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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
→{{Endn|Conflicting Sources}}
==={{Endn|Conflicting Sources}}===
A summary of what we "know":
*Rogal Dorn died during a [[Black Crusade]] in which [[Cadia]] ''wasn't'' attacked, meaning it had to be 5 through 12, as 1-4 and 13 involved attacks on the planet.
**He died on [[Sword of Sacrilege|a ship]] built in [[M36]], further corroborating that he couldn't have died in any of the first 4 Black Crusades.
***Said ship was at least eventually crewed by [[Tzeentch|Tzeeentchian]]s; the [[8th Black Crusade]] was the one in which [[Abbadon]] specifically sought (and acquired) Tzeentch's favor, and it involved the murder of highly specific targets in highly specific ways.
**Furthermore, he was alive during the [[Age of Apostasy]], which occurred during [[M36]]; the wording of the text stating this strongly implies he outlived [[Goge Vandire]], but Goge's death has no specific known date.
*The Black Crusade in question was "bludgeoning its way through the [[Cadian Gate]]", so it it could not have been the 10th through 12th, as none of those crusades used the gate to enter realspace.
**He died "soon after" [[Corvus Corax]] disappeared into the [[Eye of Terror]], which firmly guarantees it could not have been the 12th, as Corax was definitely already gone by that point; more generally, it implies an earlier crusade, as Corax's absence from galactic events before his disappearance is less plausible the longer it is.
*Dorn was convinced the Imperial Navy had failed to see the threat until it was too late; the two remaining crusades in the suspect list (5-9) in which Abbadon's forces were reputably unpredictable are the [[7th Black Crusade|7th]] and [[8th Black Crusade|8th]]; the other three were reasonably focused on planets and sectors not involving [[Cadia]].
**The 7th was specifically about recovering gene-seed, culminating in Abbadon and [[Fabius Bile|Bile]] making new marines from [[Blood Angels]] gene-seed; presumably, they would have used [[Iron Hands]] gene-seed as well if they had a primarch's corpse on hand.
Speculatively, then, the most plausible crusade in which Dorn died was the [[8th Black Crusade]], circa 999.[[M37]].
Rogal Dorn can be presumed to have survived to at least 100 years after the [[Second Founding]] in 021.M31{{Fn|43}}{{Fn|42}}. While conversing with [[Chaplain]] [[Segas]] on [[Sotha]], [[Oberdeii]] refers to the Second Founding as having occurred at least a hundred years ago (and that [[Roboute Guilliman]] was already wounded by [[Fulgrim]] by that point). Segas in turn refers to Dorn as alive and in command in the present tense, having already petitioned the High Lords to approve the upcoming [[Third Founding]] forty years prior their conversation. Thus (presuming Segas was not misinformed due to delayed information) this puts one of the last dates he is presumed to be alive as of at least 121.M31, approximately 600 years prior to the [[1st Black Crusade]] in 781.M31{{Fn|41}}{{Fn|42}}.
In ''[[Space Marine (Novel)]]'' it is stated that the Imperial Fists have Rogal Dorn's whole [[Remains of Rogal Dorn|skeleton]] aboard the ''The Phalanx''.{{Fn|5}}{{HTE}} However, it should be noted that this source in particular is one of the very few to be given the (now defunct) [[Heretic Tomes]] labeling by Games Workshop, and even rarer, its current ebook listing comes with a warning about treating it as canon.{{Fn|47}}
In the [[Index Astartes II]], Dorn's death is said to have taken place "soon after the disappearance of his brother", [[Corvus Corax]]. This account details that during "a Black Crusade" (which one is not stated) a call for aid was sent to the Imperial Fists. Allegedly the [[Imperial Navy]] had failed to discover until too late a Chaos fleet amassing at the [[Pelenos Belt]] to launch an attack on the [[Cadian Gate]]. With most of the chapter being deployed to shadow [[Craftworld]] [[UlthweUlthwé]], Rogal Dorn could only muster three companies of Imperial Fists and Marines. He personally lead an attack on the fleet, ramming a ship under his command into the [[Despoiler Class Battleship]] the ''[[Sword of Sacrilege]]'', where he would make his final stand. Only after his demise did Craftworld Ulthwe Ulthwé seemingly vanish, freeing the remaining chapter and the [[Phalanx]] arrive to fully defeat the Chaos fleet, having discovered that the original message was a ruse, and that the Black Crusade was not attacking Cadia. The Imperial Fists "boarded the ''Sword of Sacrilege'' before it could flee and recovered what remained of Rogal Dorn. His engraved skeletal hand continues to be maintained in stasis, their holiest icon"{{Fn|2a}}. However, according to [[Battlefleet Gothic]] the Despoiler class ship wasn't designed until mid-[[M36]], having originally been an Imperial warship class that fell to Chaos.{{Fn|8}} Whether this is an oversight on the class of warship, or if Dorn did indeed lead the Imperial Fists for several millennia, is unclear. Furthermore, prior to the [[13th Black Crusade]], only the 1st Black Crusade was known to make a dedicated assault on Cadia, making it possible that the event took place in some other Black Crusades beside the 1st (though ostensibly not the 13th).{{Fn|41}} It is possible that, like Vulkan, Rogal Dorn remained in hiding and only appeared again when he believed the hour was needed.
Also, in [[Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition)]] and [[Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition, 2nd Codex)]] it is stated that the Imperial Fists defeated the Chaos fleet and in the following search a single fist was the only trace found of the primarch.{{Fn|18}}{{Fn|43}}
