Alpharius, Origins and The First Legion

[ZebraM]

So in the new HH short story 'The First Legion' the Dark Angels and in particular The Lion have an encounter with an Alpha Legion emissary who offers his legion's assisstance in the ongoing Rangdan Xenocides. The thing that stood out to me in this exchange is that despite it being decades before Alpharius was "found" by Horus and before the Alpha Legion made its presence offically known to the Imperium, the Alpha Legion emissary calls himself Alpharius.

This is really interesting imo as it's either suggesting that Alpharius was present long before he actually "showed" himself to his brothers or that the name Alpharius predates the arrival of the primarch to the legion.

Thoughts?
 

[b1soul]

I think a legion could be informed of the name of their scattered primarch before uniting with him

[Charlo]

I think a legion could be informed of the name of their scattered primarch before uniting with him

 

Doubtful, while it's known each Primarch had a name the Emperor intended for them - their names were given by their homeworlds.

 

However, due to the super secret nature of the AL, maybe it was just protocol that the Legion's head is always called Alpharius and the Primarch we know as this simply took the name on upon taking command.

[b1soul]

Good point about Alpharius

[Bryan Blaire]

Or:

-time flux jiggery-pokery going on worthy of the Ordo Chronus

-the author simply made a boo-boo and it wasn’t caught before it was sent to publishing

 

I like Charlo’s explanation though, would add depth to the Legion and its operations before finding its Primarch, and would add some interest to questioning the exact nature and reason of the creation Legion XX.

[1ncarnadine]

One of my personal favorite theories is that all of the origin stories for Alpharius in HH3: Extermination are true, one of which is that one (or both) of the twins was never even separated from the Emperor.

 

Even if that weren't true, as Charlo brought up, it seems likely that the Alpharius designation was in use well before Alpharius officially took command of the XXth as a fully formed legion.

 

Doubtful, while it's known each Primarch had a name the Emperor intended for them - their names were given by their homeworlds.

Perturabo

[DarKnight]

Perhaps Brother Phoebus or one of the other I Legion aficionados can refresh my memory but weren't the Rangdan Xenocides supposed to have all been pre founding of Caliban and the Lion? I don't know if BL would make a timeline gaffe of that size but either way I imagine this to be more unnecessary obfuscation of the Alpha Legion with no payoff intended which like tidbits on the II & XI Legions, GW still thinks we care about for some reason.

[bluntblade]

I certainly thought that was the case

[Knockagh]

Sounds like a boob to me! But if not, perhaps one that could be explained in great primarch origin story.

Is there anyway the Alpharius name could have been adopted by him after he was found? Some kind of integration into his legion? ‘I am Alpharius’ signified him saying ‘I am one of you’

[Ryltar Thamior]

Where the Alpha Legion are concerned, there are no 'continuity errors'. Merely as-yet unexplained conspiratorial machinations. 

But yeah uh .. the two most likely explanations imo, are that due to the origin of the "Alpha Legion' as a designator for the XXth in their status as an 'alpha test' or 'alpha phase' [i forget which - i think it's the latter?] legion, which appears to have stuck for codename purposes , it's very possibble that "Alpharius" also has its origins there. Thus, perhaps it also has a standard function as an external-interface cognomen when dealing with non-Legion forces who are supposed to be aware that they're XXth. 

"Alpharius", in that sense, basically just meaning "of the Alpha Legion". 

The other possiibility, as others have raised, is that Omegon perhaps remaining on Terra when the Scattering happened, means that there's a chance of hte legion's later identity still being much consistent with what has gone before. Although that still folds back into the above in terms of why "Alpharius". 

A third supposition might be that the suspicion that Horus keeping the discovery of Alpharius to himself for quite some time ... may perhaps mean that actually, yes, Alpharius *is* around much, *much* earlier than has ever been officially confirmed. 

