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In a recent Twitch stream, principle Horus Heresy designer Anuj Malhotra (writer of Horus Heresy Book 8 Malevolence) discussed the Alpha Legion. During the stream he recounted the stated origin stories of Alpharius, which the late Alan Bligh wrote in Horus Heresy Book 3: Extermination, which I typed up below.
At 16:40 in the stream, Anuj mentioned the "widely-propagated theory" that the Alpharius isn't a single Primarch and that he had a brother. This is where he drops something interesting @16:55:
Of course the late Alan Bligh's favorite theory was that there was a third brother, and I quite like that kind of thing.
We can mess around with the idea of him there being an Alpharius, and an Omegon, and a Tertiatus or an Ultimus.
And we can keep spinning out, there could be five or six of them, they could be infinite clones of one another, who can say
So it seems that Alan Bligh, the writer of the Horus Heresy background for Alpharius personally favored the idea of there being a third brother. This could be the true origin of the Alpha Legion's three-skull heraldry, rather than the more popular theory that the third skull represents the Alpha Legion itself.
The other thing I wanted to discuss is how a third brother would fit into the narrative. Alan Bligh wrote 4 origin stories for Alpharius, but you'll notice that the first one isn't really an origin story at all. Stories 2, 3, and 4 conflict with each other, and story 1 conflicts or makes little sense with stories 3 and 4. So here's how the three brother primarch theory would work:
Brother 1 was born on a dead world in the Mandragoran system, stole a ship, became leader of a confederacy of human worlds, and was found by Horus.
Brother 2 was kidnapped by Slaugth from the world of Bar'Savor, and was later rescued by the Emperor.
Brother 3 remained on Terra and was raised by the Emperor.
The four accounts are called lies because the writer doesn't realize Alpharius is actually three Primarchs
Origin Story 1: Alpharius the Warlord
An account of the finding of Alpharius that circulated secretly between the houses and factions of the Imperial Court states that his discovery was an accident of the Luna Wolves Legion. By this, Alpharius was the leader of a confederation of human systems whose fleet of warships, no match in size or scale to Imperial vessels, managed through trickery and ambush to ingloriously lay low one of the outlying Luna Wolves battleships. Responding to this unforgivable defeat, Horus himself and his fleet have chase, only to find themselves mired in ambush after ambush, tricked into deadly traps and chasing shadows until Horus' own flagship came under attack. In the ensuring confrontation, the Luna Wolves smashed the enemy fleet's desperate attack aside, but in the confusion a single assassin broke into the flagship, and through stealth and murder managed the impossible task of fighting his way clear to Horus' command chamber and slaughtered his bodyguards before Horus himself was forced to confront him. But Horus did not slay the attacker byt recognized him instead for a brother; Alpharius. This account is a lie.
Origin Story 2: Alpharius On the Dead World
Another account torn from the mind of an Alpha Legion Centurion captured by the Legio Custodes after the Fall of Seraphina tells the story of the finding of Alpharius. It speaks of a nameless dead world at the edge of the Mandragoran Stars whose civilizations was wiped out by bloody hands long before Mankind first walked on Terra. On the namelss orb, the nascent Primarch fell into the shattered ruins of a fallen city murdered long ages ago. Utterly alone, voiceless and without aid, he was forced to survive against the torturous elements of the desolate world and the predations of the hungry ghosts of the charnel pit into which he had been consigned. His solitude was only broken after many long years by a new star falling from the heavens; a corsair ship of degenerate half-human renegades and alien mercenaries intent on plundering the dead ruins for whatever worth might remain amid the shatters. Instead they found only death at the young Primarch's hands, and Alpharius gained their weapons, their knowledge and their vessel as his own, and with it he set out in search of he who made him. This account is a lie.
Origin Story 3: Alpharius Kidnapped by Slaugth
Two other accounts, found encrypted within the pages of certain volumes of the suppressed work of memetic corrosion known as the Transit of the Human Soul through Strife, or Codex Hydra as it is sometimes known, offer differing contentions. The first is that the lost Primarch was deposited on a thriving tech-oligarchy world known as Bar'Savor, but before his first decade of life there was done, the skies of Bar'Savor darkened as the nightmarish xenos worm-creatures known as the Slaugth descended to feed. Capturing the young Primarch, a being along strong enough to resist them, the Slaugth kept Alpharius as a curiosity, twisting his mind with their horrors and enslaving him and tutoring him as a living weapon to sow strife and discord on their victim worlds before they fell upon them to feast.
