Although Guilliman had brought peace to Ultramar before founding this new empire, war soon followed. Alpha Legion infiltrators attempted to assassinate Guilliman in his private chambers, the traitor primarch Konrad Curze arrived in pursuit of Vulkan. He was stopped, but at the cost of the Salamanders primarch’s life. Meanwhile, elements of Curze’s Night Lords had also made their way to Imperium Secundus, having chosen the sparsely populated world of Sotha as a staging ground to recover after a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Dark Angels. But Sotha was much more than it seemed…

Guilliman would have taken any loyal Primarch left, even the barbaric Leman Russ, to serve as the acting ruler of the Imperium Secundus rather than himself. It was a burden Guilliman had no desire to take up, but ultimately he was left with no one else as a potential candidate, and it proved a burden he was finally willing to shoulder. Following the horrific events of the Battle of Calth, the XIII th Legion had been badly crippled and no longer presented a viable threat to Horus' plan to drive on Terra. Erebus had managed to complete his blasphemous ritual on Calth's surface, which summoned a Ruinstorm to the galaxy's Eastern Fringe -- a monstrous Warp Storm larger and more destructive than anything spacefaring humanity had witnessed since the days of the Age of Strife. Of all of them... Why did it have to be him who found a way through the storm?' Gulliman whispered. Ultramarines' Primarch Roboute Guilliman declares a reluctant Sanguinius of the Blood Angels Legion as the new ruling Regent of the Imperium Secundus on Macragge Heresy comes in many forms. It can be blatant, like the one which now tears down the stars, but it can be subtle too, accidental. To make example, the building of a new Imperium when the old one is not yet pronounced dead. -- I am not building my own Imperium, Gantulga. I am preserving what's left of the original."

Unfinished or abandoned character Arch's, a stupidly overpowered antagonist and terrible character portrayal literally had me pausing and thinking wtf did I just hear? The Raven Guard, Salamanders, Iron Hands, Blood Angels, and Imperial Fists(with the exception of Alexis) did virtually NOTHING. I mean, even the White Scars only had that one scene of introduction that everyone else had, and they helped chase Curze a little bit, but other than that, they did.... nothing? And in the meantime, you can experience the rise and fall of Imperium Secundus for yourself in the snappily titled ‘ Imperium Secundus’, a digital collection of 4 novels, 11 short stories and 3 audio dramas that tells the whole tale outlined above in much more detail, as well as exploring more characters and events from the period. As a result of massive Ruinstorm created by Erebus in the Shadow Crusade the Astronomican had been thrown into a state of disarray, rendering navigation and communication impossible and effectively dividing the Imperium in half. Seeing the dire state of humanity, Primarch Roboute Guilliman saw fit to enact a contingency plan and create a new Imperium should the power of Terra fall. Guilliman had little knowledge of what was transpiring outside of Ultramar, and decided that rebuilding the Imperium was a necessity even if he was not sure if the Imperium was not yet destroyed. [1]

