I find Lion and Alpharius' relationship extremely interesting and ripe with potential. Alpharius is the only primarch, other than Russ, who could truly say he's a kindred spirit with the Lion at heart. He cuts through the noble veneer and interacts with the Lion exactly where the Lion feels comfortable: in secrecy.

"Russ was of Fenris" makes you wonder why GW didn't do a void born Primarch. Like instead of a planet, a Primarch landed on a space hulk.

Learning how shallow Alpharius was is fascinating. Looking back it makes total sense, he took damn near everything at face value. To think if he overcame his greatest flaw, he’d be the most terrifying Primarch.

The Lion doesn't 'think' he's better than his brothers. He IS better than his brothers. Knowing facts isn't arrogance.

Slow down, what part of Alpharius' line directly implies that he can't see past the mask? The line could just as much be a comment on the barbarian façade. From someone also often wearing a façade because it's his form of war, it's more likely Alpharius sees Russes act as an unnecessary way of keeping his brothers at a distance.. Hence the doubt that Russ truly likes, trusts or really respects any of his brothers. In wolf terms Alpharius is a bit like the Jackalwolf of the Primarch pack.. just a lot less fun

I wonder: how would Conrad have turned out if he'd been mentored by Sanguinius instead of Fulgrim?

I truly believe Alpharius never interacted as himself with any of his brothers. All interactions were Omegon after he took Alpharius' place. Alpharius became Omegon from the time they were reunited until when Dorn killed Omegon and then Alpharius had to retake his name again.

The Lorgar thing is in regards to his piety, his feelings of devotion of his father making him stand above the rest. It's like a reflection of Guilliman, he doesn't go out of his way to feel he's better, his abilities just lead him to believe he often is and Lorgar to me does the same in terms of again his strong faith. A great example is his decision to overthrow Horus to try and become Warmaster, which was partly out of his belief that Horus wasn't devoted to the Chaos Gods enough. Had he really practically thought about who would have been best as Warmaster he should have endorsed Pertarabo instead quite frankly.

Alpha Legion, Ravenguard, Dark Angels, and Night Lords had so much in common, but differed in so the execution. So many secrets, so many lies and half truths. At least the Alpha Legion acknowledged their ways, while other sulked and hid their travesties. Unforgiven, knives in the dark, fear incarnate. Alpharius is still alive, and I swear it is Cypher. How else would Cypher get taken at the imperial palace while Guillaman watched, but escape the second he had the chance? He was trying to talk to the Emperor, and bounced when he knew things weren't optimal.

Alpharius is a result of Malcador manipulation.

I’m not sure how much Alpharius liked any of his brothers. As Russ was his visible executioner, Alpharius was to be the blade in the dark. He was wrong about questioning Dorne’s loyalty, but he was pretty spot on with everyone else. I think Alpharius had the Wolf King spot on. Russ’s actions aren’t so much a mask as more he’s just leaning more into his barberic tendencies so that he will be underestimated. Also Russ and Magnus’s tale is less a tragic story of failed brotherly love to me. By the time Russ shows any ‘brotherly love’ he’s already burned every bridge and pissed on the ashes. Of course Magnus not bothering to listen to anyone doesn’t help either. The tragedy of the two is more about the inability to take time and listen to the views of others.

Lorgar did feel superior to his brothers, he saw all of them as war mongering thugs and not the "great scholar' he was. He even saw Sanguinius and Vulkan in this light, the only brother he truly esteemed was Magnus as he shared some of Lorgar's Scholarly nature.

About Lorgar, I think Alphi was right, although maybe not for the reasons stated. Lorgar thought of himself as being chosen, enlightened, "significant", as only him of all his brothers saw Big E as a god. Ofc, this only got worse once he was shown the truth of existence by the Big Four. In that sense, he is a true son of Kor Phaeron. Religious narcissist.

