Editing Alpharius (section)

==The Big Reveal==
Eeeeeeecept it turns out that may have all been bullshit, for ''Head of the Hydra'' finally established the "true" story of Alpharius. Alpharius was in fact the first Primarch found, on a world within a stone's toss of Terra (possibly on Terra itself, since the people who find him know what the Imperium is and he was apparently found prior to the end of the Unification War, meaning the Emperor hadn't yet left Terra). His discovery was kept hidden from everyone except Emps, Malcador, and Valdor, as the Emperor didn't know how many other Primarchs had survived the scattering. For that reason, the Emperor was reportedly beyond elated to have found Alpharius.

Alpharius was placed into Malcador Daycare (explains a lot) while Big E went around doing Big E things, and acted as the head of the "Shadow Legion", using wetwork teams, psyops, and deep-cover sleeper agents to maintain order on compliant worlds and soften up noncompliant planets for his brothers' legions. He also apparently infiltrated some of the other legions by using his ability to alter others' perception of him, thus meeting several of his brothers at their rediscovery while disguised as one of their legion.

Alpharius eventually discovered Omegon already wearing the Pythian Scales and wielding the Pale Spear, and the two agreed to keep their existence hidden until all the remaining Primarchs were found. It was Omegon who revealed himself to Horus aboard the ''Vengeful Spirit'' and introduced himself with "I am Alpharius" (making this line a lie, since he's actually Omegon). While Alpharius kept his existence hidden and operated as "Omegon". At the end of the novel, when "Omegon" (actually Alpharius) feels that "Alpharius" (actually Omegon) had been killed by Dorn, he states "I ''was'' Alpharius" - which is a lie because he had been "Omegon"... who turned out to be ''Alpharius all along''. Is your head hurting yet?

So bottom line, if the events of the novel are to be believed, then Omegon is dead, Alpharius is alive and back to being Alpharius. Additionally, he was loyal all along, and that every action he took throughout the Heresy was designed to make Chaos lose without blowing the legion's cover. Alpharius had been given a directive by the Emperor to ensure the survival of the Imperium at all costs, including taking actions that might look like treason to the outside observer. This would include doing things like intentionally botching conquests to make planetary campaigns tie up more resources, delaying the Khan so he could receive the message to return to Terra, and prematurely exposing all of the vulnerabilities that the Alpha Legion had found in Terra's defenses in ''Praetorian of Dorn'' long before Horus showed up in an elaborate Blood Game (which Alpharius invented) so they could be remedied. This all ironically makes him one of the most ''loyal'' Primarchs amongst his brothers.

...but then it ends with "This was a lie". What exactly was the lie- Omegon passing himself off as Alpharius or the '''entire novel's events'''? We have absolutely no idea, which is probably how Alpharius would like it.