40K: The Grand And Devious Plan of Roboute Guilliman To Destroy The Emperor’s Imperium – Prime
Today let’s take a look at how the Primarch Roboute Guilliman plans to destroy the Imperium of Man as we know it.
Since his return from death Roboute Guilliman, the Avenging Son, has been hard at work. On the face of it, Guilliman has spent every waking moment (which is his every moment since he no longer sleeps) working tirelessly to shore up his father’s realm.19 He has rebuilt the Space Marines by introducing the Primaris, fought the Indomitus Crusade, and the Plague Wars, battled across countless stars, restored the glory of Ultramar of Old, and passed numerous reforms aimed at restoring the Imperial Government.
In a galaxy wracked by war, Guilliman has been everywhere, a shining beacon upholding Imperial might and bring hope to the teeming trillions of faithful. It can well be said that without Guilliman, the Imperium of Man would not have survived the cataclysmic events of the 13th Black Crusade and the aftermath. Guilliman has, through super (or post) human effort, saved the Imperium for now. However, it remains to be seen if the Imperium can survive against an even more significant threat: Roboute Guilliman.
Guilliman, the Imperium’s Foe?
While on the surface of things Guilliman has been working to uphold and reinforce his father’s Imperium, the Primarch of the XIII seems to have plans of his own. In truth, the Avenging Son has been hard at work undermining the long-standing Imperial apparatus. Like cancer growing within or like an insidious Chaos Cult, Guilliman and his followers have wormed their way into every aspect of the Imperial government. He has co-opted vital figures and institutions, broken the power of those who oppose him, undermined the pillars of Imperial power, and waged a secret war for control of Mankind. All of this was done in service to his long term goals: the destruction of the Imperium of Mankind, as devised and formed by the Emperor and upheld through the long millennium by the faithful.
This is not to say the Guilliman wishes for an end to Mankind or the Galactic government or civilization. In place of the Emperor’s Imperium, the Last “Loyal” Son would rise his own version of an Imperium. If you asked Guilliman, he would no doubt think of it as an Imperium of Light to counter the Dark Imperium that now rules over humankind. To many, the change would not be apparent or would take place over such a long period as to be only noticeable in hindsight. Guilliman does not wage a war of conquest, instead he fights an internal war, for now, for control of humanities’ soul. Make no mistake should Guilliman win, while the Imperial borders may not change, and while the stellar empire of Mankind may persist the Imperium as we know it will be gone, dust and ashes like its corpse lord. Let us now take a look at what we know of Guilliman’s grand plans, and what he has done to implement them.
An Empire Builder
The Avenging Son is at heart an empire builder. At creation, the Master of Mankind seems to have imbued his 13th son with his ambition and organizational skills, creating a post-human being will the need to organize, and the drive to expand organization across the stars. Even before being reunited with the Emperor Guilliman was empire-building on Macragge. From there, he would go to join the Imperial war effort to build the Imperium. Yet even while supporting his father’s grand ambitions, he could not resist empire building of his own. Under his care, Macragge came to rule over a mini-Empire within an Empire, the 500 worlds of Ultramar.
In Ultramar, Guilliman strove to build an empire that was, if anything, more perfect that the greater Imperium his father was making. Ambition drove Guilliman here, long before brother turned on brother, to try to prove himself a better ruler than the immortal Master of Mankind. Alone among the brother Primarchs the Thirteenth had an empire, a shining beacon of culture. Did Guilliman hope with Ultramar he would win the Emperor’s approval, as he once sought to win the support of his foster father, Konor? Could the Primarch’s motivations be nothing more complicated than a child seeking approval? Or was Guilliman, even at this early date, convinced that he could do better, and than perhaps the Emperor was not perfect? We will likely never know that, but it remains an interesting question to ponder.