I think the author kept this whole segment brief and not particularly insightful on purpose. Do you really believe that Alpharius would ever allow what he actually thinks to be written down on record? 🤣 That said, I really like how he describes Vulkan here. The pervasive memes about him being a giant huggy bear who loves us all makes it easy to forget that his brothers genuinely respected him most for his bearing and composure. Yeah, he hugged Rogal that one time-but mostly he was a stand-up guy that kept his word and was… Noble.

A beast playing a knight and a knight playing a beast. The Lion and Russ.

Hydra Dominatus

i think corax and alpharius would have understood one another, worked well together, but would not have liked each other.

"This is my record. And all records lie." ~Alpharius.

Alpharius saw Russ as a savage because he was a savage, one that can put on airs and graces, hold polite conversation and knows which bloody fork to use sure... but as I'm sure any ghost on Prospero will agree, Russ is at heart exactly who he pretends to be, a mask on a mask on the berserker truth...

I love the book, and his thoughts on Angron and Guilliman, just perfect

I feel like Alpharius views on Russ are accurate how he acted while on the "Main" path of handling Magnus. He can pride himself on this or that but when the axe drops, he IS the savage one.

Rho, I fucking love you mate. Keep making these glorious alpha legion videos!

It amazes me how many interpretations people have of Lion. Pride, hubris, self-importance, superiority... I am the only one that thinks Lion does not give a fuck about anyone's opinions? The man had most of his campaigns redacted because they were way too horrible for anyone to know and he still matched Horus in victories He cared little for glory or praise, hell, in his primarch book Emps asks him why is h angry about Horus's Triumph, and Lion tells him that he sees it as a waste of time, to which the Emperor awnsers it's because Horus's ego needs a boost. Lion understand and tells him he just sees it as a waste of time and wants to keep doing his job, and Emps agrees, because he tell him that some men need their pride stroke, others, no. Hell, during the Imperius Secundus, he just wanted Roboute not in power, he was more than happy to let Sang rule. He was worried about Roboute going on his own. Lion's problem isn't pride, is being a stubborn man who has zero social skills and a incredibly hard time sharing opinions and showing emotions. Hell, only Emps and his marie s understood Lion's mindset. To me, he is a 40k version fo Stannis Baratheon. He would send his whole legion to death, but he would not waste a single life. Every life spent was one used well, and while the Imperium would never know their sacrifice, the Dark Angels, and Lion, would never forget them. He cares, in a very warped form. Sorry, I'm just a Lion fan boy, and I hate how his writing is all over the place in the HH. I wish they actually showed some consistency. Anyway love your videos Rho, even if you are a Space Wolf fan boy. I will forgive that slight.

I feel like I understood his thoughts on Russ differently from you, while he talks of the facade and seems to buy into it, he notes, in subtle terms, the Wolf Kings intelligence and keen observation. This lead me to believe he thought the Wolf King was keener than he let on and saw more than he made note of. For his view on Konrad, well, to be fair, from HIS perspective, hell from ALL of their perspectives, beyond Sanguinius, none of them COULD know Konrad beyond the veil, after he admitted to Fulgrim(I believe it was, could be misremembering) and was rebuffed, and then Sanguinius being the only one who shared his sight, he seemed to think that it was folly to LET any of them know him beyond the face he put forward, and given his Legion, infiltration by the "Ghost Legion" wouldn't likely give Alpharius much more insight into him, as he barely showed it to his Legion, let alone beyond it.

Here’s the kicker…what if the Head of the Hydra is from Omegon’s narration O.O

Russ truly held love and care for Horus, Lion, Guilliman, Sanguinius, and The Emperor. When Sanguinius and Emperor were in the state they were when he arrived to Terra the man was shattered.

I’m still convinced Omegon is a loyalist but because his brother is dead and a traitor he is trying to sabotage chaos by pretending to be alpharius, because his sons only know Alpharius.

I honestly was a bit disappointed that Alpharius had such...surface level thoughts about his brothers, they needed a lot more depth.

