Loesh

My understanding of loose canon is not that canon is mutually valid, but rather that each source is entitled to some amount of validity. Something may be mentioned, might be held up as a possible source(Looking at you, Rogue Trader.) but depending on certain factors such as the age of the source and the number of times it's been repeated in the setting, it may be 'less' canon then other sources or theories. In some cases it might be shown later to just be outright wrong altogether. Loose canon is the idea that, for example the Dawn of War novels have a right to exist and a right to be used as a canonical source, but if they are never repeated, if they are separated from the universe entirely, and no one else seems to react and interact with them then they might be considered less canonical then a codex or ten different sources that say X thing is incorrect. In this way, authors are given the freedom to explore and expand on the universe, but also restrained in the sense that their lore might be overwritten by lot's of other lore that comes later. Which is candidly probably the best way to explore a decade old IP since it allows every author to have some impact without shackling the setting to any one vision or any one interpretation of the lore. Wielded deftly and skillfully it can be a wonderful way to explore the setting while maintaining mystery, wielded like a cudgel it is at best incredibly confusing at worst rendering an entire plotline pointless or raises like a billion other questions about other sources. Still, I quite like it. In fact I find I grow steadily more disinterested in the HH series as we approach Terra and the loose canon seems less and less in effect, so many things we know about the Primarchs and the Emperor now with a lot more certainty then we used to, I kind of miss how mythological 30k used to be.

Tarot reminds you of Yu-gi-oh? Basically the same thing when you think about it.

I'v always viewed 40k's grimdarkness as comical in it's extremes, though not necessarily nihilistic. Does what we do here and now mean less because of the sun eventually expanding or the heat death of the universe? or because in X amount of time it becomes hilariously unlikely that we don't get by a meteor and wiped out? No of course not, the journey and the people we meet along the way is what matters. The end is, and always has been, kind of irrelevant to me. Reading about why the Imperium is dying is just a backdrop and added context to the joy and pain of the people around it, the war being a loss is just a forgone conclusion that adds to the people fighting against it's destruction and fighting for the end to come faster.

Hey, we only have a setting because Chaos won that book. They did us a favour. Though Chaos eternally shafts itself because it can't hold together for long anyway, so any time they win anything at all, I always think "Yeah, we'll see well how you're doing five minutes after this, Red Team." The funny part is because of the fact Chaos is in everything and fighting it is like fighting your own shadow, I pretty much have the same reaction with the Blue Team. Probably why I like Slaanesh so much, the plots where it eventually corrupts the best of the best the Imperium has to offer and makes the whole thing fall down like a house of cards are often my favorite.

I actually adore that Games Workshop went this way with the Primaris marines, it allows more developed opinions on the Primaris to show up rather "OH LOOK IT'S A NEW THING, WHAT DO WE DO?" to be the prevailing reaction. While Dark Imperium has a whole lot of problems in retrospect, one of the things i'm most excited for is the idea of Chaos Space Marines getting used to the idea of Primaris and developing counter tactics. Iron Warriors, Black Legion and Alpha Legion especially I could see spending a fair chunk of time putting together specialized squads to deal with Primaris. Alpha Legion headhunters please.

Cool...which book? Lucius is an elite CSM duelist...but he's far below primarch level. Sharrowkyn straight up bested him. His "weight class" would be other elite SM and CSM champions. I personally think Sigismund would have thrashed him. His extreme arrogance is also a very real weakness capable of being exploited. He's definitely below Primarch level just by virtue of the fact Abaddon is below Primarch level, yes he beats Horus, but only with a metric ton of backup. Also 'In Wolfs Clothing' is the short story where he squares off against Wulfen, on re-examining the passage he strangles the Wulfen half to death then stabs a sword through it's head, not quite as metal but still. Agreed on Sigismund but that's not saying much, Sigismunds just straight up the best personal combatant in the Legions and would thrash about anyone at the Sieges. It's worth noting that 40k Lucius is quite a different beast from Horus Heresy Lucius though, in much the same way Abaddon becomes waaaaaaaaaaaay more powerful over the Long War. It's actually not at all impossible that Sigismund cuts him down during the Siege. Sigismund would take no satisfaction, and Lucius would likely come back through an artificer that took pride in crafting or maintaining the Black Sword. I don't think it would be incredibly one-sided, either. My money is still that, if he kills anyone, he probably kills Khârn, it would be...fitting.