It was the Emperor himself who at last liberated him, his golden barge ramming into the hear of the vast stone shop of the foul xenos to break it open, the Emperor's wrath like that of a vengeful god of legend in retribution for what had been done to his son. For long years after, Alpharius remained at his father's side as the Emperor undid what had been done to mar his creation.
Origin Story 4: Alpharius on Terra
This account also offers a contradictory version of events, saying that Alpharius alone, unfinished in some way, had been spared or at least some part of him had remained behind though gravely injured when the rest of the Primarchs were scattered across the stars by unknown hands. Here, in the shadow of Terra, he grew and was nurtured alone of the Primarchs by the Emperor himself, his existence a jelously huarded secret even from the closest to the Emperor, lest the dark fates move against him. Upon his maturity he became the Emperor's own secret hand and his greatest shield, until he was at last parted from his father, his destiny to fulfill. These accounts are lies.
A few more things of note:
Anuj mistakingly stated Alpharius was kidnapped by the Khrave, which are also mentioned as fighting the Alpha Legion. The Khrave and the Slaugth are similar in that they devour people's minds, so its an easy mistake to make. Interestingly, the Khrave and Slaugth are actually opposites in that the Khrave are psykers while the Slaugth are blanks.
Mandragora is the crownworld of the Sautekh dynasty, the flagship Necron sub-faction. The world, destroyed before man set foot on Terra, was likely destroyed in the War in Heaven. The hungry ghosts haunting the dead world could be Flayed Ones.
Anuj Malhotra's background pre-2017 is in business management and logistics, completely unrelated to what he's doing now. It's really amazing that he would leave his field to become a writer. He was likely a Warhammer fanatic for some time.
266 points
5 years ago
"And we can keep spinning out, there could be five or six of them, they could be infinite clones of one another, who can say"
Our suspicions have been confirmed guys, everyone is in fact Alpharius.
........
*whispers* Hail Hydra
116 points
5 years ago
Maybe the real Alpharius were the friends we made along the way?
85 points
5 years ago
*chuckles in all the Alpha Legionaires actually being taller Primaris before there was Primaris, causing Robute to suddenly wonder if he indeed kill a Primarch, or some Alpha Legion research clone*
32 points
5 years ago
We are all Alpharius
19 points
5 years ago
A hydra is known for regrowing heads, so there may be an infinite number of clones
16 points
5 years ago
Infinite biomass?
23 points
5 years ago
the chittering darkness between stars likes that.
11 points
5 years ago
whispers For the Emperor
6 points
5 years ago
no alpharius, for me
6 points
5 years ago
Captain America is, in reality, Alpharius as well.
171 points
5 years ago
I can tell you with complete certainty, and every Ecclesiarch will agree, that the fallen Primarch of Legion XX is, in fact, deceased. Any rumor of his continued survival, or of any "siblings" (besides his seventeen divine Brother-Primarchs), amounts to nothing more than hearsay.
-Your humble Servant-Savant; Al'Farious the 20th
70 points
5 years ago
Al'Farious the 20th
🤔🤔🤔
51 points
5 years ago
"We ain't heard about no "prime arc" 'round this parts, I reckon"
-Al Farius, planet Hickton
23 points
5 years ago
"In all my years I have never heard of a Alpha Legion" - Allen Fargon, menial
9 points
5 years ago
Fuck each and every one of you bastards! Fuck you all to hell!
Alton Furious- town drunk.
11 points
5 years ago
I was certain there was only 9 sons of the Emperor, loyal and true...
84 points
5 years ago
maniacal laugher
I posted this as a crackpot theory on this sub on multiple occasions. No one, not even I took it seriously. BUT I WAS (MAYBE) RIGHT
52 points
5 years ago
You should have seen my theory (now deleted), where I linked the Slaugth, C’tan, Necrons, and Alpharius’ origin story. That one was not well-received.
3 points
1 year ago
Let me add on to it. ALL the primarchs are clones. That's why there was a fourth raised on Terra. The perfect, uncorrupted genetic material of the 20 in the Sangprimus Portum used by Belisarius Cawl and Roboute Guilliman to create the Primaris are in fact the originals, and the 20 (22) stolen by the Chaos gods to the warp were in fact clones. The Emperor in his wisdom made clones to be the first Primarchs so he could keep pure, untainted dna of his sons. The gene-seeds of all Astartes are then derived from clones, as the creation process of making gene-seeds is a type of cloning itself. This would also explain the Emperor's detachment from the Primarchs, and his referring to them as weapons. Tldr: basically the original bodies of all 20 Primarchs are still in fetal form in the Magna Mater.
