Rarely pitted against each other, but of interesting contradiction are the XVII Legion Word Bearers and V Legion White Scars of the Warhammer 40K setting. One Legion represents the sins and worst aspects of religion, the other the virtues of spirituality.
This is not to say one branch of theology or lifestyle is preferable to the other, but how narratively the delineation of a ‘Loyal’ overlooked faction contrasts the original traitors, and it must be noted that Word Bearers were the primogenitors of the 30th Millenium’s original ‘Imperial Truth’, an militant atheistic doctrine, before beginning the cult of the God Emperor and then choosing to worship the Chaos Gods. By fans and in-universe supporters, this sense of right is a chronological factor, a justification for turning upon an Emperor that wished no worship and was too forceful in his admonishment. Yet these approaches miss the clear villainy which is the legion’s ultimate trajectory.
It is not strictly speaking what the XVII worshiped that made them righteous or right, treasonous or wrong, but in their clearly unhealthy and fickle affiliations, their lack of true fidelity. When reprimanded by their god, this was not seen as righteous punishment as one sees within many religions invoking divine wrath, nor the opportunity for a new faith growing from the old as one observes in the real history of Christianity. Nor was it an opportunity to seek secular virtue, after all the Astartes being given first the mandate of conquest, the luxury of never worrying about the aging process of their military fiat.
The Monarchia rebuke offended their notion of power and self-obsession, the egotism of religion here clearly being depicted as a parasitic aspect of religion (interestingly a non-Godly or virtuous one at that). As we see from Kor Phareon and the often dastardly betrayals of the Word Bearers who then go on to murderously betray their own imperium, their own side, also their own legion the pursuit of self-interest under the veneer of purity of rage is just that; gilding for cruelty for its own sake. It demonstrates how one can perhaps delude themselves into worshiping literal deities of bloodshed, masochism, deceit and disease, but honestly at their heart simply choose the obvious answer which gratifies their egos the most, which gives them the most servants and worlds. As shown in many works, Word Bearers such as Saqqara and Kor Phaeron will openly turn against destiny and the deamon, and for all of their talk of being more intelligent or aware of the Warp, collecting and selectively employing sorcerous powers or negating to fulfil contracts reeks of the mortal being stacking the deck and playing which hands serve themselves, rather than bowing to the will or divine mandate of a higher power.
A congregation as community, the means to confess sins, to feel less alone is not present within the settings circumstance for the reason the Word Bearers are villains, and this is quite intentional on the part of the writers. Not because of a belief that congregations themselves are evil, but this is how such an evil faction would use them. it’s televangelism and despotism taken to the highest extreme within a science fantasy galaxy, as within all 40K.
And the other side of the coin to this is the heritage which was distained throughout the crusade, the disaster for the V legion White Scars, but was readily used and accepted during the keystone battle for the galaxy as convenience even before the Imperium itself about faced its core principles in the interest of survival and humanocentrism.
Artefacts of power, notably daggers and sacrificial killing weapons are popular weapons and plot devices of WB stories. In contrast, the White Scar’s spirituality and philosophy takes the form of verbally imparted discourse, not parables or a sense of the parent ego-state as we see in say the Thousand Sons, but a simple but in truth older and richer tradition of speaking with roots in the dialogues of the Romans, the Stoa discussing philosophy in the streets and gaining the name Stoics, or the Tao of Chinese antiquity. By speaking respectfully and contemplatively, discussing rather than preaching makes an interesting opportunity to impart wisdom. The Dark Apostles of the Word Bears speak the ‘truth’, always tied direly to war, to bloodshed for empowerment. The White Scars are already certain of their conviction, nor are they relatively heavily armed in terms of unique technology or power. The aim is to explain the nuance of their culture, to ask questions which come in very handy when the precepts of the imperium are shattered and Chaos’s greatest strength is sowing discord and devastation through deceit.
The hierarchy of the Word Bearers, with factionalism and contempt almost omnipresent within their members. When the greatest “Stormseer” of the White Scars Yesugi speaks to a V Legion acolyte, it is utterly opposite in intention; the abilities of a future peer are encouraged with the lesson to be wary of the intoxicating power and lack of control tapping into the Warp invites. To ‘sip the cup’ is an incredibly nuanced theological attitude of stoicism and discipline regarding acceptance of the latent psychic power within the world and the Sea of Souls, but not to metaphorically drain the portion, to avoid gluttony, intoxication and the subsequent moral fall stemming from power’s temptation.
This attitude of near abstinence and pursuing a ‘golden mean’ shows its worth at the Siege most notably in Saturnine. By using the Aegis psychic shield of their pseudo deity, the Emperor, the deamons of at least four separate Devils are cast down in magical lightning, the archetype of the storm they hold with spiritual reverence is used as a focus weapon to banish the bloated monsters drawn into being through the bloodshed and terror of millions of human beings the Word Bearers were intended to serve by conquering their enemies.
It’s also something rich and amusing that Lorgar, Primarch and genetic patriarch of the WB revers to the Word Bearers as savages.
The wrongness of the XVII is in part due to the hollowness of their religion I believe. They have no true faith, in the sense of faith being trusted, non-transactional, and intended to elevate and spiritually anchor the self and those one loves within their life.
It is impressive (and telling of such a bloody setting) that the Mongolian cultural model I seen as relatively benign at least to the human race, because as with the Word Bearers, the allegory and artistic inspirations are not taken entirely warts and all but to delineate the loyal and the heretic. The White Scars are practitioners of restraint and lack of self-delusion, which like logistical ability and common sense are a precious resource and frightfully short supplied within the Imperium of Man.
Perhaps it is not the rebelliousness, the speed or the unique cultural flavour, but the sense of voluntary sacrifice which draws so much audience appeal, and it’s certainly most relevant to the Legion’s Heresy arc. Where prouder Legions with higher pedigree such as the Ultramarines, the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves never stand upon Terra in unison, for pride or politics and are driven back by manipulations on the part of Chaos, the White Scars simply appraised the problem simply for what I was, tension was present throughout *Scars about the possibility of choosing sides; then from Path of Heaven there was no shadow of a doubt. The White Scars have a complex history with rebellion but never cull their own, the Sagyar Mazan being the antithesis of a traitor’s purge for purity, in life there is the possibility for atonement and to laugh at death and one’s enemy.
Mortality and duty are pillars that uphold the heavens to White Scar society, whereas in the pursuit of pilgrimage and power Word Bearers will abandon their positions, wars, and worlds to parts unknown in the interest of raising the same bloodfanes and bone cathedrals.
Warhammer makes an incredible amount of contemplation from a violent, brutal galaxy teeming with the underverse of immortal demons. It’s primary faction, the Space Marines are determined, obsessive and cultured warriors who when wedded to a cultural tradition will fight to the last in the interest of their ideals. The small Chogoris, solitary within the galaxy and home to icy heavens present above, or the seething masses of the Deamon World Sicarius chanting up to the enchanted skies are alike in perceiving the world through a lens beyond secular in nature, aware of ethereal forces and attached to tradition and belief as a part of life.
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