"When the Primarchs gather, the ones everyone hates the most are:
First, Angron.
Second, Curze.
Third, Guilliman.
Because: one had no brains, one ignored his Legion, and one was clearly a rebel.
Then there's Dorn, who always manages to ruin the mood.
Perturabo gives off the vibe of a paranoid schizophrenic.
Mortarion seemed a bit deranged.
Magnus was always playing with fire.
The Alpha twins were frighteningly mysterious.
Lion El'Jonson was nothing but an executioner.
Leman Russ was essentially a hidden killer.
Fulgrim is a pretentious, perfumed peacock.
Lorgar is a religious zealot.
Corvus Corax doesn't get along with anyone.
Vulkan can only barely be considered genuine and kind-hearted.
Ferrus Manus is too close to Fulgrim, and his principles have zero humanity.
Horus is like a childish brat who wants to hog the Emperor for himself.
And Sanguinius was so perfect that he inspired jealousy, his greatest strength and his greatest flaw."
Jaghatai Khan's deep eyes flashed with a sharp glimmer of thought. "And me?"
You're not in it, because those words were yours."
A rare trace of surprise flickered in Jaghatai's gaze. He had thought these were Caelan's evaluations of the Primarchs, but they were his own?
"Is this the future?"
"A future that no longer exists. Curze did not neglect his Legion. Corax will have good relations with him. Russ was no killer. Angron had plenty of brains. Lorgar is not a zealot."
Jaghatai laughed. "And Mortarion said I was deranged."
He had judged Mortarion as deranged, and Mortarion judged him the same. Truly, they were brothers.
Caelan sighed lightly.
The Khan's evaluations of the other Primarchs were sharp and precise, each one striking the mark. Yet this piercing clarity revealed his fatal blind spot; he lacked self-awareness.
He always looked down from above at his brothers, like a cold-eyed judge, never realizing he too was part of the game, never truly understanding them.
Yet this flaw was not unique to Jaghatai Khan. All Primarchs lacked self-awareness.
Corax's relations with the other Primarchs were poor because his circumstances were dire. He was the last Primarch to return, with too little time left to him. His sons were estranged, his homeworld was brewing rebellion, and he had to command the Great Crusade. He had no time to bond with his brothers, and many disliked him.
Only Guilliman had decent relations with him, born from a mock battle on Macragge ,where they enjoyed each other's company.
This proved a bitter truth: it wasn't that Corax refused closeness, but that fate never gave him the chance
By the time he returned, the other Primarchs had already formed their cliques. Worse, he had an irreconcilable rift with Horus. As the first to be found, Horus held immense prestige among the brothers, and many adored him. Since Corax and Horus were at odds, many Primarchs kept their distance, deepening his isolation.
Corax suffered silently, with nowhere to speak his pain.
Jaghatai Khan was the opposite. He was like a lone star, deliberately keeping distance from all his brothers, turning detachment into an art.
Thus, during the Horus Heresy, both loyalists and traitors tried to win him over. Was it because they thought he was one of them? No, it was because they all knew he was not one of them.
At the start of the rebellion, both Imperium and traitors nearly forgot the White Scars existed, until they themselves stepped into view.
Jaghatai's choice of the Imperium had nothing to do with loyalty or honor. By the time he hesitated, those values were already gone. He chose simply because compared to the Imperium, the rotting rebels were worse.
The White Scars could not remain outside events, so they chose the Imperium; at least the Imperium was only occasionally inhuman, while the traitors were utterly rotten.
Caelan said, "Khan, in truth, you and little Mo are very alike."
Jaghatai's brow twitched. "How so?"
Caelan called him Khan, but affectionately called Mortarion "Little Mo." His favoritism was obvious.
Even if Jaghatai did not see Caelan as a father, Caelan was still his mentor. Why treat him with such distance?
"Mortarion believes the Emperor is a tyrant full of lies. You believe the same. Your views of the Emperor are strikingly similar. Neither of you ever felt joy in joining the Imperium. To you both, the Imperium is a civilization built on lies. You envision humanity's destiny differently from the Emperor."
"Mortarion believes the Emperor is a tyrant full of lies. You believe the same. Your views of the Emperor are strikingly similar. Neither of you ever felt joy in joining the Imperium. In your eyes, it is a civilization built on lies. You both hold visions for humanity's fate that differ from the Emperor's."
"We're not the same. He's too obsessive."
"No." Caelan shook his head. "You're both obsessive. He obsesses over destroying all psykers. You obsess over truth, trying to reveal it to everyone. But truth is poisonous."
Jaghatai despised Imperial Truth. Thus, during the Great Crusade, the White Scars focused on fighting xenos, so they wouldn't have to confront human civilizations and spread the Imperium's lies.
He had a vision for humanity's fate, utterly different from the Emperor's. But how could he realize it? He couldn't. Even the Emperor couldn't find another path, how could he?
He fled from Imperial Truth because he knew he had no choice.
