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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
The authority of Ethereal is so absolute that if he order a Tau to kill humself, that Tau would be met with instant and unquestioning obedience.{{Fn|8a}}
Yes. You are right.
The Ethereal sometimes lead the fire caste into battle to provide inspirational leadership, so the warriors can achieve more. However if the Ethereal falls in combat, the remaining Tau are struck with grief that causes them to lose battles or they get extremely enraged and charge forward, either way after a Ethereal falls the Fire Warriors lose all discipline and efficiency.{{Fn|4}}
Though the obedience of the Tau to Ethereals is natural, the other races, especially [[Mankind]], have long speculated about the features of this uncommon loyalty. There are a lot of theories from the prenatal indocrination or pheromonal compulsion to the presence of some veiled psychic gift possessed by the Ethereals, but as yet no confirmed proof of any such power has been secured. Those few Ethereals that have been captured and subjected to interrogation have proven less than forthcoming.{{Fn|8b8}}
On their foreheads resides a small organ, smaller than the ones the other castes have. Imperial studies on the organ show no biological function, but it's suspected that the ethereal studied is a dud, or that the way the Ethereal control the Tau is more esoteric in nature{{Fn|4}}
As the leaders of the Tau, the Ethereals are enigmatic and studious, yet unfaltering in their authority and their drive to further the Greater Good. They are mystics and philosophers, possessed of knowledge and wisdom not shared by their more practical subjects. As such they had some part to play in the Tau rapid development, and to this day guide their species in its dynamic expansion, or the castes revert to the savagery that once threatened to destroy them.{{Fn|4}}
==Notable Ethereals==
*{{Endn|6}}: [http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat440178a&prodId=prod1060272&rootCatGameStyle= Tau Ethereal]
*{{Endn|7}}: [http://web.archive.org/web/20110211195353/http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m70042a_Strategy_cards_5 Strategy Cards] for [[Planetary Empires]] expansion game, card ''"Energy Shield Relay Point - Minor Stratagem"'', ''(saved archive page, dated February 2011, last accessed 5 October 2015)''
*{{Endn|8}}: [[Codex: Tau Empire (7th Edition)]]**{{Endn|8a}}: ''The Castes''**{{Endn|8b}}: , ''Ethereals''
*{{Endn|9}}: [[Warhammer: Visions 26]], pg. 29
*{{Endn|10}}: [https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2014/7/31/the-greater-good/ Warhammer 40,000: Conquest - Tau preview]
