Szarekh, better known as the Silent King, is the last ruler of the Necron Triarch and the being who led his people into biotransference, then turned on the C’tan who tricked them. He’s the reason the Necrons exist as machine immortals, and he’s back in the galaxy now.
Who Szarekh is
Szarekh was born into the Szarekhan Dynasty, a line that traditionally supplied the Silent King, and he became the final ruler of the Triarch before and after biotransference. He’s a Necrontyr turned Necron, roughly 65 million years old in origin and still active today.
His titles stack up: Phaeron of the Szarekhan Dynasty, Silent King of the Infinite Empire, and the only Necron who fully remembers his organic life. That memory is a curse as much as anything else.
The War in Heaven and biotransference
When Szarekh took the throne, the Necrontyr were already losing a brutal war against the Old Ones. Out of desperation he agreed to an alliance with the C’tan, and the Necrontyr traded flesh bodies for living metal. The Deceiver talked him into it; his court adviser Orikan warned against it and was ignored.
The new bodies made them immortal and helped them win the War in Heaven, but Szarekh soon realized what he’d done. His people had become soulless pawns of the star gods. Before the war even ended, he was planning revenge.
Biotransference also gave Szarekh the command matrices that let him control the entire Necron race. That detail matters later.
Revolt, the Great Sleep, and exile
Szarekh waited until the Old Ones were beaten, then led a Necron revolt against the C’tan. The star gods were defeated and shattered into shards. But the war had left the Necrons exhausted, and the younger races the Old Ones had created, the Eldar especially, were rising. So he ordered his people into the Tomb Worlds to sleep for sixty million years.
He didn’t join them. Szarekh destroyed the command protocol that gave him control over every Necron, then left for intergalactic space in a planet-sized sepulchral engine, accompanied by legions of his own dynasty in stasis-crypts. His motive was part penance, part plan: he’d let time and internal discord wear down the Necrons’ enemies, then return.
Why Szarekh matters
He’s the single most consequential figure in Necron history. Every Necron alive is shaped by a choice he made, and he’s the only one who carries the full memory of it. For millions of years he was also the only Necron who remembered being organic at all.
He’s returned to the galaxy in the modern setting, which is a big deal for the Necrons as a faction. A leader with the authority and the guilt to unite them is a different kind of threat than scattered dynasties waking up on their own.
- Last ruler of the Triarch, Phaeron of the Szarekhan Dynasty
- Ordered biotransference after the Deceiver’s persuasion
- Led the revolt that shattered the C’tan into shards
- Destroyed his own command protocol before leaving the galaxy
- The only Necron who fully remembers his organic past
Key facts
- Szarekh is the Silent King, last ruler of the Necron Triarch and Phaeron of the Szarekhan Dynasty.
- He agreed to the C’tan alliance that turned the Necrontyr into the Necrons, then led the revolt that shattered the star gods.
- Biotransference gave him command matrices over the entire Necron race, which he later destroyed on purpose.
- He ordered the Great Sleep but didn’t take part in it, exiling himself to intergalactic space instead.
- He’s the only Necron who fully remembers his life as an organic being.
FAQ
Why is Szarekh called the Silent King?
The title belongs to the ruler of the Triarch and traditionally fell to the Szarekhan Dynasty. Szarekh is the last to hold it, and he’s spent millions of years largely silent, which fits the name.
Did Szarekh betray the Necrons?
He’s the one who agreed to biotransference, so many Necrons would say yes. He sees it as a catastrophic mistake he’s spent aeons trying to atone for, which is why he turned on the C’tan and later destroyed his own control over his race.
What happened to Szarekh after the War in Heaven?
He shattered the C’tan, sent his people into the Great Sleep, gave up his command protocol, and exiled himself to the space between galaxies. He’s only recently come back.