Guilliman's closest advisors suggested that no one else could be head of state. No one else could possibly be regent, for he was the last known Loyalist Primarch. The last loyal son of the Emperor. The only loyal son. He was meant to become what he must, to invest himself as the rallying point of Imperium Secundus -- to be Imperial, and reveal his renewed strength, his resolve, his mettle and the glory, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. the arch of the wolves - I thought they had great potential to contribute to the story. Motivations and character personalities really contrasted against Ultramarine doctrine and the scene involving Flafner and The Lion was great... instead they literally relegated to sit by the door like dogs. assisting Guillimans older mother figure/advisor (?) then getting swatted by Conrad and that's it? I Horus Rising • II False Gods • III Galaxy in Flames • IV The Flight of the Eisenstein • V Fulgrim • VI Descent of Angels • VII Legion • VIII Battle for the Abyss • IX Mechanicum • X Tales of Heresy • XI Fallen Angels • XII A Thousand Sons • XIII Nemesis • XIV The First Heretic • XV Prospero Burns • XVI Age of Darkness • XVII The Outcast Dead • XVIII Deliverance Lost • XIX Know No Fear • XX The Primarchs • XXI Fear to Tread • XXII Shadows of Treachery • XXIII Angel Exterminatus • XXIV Betrayer • XXV Mark of Calth • XXVI Vulkan Lives • XXVII The Unremembered Empire • XXVIII Scars • XXIX Vengeful Spirit • XXX The Damnation of Pythos • XXXI Legacies of Betrayal • XXXII Deathfire • XXXIII War Without End • XXXIV Pharos • XXXV Eye of Terra • XXXVI The Path of Heaven • XXXVII The Silent War • XXXVIII Angels of Caliban • XXXIX Praetorian of Dorn • XL Corax • XLI The Master of Mankind • XLII Garro • XLIII Shattered Legions • XLIV The Crimson King • XLV Tallarn • XLVI Ruinstorm • XLVII Old Earth • XLVIII The Burden of Loyalty • XLIX Wolfsbane • L Born of Flame • LI Slaves to Darkness • LII Heralds of the Siege • LIII Titandeath • LIV The Buried Dagger Imperium Secundus was a Human empire on the Eastern Fringe of the Galaxy formed in 009. M31 during the Horus Heresy. At its peak, it compromised roughly five hundred worlds and was centered around the realm of Ultramar. [1] History Guilliman was overjoyed that one of his wayward brothers had arrived during his hour of need, but of all his brothers, he wondered why it had to be the Lion who had found his way through the storm. Though the Lord Macragge greatly admired the lord of the I st Legion, he felt there had always been a shadow upon him.But in the end, with the arrival of their brother Sanguinius and his Blood Angels Legion in Macragge from the disastrous campaign in the Signus Cluster, Guilliman convinced his reluctant angelic brother-Primarch to rule as the Regent of Imperium Secundus, for he possessed more of the noble aspects of the Emperor within him. Roboute Guilliman — Primarch of the XIII Legion ' Ultramarines', Lord of the Five Hundred Worlds, now know as 'the Avenging Son As others have said: it feels like 'half of a book', and not just because of where things are at the end of the novel. INQUISITION SPOILER ALERT: This article contains plot points from various Horus Heresy stories, including: ‘The Lion’, ‘Vulkan Lives’, ‘The Unremembered Empire’, ‘Pharos’ and ‘Angels of Caliban’. Read on at your own risk… Which leads me to my second point, his mother figure/advisor. This is supposed to be a powerful woman, a direct consultant to the primarch of 500 world's, and a prominent figurehead despite her age she was made to look like some pathetic whinging crone? a terrified helpless old woman. wtf?! There are so many strong older women personalities she could have played, if you wanted to keep her useless and feeble at least make her stoic and fearless in the face of death.

The light of the great navigational beacon of the Astronomican was extinguished across half the galaxy through the efforts of the Word Bearers Legion's maleficent summoning of the massive Warp Storm known as the Ruinstorm. However, when he does get characters right, he gets them right. Guilliman is well and truly fleshed out as a character in this book, and for all accounts and purposes, he’s the main character. We’ve never really had a Primarch take the role of a main character before in the Horus Heresy novels (although I’m still yet to read Betrayer), and whilst we’ve had them take center stage for a while (The titular character of Fulgrim, for example), they’ve never really felt like the one main character and it’s here where that impact is really felt. Guilliman is the driving force behind the narrative and he’s pulled off wonderfully well. Guilliman hesitated to declare the formation of the Imperium Secundus formally and publicly, having admitted his intention to his closest confidences only. He had strength in his conviction of its necessity, but would not shrink from the more unedifying aspects of the proposal. He wasn't bound by the fear that he was usurping the Emperor every bit as much as Horus. In truth, his hesitation was born of grief.Unfortunately for Maccrage, Jonson didn't come with an empty cargo bay. Konrad Curze, having been a prisoner on Jonson's ship for months, engineers an escape right into the heart of Gulliman's empire and proceeds to cause absolute chaos. Unremembered Empire breaks into an unrelenting sprint at this point, Abnett perfectly rendering the utter terror that comes with having a pissed off Night Lords Primarch on the loose, in scenes fraught with nerve-shredding tension. In Dar Es Salaam, what was a large carrier corps cemetery is now a dusty wasteland with no markings. How that was allowed to happen is suggested in War Graves Commission meeting minutes from shortly after the war, found by Barrett, which states that the governor for the area “considered that the vast carrier corps cemeteries at Dar Es Salaam and elsewhere should be allowed to revert to nature as speedily as possible”. The Lion dwelled in secrets, and played his cards too close, for he walked by himself when he pleased. There was too much of the wild forest in him. The Lion should have been as noble as any of Guilliman's brother Primarchs, but they had never been close, and there was too much about him that was sly. Yet, despite his personal misgivings, Guilliman welcomed the Lion with the formality and respect due his prestigious position.