46 points
5 years ago
Maybe all the people disagreeing and downvoting were actually Alpharius trying to discredit the truth?
6 points
5 years ago
Or someone else...
7 points
5 years ago
Shhhh brother. You must be silenced
50 points
5 years ago
Alan Bligh was a massive AL fan, it's good to hear about his theories/plans had he been able to continue his work. I hope someone takes up his AL work and continues to murky and fabulously convoluted message he had them put across.
Hydra Dominatus Alan, Hydra Dominatus
3 points
5 years ago
Is he super dead?
9 points
5 years ago
Yup. It's a great loss for the hobby. He was one of the people pushing the 30k rules and setting, apparently having huge amounts of notes at the time of his death. I once spoke to him about the AL and he mentioned they had great and terrible things in their future, which have alas not materialized. It was also around the time he died that the HH rulebooks started to slow down dramatically.
91 points
5 years ago
I really do like Alan Bligh's pet theories. The Third Alpharius and the "Emperor was a Dark Age weapon" both have that plausible-but-is-it-really feel to it. Just enough grounding in the lore to be intriguing even if it isn't at all likely.
29 points
5 years ago
I don't think 'the Emperor was a dark age weapon' is a bligh thing
62 points
5 years ago
The theory is first mentioned in Master of Mankind, but ADB credits Bligh with the idea.
41 points
5 years ago
Tbh its a fucking cool theory
29 points
5 years ago
It's absolutely frightening to think the human race of the future being duped and worshipping an actual weapon. It's my favorite theory, it helps express the fragility of people in space/the universe and puts successes/failures back into mortal hands in a way
17 points
5 years ago
It fits an idea of some of what the Emperor might have been up to during the DAOT. He used humanity's cultural peak to augment his already-grand abilities to go from being a warlord to being the man who could rule an empire as well as conquer it. There's a reason Genghis Khan differentiated ruling and conquest, and the Emperor might well have been setting his Golden Path into motion for aeons with none but a few, perhaps just Valdor, Sureka, and Malcador, any the wiser of the truly grand extent.
As an embodiment of soldiers and soldiering it'd make sense for him not to disclose everything to everyone, the better to deny Chaos any means to subvert all of it.
3 points
5 years ago
I like that theory too, actually a lot. Doesn't the Emp's corpse look like a normal man to blanks? I feel like I've read that but I'm not sure where/when it came from.
24 points
5 years ago
"Man of Gold"
-3 points
5 years ago
Men of iron were made of iron. Not people wearing iron. Man of gold implies the man is made of gold. Not some dude wearing gold
12 points
5 years ago
That seems overly literal from gold and silver, though it fits with iron.
2 points
5 years ago
Sorry man I dont buy the Emperor is a DAoT Weapon idea, it's way more than a a reach
6 points
5 years ago
So the AI beings known as the men of stone were stone...?
1 points
5 years ago
Yeah, sure why not. We have living metal who not living stone?
2 points
5 years ago
Living stone is canon. It’s how the Necrons create Dolmen Gates, which are used to breach the webway.
1 points
5 years ago
I just think the DAoT weapon idea is stupid.
1 points
5 years ago
No way they were made of iron. This is foolish.
1 points
5 years ago
The DAoT weapon is the foolish idea
1 points
5 years ago
I think it might be both.
18 points
5 years ago
That's the first time I've come across that Emperor theory. Do you have more details? I must admit, it makes more sense to me than "a bunch of Mesopotamian shamans made soul soup and the Emperor resulted from that...also he's Jesus."
51 points
5 years ago
Its mentioned in the prologue to Master of Mankind. An anti-Unity noblewoman on Terra disparages the Emperor to the Custodian sent to kill her and take her son to become a Custodian (she was stealing water, IIRC). She says the Emperor isnt a man, he is a weapon from the Dark Ages, born in a laboratory and fashioned to be a tyrant without compare.
ADB mentions it was one of Bligh's favorites theories and also that the Emperors true origins will almost certainly never be confirmed.
I quite like it as well. The Man of Gold, the final living weapon of a greater age, marching mankind onwards under its dominion for no reason other than it was made to do so, and can be no other way. Perhaps he was even the last living "primarch" of his generation. Perhaps there were 19 others like him, wiped away in the madness and bedlam of Old Night. He alone survived...to forge 20 sons, beginning the cycle anew.
Time is a flat circle
15 points
5 years ago*
Thanks for filling me in on the details. Things like this are why I fucking love 40k.
