Legion (Abnett) - Ending and purpose/fate of AL ? (spoiler)

[GreyCrow]

Greetings brothers !

So I've recently finished reading Legion by Dan Abnett, and I think it was one of the best read I've had in a while. I think that the Alpha Legion is painted in its dualilty : both very pragmatic but also quite caring at times. I think that they represent the facet of the Emperor that has the best interests of humanity at times and will do anything to protect it, by using any means necessary in a goal-driven perspective.

Now, I'd like to talk about the ending with you guys because I was wondering if there was more to it than first meets the eye.

Spoiler alter obviously !

So, after witnessing the Acuity, the Autarch asks Alpharius what course of actions he will take. The choice is between allowing Horus to win and he will destroy Humanity and thus Chaos, or to have the Emperor win and slowly give rise to millenia long Chaos rising.

In all apparences, Alpharius seems to resign himself to help the Cabal because "standing firm against the rise of Chaos". But after reading over and over his response, I'm starting to wonder whether it was a very elaborately crafted sentence by Dan Abnett, because there are so many things we could infer from that !

First of all, Alpharius said that his bond with the Emperor is unbreakable and that he will stand for the Emperor "in all things". Then he proceeds to enumerate the "many great ambitions and the noblest of intentions" but that the "overthrow of the Primordial Annihilator is his greatest wish" and that "He has always known the truth of it". He concludes by saying that what he will do, he will do for the Emprah.

So, based on these elements, I have that lingering feeling that he told the cabal to kiss his Primarch butt in a very elegant way. I think he also lets slip that he (and possibly Omegon) were let on the secret of the existence of Chaos because how would he otherwise know that the Emperor was fully aware of it since the beginning ?

Now, once again when reading the choice of words by the author, I'm thinking that Alpharius clearly isn't going to allow humanity to be destroyed. First, he infers that he will stand by the Emperor in his goals and that goal definitely doesn't include sacrificing humanity to kill Chaos. Secondly, notice how he describes fighting against Chaos. He doesn't say "destroy" or "eradicate" Chaos or even "expunge" Chaos like the Farseer says. He uses very euphemistic words such as "stand firm" and "overthrow". Which to me implies that his goal or the goal of the Emperor isn't to eradicate Chaos, but merely neuter it as a threat to humanity.

What I believe the Acuity offered though is a clear pictures of the events to unfold. Alpharius and Omegon were definitely no aware. Perhaps the Primarchs knew about Chaos (and their preference for secrecy echoes the Emperors' for that matter) from the Emperor himself. But the Emperor was probably noy clairvoyant enough to pierce throught the machinations of Chaos, which is why he couldn't have told Alpharius/Omegon and thus why they were shocked at this revelation.

So, in essence, this ending doesn't explain the Alpha Legion's treachery, it provides more speculation than previously ! Was the Alpha Legion created as a Legion with the secret purpose of preventing the spread of Chaos or even take action against it ?

Now, I know that this is heretical, but let's do even more crazy ramblings ! Spoiler tag for those who don't want to read my madman's crazy ideas.

And spoiler alert 2 because I'm going to reference other books ^^

I am wondering why, the Emperor knowing about the danger of Chaos and his corrupting influence, didn't establish an Inquisition-like agency during the Great Crusade. Obviously the Custodes acted as investigative Inquisitors when he had doubts about the purity of purpose certain Legions much like in The First Heretic. But what in the case of the general population ?

Obviously, the chaos worshipping human settlements were wiped out by the Astartes when they refused compliance, but Chaos cults must have existed prior to the Heresy within conquered worlds.

Now, he created the Astartes with the purpose of not only gathering the scattered colonies of mankind but also terminate people who wouldn't agree with the Imperial Truth. All the Legions were effectively good at destroying the enemy without, but what about the enemy within ? Clearly, there was no Inquisition at the time, but in official Black Library fluff, there is proof that there was an enemy within.

The Horus Heresy Book 3 Extermination, when describing the Alpha Legion, highly suggests that they were conducting Black Ops within the Imperium's borders which are clearly directed against the "enemy within", whether they are rebellious insurgents or "tainted by exposure to the horrors beyond". The same paragraph also states that some people suppose the XXth Legion disappeared from the history early great crusade because they had a "secret role to play in ensuring the Imperium's future". Now, while this is clearly not a direct official quote and more of a hearsay unsubstantiated piece of evidence, I think this sentence can be taken at face value. After all, the descriptive presentations of each of the Legions are partly written in universe with a narrator describing the Legions with actual information an Imperial Officer might have available at the time. And hearsay is a nod to the reader.