We do, however know that not even the outbreak of the apocalyptic civil war known as the Horus Heresy could stop Guilliman from building. As the Ruinstorm, as a massive galactic wide warpstorm, swallowed the galaxy, and with many fearing the Holy Terra might have already fallen, Guilliman moved to build an Empire of his own out of the ashes of his father realm and based in Ultramar.
Imperium Secundus, the Unremembered Empire, was meant to “represent continuity.”20 This at least is how Guilliman sold his plan to his brother Primarchs Sanginiuis and the Lion, as a contingency in case Terra was lost and a way to keep mankind’s flame alive in a hostile galaxy. Yet despite Guilliman’s claims to continuity, it’s clear the Imperium Secundus, built out of Ultramar and it’s five hundred worlds, would be a different beast the original Imperium. Nor did his brothers entirely trust Guilliman in this, with both, and in particular the Lion, being worried about his ambition and true goals. In speaking with Guilliman, Johnson made this quite clear:
“Your ambition, Roboute. It was always your greatest strength and your greatest flaw. No two brothers more ambitious than you and Horus. It has seen you build an Empire. If I had come and found you stealing another, than I would have struck.” 21
It is only through giving up direct power to Sanginiuis that Guilliman can secure agreement to his plan, yet it is clear that his ambitions did not die there. In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy and the Emperor’s internment on the Golden Throne, Guilliman once more took up the role of an empire builder. With the Emperor wounded and unable to command the Imperium, Guilliman took change as Lord Commander of The Imperium. It’s not entirely clear how Guilliman was chosen over his brothers, though the fact that he led the largest loyal legion and had a strong power base in Ultramar likely played a role. Guilliman wanted to make his mark and set about reorganizing things, writing the Codex Astartes, and secretly starting the Primaris project, among other things.
The other Primarches however, still held Guilliman in check, and he could not act freely. The adoption of the Codex Astartes was hotly contested, and Guilliman was forced to not only break up his Legion but also the Five Hundred Worlds to get it passed. Even then, Dorn made secret plans to circumvent the Chapter set up if needed while Russ mostly just ignored it. As long as his brothers remained, Guilliman could never truly be in charge. Ultimately whatever plans the Avenging Son had for the post-Heresy Imperium were put on abrupt hold when he was mortally wounded by the traitor Fulgrim.
The First Steps of A Reborn God
Awakening nearly ten thousand years after being wounded, Guilliman found the Imperium and the galaxy considerably changed. Mankind’s realm had fallen into the darkness of superstition and ignorance, twisted by a millennium of warfare into a creaking ossified mockery of its past self. It is an Imperium and a fate that Guilliman despises, for his personal beliefs are antithetical to the current Imperium. Moreover, and importantly for his plans, his brothers, the loyal ones at least, are gone, lost, or dead. Whatever personal pain this may have caused him, it did open the way for Guilliman to take control of the Imperium.
Mankind’s realm had fallen into a darkness of superstition and ignorance, twisted by millennium of warfare into a creaking ossified mockery of it’s past self.
Shortly after his return to Terra, a Terra bearing little resemblance to the one he recalled, he did just that, declaring himself once more Lord Commander of the Imperium and Imperial Regent. After taking over control of Imperial forces, Guilliman set about enticing sweeping reforms. At first, these seem primarily aimed at combating the dire military situation. After securing Terra from attack, and gaining the loyalty of both the Custodian Guard and the Sisters of Silence, Guilliman set about preparing for the Indomitus Crusade. A vital aspect of the crusade, and his plans, in general, was the Primaris Project. This project, ten millennia in the works, aimed at reforging the Space Marines into a better, and more potent fighting force. Here again, we see Guilliman’s ambition at work, as he wished to perfect his father’s creation, one-upping as it where the Master of Mankind.