Hell, thinking about it some more, you could even make the speculative leap to the race of alien enslavers which *may* have held Alpharius , not actually being the Sluagh - but rather the Rangdan. (I should write up some speculative notes on the Rangdan based on what we know and the Balinese mythological figure their name's derived from sometime, but that's another matter for another time) 

[mc warhammer]

i'd say this was intentional on the author and bl's part

 

i'm much more interested in the link between legions I and XX tbh

[Phoebus]

Perhaps Brother Phoebus or one of the other I Legion aficionados can refresh my memory but weren't the Rangdan Xenocides supposed to have all been pre founding of Caliban and the Lion? I don't know if BL would make a timeline gaffe of that size but either way I imagine this to be more unnecessary obfuscation of the Alpha Legion with no payoff intended which like tidbits on the II & XI Legions, GW still thinks we care about for some reason.

There have been several changes to the Dark Angels’ timeline, so this is understandably a tricky topic.

 

To my knowledge, a firm date isn’t given as to the Lion’s reunion with the Emperor. Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels never provided a date-stamp for their events, like other novels did. Rather, Fallen Angels gave a rough figure of years that had passed between the start of that novel (which occurs shortly after the Isstvan III Atrocity) and the Dark Angels’ campaign at Sarosh. The original versions of those novels implied Sarosh occurred shortly after the Emperor’s arrival on Caliban and about fifty years before the campaign at Diamat — so roughly 955.M30.

 

During Laurie Goulding’s time at the helm, though, there was an effort to correct some chronological discrepancies and get some continuity going. Subsequent printings of Descent of Angels qualified that “decades of conquest” had passed between the arrival of the Imperium on Caliban and Sarosh. It’s worth noting that it’s not just the editorial team that went with this timeline: Gav Thorpe also cited “more than a hundred years” between the events of Angels of Caliban and Luther’s return to Caliban.

 

Forge World’s Horus Heresy books place the Rangdan Xenocides (of which there were three) between 860 and 890.M30. Thus, if Sarosh occurred in 905.M30, and the Dark Angels had left Caliban “decades” before that, even the most conservatively literal reading of the above allows for the Lion to be in command as late as 885.M30. Chris Wraight’s Leman Russ: The Great Wolf pushed that date further to the left by placing the Dulan Compliance in 870.M30. Even more than that, though, it qualifies that Alajos had fought for “decades in the Great Crusade” even before Dulan. As a reminder, Alajos is implied as being Calibanite in “Savage Weapons.”

 

EDIT: Sviox cited (in the next page of this topic) the Lion being the eleventh primarch found, with Magnus (the ninth) being discovered in 840.M30 and Perturabo (the twelfth) in 849.M30. So again, the newer works — the revised Fallen Angels, the Forge World entries, the primarch novels, etc., are all working off a common timeline.

 

It doesn’t all marry up perfectly, of course. The revised editions now have passages that feel awkward as the passage of time described has more than doubled. The Lion is obviously a primarch entrusted with independent campaigns and command of his own legion at Dulan, but that compliance — and the Third damn Rangdan Xenocide! — would seem to have occurred prior to Sarosh. We can always blame it on “time dilation,” I suppose, but at the end of the day it’s just a case of loose ends. It’s not the end of the world, obviously.

[ZebraM]

-the author simply made a boo-boo and it wasn’t caught before it was sent to publishing

It's definetly not a mistake in any way. It's an integral part of the story and it's very specific in when it is and who's involved (The Lion, Dark Angels, "Alpharius" and the Alpha Legion).

 

Personally I'm leaning towards the idea that it is actually Alpharius and the primarch was never missing just hidden by the Emperor. There's a part in the story where the Lion and "Alpharius" are conversing and the Dark Angels captain acting as the POV notes that there's an underlying subtly to the conversation that only the Lion and "Alpharius" seem to be truly aware of.

[Charlo]

 

-the author simply made a boo-boo and it wasn’t caught before it was sent to publishing

It's definetly not a mistake in any way. It's an integral part of the story and it's very specific in when it is and who's involved (The Lion, Dark Angels, "Alpharius" and the Alpha Legion).

 

Personally I'm leaning towards the idea that it is actually Alpharius and the primarch was never missing just hidden by the Emperor. There's a part in the story where the Lion and "Alpharius" are conversing and the Dark Angels captain acting as the POV notes that there's an underlying subtly to the conversation that only the Lion and "Alpharius" seem to be truly aware of.