Now, if the Alpha Legion has a "secret" purpose (that has still not been revealed), what could this be ? The general strategy of the Emperor has been pretty straightforward from the beginning : expand the Imperium through compliance, spread the Imperial truth and eradicate those who oppose. But there was one thing that he kept secret from everybody, including the Primarchs who were closest to experience it : the Primordial Annihilator. Even Magnus who was experimenting with the Warp all the time did not even receive a clear explanation from his father, just a warning. Even Lorgar, who had ostensibly a very worshipping mind, was just told off on Khur. Even Roboute Guilliman, who was completely stunned by Lorgar's attack and the nature of Chaos during the battle of Calth

We can argue why he didn't want people to know about Chaos, but it's not relevant here (I personally believe that he didn't want to tempt the Primarchs and risk corruption especially because he wasn't sure whether they were corrupted or not after being scattered). What is relevant in my opinion is that Alpharius knows the Emperor knows about Chaos and I highly doubt the Acuity showed him that, because it focused on prospective visions of events rather than explanations of past decisions.

I am starting to believe that, uniquely amongst the other Primarchs, Alpharius and Omegon were bred for his fight against Chaos much like other Primarchs both share spiritual qualities of the Emperor and display preferred tactical and strategic philosophies.

Furthermore, I am starting to believe that the Alpha Legion served the role of the Inquisition during the Great Crusade, as evidenced by the bit in Book 3 "Extermination" of the Horus Heresy series.

______

Now, we can wonder why the Emperor decided on the founding of the Inquisition at the end of the Horus Heresy if the Alpha Legion already filled that role ? Was it because the Alpha Legion was corrupted beyond the point of no return ? Was it because the Alpha Legion had no hope of being branded as Loyalist should they reveal their real role after all they did during the Heresy ? Was it because they were fighting against Chaos in another way and were so deep down that road that another institution was needed ?

In my opinion, openly admitting the Alpha Legion as the Inquisition would have been a real PR crapstorm to deal with within an Imperium at war ! In addition, because of how Alpharius' reply to Slau Dha can be interpreted (as in, for now I'll be doing everything in the name of the Emperor, which is building the Imperium AND battling Chaos), I'm starting to believe that the Alpha Legion was looking for a new strategy to prevent both outcomes (maybe what Omegon refers to as The Third Paradox in the Serpent Beneath ?) envisionned by the Cabal.

And that, in some form or another, it implied the Alpha Legion openly branded as a Traitor. I'm not going to speculate as to what their role could be if that's even the case however.

We can even see operational similarities between the Alpha Legion's modus operandi and the Inquisition. First of all, they don't hesitated in wiping our any witness of their operation, much like the early parts of Legion and its epilogue imply. I will need to reread the part about the cultist's corpse with the Hydra's symbol because now I'm realizing that this may be even more significant than I previously thought. It is also said later on that they had a gift to identify humans that were corrupted, much like in the case of Bronzi's friend (who was obviously infected by Chaos ridden disease) that Alpharius shot on sight.

At the same time, they are also a bit less extremist than the Inquisition, recruiting "pure" people that are inquisitive enough that circumstances led them to witness the Alpha Legion's purpose.

Finally, obviously, their free reign to conduct clandestine operations however they see fit.

Now, if the Alpha Legion was originally a "proto-Inquisition", it seems difficult to believe that they truly serve Chaos. It seems plausible to me that they did find a third course of action with such an obscure method that it requires them to work within Chaos. And that to this day, somehow their mission in coordinating Chaos Cults helps out the Imperium. Perhaps, pushing the cults to open rebellion before they reached their peak strength is their way to bring the attention of the Imperium to such Chaos cults ? Perhaps this is their "dead drop" to alert the Inquisitors and the Space Marines, without them ever to have to blow their cover ?

But, do they have any link with the current Inquisition ? One would say no, but before I leave you, I'd love to add one more crazy theory to the mix. Bear with me, this last one is even beyond speculation and it will seem so unlikely that even I have trouble thinking about it seriously. But at the same time, I can't shake it

_______

So, we know that the Emperor founded the Inquisition towards the end of the Heresy, but he also founded a militant arm of the Inquisition which are the Grey Knights.

Now, the fluff surrounding the origins of the Grey Knights is pretty accessible on the web and the Black Library's books, and I'm definitely not saying that the Grey Knights are the Alpha Legion After all, we know that all Grey Knights are psykers and we are positive the Alpha Legion Legionaries weren't particularly sensitive nor relied heavily on psychic powers in their operations.

What I wanted to point out was how similar the Grey Knights and the early Alpha Legion were. First of all, their existence isn't well known in the Imperium and they are one of the closely guarded secrets of mankind. During the foundation of the Grey Knights, the Emperor was aware that Chaos would still be a threat if Horus was defeated and that he wouldn't be able to take a direct part in confronting it anymore. How would he be able to foresee that if he wasn't able to foresee the Horus Heresy like the Acuity did ?