The Primarch's interactions are always fun and intriguing. Hope we get some more Great Crusade stories even during the Scouring.

I’m really glad that Alpharius’ assessments are not fully accurate. Alpharius, much like Magnus and Fulgrim, is arrogant and believes himself to have unmatched insights. It’s great to show that, though he tries to front having a contingency for everything, he is as flawed as a traitor would be

As much as I love WH40K and it’s grimdark universe, The Great Crusade and Heresy periods will always hold a special place for me

One of the things that always has interested me is how the primarch “birth order” intersects with the “finding order.” Take Horus for example: he’s the 16th primarch, thus being more of a classical ‘younger brother’ type in a family system. Only, he’s the first (openly declared) found. Suddenly Horus is thrust into the ‘eldest brother’ role in his family system with all the baggage, responsibility, and opportunities that can come from that. Alpharius(Omegon) though, he/they are the last primarchs made, the youngest intended in the family system. Just imagine your parent telling you as you grow up “By the way, you have 19 older brothers we need to find, and you’re not supposed to be the one in overall command.”

I think the most interesting relationship is between Dorn and Alpharius triplets. They were best friends, but useful that no one, other than the Emperor and maybe Malcador, understood to what depth.

Alpharius and Perturbado era very complex primarcs i like them very mutch. Abraços do Brasil! 🇧🇷

More and more we learn about the primachs and more and more i believe that even thoose who were rivals and got on each others troats like brothers do. Then I dont doubt they actually love each other like brothers and thats both because of the way they were created but also because they know they would have each others back. Even Dorn vs Perturabo holds so much more than what the eyes see. Had the Emperor done what a farther should have done what amazing work theese two could have performed. Just imagine in the present time with Dorn and Perturabo working together against the Tyranids helping Roboute. Or had Angron been what he was supposed to. His brotherhood mentality would had saved even Konrad. So sad.

Lorgars sense of superiority comes apparent very well in book slaves to the darkness,he thinks hes the chosen one who will inherit horuses place

Another great vid ! Keep them coming!!

Ah yes my second (and third?) Favourite primarch(s)

Russ agreed with the Lion, in the end. ;)

Plot Twist: Russ is not a profound guy pretending to be a barbarian. He's a barbarian pretending to be a profound guy pretending to be a barbarian.

I really like your point of view of the setting we all love 👍 thanks for the good work sir

I think Alpharius was right about Lorgar. The twisted thing is that I think he still, in his own mind at least, loves his father the most out of all his brothers. He sees his twisted betrayal of everything the Imperium stood for as love. He wants to show his father that he *IS* a god. He joined forces with the chaos gods, and learned all their secrets, because he believes that he can break his father out of his atheist lie and get him to accept that he is himself the god that Lorgar believes him to be. I just think it's a lot more twisted and fun to think that Lorgar betrayed everyone, and started this entire mess, out of love, not despair or hate. He broke, and overcame his despair and depression by embracing what he thought was the right path. He doubled down on the idea that his father is a god.

I personally think he'd have had more to say about corax as well. You'd think he'd some kinship or at least a begrudging respect for the only other legion designed for covert operations. Which I agree is spurious connection. But both the alpha legion and the raven guard have very different methodologies as compared to most other Astartes.

Alpharius was never as smart or clever as he believed he was.

I wish there was more lore solely focused on Omegon. Omegon is so underrated

The Emperor changes based on what he has to be, or do, to get the Primarchs (his tools) to work. He had to act like that with Angron. Angron had rejected him and refused the crusade. Even if the Emperor had helped Angron win the battle and saved his comrades, Angron wouldn't have joined the Imperium.

Moral superiority is still superiority. Lorgar plays the role of a modest and humble sort at times, perhaps. But his backing is absolute nonetheless. I think for the rest, it's important to remember that they are disguisers. It's not taking things on the face. It's pointing to the role they portray. Alpharius is less invested in the actor, than to that which they are acting, due to his own nature

With Russ, "we are what we pretend to be" rings pretty true. He can pretend he's just "acting like a savage" but the Burning of Prospero seemed pretty savage to me so I'm not sure that was an act

The khan and the cyclops where Besties. But secret besties

Great video---Are there any novels with a good in-depth exchange between Alpharius and Curze?

