tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-711966305422747274.post1933414566328181098..comments2017-01-19T01:43:17.478-05:00Comments on Forward the Future!: There Need Not Be Gods; The First HereticGarnethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14378873872027441691noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-711966305422747274.post-62777961255528932132012-05-24T10:50:57.330-04:002012-05-24T10:50:57.330-04:00I think that the character of Lorgar can also be d...I think that the character of Lorgar can also be described as a man who honestly believes in what he's doing. It's not because he thinks that there must be a god that he worships the Emperor, it's because he believes religion, humanity's relationshp with god, is the most important thing in existence. <br /><br />By denying both his godhood and the validity of religion, the Emperor places himself at odds with Lorgar's most strongly held conviction. He's the first heretic, because if he's not god, and he denies a relationship with god, then Lorgar's journey to find god and where he fits into things is incomplete. Hence the Pilgrimmage. <br /><br />There's a lovely scene where, having ordered the extermination of Cadia, Lorgar lectures Argal Tal on the rightness of the action. He doesn't want to kill those people, he's doing it for a greater purpose. That's when Argal Tal has a moment of crisis regarding what he now knows about his loyalty to his Primarch. <br /><br />There's also a scene early where Lorgar, having been in seclusion, draws the legion to a particular planet for a team-building exercise in whole-sale murder. He announces that his judgement has been questioned in the same breath that he announces that the Legion's objective is to kill everyone on that planet by hand. But what's been questioned? His religion, not his own relationship with humanity. <br /><br />Which is interesting because he's been conducting religious genocide since before the Emperor found him on Colchis. He's consistent in his convictions, if not the object of his devotion. That's why Argal Tal is such an excellent foil because he's consistent in the object of his devotion, Lorgar, and constantly wrestles with his convictions. He's the one that questions Lorgar's judgement before carrying it out, and I think that's the point of his relationship with Erebus, that he lacked the conviction necessary for wielding the Crozius. <br /><br />Take the discussion between Xaphen and Cyrene, where Cyrene sees no salient different between the proscribed AI of the Obsidians, and the machine-spirits of the Legio Cybernetica. Likewise there doesn't seem to be a salient difference between Imperial Word Bearers and Chaos Word Bearers. Incidentally, look up Cybernetics on wikipedia. Interesting stuff. <br /><br />So yes, Lorgar worships the Emperor because he believes to fervently in the rightness of the Emperor's cause, the survival and supremacy of humanity. He believes that humanity cannot survive without god, and when he finds out that humanity is not on the side of the gods he gets back to work bringing the Good Word to the masses of humanity. That fact that he's now convinced the Chaos Gods are the real thing is a result of those convictions.Nurglitchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03333941626425462180noreply@blogger.com