What if, through covert discussions between the Alpha Legion and the Emperor himself, a plan was made. Where the Alpha Legion would keep pledging allegiance to the goals of Chaos and a new organization was to take its place ? Even moreso, a new group of Astartes would need to be formed to fulfill the void left by the Alpha Legion's departure to the side of Chaos after the Heresy ?

We all know that the Grey Knights are ruthless and pragmatic, and that they don't hesitate to secretly eliminate any witness to prevent the spread of Chaos. Sounds familiar to ancestral methods ?

An Inquisition split in half, where its original representative was to operate presumably as an antagonist to the Imperium, while its successor was unaware of that to keep the purity of its action ? What if the Grey Knights were guided to operate akin to the Alpha Legion, with the operative and intelligence gathering part operated independently by the rest of the Inquisition (after all, every organisation in the Imperium was shattered much like the Codex Astartes did with the Space Marines to prevent global corruption in large organisations) ? They are a bit the psychic black ops of the current Imperium.

And the last bit of speculative to make my brain explode. How fitting is it that the founding Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights is named Janus, a reference to the two faced gods of beginning and endings (sound familiar ?) ?

In Mortarion's Heart, even Mortarion speaks the following sentence to Draigo "The truth of Janus’s past would shake your pitiful Chapter to its very foundations. Of that, you can be certain. Treachery, cowardice... heresy, and a brother who would willingly betray his own for the sake of some half-imagined redemption."

I love how he says "brother"... Could it be one of the twins ? Did the false Alpharius Guilliman slew on Eskanor allowed one of the Primarchs to leave the Alpha Legion and helped found the Grey Knights ? After all, weren't Alpha and Omegon the smallest of the Primarchs, able to be easily mistaken as a regular Astartes...

And with that, I'll end my delirious ramblings, before I get assassinated for revealing too much or before I realized I was purposefully spreading lies and deception...

Sorry for the TL;DR for those who stuck to the end, but I originally had a very different idea for this thread and as I wrote, these new theories came to mind...

I really love how the Alpha Legion is portrayed in the Heresy rather than moustache twirling villains. The fact that they could or could not be at the heart of conspiracies is really appealling, because all the tidbits given about them are so elegantly tied to one another yet so distant from one another that they can be interpreted both ways without clear evidence :/ And that's great :D

[Captain Idaho]

Interesting ideas but one element sticks in my mind that casts doubt over their apparent "secret police" role. Why did they attempt to assassinate Guilliman? It just makes no sense. The Space Wolves were already watching over him with instruction to terminate his leadership if he turned out corrupt. (Doubtful they could but they'd have a good go)

 

Added to this we have Malcador, the assassins and Dorn getting involved as leading the Imperial defence (he found Malcador's methods distasteful). Though no formal Inquisition, it seems there are spies and cut throats aplenty for the Imperium to engage in covert games.

 

What's more, we have the whole "opposed to one another" thing going on with the Alpha Legion. 1 fleet attacks Space of whole sale in an attempt to wipe them out, whilst the other holds the White Scars in place long enough to receive word from Terra contradicting Horus before they moved in support of the traitors. In short novels we have insurgency and unrest instigated by Alpha Legion agents on Imperial worlds so Horus' position is weakened.

 

There is definitely something up with the Alpha Legion and they could well be covert operatives of sorts, but I don't know about their big 3rd way.

 

Sooner they get a beating the better in my view. They're too omnipotent so far and I'm a little tired of them showing up all the time.

[rendingon1+]

A little off top

I'm still wondering why a bunch of renegade xenos w able to convince a primarch to betray the Imperium. More than that, he agreed on course of action involving eradication of entire human kind to destroy Chaos so XENOS races might live without chaos threat.

The races of the galaxy will be spared, through the sacrifice of the human race

.. It totally makes no sense and with all due respect to Dan Abnet,  this is ridiculous.

[Doctor Perils]

A little off top

I'm still wondering why a bunch of renegade xenos w able to convince a primarch to betray the Imperium. More than that, he agreed on course of action involving eradication of entire human kind to destroy Chaos so XENOS races might live without chaos threat.

The races of the galaxy will be spared, through the sacrifice of the human race

.. It totally makes no sense and with all due respect to Dan Abnet,  this is ridiculous.

Well, that's what Grey Crows getting at ! He's arguing that Alpharius isn't actually accepting the Xenos's offer, quite the contrary...

 

 

Anyway, interesting theory ! I haven't got my copy of Legion under hand, but, even without verification, your idea has merit.

 

Also, I can't remember the reference, but I'd heard Janus had "exchanged his place with another". Don't know exactly what that means, but can fit with your Idea that Janus is an Alpha Legionnaire (even if he isn't one of the twins... or is it triplets ?)