I think you're right that is relationship with Omacron causes him to take his other brothers at face value. Like the wolf king's barbarity I think lorgar presents facially as superior/overconfident. There's an isaac asimov set of lines that always made me think of Lorgar and his confadence: "Same fellow. The hook and the squint are still there, but his hair's gray now. He plays the game dirty. Luckily, he's the most egregious fool on the planet. Fancies himself as a shrewd devil, too, which mades his folly the more transparent." "That's usually the way." "His notion of cracking an egg is to shoot a nuclear blast at it. Witness the tax on Temple property he tried to impose just after the old king died two years ago. Remember?" Hardin nodded thoughtfully, then smiled. "The priests raised a howl." "They raised one you could hear way out to Lucreza. He's shown more caution in dealing with the priesthood since, but he still manages to do things the hard way. In a way, it's unfortunate for us; he has unlimited self-confidence." "Probably an over-compensated inferiority complex. Younger sons of royalty get that way, you know." "But it amounts to the same thing. He's foaming at the mouth with eagerness to attack the Foundation. He scarcely troubles to conceal it. And he's in a position to do it, too, from the standpoint of armament. The old king built up a magnificent navy, and Wienis hasn't been sleeping the last two years. In fact, the tax on Temple property was originally intended for further armament, and when that fell through he increased the income tax twice."

Great vid

I still think it would be an interesting if angron become the primarch he was meant to be after emerging from the warp after Sanguinius ripping the nails out when they fought on terra. Indirectly regenerating and turning on khorne .

Enjoyed your views as ever, Rho - but I have to disagree with your reading of the scene between Alpharius and Russ. In my opinion, I think it's purpose in the book is to highlight exactly how well Alpharius understands his brother. He spots immediately that the Wolf King isn't drunk, just pretending. Then Russ asks what Alpharius's role in the Emperor's plan was (Russ being the executioner, of course). Alpharius replies, "I'm the one who keeps secrets," Russ laughs and replies, "Then I'm surprised there aren't two of you." Which is so incredibly on the nose, one almost wonders whether Russ actually knew this. Why would Alpharius recount this specific conversation except as an example of how Russ hides behind a veneer of savagery, yet is so sharp? Contrast this with the scene when Alpharius (disguised as a common Alpha legionnaire) meets the Lion. Although the Lion seems suspicious, he never identifies or calls out his brother. It's interesting that Alpharius pulls out these examples that reflect well on Russ, but far less so on the Lion. One wonders what his ulterior motives might be? (crash of cymbals) DADADADAA! Loved this book, but unfortunately it made as much sense as everything else about the Alpha Legion, which is none at all.

Baldpharius Domegon, the (shiny) head of the hydra.

Well it does say something the new Lion model looks like Charles Dance's Tywin Lannister.

I always looked at him as the emperors informant.His job was to observe

Alpha and Omega, the First and Last Primarch to be found, Quite a Clever play on the names tbh, though seeing how the legion operates I'd sooner believe that Omegon was the First Found, and Alpharius as the Last,

You are a little hard on Guilliman. In which book does he express that he's solved the problem of warfare, or that he has all the answers in that regard? The Codex was meant to guide a thousand independent chapters that wouldn't directly answer to anyone into the indefinite future; there would be no primarchs too guide them and the mutation of of the Chapters as institutions would only increase with time; that the Chapters are still largely recognizable 10,000 years later is a testament to this foresight. The ones that succeeded in this without it were the ones that started out with a deep roots (like Space Wolves living on Fenris).

What? Russ didnt like any of his brothers? No, Russ' biggest weakness was that he loved his brothers, even to a fault.

