Grand Council of Reconstruction
The Grand Council of Reconstruction was a temporary body which ruled the Imperium in the period immediately following the turbulent Horus Heresy.[1a]
History
Following the loyalist victory in the Siege of Terra, the Emperor was unresponsive upon the Golden Throne and the Imperium was in a state of disarray and ruin. The old War Council and Council of Terra were subsequently reorganised by the remaining loyal Primarchs into the Grand Council of Reconstruction as a temporary body to oversee the stability and rebuilding of the Imperium as well as oversee the Great Scouring. The Council was formerly convened at the orders of Rogal Dorn and Roboute Guilliman almost immediately after traitor forces had fled Terra.[1a] It included all of the remaining loyal Primarchs save Corvus Corax of the Raven Guard, who set himself outside the Imperial command structure.[1b]
The exact membership and power dynamic of the Grand Council was controversial. Many Humans in the Imperium blamed the Primarchs and their Legions for the bloodshed of the Heresy and wished to lessen their role in the new Imperium. Unlike the old War Council, where the Primarchs had reigned absolute, Imperial baseline humans ultimately would have far more power within the Grand Council of Reconstruction in the form of members of the Senatorum Imperialis.[1b][1c] The countering of Astartes influence would ultimately would be expressed by Khalid Hassan, master of the Chosen of Malcador and new Grand Master of Assassins after the Sigillite's death, who only gained a seat on the Council and ensured the Administratum's cooperation with the High Lords over the Primarchs through threatening Master of the Administratum Simion Pentasian with a Callidus Assassin.[1d]
Another early controversy in the Council was how to pursue the Scouring, with Rogal Dorn leading a faction that included Leman Russ, Lion El'Jonson, the badly wounded Jaghatai Khan, and Blood Angels First Captain Raldoron that wished for a Crusade of vengeance against the fleeing Traitors. Meanwhile, those led by Guilliman and the Human High Lords advised for a more cautious strategy based around securing their powerbase and retaking strategically vital worlds. Vulkan only reluctantly supported Dorn’s position while Constantin Valdor said nothing for either side.[1c][1g]
The first meeting of the Council took place within the damaged Great Chamber of the Senatorum Imperialis, and one of its first acts was to authorize the Retaking of Luna and reconquest of Mars. This was in favour of Guilliman's consolidation strategy, which had only prevailed thanks to the High Lords supporting his position over the other Primarchs. Even Dorn could not ignore the High Lords, for the Space Marine Legions were dependent on the technology of the Mechanicum, the logistical network of the Administratum, the Astropaths of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica, the auxiliaries of the Army and Navy, and the Navigators of the Navis Nobilite.[1e]
It is currently unknown when the Council was abolished, but by mid-M32 the High Lords of Terra had supreme power within the Imperium.[2]
Members
- Roboute Guilliman - Primarch of the Ultramarines[1f] and eventually Lord Commander of the Imperium.[3]
- Rogal Dorn - Primarch of the Imperial Fists and Praetorian of Terra[1f]
- Leman Russ - Primarch of the Space Wolves[1f]
- Lion El'Jonson - Primarch of the Dark Angels[1f]
- Jaghatai Khan - Primarch of the White Scars[1f]
- Vulkan - Primarch of the Salamanders[1f]
- Constantin Valdor - Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes[1f]
- Raldoron - First Captain of the Blood Angels[1g]
- Zagreus Kane - Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus[1f]
- Simion Pentasian - Master of the Administratum[1d]
- Nemo Zhi-Meng - Choirmaster of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica[1g]
- Khalid Hassan - First of the Chosen of Malcador, Master of the Sigillites, Grand Master of Assassins.[1d]
- Aphone Ire - Sister-Commander of the Sisters of Silence[1g]
- Niora Su-Kassen - Lord High Admiral of the Imperialis Armada[1g]
- Adreen - Lord Commander Militant of the Imperial Army[1g]
- Harr Rantal - Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites[1g]
- Ossian - Chancellor of the Estate Imperium[1g]
- Bolam Haardiker - Paternoval Envoy of the Navis Nobilite[1g]
Trivia
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There are a number of differences between the scene of the Grand Council of Reconstruction as depicted in the cover art of Ashes of the Imperium (Novel) vs the written content of the novel:
- The council is conducted with the gathered members sitting around a large round table, rather than the art depiction of standing upon stairs at the foot of the Emperor's empty granite throne. Roboute and Rogal Dorn in the novel are seated on opposite sides of this table, rather than face to face.[1g]
- Jaghatai Khan is described as much more heavily injured from his previous fight with Mortarion. As opposed to the image of him standing and shouting on the cover art, he is barely able to walk, needing two of his marines to prop him up upon elbows to stand, and is only able to speak two words barely audible through a hoarse, blood congested voice. In the novel his face is described as heavily disfigured by scars and sutures, one eye hidden beneath a wad of bandages, rather than an eyepatch. His skin is described as ashen gray, rather than its usual copper like texture.[1g]
Sources
- 1: Ashes of the Imperium (Novel)
- 2: I Am Slaughter (Novel), Chapter 3
- 3: Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pg. 8
