Chaos: Pure Evil, or just different

[Lady_Canoness]

Hey all

 

When I first became a dedicated Chaos Marine player I was of the opinion that the traitor Marines were hate-fuelled, enraged, psychopaths that rejoiced evil deeds simply because they were evil. Evil for evil's sake.

However, after much investigation of many sources both within and without of the Warhammer universe (mostly philisophical discussion, readings of Machiavelli, Plato, and *drumroll* Star Wars B) ) I have come to believe that Chaos Marines are not wholly evil.

In most of my readings, evil (or our preception of evil) is commonly a means to achieve an end rather than an end within itself. Whatever goal one might have, good and evil are means of obtaining it. As Plato (and any Dark Jedi) would say: Injustice (or the Dark Side) is the quickest and easiest road to take; "Vice in abundance is easy to get; the road is smooth and it starts beside you..." However evil begets evil, and the gains brought through evil may be powerful but are fleeting. The Traitor Legions have a goal - the overthrow of the Imperium and the reforging of the galaxy under their rule. Having failed to achieve it through good or just means (though they never really tried) they turned to evil as a means to achieve this end.

I don't think that Chaos Marines want to wipe out the human race, they just want to wipe out the Imperium and turn it to their own uses.

 

Pure evil (if it can be called such) is often presented as being manifested within one individual (the Tyrant, the Sith Lord, etc...), for it is believed that the evil individual is self-serving and cares nothing for those underneath it so long as they continue to function in a favourable way. Evil does not share power with anyone, and is hostile to those it considers a threat. If all Chaos Marines were purely evil, I don't think the remanents of the Legions would still be able to function as a military unit.

It seems to me that Chaos Marines are still brothers in arms with a mutual respect for one another. Though they have a prominent sense of self, they still function well as a team that works together for a common goal - something that pure evil cannot do (as soon as #1 is satisfied the rest can burn for all he cares). Evil is their means rather than their end.

 

Let's open up the floor for discussion on the evil nature of Chaos Marines!

[chillin]

We are not evil, we are freeing people from the o-p-p-ression of the empire. B)

[minigun762]

I think it really depends on the particular Legion or warband who is involved.

 

Example:

1k Sons are in it purely to advance their own knowledge, for them knowledge = power. Anything else is just a means to an end.

World Eaters just want to kill. For the most part there is no grand plan, the truest worshippers of Khorne desire nothing else but slaughter.

Word Bearers seek to promote their belief system that the Chaos gods are the true rulers of the galaxy. In many ways they have the same mission as the loyalist/faithful chapters of the Imperium, its just a different being they want worshipped.

 

So in my eyes, you have the whole spectrum of reasons/versions of Chaos and how it plays out depending on who you ask.

[CuRoi]

I would tend to agree with you in that ~all~ Chaos Marines are not necessarily "evil" per se. But I do believe the vast majority of them are (at minimum) sociopaths with sheltered-private-school-girl-just-graduated-and-on-my-own-so-I-can-do-whatever-I-want syndrome.

 

Monks Gone Wild - Ultimate Rush (Spring Break Edition).

 

Most of them, especially the "older" ones, appear to lack inhibitions or moral structure to keep them in check, and act out every pleasurable or debased possibility with no fear of reprisal. I cannot say with any confidence that I believe the majority of the human race would not act in the same manner, given the opportunity and freedom to do so.

 

This is where the new codex shines in my opinion. The opportunity to create chapters who simply don't feel like being good little Imperial citizens, but don't necessarily feel like drowning kittens and pulling the wings off of flies. "Independent" chapters, who choose their own battle methods outside of the rigidity of the Holy Codex and formulate their own goals and opinions. Privateers as opposed to murderous pirates... if a player is so inclined.

[Roultox]

First you must understand the warp to understand the warp's underlings and those underlings' minions.

 

The warp = comprised of psychic warp energy that feeds off emotion and raw psychic power.

Denziens of the warp = mutate and evolve inside the warp, grow significantly if they have a steady power source.

 

So when you look at the warp through a logical eye, anything connected to the warp from the outside is like an alien invading an essentially raw dimention. So those invaders are wholly subject to the new laws of physics, power sources, and denziens that grew up in the warp never knowing what a stable enviroment is. A stable enviroment as I mean it, with gravity and a mom that tells you no, you shouldnt crush ants. The warp is subject to what its made of after all. So creatures of the warp have a very different perspective on things then a creature from our realspace. Once you keep that in mind you know that chaos marines, being super human psycho-wiped soldiers that arent really human once they're marines, entering this enviroment or taking from it.

