The Alpha Legion Error - Alpharius' Narrative Flaw

Think of a legion for a moment. Well, an army, even just a colour scheme. The chances are that any bold or defined one will instantly bring a very distinct feeling or visual to the forefront of your thoughts. This is one of the best qualities for any character, army or creation to have, as it makes them easily recognisable to a massed audience. Equally, however, a single, boldly defined identity or basic theme can further enhance this; It's what allows people to so easily remember the likes of the Black Templars, the Iyanden Craftworld or Valhallan Ice Warriors to stay in your head. This is a good approach for any army, as it provides a solid core to a force, but that core can be easily flawed. That's where the Alpha Legion comes in.

You see, look at the various basic armies of Warhammer and think of how they are defined. Namely, how they are explored and outlined in general. Then, when you have this in mind, look through the articles of the Index Astartes. You might notice something odd after a while. While certain ones are driven by core concepts, themes carry far more weight than the ideas of later years. 

The Blood Angels, for one, are not nearly so obsessed with their primarch's death or their curse. It defines them, certainly, but it does not consume their narrative. Equally, the Black Templars' nature as crusaders is a core part of their identity, but stops short of delving deep into the territory of religious overtones. Well, the typical religious overtones, anyway. Those it does have fit into that grey area where it can be viewed as Arthurian inspired lore. The same goes for the Imperial Fists, Ultramarines, and even the militant chambers of the Inquisition. However, then you run into the Alpha Legion's entry, which took a risk for better and worse.

Whereas the others were largely forthright in their information, with the odd intentional bit of vagueness or outright contradiction between them, the Alpha Legion's article had a gimmick. To further emphasise their nature as manipulators, spies and espionage specialists, the article ended in an odd note: The in-universe writer had been uncovered as a likely Alpha Legion agent and had been executed. Everything in there had likely been lies, or the truth left in a manner to assist with misinformation. On its own the idea is excellent. It's the kind of metatextual element which can make a concept stand out, and appear all th stronger. However, in terms of ongoing universes and wider creations, it caused problems. It left the legion tied down to this idea of total control and mixed messages. It boosted the quality of a single work, but as a result it ended up limiting their potential use in the wider setting. It wasn't a theme which could be adapted to various ways, but a single defining idea which dominated their identity.

If you think that this is an exaggeration, then think for a moment of all the Black Library novels released prior to Horus Rising hitting shelves. How many of those really featured the Alpha Legion to any great degree? If you said next to none you would be right, and that is because this singular concept which was initially a boon came across as a strangling presence. It prevented writers going into greater detail about the legion, offering anything of definite substance or even creating a human face for them. Even as a villain they rarely came up, until they largely faded into the background. With their narrative identity being fixated upon this single point, there was no room to develop it, and it would take a major upheaval to shift that. Unfortunately, even that came with its own problems.

Legion, upon its release, was the first Horus Heresy book to fully use the Legio XX. However, even then it was largely tied to the previous elements of the last book, emphasizing misinformation and manipulation, to the point where they were barely in it. We would see their impact, even the odd moment of their marines directly getting involved, but their mysterious nature relied upon them barely showing up. On the few occasions that they did have some presence, it was executed through human agents, creating a sort of mystique about them which was bolstered by their successes. This was then furthered by the surprising revelation that they were not led by one primarch, but two. 

Here's the problem though - When you remove the revelation surrounding Omegon, how much of that book do you actually remember? I mean, really remember, in detail and in relation to the plot? This isn't intended to bash Legion's quality, or even the choices made within it, but it shows that the chance to get out of that one narrative pit trap only created another. The book was heavily reliant upon a Sixth Sense style reveal, which was truly ingeious but it ends up being the sole point that others focused upon. Because of this, fans of the legion ended up being invested far more in this one point and one development than the theme of the army. That's a problem, as it leaves everything tied into one point in one fictional work.

Think, for a moment, of how much Iron Hands lore has been limited to "WE BETRAYED FERRUS!" and "FERRUS DIED!" over and over again of late. Think of how every Blood Angels story has become "By the way, did I mention the Black Rage?" in a multitude of releases. As odd as it sounds, these suffer from the same ultimate flaw which now plagues the Alpha Legion. Because those events made such a big impact, or at least were written to have a big impact, it meant that every following creation became fixated upon them. Rather than the themes or overall defining ideas of other creations, it instead became a storytelling cul de sac which leaves them no room to press further out and develop from. Those that do break from them - such as Dante or the Devastation of Baal - are the exceptions, and they rarely show up. They are not so much building blocks as a noose which stymies the ability to adapt and forge a more dynamic concept.

The reason that I highlight the Alpha Legion for this more than any others is simple: Without their mystery elements, and without their primarch to serve as a linchpin, they fail to develop as an army. The successes which followed such as Praetorian of Dorn avoided the legion's culture almost entirely and was heavily reliant upon using Alpharius as its major figure. Equally, with the Forgeworld books, they were only able to succeed as they did by mimicking the lack of information present in the Index Astartes articles, replicating the prior concept rather than building upon it further. When the thing they are recognised for the most is being unknown and almost unknowable, it offers little meat for anyone to work with. Worst of all, however, it also means that in order to remain loyal to their core concepts, authors can write little about their individual members. When they break away from that, it seems as if it is betraying their overall identity.

It's the sort of catch 22 which needs to be highlighted more with some creations. It shows an extreme example of how even a well-written and very creative army can have its strengths work against it; even highlighting how and when meta-commentary narratives can spark of something which limits future potential over inspiring further development. It can work for a single story, but if you plan for it to keep going, you always need to ask yourself, "So, what then?"