Caelan said, "There are two great errors of mankind. First, pretending the road to heaven doesn't exist. Second, blindly worshipping it."
"I'm the latter?"
"You're in between."
"Is that wrong? You taught me balance."
"That's right. We should neither deny the Warp nor worship it. But mankind makes two other errors: pretending truth doesn't exist, or blindly worshipping it. Which are you?"
Jaghatai frowned. "You're using sophistry. That could apply to anything."
"Look into my eyes and answer."
Caelan's usual gentleness vanished. His voice rang like steel, his gaze sharp as a blade of frost.
Jaghatai stared back, then slowly said: "I'm the latter."
"Then why not compromise this time?"
"You want me to accept lies?"
"Have I ever lied to you?"
"No."
"I've told you facts, truths. But who says I haven't deceived you?"
Jaghatai's eyes narrowed. 'If they were facts and truths, how could they be lies?'
"But in reality, that was merely a diversionary tactic. Their women, children, and elderly had already followed the main force westward. This, does it not count as deception?"
"It does."
"Did the scout lie?"
"No."
"They told nothing but facts. And because they were facts, you believed them, and walked willingly into a trap."
Jaghatai Khan insisted, "But that is not the Truth."
Caelan's gaze was intense as he retorted, "Then let me ask you, what is Truth?"
"What you tell me is the Truth."
Caelan slowly shook his head, "Truth changes."
"Let me tell you a story, provided you're willing to listen."
"Go ahead"
"On ancient Terra, when humanity still lacked the ability to observe the stars, people could only explore the cosmos through conjecture. Initially, some believed Terra was the center of the universe. This was first proposed by and later developed step by step into the Geocentric model."
"But around the same time, there was also an astronomer named Aristarchus who proposed the Heliocentric model, believing Terra revolved around the sun. Later, Copernicus further refined and systematized it, believing the sun was the center of the universe, with Terra and other planets revolving around it."
"Initially, the Geocentric model was the unquestionable Truth."
"Over a thousand years later, the Heliocentric model later surpassed it, briefly becoming the commonly accepted Truth."
"After a few hundred more years, with continuous progress and development in astronomy, people finally realized that neither Terra nor the sun was the center of the universe. The solar system was just an insignificant speck of light on a spiral arm of the Milky Way."
"From that point on, humanity's view of the cosmos barely changed. Because humanity never managed to leave the Milky Way, we don't know what the world beyond our galaxy is like. Thus, the Truth of the cosmos was fixed within human civilization."
"Is this Truth?"
"It is Truth."
"Again, on ancient Terra, scientists proposed the Fermi Paradox. Based on humanity's understanding of the universe, there should be a vast number of alien civilizations in the Milky Way, yet humanity observed no signs of them."
"This led to many conjectures, such as the Zoo Hypothesis, suggesting humanity is kept by one or several advanced civilizations, hence our inability to contact aliens."
"Or the Great Filter hypothesis: on any planet, the journey from the emergence of life, to the formation of civilization, to interstellar colonization is incredibly long, with many critical junctures along the way. Each of these junctures can be seen as a filter."
"The formation of any extraterrestrial civilization detectable by us requires passing through numerous filters, and the probability of successfully passing all filters is extremely small."
"Now, human civilization spans the galaxy, and the Milky Way contains countless intelligent life forms. Are these two hypotheses Truth?"
"No."
"How do you know they are not? Even if humanity isn't the only intelligent life in the Milky Way, how do you know if the Milky Way is the only galaxy with intelligent life in the universe? Even if intelligent life exists everywhere in the universe, how do you know if the universe isn't a zoo for higher-dimensional beings?"
"You're still using sophistry."
"But isn't Truth the most masterful sophistry?"
Jaghatai frowned deeply, "Truth is Truth, how can it be mentioned in the same breath as sophistry?"
"Again, on ancient Terra, a scientist named Newton proposed Three Laws of Motion. Later, a man called Einstein proposed the Theory of Relativity, which broke Newton's laws. As civilization continuously developed, we gained new understanding of the universe, and Quantum Mechanics, in turn, broke the Theory of Relativity. Tell me, are Newton's Three Laws and the Theory of Relativity Truth?"
"Since they have been broken, how can they be considered Truth?"
"But Newton's Three Laws still have considerable applicability; even today, they are still used, and when your perspective is limited to within a planet, their conclusions are often accurate. The same goes for the Theory of Relativity."
"Then it is a Truth with limitations."
"Scientists of ancient Terra also proposed the Grand Unified Theory. Since microscopic particles only interact through four fundamental forces, Gravitation, Electromagnetism, the Strong Nuclear Force, and the Weak Nuclear Force, theoretically, all phenomena in the universe could be explained by these four forces."
"Thus, by further studying the connections and unification between these four forces, the search for a theory or model that could uniformly explain all four fundamental interactions became known as the Grand Unified Theory."
"For a long time, humanity believed the Grand Unified Theory was the one and only Truth in the world."
