# Emperor inconsistent?



## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

I was wondering, does anyone else feel that the Emperor's skills/abilities fluctuate horribly in the fluff. I mean, in one instance he is shown to have the wisdom, foresight and knowledge of human nature to plan the creation of the Mechanicum THOUSANDS of years in advance but during the end of the Great Crusade/beginning of the Horus Heresy he's too dense to see how negatively his decisions are affecting those closest to him. 
Then, while he's still relatively young (well, for the Emperor) we see him facing and beating the Void Dragon (supposedly the most powerful of all the C'Tan) but during the Great Crusade (when you'd think he'd be more skilled and powerful) he nearly gets his ass chocked out by an ork. Now, I'm always a bit biased when it comes to orks but even I gotta admit that unless the ork is so old and powerful that it's the size of a freaking gargant i can't see it standing a snowballs chance in hell in taking on a C'Tan.
Also, what was with the dumbass decision of creating the Thousand Sons during a bunch of major warp storms. I mean, its strongly implied that this was the cause of their unstable geneseed/fleshchange. What was he thinking "Hmmm... these storms nearly wiped out humanity, but hey, what's the worst that could happen?" 
I don't know. Am I being a bit harsh? What do you guys think?


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

It's GWs fluff department.... they would forget what their own face looked like if it weren't for mirrors.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

Back when I thought he was wiser and a more God-like character I actually thought he was being inconsistant for a reason. The emperor really daemonized or ignored a lot of the legions that turned to chaos while praising others. Fully half the legions turned which I guess one can say was just for Warhammer 40k fluff. But every loyal legion had an extreme version of itself in the traitor's legions. So thats also a very weird coincidence.

What the reason for the emperor in sort of planning something this redicolous, I think would be along the same lines the Alpha Legion turned chaos upon listening to the Cabal. It seemed that in the long terms of things it would have been more dangerous to have chaos hidden within the Imperium and take shape of something more deep and a lot more destructive than to create a shape or form of chaos strong enough which can actually be fought. But hey, thats the only reason I have with how the emperor let something like the Heresy get so out of hand. Totally something I made up so don't take it serious. 

Horus really shouldn't have had the support he did. Peturabo and Angron were the two primarchs written about in the Heresy that really dispised his rising to Warmaster. But some how they hated the emperor even more. Peturabo we don't yet know fully about yet, but we have some clue as to why Angron did; which was basically because the Emperor let his bretheren die and felt the emperor took the one thing from his life. Peturabo we could say probably felt neglected as he watched his competition brother Dorn get all the glory as he did all the shitty work. Night Haunter was basically banished from the empyream and told to face the emperor for his deeds. Logar was daemonized for his fanatic praising of the Emperor and basically told that he sucked by the emperor. Magnus was forced to join chaos by the reaction he got from the emperor. Mortarrion had a similar reason along the lines of Angron I read somewhere. Though someone can elaborate a little more. Thats 7 primarchs out of 9 that if were treated the same as the other primarchs would have been loyal to the Emperor.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

In all honesty, Magnus was forced to chaos by choices he made.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

If it's GW's fluff department then I really think that they need to get their writers to collaborate more with their ideas. I mean they're all writing about the same freakin events and characters (Horus Heresy) so a little cohesion would make sense. As it is, it makes it really hard to get a solid picture of the Emperor when he's all great and powerful in one instance and then horribly incompetent in the next. Then again, maybe GW is deliberately trying to make you confused and make him seem more mysterious though I honestly can't see how the Emperor occasionally acting like a dumbass will make people more interested in him.
Then again, I have another possible (though probably very far fetched) theory about his abilities (the psychic ones at least). In A Thousand Sons, Ahriman mentions that a psyker's powers are affected by the current state of the warp. Maybe more powerful psykers are affected more harshly due to their stronger connection to the warp. Then the Emperor, being the most powerful psyker in existence, would suffer the greatest fluctuations in powers and abilities. Just a thought.
After reading ckcrawford's post I'm also actually thinking now and wondering why did the Emperor only teleport Angron up to his ship when, in all likelyhood, he could have teleported the rest of the gladiators with him (teleportation of multiple individuals wasn't that uncommon and the Emperor also has that big ass Golden City ship that should have been superior in tech to any other human vessels). Angron would probably have been a lot happier with him. It just seems to me like the Emperor was being a bit of an asshole. 
Also, would Magnus have resorted to bargaining with chaos if his legion wasn't on the brink of extinction? Maybe or maybe not? Unfortunately we don't really know the answer.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

He only needed Angron. If he has the lion in him he wouldn't consider taking all of them because they wouldn’t be useful.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

Well in all fairness, you could say that about virtually all other primarchs. All you need is their primarchs. You don't need to all the others as they can all be replaced by others worthy of the geneseed. I think like all human beings, in order for one to be sane one must feel connected to the world. Not only did those things put into his head not help but killing the one brotherhood that raised him up and made him who he was, was whipped off the face of the earth. In my opinion, it might have been alot easier to take them all up into his ship instead of selecting only Angron in the huge crowd. Its almost as though the Emperor purposely went out of his way to select Angron through a cloud of gladiators. Would the Lion have been the same had the Emperor pulled him from the planet and destroyed his brotherly knighthood? Would Guilleman have been so great had he been removed from a rich and very successful system with all the man power he needed? Would have Leman Russ been so loyal if had been taken by the emperor and had his people die from the harshness of Fenris? Would proud Vulkan have been so humble had the emperor rejected the contest, taken Vulkan from his planet, and let his people die from the Volcanic storms? Virtually any other primarch had a close bond to their homes and people. And as some of the stories suggest, the Emperor had to sometimes play along with some of the primarchs to gain their respect. Of course I am mainly talking about his contests with Leman Russ and Vulkan.

I care very little for Magnus, but out of all fairness the Emperor was _very_ inconsistant on what he taught Magnus. He taught Magnus things we would never let him use. Thats something a scientist or psychologist would do predict the outcome of someone's behavior.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

I think the Consistancy your looking for can never happen. A book series like Tolkens Lord of the Rings, Stephen Kings Black Tower, or Robert Jordans Wheel of Time, have a single writer who knows what he wants and where hes generaly going with a story.

