Damnatio Memorioa

[job]

So I've been reading Horus Rising and listening to audiobooks from the Horous Heresy series. I'm very happy to hear and read a quality I never thought GW committed to. It feels a lot more literary and the fluff is much better developed and consistent. It really has resparked my interest in 40k.

As part of my thoughts on 40k one of my favorite things to think about and speculate on is what are the two missing Legions? Who were they and what happened to them? Apparently clues or rather tidbits have been left in the HH series. Any thoughts people?

[Primarch]

References are made to the lost legions being an aberration and a tragedy.
The Space Wolves are referred to as the Emperor's Executioners.
A comment is made that after each of the other legions was lost, the Ultramarines Legion got bigger.

My take on it is that when the two missing Primarchs were found, they either fought against the Imperium or were otherwise deemed unsuitable in some way. Russ and his boys were called in and put them down. The legions that were supposed to belong to those Primarchs were folded into the Ultramarines rather than kept as separate formations.

[job]

"Emperor's executioners?"

Resistance to the Imperium is an interesting take.

Is it possible that the lost Primarchs were mutated? I hear about a warp rift appearing and taking the Primarchs through the Warp to their new homeworlds. Often there's the running theme of things traveling through the warp undergoing change.

[Primarch]

"Emperor's executioners?"

Resistance to the Imperium is an interesting take.

Is it possible that the lost Primarchs were mutated? I hear about a warp rift appearing and taking the Primarchs through the Warp to their new homeworlds. Often there's the running theme of things traveling through the warp undergoing change.

Maybe. Sanguinius had wings, but everyone was cool with that.

[me_in_japan]

The warp rift thingy that takes the prims to their respective homeworlds has long been part of the fluff. It's actually explained in great detail later in the HH series. Without spoilering, it's implied that the seeds of heresy were planted at this point, but there's no mention of mutation or similar.

[Primarch]

The warp rift thingy that takes the prims to their respective homeworlds has long been part of the fluff. It's actually explained in great detail later in the HH series. Without spoilering, it's implied that the seeds of heresy were planted at this point, but there's no mention of mutation or similar.

Yep. Plus, the Emperor randomly being a douchebag to some of his children probably didn't help matters.

The books do say that all of the Primarchs lament their lost brothers and are forbidden from discussing them. When the heresy kicks off, the statues of the traitor Primarchs in the palace are covered up, but those of the lost brothers were removed entirely from the display leaving empty plinths.

[job]

Well it is strange how reactions to The Horus Heresy are kind of mild in comparison to the deletion of the 2nd and 11th. Additionally, why the 2nd? It seems a rather significant number for one to be erased. (Granted there isn't much attached to the numbers other than the 20th having an inferiority complex.)

The whole seeds of Heresy thing has been around for awhile. I remember reading it in the old 3rd Ed Chapter approved fluff. On the other hand it doesn't seem to be a dry run for heresy because the marines seem to be honestly confounded by the beginning of the civil war. If two legions had gone to war with the Imperium you would think it would be something uncontainable. Certainly in Horus Rising the characters find the idea of marine fighting marine incredulous.

So it seems to me that the issue lay with the Primarch themselves. Other Primarchs briefly fought Imperial forces, Alpahrius (what's up with his twin? Kind of makes the true number of Primarchs 21. Granted he is supposed to be legion secret) and Angron.

Daemonic Possession?

Bad habits? Didn't brush their teeth enough?

Stunted size?

They became women?

They actually were pacifists?

[Auxryn]

I agree with pretty much everything Prim said. That's my reading of it.

Keep in mind that all the Marines were made by and stayed with the Emperor, so even if a primarch declared against the Emperor it would not have been a Marine vs. Marine conflict. The rogue primarch's legion would not have to be affected by their father's heresy. The Heresy would still be the first time marines fought marines.

It's possible that the 2nd and 11th were deleted from history to protect the Legions after their primarchs rebelled. Space Marines are a proud bunch, and their connection to their primarch is a big part of their personal identity. Giving them a new legion and a new father and ensuring that no one can ever make fun of them for what happened to their previous primarch might help.