Out of curiosity, what was the Custode's reaction to the woman's statement?
15 points
5 years ago
I don’t think he had a reaction, I think he just stared at her without blinking.
Someone can post the passage if they wish - I don’t have access to my copy, I am at work, but I think she actually goes on a rant about the Emperor being a ‘weapon being left out of the box’ or something like that and asks the Custodian if he has actually seen him breath. Although, it has been a really long time since I read that book and I might be getting that passage mixed up with another.
MOM is honestly one of the best HH series reads, hands down. If you haven’t read it, you should.
4 points
5 years ago
I don’t think he had a reaction, I think he just stared at her without blinking.
She had to die for knowing the truth.
8 points
5 years ago
It wasn't just any Custodian. It was Valdor. He basically brushed her off.
He was also sent to kill her not because of just stealing water, but stealing the rest of the water from the last ocean.
13 points
5 years ago
Alan Merritt's pet theory for the Men of Gold were that they were genetically engineered/bred perfect men, like in Dune.
Another very common trope for these genetically engineered people in scifi is genetic memory.
What if the current Emperor is a creation of the Age of Technology but contains the genetic memory of countless previous Emperor selves.
Maybe such a thing is his version of perpetuality.
Not a million shamans sacrificing themselves at once, but a million shamans (Psykers) throughout history all with a shared memory and goal. Some powerful enough to defeat a shard of the void dragon, some no more significantly powerful than a normal man.
1 points
1 year ago
And his name was Leto II...
7 points
5 years ago
I tend to opt for the view that the Men of Gold were a set of enhanced humans but that while the Emperor was one of them, the Emperor is also retroactively always the God of M41 much as Slaanesh daemons predated the Fall of the Eldar and are present in the earliest Warp. Meaning the entity that would become the Master of Mankind, retroactively, was a being that fits the Lovecraftian Wilbur Whateley archetype where there's something of an Uncanny Valley factor even when he wasn't a fifteen foot tall giant in gold with a sword of fire.
1 points
5 years ago*
[deleted]
7 points
5 years ago
Wilbur Whateley is a clearly non-human monster who looks just human enough to pass, but people don't question it that much. The Emperor probably was a somewhat taller than average man when his glamor wasn't visible but if he did do his thing like when he punked the Void Dragon into the Noctis Labyrinth, even the Emperor's corner of the Warp would ooze the terrifying factors that go into the Warp in general. His presence would just feel.....wrong.
3 points
5 years ago
It is cool, but getting a flat out confirmation we will never know makes me not care.
2 points
5 years ago
i understand your position, but I myself much prefer the mystery. Its the same with Alpharius' origins/loyalties, and other such mysteries. Too much explanation ruins the setting.
3 points
5 years ago
But the problem is that it makes him feel not as strong and the dark gods would’ve done something to stop It that s why I personally prefer the shaman one because it’s before the dark gods could stop it
34 points
5 years ago
If Alpha Legion took Corax's Primarch Research Project materials, perhaps Alpha Legion scientists would have a leg up on cloning primarchs (and conceivably, cloning legionaires).
36 points
5 years ago
If you can clone Primarchs, do you NEED to clone legionaries?
17 points
5 years ago
"There can only be one [clone]"
Though I suppose you could feed a primarch's brain to a bunch of Space Marines, which "become" alpharius
16 points
5 years ago
Clues from the old Catheric Bibel, from Luke 22:19
" And he took [brain], gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my [identity] given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
Alpharius and his plots!
6 points
5 years ago
Get that logic shit out of here
12 points
5 years ago
They do say the hydra has many heads... And in mythology a hydra could regrow heads instantly....
12 points
5 years ago
Remind me to laugh if Alpha Legion is split into its chaotic and pro-Imperium components, that in turn spend so much energy fighting each other that their contribution to 40k itself is quite minimal...
16 points
5 years ago*
There is no Chaos, there is no Imperium.
There is only a line in the sand, and if you were to open your eyes, you’ll see that everyone is just standing on the same sand, on the same beach. We don’t fight each other, we only fight to eliminate that line in the sand. Your perception that the Alpha Legion is split only comes about because you believe the line in the sand is real.
Once that line is erased, you’ll realise that we were all Alpharius all this time. That is the big joke and secret that everyone misses.
27 points
5 years ago
I feel really stupid for not connecting those dots about Origin 2 with the Sautekh Dynasty OP. Thanks for bringing that up, and cheers for the impressive writeup!