BL has different writers for different books/series about the same universe. BL more like a Comic company. Marvel Comics is base in the Marvel Universe, but it hardly flows together in harmony, you can have uber powerful characters being beaten by lower lvl beings. Sometimes characters are just out of character thanks to different writers and the dreaded RETCONs thats done in any large unfolding fluff work. 

So its just expected with so many writers dabbling in the fluff to make it their own and RETCON (shiver, poor Ghost Rider) to keep it suppose fresh/new. Suks but thats how it is. As the Reader you have the power to decide that.... A) The Emperor held back when he was getting own, and looking dumb. B) Most of the godly awsome stuff the Emperor did was exagerated BS. I perfer the latter.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

There were probably to many for them to take.


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## Tel Asra Nejoar (Mar 16, 2010)

Warlock in Training said:


> I think the Consistancy your looking for can never happen. A book series like Tolkens Lord of the Rings, Stephen Kings Black Tower, or Robert Jordans Wheel of Time, have a single writer who knows what he wants and where hes generaly going with a story.
> 
> BL has different writers for different books/series about the same universe. BL more like a Comic company. Marvel Comics is base in the Marvel Universe, but it hardly flows together in harmony, you can have uber powerful characters being beaten by lower lvl beings. Sometimes characters are just out of character thanks to different writers and the dreaded RETCONs thats done in any large unfolding fluff work.
> 
> So its just expected with so many writers dabbling in the fluff to make it their own and RETCON (shiver, poor Ghost Rider) to keep it suppose fresh/new. Suks but thats how it is. As the Reader you have the power to decide that.... A) The Emperor held back when he was getting own, and looking dumb. B) Most of the godly awsome stuff the Emperor did was exagerated BS. I perfer the latter.


as a long time wheel of time reader i can safely say that what we percieve as readers as inconsistency usually turns out to be part of the very fabric of the story(SPOILER ALERT FOR WHEEL OF TIME: an aes sedai told a lie in book 2, something we are told cannot happen unless theyre evil, but for 10 books she goes on to be the most consistently good character in the series, but ends up having been working for the bad guys all along for good reasons). i think the big E's shortsightedness about the heresy was probably due to having his forsight clouded by the chaos gods, after all, they wouldnt want that info to reach him prematurely. so my answer to the emperor being inconsistent is Tzeentch.


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## calon (Jul 12, 2010)

With so many writers dealing with the 30k events (I believe there was 7 separate authors for the Horus Heresy series) it would be virtually impossible for the story to be totally consistent. They will follow the set guidelines to ensure the Emperor doesn't turn into a two foot munchkin. But, over all, the smoothness you'd expect to see can only comes from a single author. Sadly.


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## LordRaith (Jun 8, 2010)

I've always taken the inconsistencies to be part of the mystery surrounding the Emperor. It might be more likely that it's just GW's fluff getting out of their control, but I think it's more fun to believe that it's all part of a vast, incredibly diverse society's attempt to describe their god. After all, real world religions can often seem confusing or inconsistent, and the theocracy that is the Imperium is impossibly larger.

On the other hand, I can give you the answer I'm always given when I question a plot hole: if that hole wasn't there, there wouldn't be a conflict. If the Emperor hadn't made mistakes, we'd be playing a game where humanity is in control and everyone gets along.


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## Warlock in Training (Jun 10, 2008)

Tel Asra Nejoar said:


> as a long time wheel of time reader i can safely say that what we percieve as readers as inconsistency usually turns out to be part of the very fabric of the story(SPOILER ALERT FOR WHEEL OF TIME: an aes sedai told a lie in book 2, something we are told cannot happen unless theyre evil, but for 10 books she goes on to be the most consistently good character in the series, but ends up having been working for the bad guys all along for good reasons.


(SPOILER ALERT FOR WHEEL OF TIME: 
If I remember right any Aies Sedai can tell a lie if they are of the a) Black Ajah or b) been stilled and return to power. The Sedai all use that Ter'angeal (however its spelled) that binds the cant tell a lie thing to them. The Black Sisters have shown to undo that and Stilling undos it as well. Also many seem to lie but they use sly of tongue, double meanings, and all that.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

I find it interesting how some say the Emperor is inconsistent simply because his actions clash with their own ideal of how he should have acted.

Consider:

-The Emperor was 38,000 years old when Horus' heresy occurred, yet he looks not a day older than 40 in any of the depictions of him. Most likely by choice, as some fluff suggests he maintains the age of whatever he desires to be, and in The Last Church, he takes the form of a younger man, with more simplistic features.

-The Emperor, time and again through his own life, proves his foresight stretches for tens of thousands of years down the span of human life. Farther than any farseer could have seen. Placing the C'tan Void Dragon within the surface of Mars, in a maze of crevasses. Founding the Mechanicum before anyone ever thought of an Imperium. Putting in place all the chess pieces for the conquest of an entire galaxy.

-The Emperor _was_ aging. He knew it. It's why an Ork brought him low, when a C'tan could not (though the Emperor's psychic might could account for the C'tan's defeat, as well). He knew the day would come that he would be too weak to fight, and had to prepare for that eventuality.

-The Emperor had begun construction on the Golden Throne and the Astronomican long before his mortal wounding by Horus, and, while there is contention he was going to use Magnus to power the Astronomican, I think he was aware it would be him, not Magnus, who would power the beacon. The Golden Throne would not have been completed if the Emperor had not built it in anticipation of his death.

-The Emperor made a pact with Chaos. Chaos told Horus one thing, but Chaos also lies. Did the Emperor make a pact with Chaos for them to take half his Imperium? Did the gods of Chaos merely twist the truth to gain their end of the bargain?

The Emperor was smart, experienced and could see the future. Who is to say he did not anticipate that his own death would be the foundation of his own religion? The Cult Imperialis. I know it seems a hard idea for some to grasp, that the Emperor would allow such things to come to pass, but considering all we know about him, all that he is capable of, perhaps the only conclusion left is to say that the Emperor could find no better long-term solution for the survival of mankind than to build it up to full power, then divide the Empire in half, give half to the devil and become god to the other half, in hopes that both sides (which both fight aliens on a regular basis) will be able to ensure the survival of mankind, albeit in a sick and twisted way. But then again. It is the Grimdark of the 41st M, and... (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Warhammer40000) you will not be missed.

Mods: I appologize for linking to a non-heresy site. It's relevant info, and I don't think it will keep people from coming back here, so, don't delete this or banhammer me, please.


