What caused Mortarion to turn traitor?

[Kol Saresk]

THIS holds the answer to your question. Mortarion was just a prideful son of a gun.

[DarKnight]

Another Primarch that never really forgave the Emperor for saving him from his situation pre Imperium. In 'Flight Of The Eisenstein' he describes it to Garro as Horus just being more worthy to lead the Imperium, so some combination of both of those I suppose.

[Dammeron]

Morty never really forgave Daddy Shiny-Pants for one-upping him when he saved his life back on Barbarus; he regarded it as a betrayal of his own carefully nurtured philosophy of stolid self dependence and endurance through the exercise of will.

 

Also, according to older fluff, he believed himself to be the herald of a new age of justice, or some such. He always respected Horus more than the Emperor anyway; I imagine that, for him, it was originally simply a political decision; he believed that Horus would do better than the aforementioned luminous one on the throne of Terra.

[Emperor's Furor]

I think Horus convinced him that the Emperor was just another Tyrant, in Echo's of Old Night, the Chaplain muses on it, eventually realising Mortarion wouldn't of survived if it wasn't for the intervention of the Emperor and it was he who defeated the Tyrant but now who would save them.

[The Or]

It is mentioned in the latest Forge World book Betrayal that Mortarion saw it as his mission to free the galaxy from tyrants. Combine this with his enmity for the Emperor (for killing Mortarions first "father" before him) and the growing cult of the Lectitio Divinitatus, it should have been easy for Horus to convince him that the Emperor was turning into the same kind of Tyrant that Mortarion had spent decades fighting. Even though the Emperor probably didn't have anything to do with this new cult, for someone who resents you, it wouldn't have been to far of a stretch. After all, even Horus fell for it.

[Billuriye]

Mortarion however doesnt seem to have any of these issues, legion was respected, had a dislike of any sorcery (as seen at nikea) and seemed to get on with most of the other primarchs, if anything he seemed to be a bit distainful towards some of his later 'allies' (lorgar,magnus and fulgrim). Unlike the rest he turned to the chaos gods on the way to terra after the betrayal not before or during. As i said at the start i cant see why he turned, so if anyone has any ideas or old canon to explain i would love to hear

 

Actually, Mortarion's only friends were Horus and occasionally Curze. Perturabo and Lion actively despised the fella. Him and his legion were known for being sinister and their method of warfare was shunned for using xenos weaponry (both Mort's pistol and scythe are xenos craft) and alchemical ammunition and stuff.

[Necris]

Where does it say Mort's pistol was of Xenos design I've always known Shenlong as a Forgeworld subjected to exterminatus

[Emperor's Furor]

I thought the pistol was made by Ferrus Manus.

[Kol Saresk]

I thought the pistol was made by Ferrus Manus.

No, Necris is right, it was made at the Forgeworld Shenlong which was condemned to Exterminatus by Mephiston in James Swallow's Blood Angels series.

[Sgt.Sangha]

I thought the pistol was made by Ferrus Manus.

I believe the pistol you are referring to is the one forged by Manus for Vulkan, who returned it to Manus and then right before the drop site massacre took it back.

[Billuriye]

Yeah Lantern isn't xeno, sorry about that.

[mactire]

thanks guys (btw didnt know this was already debated) i guess a political reason makes most sense especially if he was never close to emp and felt more loyalty to horus.

[Khestra the Unbeheld]

thanks guys (btw didnt know this was already debated) i guess a political reason makes most sense especially if he was never close to emp and felt more loyalty to horus.

 

As I recall, that particular thing used to be Alpharius' reason for siding with Horus.

[jc1138]

Also, according to older fluff, he believed himself to be the herald of a new age of justice, or some such. He always respected Horus more than the Emperor anyway; I imagine that, for him, it was originally simply a political decision; he believed that Horus would do better than the aforementioned luminous one on the throne of Terra.

 

Do you have a source for this? I'm thinking maybe IA? The justice angle adds, I think, an interesting and needed perspective on Mortarion. He needs to be more than just another embittered son, IMO.

[Ubermensch Commander]

thanks guys (btw didnt know this was already debated) i guess a political reason makes most sense especially if he was never close to emp and felt more loyalty to horus.

 

As I recall, that particular thing used to be Alpharius' reason for siding with Horus.

 

Yes, and it was glorious. The only Legion that DIDN'T try to justify their own failings, weaknesses, and neuroses. The Alpha Legion turned because they simply did not have any great loyalty to the Emperor and they wanted to test themselves against the greatest warriors in the cosmos...other Legionnaires. They turned because they bloody well felt like it.

