TAU EMPIRE- Species EXPLAINED | WARHAMMER 40k Lore

The grim darkness of the 41st millennium is often characterized by moral grey areas and acts of terrible evil. its a universe where war is everything and every faction is wrapped up in a perpetual pursuit of violence. Yet there seems to be one faction that breaks this mold. one that ( on its surface) appears to value peace and diplomacy. But are the Tau as benevolent as they appear to be or is there something going on under the surface? lets talk about it.

This is my first attempt at a long form lore video. There is still an enormous amount to talk about when it comes to the tau, like their lack of warp presence or any of their named characters/ sphere expansions. my first few videos I publish will basically serve as practice for me. Long form content is a totally different beast compared to making shorts so I'm going to mess up here and there well I nail down my editing, scripting and all the various other intricacies that come with producing lore content.

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Warhammer and Warhammer 40k are copywritten to Games Workshop.
All footage and art in this video are used for educational purposes only.

Opinions expressed in this video are solely those of Weshammer and in no way reflect the views or opinions of Games Workshop Ltd.

Artwork throughout this video is used for educational purposes. if you see your artwork and would like an art credit, message me.

[isupposethisismynmw]

You’re well on your way to becoming a mainstay 40K loretuber, man, keep it up

[chaoticnerd]

I’m loving these longer lore vids and I personally don’t mind longer ones, I’m also thinking about using Necrons in the board game so I’m looking to get a bit more info on them

[mig]

Everyone hates the Tau but if you were teleported to the 40k universe every single person would be beyond thankful to land on the Tau homeworld and not earth.

[benurban]

You should do either the Orks or The Horus heresy(I would ask for the tyranids but really all you need to now about them are that they are aliens that consume, evolve and spread)

[fretsoffury]

I know the Tau catch flak from the 40k fans, but they are such an interesting and different spice to the lore. I think most of the fans think they are “too perfect” and are waiting for the other shoe to drop and reveal them as monsters. I, for one, hope that does not happen. What’s better to offset the grim dark, then a shining light that is always at risk of being snuffed out?


Plus their mechs are sick af.

[iarlacomedy]

9:26 That tiny pause after saying “painting themselves blue” was absolutely masterful. Said more than words!

[dathore]

Just a small note about the whole "mind control" thing, it comes from an old book on xeno-biology, where it's postulated that the Ethereals aren't really Tau but rather an artificial branch of evolution made by the Eldar, which is where the "blinding lights" thing came from when the first ethereals showed up, and it was pointed out that, the ethereals where at first literally twins, the first 2 ethereals where basically clones of each other, adding more credence to the idea that, they're not quite a natural product as the other Tau are.

[classydemongaming]

My grandfather used to love playing warhammer dawn of war (how i got into it). Just hearing your delve deep into the thing he loved so much makes me feel as though he is sitting next to me once again. Thank you so much for everything you do, no matter how mundane

[Russlem]

Tau are my favorite faction in 40k and it always amuses me how, much like a lot of the metaphors in 40k, they go right over the heads of the fans. Tau are criticized for not "belonging" in the 40k universe. As far as factions go, they're too "nice." They have some problematic elements, but the idea of appreciating peace, diplomacy, technology, and improving the quality of life of their citizens makes them the goodest guys of all in the 40k universe, which makes them seem not to mesh with the grimdark tones of the universe. But, that's the point. The Tau empire is tiny, being absolutely dwarfed by every other faction by orders of magnitude. So you've got this tiny little pocket of hope in a tiny little pocket of the galaxy that came too late to the game and is too small to ever meaningfully improve things in the Milky Way Galaxy. To play Tau is to recognize your own irrelevance in the 40k universe. The most you can hope for is that you never earn the attention of a single Ork Waaagh!, the full attention of a single Tyrannid hive fleet, or the attention of the Imperium of Man. Any one of these is the end of the Tau empire. The best part of all? If you leave the Tau lore alone and switch the tone to Noblebright, the Tau become the most evil faction in the universe.