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## calon (Jul 12, 2010)

If the Emperor forsaw the state of the Imperium in M41, then, he would've understood the probable self-destruction. As a shell of the former population, the Imperium of Man is still stretched to it's limits. Without the fracture of Chaos, by now, all would have been long since lost.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

Belthazor Aurellius, Im just curious, where is it mentioned that the Emperor was aging? Maybe I missed something somewhere but as far as I know the Emperor was supposed to be immortal. I thought the whole reason for the shaman sacrifice thing was so that they would no longer have to reincarnate because the Emperor would never need to.
Also, I still find him planning for the Imperium to be in this state a little dubious, cause lets be honest, the Imperium is cracking and starting to crumble and it's only a matter of time before it'll be overwhelmed by some other race (unless something REALLY drastic happens). Lets also not forget about the Golden Throne that has failures in it. Why would the Emperor plan having himself put into a machine that was destined to break?


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## Kettu (Nov 20, 2007)

Belthazor Aurellius said:


> Placing the C'tan Void Dragon within the surface of Mars, in a maze of crevasses.


That I have personal problems with as he wasn't even born till after the war in heaven, wasn't he?
So now we have a time travelling immortal rounding up C'Tan and herding them across the galaxy whilst humanity was still cavemen?

And then, I thought the Void Dragon in Mars was fan wank taken from the vague hints left in the Necron Codex. Not official canon, just hinted at.

Then we also have the fact that the Emperor wasn't even fully aware of his power for a very long time (Can't remember where but an old fluff piece had that he had long since forgotten his family and life till he even noticed he was doing more then not ageing.)
Whilst C'tan on the other hand, are more than a match for a warp god and Emps is short in that power level as of yet.

Then, if he was aware of the Necrontyr (Spelling?) all the ways back then, why was no attempt made at destroying them whilst they slept?
If he did place Void Dragon at the heart of Mars then he hasn't set up humans for galactic conquest, he has sowed the seeds for our own destruction.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

He wasn't time traveling. The Void Dragon was hiding on Earth for some reason (that in itself I feel warrants a WTF) and the Emperor confronted him when humans were already further along than cavemen. Though a completely accurate date isn't given (it's believed to be roughly the eleventh or twelfth century) it seems they were in a medievalish kind of faze as the Emperor was dressed as a knight and riding a horse when he faced the C'Tan.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

Kettu. Read Mechanicum. The book gives a lot of history on the Emperor-C'tan thing, and explains that even the Emperor would not have the power to destroy a C'tan. The Void Dragon was in a weakened state thanks to the Eldar. The Emperor wasn't aware of how many others were out there, he simply recognized evil when he saw it, smote said evil as best he could and then imprisoned it within a maze of canyon-like crevasses on Mars, placing a single human (with a habitable laboratory/library including oxygen and such) with a very decent sized shard of the Emperor's own psychic power imbued in their being. The Emperor pretty much set a ward that would confuse auspex scanners in the area, confound explorators and ultimately make the canyon maze impossible to navigate. I don't know if he set an enchantment to lure in a certain kind of psyker (as no guardian has proven immortal yet, they just last a few thousand years before passing on the Emperor's power to the next psyker guardian)... but I'm guessing he put something in place.

Chompy Bits. I have yet to see any definitive claim from a canon fluff source state that the Emperor is aging. However, let's review the issue for a second. The Emperor was born from a council of hundreds, or perhaps hundreds of thousands (I don't remember) of shamans, the original race of psykers man was meant to have to guide them towards prosperity. Each shaman was mortal, but had extended life as well as an ability to be reborn.

The Emperor was able to mask his age through psychic masking techniques, sort of projecting an aura of young, charismatic, benevolent kinda guy (it's why primarchs and gruntlings instantly fell in love, almost every time). I know this is more a personal interpretation of the fluff, but I think the shaman sacrifice was simply to give the Emperor excessive longevity and psychic power, so that he could do what they could not. Survive a trip through the warp and not get devoured by Chaos.

The Illuminati/Sensei plots both kind of reflect the idea that the Emperor was meant to die. Yes, the GW fluff department says the Inquisition hunted both parties down, but it's possible the Emperor could still survive the warp, he'd just need a lot more psykers to die to bring him back...

That said, I know I kinda jumped to a foregone conclusion of the idea that the Emperor was always meant to die, but honestly, why else was he building a life support machine and planning to die in battle? I think he was afraid to die, unable to see past his physical death, because it was a shadowpoint in his own farsight, and he was afraid that it was a shadowpoint not because there was too many choices and variables to see past, but that it was a shadowpoint because he wouldn't come back.

That said, I know saying he's aging is a jump to a pretty huge conclusion, but it's the one thing that makes sense. If he wasn't aging, why die in the first place? Why set up the whole civil war anyways? Unless he knew that corruption would creep into an un-contested Imperium and wanted to prevent _that._


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

Belthazor Aurellius, you make quite a convincing argument, though I'm still wondering about the Golden Throne's failures. Then again, maybe the Emperor knows something we don't and maybe he will be reincarnated before the throne breaks or maybe when the throne breaks he can finally fully ascend to godhood, no longer bound to a smelly old corpse. Also, I thought that the Golden Throne was originally meant to stabilise the imperial part of the webway and only became a life support machine after Magnus blundered in and broke the Emperor's psychic shield. Which makes me wonder, maybe the failures in the Golden Throne were risidual effects of Magnus's mistake. If so, Magnus must be sitting in his tower laughing his ass of cause he might have accidentally accomplished something that Abbadon couldn't manage with no less than thirteen Black Crusades (by that I mean bringing the Imperium to its knees, cause if the astronomicum blinks out the Imperium's gonna be in big trouble). Of course this is purely speculation.
I'm also wondering, if the Emperor is the most powerful psyker of all, shoudn't he have been able to use biomancy to control his aging. I mean, look at the Apex twins. They've supposedly been around for a couple of thousand years yet both of them still have the bodies of children.
On a side note, I think the Inquisition claiming to have wiped out all the Illuminati is BS as a bunch of them were themselves important and influential members of the inquisition.


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## Hired Goon (Sep 16, 2009)

I was going to reply to this in length.
But everything Belthazor Aurellius said I agree with.