"But since outside our physical universe there also exists the Warp, is the Grand Unified Theory still Truth?"
"It is Truth, but likewise with limitations."
"Then what is Truth without limitations? That the universe is divided into the physical universe and the Warp is Truth, but this is only the Truth as you know it. What if there is a third realm of existence that you are unaware of?"
Jaghatai did not speak, remaining silent for a long time before slowly saying, "There is no absolute Truth in the world. Is this what you want to teach me?"
"I'm not teaching. I'm telling you: perhaps the truth you seek doesn't exist."
"I do not crave absolute Truth, but I will not accept lies either, and the Imperial Truth is a lie."
Caelan shook his head, "You believe the Imperial Truth is a lie because you are a Primarch, you stand from a higher perspective. But in the eyes of mortals, perhaps the Imperial Truth is the Truth."
"They will never encounter daemons or the Warp in their lifetime. What harm does accepting such a lie do to them?"
A sharp, cold smile touched Jaghatai's lips, "You want to tell me ignorance is bliss?"
"There is no absolute Truth, nor is there absolute bliss. In your eyes, the Imperial Truth is worthless garbage. But for the weak, is the lie of the Imperial Truth not a form of bliss?"
"The strong have the right to seek Truth, but if the weak tread the same path, they will only fall and shatter. If the truth were told to all humanity, what do you think would be humanity's fate?"
The Khan's face froze abruptly.
What is the truth?
That the Imperium is not great, that the Emperor is not omnipotent.
That there are four true Gods in the Warp, but they are all malevolent, watching humanity with covetous eyes, and humanity is destined to be unable to resist them.
This is the truth.
But what would happen if this truth were told to all humanity?
Collapse. The order of the Imperium of Man would vanish, and the spark of human civilization would be extinguished by ignorance and fear.
Because Truth is poisonous, and mortals cannot withstand it.
"Some truths are like unsharpened blades; knowing them will only cut you."
"To minimize the influence of the Four Gods on mortals as much as possible, the Imperial Truth's blanket approach might not be the most effective, but it is certainly effective. As long as no one worships gods, Chaos corruption naturally won't occur."
"But if people's lives are miserable, they will still pin their hopes on religion. This cannot eradicate Chaos."
"Then let me ask you, why would you let people's lives be miserable?"
The Khan was struck silent.
"The purpose of the Emperor launching the Great Crusade, of reuniting human civilization, was precisely to lift humanity out of ignorance, was it not? Precisely so that people's lives would no longer be miserable, was it not?"
"If everyone can live a happy life, who would still worship gods?"
"So," Jaghatai Khan murmured, "I should let the people escape misery, rather than tell them the truth? But weren't we discussing what Truth is?"
Caelan countered: "Do you not think letting the people live good lives counts as Truth? Do you want them to live like beasts?"
"Of course not!"
"Then isn't letting the people live good lives precisely the practice of Truth?"
"But you also told me that if the truth brings pain, lies only add insult to injury."
"But this 'insult' is poisonous!"
"And the 'injury' isn't?"
"The injury's poison is lesser."
"Then shouldn't the Truth be to make the 'insult' non-poisonous?"
"Isn't the 'injury' precisely reducing the poison of the 'insult'?"
Jaghatai Khan slowly shook his head: "You are still engaging in sophistry."
Caelan let out a light sigh; he knew persuading the Khan wouldn't be that easy.
"But you are also not wrong." The disappointment in Caelan's eyes made Jaghatai's gaze sharpen, and his tone shifted abruptly. "Truth is the most masterful sophistry, because no one can refute it."
Caelan slowly raised his head, but his eyes were clear like the morning star: "So?"
"So I should seek a compromise."
Caelan suddenly clenched his fist into his palm, "Yes! Compromise is about balance, not mediocrity. That is the greatest wisdom in life!"
A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered at the corner of Jaghatai Khan's mouth.
He knew Caelan was trying to corner him with words, but what Caelan said did hold some reason.
Since absolute Truth does not exist, then what he sought also did not exist.
Primarchs are not gods; they, too, have their limitations.
If so, why not accept his own balanced approach?
He did not seek the perfect truth. He only despised lies. Yet Caelan was right: some lies were less poisonous than truth itself. If the world was already cruel, what harm was there in letting mortals live peacefully in ignorance?
Still, truth should not be buried forever. Mortals could not bear its weight, but someone had to carry it. The Emperor bore that burden alone, misunderstood by all.
And in that moment, he understood the Emperor a little more. His brothers saw only a tyrant, but Jaghatai glimpsed a man crushed beneath an impossible weight, struggling alone in the abyss.
The realization cut deep. For the first time, the Philosopher Khan felt not only judgment, but sympathy.
He thought: 'Perhaps the Emperor's burden is not tyranny, but sacrifice.'
And so, in the quiet of that moment, Jaghatai Khan accepted the lesson: There is no absolute truth. There is no perfect lie. There is only the path between them, the path of balance, the path of mercy, the path of a leader who must carry what others cannot.