Editing Imperium Secundus (section)

==Legacy==
===of Guilliman===
Imperium Secundus' legacy is a source of [[skub|discussion]]; it can be interpreted as Guilliman either being [[spiritual liege|an incredible visionary]] or a [[heresy|closet traitor wanting power for himself]]. It was called the "Unremembered Empire" for a reason: [[retcon|officially it didn't actually happen]] according to the history texts, as to do so would portray Guilliman as a traitor against his father.

However, Guilliman's influence on the Imperium after the [[Horus Heresy]] is hard to miss; he is widely regarded as the most influential of Primarchs on the Imperium, despite the fact that he did very little to protect it (and possibly even hindered it by accident) during its darkest hour.

There remains the interpretation that Guilliman's motives were not entirely sincere and that the Emperor, Malcador and the Lion were right: that Guilliman was only interested in building his OWN Empire, irrespective of the Emperor's involvement in it, which is where the problem lies. This is also supported by the the views of his brother [[Rogal Dorn]] who had been present at the final battle, returned his dying father to the Golden Throne and actually HEARD his final orders. Considering the Emperor already had knowledge of the war's outcome (read Outcast Dead), he should have prepared his own plan for its aftermath, therefore his orders to Dorn and [[Jaghatai Khan]] should have at least involved some sort of planning for the eventuality, unless the Emperor simply revealed what Guilliman was in the process of doing and was going to run with that anyway. Disagreements between them very nearly sparked another civil war about how the Imperium and its military should be run. That said, recent revelations have shown that he had been able to make it to Terra but elected to stay behind to fend off the Traitor fleets surrounding it so Sanguinius could fulfill his destiny.

Additionally, there remains the fact that 10,000 years later, his own sons are the foremost protectors of the Imperium of Man making up 50-60% of the whole Astartes population and have marginalised the others into either conformity (via the [[Codex Astartes|Codex]]) or obscurity (by denying them descendant chapters). With the Ultramarines Chapter having the [[Spiritual Liege|singular honour]] of being the most respected of Space Marine chapters, who set the standard [[Matt Ward|for all other Astartes to aspire to]], it's not a difficult set of circumstances to arrange when your father was the one to initially draft the policies that everyone conforms to. History is written by the victors, and Guilliman was the closest thing to a "[[skub|winner]]" in the Horus Heresy. It is even said on the Ultramarines Chapter Banner: ''[[retcon|"Our Presence Remakes the Past"]]''

Despite all of this, it could also be said that Guilliman took the longer view and created an Imperium [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|not ruled by Emperors, but by men]], with the [[High Lords of Terra]] in the Emperor's place.

However, immediately after unveiling his [[Codex Astartes]] which affirmed that no person, Primarch or otherwise, should be able to wield such power of the Legions, Guilliman '''DID''' eventually achieve lordship over the Imperium, becoming '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' (which was essentially Warmaster in all but name) and particularly at odds with the stated intention of restricting forces by achieving oversight of ALL armed forces. The position was used up until M32 and subsequent holders were even referred to by the title of ''"Lord Guilliman"'' (though the later holders seemed to have significantly reduced influence, with the last one before the War of the Beast being little more than a figurehead).

Following Guilliman's resurrection in the last year of the 41st Millennium, his first instinct is to secure his 500 worlds and re-establish the stability of Ultramar (and later on he would choose to begin expanding it further) without actually considering the Imperium at large, once again retreading the familiar ground of Imperium Secundus. But in a surprisingly subtle display of character growth, following the infliction of a Nurgle plague that only he can cure by his mere proximity to the afflicted, Guilliman recognizes the trap that would tie him to Ultramar. He refuses to commit the same mistake of the past and abandons his Five-Hundred Worlds to the care of [[Marneus Calgar]] and sets course for Terra. So at least he now acknowledges that Imperium Secundus was a mistake.

Shortly after his revival, Guilliman ordered the Ultramarines' Library of Ptolemy to be sealed off with entry forbidden on pain of death. Guilliman claimed the gesture was symbolic of how there would be no place for learning in the dark days they lived in, but what he didn't say was that he wanted to make sure nobody could find evidence of the Imperium Secundus, which he is still deeply ashamed of despite being the only person in a position to know it existed in the first place. It may be possible that he blames himself for the Emperor's mortal wounding as a result of his flawed assumptions. Although since the library’s contents have probably been copied countless times over the millennia and the Ruinstorm is an excuse the Imperium would easily accept, either he’s trying a futile and pointless cover-up or there is something much darker he’s trying to hide (or he set up a sucker bait for anyone trying to dig up dirt to be dissuaded or get themselves killed).