The Emperor made a pact with chaos. How he became Emperor.
Maybe the Chaos gods started slowly taking back that power as they found the Emperor was deceiving them.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

The emperor was never meant to die from age. When they put all of their life-force into the being we know as the emperor they created a being that was meant to be immortal. 

The emperor would need to change his appearance in order to sway his followers but the emperor was also the greatest psyker to have existed so it is reasonable to believe that, even if he would age, he could change it. Also, if we take into account the fact that all of the legions were an aspect of the emperor, we can look at the lifespan of the blood angels. They are still mostly human yet they life for over a thousand years without much signs of age other than appearance. 

To the emperor not realizing what was going on, he isolated himself from his imperium in his pursuit of the great plan. He was focused utterly on the long run.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> To the emperor not realizing what was going on, he isolated himself from his imperium in his pursuit of the great plan. He was focused utterly on the long run.


And look how that turned out.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

Chompy Bits said:


> And look how that turned out.


Is pride in what he had made blinded him to the threat until it was far to late.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

Pride comes before the fall. You'd think he'd lived long enough to have heard that one a few times.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

In a sense, they were an extension of himself and he thought himself beyond curuption or failure. Is failure was viewing them as part of himself rather than individuals.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> In a sense, they were an extension of himself and he thought himself beyond curuption or failure. Is failure was viewing them as part of himself rather than individuals.


Damn, it must take a massive ego to think of twenty virtual demigods as detached sentient limbs.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

They they were all created using his essense, he created them to each have a different aspect of himself. It's the only reason I see for his ignorance of their own personalities.


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## calon (Jul 12, 2010)

Perhaps the Emperor was unable to foresee the flaws in the Golden Throne due to the intervention of Chaos. It'd be safe to assume if he knew of Horus' betrayal, than he would've either not created Horus completely, or, whilst creating the primarchs, specific traits of himself would've been omitted. 

While he was immortal, the Emperor took the appearance of a face people would trust, follow, and love. His visual appearance and what his actual appearance might have been wouldn't be the same. 

If I'm not mistaken, (but I very well could be) wasn't a specific cult of the sensei destroyed twice? Both times by Inquisitors, which, some are apart of the Illuminati guarding the sensei.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

ckcrawford said:


> I care very little for Magnus, but out of all fairness the Emperor was _very_ inconsistant on what he taught Magnus. He taught Magnus things we would never let him use. Thats something a scientist or psychologist would do predict the outcome of someone's behavior.


That sums up the problem completely. The Emperor screwed Magnus over to cover HIS mess up of teaching Magnus "forbidden" secrets and making the Thousand Sons into mutated monsters. Out of all the legions, I feel the most for the Thousand Sons. If the Emperor wanted to be an asshole, which he was, he could have "punished" Magnus. Instead he chose to release the Space Wolves, with Russ at the head to wipe out the Thousand Sons. And no, you can't defend the Emperor's actions. He sent the Silent Sister with the Wolves. He knew doing that meant the Thousand Sons had no chance to defend themselves. On top of that, the Wolves killed civilians.....people who weren't even present at the Council of Nikea, and many others who didn't even have psychic powers. The Emperor is a murderer, a coward, and a hypocrite. There I said it.

Back on the original topic.....yes the Emperor does seem to change as far as his powers, personality, ect. I think, IMO, the Emperor himself is a C'Tan. Only reason I can come up with as to why his mind is still alive, although he is physically dead. His body is a necrodermis and he is a C'Tan. Good reason why he killed the Void Dragon, the C'Tan killed and consumed each other to grow stronger. It may also explain why he needs constant sacrifice to stay alive. Not to mention infiltrating and controlling the Old One's final created race: man. Indeed


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

The sons should never have been permitted to exist, imo. They were tainted and flawed from day one.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> The sons should never have been permitted to exist, imo. They were tainted and flawed from day one.


Opinion noted, allow me to retort: The same could be said of the Space Wolves. They practice genetic deviancy, in the form of their wolf-like enhancements and they are flawed as well......the mark of the wulfen. Turning into a werewolf, unable to reason and control yourself, seems pretty flawed to me. Also I think the Space Wolves Rune Priests are the most dangerous of psykers....they don't even realize they are psykers and hence would be unable to know when they were being assaulted by a chaos influence.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

A small portion turned and genetic deviance was practiced by a number of the legiosn. This is a foolish comparison. The entire Tsons legion was mutating and if the deal wasn't stuck with Tzeentch the entire legion would have turned. And they know they are psykers, read the wolf books.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> A small portion turned and genetic deviance was practiced by a number of the legiosn. This is a foolish comparison. The entire Tsons legion was mutating and if the deal wasn't stuck with Tzeentch the entire legion would have turned. And they know they are psykers, read the wolf books.


The Emperor also made a deal.....he used that to create the Primarchs. Not foolish at all, very good in fact.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

That’s irrelevant. You were using the wolves. You never said shit about the emp.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> That’s irrelevant. You were using the wolves. You never said shit about the emp.


Its completely relevant. Observe:
All of the Primarchs were flawed. They were created using a chaos deal. The Thousand Sons got screwed the hardest, their legion was created during massive warp storms. This further afflicted their inherent mutations from their genetic father, mutations he picked up because his creation was tainted by chaos, hence the faster flesh change. The Wolves succumb to it as well, albeit a little slower. Luck played its hand in their fates, not the legions gene seed. Luck and terrible decisions of the Emperor. All the primarchs and legions are tainted....some more apparent than others. Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Emperor's Children, and Thousand Sons all have very apparent genetic mutations. As far as turning, everyone had people who succumbed to their mutations. Sometimes, that caused them to turn to Chaos. Also, to address the point that the Rune Priests knew they were psykers.....I'm pretty sure they don't believe their power was drawn from the warp. They thought it was drawn from "the storms of fenris" or w/e. Maybe things have changed and hopefully Logan has bestowed some wisdom on his Sons of the Storm since the early days of the heresy. Even Ahriman confronted that coward of a Rune Priest about his inability to accept his powers are warp spawned as well.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

All were but their mutations were stable, for the most part. The Tsons were not. And that a sorce not a weilder. They thought and still do that they were psykers.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> All were but their mutations were stable, for the most part. The Tsons were not. And that a sorce not a weilder. They thought and still do that they were psykers.


