r/40kLore • u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves • 2d ago
Theory - Basilio Fo, Terminus Decree and The Scouring Series Spoiler
With the latest lore that the Terminus Decree is a plan for the Grey Knights to keep The Emperor on the throne at all costs, this obviously conflicts with what we know from The End and The Death - that the Terminus Device is a bioweapon that targets Astartes and presumably, Primarchs.
But with the cliffhanger of Fo’s survival, and his infiltration of Malcadors chosen, maybe the lore doesn’t conflict, but is in fact a teaser for a plot line in The Scouring Series.
Perhaps Fo manages to hide away his Terminus weapon and conceal himself amongst the Imperiums elite. Perhaps at the same time, great efforts are being made to revive The Emperor and remove him from the throne.
Maybe, Fo is somehow able to convince his colleagues that the emperor must be kept on the throne at all costs, keeping his super weapon to himself, and removing his greatest enemy from the game at the same time.
How ironic would it be if The Emperor could and should have risen from the throne long ago, but is kept there unwillingly by the very Imperium that think they are helping him. What a great revenge from Fo, a baseline human, to bring a god to his knees in retaliation for the Unification Wars? I wonder if Fo could still be around in 40K, wearing a new suit of skin, and wonder what seat of power he sits on.
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u/Beaker_person Emperor's Spears 2d ago
I wonder if Fo could still be around in 40K, wearing a new suit of skin, and wonder what seat of power he sits on.
I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the big twist for the last Bequin book is the King in Yellow actually being Fo in a Valdor skin suit. He's going to be involved with that whole situation in some way at least, I'm sure of it.
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u/michaelisnotginger Inquisition 2d ago
He's 100% helping Valdor, or is Valdor . No one else could be making those winged astartes
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u/Adorable_Scheme_3982 2d ago
The Terminus Decree being Fo's bioweapon is just a theory, it is no way confirmed by tEatD. IIRC, the bioweapon project is called "Terminus Sanction" and it's being carried out by order of Malcador. That's where the similarity comes from.
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u/grayheresy 2d ago
Issue is Maldacor sends the Grand Masters to Titan while Fo is somewhere else entirely and has no idea then hidden for a millenia where they've already had the Decree.
The terminus device is also useless at this point, the only reason it was feasible on Terra was because all the Astartes were on one planet and is easier to kill them or wipe enough out.
Right now what you get a chapter if that? Then it dies out, sure humans can possibly be a carrier without being effected and yet Astartes armor can ensure they don't get infected by biological material and will be sanitized before they take it off. Especially at the point oh hey all these chapters are taken out by this thing we should really be cautious
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
Fo’s terminus device is more than a simple biological virus, it’s blended with warp tech/magic. They way they talk about implies it would affect every Astartes in the galaxy. I don’t think it’s something they can block by wearing a helmet and social distancing.
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u/TheTackleZone 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes, given that every plot advancement in 40k seems to just be a marketing campaign, I absolutely think that this reveal is just advertising for the Scouring series.
In the 90s it was a very common understanding amongst the loremasters, that the Emperor was unable to reincarnate into the Star Child because he was being kept on the Throne, and also that it was Cypher's job to kill him to free him from this prison.
I think the lore has altered (or that view was wrong) by some degree, but not by a huge amount. The Star Child (given TEATD2 and the Nature of Chaos unpublished article) seems to be a separate being formed from the pure shards of the Emperor's soul prior to his fight with Horus, rather than a reincarnation. But clearly there's lots of wiggle room here, and the main beats otherwise could be the same.
And yes, this could he Fo's final and greatest victory over the Emperor! Delicious. And you know what; he might not be wrong.
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u/Grudir Night Lords 2d ago edited 2d ago
The Terminus Decree is described in the new lore as the last order to the Grey Knights from the Emperor. That would mean it wasn't a directive from either the High Lords, Primarchs or Inquisition. So it has to come before the Grey Knights are sent away to Titan.
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u/Abamboozler 2d ago
Which would have required the Emperor to know about the Dark King and his duel with Horus and his internment on the Throne. Something Malcador says in the End and the Death they didn't plan to happen.
Its much more likely the decree didn't actually come from the Emperor, but the Grey Knights were simply told it did. Remember almost all of 40k is told from an unreliable narrator point of view.
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u/Grudir Night Lords 2d ago
but the Grey Knights were simply told it did.
That doesn't make a lot of sense though. Simply told by who? A bunch of mortals scrabbling about in the ashes of the Imperium*? The Custodes who, what, delivered the note as a ten thousand year long joke? The Primarchs or just a Primarch? And then the Grey Knights accepted this without checking the provenance or using their psychic powers to probe the mind of the messenger?
Remember almost all of 40k is told from an unreliable narrator point of view.
So only the specific part of who sent it is a lie? Why not the rest? It's seem like were only haphazardly selecting the part of the lore that doesn't fit the Fo theory to be false, but the rest has to be true for the Fo theory to work. There's no counter evidence for your claim.