That being said, when he reached Terra, he resumed the position of '''Lord Commander of the Imperium''' following a visit to the Emperor and forcibly replaced High Lords of Terra with candidates of his own choosing, claiming a direct mandate from the Emperor that no-one besides the Custodes can verify. Politically expedient and effective? Yes, this behaviour retains all the hallmarks of a dictator. On the other hand, Luna had been attacked by the forces of [[Magnus the Red]] and shortly afterwards ''Terra itself'' was invaded by the daemonic forces of [[Khorne]], yet the High Lords were still desperately plotting behind closed doors to keep control of the Imperium ''away'' from Roboute Guilliman because of their fear of losing control, considering him and the other Primarchs to have been "fratricidal lunatics" and utterly failing to realise how the Imperium was going to shit around them. It turns out the plotting of the High Lords was one of the outcomes that [[Abaddon]] had been hoping for since he had tried to move the Cadian Pylons to planets around Terra to calm the warp and isolate the Sol system; it was only the breakout by a small force of Custodians and Sisters of Silence that showed the error. Since then, Guilliman has taken control and has indeed tried to push reforms meant to make the Imperium a better place for everyone, but opposition from the Inquisition and other influential organizations has made such changes slow in coming. Eventually he’ll lose his patience and they’ll be...”reminded” that he’s a motherfucking Primarch. Of course if he’d set up the War Council and High Lords separately ruling like Roman Consuls (without swapping roles) and simply had the Master of the Administratum act as a sort of president bridging the two councils, none of these problems would have existed in the first place or at least too minor to be honest impediments to the Imperium.

In a stunning show of irony, it was at this time that a gigantic Warp rift began to grow and effectively cut the Imperium in half, so now Guilliman will experience his ill-fated experiment's effects on the Imperium proper firsthand. Odds are he's not going to be happy if he learns the Tyranid invasions are technically his fault as well.

What it means or heavily implies is that there is possibly an edgier and more relatable side to the Ultramarines beyond simply being [[Mary Sue]]s or the best thing since sliced bread, and that the supposedly [[Spiritual Liege|eminent]] status that the Ultramarines enjoy is because of well calculated political maneuvers. Each of the Primarchs had their strengths which they passed on, in part, to their sons. If anything Guilliman was said to have been the greatest of statesmen. While the effects of his actions were not all beneficial to the Imperium, one could easily argue that the alternative would be to simply allow the Imperium to fall into complete anarchy in the Emperor's absence.

===of Sanguinius===
Thanks to his prescient sight, Sanguinius became more and more aware of his ultimate fate to die by Horus' hands. When the fact that Terra had not yet fallen became known, the three Primarchs would attempt to brave the Ruinstorm and return to the throneworld. Along the way each brother would be tested, yet none more so than Sanguinius himself, who was presented with the possibility that he might survive the Heresy and spare his legion from the Black Rage, giving him hope. However, he later realized that he would have to become something far worse than Horus in order to do it, and so he rejected this possible future and strengthened his resolve to meet his end as a loyal son of the Emperor. The Dark Angels and Ultramarine forces would buy Sanguinius the opportunity to reach the Siege of Terra by assaulting the rear flanks of the Traitor forces and drawing them away. This explains why only the Blood Angels made it back to Terra even though they left with the Dark Angels and Ultramarines, and also explains why they were delayed in the first place.

One thing that does remain from this time is the [[Sanguinor]], who was a by-product of this era. Sanguinius needed a regent to stand for him and deal with petitioners when he was too busy with other important tasks, as well as to act as a body double for the sake of assassination attempts and keep the focus away from the Primarch. Even at the time, the identity of the herald was kept a closely guarded secret and his name removed from the records of the legion. By M41, the origins of the Sanguinor are completely forgotten about even by the majority of the Blood Angels themselves, if they ever knew about the practice at all. This individual would stand in for Sanguinius at Davin, pinning a powerful daemon in place in a portal between the warp and realspace while the planet was bombarded around him (potentially setting himself up as a Draigo-like figure later on). Sanguinius was originally going to take this task upon himself, but realized in another vision that whether he died on Davin or on Terra, his death would still cause his sons to suffer the [[Black Rage]] so there was no escaping that fate.

===of the Lion===
Perhaps the most difficult to quantify, as we know the Lion's eventual fate is more tied to Caliban than to Terra or Ultramar. The impact of Imperium Secundus on the Dark Angels or their Primarch in later years is a relative unknown; other than a squad of [[Space Wolves]], the Lion was seemingly the only person who actually made the conscious decision to actually go to [[Macragge]] and even if he had not arrived, Guilliman was still going to form his Imperium Secundus and would still have starved Terra of valuable resources; [[Sanguinius]] would still have become Emperor-Regent; and a charbroiled, insane [[Vulkan]] would still have fallen from orbit and the [[Cabal]] would still have sent an agent to kill him with the fulgurite.