It just so happens that I'm using a "Janus skull" as the emblem for my Alpha Legion successor chapter, the Hecatonchires (more to come one day)

[shandwen]

What I took from Legion is that no one knows what the Alpha Legion is up to, even the top leaders are blind to many elements of what is actually going on, and it is a force that is let loose, then is impossible to control. There is a chance that AL's "fall to chaos" is real now, with the former captains knowing it was a ploy, but thier replacements in the dark. Who is to tell what is going on.

[Rain]

Pretty sure they are going to split the difference and have one twin remain "loyal at heart" and one go full Chaos. In either case though, nothing is really known about Alpha Legion organization, and it's an open question as to whether even Alpharius is aware of all of the various organizations that call themselves Alpha Legion.

 

HH3 actually has a pretty cool meta point reconciling the various colors that the AL has been represented wearing in official sources (it's been anything from green, to blue, to purple) by saying that different groups each claiming to be the Alpha Legion have been seen wearing each kind of livery, and that it is likely that there are several groups each unaware of the existence of the rest and each believing themselves to be the one and only Alpha Legion.

 

In other words, don't think about it too hard. Nothing about the Alpha Legion is true.

[deathspectersgt7]

Never finished this grew bored.

[The Red Thirst]

I like theories 1 and 2, number 3 however I personally believe Janus is Garro, "a Brother who would willing betray his own (XIVth Legion?) for some half imagined redemption (Imperial Creed?)". Redemption is a word with religions connotations, of which neither Alpharius nor Omegon convey at any time, they are very analytical and calculating and it would be a stretch to view either of them as pious. Also given that this is Mortairion speaking, "Noble, mighty, steadfast, pious and honourable Janus" "... I spit on the name of Janus" I get the feeling that there used to be a personal bond between the two, something that I also doubt Mortairion had with any of his brother save maybe Horus. Being father and son however Garro to me is the likely candidate.

[1000 Sons]

I put them in the same boat as the Thousand Sons, they did everything they could for the right reasons, but it all fell apart around them.  They took the choice to go traitor accepting the Cabals future vision, but they failed and now are stuck in the warp as traitors.

[stoesl]

I'm not sure that they are "true" traitors the way the world eaters or word bearers are....they might be

something like the tau, greater good above all

[Lucien Eilam]

It totally makes no sense and with all due respect to Dan Abnet,  this is ridiculous.

 

After all the misdirection in that novel, why do you take that moment at face value?

[davisbe]

Well, hmm. Secretive, operatives scattered all over, infighting (possibly including multiple factions), etc...
Starting to sound pretty Inquisition-y to me! Now, if the throne on Alpharius' flagship is named "The Comfy Chair"...

[paz]

Well, If 'the 7th serpent' is anything to go by, it's a lot more complicated than just two factions...

[drooling blood]

Alpharius sounds like the youngest child saying I already knew that to everything.

[HeritorA]

Well - after all the AL stuff: 'Legion'; 'Serpent Beneath'; 'Seventh Serpent'; 'Deliverance Lost'; 'Scars' - AL is more  misleading and redirecting as ever. 

 

We have now 6 parties in the 20th:

 

Alpharius party (Cabal section) - the one from the epilogue of Legion; acting through the start of 'Deliverance lost' - to fulfill the Cabal plan of humanity annihilation) 

 

Omegon party (Cabal section) - the one from the 'Word of Truth' short and Omegon chapters in 'Deliverance lost' - to fulfill the Cabal plan of humanity annihilation with further doubling up own forces to police and annihilate what was left after that)

 

Omegon party (Imperial section) - strictly novella 'Serpent Beneath'  - all the actions was done to provide great chaos amongst the horusist forces in the end and provide clearance for a full WS legion of loyalists. AL forces at Chondax  from the 'Scars' - Khan chapters. 1/4 of the forces harrowing SW at Alaxxes.

 

Alpharius party (Imperial section) - the one from the ending chapters of Legion before the slaughter, 'Warmaster' short audio and 2 W40K shorts. Same as previous Omegon party but with the additional point of providing direct or indirect help for loyalist forces on every turn. Want to change the Cabal Predictions and save the Empra and humanity.

 

Alpharius party (anti-imperial -pro-horus) - 1/3 of the Legion fleet harrowing the Space Wolves at Alaxxes and Dynat forces from the short 'Harrowing' and Forge World book #3: Extermination. To kill all loyalists, give victory to Horus and change the Cabal Predictions.

 

Strict Imperial loyalists (several chapters who doesn't know the reasons of AL-OM treachery of imperium) who plainly wants to provide assistance for the Emperor and show that they are loyal - like Garro. (strict example - Legate Chayten 'Seventh Serpent')