 

The deities are pure energy, subject to their nature on a very primal scale, no matter how complex that deity is. Even Tzeentch is subject to what it is, change. So, if someone studied everything properly and calculated a clear way to serve tzeentch without being caught in a loophole or trap of that deities 'rules' so to say, then he or she could take from the warp safely through that god. Its just that most marines dont think so much before they act, because they were raised that way by the imperium or inside the warp. Where all things are 'mysterious' and shouldnt be looked into like some sort of witch-craft in the 1800's.

 

So if you take the mind set of the servants, and the nature of the warp you will understand its more like an ocean that ripples and swishes around, sometimes bulging to one side if something shifts underneath it. (Like an earthquake starting a tidal wave) The gods are children, without parents to tell them no. So like spoiled rotten children with power, they force their minions to collect more power for them. Its like us collecting batteries to put into our handheld game system. We dont care about the batteries, we just want them for our pleasure and think nothing of it.

 

Evil is in the eye of the beholder just as much as beauty is. No true definition of evil, it depends on personal views from person to person and even then they never have a clear answer on everything because they've never thought that far. I've thought on it for years being an Agnostic, no racist, religious or biased views on whats right and wrong and I still dont have a difinitive answer on everything.

 

So a short answer for 'Chaos' in general, is that they are not evil to me. Thats the best answer I can give you. The reason they are called chaos, is because of the raw combination of mis-understanding minions following denziens of an ocean of energy, causing chaos because of the bad combination of traits. If say, Tau, or well understanding humans were to have made contact with the warp first, it would be much different from what it is now.

 

As a side note. Anyone who stands against your beliefs, wants and anything else, is considered an enemy. An enemy is someone who you believe is evil. When two sides are at war, they believe eachother as the evil. Those who believe themselves as evil are either trying to repent out of guilt and accomplish their objective (maybe because they're lost causes). Or, they changed their views for a much higher goal, reaching it no matter the cost because they realised the only existence that matters is their own, and no-one elses. (That belief by the way co-insides with basic nature, art of survival)

[Lord Humongous]

There is no question that GW wants us to see them as EVIL. They wear black, work with deamons, worship multiple gods, and generally enjoy hurting people.

 

I have no problem with that. I terms of fictional stereotypes, evil's got good schtick.

[Lady_Canoness]

The Chaos Marines do present an interesting challenge though, and that is the in the subtleties of their means.

Put bluntly, they wage war. However everything about their appearances and practises radiates their evil purposes. The spikes, the grisly trophies, the human sacrifices, the supreme acts of desecration,...

Those acts go beyond evil... indescribable.

 

I don't think their actions can be ascribed to a life with impunity, as they are still accountable to their Lords within the legions as they always were, but it is equally doubtful that they engage in wanton acts of evil simply because they want to as that would make them unreliable and difficult to control.

 

The warp is a different realm where the laws of the physical universe are meaningless, but that alone does not justify the Chaos Marines' actions. Men act like men even in the most pressing of circumstances. Notice also that the Chaos Marines turned during the Heresy before they had tasted the warp, and that they had already commited atrosities throughout the Imperium.

 

It would seem logical to me that many didn't consider themselves to be evil during that time, but rather that they were being used or manipulated by a misguided Emperor who "intended" to do harm.

 

As for their obvious fall, that has to be looked into.

[Lastman]

Some interesting takes on chaos. My meager addition: Everything the Imperium knows about chaos has been filtered and propagandized by the Inquisition or exaggerated by forces whose pride has been wounded by crushing defeat. It's been awhile since I've read Orwell, but there's a pertinent thread around here somewhere.

 

My Iron Warriors are defined by their eschewal of the mysticism that pervades the Imperium and other Renegade legions. They are independent, paragons of reason, beyond good and evil. Everything in the 40k universe has a scientific explanation. Demons are just another type of alien (is there a Lovecraft thread?). The obliterator technovirus is state of the art nanotechnology. Bionics will replace mutations until they figure out how to move Medrengard to a less warpy/radioactive part of space. Maybe it's not a planet, but a stalled asteroid...

 

And they think horns in scifi are stupid.

