greater devil.
• Writing Around Trademarks: Names are changed from the original story due to GW's copyright policies (Lightning Stone to Fulgur Lapis, Revelation to Apocalypsis).