However, the Lion did unintentionally bring [[Konrad Curze]] to Ultramar, and it was only by corroborating his visions with Sanguinius that they realized the Emperor was still alive and proved the lie that the whole project was based upon. The Lion would also appear to goad the [[Salamanders]] into departing for [[Nocturne]] with the body of their fallen Primarch with the vague hope of his resurrection. Furthermore, it was only through the use of [[Tuchulcha]] that the Dark Angels were able to lead the fleets through the Ruinstorm, eventually reaching Davin and clearing the way for Sanguinius to get to Terra.

Therefore it can be said that the presence of the Lion acted as a catalyst for dismantling the Imperium Secundus, which was something he had set out to do in the first place, though it actually took him about seven or eight years to accomplish and happened in a way he did not initially anticipate. Ironically enough, by then he had already settled into his own role as the Imperium Secundus's not-Warmaster.

Despite this, in-universe (and often out of it) there does remain the lingering accusation that the Lion simply "sat out" the Horus Heresy and it would cause the Dark Angels to be mistrusted in later years. This accusation was spelled out directly by Konrad Curze during the [[Thramas Crusade]], but has been unwittingly parroted by members of the Imperium who are suspicious of the First Legion's lack of records on their activities.

With the development of the Black Library series, we know any such accusations are false. The first two years were spent breaking the [[Night Lords]] and capturing their Primarch. Even after departing for Ultramar, the Lion only took 20,000 men and a small fleet with him; the rest of the First Legion were spread throughout the Imperium chasing down the [[Death Guard]]. What's more, the Lion and those 20,000 men commanding the forces of the [[Blood Angels]] and [[Ultramarines]] were put to good use fighting the Shadow Crusade against the [[Word Bearers]] and [[World Eaters]], so if anything the Dark Angels were the most active loyalists of the entire war and were actually ''gaining ground'' against the enemy rather than just winning pyrrhic victories.

Even if no records of the Dark Angels activities existed, the Triumvirate of Primarchs acted together for most of the war and therefore all three ought to be considered as guilty as each other. However, Sanguinius sacrificed himself in the final battle against Horus and would be elevated in the eyes of the population (and /tg/) practically to sainthood; Guilliman would become Lord Commander of the Imperium and steer it through the anarchy of the Scourging. The Lion would have no chance at endearing himself to the people in a similar way because he would disappear during the fall of [[Caliban]] while his Legion would not be able to truthfully answer the accusations of procrastination without also besmirching the names of Guilliman and Sanguinius, and they're too classy for that.

The issue of hunting the [[Fallen]] only began after the [[Second Founding]], and it would not have immediately mattered to the Imperium at that time (at least not until a pattern of suspicious behaviour presented itself) Therefore it is likely then that the undercurrent of mistrust of the Unforgiven Chapters could only have been built up based on their activities over a long period of time, biased with the fact that the knowledge of the activities of First Legion are a result of a bit of [[Retcon|selective memory]] on the part of the Imperium and its rulers coupled with Guilliman's desire to bury the evidence of Imperium Secundus and [[Cypher]]'s own tampering with the records to erase anything compromising relating to the Dark Angels.

===Tyranids===
Some think the use of the Pharos may have also been the thing that initially got the Tyranids' attention and brought them to the Milky Way, which if true would be highly ironic given the Smurfs' history with the bugs.

Initial evidence for this was circumstantial at best, but fits a pattern. In the [[First Tyrannic War]] the bugs made a beeline (pun intended) directly for Macragge, actually converging on it to a point. When this was thwarted, [[Hive Fleet Kraken]] of the Second War was also moving in the "general direction" of Ultramar, but it counted the planet Sotha (where the Pharos was kept) [[Scythes of the Emperor|as one of the casualties of war]], quite possibly knocking out its effect. Compare this to the [[Third Tyrannic War]] which attacked the Milky Way from an entirely different axis and seems to have no focus on Ultramar whatsoever and is generally much more dispersed across the galaxy rather than aiming for a particular target.

This is a plausible theory that appears to fit known events, especially when you look at maps of the hive fleets movements, but without more information on the subject it's quite difficult to tell exactly what caused the Tyranids to appear. Some in-universe sources believe that it might be the Astronomican leading them to the galaxy like a moth to the flame, but they obviously would never have been aware of the Pharos to account for any possible influence it had. It's unclear in the 42nd millennium if Guilliman, who does know about the Pharos (and indeed may be the only one left who does) has put the pieces together himself. As a bright guy he likely has but it has not come up in a book yet so it's still unknown for sure. Alternatively, he may have been too busy to think on the matter as he was incredibly busy until the [[Indomitus Crusade]] and immediately afterward the [[Plague Wars]] ended more than a century after he was released from stasis.

The epilogue for the book ''Pharos'' now pretty much confirms that the Pharos is what brought the great devourer to the Galaxy. In a brief moment when the Night Lords lay siege to Sotha, the light of the beacon shone brighter than ever before in a last ditch attempt by Warsmith Dantioch to purge the traitors from the planet. The light was noticed from outside of the Galaxy and the hive mind registered it as prey. Oops.

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