[crossfit]

This is a fascinating thread so I snuck into the chaos part of the site to take part. Especially since I have studied a lot about chaos in various gaming communities as well as in regards to chaos theory.

 

To me, chaos is not evil. Chaos is no laws. I mean laws like gravity, time, etc. I see this application in the books from Black Library that I have read in that chaos often has very different ways of functioning than the nonchaotic realms (that work like our earth around specific laws of physics).

 

However, there is a huge infiltration of evil in GW's idea of chaos. And when I talk to gamers in other games, they often equate chaos with evil. In the very first D&D manuals they talk about chaos as not being evil however. There are two continuum's, chaotic/lawful and good/evil. I believe that GW makes an effort to follow these.

 

After all, think about it. Are the space marines good? I play the most "lawful" of space marines, the Ultramarines. By lawful in this case, I mean following the letter of the law in terms of the codex. However, is everything the space marines do for "good"? Is the emperor "good"? That is really not ever made clearly, at least in what I have read. Of course, they think they are, but that is only in context of their belief system.

 

Just my thoughts...

[Sidri_cyber]

There are differences between legions and those "God" Legions are totally lost and have only one purpose - serve their god. While "Undivided" legions have their own agendas - black legion and word bearers are the perfect examples.

 

But I personallt prefer CSM as freaky-psycho-maniacs who like power and dream of glory, which was taken away from them by Imperium and Emperor. For Gods' sake - I'm 100% supporter of Abbadon, because he lone has some real goals and doesn't kiss arses of Gods...

Abbadon is just mean <_<

[Vanger]

Do Chaos Space Marines consider themselves evil? The Imperium of Man considers them traitors, heathens, raiders, mass murders, insidious, etc. Something they do is considered blasphemous and desecrating by the Imperium. But in the view of the CSM its just rebeling against heathens, who worship a false god.

 

The question is not, that can a CSM justify his actions or not; because he can. Every traitor legion has its own reason why they wage war against the Imperium of the Corpse God and their treacherous brothers.

The question is that does the fact amke them evil that they use the Ruinous Powers to achieve their goals. And in this they can be considered evil by human standards, becasue they left their humanity behind and replaced them with the standards of the chaos gods they worship. But even the "undivided" legions have been corrupted by the raw stuff of the Empyrean that gave them shelter.

But then the Chaos Gods are human feelings manifested... only in a very warped form.

 

So yes, they are evil, because they lost their humanity.

[Lord_Caerolion]

But by your logic, Vanger, the Loyalist Marines are evil too, as they gave up their humanity as well, to become pure killing-machines. This is a topic that warrants much more time than I have at the moment, I'll be back tomorrow. Still, kudos to Lady_Canoness for creating this thread.

[TheDarkApostle]

I think it was in the Flight of the Eisenstein I read this:

 

"I killed thousands in the name of the Emperor, and noone said anything. But when I see the Emperor for what he truly is, and kill but a few of his servants, I'm suddenly a deranged slayer that must be stopped. Where's the difference in what I've done?"

 

Well, it might not be spot on but that was the essencial meaning.

 

TDA

[Vanger]

But by your logic, Vanger, the Loyalist Marines are evil too, as they gave up their humanity as well, to become pure killing-machines. This is a topic that warrants much more time than I have at the moment, I'll be back tomorrow. Still, kudos to Lady_Canoness for creating this thread.

 

Yup, Space Marines gave up their humanity to be Humanitys Shield. Inhuman tools for a human cause. Chaos Space Marines are inhuman tools for an inhuman cause.

 

This brings up again the age old questin: Is a sword or any kind of weapon evil? Or is the means how they are used that makes them evil?

[Lastman]

I think it was in the Flight of the Eisenstein I read this: "I killed thousands in the name of the Emperor, and noone said anything. But when I see the Emperor for what he truly is, and kill but a few of his servants, I'm suddenly a deranged slayer that must be stopped. Where's the difference in what I've done?"

 

Morally equivalent in my book. After a few centuries of warfare I don't think SM on either side would be able to articulate why they do what they do.

 

Yup, Space Marines gave up their humanity to be Humanitys Shield. Inhuman tools for a human cause. Chaos Space Marines are inhuman tools for an inhuman cause.

