I’ve been looking forward to Know No Fear from Dan Abnett about the Battle of Calth since Battle for the Abyss. The Word Bearers exacting revenge on the Ultramarines for Monarchia—despite their insistence this has NOTHING to do with that (yeah right)—is legendary in the already legendary Horus Heresy. This is why the surface of Calth is uninhabitable. Here is how Guilliman learns of his brothers’ betrayal. And this is one of the big reasons why it took the Ultramarines so long to reach Terra. It all goes back to the Word Bearers on Calth and the fact they made one crucial miscalculation. They forgot that it’s always the calm ones you need to be fearful of.
Lorgar forgot one other crucial detail about his brother Roboute Guilliman. He forgot how bloody smart the man is. Dan Abnett was very quick to point this out as soon as Guilliman is introduced, as the primarch rattles off information he’s collected from thousands of feeds. He was even able to pick out a strange feed of “singing” in the background, all while he’s writing his future Codex. So while Lorgar counted on Roboute believing the attack was an error, he did not count on how quickly he would figure out it was most certainly not. Roboute forced Lorgar to move more quickly than planned, which was, without a doubt, the reason why the Word Bearers weren’t able to wipe out the entire 13th Legion.
Lorgar and Kor Phaeron both also did not count on how Guilliman and the 13th Legion fights when they’re angry. Lorgar mocked Roboute with asking, “Have you lost your temper, Roboute?”, but he really had no idea what wrath he unleashed. It was more than the primarch’s enhanced biology that kept him alive out in space without a helmet. It was pure anger. Sigismund would have been proud. Abnett himself was very pleased with this piece of the Battle, as he explained in his afterword:
Oh, and it was great to make the previously rather square and un-hip loyalists (by comparison with the über-cool badass traitors) look great for a change. I mean, Guilliman punches a Space Marine’s head clean off…in space…without a helmet on…in space…holding his breath…clean off…one punch… I mean, come on!
I’ve HATED Kor Phaeron since the Lorgar primarch novel. Just imagine my delight when Abnett proved what a jealous idiot the man really is. Gav Thorpe showed how jealous Kor Phaeron was of Lorgar. Aaron Dembski-Bowden pointed out how the other Word Bearers don’t respect Kor Phaeron since he’s not a true Legiones Astartes. The man has some baggage, and Abnett nicely presented Kor Phaeron’s jealousy of Erebus.
Or, with his own hand, he can turn him [Guilliman].
Just as the Warmaster was turned.
Erebus did it. So Kor Phaeron can do it.
The idiot didn’t think of the grand master plan Erebus had to concoct to turn Horus, or how Magnus almost thwarted the plan entirely. He just knows that Erebus turned the Warmaster, so surely he can turn Roboute Guilliman. I literally barked a laugh when I heard those words from my audiobook. If Fulgrim couldn’t turn Ferrus Manus, his best friend, then what makes you think you can turn Roboute Guilliman, a primarch who hates you?
Even though I knew he couldn’t die, I still (futilely) hoped that Guilliman would kill him anyway. They can always say the man got better, like if he was turned into a newt.
And now the Ultramarines are in the fray. Things are going to get good and drawn out. Drawn allllll the way out. For over 30 more books.
Nineteen books down, 35 to go.
Horus Hearsay is dedicated to Keri’s journey through the Horus Heresy saga. The chronicling of the Horus Heresy began over ten years ago, with currently 54 books in total, not counting The Primarchs series or the various short stories. Horus Hearsay will only cover the main novels.
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