The Primaris Project had a profound effect on the Imperial Military. The Space Marines, humanity’s cutting edge, where significantly reinforced. Hundreds of new chapters were founded as part of the Ultima Founding, and the vast bulk of the existing chapters were reinforced by Primaris Marines. When Guilliman could, he personally or parts of the Indomitus Crusade would oversee the introduction of Primaris Marines. In other regions, the so-called Torchbearers dispatched by the Primarch embarked on far-flung missions to bring Primaris secrets to isolated chapters. 22 Though the Primaris Project was in its own right a massive accomplishment, it was in fact but the first step in his plans.
Takeover of the Imperial Military
Undercover of the Indomitus Crusade and the Primaris Project, Roboute Guilliman affected a take over of the entire Imperial military apparatus. Using the dire straights of the Imperium as an excuse, the Avenging Son has gained more direct personal power than anyone has held since the Emperor walked the stars. While reorganization may have been necessary, the flouting of prior doctrine and divisions of power should be worrying.
Though the Primaris Project Guilliman has revitalized the Space Marines, he has also made sure that they are personally loyal to him. Born by his will, and commanded in many battles by him the Primaris Marines are personally loyal to Guilliman in a way other Marines (with the exception of his own Ultramarines) are not. Though born of many gene-lines, the Primaris all share a loyalty to the Thirteen Primarch, and it’s even possible they were brainwashed to be loyal.
While many early Primaris struggled to fit in or feel attached to their assigned Chapter, such as Sergeant Justinian of the Novamarines, they had no such issues with loyalty to the Primarch.23 Using the Primaris Marines Guilliman was able to not only rebuild the legions of old, with the Unnumbered Sons, but to exert control over the existing Chapters.24
Though normally glossed over, the takeover and infiltration of the loyal Marine Chapters did not go without notice or resistance. Each of the Torchbearer task forces was accompanied by members of the Custodian Guard. When it was felt that a Chapter might be resistant to the idea of Primaris Marines, a larger than normal force of Custodians were sent. Their purpose was to leave “no doubt that this boon came by the grace of the Emperor himself and that to resist its implementation was to deny the Master of Mankind.”25
The threat here would be clear. It’s long been noted the Custodians excel at killing Space Marines, and some have theorized they were ultimately meant to retire the Space Marines, much as the Thunder-Warriors had been retired at the end of their service. So it is clear that the inclusion of Custodians in extra numbers was less to convince the reluctant Chapters that the commands came from Terra, and more to enforce them with violence if necessary.
Once again it seems Guilliman strove to outdo his father
While it’s unknown if force was ever used, we do know that some Chapters could not be reinforced and where instead replaced. While the process of reestablishing a chapter was officially only done if the chapter had been wiped out before the arrival of the Torchbearers, it’s not impossible to think to some Chapters where found wanting in loyalty. Part of the Torchbearers job might have been to make sure the Chapter was still loyal and destroyed for refusing the Primaris Gift, only to be rebuilt loyal to Guilliman. 26 Who knows how many Marines, loyal to the Master of Mankind, but not his Avenging Son, where purged out there on the edges of Imperial Space.
Guilliman did not limit his take over to the Space Marines. In organizing the Crusading Fleets of the Indomitus Crusade, he exerted control over the rest of the Imperial military. The Indomitus Crusade was the largest single military undertaking since the Great Crusade, and once again, it seems Guilliman strove to outdo his father. The Crusade was organized to several massive fleets. Then subdivided into smaller formation, and the Primarch has a personal hand in their organization “right down to the regimental level”. 27 This allowed Guilliman to handpick the commanders of each fleet, who outside of the normal chain of command, had total control of their fleets, and reported only to Guilliman and his loyal High Lords. 28 Using the Crusade Fleets Guilliman was able to insert picked men and women, no doubt loyal to him, into powerful positions. These loyal officers then had the power to appoint more loyal people to position as they waged war across the Imperium. Thus Guilliman was able to insert loyalists into both the military and the government.
New Organizations
As part of his plans, Guilliman has set up several new organizations. While some of these have end goals of their own, a great deal of them seem to work against or work to replace existing Imperial organizations. In these cases, it appears that Guilliman, unable to take control of the organization, simply replaced it with one loyal to him. Let’s take a look at two of the organizations.