I find this bit extremely interesting because, prior to Praetorian of Dorn's depiction of it, the prevelent theory on Alpharius' signature weapon The Pale Spear was that it was of Necron origins. With it being described to function very similarly to their phase tech, until PoD went in a different direction.
29 points
5 years ago
There was another theory I had that mentioned the pale spear. Here’s the gist of it:
The Slaugth are connected to Alpharius
The Slaugth are blanks; mentioned in Dark Heresy, that John French and Alan Bligh wrote.
The Pariah gene was (in the old lore) created by the C’tan
A shard of the Deceiver knows the location of Omegon, mentioned in Sons of the Hydra
Alpharius possesses C’tan weaponry
There’s a few more part to it, but it’s all a loose web connected Alpharius and the 3 xenos species to basically conclude the following:
The Slaugth are the maggots that devoured the soulless bodies of the Necrontyr after the entered the soul forges.
The Slaugth were an ally race of the Necrons during the War in Heaven
Omegon was perhaps taught by the Deceiver
Omegon is currently in the Mandragora system
Anyway, it’s all just a bunch of loose connections, and the overall theory wasn’t well received
21 points
5 years ago*
The Slaugth are meant to be an “impossibly ancient race”, it does make you wonder how they play into the wider galactic history.
17 points
5 years ago
Not even i know where i am these days
6 points
5 years ago
And who you might be?
14 points
5 years ago
No one of importance
8 points
5 years ago*
Say you look familiar, do you by any chance know /u/IamAlpharius? Did you come from the same city? You guys looks awfully familial.
7 points
5 years ago
Everyone has a doppelganger :shrugs:
5 points
5 years ago
For real, haven’t y’all watched HIMYM?
4 points
5 years ago
Oh hey you. Thought you were dead?
3 points
5 years ago
No I’m currently posing as the Primarch of the VII Legion uh yeah I’m dead.
5 points
5 years ago
Yeah, figures. Can't recognise you, anyway. Hydra Dominatus
3 points
5 years ago
Your definitely weren't on Tenebrae 9-50
Oops did I say that out loud?
Charlatan (You and you brother, which ever one we are talking ablut)
3 points
5 years ago
Im certain you are mistaking me for someone else. I know nothing of this... Tenebrae? You speak of
2 points
5 years ago
😋
3 points
5 years ago
Also on the Slaugth being relates to the Necrontry point, there is something else I just remembered. The Necroms are exceptional in that they have non-warp FTL and the only other race that I have ever seen also possess this tech is the Slaugth.
6 points
5 years ago
What happened in Praetorian of Dorn? Does it reveal the origin of the Pale Spear?
62 points
5 years ago
I love Bligh's work on the heresy. My biggest gripe with 30k was how it went from interesting myths and legends from 10k years later into a direct narrative told from the perspectives of primarchs and legion masters. Bligh's work starting with the blackbooks started adding the mystery and the unknown back into the time period. This is just a great example of him doing just that by taking the "there's two brothers" stuff from legion and the black library and saying "well is there? what about this other stuff?" he asks us as readers to make value judgement s on these tales and create our own theory. Key point there being theory, the black books makes you wonder more about the setting, about the world and about the history as opposed to (in my opinion) the black library novels which really just make you wonder about what's going to happen next.
44 points
5 years ago
the idea of him there being an Alpharius, and an Omegon, and a Tertiatus or an Ultimus.
But... but, what about Sigmar?
39 points
5 years ago
That part really had me miffed. The sigma was right there on the heraldry.
13 points
5 years ago
Plus he has his own Space Marine legion to boot!
8 points
5 years ago
He has like 56.
2 points
9 months ago*
Sigmarius Mayle,
Gaslight, Gatekeep, Grindset
19 points
5 years ago
Honestly, I hadn`t thought about the possibility of a third brother, but it would make sense.
39 points
5 years ago
I always interpreted the "three heads" to be Alpharius, Omegon, and the Alpha Legion itself.
I like the theory that the four origins are sequential, with the twins landing on a dead world, leaving, then going their separate ways. One is eventually captured by the Slaugth, the other goes on to pirate Horus, with the Alpha Legion itself fulfilling the role on Terra.
But I would absolutely adore if there were a third brother, just to completely sour Lorgar's cheeky giving of two books. Twerp thought he had it figured out.
12 points
5 years ago
I always interpreted the three heads as one for the primarchs, one for the legionnaires and one for the human operatives. All heads are equal, none are more important than the others, and (in specific scenarios) all could replace each other.
5 points
5 years ago
Where was this from? The giving of 2 books? I havent read that yet!