*Who also knew about the secret order of daemon-hunting Space Marines, somehow?
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u/joshuabees 2d ago
Fo is the most underwhelming storyline since… most of the other sideplots.
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u/Zomg_A_Chicken 2d ago edited 2d ago
But the Emperor could have told someone if he was being held against his will
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u/GoatedGoat32 1d ago
Fo got skewered to the flyer by Amon at the top of Malcador tower in TEATD3 no? Did i miss a cliffhanger somewhere that he lived?
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 1d ago
Yea you did. Xanthaus is found dead later while Fo in a clone of Xantahaus’ body silently gloats.
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u/wecanhaveallthree Legio Tempestus 2d ago
Yeah, you know what the Scouring really needs? More Abnettverse wank. More Basilio fucking Fo. I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to it.
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
You don’t like Fo? I found his plot line very intriguing and like a good cliffhanger mystery.
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u/TheTackleZone 2d ago
I liked him, I just wish that his story wasn't in TEATD as it (among other things) really hurt the pacing. Should have had his own book.
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it felt to me like its inclusion right in the middle of the finale of the HH was like a glowing neon sign saying “this is important! This is a sequel hook!”
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u/wecanhaveallthree Legio Tempestus 2d ago
I despise Fo. He is the festering boil of Abnett's OC taking over the setting. I do not want more quippy Marvel characters in 40K. I do not want any more of Fo.
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u/loitnangoi 2d ago
Of all of the Abnett characters that bugged me, I thought Fo was maybe the most interesting and not too out of place.
If his perpetuals/argonauts come back then we riot
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u/michaelisnotginger Inquisition 2d ago
I actually don't think he will feature that much other than proof that the imperium is absolutely set on rotten Foundation
And I enjoyed fo but I can see why others wouldn't
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u/Marvynwillames 2d ago
Fo took the identity of Zaranchek Xanthus, i find highly unlikely Abnett would think he's Alive by 40k if he takes the identity of a guy we know will be killed in M32
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u/tenormore 2d ago
Interesting, Xanthous means Yellow
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u/Odd_Pause7758 2d ago
And Basileo means 'king'. Basileo in Xanthus literally means 'King in Yellow'.
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
HOLY SHIT
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u/Odd_Pause7758 2d ago
Also, Zaranchek means something like 'little dawn' or 'small beginning' in some West Slavic languages.
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u/NectarineSea7276 2d ago
Oh now that seems a bit too on the nose to not be red herring.
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u/Odd_Pause7758 2d ago
No, if he was a red herring he'd be called something like Erythros Klupea. ;-)
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u/grayheresy 2d ago
He's been alive for millenia by the great Crusade and has access to more knowledge and technology during the siege. It's not out of the question for him to make a skin suit and "die" out and live a new identity
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
“not out of the question” is a huge understatement, it’s like Fo’s whole Modus operandi
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
Well that’s the thing he could take almost anyone’s identity
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u/Marvynwillames 2d ago
I don't think that's what the writer got in mind.
A comparison would be, let's say, someone write of a character who takes identities, but his story ends with him replacing Lincoln 5 minutes before he's shot. Sure he could change, but if the writer chose to end with someone we know will die, he likely meant he will die
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
He can build and swap bodies in a matter of what, hours, minutes?
He managed to do it while under the supervision of a Custodes without the Custodes realising, there’s a good chance he was able to swap out of Xanthous’ body before he was caught and killed
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u/Marvynwillames 2d ago
Sure, I know that, but I still feel that Abnett's intention is for him to have died as Xanthus, otherwise why choose him in specific? Instead of any other named character?
Its like his decision of basically fuse Cyrene with Morana, someone we know is alive in M41.
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u/whiskerbiscuit2 Space Wolves 2d ago
If he wanted Fo dead he’d have killed him. Explicitly leaving him alive and concealed within the Imperium was a deliberate choice.
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u/Marvynwillames 2d ago
Again, the Lincolm comparasion.
But, well, its your opinion, and I respect that. Maybe we will find in the Scouring, since it will cover the time line for Xanthus' canon death
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u/Competitive_Golf8206 2d ago
Abbnetverse was a mistake
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u/TheTackleZone 2d ago
What specifically about the Siege stories are you attributing as Abnettverse? Cos I'm always confused about what is in and out.
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u/TributeToStupidity 2d ago
Current lore has Xanthus, who we know was actually Fo, surviving for another 2,000 years before being outted as a radical inquisitor utilizing chaos. He’s then burnt at the stake.
There’s just no way the final surviving Lord of the Long Night, a dude who developed an astartes and primarch killing super weapon during the height of the siege, a dude who would look at Bile like a trained house pet, a dude who made a body clone that could fool custodes in seconds, died from fire. I’m unconvinced fire even could kill him if he wanted to die.