That shouldn't matter. You said "The sons should never have been permitted to exist, imo. They were tainted and flawed from day one. "

I just pointed out other legions, including the SW, that have mutations. It shouldn't matter if they were stable or not. "Abhor the Mutant"....thats the credo in the Imperium right? Also, who decides if someone is a sorcerer or a wielder? The Rune Priests? If the Thousand Sons are sorcerers, and I think they are, then so are the Rune Priests, Librarians, and whatever you want to call them in other legions/chapters. The Emperor too. Once again, if the Rune Priests think they are psykers, and mind you psykers KNOW they dabble with all things warp related, then why do the SW and Russ seem to think that Rune Priest don't use the warp?


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

That’s the reason, they were tainted beyond repair. They shouldn’t have been permitted to exist. They believed that they were using a purer source.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

All the legions with mutations are beyond help. It will just take longer for those legions/chapters to fully mutate like the Thousand Sons did.

But I digress....this debate is going nowhere. You are an obvious SW player, I defend the Thousand Sons wholly. We should get this thread back on topic....


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

K but just to clarify, the rate of mutation for the wolves ins't increasing and the rate of mutation for most legions isn't increasing. The only chapter that is dying from their mutation is the blood angels.


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## Chimaera (Feb 1, 2010)

LordofFenris said:


> Even Ahriman confronted that coward of a Rune Priest about his inability to accept his powers are warp spawned as well.


I am just getting through a TS but Wyndmarke (think thats how it was spelt) was no coward (unless it comes later in the book) from what I can tell. I have just read the part where he saves Ahriman from Void Hunters and quite inpressively to. It would almost suggest that Rune Priests have more agressive psychic ability than most as even Ahriman was struggling to survive against the Void Hunters and would have been killed only that Wyndmarke came and obliterated them. There was also another bit when the Wolves first arrive where Ahriman noticed the WL had a massive warp signature when angry although the WL did acknowledge Magnus's superiority to him after Magnus put him in his place. Got to admit I can't wait to get to the end of TS and then get Prospero burns when it comes out.

Obviously I am biased towards SW's but only seems fair as they are my chosen army :biggrin: I am hoping to take in a few more books regarding the SW's so hopefully I will have a more informed view in a few months. I won't say they don't have their flaws but the ones they do have, appear to be used for the good of the Imperium.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

@LordofFenris and Gen.ahab, you were arguing something about the mutations of the SW and the TS for a page there, and neither of you mentioned the difference between psykers and sorcerers?

On topic, the Emperor`s limitations are obvious. He had the foresight to engineer the creation of the Mechanicus, the ambition to unite all of humanity, and the power to crush all opposition. But for all his talents, he is but one man, and like any man is not infallible.

His plan may have been perfect in theory, but it relied on other, imperfect elements to succeed. Legions of soldiers, commanders, fleets, all of which were fallible. His entire plan hinged on all of these elements working flawlessly in unison. Which of course, they didn`t.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

To quote Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse"

"But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, 
In proving foresight may be vain: 
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, 
Gang aft agley, 
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, 
For promis'd joy!"

On the note of what Chompy Bits said last time I posted:

I'm not sure how biomancy works, and if it's something where a psyker can actually rebuild his physical form in youth, or if he simply can slow or pause the aging process for a long time. I don't know how the Apex twins do their thing (perhaps it's because there's two of them?), but I think the Emperor may have been affected by Chaos in his ability to sustain himself (He did make a pact with them).

I also suspect the Emperor knew at some point mankind would need a god of order, just didn't want to tell his subjects his plan, or it would have gone to schmutz before he'd left Terra. But once again, these are theories.

Once I've caught up on the Horus Heresy series (most recently finished Tales of Heresy), I can probably draw a more definitive idea about the whole thing (as it sounds like the Golden Throne is discussed in more depth in ATS).

One thing that has been said already, is that GW may or may not be governing the level of fluff adhered to in these books. The stories seem to be told from the perspectives of the characters featured, not from a third person omniscient perspective, so I wouldn't be surprised if certain primarchs, space marines or civilians fail to convey the full scope of the Emperor's personality when He _is_ mentioned.

Again, though, pride before the fall and all that. The Emperor may have heard something, but often, pride also blinds you to yourself and the truth around you. Some fluff already in print, IIRC stated that the Emperor only accepted the Horus Heresy as fully beyond repair when Horus laid him low. Supposing the Emperor did succumb to pride, he may be in denial about his own sons, and might believe he can talk horus down...


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

Belthazor Aurellius said:


> Again, though, pride before the fall and all that. The Emperor may have heard something, but often, pride also blinds you to yourself and the truth around you. Some fluff already in print, IIRC stated that the Emperor only accepted the Horus Heresy as fully beyond repair when Horus laid him low. Supposing the Emperor did succumb to pride, he may be in denial about his own sons, and might believe he can talk horus down...


If it's true then that is some serious denial. What did he expect to happen? After 7 years of war that resulted in the death of a primarch, the near annihilation of a number of legions and nearly tore the Imperium apart they were gonna talk for a bit, Horus was gonna stop what he was doing and everything was going to go back to as it was before? I mean, even if he did manage to convince Horus that he was being used by chaos, I find it hard to believe that the Emperor would trust Horus after that. I don't know about you guys but I wouldn't trust the guy who'd spent the last 7 years trying to destroy me and everything I'd built and who'd already proven that he wasn't beyond corruption. Not to mention the other primarchs who had allied themselves with Horus. I can't see the great crusade being very successful when fully half of the primarchs had already shown themselves capable of turning traitor. The Emperor would constantly need to keep an eye over half his sons. Also, I'd like to see the Emperor try and sort out the Emperor's Children after all the shit they did during the end of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

It was his favorate son, who wasn't a mutated freak at this point. If your first born son, your favorate son, could you simply kill him? Horus was the most like himself, perhaps he saw that in him and was afraid, perhaps he wasn't so far from the threat of curruption after all.


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## Azrell (Jul 16, 2010)

I really like something that was mentioned close to the beginning of this thread, that the emperor may have known that half of his sons would eventually turn/fail/$%^ up but that it would be the price he would pay for ridding the galaxy of Xenos. 

Further more the great crusade in itself may have been designed to eliminate chaos worshipers across the galaxy, and instead install worshipers that would one day be his. Chaos gods exist because of worship, and there followers "warp shadows/souls" go to there gods realm. 