[kyrudo]

This is without a doubt one of the best Tau Youtube video's Ive seen. No bias, very educational, to the point, just great all around.

[chaubin]

I'm loving both styles. The shorts give me a brief look at things, and the deep dives give a lot more detail. As a rank newcomer to the 40k universe, both are invaluable.

[TheGinger_Ninja]

These are great. I just got into Darktide, and despite playing Tyrranids on the tabletop, I knew very little about the lore. This has been really helpful

[shrillshrimp]

Nice to see a unbiased look at tau. I have been building a tau army for about 12 years and despite starting as Eldar main I can easily say they are my favorite. Keep up the good work, I also really enjoy your short lore bits

[TheAncentOne]

Honestly, I believe that they are the best faction in the 40K Universe. Most people think that the grimdark is what drives them to love the universe but I on the other hand love seeing the hopeful nature of an underdog Triumph in such a perilous world

[clockworktri]

I appreciate this video's sanity. One of the other videos I saw on the Tau said they they were "the worst" of the 40k factions because of mind control. He was very sure that living under the Imperium or Orks was better because you got to be yourself and make your own choices. Which is bonkers because your choice is "suffer and die" or "suffer more and die" or "die right now to end your suffering. "

Like, the morality of empire, colonization, mental influence / mind control, and the caste system are obviously insidious and raise questions about what the ethereals are really up to. And it's 40k so you know there's some shady shit going down. But to say they are the most evil faction because they mentally manipulate their populace... Exactly how different is that from the brain-washing of the fanatical Imperium? Not different enough to claim the Tau protected worlds with equality are a worse fate than the brutality of the Hive Cities, forced labor, torture, and forced conscription of the Imperium.

[yayothejowen]

As someone who got introduced to 40k through your shorts. I gotta say out of all the factions I've seen, Tau was pretty much the one that clicked for me immediately. They give out such a different vibe compared to the other factions and I kinda feel comfortable liking them. Who knows, I might get into the table top game in the future and start my own Tau Army.

[armoroftruth]

I would really like seeing Guilliman's reaction to one these Tau worlds, considering a minor naive xeno managed to achieved everything he and the Emperor wanted.

[garethjohns]

I know I'm late to this comment section and I don't think you'll see this, but I just wanted to say this might just be the best T'au lore video I've watched. You did a fantastic job of explaining what makes the T'au both great, but also sinister. The aspects that make them my favourite faction. So many videos just devolve into a hate-filled meme-fest, but this video really explored at what makes the T'au, at least to me, the most interesting faction in 40K. Most the factions are so 1-dimensional, but the T'au have this weird layer to them. Where you can recognise that their way of life isn't good, but it isn't' evil either, it almost feels necessary. The T'au are a small race in a big galaxy, they don't have access to ancient technologies, hell magics, or insurmountable numbers. They strive for the Greater Good, because without it, they'd surely perish.

[diamondmetal]

Ironically, the Tau aren’t even that communist. The Eldar, of all things, are far more what Marx had in mind. First, the Tau obviously have a state run by the Ethereals, while the closet the Eldar have to centralized leadership are Seer Councils, which anyone can join. The Tau also have social classes evidenced by their castes, while the Eldar allow anyone to take up or leave a path when they want. Lastly, while not much is described about the Tau economy, the Eldar have explicitly automated everything and make all of their stuff out of Wraithbone, meaning actually paying for stuff is not necessary.

This has been brought to you by the philosophy class I took last semester.

[MoaRider]

The Tau will always be my favorite 40K faction (with the Necrons very close behind). Which is strange if you think about it, as the Tau, especially when they were introduce and before GW made them more Grim Dark, felt like a species that would fit in more in a typical sci-fi setting such as Mass Effect or Star Trek. On top of their appealing aesthetics and the fact that they are the biggest underdogs of the setting, I appreciate that they are the only race in 40K that approaches the Galaxy with optimism, idealism and no small amount of naivety.