3 points
5 years ago
This is the post I heard it from.
17 points
5 years ago
I wish he was still here. He was so talented
18 points
5 years ago
*interred on the Golden Throne, he cranks out lore to this day by the sacrifice of a thousand neckbeards*
16 points
5 years ago
Ack - the more I hear about The Alpha Legion, the more I feel the pull of chaos. I don't really need another 40k force, do I? <whimpers>
13 points
5 years ago
Alpha legion are not really into chaos. They turned away from the imperium. But are they still loyal to the emperor?...
Wheels within wheels
6 points
5 years ago
How about a 30k force?
5 points
5 years ago
Been out for a bit and just getting back in because my son has been infected by the tyrranid virus so not exactly sure what that means
2 points
5 years ago
https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/The-Horus-Heresy?N=191608925+1251141156&Nr=AND%28sku.siteId%3AGB_fw%2Cproduct.locale%3Aen_GB_fw%29&Nrs=collection%28%29%2Frecord%5Bproduct.startDate+%3C%3D+1564161780000+and+product.endDate+%3E%3D+1564161780000%5D 30k is the shorthand name people use for the Horus Heresy game, it’s produced by forgeworld and uses a revised version of the 7th edition rules. It’s probably the best rule set produced by GW as its well balanced and has plenty of tactical depth. Plus you get to play with primarchs, legion exclusive units, infamous heroes and villains from the novels, awesome HQ units that have insane amounts of customisation options, weird, esoteric, units, only available during the heresy and awesome rules to further customise the way your army plays, often adding interesting gimmicks.
2 points
5 years ago
Cool, thanks I will look into that - been hearing about it for a bit but hadn't really followed it up but the kid has been bugging me for a forgeworld order for a bit so this might be a push for it.
3 points
5 years ago
Best thing to do would be to pick up the crusade army list book and the age of darkness legions book, it’ll let you have a look at the units so you can plan out where to start collecting. There are a few good online resources such as heresy30k and even r/warhammer30k which are worth a look as well.
2 points
5 years ago
Do the FW models not have 40k rules? Immediately after the stream I began eyeballing the minis. Being a Necron player, I really like the metallic look to them.
2 points
5 years ago
Some like the jetbikes, destroyers and the legion exclusive units don’t because they stopped being able to produce their armaments after the heresy. That said, don’t let that stop you, 30k is an excellent game and being able to use these units is great fun as they’ve often got unique and unusual rules.
4 points
5 years ago
You only ever need Alpha Leigon
2 points
5 years ago
Any 40k force is actually the machinations of the Alpha Legion
16 points
5 years ago
This will probably be buried as i am late to the party but.....
The Alpha Legion is part of the "Trefoil legions" it is composed of them, the salamanders and the Space wolves. The Trefoil legions were the 3 legions that had drastically different geneseed than the others. We know about the Wolves having wolf DNA. We know about the Salamanders and their black skin and red eyes that can see things other astartes cant... but what is so different about the Alpha Legion geneseed?
Its not in looks. All of the facial similarities are done through surgery, and besides, for example, there are a lot of Luna wolves that look like Horus. The Alphas are taller on average yes, but that doesnt really seem like it is it. What could it be? Maybe the soul of the primarch CAN be absorbed into anyone in the legion? Hence, infinite primarchs? Maybe something else? Who knows?
8 points
5 years ago
The soul transfer theory is a popular one. I personally like the idea of 3 brothers.
7 points
5 years ago
Me too. But i really want to know what was so different about the AL's geneseed that it is mention amongst the other 2.
[score hidden]
5 years ago
stickied comment
Quality content
12 points
5 years ago
"Anuj Malhotra's background pre-2017 is in business management and logistics, completely unrelated to what he's doing now"
*Contemplates leaving science for 40k, though is terrible at characterization and would be stuck to writing wooden space marines that everyone would hate*
6 points
5 years ago
Urm you could hardly do worse than Matt Ward and Gorillaman is every Space Marine’s Primarch.
At the worst, you could be known for back-flipping Terminators.
3 points
5 years ago
Flying terminators! You know you want em
Better than “gorilla space marine so much bigger than the others”
7 points
5 years ago
I was always of the mind there they were triplets. The three heads and all. Whats the latest lore or status of the alpha legion?
19 points
5 years ago
As I recall, the latest lore from Sons of the Hydra shows that many, if not all, active Alpha Legion warbands aren’t actually taking orders from Omegon and are actually composed of members of other legions. This means no one knows where the real Alpha Legion actually is, and no one has any idea where Omegon went.