Perhaps as the lecoto divinicas (?, not sure of the spelling) came into being and the emperor now has a realm within the immaterium that his followers go to. Basically this wasn't about advancing mankind, it was about the emperor making himself into a god by dimming out the power of the existing ones. Why is he half dead? who needs a body when your a god.

or maybe he knew that the eternal conflict created by the heresy would prevent humanity from going the way of the eldar that "wrecked" themselves basically because they had nothing else to do.

or he could have just been one of the last "old ones" and humanity was his invention just like orks or eldar were some other old ones. He just thought mushroom metabolisms or super psykers went out of style but rapid populating zealous worship was the new thang.

PS wouldn't it be crazy if nids were the long lost "other" race created by the old ones.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

Nids ARE the last race created by the Old Ones. It`s not stated anywhere, but it makes perfect sense.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

Yeah, it does make sense if we're talking about tyranids being the anti-necron... The hive mind would cut through C'tan like a hot stick of butter through a knife. Or is it the other way...

I'd imagine orks populate just as quickly as humans though, if not more so. And their fanatical devotion to Gork and Mork is just as potent as any Human army's devotion to the Emperor (or Chaos)... But that's sidetracking. I think the intent of this thread was to determine whether the Emperor was so inconsistent as he seemed, and if so, why, or if not, why seeming so...? To that, I say, he was consistent within his own means and ends, however, to an outsider, the maddness might have seemed a bit methodless, as it would take thousands of years to decipher the outcome of the Emperor's actions...

So... he seems a bit off his rocker, but really, I think he's just... manipulative.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

Serpion5 said:


> Nids ARE the last race created by the Old Ones. It`s not stated anywhere, but it makes perfect sense.


They are from a different galaxy, the old ones died in this one.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

IIRC: They only appear to be from another galaxy, nobody knows where they really are from. Maybe they started as spacebourne clouds of mycetic spores, designed to adapt to any environment with time, and eventually became the hive they are now, come home to re-unite with their creator? (V-Ger from the old Star Trek movies, anyone?)


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> They are from a different galaxy, the old ones died in this one.


Their civilisation was shattered, and their power broken. I am positing the possibility that a few of them fled the galaxy, bioengineered the perfect warrior race, and sent them back. 

One or more of the Old Ones could have ingratiated themselves into this race as the Hive Mind. It makes sense to me, as they are both described as having limitless patience, unparalleled logic and a cold blooded impartiality on almost everything.

I am not saying it is fact, I`m just saying I like the theory.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

The Nids debate actually got me thinking again about people saying the Emperor engineered the current state of the Imperium. Now the Strategic Collective (I think it's in the third tyranid codex) says that the three main hive fleets the Imperium have encountered are simply vanguard forces for a much larger fleet. If the Emperor had the foresight to plan the mechanicum (which admittedly he did) and, as some people would say, plan the current state of the Imperium, then he should also have been aware of the giant swarm of dinosaur bugs on their way to snack on his empire. Which to me means either A. He was just as clueless as the rest of us and didn't know where the heresy was going to lead B. He really is a dumbass or C. He never really cared that much about humanity in the first place and just wanted to become a god (though I'm highly doubtful about this one). I mean, if the SC is true and these fleets really are but a small fragment of a much larger whole then I'd say the Imperium is pretty screwed. We've seen how the Imperium struggles when facing tyranids and, really now, if your best strategy is to exterminate your own planets to stop the enemy from advancing then your just delaying the inevitable. Just my thoughts.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

Or D, take down chaos in one fell swoop. Perhaps he saw this coming perhaps it was his plan all along. The chaos gods are almost completely dependent upon humanity at this point... Could it be possible he saw this coming and perhaps planed for humanity to be destroyed by the nids in order to take down chaos with it? I doubt it but possible.

What I find would be more likely would be E, he did see it coming and planed for it. He was building a human webway which would have allowed humanity to build settlements outside of real space and there by avoid the nids.


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## BrainFreeze (Oct 9, 2008)

gen.ahab said:


> What I find would be more likely would be E, he did see it coming and planed for it. He was building a human webway which would have allowed humanity to build settlements outside of real space and there by avoid the nids.


That would mean he saw everything else also, and is a complete and utter failure when it comes to execution even though he can see the future. It's like having an omnisciant Homer Simpson for your fearless leader..


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

How would it mean he is a failure? It would mean that this is all the fault of magnus. He destroyed humanities future. His arrogance destroyed whatever chance humanity had. Also, he could only see one future, it is possible the gods blured his sight of what was close but allowed him to see glimpses at the future, the construction of a human webway took the emperor away from the crusade and allowed this shit to happen. But really it was the arrogance of magnus that doomed humanity.


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## BrainFreeze (Oct 9, 2008)

The arrogance of Magnus is the fault of the Emp. There is no way around that.


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

gen.ahab said:


> How would it mean he is a failure? It would mean that this is all the fault of magnus. He destroyed humanities future. His arrogance destroyed whatever chance humanity had. Also, he could only see one future, it is possible the gods blured his sight of what was close but allowed him to see glimpses at the future, the construction of a human webway took the emperor away from the crusade and allowed this shit to happen. But really it was the arrogance of magnus that doomed humanity.


Yeah, but by your own theory, he would have know Magnus was going to damage the webway he was building......so once again, I doubt the Emperor planned this far ahead.


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## gen.ahab (Dec 22, 2009)

BrainFreeze said:


> The arrogance of Magnus is the fault of the Emp. There is no way around that.


Magnus's arrogance was a product of his upbringing and personality. No way the emperors fault. However, he made the choice and that lead to the destruction of the webway. It was still his choice. That’s the long and the short of it.



LordofFenris said:


> Yeah, but by your own theory, he would have know Magnus was going to damage the webway he was building......so once again, I doubt the Emperor planned this far ahead.


The gift of farsight is susceptible to the choices of beings, it can all change. However, the tyranids have been drifting for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of years, their arrival would remain a constant.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

The arrogance of Magnus, as I understood it, was due to the Emperor giving him so much knowledge and then forbidding him to use it.

Agree with Ahab on farsight though. The shadowpoint of the Heresy would not block out the Emperor's view of the future, where Tyranids were devouring the galaxy.