 

That's what the propagandists would have the Imperium believe, but isn't the Emperor a vampiric guy who eats psychics to stay alive? How does he differ from a chaos being that demands sacrifices? Stating such on posters wouldn't do as much for recruitment as the anti-xeno message does. Humans don't have the moral high ground in the universe. The guys who willingly dehumanize themselves to become SM are either pragmatic pawns or pious dupes, but in either case they are homicidal monomaniacs, and that's bad.

[Lady_Canoness]

Good points all around.

 

If we say that the function and actions of Chaos Marines is that which makes them evil, how are they different than the forces of the Imperium? Both sides wholly massacre other races for self-righteous reasons - in this they are the same.

 

I think that what labels Chaos Marines as "evil" is that they willingly give-in to all the human vices. Pride, envy, lust, gluttony, hatred, greed, negligence - Chaos Marines embody all of these. Add the fact that they are Astartes, and are supposed to be righteous and pure - above such falliability. They are seen as evil because they lack the control and composition that is expected of them.

Also note that when Space Marines go to war they do so because of duty, whereas Chaos Marines go to war because they want to.

[Witchdoctor]

Ask yourself this: has a Chaos Space Marine ever hugged a child?

 

Silliness aside, when it comes to definitions of good and evil I tend to go with evil being "the enemy of life" and good being "protector of life". Being wholly good and or wholly evil would be quite a feat as being wholly good would require that you cause no harm to anyone or anything and being wholly evil would require that you be undead. That's my definition at least.

 

Then again this is really dependent on how you feel about the living of course. To me, who enjoys living and other people living, I would advise against evil things. That's just me though.

[CuRoi]

Debauchery, acquiescence to envy and pride, unchecked lust, etc… these are all variations on the theme of ultimate selfishness. This could, from the perspective and opinion of the “holy” Imperium be construed as the manifestations of evil because these “defiant” acts prove unequivocally that Chaos Marines are well beyond the Imperium’s control. And there can be little doubt that the Imperium of Man is all about tyrannical control of its subjects. There exists a massive amount of moral relativity in the 40K universe, as has been so eloquently stated by others above. Exterminatus on the thinnest evidence of taint, or even whim, are the best examples I can fathom.

 

Imperial Space Marines perform their duties without question or pause. This is the premise used to justify actions which can be just as heinous as those of the “Infernal Enemy”. Displays of selfless devotion to duty (no matter what that duty entails) that the Imperium holds up as holy. This does not make Imperial Marines any less "evil" when viewed from an objective standpoint.

 

I still subscribe to the premise that sociopathic behavior is rampant within the ranks of the SCMs. Wherein a sociopath is defined as one who possesses a disregard/ambivalence for, and routinely violates, the rights of others. One look at any slice of fluff for the Emperor’s Children makes this painfully apparent.

 

As for the inability to control such deviants; a glance back through history at any rampaging horde shows that the social structure of the marauder can and does work. Kill, burn, loot, destroy in the course of your tasks… but do not disobey the head honcho. Do all CSMs fall into this category? No. But I believe a large majority could.

[Tfcdogbert]

I think that the gods that they worship have an effect on whether or not the person is "evil" Tzeenchian followers for example arent neccesarily evil per se, they are just part of the master plan of their god, what that eventual plan is has a great effect on whether their actions can be considered evil.

 

This is gonna sound weird, but followers of khorne i dont think are evil either, they arent in full control of their faucilties, its like calling a bee evil for stinging you, its just what they do, followers of khorne exist to spill blood, it doesnt make them evil if they cant really help it.

 

Nurgle followers can be either be evil or unevil, the non evil ones see that they have become superhuman so to speak, their flesh feels no pain, will never die, they want to spread this wonder to the others, but the ones that just enjoy to see the suffering of people from nurgles plague are evil.

 

Slaanesh is the most evil of any chaos god, his followers arent like khorne's, they are in complete command of their minds, they just love to inflict pain on people and so are fighting for their own selfish drives to want to inflict suffering on the other people.

 

I would say that chaos are as evil as the imperium is, the inquisition destroys entire worlds with almost the frequency of chaos, the iron jackboot of dictatorship is prevalent all over the imperium, free speech, rights of the individual are all non existant pretty much everywhere, just paying mindless obesance to the spinal cord upon the golden high chair is all that matters.

[Lay]

SPIKES = EVIL

/THREAD

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aaanyway, here's my take on Chaos:

 

40k is a dystopy. Its main conflicts resolve around Order VS Disorder, not Good VS Evil since most races have traits that can be considered evil.