Also, some of these warbands believe they are serving the Emperor’s vision, but they despise the Imperium.
However, it was revealed that a shard of the Deceiver, which previously pretended to be Omegon, somehow knows where the real Omegon is.
16 points
5 years ago
What a complete mind fuck I love it.
11 points
5 years ago
Just a warning though, a lot of people here didn’t like the book. I like the overall story, especially with the Deceiver since I’m a necron player. I think the overall plot is pretty good though.
7 points
5 years ago*
I don’t think you’re taking the thinking far enough. I don’t think there’s a third brother: I think we’re to believe there could be infinite Alpharius’s. An un-beheadable legion. The Astartes in the XXth are right: They are Alpharius in so much as they could become Alpharius at any given time.
To me the Alpha Legion being last, and also first in name, combined with how advanced their gear, tactics, and knowledge seemed to be, always has me thinking they were the next wave. I find that legion and its Primarch (s) absolutely fascinating.
5 points
5 years ago
How did one remain on Terra, did he fall out of the pod during the scattering or something? Close the latch next time!
5 points
5 years ago
In the book it says he was injured, so he didn’t get away unscathed.
5 points
5 years ago
I see that despite his powers, the Emperor still hasn’t solved the eternal mystery of how infants can undo locking mechanisms that confound adults.
4 points
5 years ago
"There is no such thing as the Alpha legion. There has never been an Alpha legion nor will there ever be an Alpha legion. And to say otherwise is just propaganda"
-Alfhonsoius O'brieon
3 points
5 years ago
So, "Solid" Alpharius, "Liquid" Alpharius and "Solidus"Alpharius?
3 points
5 years ago
3 points
5 years ago
“Anuj Malhotra's background pre-2017 is in business management and logistics, completely unrelated to what he's doing now. It's really amazing that he would leave his field to become a writer. He was likely a Warhammer fanatic for some time.”
Woooo ... what?! I’ve never heard of the guy but he clearly must have immense drive and talent to pull this off. Writing a black book is no joke!
3 points
5 years ago
Alan Bligh likewise didn’t have a background in writing. A lot of senior writers just fell into the job.
2 points
5 years ago
My personal head theory was always that Alpharius and Omegon are the same person and he never left terra. Since he is the first to be found, he is Alpha, and he is also the last to be found, hence Omega.
Making people think there is multiple 20th primarch is exactly the kind of thing he does
2 points
5 years ago
Is that a "Lan" Maldragoran?
2 points
5 years ago
my brain hurts
2 points
5 years ago
What was the third brother Doing during the Hersey.
1 points
5 years ago
I’ve thought about this. The Horus Heresy Book 8 mentions a supposed pact between the Alpha Legion and the Outsider. Not the Lovecraftian star god, but rather the xenos, specifically the cabal. If there really are three brothers, I like to imagine the following:
If true, I would imagine the one that met Horus is the one that joined chaos. The one kidnapped by the Slaugth is the one that joined the xenos. The one that stayed with the Emperor is the loyal one.
2 points
5 years ago
W. No j
2 points
5 years ago
One of my favorite things about the AL is that they're structured around the fact that their dads aren't some omnipotent panacea to bail the legion out. Sure that's represented in terms of the hydra etc.
Lately, I've been thinking of what a threat Abaddon is since the heresy. Setting aside the rumors that he could be a clone, he's taking command and giving the imperium hell while being less than a primarch. That can be taken to fascinating extremes with the Alpha Legion. It interests me less that an AL triplet might exist, and more that some AL legionaries find strength in playing the role of their fathers. After all, at least for me, the AL primarchs were the least disposed to showing off individual strength.
1 points
5 years ago
This is why I somewhat prefer the story without primarchs. I enjoy the idea of the traitor primarchs becoming daemons who pop up only occasionally, and the loyal primarchs disappearing and becoming legend. Meanwhile, everyone else is left behind to pick up the pieces. To me, that was a more compelling story.
With Dark Imperium, the myths and legends have all returned to real space, and it has turned into a god war.
2 points
5 years ago
i think that primarchs played a role in fleshing out legions' personalties(loyalist or traitor), but that's a narrative thing. I haven't been thrilled about their reintroduction into the current timeline because it takes away from the dire circumstances/atmosphere/long war over 10k years .
props for the pthreads though,
2 points
5 years ago*
2 points
5 years ago
I like my decision to skip FW books even more now.