Though, for me, I have a feeling Chaos may have also tried to mask the future of the Imperium as well, they wouldn't have bothered blocking his sight from anything that ultimately would affect everyone, regardless of race or creed. Especially not if it could distract him from the current state of affairs.


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## Chompy Bits (Jun 13, 2010)

I don't think the chaos gods hid the existence of the Tyranids from the Emperor. I'd actually think that the forces of chaos would want something done about the Tyranids as well cause if the Nids succeed with their dinner plans then chaos is also left with a fat load of nothing.


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## Belthazor Aurellius (Jan 16, 2009)

There's always the Necrons...?


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## unixknight (Jul 26, 2010)

The thing is, and this admittedly may be GW's answer to fluff inconsistency, is that all of the stories of the Heresy are seen through the lens of time, with events embellished, removed, inaccurate or whatever. Essentially, legends as opposed to historical fact.

Having said that, I think the Emperor is more show than substance. He has the ability to enthrall people near him, and as a powerful psyker he has all sorts of ability to command loyalty, influence memories, influence perceptions, influence people. With power like that it's easy to imagine how he'd stay in power and yet be far from infallible.

I think he took the loyalty of the Primarchs for granted. I think he was so used to having people just be absolutely loyal to him that he miscalculated both the ambition of the Primarchs and how intensely the forces of Chaos would go after them. 

I think the Emperor would be genuinely surprised that Horus felt unappreciated, or that Magnus felt betrayed. The Emperor is something of a narcissist and as such it's easy to imagine him being unaware of the feelings of others, the very feelings that lead to disloyalty.

Having said all that, I DO think that the ascension to godhood was calculated. I think that's the real reason he wanted to stamp out all religion in the Imperium... The human psyche instinctively craves a spiritual focus and by creating that vacuum he engineered a situation where it was simplicity itself to provide a new spiritual focus to the people of the Imperium.


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## nestersan (Apr 3, 2010)

Emperor:

Ancient and Powerful being, so focused on the long game (Dominance of mankind and taming of the warp), that the things inder his nose don't noticed.
He uses psyker powers constantly, becuase in 'Legion' Grammaticus said the Emperor lowered his "glamour' and he saw his true face.
It did not work on Night Haunter, because Curz is a very powerfull psyker and the Emperor's glamour had no real effect on him.

He is HUMAN not a god, and despite being ancient, he does things humans do daily, like think too much of their offsprings.
How many people you know ignore glaring obvious flaws in their offsrping who are merely 50% genetically them, and came about through no real active effort.
Much less a MAN (not a GOD) who has 20 beings who are basically aspects of his personality, that he created from his own cells and willpower to sentience ?

The Emperor cares nothing for humanity as individuals, and he has slaughtered and led to slaughter billions, he cares about humanities Dominance. That is it.
As to his role as in what would his role be if his plans had come to fruition, I cannot say.

But while he had respect and kinda "I made this, and through them my will is done" love for some of his sons, as any parent does he had favourites, CLEAR favorites, because Horus was the aspect of himself that he liked best.
Even Horus said Sanguinius was a better man than he and should have been Warmaster.

Sanguinius was loved and respected by all the Primarchs (I assume), because he was most pardon the expression 'Christlike' ie compassionate, patient, etc.

Clearly, those parts of the Emperor were not the ones he liked best, hence his favoritism with Horus, a man who said "Let the Galaxy burn". Not Planet, not solar system, but GALAXY.
Horus was his son, I think really his only son, as far as he was concerned, and like any doting HUMAN father, he raised him beyond his station to disasterous results.


The Emp was cold, calulating and utterly ruthless to the others, because they were tools; Russ, Angron and Curz were Blades and is used as such, and he taught Magnus simply to prepare him for life eternal as a "howling rictus' locked in the Golden throne. He wanted Angron to be a violent merciless butcher, becuase if you read the story right after he gets his Legion, Angron although beastlike and raging, speaks of honour and love for his galdiator brethren. If Emp had spared his men, Angron would have been almost like a Ghetto Guilliman, brilliant strategist with honour, who can get down and dirty when needed. 

Emp had a Guiliman type already, so Beast Angron was what was allowed to develop.

I do think that he had an utter abhorrence of Religion and Worship, since pretty much Chaos has been powered by religion ( gathering of individuals who follow a creed/belief) in some form or the other over the millenia. Simply becuase gatherings like that either worship indirectly or through the emotion brought about empower Chaos in a way that does not benefit humanity or the long game.

As far as being overwhelmed by the ORC's, as far as I recall Orks may be a bit immune to his psyker influence, and in usual orc numbers may simply have overwhelmed his physicallity if not his mental power. I am certain too, the Orcs can see beneath his glamour for what he truly is, which may have inspired them to mob him en mass.

In Flight of the Eisentein, in is said that people had started praying to the Emp, it is also noted that Prayer and Faith in the Emp helped to banish a demon (details are fuzzy)
As a psyker of his power, I am thinking he basically granted the power to the people praying.
Unless, it is the BELIEF itself which has the power, and not the deity the belief is directed toward. (sigh)

I am thinking, that as he lay dying on the Golden Throne, as a last ditch ploy, he started to manipulate his formerly secular empire into a religiously fanatical one. The idea being that since he know resides entirely in the warp (there is only the material and the immaterial, the Emp has no material presence (withered husk "Corpse God"), his power/soul/spirit now resides entirely in the warp), it is better the belief of countless billions empower him than empower the other Warp beings.

Emps major failing is that he was human, he believed too strongly in his influence over his sons and that he raised them well enough to not be resentful of each other and him.

Interestingly enough ( I know a VERY wealthy family (Bill gates money types) who were brought down almost EXACTLY this way, brother against brother after father chose the favorite and not the best to run the empire)


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## LordofFenris (Mar 10, 2010)

nestersan said:


> Emperor:
> 
> I am thinking, that as he lay dying on the Golden Throne, as a last ditch ploy, he started to manipulate his formerly secular empire into a religiously fanatical one. The idea being that since he know resides entirely in the warp (there is only the material and the immaterial, the Emp has no material presence (withered husk "Corpse God"), his power/soul/spirit now resides entirely in the warp), it is better the belief of countless billions empower him than empower the other Warp beings.