 

There is always the fluff that Alpharius could hide himself among normal legionnaires (in the same way Mortarion Teleports and Corax/ Curze are shadowmen), maybe he is doing this to the Lion, though I wonder if Primarchs can "sense" their own kind?

[bluntblade]

Fluff would seem to indicate that, as Horus recognises Alpharius instinctively in one of the Lies.

[Petitioner's City]

Well, perhaps the author of this short should be writing the Alpharius novella, as this could lead to an interesting topic - Alpharius before his reveal. But I do hope Dan Abnett could be coaxed into writing it (or the Horus one) :D

[1ncarnadine]

There is always the fluff that Alpharius could hide himself among normal legionnaires (in the same way Mortarion Teleports and Corax/ Curze are shadowmen), maybe he is doing this to the Lion, though I wonder if Primarchs can "sense" their own kind?

Mortarion doesn't teleport. He's a slasher flick killer. Someone tries to get away and the camera cuts to him walking menacingly at them while the Halloween theme plays. Cut back to foe running, and they seem to be getting away, but then we cut back to Mortarion and he's still there, just walking. Then cut back to foe opening a door and BAM they walk into Mortarion

 

But on a serious note, Russ could sense Alpharius in Wolf King.

[rendingon1+]

Friend of mine who claims to read it, says it's a relly weird short story...
1. Rangdan campaign is still going on - it's either Chris' mistake (tht would be very sad) or Xenocie fluff will be expanded: Caliban and Lion will be found DURING campaign, new Legionnaries and Lion join in and Lion is in command. That woul mean it was a very long conflict.
2. Alpharius is just a normal astartes, no hints it's otherwise.
3. Alpharius proposes not just help in fighting xenos, but taking over if DA withdraw to rebuild. For unknown reason Lion has support of XX for the warmaster if (they both share conviction that sooner or later Emperor will return to Terra and place someone in his stead).
4. Lion does not give an answear but flahback to his past show the same kind of converstion with some knight of the Order: Beasthunt on Caliban erodes Order's forces, knight proposes withdrawal to build up strenght. Lion replies he will not because this is his duty.

As fr as I understand it is possible that Alpharius was sent by the Emp to test Lion's resolve.

[Phoebus]

I don’t think it’s a mistake. The Rangdan Xenocides timeline is about as qualified as you would hope. A lot of effort has gone into revising the Lion’s timeline so that he is active and in command of his Legion during that time period.

[mc warhammer]

while i like the idea that the twins could hide their primarch aura, much like the emperor seems able to...dorn was also able to tell alpharius apart from 2 dupes. he said there was no flaw in their disguises, but he could still tell

[Indefragable]

At the HH weekender preview for Book 9, Anuj and Neil mentioned that the Rangdan Xenocides would never be given too much depth or explanation because—somewhat similar to II/XI Legions—they feel that it’s something that deserves a bit of permanent mystery.

 

What could possibly be so horrible that Astartes refuse to discuss it? Etc...

[Lord_Caerolion]

I still really like the theory put forth in Extermination that the Alpha Legion were named that because they were the alpha-test Legion, and that when the Primarchs were scattered, part of Alpharius remained, and was kept secret by the Emperor. They then acted as a hidden weapon, used on false flag operations and assassinations, etc.

[DarKnight]

 

 

-the author simply made a boo-boo and it wasn’t caught before it was sent to publishing

 

It's definetly not a mistake in any way. It's an integral part of the story and it's very specific in when it is and who's involved (The Lion, Dark Angels, "Alpharius" and the Alpha Legion).

Personally I'm leaning towards the idea that it is actually Alpharius and the primarch was never missing just hidden by the Emperor. There's a part in the story where the Lion and "Alpharius" are conversing and the Dark Angels captain acting as the POV notes that there's an underlying subtly to the conversation that only the Lion and "Alpharius" seem to be truly aware of.

 

There is always the fluff that Alpharius could hide himself among normal legionnaires (in the same way Mortarion Teleports and Corax/ Curze are shadowmen), maybe he is doing this to the Lion, though I wonder if Primarchs can "sense" their own kind?

Russ could also pick out Alpharius during the ambush at Alaxxes (s/p) as well

[Wulfburk]

So did Dorn identify alpharius in a praetorian of dorn flashback.

[mc warhammer]

yup