Two unknown legions

Precious little is known about two of the twenty Space Marine Legions, numbered II and XI, and their respective Primarchs, as their records are simply noted as having been "expunged" or "destroyed" in Imperial listings of the 20 Legions.

It seems likely the Unknown Legions were Traitors⁴, and were deliberately erased from memory following their destruction. (In Ancient Rome, Emperors could condemn traitors or those that brought shame to Rome to damnatio memoriae, removing every trace that the person ever existed. Their statues were destroyed and their names obliterated from all public records.)

However, nothing is known for sure about the names of the legions, their Primarchs, homeworlds, which side they took during the Horus Heresy and their ultimate fate.

Overview

Currently, all that is stated about this issue is:

• The Emperor created 20 Primarchs, who were snatched from Terra by a Chaos vortex and scattered around the galaxy.¹
• The 20 incubation capsules drifted through the warp for decades or even centuries, until finally coming to rest on human-inhabited worlds throughout the galaxy,² "where they were variously adopted by human parents."³
  • The only exception to this is the Primarch Konrad Curze, who survived utterly alone (and whose background, in any case, was only described in later material).
• In the listings of the 20 Legions in Imperial records, Legions II and XI are stated as having "all records expunged from the library". Earlier background (Codex Imperialis and second edition's Ultramarines codex) less ambivalently states that the records for these two Legions were deleted following the Heresy. Considering that the Traitor Legions are simply listed as excommunicate traitoris but still included in these same lists would mean that the records were deleted deliberately and for a reason only known by those who perpetrated the action. Additionally, the fact that the known Traitor Legions are still listed could mean the Unknown Legions were destroyed during or following the Heresy, allowing for their complete removal from historic records.
• Of the various abilities possessed by the Primarchs, one was "invisibility".³
  • If this is taken literally, this presumably refers to one of the missing Primarchs, as invisibility is not a power possessed by those known. It could also mean this Primarch was a blank as such individuals are said to be invisible to psykers.
  • This could also be referring to Corax who is said to have effective invisibility, whereby he could walk amongst people without them noticing him. It is also said that only the Emperor knew this about the primarch.¹⁷
• The Emperor met each Primarch in turn, and each Primarch had risen to a position of authority within the cultures they had found themselves in.¹
• 20 Legions took part in the Great Crusade, each led by their own Primarch.⁴
• Alpharius was known to be the last Primarch to be found, a fact which even earned him the nickname "The Last". This suggests that all the other Primarchs had been found already.
• 20 statues of the Primarchs were erected in the Imperial Palace on Terra. By the time of the Horus Heresy, plinths II and XI "...had been vacant for a long time. No-one ever spoke of those two absent brothers [and] their separate tragedies."⁷
  • This suggests that the two unknown Primarchs had been found previously and that something tragic had happened. The two Primarchs were "absent" but not referred as "dead".
• All Primarchs were tempted by Chaos predations, and "fully half" of them failed that test.⁵
  • This suggests that possibly 10 Primarchs were, in some way, corrupted by Chaos influences. The known traitors are nine (Fulgrim, Perturabo, Konrad Curze, Angron, Mortarion, Magnus, Horus, Lorgar, and Alpharius). Whether an additional Primarch was corrupted or not is unclear.
  • Prior to sending Sigismund and his Imperial Fists to Mars during the Heresy, Dorn muses to Malcador the Sigillite on the loyalist support of two legions, possibly the two unknown legions, during the Heresy. Malcador quells the Primarch's thoughts, stating that "They are lost to us forever."¹⁵
• Horus convinced "no less than 9" Space Marine Legions to side with him at the onset of the Heresy,⁸ a number also referred to as "fully half" of the legions.⁹ When he assaulted Terra, this number was given as 9.¹⁰
  • This also implies, but does not categorically states, that the 9 known traitor legions are all of the legions that followed him into rebellion and that 18 legions were the total number of legions active at the time. A passage detailing Horus' plans for the various legions at the outset of the Heresy mentions by name all 18 known legions¹¹.
• "Of the original 20 Primarchs only 9 survived the Horus Heresy. The remainder were either killed in the fighting (like Horus) or fled with their [Legions] into the Eye of Terror. The survivors helped [to rebuild] the Imperium."³
  • It is currently accepted that 3 Primarchs died during the Heresy (Ferrus Manus, Sanguinius, and Horus) and 6 are known to have fled into the Eye of Terror (Fulgrim, Perturabo, Angron, Mortarion, Magnus, and Lorgar). The fates of the other 11 are open to multiple interpretations.
  • Two traitors, Konrad Curze and Alpharius, did not flee into the Eye of Terror and were killed later on. 7 loyal Primarchs seem to have survived. It is possible that Curze and Alpharius were counted as part of the 9 survivors.

