Outcast Dead, Simple Solution to Timeline Inconsistency

[ftcosiris]

Hi all,

 

I have listened to the unabridged version of the Outcast Dead three and a half times and every time I am thrown by the timeline inconsistency caused by Magnus showing up after Isstvan V when the other Horus Heresy books have this occurring before Isstvan III. (plenty of topics on that so I won't go into the details except in summary below)

 

The problem:

 

Something has to trigger the psychic disaster that causes Aniq Sarahina to implant the visions in Kai Zulane's mind.

 

That trigger has to be a MASSIVE event but simply cannot be Magnus due to timeline conflicts. Specifically, Russ was ordered to Prospero BECAUSE of the the webway breach event. HOWEVER, Russ was already headed to destroy Prospero at the end of False Gods, at least a year passes from the end of False Gods to the end of Isstvan III in Galaxy in Flames, and at that time, Magnus is contacting Horus to join forces. Add several months of travel for the Eisenstein, time to muster for Isstvan V, travel time to Isstvan V and at least 1.5 years pass between Russ being ordered to Prospero by the Emperor (and Horus's changing of those orders) and the "all went to :)" message after Isstvan V disaster.

 

SOLUTION:

 

The psychic surge was an outburst from the Battle of the Imperial Webway.

 

After Magnus causes the breach in the Webway, a long and bloody battle takes place in which the Imperial forces are repeatedly driven to the brink of the Webway Gate in the Throne Room only to rally and push forward again. (Horus Heresy: Collected Visions, Beyond the Golden Throne Section, pages 350-351).

 

At an unspecified time in the Battle, one particular Chaos breakthrough pits a Bloodthirster with Sister Celia Harroda of the Sisters of Silence on the actual doorstep of the Imperial Webway Gate. (see Horus Heresy: Collected Visions, Beyond the Golden Throne Section, pages 350-351). She kills the Bloodthirster literally right in front of the Emperor and then dies herself.

 

Here it is, my solution:

 

The psychic surge that triggers the whole mess came from the death of the Bloodthirster.

 

That's IT. Simple right? It's also amazing how little rewriting would be required in Outcast Dead to make that change.

 

 

 

You can also throw in that the Surge had a massive effect in the Astropathic tower because of they were so highly geared up to receive the message from the Isstvan expedition.

 

Now, take out all the references to Magnus's imminent arrival and substitute comments about surges that have been felt lately from the Palace (which weren't as big as that from a powerful bloodthirster).

 

I will add other details below which are fluff.

 

 

 

More detailed solution

 

I also thought up a way to make a Bloodthirster's death kill half the psychics on Terra and not hurt the overall WH40K universe.

 

When the Sister of Silence lands the killing blow, the Chaos Gods realize that they may not get another chance to strike directly at the Emperor and weaken him before Horus faces him on Terra.

 

The Chaos Gods focus all of their combined powers to unleash a massive psychic attack at the Emperor using the dying Bloodthirster as a conduit/focal point. They are able to do this because 1) they unite quickly to attack their Anathema (ie Emperor) and 2) the Bloodthirster is still in the WARP (okay a breach portion of the Webway) and these two factors allow for a one-off style power attack at the Emperor.

 

To the shock of the Chaos Gods, Emperor not only blocks the attack but also is able to channel/absorb much of it to prevent the outright destruction of the Golden Throne/Gate. However, the Emperor is not able to stop a miniscule percent of the attack (i.e. the psychic blast from hell to everyone else) from hitting the rest of Terra.

 

Hence, a BIG psychic BOOOM.

 

 

 

ALTERNATIVE

If the death of the Bloodthirster isn't good enough, just have the psychic outburst be from the closing of the Webway Gate at the end of the Battle of the Webway.

 

This meshes well with Deliverance Lost. In the conversation between Corax and the Emperor, the Gate is SEALED. Since this is like six months after Isstvan V and the psychic surge in Outcast Dead, the timing works fine. Just not as EPIC.

 

 

 

________________

 

Thoughts?

 

By the way, let me add that I fully understand that changes to the old old fluff are expected. HOWEVER, there should be no HUGE inconsistencies between different books in the Horus Heresy Series itself. There is a difference.

 

Also, lets face it, Russ being dispatched to kill Magnus BEFORE the webway breach cannot be explained by the WARP.

 

My answers lose some of the Magnus fluff and may require tweaking of Atharva's thinking, but nothing major. I feel better just forcing myself to say, a Bloodthirster did it, a Bloodthirster did it, over and over while I am rereading Outcast Dead. :-)

 

Its a very good book if you can get passed the inconsistencies.