Russ loved Horus . He was hesitant to kill him during their fight. He plead to Horus to come with him to Terra and be healed by the emperor In some sense he felt responsible for the downfall of their father.

Like you said, it's a bit disappointing that Alpharius didn't see through Russ's mask of savagery. But equally disappointing is his failure to see past Fulgrim's mask of arrogance.

Me: I wonder what he thought about Jaghatai , Corax and Conrad since all 4 use unconventional warfare? "well they keep to them selves so nobody knows the" gee thanks GW for the new insight.

The Lion is right thou, he is the best primarch. He was the FIRST, The template for all the others, the only one that Emps knew 100% would never turn traitor in all the futures he saw. So Emps shuda picked The Lion for Warmaster, BUUUUT maybe Emps wanted the Heresy to happen. Who knows.

Primarch #2- Ah, Alpharius. Playing his part well. Can't ask for a better partner in crime in sabatoge efforts against Chaos. Primarch# 11- Hey... :( Primarch#2- You know what I ment.

Omegon has ALWAYS been the One and Only... Alpharius is just an Omegon's "psichic shadow" manifested over one of his astartes... (I wish!)

I haven't read the novel, but after watching this video I get the sense that Alpharius' novel was the hardest to write. Considering his character, you would expect the novel to be full of revelations about the Imperium and the Primarch, and yet a novel like that would be against the spirit of the universe. It feels like this novel was a compromise that could never live up to its potential.

Alpharius: Head of the Hydra was an amazing book. I have the limited edition. It does a fair job of undoing the screw job that was Praetor of Dorn.

I think this is a pretty spot on characterization... of Alpharius. Seems like the type to assume to be the smartest man in the room and judge everyone else. Makes sense how he ended up walking face first into a chainsword.

ABout what you talked of the Lion, thats exactly why hes probably comming back, becouse thks to her personality its will generate conflict and good story. Vulkan daddy for example hes another that can easily be broght back but his personality its too cooperative so unless hes back and stuck forever in a battle againt tiranids or oter thing far away, his cooperation with girlyman would make things to good and easy.

As a twin myself, I can grok my brother's actions and motives without discussing them. We shared a womb for nine months and a home for most of twenty years. Did the help understanding anyone else? Mixed bag. My twin has all the cunning of a brick. Meanshile, I pretended to be some guy named Kevin (that I apparently resemble) who is a higher up at Sysco to get my truck unload expedited on Thursday. Twins usually end up o opposite sides to reduce competition.

How far back did the Alpha Legion do the "Hail Hydra" thing? Is it fairly new?

For me, Alphariuses misjudgement and / or surface view of some of his brothers (particulary Russ and Konrad) is just underlining the opinion I had of him since the events of Legion - that he believes himself to be way more smart and observant than he really is. Horus said it when contemplating about his allies: "Hydra do not see everything, despite believing so..." or something like that.

I find it strange to know that Russ didn't like his brothers very much considering the fact that in his primarch book, it says that the wolf king cried when he learned the disappearance of the lion.

Russ knows that should any of his brothers falls it would be down to him to end them. If he has indeed done that before with one of the lost primarchs you could understand that he see's it as his duty, care for them to prevent them from reaching that point.

Alpharius probably considers the Horus heresy as the ultimate blood bowl competition 😎

I can see logar having a superiority complex because of his faith. If he viewed his valued dedication to theology as the paramount measure of worth then I can see him holding himself above his brothers