Other Information

Ultramarines Codex

Second edition's Ultramarines codex states that it seems likely that Legions II and XI fought for Horus at least during the beginning of the Heresy. It also refers to the records as being destroyed following the Heresy.⁴

Rubinek

The short-story Hell in a Bottle by Simon Jowet mentions a Primarch Rubinek of the Iron Hearts chapter.¹² Primarch Rubineck is not mentioned anywhere else. Some authors seem to occasionally confuse the Chapter Masters with the Primarchs and Rubinek was most likely such a case.¹³

Horus' vision

As Horus lay in coma inside the Davinite temple after being wounded by Eugen Temba, Erebus gave him visions that showed him events from various points in time. In one of these experiences, Horus found himself in the geno-vault where he was created, and looked down upon the genetor-tanks containing the infant Primarchs. At one point he stops before tank XI and reflects upon the "untapped glories that lay within, knowing they would never come to pass". This refers to one of the unknown Primarchs. Later on, Horus' anger takes control and he smashes his fist upon tank XI, damaging it. Shortly after, a vortex swoops up all the genetor-tanks and scatters them across the galaxy.¹⁴

The truth of this vision is unclear; it should be noted that the whole experience was orchestrated by the Chaos powers, in other words Horus saw what the chaos gods wanted him to see.¹⁴

Seth´s Proposal

When Dante asks the Blood Angels' successor chapters for men to bring the Blood Angels back to full strength, having suffered heavy casualties during Arkio´s heresy, Seth, chapter master of the Flesh Tearers, makes a counter to this demand: disband the Blood Angels and spread them amongst the successors. When Orloc (chapter master of the Blood Drinkers) protests that there is no way a First Founding Chapter can end like this, Seth retorts that, actually, it has happened before. ¹⁶

This statement is no definite indicator, as the two Unknown Legions were legions and not chapters. Additionally James Swallow is known for taking certain liberties with the way he depicts the Blood Angels. Technically there are no first founding chapters, as chapters did not come into existence before the second founding (which Swallow might be referring to as "first").

The First Heretic

The First Heretic (Novel) sheds more light on the subject of the two unknown Primarchs:

• The Lost Primarchs were erased from Imperial records at least 43 years prior to the events of Isstvan V, as only eighteen Legions are referenced during the events at Monarchia.¹⁸
• Its implied that the Emperor personally cast aside the two lost Primarchs: "I fear the Emperor will break the Word Bearers - and break me. We would be cast alongside the brothers we no longer speak of."¹⁹
• Throughout the remainder of the Great Crusade, the remaining Primarchs were oathed not to even talk about the lost Primarchs.²⁰
• The lost Primarchs/Legions are referred to as 'the forgotten and the purged'.²⁰
• Magnus the Red confirms that the Emperor personally purged the two lost Primarchs/Legions from history.²¹
• During the vision of the Gal Vorbak, the eleventh Primarch is referenced as still being innocent and pure prior to the scattering of the Primarchs. This implies that the eleventh Primarch either becomes corrupted or is guilty of some degree of transgression against the Emperor/Imperium, or both.²²
• Both lost Legions are said to have been expunged from Imperial records for 'good reason'. They are said to have in some way acted shamefully.²³
• A rumour is revealed that could explain what ultimately became of the II and XI Legions. Around the time that the II and XI Legions were expunged from Imperial records, the Ultramarines Legion swelled in Astartes numbers to eclipse all other Legions. It could merely be a rumour, or it could actually be the case that the II and XI Legion's Astartes were inducted into the XIII Legion after they were officially expunged from Imperial records. This rumour however still doesn't explain what actually happened to the II and XI Primarchs.²³

Sources

• ¹:Index Astartes I
• ²:Codex: Angels of Death
• ³:Codex Imperialis
• ⁴:Codex: Ultramarines (for 2nd Edition), by Rick Priestley, p. 7, "Of Legions numbered 2 and 11 nothing is recorded, but it seems likely these also fought for Horus at least during the beginning of the Heresy."
• ⁵:Codex: Chaos
• ⁶:Index Astartes IV
• ⁷:Horus Heresy Chapbook (Anthology)
• ⁸:Index Astartes II
• ⁹:Codex: Eye of Terror
• ¹⁰:Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness
• ¹¹:Horus Heresy: Visions of War
• ¹²:Into the Maelstrom
• ¹³:Malleus by Dan Abnett
• ¹⁴:False Gods (Novel) by Graham McNeill
• ¹⁵:Mechanicum (Novel) by Graham McNeill
• ¹⁶:Red Fury (Novel) by James Swallow, seventh chapter
• ¹⁷:Raven's Flight (Audio Book) by Gav Thorpe
• ¹⁸:The First Heretic (Novel), pp. 9 & 45.
• ¹⁹:The First Heretic (Novel), pp. 162.
• ²⁰:The First Heretic (Novel), pp. 163.
• ²¹:The First Heretic (Novel), pp. 167.
• ²²:The First Heretic (Novel), pp. 295.
• ²³:The First Heretic (Novel), pp. 296.