However, Chaos embodies the flaws of most living beings - Hence Spiky Marines are especially evil for willingly kissing up to them.

But just because they're evil doesn't mean that they're simple beings:

 

- "Sanity is for the weak"

Technically the warp itself is neutral - a mere reflection of reality - but with a dystopic, war-torn cosmos this reflection has developped into an inhuman and equally degenerated place.

Daemons are created from the more intense emotions (in this case human rage and the past eldar decadence) and try to enforce those for their own good by corrupting beings with a soul.

If someone constantly fulfils his slightest desires because it feels right, he'll unavoidibly act against his own common sense. This is why insanity is so common among chaos worshippers, despite the fact that it isn't directly embodied by the warp nor by a chaos god. Sanity however isn't loathed, it's more of a privilege for strong-willed leaders - the kind of beings that aren't predestined to end up as mindless spawns.

 

- "The strong will always enslave the weak. Where the strong make their own fate, the weak bow their heads and succumb. There are few who are strong and many are their enemies, and the greatest of those enemies is the false Emperor of Mankind."

Spiky Marines aren't evil for the sake of being evil - Chaos enslaves (and benefits from) people by offering them possibilties to do what ever they want - a promise of power and freedom. From here it's just a small step until one's freedom collides with the freedom of someone else. Under such anarchistic circumstances infights are unavoidable and only the strongest can prevail.

The bad thing is: If you aren't THE strongest, you aren't strong at all.

[Lady_Canoness]

Do Chaos Marines really achieve a measure or freedom? Their Chapter/Legion Heirarchy still exists. While excessive freedom is anarchy and the opposite to order, Chaos Marines themselves are not totally free - they are still beneath their Lords and rulers.

 

As for the Gods...

 

The followers of Khorne are not mindless and do have control over their actions, they just choose to kill. Is religious extremism an excuse for the justification of wanton slaughter?

 

The followers of Tzeentch are quite evil in my mind. Plotters, schemers, betrayers, and manipulators to the core that care nothing for the pieces they use in their game so long as it works in their favour.

 

The followers of Nurgle exist purely to spread their suffering to others for no other reason than their delight.

 

The followers of Slaanesh inflict pain on themselves and others for personal pleasure. Not to mention their extreme self-indulgent practices...

[Lay]

Do Chaos Marines really achieve a measure or freedom?

Their Chapter/Legion Heirarchy still exists. While excessive freedom is anarchy and the opposite to order, Chaos Marines themselves are not totally free - they are still beneath their Lords and rulers

This is what causes the internal struggle of many warbands.

They don't follow their leaders because they respect their positions, but because they are weaker than their lords and "the weak bow their heads and succumb"

In this case it is the Lord who wields most freedom and who gets replaced by one of his own minions if he shows weakness.

 

The more powerful one becomes in a system with no laws and regulations, the more freedom he achieves.

The more powerful a Chaos Marines becomes, the fewer patrons he has to fear.

It's a promise of freedom for the strongest, but they all end up as "slaves to darkness".

 

They regard loyalists as enslaved because they are tied to a system that demands blind respect for rankings and oppresses their inner demons. Ironically it is their own cravings that make CSM playtoys of the gods.

[Katana]

Kudos to Lady Cannoness for this wholly interesting thread!

 

i would say that whereas Space Marines are inhuman and so are Chaos Marines, CSM are evil whereas SM arent. my logic comes from a thought experimen: If you presented a Chaos Space Marine with a normal human he would just try to kill/manipulate/infect/take his vile pleasure with it etc... just because he wants to. However a Space Marine would - although his instinct as a ruthless killing machine would make him crush the poor puny fool's skull like an egg - he would first ask wheter these were his orders. Now this does not make them good - they feel that it is their duty.

 

But what makes them do their duty - and obey without question - is they have a deep, prehaps subconcious belief that what their superiors tell them is right. if this was not the case, would the imperium use a bunch of bloodthirsty mindwashed slaugthers to do their bidding, when if they break free of their hypnosis they'll kill everyone around them?

 

Now dont answer that question because although the imperium would definitely use such an unstable tool, the space marines were created by the Emperor - the epitomy of human virtue - who i do not think would not do something that poses such a danger to humanity.

 

Someone suggested that because CSM work towards a goal they are not necessarily evil, you must remember that their goal is utter destruction, immortality and perverting the galaxy to chaos - an undeniably evil end.

