Why are the Sisters of Silence so loyal to the Emperor ?

[Astral Lions]

"...told her that the blinding majesty and stupefaction others felt in the presence of the Golden Throne were wholly absent for Kaeria and her Sisters. She saw a man on a throne, no more, no less. No radiant halo. No psychic corona..."

 

Question, why then would the Sisters of Silence be so utterly loyal to the Emperor - facing daemons in the Webway War (?), and subsequently when ignored by the post-Emperor Imperium, retreated to seclusion and awaits for the call to duty?

 

That the Emperor give them a cause to believe in (them being blanks / pariahs) might explain their loyalty.

 

But their belief in the Emperor is almost at the level of 'religious' adoration/ fanaticism.  

 

Adeptus Astartes mostly do not worship the Emperor, but practially all of them venerates Him, because he created them. Pyscho-indoctrination and their Chaplains' croziuses probably swing their minds to that path also.  :)

 

But what are the reasons of the Sisters of Silence's loyalty to the Emperor, when their 'power' is almost antithesis to the Emperor's psychic might ?

 

 

Ave Imperator

[Withershadow]

They are soulless monsters that should not be allowed to live, but by the Emperor's grace they get to give their life for some greater purpose.

[MARK0SIAN]

Perhaps because they can see the real man without the psychic glamour they can understand him like almost no others can, they understand better than almost anyone what his plan for humanity is, why it’s so important, what the consequences of failure are and understand that he is humanity’s only hope. As they see the real person perhaps they can also see the strain and sacrifice and what his mission cost him even before he was wounded by Horus.

[Indefragable]

it’s the car. Chicks dig the car.

[karden00]

it’s the car. Chicks dig the car.

Aye. The Somnium Imperator is equipped with a champaign room, after all.

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Why is anyone?

 

The Emperor is, by any objective measure, a totalitarian tyrant.

 

"Unite under me, only I can prevent great disaster befalling you, only I can protect you from the creeping threats outside. Only I can deliver you to greatness."

 

Stop me if any of that sounds familiar.

[Kinstryfe]

I'd imagine a big part of it is the same for any sort of military raised up like they probably are. The sisters are amazing warriors, and I somehow doubt that they're recruiting thirty year old factory workers into their ranks. Given most of The Emperor's elite forces are recruited as children and brought up believing in him absolutely, I see no reason why the sisters would be any different. They won't see him as the perfect embodiment of good that everyone else psychically sees him as, but even today if you raise children to believe that the creepy guy running the cult is God they'll believe it. And modern cult leaders don't have space ships, armies of genetically engineered super soldiers, and a galaxy spanning empire to back their claims up. Add to the fact that they're not just raised as soldiers, but as one of the two most elite fighting forces in the entire Imperium, and I'd imagine it's not hard for them to justify their loyalty.

To them The Emperor is just a man without his psychic presence, but he's a man who has managed to be the first to unite Earth under his rule, let alone a good swathe of the known galaxy.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

It’s definitely that car .

[Inquisitor Red]

Also gotta remember its not like everyone with the anti psyker gene comes from one happy planet. They're born 1 out of every million/billion or so people. They're scattered, alone, and hated by everyone they know. The Emperor finds them, gives them a home, gives them a family, and gives them a purpose. 

[Prot]

I think everyone is a tool to the Emperor. By tool I mean, a means to an end. All the fiction seems fairly decided on this.  The only exception that I can think of... is the Ten Thousand. He almost cares for them. You think it would be Primarchs but it seems strongly to the contrary.

 

Horus was right...dad did love them more! (That's just a joke... all Horus fans please calm down. ;) )

[Kinstryfe]

The Sisters seem to be afforded much more trust than most save the ten thousand, if not affection. While they are undoubtedly tools, the fact that he keeps among his closest troops a large group of highly trained warriors who are immune to the source of most of his powers shows that they are at least trusted tools, so whatever he is doing to ensure that loyalty must work fantastically.

 

Then again, maybe the fact that the thing he would be most vulnerable to may be a large group of psychic nulls is the very reason why he's scoured the known galaxy and brought as many as possible under his control. Superman would have had a lot less trouble if he had all the kryptonite locked up where he could keep tabs on it.

[Stoic Raptor]

The Emperor is, by any objective measure, a totalitarian tyrant.

 

"Unite under me, only I can prevent great disaster befalling you, only I can protect you from the creeping threats outside. Only I can deliver you to greatness."

 

Stop me if any of that sounds familiar.

 

The difference is, of course, that this time around, Humanity really is surrounded by all manner of "creeping threats" that will destroy them.  It's not merely an issue of ideology when confronted by things that will devour your soul, mutate your body, turn you into the undead, etc. etc.