The first of these is the Logos Historica Verita. This group works under Guilliman and was originally charged with finding and rediscovering the history of the Imperium and chronicling the current strife. Made up of historians, Rogue Traders, and other agents, the Logos ultimately has ended up being Guilliman’s personal Inquisition. Members of the Logos, such as Yassilli Sulymanya, spy for Guilliman, search out forbidden secrets, and go on missions to recover artifacts. 29
The role of the Logos overlaps in many areas with the established Inquisition, such as during the Chronostrife, when members of the Ordo Chronos fought violently, both internally and with members of the Logos over the Imperial Calendar.30 At other times, Logos missions, such as Sulymanya’s mission to Talsimar, came into open conflict with agents of Inquisition. Both these organizations have a similar role, yet their goals, as Sulymanya says, are different:
“Our mission is to reveal, theirs is to obscure. We are opposed in our natures. Conflict between us is inevitable… So much talent wasted. We are all supposed to be on the same side.”31
We can see here that Guilliman, unable to control the Inquisition, has simply set about to replace it.
A second major new organization Guilliman has created is the Officio Logisiticarum. This new organization was created to support the Indomitus Crusade and oversaw supply, communications, and other logistical matters for the Crusading forces. As the crusade spread throughout the Imperial, so did the power of the Officio Logisticarum, with them establishing Hub-Fortresses across loyal space and taking over logistics and communication or large parts of the Imperium. 32
These roles should be noted and were traditionally carried out under the auspices Adeptus Administratum and would normally have been largely handled by Departmento Munitorum. There is some dispute over whether the Officio Logisticarum is part of the Adeptus Administratum or an independent part of the Adeptus Terra. While the Officio is mentioned to have been made up of members drawn from the Administratum and the Munitorum, in Dawn of the Era Indomitus, it is described as a “branch of the Adeptus Terra” leading me to believe that it is independent of the Administratum. 33 Here again, rather than try to reform an organization, Guilliman simply created a new one, that filled the same role, but would be loyal to him.
More Reforms
Guilliman’s reforms are not limited to the creation of a few organizations but aimed at changing every aspect of Imperial life. He has already reformed the Codex Astartes, changing the fundamental laws governing Space Marines. His next big step seems to be the Codex Imperialis. This promises to be a massive work, that, unlike the Codex Astartes, will not be limited to the regulating Space Marines, but will reorder the Imperium as Guilliman wises. Also, he has passed reforms to rebuild the Five Hundred Worlds, giving him a secure power base. With these acts, Guilliman plans to destroy the Imperium and reforge it as he wills.
Opposition Forms
The plans of the Avenging Son have not gone unnoticed. There are those within the Imperial power structure who wish to oppose Guilliman and see his goals for what they are, a danger to the Imperium. Gabriel Seth, Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers, saw the danger clearly and said as much to Dante of the Blood Angels:
“‘Open your eyes, Dante. These Unnumbered Sons, they are Legions in all but name. I have spoken with the newcomers. They are only too glad to tell me of the Avenging Son’s plans. Wherever Guilliman goes, he leaves his men in place. Through the codex, he gave the Adeptus Astartes their independence. He is more than willing to remove it from us. Soon, the Chapters will be free in name only. And these new Space Marines, he has the gall to interfere with the work of the Emperor. If he is willing to do that… if he is regent, why not Emperor?”34
Here Seth sees the threat and points out many of the ways Guilliman has already taken power into his own hands. Despite his reservations, Seth seems unable to prevent Primaris additions to the Flesh Tearers. It’s still clear that he is not alone in mistrusting Guilliman. In particular, it seems that Agents of the Inquisition and the Church are wary of the Lord Commander.
