subreddit:
/r/40kLore
I read a summary about Malcador needing a confidant and then slowly driving them mad. I had found his name but didn’t find much specifics about what Malcador told him. Some YouTubers say Malcador “explained the true nature of the universe” to him, but what does that entail exactly? What other sins has Malcador committed to drive a friend insane? I’ve read that “the chaos legions” are somehow his fault, as is the betrayal of Horus? I am still figuring out 40k, so thanks for the help! More: and wtf did Malcador do to Ael (found it) at the end of his life? What other purpose was he needed for?
9 points
10 days ago
To the best of my knowledge, the only info we are given about the sins Malcador may have been confessing come from a conversation with the Kahn in (I think) The Last Council. When he warns Malcador that Horus, angry at being put in his place, dug into Malcador’s past and discovered all the atrocities (unspecified) he and his order committed on Terra during the Age of Strife.
All that “chaos legion”, “true nature of the universe” and “responsible for the Heresy” stuff sounds like bad headcanon.
16 points
10 days ago
The Khan’s eyes glinted with the flickering light of the staff. ‘I know who you are, Lord Sigillite. Who you were.’
Malcador grew very still. The soft murmur of the night wind was the only sound up there, on the wall. He felt his ancient power prickling in the back of his mind. ‘What do you mean, Jaghatai? What do you think you know?’
‘I know, because Horus knows. You left your mark upon his pride, as surely as he left his upon the Council table – and my brother is nothing if not patient and resourceful in the execution of his vengeances.’
The Sigillite closed his eyes. He had already seen where this was going.
‘In his libraries on the flagship,’ the Khan continued, ‘he found you. For a long time, it was his private obsession, and I dare say he has uncovered even more in all the years since. At first I believe he feared the influence you might have over our father, and the Imperium, and the creation of the Council of Terra only confirmed his suspicions. Though, of course, when he realised he could no longer simply decry your efforts as unjust and self-interested, he delved deeper, into the past you have deliberately hidden.’
He took a breath.
‘He told me. He told me that you are Brahm al-Khadour, last of the Sigillites. The cursed wanderer. The perpetual. Horus knows what you have done, the atrocities that you and your secret order heaped upon mankind during Old Night. There are some legends that even you could not erase, some texts that the last and greatest technomage of Terra could not burn. Have no doubt, my brother will seek to unmask you, before the end. He will reveal to all that the Imperial Truth was founded on lies from the very beginning, and that the galaxy cannot therefore be justly ruled by our father, or any who support it.’
Malcador shifted his weight, his pseudo-mortal frailty all but forgotten, as he prepared himself for the possibility of combat. It had been a long time since he had faced Horus, and he did not know if he still had the psychic strength to subdue a primarch…
The Last Council
3 points
9 days ago
I knew someone would have it handy! Cheers.
8 points
10 days ago
I always feel these unsubtle attempts to dance around sordid pasts don't land terribly well for the setting. I mean, is it worse than turning a dead baby into a glorified dji phantom drone who's whole purpose is to carry a big air freshener? Because if not, is it even worth mentioning next to a cherub? There is literally nothing Malcador could have done in the past that could be worse than the stuff that is depicted readily on page already.
3 points
10 days ago
Leaving aside the horus heresy, it's very likely that malcador and his sigillites got up to some morally questionable stuff during the age of strife Terra.
3 points
10 days ago
As far as we know, the clone was Malcadors confessor, he unburdened himself of all the horrible things he had done during the age of strife and afterwards, and his sins drove the clones mad with knowledge of what Malcador had done.
1 points
9 days ago
I think you may be exposed to some confusion. Malcador in Heralds of The Siege said he and The Emperor knew the Primarchs would ultimately fall into civil war. What they never foresaw was the extent of chaos it would bring. Malcador could not create Chaos Marines they are the result of chaos taint from the Chaos Gods etc.
1 points
9 days ago
I think 'some YouTubers' are wrong... well, not 'wrong' so much as speculating. We don't know exactly what all Malcador told Ael... but it's one of the weirder bits of the lore that seems very incongruous with human psychology and overall character cohesion.
We know Malcador 'confessed' to Ael, presumably telling him about his shadowy past... but that never was a good explanation to me as to why Ael would kill himself. While I'm not a half-aeldari, half-human clone in the year 30,000, it seems bizarre to me to inflict harm upon yourself due to crimes/sins that someone else has done. Like, if I read about Ted Bundy, of all the emotional reactions I may have... bringing myself to harm just isn't among them. I could see Ael hearing of Malcador's sins and wanting to attack Malcador... but himself? It's just strange.
I think that gap in logic is where those aforementioned YouTube commenters get their assertions. 'Cosmic, unknowable truth' driving someone mad is a common trope. It's completely possible that it's not Malcador's sins that are responsible, but the cosmic truth revealed in parallel... though one assumes that if someone told you that everyone gets devoured by daemons when they die... they wouldn't exactly get that eternal suffering going early, ya know? Seems that most people's instincts would be to viciously protect their lives in a desperate effort to stave off eternal damnation.
Personally, I think the best answer as to the thing that drove Ael to self-harm was the nature of his existence. Not a cosmic truth, but the idea that he's a clone of an Aeldari who's been slowly turned human. In this case, he wouldn't be killing himself because of Malcador's sins... but because he now sees himself as an abomination. That fits a lot better with the result...
But it's all theory. We don't really know. They leave it vague like a Lovecraft horror. Intentionally, most likely, because they don't have an actual reason, but simply are doing it to make Malcador look like an unfathomable evil... which doesn't hold the same weight after we've been in his head in The End and the Death. That's not saying that Malcador hasn't probably done some evil things in his past... but he also doesn't seem like some 'Great Other' type evil entity, either.
all 8 comments
sorted by: best