Primarch Triumvirate

[b1soul]

So with the return of G-man and the possibility of other loyalist primarchs returning at the end of (or after) the Psychic Awakening events, I feel that perhaps GW's end-game is to move the setting toward a loyalist triumvirate (rather than merely a co-regency between, say, G-man and the Lion).

 

We've seen two triumvirates on the loyalist side in the disant past:

 

The Macraggean Triumvirate of G-man, the Lion, and Sanguinius

 

The Terran Triumvirate of Dorn, the Khan, and Sanguinius

 

 

 

I think a "modern" Terran Triumvirate of G-man and two others might be in the works.

 

I think the ancient Triumvirates each had a more conservative figure, a more aggressive figure, and Sanguinius (a well-loved figure capable of mediating between the former two but with a dark secret of his own). This allowed for dramatic tension and interesting personality dynamics.

 

Sanguinius is likely gone forever, but I think a revived Vulkan might fill Sang's role.

 

I personally think the following would be interesting:

 

G-man

Russ with suspect signs of Warp-touch, his presence noticeably more lupine and unsettling than before, hyper-agressive and sometimes a glint in his eyes of what could be madness, unwilling to share much about his travails in the Eye/Rift (G-man struggles to incorporate Russ into the current Imperium, creates plenty of tension with the Inquisition, G-man willing to side with his brother)

a matured Khan at peace with assuming greater responsibility within the Imperial superstructure, he remembers his ancient pledge to fight side by side with Russ when the time comes

 

Russ could be replaced by Warp-touched Corax who can barely hide his "warped" nature

The Khan could be replaced by a wisened, almost Odin-esque Russ (seems to be a fan favourite idea), who remembers when Corax risked his own life to save him at Yarant and acknowledges the blood debt.

G-man is torn between kinship and needing to maintain the loyalty of institutions like the Inquisition

 

Please share any thoughts or ideas or potential character arcs

[TrawlingCleaner]

IMO they don't need to do a Primarch Triumvirate, not wholly anyways. It would be far more interesting to see Guilliman with either only one other primarch or with none. He clearly places a huge amount of trust and respect in Dante and I would even go as far as to say that he almost sees him as an equal and should be in the Triumvirate. He's loved, he's very intellegent and he has far more experience that Guilliman. As I said, I think 2 of the spots on a Triumvirate should always go to G-man and Dante. The third slot, again should go to someone worthy other than a Primarch and maybe even someone other than a space marine. My pick would be Trajan Valoris or Junith Eruita (?). The Custodes and by extension, Trajan, have a huge vested interest in Space marines, Primaris and especially a primarch being back. They want to/are keeping a very close eye and would also be a huge bonus to Guilliman if they were working directly together. Junith is another option IMO as she represents a huge part of the Imperium in the sisters of battle and also as you mentioned a big, Aggressive driving force. IIRC sisters are far more numerous than space marines and even primaris. Again this would be a huge boon to Rowboat.

 

I know that was slightly off tangent from primarch specifically but IMO there are way more interesting scenarios than more primarchs coming back and having to work together.

[b1soul]

OK, I was kinda working on the premise of two loyalist primarchs returning and what would be some interesting options from a world-building or story-telling perspective

 

How many SoB are there by the way?

[Guest Triszin]

Russ

Valdor

13th co bulveye

[PeteySödes]

Russ and his wolves are the only triumvirate I need ;)

[Guest]

Russ and his wolves are the only triumvirate I need ;)

Russ

Valdor

13th co bulveye

Don't think you two understood the point of the subject, no offense. He is interested in what 2 Primarchs should come back and act as a triumvirate

[PeteySödes]

Lol no I got it, I was just playing on the triumvirate (kit) as GW would define it.

 

Less crap-posts though. Obviously I’d like Russ but for the 3rd I think Corax would be pretty great. Then we would have G-man as the General. Russ hopefully kinda grizzled but wise as the hands in the field and Corax as kind of the weirdo wetwork agent that pushes what the Imperium is willing to accept in regards to his new form.

[Ishagu]

Guilliman - The Politician, Regent of the Imperium

The Lion - The Tactician, Warmaster

Leman Russ - The Barbarian, Executioner

 

I think these three offer a nice balance. Russ is probably the most likeable, Guilliman the best in political matters, Lion is a great tactician but human interaction isn't his forte.

[Marshal Rohr]

A Primarch Triumvirate would be great, like the Crisis of the 3rd Century. 3 claimants to leadership fighting each other. 

[Ishagu]

A Primarch Triumvirate would be great, like the Crisis of the 3rd Century. 3 claimants to leadership fighting each other.

Too overdone.

There's enough conflict in the setting, and the Primarchs didn't fight each other after the Emperor fell. It's far more interesting to see how the 3 of them try to piece humanity back together using their different methods.

 

The Primarchs who were too selfish, childish and willing to burn everything down for their own gains were the traitorous ones.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Ishagu

[PeteySödes]

Politician! That’s more accurate to what I meant, good call. My only hesitance is lion and Russ could share a fairly similar role with any character development Russ would receive. Obviously this would only be if said development was of the more popular “Old Man Russ” road. Edited February 6, 2020 by PeteySödes

[Karhedron]

Guilliman and Johnson pretty much resolved their differences by the end of Ruinstorm. If Johnson came back, they would need to avoid retreading old ground thematically.