The Civil War Begins
Many people, myself included, have been predicting an Imperial Civil War, as those who oppose Guilliman’s power grab attempt to stop him. However, it’s clear that the civil war has already started and is being fought even now in the shadows. The opening act of this war was the so-called Primarch’s Scourge. In this action, Guilliman led a purge of Holy Terra herself, killing millions and removing thousands of officials, from High Lords on down, that opposed him. Though records describe this as a purge of enemy forces, it is clear that this was the opening shots of a civil war, in which Guilliman removed all those who might oppose him on Terra.35 Since then, there has been scattered fighting in the shadows, between the Inquisition and Guilliman’s men, and other unknown conflicts.
The End Goal
So far, we’ve looked at how Guilliman has taken control of the Imperial government and military and has waged a shadow war to weaken the organizations he can’t control. It’s clear that all this is in service to some grand goal. Guilliman needs power, total power, over the Imperium so that he may destroy it. Guilliman wishes to remake the Imperium to his own standards. He will destroy the Imperial cult and likely would bring back the Imperial Truth. Guilliman is trying to build a rational and enlightened government, or at least what he sees as one.
The Imperium Guilliman would build the polar opposite of the current Dark Imperium, a place where humanity can prosper. He would likely argue that he is simply trying to return to Imperium to what it once was, to follow the Emperor’s original plan. But it’s clear this is not true. Guilliman does not want to rebuild the Imperium of the Great Crusade Era; the Imperium was, after all built on a lie and hid the truth of Chocs and the Warp from all. Guilliman, in his ambition, wants to outdo his father and build a better Imperium, to turn the galaxy into a version of Ultramar. Indeed it’s clear he thinks Ultramar was better then what his father built, as he says to Captain Felix: “Ultramar is not the Imperium… if it were, perhaps none of this would ever have happened.”36
Guilliman, it is clear, wants to build his version of a galaxy-spanning human empire. It is an empire he thinks will be better than the one his father make, for the Primarch always seems to be trying to outdo his immortal father. To bring this vision to fruition, Guilliman has worked to seize control of the Imperial military and government and install loyalists in positions of power. He has waged a shadow war against those who might oppose him and threatens to drive the Imperium to Civil War. Ultimately his goal is nothing less than to destroy the Imperium his father built and replace it with one of his own makings.
His brother Horus would be so proud.
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium. (London: Black Library, 2017), pg. 56
- Dan Abnett. The Unremembered Empire. (Nottingham: Black Library, 2014), pg. 367
- ibid. pg 235
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, White Dwarf Magazine, November 2019, pg 47
- Guy Haley. Plague War. (Nottingham: Black Library, 2018), pg. 38
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium, pg. 107
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 48
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 47
- Indomitus Crusade Fleets, White Dwarf Magazine, July 2019, pg 44
- ibid. pg 44
- Guy Haley. Plague War, pg. 108-122
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium, pg. 147
- Guy Haley. Plague War, pg. 122
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 46-48
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 47
- Guy Haley. The Devastation of Baal. (Notthingham, Black Library, 2017), pg 497
- Indomitus Crusade Fleets, pg 42
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium, pg. 147
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium. (London: Black Library, 2017), pg. 56
- Dan Abnett. The Unremembered Empire. (Nottingham: Black Library, 2014), pg. 367
- ibid. pg 235
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, White Dwarf Magazine, November 2019, pg 47
- Guy Haley. Plague War. (Nottingham: Black Library, 2018), pg. 38
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium, pg. 107
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 48
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 47
- Indomitus Crusade Fleets, White Dwarf Magazine, July 2019, pg 44
- ibid. pg 44
- Guy Haley. Plague War, pg. 108-122
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium, pg. 147
- Guy Haley. Plague War, pg. 122
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 46-48
- Dawn of the Era Indomitus, pg 47
- Guy Haley. The Devastation of Baal. (Notthingham, Black Library, 2017), pg 497
- Indomitus Crusade Fleets, pg 42
- Guy Haley. Dark Imperium, pg. 147