 

Although the methods of the imperium are brutal in the extreme, so as one of us could call it evil, they do it (idealistically) to protect the haman race (and by extension, all humans) from destruction and eternal enslavement to the gods of Chaos.

 

And they do this in memory of the emperor, whose goal it was originally, and since he, as the represntative of mankind is Good, the whole organization is good too.

 

The chaos gods are however embodiments of the worst, most evil aspects of human nature and are without a doubt evil. Since the chaos space marines work for these evil beings that technically make them evil. while some could argue that they were tricked, they were "tricked" because they were trying to acheive their own selfish ends, and anyways, were for the most part aware that they were turning to chaos(ie. evil), which in my book equals evil.

 

The Chaos Space Marines work for evil entities, perform unspeakeable atrocities because they want to, and are fully aware that their deeds are evil (ie. selfish/causes harm to others for their own ends/their ends are selfish and evil too, as in they have no desire to better humankind at all) and are therefore (in my books at least) evil.

 

The imperium commit almost equally unspeakable acts, but do it because they are trying to follow the Emperor (who was good), although this does make what they do good, it makes them less evil to me.

 

However it is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions...

 

CHAOS WILL REIGN SUPREME FOR AN ETERNITY!!!!!!! :P -_-

 

katana

[Brother_Soulrot]

The followers of Khorne are not mindless and do have control over their actions, they just choose to kill. Is religious extremism an excuse for the justification of wanton slaughter?

 

The followers of Tzeentch are quite evil in my mind. Plotters, schemers, betrayers, and manipulators to the core that care nothing for the pieces they use in their game so long as it works in their favour.

 

The followers of Nurgle exist purely to spread their suffering to others for no other reason than their delight.

 

The followers of Slaanesh inflict pain on themselves and others for personal pleasure. Not to mention their extreme self-indulgent practices...

I'd say that we Chaos Space Marines are the pinnacle of evil, because we were encharged with humanity's protection and have chosen to follow the Gods of Chaos instead of the Emperor. The hordes of cultists are slightly less evil because of their ignorance. Their leaders are mostly evil, but even they aren't as 'evil' as CSMs because even the most dedicated cultist cannot comprehend the full scale of the Chaos Gods. Daemons and the Chaos Gods themselves exist in an amoral environment (the Warp). Although the concept of 'Good and Evil' would be meaningless to them, they are evil because of the largely detrimental effect they have on the inhabitants of the mortal universe and the distortion of reality which their power creates.

 

In short the sheer scale of different humans falling under the influence of Chaos is too vast to really be categorised using examples. An unwitting planetary governor influenced by Tzeentch could potentially be a much greater threat to the Imperium than a band of heretics led by a human champion of Khorne; even though the champion could have voluntarily caused bloodshed and mayhem on a grand scale long before becoming a true follower of the Blood God. Renegade Space Marines who turn to Chaos are probably the nearest to 'morally grey' CSMs, as they may genuinely believe their purpose is noble.

 

The main motivating factor behind all CSMs is a desire for revenge, immortality and power - they represent the end result of the process that newly renegade Chapters are beginning. Those that still believe they're fighting for a noble cause steadily change as they realise they owe humanity nothing, and the Chaos Gods are their ticket to salvation (or something like it!)

[CuRoi]

One of the more fascinating aspects of this entire discussion (to me) is the tendency towards holding the Emperor up as the equivalent of "good" to form a theory on the "evilness" of CSM.

 

Good and evil are always relational perspectives in my opinion. To me (and I'm certain a fair number of human societies he obliterated in his quest for conquest), the Emperor is/was a megalomaniac tyrant with designs of iron-fisted control of the human race to achieve his particular vision of perfection. Far from my personal definition of “hero” or the penultimate example of all that is good and decent.

 

While slightly more twisted than (supposedly) the Emperor preferred, the Orwellian oppressive society that is the Imperium of today exists as an infrastructure which strips individuality and reduces citizens to mere cogs in the juggernaut’s machinery to be used up and tossed aside when spent. Is it any wonder that it is so difficult to maintain control and keep worlds from “turning”? This existence for the common man would certainly be incentive to search for any spark of free will, imagined or otherwise.

 

So which facet is evil, Imperium or Chaos? In both cases, the everyman is no more than a means to an end. A tool or resource to be exploited in the furthering of a goal.