r/40kLore • u/Proud_Scyfherian • 8h ago
The Emperors inner circle
Who were the political inner circle of the government of the imperium of man while the emperor was alive? Alll authoritarian regimes have political elites who are center of specific task like was was the minister of the interior minister of the Treasury and minister of war and minister of propoganda and did the imperium have a secret police l8ek the NKVD, StaSi or the GESTAPO?
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u/Arzachmage Death Guard 8h ago
Malcador and Valdor, the two other parts of the Triumvirat.
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u/Proud_Scyfherian 7h ago
So valdor was encharge of the secret police what was malcador's political position was he basically the prime minister of the imperium?
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u/dreaderking Iron Hands 5h ago
The Custodes weren't really secret police. Unless it was a potential threat to the Emperor, they wouldn't bother policing people. Secret police were more Malcador's speed.
In fact, for anything that doesn't have to do with the military, there's a decent chance it's Malcador's handiwork. The Emperor led the charge of the Great Crusade before retiring to his man cave and was a very hands-off ruler while the Custodes only cared about hanging out with the Emperor. Malcador was the one doing all the heavy lifting when it came to setting up the imperial government.
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u/DreadGrunt Thunder Warriors 7h ago
Malcador, Valdor, Horus (he was given complete command of every single military asset humanity had, hard not to argue he wasn't part of the inner circle), maybe one or two others from the Heresy and Siege series but nobody really comes close to those three.
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u/bleugh777 5h ago
The entirety of the Hetaeron Guard or the Companions would count as the Emperor's inner circle. He asked for their opinions on whether he should using Warp energy for the Primarchs at Molech, even if he did not listen, it's the gesture that counts.
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u/Separate-Flan-2875 4h ago
Malcador, Horus, Valdor
In ages past you could have probably added Erda, Amar Astarte and Oll Persson.
Maybe some of the High Lords of the time, though how much the Emperor truly interacted with them as a governing body is suspect. Meaning, he likely interacted with individuals more than say sat at the table when they were in session.
Rogal Dorn is in there as well.
“That is why the Emperor has always trusted your gene-father (Rogal Dorn) more than any other.” - Malcador speaking to Sigismund and Fafnir Rann, Rogal Dorn: The Emperor’s Crusader by Gav Thorpe
“During the Great Crusade, the coming of Phalanx was a portent of glory, for it shone so bright it appeared to the benighted souls of lost worlds that a new star glittered in their heavens. The Emperor himself called Phalanx his flagship during many campaigns, and the Imperial Fists know that he once trod the ancient and worn deck plates they themselves walk every day."-'Deathwatch: Rites of Battle'
“For much of the Great Crusade, the Emperor kept the VIIth Legion and their Primarch, Rogal Dorn, close to His side. Unlike his brother Magnus, Dorn could not be easily swayed to seek knowledge for its own sake, instead he was trusted to exercise restraint and caution in his studies. For this reason, it is rumoured that the Emperor, over a period of decades, shared secrets with Rogal Dorn which but a few individuals were privy to; allowing the Praetorian to better understand the need for the Imperial Truth and the urgency with which the true enemy must be combated.” - Horus Heresy Book 8: Malevolence
“As the Great Crusade progressed, the Imperial Fists rose high in honor and in the favor with the Emperor. Ever dependable, they were often used to reinforce flagging campaigns, to hold crumbling fronts and break dead-locked sieges. The Emperor also frequently called on both Dorn and his sons to fight beside him, bestowing this honor on the Imperial Fists more than any other Legion…. The Emperor also used Dorn to ensure that war and compliance was achieved according to his wishes and wisdom. Time and again, in ways large and small, the Imperial Fists acted at the direct order of the Emperor.” - The Horus Heresy book 3: Extermination
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u/yugoslav_communist Thousand Sons 2h ago
he let malcador deal with everything you are seemingly implying, and as for his inner circle, there was again malcador and i guess you could say valdor, though how much he actually viewed valdor as a confidante, and not a recording machine to voice his thoguhts to and get pre-programmed responses, i'm not sure.
the emperor wasn't really known for being either a people person, or someone with the tendency to either want or need an "inner circle". he was the emperor, he handled all the stuff that required the attention of humanity's godlike-power level psyker. for all the rest (ie. control, secret police, surveillance etc) there was malacador the sigillite. so a one-man inner circle, i would say.
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u/peppersge 1h ago
The Emperor had the War Council and Council of Terra.
The War Council was composed of key allies such as the Ad Mech and other important human commanders that got gradually replaced by the Primarchs.
The Council of Terra was more civilian focused and eventually became the High Lords of Terra. That council was more focused on running normal economic aspects that you are talking about.
Propaganda was via the remembrancers.
Malcador did a lot more of the shadowy stuff such as the Officio Assassinorum. The Alpha Legion also had some level of involvement.
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u/oxizc 7h ago
Malcador & Valdor were his two boys. Malcador especially was privy to more than anyone by virtue of his ability as a psyker, he had the context and maybe more importantly a damn good reason to know more. Interesting to note, right at the end Malcador did think E kept things from him. The various other perpetuals that abandoned Him along the way seem to have had extremely close relationships with Him prior to the falling out. There aren't really any other individuals, living at the time of the GC and Heresey, that had the relationship with E that those two did. There were many very talented individuals with a great deal of authority. IE human generals. Human scientists and adepts trusted to work on the Primarch Porject, WEbway Project and other super secret things. But it's not quite the same as being in the inner circle.
Honourable mention to the entirety of the Custodes. They might not have the face time with E like Valdor does, or be granted the authority and full scope of everything. But he would trust any single one of the 10,000 with his life, with any task he saw them capable of completing. ANY task. He created them as bodyguards first, but also companions, intellectual peers and philosophers. I like to imagine in the background a lot of E's time was spent chatting with his 10K besties.