 

Guilliman and Corax had little interaction in the HH series. We do know that Guilliman didn't have a particularly high opinion of Corax as he always skipped on the rebuilding part after every battle and moved on to the next target. He considered it his mission to free humanity but tended to leave them in the lurch as soon as the overlords/slavers/xenos were defeated. I am guessing Guilliman had to clean up the mess he left behind more than once. This could be an interesting angle if Corax comes back obsessed with hunting down the traitors. Guilliman trying to explain to him that there are a lot of other enemies to fight and the Imperium needs rebuilding rather than just a super-assassin.

 

Khan and Guilliman would probably get on OK. I can see the Khan agreeing to take Guilliman's place in firefighting while Guilliman tries to get seriously into rebuilding. Being constantly on the move and rushing from one bushfire to the next would suit the Khan.

 

Vulkan has a similar temperament to Guilliman and concern for humanity. I would imagine them being in broad agreement but I can't see Vulkan being willing to leave Terra for any length of time. This could lead to tension if Guilliman wants Vulkan to take a more active stand.

 

Dorn is a tough one. The current fluff depicts him as bitter and depressed at the time of his death (or disappearance). His potential reactions to Guilliman would likely depend on the manner in which his return is handled. If he faked his death and went into hiding (a popular fan theory) then what were his reasons and why would he return now? The answers to these questions will be crucial in determining what role he would play.

[b1soul]

In the Corax primarch book, I think G-man had a decent respect for Corax's abilities

[Marshal Rohr]

Guilliman, the Lion, and Russ coming back and leading different factions is not the same thing as the Imperium Secundus, thematically or realistically. 

[Guest Triszin]

 

Russ and his wolves are the only triumvirate I need ;)

Russ

Valdor

13th co bulveye

Don't think you two understood the point of the subject, no offense. He is interested in what 2 Primarchs should come back and act as a triumvirate

You are correct.

[grailkeeper]

Ferrus Manus, Sanguinius and Horus.

Edited February 6, 2020 by grailkeeper

[Ishagu]

Ferrus Manus, Sanguinius and Horus.

I see what you did there

[Kite Senet]

Guilliman - The Politician, Regent of the Imperium

The Lion - The Tactician, Warmaster

Leman Russ - The Barbarian, Executioner

 

I think these three offer a nice balance. Russ is probably the most likeable, Guilliman the best in political matters, Lion is a great tactician but human interaction isn't his forte.

 

I'd expect the same here, and point out that there's also a meta reason these three would likely be chosen, since this lineup yields a centrepiece Lord of War option for each of the three main Adeptus Astartes codices that could have one. I'd also guess that Blood Angels may receive a technically-not-a-Primarch Lord of War, akin to a Living Saint version of Sanguinius, though this would function less as a character in the narrative (largely just swooping in to save the day and then leaving) so much as a rumored galaxy-changing event for the main triumvirate to deal with.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

The problem with bringing back Russ is he tends to be such a snow flake and could potentially makes things worse.

[PeteySödes]

The problem with bringing back Russ is he tends to be such a snow flake and could potentially makes things worse.

 

Lol what does this even mean? (assuming it's anything)

[Brother Casman]

 

Guilliman - The Politician, Regent of the Imperium

The Lion - The Tactician, Warmaster

Leman Russ - The Barbarian, Executioner

 

I think these three offer a nice balance. Russ is probably the most likeable, Guilliman the best in political matters, Lion is a great tactician but human interaction isn't his forte.

 

I'd expect the same here, and point out that there's also a meta reason these three would likely be chosen, since this lineup yields a centrepiece Lord of War option for each of the three main Adeptus Astartes codices that could have one. I'd also guess that Blood Angels may receive a technically-not-a-Primarch Lord of War, akin to a Living Saint version of Sanguinius, though this would function less as a character in the narrative (largely just swooping in to save the day and then leaving) so much as a rumored galaxy-changing event for the main triumvirate to deal with.

 

Yeah, the whole Lord of War thing is part of why I think the 2 most likely Loyalist Primarchs to return would be the Wolf and the Lion.

[Guest Triszin]

Guilliman: logistics, governing

Corax: intellegince, coordination (multiplier ongmans logistics, get supplies tonan area before they are needed)

Russ

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

 

The problem with bringing back Russ is he tends to be such a snow flake and could potentially makes things worse.

 

Lol what does this even mean? (assuming it's anything)

 

He could have killed Horus but got nostalgic - Horus on the other hand had no qualms about killing him... Wolfsbane. Yes he could have outright killed the Warmaster.

[b1soul]

Wolfsbane was a nonsensical concept, did neither Horus nor Russ any favours

[Karhedron]

Wolfsbane was a nonsensical concept, did neither Horus nor Russ any favours

The trouble is that it was written with a specific brief. In the early fluff when the length of the Heresy was undefined, the SWs attacked Prospero near the start of the heresy. Realising they had been duped, they then fought there way back to Terra, hooking up with the DAs along the way to lift the Siege but arrived just 24 hours to late.

 

Now we have the Heresy stretched out to 7 years and the Wolves were back on Terra after Prospero and the Alaxxes Nebula. Since it has been established lore since at least 2nd edition that only the BAs, WSs and IFs were on Terra during the Siege, they needed an excuse to get Russ and the Wolves off Terra just before the siege. The plot works in that regard, Russ hesitating does suck though.

 

It would have worked much better if they done an Infinity War-esque scene. Russ commits 100% and delivers what he thinks is the killing blow only for Horus to growl "You should have gone for the head, Brother!"