Recall he then beat Loken in a rematch, he's also strangled a wulfen to death and beaten an Emperor's Champion in single combat, he's even had an extended combat where he was only defeated after seven days and seven nights while taking on an Iron Hands champion and all of his honor guard. Lucius's mediocrity as a combatant is exaggerated, largely by people viewing his formative years.

I mean there's his arrogance and ego, but there's also his disillusionment in the Third and to a degree Slaanesh in his quest for sensation, his sort of 'tired old rockstar' status where he's killed about everything at this point and is just seeking out ways to feel again, his internal balance between going to Slaanesh but staying away from corruption just enough to avoid being a blood crazed zerker and how that internal balancing act has driven him insane. Plus, he's genuinely not stupid, I loved his intentional use of his death defying power in In Wolf's Clothing to stage a massive ambush from the inside of the ship. Personally of the Four, he's the second most well written to me after Ahirman, above Khârn who was interesting and then became boring, and way above Typhus who is the worst by virtue of the fact that there is not enough written about him to be interesting. Indeed. The main issue with Lucius by that point is that the next real challenge to get him some joy - is to duel/kill at least a Primarch and in the best case one of the Universe Gods. Lucius is a sensational hedonist who will always be seeking more - and will never get it, cause he can't kill Primarch or a God. He can't be compared with Khârn or Typhus. The last 2 are servants of their Gods. They get 'joy' from doing their deities job. That's the trick really, it's the same reason Sigismund is not going to fight any big names at the Siege of Terra. They are both such stupidly good duelists that by rights they should kill the character(And even worse, Lucius has a clause that always ensures a mutual kill even if you're a bloody Necron), but won't, so they would have to put together some convoluted reason for why the character would live.

I mean there's his arrogance and ego, but there's also his disillusionment in the Third and to a degree Slaanesh in his quest for sensation, his sort of 'tired old rockstar' status where he's killed about everything at this point and is just seeking out ways to feel again, his internal balance between going to Slaanesh but staying away from corruption just enough to avoid being a blood crazed zerker and how that internal balancing act has driven him insane. Plus, he's genuinely not stupid, I loved his intentional use of his death defying power in In Wolf's Clothing to stage a massive ambush from the inside of the ship. Personally of the Four, he's the second most well written to me after Ahirman, above Khârn who was interesting and then became boring, and way above Typhus who is the worst by virtue of the fact that there is not enough written about him to be interesting.

Does that end with someone mailing a person a black hole in a gift box?

Female character interaction? What's next? are space marines going to have EMOTIONS? Bah!

Horus was the best Primarch hands down, not the answer I like but it is what it is.

So,,,,you want not Sanguinius? :P Like, he's both of those things simultaneously, severing one just creates either a slightly cooler Corvus Corax or Angron lite.

Does the fact a character cries have any impact on their strength? I mean in my view the most emotional characters in the Horus Heresy have always been some of the worst to face as well, certainly if the Eternity Gate is any indication.

I do feel like with some of the groups I named, like Raven Guard, a critical problem was just representation and having a wide spread of authors to fallback on. It's somewhat irritating to be candid, I feel like the Horus Heresy is ending just when the universe started to open up to me, I was reaching I point where I could at least appreciate aspects of every faction as things sped up, where my major issue before was always that some Legions were so themetaically weak or underdeveloped(And in one case badly mishandled.) that I couldn't latch onto them. Maybe we'll get something in the scouring , hopefully.