 

And yes, he's the only one who can prevent that great disaster - and 10,000 years on the job has demonstrated that.  Perhaps not perfectly, but imagine how much worse it would be in his absence.

 

So yes, he's a totalitarian tyrant, but it's far better than the alternative - because this time around, "society falling to Chaos" has a very literal meaning.

[Withershadow]

Right, that's the grimdark delicious nature of the 40K.  Yes, the Imperium and the Inquisition are horrible monsters... but they have to be, because way worse things will happen if they aren't.

 

It's like the Medieval Inquisition looks a lot less monstrous if there were actually evil witches aligned with Satan killing good Christian children or whatever.

 

"Some may question my right to condemn 10 billion souls to death.  Those who understand realize that I have no right to let them live!"

[Schlitzaf]

Tangent but “Inquisiton” of Medieval Era actually help promote a lot of modern ideas in justice, the Spanish one in particular;

1) Right to Know your Accuser

2) Innocent until proven Guility

3) You were informed a month early so to best prepare defense

4) They looked into allegations to determine secondary motives (land you were eye’ing for example) and by extension required evidence before they looked into the situation

5) They did not partake in witch trials like “Sink or Float”

 

It was not a perfect system and were remarkably fair (for those time). In many ways I imagine the 40k Inquisiton and its relatives as similar to that Inquistion. An inquisitor doesn’t just say “exterminatus” they need reason. Or their Kryptman. They spend and dedicate time to investigate before calling in the big guns (normally).

 

Even the most radical are generally some sort of rule of law. And they are suspicious of everyone, not in theory predisposed to bias to any particular individual. I once said to a friend, the Imperium is one of the most fair/balanced or least discriminatory specifically organizations in fiction. Not because everyone is treated or has same level of rights.

 

But everyone is a tool, everyone is just a number in the machine, to the greatest chapter Master to the lowest Gaurdsman. Most Pious Sister to the most scummy Ganger. All might be valued differently and spent with certain degrees of caution.

 

But the end of the day, the Imperium doesn’t care about anyone or about anyone’s race, gender or otherwise. They care about physic potential or lack their of, but that is where their care ends. This topic is about sisters of silence, and I think to end my point is what they are faithful as they are to the Emperor.

 

Because the Emperor is that in the most visible part. He doesn’t care, who or what they are (physic nulls) just that they are useful. He sees them the same way he sees Custodes, not more, not less. He might love them the same way one would love/adore their favorite set of dice. He doesn’t dismiss or praise, them out of bias but because what they are.

 

And you know, my final tangent, it’s important to remember, when he Dueled Horus. It’s not that his humanity and his love was too weak, but it was too strong. That he had to banish it so he could finally achieve victory. Sisters see in him someone who loves all of humanity including themselves in equal measure, even as individuals He will spend them without care.

 

So in long and short, it’s because the Emperor loves everything equally despite placing little to no value on anyone beyond their roles as simple tools.

[allegedlynerdy]

Continuing on Schlitzaf's tangent, the Imperial Inquisition is supposed to preserve humanity. They don't go throwing around exterminatus devices unless they have to, because doing so is wasting valuable resources and humanity.

 

As far as the Sisters of Silence, they are loyal because they are an ancient warrior culture, far older than the Imperium is self. To violate an oath that they made to the Emperor during the Great Crusade would be totally unthinkable.

[Withershadow]

And you know, my final tangent, it’s important to remember, when he Dueled Horus. It’s not that his humanity and his love was too weak, but it was too strong. That he had to banish it so he could finally achieve victory. Sisters see in him someone who loves all of humanity including themselves in equal measure, even as individuals He will spend them without care.

 

So in long and short, it’s because the Emperor loves everything equally despite placing little to no value on anyone beyond their roles as simple tools.

I will not be surprised if the Horus Heresy series alters this chain of events. The whole "Emperor wasn't sure if he could do it until Olanius/random Terminator/random Custodes was nuked by Horus" shtick always struck me as a romanticized retelling of events that have now passed into legend.  Far more likely, I think, the Emperor was getting his caved in by Horus, and the momentary distraction from whoever and the chink created by Sanguinius, allowed him to gain the upper hand.  It's like in all those HK vengeance sagas, where the bad guy has won, but the hero's girlfriend or whatever momentary distracts him before the final blow is struck, and the bad guy casually disposing of her gives the hero the brief moment of time and impetus to finish off his adversary, before dying himself (or in this case being interned into a Golden Throne).

[MARK0SIAN]

I’m not so sure, the Heresy series seems to be building Ollanius up to quite a significant role. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a lot more than a simple distraction. I do agree though, I think the final battle will be quite different from what is established canon but will retain the core elements like Sanguinius creating the chink in Horus’ armour.