Your entire post was actually well thought out and full of interesting points, this last part in particular. Simply put, the Emperor's an asshole. At least with the Chaos Gods, you know what the deal is. IF the Emperor wasn't godlike before his Golden Throne nap, he is now. Either way, I doubt he can tussle with the true gods of the 40K universe. He has alot to contend with, and they all have a based dislike of humanity: Eldar Gods, C'Tan, Chaos Gods, even the two Ork gods.


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## ckcrawford (Feb 4, 2009)

I thought it was necessary to bring this thread back to life due to the last novel of the Heresy. And since CotE put this in his sticky thread.  Instead of making another thread.

After the novel, I thought it was interesting that the Emperor did what he did with Logar. My question is what does the Emperor want from his sons really? If you look at his other sons and the problems they face, I can hardly understand why he chose to dishonor Logar. I look at Logar and I see a legion thats primary concern was making the Crusade divine and the Imperium a much stronger state of loyalty and mind. 

I look at other legions that really weren't effective in my opinion. 

You have Angron throwing his legion into the enemy and totally devastating order. You have Perturabo having his legions baby sitting planets. Why Logar? Any thoughts?


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## Imperious (May 20, 2009)

I wouldn't say that the Emperor is inconsistent. I'd say that GW not knowing where they were going with this character in the first place and the constant retconning makes the Emperor appear inconsistent. 

That being said, he is the result of a bunch of shaman souls in one body and he has the pressure of saving humanity so I guess a little inconsistency is to be expected.


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## Serpion5 (Mar 19, 2010)

ckcrawford said:


> I thought it was necessary to bring this thread back to life due to the last novel of the Heresy. And since CotE put this in his sticky thread.  Instead of making another thread.
> 
> After the novel, I thought it was interesting that the Emperor did what he did with Logar. My question is what does the Emperor want from his sons really? If you look at his other sons and the problems they face, I can hardly understand why he chose to dishonor Logar. I look at Logar and I see a legion thats primary concern was making the Crusade divine and the Imperium a much stronger state of loyalty and mind.
> 
> ...


As I understand it, it was the time frame that drew the Emperor`s ire. Lorgar converted populations to utter faith in the Emperor, he was the most successful in terms of bringing unity. 

But he went about it too slowly. While he dwelt on worlds building churches and spreading dogma, other legions had conquered multiple systems.

If the Emperor had issues with being perceived as a God, he would have spoken sooner. imo it was all about the time frame. Impatient jerk.

So, to answer your question, the Emperor wanted another general. He wanted the galaxy cleansed of any who would deviate from the Imperial Truth, and he wanted it done fast. :training:


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## Darkoan (Oct 18, 2010)

ckcrawford said:


> I thought it was necessary to bring this thread back to life due to the last novel of the Heresy. And since CotE put this in his sticky thread.  Instead of making another thread.
> 
> After the novel, I thought it was interesting that the Emperor did what he did with Logar. My question is what does the Emperor want from his sons really? If you look at his other sons and the problems they face, I can hardly understand why he chose to dishonor Logar. I look at Logar and I see a legion thats primary concern was making the Crusade divine and the Imperium a much stronger state of loyalty and mind.
> 
> ...


Yes the book was fluff o' plenty. So much material for my theories on 1) the nature of the emperor and 2) the lost legions.

The Big E certainly didnt pull any punches when he reprimanded Lorgar. Maybe he saw red when Malcador got b-slapped, but his reaction, for a man with an apparently soulful, sorrowful visage and measured countenance, seemed totally out of proportion. In front of the Legion no less.

So what does that imply? I cant believe it had only to do with the pace of Lorgar's conquests (unless you buy into the idea that time was of the utter essence in the Crusade, with the completion of the Crusade and the Webway Gate somehow critical to the Emperors plans - this is possible, given how quickly the galaxy was conquered), but I have to believe it had something to do with the worship aspect of Lorgar's approach.

Yes the Emp tells Lorgar 'youre the slowest', but I dont think thats the problem. I think he means 'stop this worshipping business, and whats more its affecting your bottom line, which is conquering planets for me.'

Whether the Emperor simply is personally so appalled by the prospect of himself being portrayed that way, or something more complicated, is still unknown. Perhaps whatever grand scheme he had involved the total absence of belief in any Gods INCLUDING THE CHAOS GODS.

This ties in to my theory of the Emperor wanting to use the human race to to elevate himself to Godhood, but noone want to hear my theory on that :don-t_mention:


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## Nicholas Hadrian (Mar 20, 2011)

In a similar vein, now that I have something to say, a few things for consideration as I raise the thread here.
Item 1: Multiple personality Emperor; 
the emperor was made up of the collective souls of thousands of shamans, that's got to have SOME effect. I
f you read book that I am currently having trouble finding, he speaks directly to an inquisitor through a psychic vision, stressing as he speaks that there are many "minds" gathered as one into a gestalt being forming the Emperor, some can see this as the astropaths speaking, or the many distinct parts of the Emperor. 
In other words, inconsistences can be chalked up to diffrent personalities haveing diffrent veiws on how to proceed.

Item 2: His inspiration; 
If you type in the words God Emperor in a Google search (go ahead and try it, I'll wait.) the first and by far biggest result you get Leto Atredies II.
For those of you who havent read Dune or God Emperor of Dune, the breif, son of a messianic individual, Paul Muad'dib Atredies, gains prescience like his father. 
Problem is, he sees a bunch of futures for humanity, all but one ending in their complete and utter destruction. 
Unlike his dad, he has the balls to follow this "Golden Path", the one possibility for humanity's survival and become a gigantic immortal being, he intentionally manipulates humanity, violently opressing them, and doing a bunch of other things you could call sadistic, thing is, each one had a reason in the long run as to why he did it and each one contributed tohumanity's continued survival. Such as the opression forcing humanity to spread out throughout the universe again and become inspired and intrested in exploration again, or ensuring that the psychic sisterhood in control of the nobles would have the compassion of his line and the intellect of their order, and a bunch of other things.
And for those of you whom have already guessed, yes, the writers stole blatantly from Dune when 40k was being made, the taboo on Iron men and "thinking machines"? Dune. 
Feudal system in space? Dune. 
Concept of the God Emperor? God Emperor of Dune
Psychic powers as magic? Dune (specifically the Bene Gesserit)
The concept of Navigators being altered humans able to guide ships through space? Dune.
They borrowed the concept of the god Emperor, so why not his motivations too? (Seriously, read Dune, great book and this will make ALOT more sense.)


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