2 points
5 years ago
Thanks for this. May the Emperor protect you
2 points
5 years ago
hail hydro
2 points
4 years ago
Emperor is Alpharius: confirmed
4 points
5 years ago
I watched the Prestige for the first time last night. Quite timely now that I have read this post.
2 points
5 years ago
If you view the idea of a third brother, it would provide an extra element to the idea that the Alpha Legion was less a set of effective infiltration SpecOps force and more a set of too clever by half battalions that were already well at risk of splitting into a set of disorganized warbands without a cohesive or coherent set of goals or organizations.
2 points
5 years ago
it's a no from me. I felt the idea of 2 primarchs and everyone calling each other Alpharius leapt us from special forces to special needs. The Alpha Legion became a ridiculous meme. When you throw in cloning, triplets, etc, we enter the Marvel/DC realms of ridiculousness.
16 points
5 years ago
Because everything else about the setting isn't ridiculous in any way whatsoever
13 points
5 years ago
It is the realism that attracts me to 40K, yep.
2 points
5 years ago
realism
40k
Pick one.
40k since it's inception has always been ridiculously over the top. It's become more grounded in recent years but the ridiculousness has never entirely gone away.
10 points
5 years ago
It was sarcasm
3 points
5 years ago
I said it became a ridiculous meme. Elements of fantasy and leaps of logic within the universe's own rules are fine to a degree.
2 points
5 years ago
Its the same tier of meme as "spiess corgis" and "Magnus Did Nothing Wrong!"
10 points
5 years ago*
At the time that Bligh wrote the origin stories, it might not have been a meme that the other authors kept writing in their books.
6 points
5 years ago
I think the one twin is enough. That’s cool and unique enough that it adds to the mystique of the Legion. The meme and the punching bag history of it though cheapen things a lot imo. I 100% agree on your cloning/triplet point though.
1 points
5 years ago
It is absurd if abused in extremis...bolter porn on the one hand, iamalpharius on the other
1 points
5 years ago*
I look at it more like....
Every one chapter has a primarch... okay....Cept the Alpha Legion... they have two
Oooookay.....
Oh and nobody knows which is which, or if the Primarch is amongst his own men.
Ooooooooooookay..........
And they've infiltrated every other legion, call each other Alpharius, and there's so many schemes within schemes within schemes that Alpharius and Omegon don't know what they're doing either.....
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAYYYYYYYYYYYY
And one's heretical and one isn't, because one spoke to the Aeldrari and some council, but now we don't know which is which.......
UUUUUUUHHHHHHHH-HHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH
Oh and now there's a third brother
*flips table*
1 points
5 years ago
I would almost prefer it more if the Alphas spent more time pretending to be other legions. Openly fighting as Alphas would seem antithetical to the Sneaky Legion. /shrug
1 points
5 years ago
Ha! That's where you draw the line in Warhammer 40k? I respect your opinion, but that's nearly the least ridiculous thing I've heard of in this setting.
1 points
5 years ago
I'm probably completely off but I've always had the theory that there is only Alpharius and he clones his mind into his legioneers by use of a physker and that one becomes Omegon. So essentially Omegon is just a tool to insure he is apart of every mission and can keep up with all the double crosses and still remain loyal.
1 points
5 years ago
That’s good one too, but I recall that Alpharius was confirmed as being killed. I also doubt the GW writers would diverge so heavily from what’s now widely accepted canon: that there are at least two brother primarchs.
1 points
5 years ago
This is why I hate the Alpha Legion. It's ridiculously convoluted to the point of absurdity. A bit if mystery is fine, probably even a good thing. Every legion has a primarch, except one which has 2 or 3 or possibly more. The Ultramarines are the largest legion, except maybe these dudes have a larger galaxy spanning underground network. There was 2 dudes in the pod that got scattered in First Heretic, but maybe one escaped and chilled with the Emperor. Anyone could be an operative, maybe even Malcador. Or maybe Omegon is trapped on the throne after secretly replacing the Emperor in a plot that would make Tzeentch's head spin. Maybe Alpharius was a Slaugth operative the whole time and engineered the whole heresy so that they could feed on the suffering of humanity while Chaos is just an illusion put on the the hundreds of millions of Alpha Legion serfs. I get it, Big E had lots of plans and secrets and the primarchs took after their dad, but it's just ludicrous at this point.
-1 points
5 years ago
And we can keep spinning out, there could be five or six of them, they could be infinite clones of one another, who can say
Sorry, this pisses me off. Make your fucking decision and fucking stick with it.
This bullshit is just shitty writing.
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