Bluntly, you cannot take anything Alpharius seriously. Not only does he continuously lie, he is also extraordinarily arrogant and takes biased in his view. If you read the short story Council of Truth in the Blood of the Emperor book, you see Alpharius giving his assessment of Guilliman to some senior Alpha Legion officers and Omegon. However, if you read his assessment, you almost wonder if Alpharius ever even met Guilliman. For example, Alpharius claims that Roboute is only good because he has never met a superior adversary than his legion. Except we know that Roboute has met a superior adversary than his legion. Before Roboute's discovery, the 13th Legion was actually defeated by Osirian Psybrids and were forced to retreat. Once Roboute was given command, he was able to defeat them. You have a foe that was able to defeat the 13th Legion and was only defeated because tactics used by Roboute. He later claims that Roboute is not flexible in his strategy. Again, Roboute built his entire legion to be flexible. That was the point of the Ultramarines. If nothing else, Calth proved Alpharius wrong. Roboute does try to write things down, but he also tells his sons to not be wedded to his teachings. That was the entire lesson in the short story Rules of Engagement. Lastly, Alpharius seems completely ignorant of Roboute's plans post-Great Crusade. As everyone is aware, Roboute was training his sons to be leaders and civil servants after the Crusade. Yet, Alpharius seems to think that Roboute has made no such plans. That Roboute will become obsolete. While I admit I am a fan of Roboute Guilliman, I still cannot understand how Alpharius can make such assessments. My only conclusion is that Alpharius is only seeing what he wants to see rather than making an honest assessment. Presumably, this applies to his assessments of his other brothers.

Ah yes Russ' greater depths. Hypocracy and foolhardiness.

Wouldn’t the Alpha legion lose their mind and go rage mode when Alpharius fell to Rogal? Like with the other Primarch when they fell.

What I like about this book is that is presented as Alpharius's account, but he states near the beginning that "all accounts lie." He is an untrustworthy narrator and he tell us that.

5:56 you could say he was... pulling his punches vs angron 😏

I definitely agree with you with lorgar he wasn't really that arrogant. However during the Heresy he did try and take over the after Horus injured, believe himself the rightful chosen one. Perhaps Alpharius seen something deep below past mask, past the conscious thought, something deep down that the primarch in question was unaware of. Mabye Russ has a more savage nature deep down that he doesn't know about, mabye he has to hate is brothers just a little in case he has to kill them because he could never do it otherwise

I think it's quite fitting that Alpharius gets everything wrong, because it's clear he's incredibly blind about people in general, but thinks he's brilliant, his flaw very much seems to be the dunning-kruger effect, he thinks he is a genius about something, that he neither understands or knows enough about to know he doesn't know anything.

But what about Omegon? Because I feel like Omegon opinions on his primarch brothers would be similar but with a twist

Maybe Russ was designed as Alpharius' blindspot?

So where is Alpharius/Omegon now?

Taking alpharius' comments about your wolf daddy a bit too personally with this defense! 😋

Anybody else think he sorta sounds like drusus leverian from warframe

I could see lorgar being labeled as seeing himself superior which is how most people today who are religious see themselves because they don’t act a certain way that others who aren’t religious behave they think they’re better

Omegon is cypher

Kind of funny that the primarch obssessed with secrecy and subterfuge, the primarch who spent centuries observing others in secret, seems to have been wrong more often than not. I think even Guilliman knows his brothers better, and Guilliman never struck me as someone who really cared that much.

I really liked this book but I felt like they really missed the opportunity to go into how he felt about his brothers. They were just real quick one offs.

*shadow’s snickering * I Am Alpharius… -Alpharius

I'm sorry Rho, but the notion that Russ loved and cared for Magnus in any sense is just absurd. We had numerous examples of his "love" in Shriek, in Nikea and most of all, in Prospero. And speaking to Kasper Hawser, thinking that Magnus was listening is just dumb. If he really cared about his brother, he would be in the first stormbird in the direction of the Great Pyramid of Tizca

That's interesting. Opinions can't be wrong?

Emperor has humanity? idk from everything ive read i think he sees us as tools for greater good. :X

Doing my duty.... algorithm wrangling via like/commenting completed. Praise be!

Strange how surface level Alpharius is. You'd think someone so deep in sececy and espionage would have some thoughts beyond the obvious but there's no depth to his thoughts. He sees the primarchs exactly how they present themselves and nothing else.

They are probably triplets not twins.