Now we have "An Alpharius did it!" to replace the "A C'tan did it!" of the late 3rd edition. Grand :)

 

As for the Death Guard and Mortarion turning: Old fluff- Not really fleshed out. Just closer to Horus and Mort was mad at Emperor for doing what he could not. Add in a dash of Donner Party in the Warp with Nurgle showing up to throw a party and then you have the Nurgley Death Guard.

The Forgeworld book greatly expands on the nature and character of the Death Guard and their primarch. And in my opinion, did it very very well.

Mortarion remoulded the Legion into his own Barbarus inspired vision. His backstory, being the chosen right hand of a foul xenos vampire thing, gets substantially more attention. In many ways, the spectre of his youth spent in the poison mist shrouded peaks of his home planet haunted him long after he left for the stars.

We are provided a glimpse into the bleak and hellish upbringing of the macabre primarch, raised in a prison-fortress of black stone with only monsters for companionship. His lessons are in callousness, cruelty, sadism, and necromancy most foul. And then, he is turned loose upon the weak things dwelling in the valleys below.

Mortarion, like the Night Haunter, beings to feel a profound rage at the injustice and atrocities he is forced to witness and in many cases participate in. He turns from this vile and distant tyrant, literally descending from Olympus, to join with and defend the mortals he once preyed upon. Mortarion stands firm and unflinching, using his knowledge of the enemy and his own substantial skills to drive them back and win over the populace. From here, Mortarion takes a populace of frightened peasants and creates the first Death Guard, striking back against the foul things that preyed upon them. One by one they fall, until only his "father" remains out of reach. Smarting with this failure, Mortarion is then confronted by the Emperor. A wager is struck, Mortarion is critically injured in his attempt to kill the last vampire lord, and swears fealty to the Emperor. So we have a bit of resentment and wounded pride in the mix. Still, the gains outweigh the losses and one would hope that given decades to centuries a superhuman being would get the heck over it.

But the new element (or old element reintroduced, little fuzzy on that) in the Forgeworld book is Mortarion's absolute HATRED of Tyrants. Shunned by other primarchs for his Legion's use of biological and other weapons and ruthless tactics, Mortarion is closest to Horus, who understands the idea of using anything and everything to get the job done. Thus, with the Emperor "abandoning" the front lines to do what any good ruler would do, that is to say RULE, Mortarion decides to throw in with Horus when he turns traitor. After all, if the Favored Son, Brightest Star, Horus would turn against his father, the Emperor MUST be going off the deep end straight into Tyrant-land.

Yeah, so, I REALLY liked Forgeworld Betrayal's portrayal of the Death Guard and Lunar Wolves.

[Dammeron]

Also, according to older fluff, he believed himself to be the herald of a new age of justice, or some such. He always respected Horus more than the Emperor anyway; I imagine that, for him, it was originally simply a political decision; he believed that Horus would do better than the aforementioned luminous one on the throne of Terra.

 

Do you have a source for this? I'm thinking maybe IA? The justice angle adds, I think, an interesting and needed perspective on Mortarion. He needs to be more than just another embittered son, IMO.

 

Yep; Second Ed Chaos Codex:

 

"...Each of the Primarchs was sorely tested, and fully half of them failed that test. So subtle was the temptation of the Gods of Chaos that they never even suspected that their own loyalties were changing.

 

Each of the Primarchs thought he was fighting for the best of Humanity. Angron saw himself as the only one to save humanity, Mortarion believed himself to be a herald of a new age of justice. Horus truly thought that the power of Chaos could be harnessed for the benefit of humanity and that he, not the Emperor had the right idea for the future of mankind."

[jc1138]

Also, according to older fluff, he believed himself to be the herald of a new age of justice, or some such. He always respected Horus more than the Emperor anyway; I imagine that, for him, it was originally simply a political decision; he believed that Horus would do better than the aforementioned luminous one on the throne of Terra.

 

Do you have a source for this? I'm thinking maybe IA? The justice angle adds, I think, an interesting and needed perspective on Mortarion. He needs to be more than just another embittered son, IMO.

 

Yep; Second Ed Chaos Codex:

 

"...Each of the Primarchs was sorely tested, and fully half of them failed that test. So subtle was the temptation of the Gods of Chaos that they never even suspected that their own loyalties were changing.

 

Each of the Primarchs thought he was fighting for the best of Humanity. Angron saw himself as the only one to save humanity, Mortarion believed himself to be a herald of a new age of justice. Horus truly thought that the power of Chaos could be harnessed for the benefit of humanity and that he, not the Emperor had the right idea for the future of mankind."

 

Thanks! The first part of this certainly brings to mind Magnus in ATS, and the Horus stuff was explored in the first three Horus Heresy books. I hope we'll see more of these 2nd Ed Chaos Codex ideas as BL's HH series unfurls.

 

(BTW, I wasn't calling your statement into question, I was just curious about where the info came from.)