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Perhaps not much would happen. All that is alive of the carriongod are a few cells, binding preventing his miserable soul from getting lost in the warp ( where it would be consumed by the true gods ).
The Astronomican is powered by psykers and since it worked before the carriongod was put on the golden throne the Imperium might hope that it will somehow work when the carriongod is finaly gone.
In such a case noone, except perhaps his lickspittle Custodes slaves, might even learn of the carriongod's demise.

clively wrote:

Crimson wrote:Psht... He has been dead for ten thousand years. Rest is just conspiracy and cover-up.

I agree. He's dead, dead, dead.

The only thing powering the Astronomican is the life force of the sacrificial psykers; not the Emperor. The Throne itself turns their life energy into the beam. However, the Imperium would never admit this to the masses as they would have to explain how they are actually worshiping a well and truly dead god.

So the real question is: What would happen if the average imperial citizen found out that the Emperor was dead? Answer: anarchy.

QFT

Dude's dead. It's just all the sacrificed psyker's energy. I suppose there's an argument to be made that the Emperor was the manifestation of the totality of humanities consciousness in the first place, so all the sacrifices are doing are throwing more kindling on the fire which is slowly going out.
That, or no one has actually given it much thought.

Crimson wrote:

DOOMBREAD wrote:

It has been canonically stated that big E isn't dead.

I see the propaganda got you.

Which propaganda?
You mean, he sticks with the published material, not the fanwank nonsense of his death?

Thought after several years of repeated confirmations of his actual status, which isn't dead, the point GW is making would be understood.

HAH
You act like they actually know what they're doing with the fluff.

thats a good one.

On the plus side, you'd have a thousand happier psykers every day.

thenoobbomb wrote:

Or Orks would loot the golden throne

Crimson wrote:

DOOMBREAD wrote:

It has been canonically stated that big E isn't dead.

I see the propaganda got you.

Not all 40k fluff is presented in the form of Imperial propaganda. If it was, you wouldn't see any of that "The Imperium is on the verge of collapse!" stuff that appears to be a recurring theme in 6th ed. And yet, almost all of it (except what is presented as Chaos propaganda) declares that Empy is alive.

Wouldn't someone just succeed him, Gladiator style? Lets hope they dont suffocate him with a pillow, and that maximus gets the throne!

bRianStorm wrote:Wouldn't someone just succeed him, Gladiator style? Lets hope they dont suffocate him with a pillow, and that maximus gets the throne!

*Decimus gets the throne.


Some people will get the 40K reference and go 'aaaaah'. Or something...

The Codex Imperialis is quite clear on what would happen.

"If the Emperor should fail then the daemons of Chaos will flood into the galaxy. Every living human will become a gateway for the destruction of mankind. Finally, the galaxy itself will be submerged by the stuff of warp space and all physical life will end."

Doubtless GW could do one its its aneamic retconns if it really wanted to kill the Emperor off but as it stands if the Emperor dies then so does the whole galaxy.

Chaos cannot ultimately destrpy humanity as put emotions and the acts of chaos their worshipers do feed them if life ends so do the gods

blood guard26 wrote:Humanity would be thrown into anarchy,
A massive warp portal in south america would re-open destroying and/or swallowing Terra,
warp travel would be impossible due to no astronomicon,
the sob would be declared renegade
and all humans would eventually die.

why South america?

My opinion:

Once Big E is dead chaos would engulf the galaxy nids may come out of their hidey-hole but they cannot cross the warp so there gone (almost incinerated if you will)...
as for the other races, Eldar and DE will run back to their webway gates but the gods will find a way to get in, as for necrons as the galaxy will flood with the warp and daemons the crons will not be able to fight such large numbers so will die out, Tau... engulfed, Orks will love a good scrap but same as necrons and Tau.

As for Humanity (and possibly survivors of other alien races) the will be farmed in a sense so that chaos will be able to survive... The gods may represent destruction incarnate but they are not dumb...

This is just my theory so please just take it with salt.

Looking back at it so many races want to destroy Big E but all really have to depend on him for the survival of the galaxy...

Dang...

Crimson-King2120 wrote:
Chaos cannot ultimately destrpy humanity as put emotions and the acts of chaos their worshipers do feed them if life ends so do the gods

I copied that word for word from the Codex Imperialis, the closest thing there is to an official GW 'fluff bible'.

No, it's not "the closest thing there is to an official GW fluff bible".

GW has made it very clear that EVERY piece of fluff is equally valid and open to interpretation. There is no such thing as "officially published material". C.S. Goto's work is absolutely positively 100% as canon as any codex or work published by GW first party.


So there is no definitive answer to what would happen if the Emperor died. What do I think would happen? I think the Humanity would splinter off into a massive civil war, and then it would band together again to face a common threat, like it always done, and the Galaxy will go about its business.

Not only that, but also, isn't Codex Imperialis outdated, and from the era when Inquisitors could brainwash Space Marines who fought Chaos?

BlaxicanX wrote:
No, it's not "the closest thing there is to an official GW fluff bible"

Of course it is,it is certainly old but its contents are the foundation of modern 40k fluff. As such it is a very valid source, far more so that the dross that the likes of Goto spew into the world. Given that GW apparently has scant regard to its own fluff there needs to be basic standard to fluff validity or quite literally everything could happen and nothing is true.

As such I count the Codex Imperialis far more highly than most GW publications.

BlaxicanX wrote:
No, it's not "the closest thing there is to an official GW fluff bible".

GW has made it very clear that EVERY piece of fluff is equally valid and open to interpretation. There is no such thing as "officially published material". C.S. Goto's work is absolutely positively 100% as canon as any codex or work published by GW first party.


So there is no definitive answer to what would happen if the Emperor died. What do I think would happen? I think the Humanity would splinter off into a massive civil war, and then it would band together again to face a common threat, like it always done, and the Galaxy will go about its business.

6e Codex pg 137

If the Emperor fails, then none will be able to stop the influx of the dark powers; ravenous and all-consuming Daemons will flood into the galaxy. Every living human will become a gateway for the destruction of Mankind. Reality as it is known will be subsumed by the stuff of Warp space - a realm of nightmares and cruel insanity where all life will end. There will be no physical matter. No space. No time. Only Chaos.

gg.

Even if you what you think would happen happens, humanity splintering is too much of an opportunity for even Failbaddon to screw up, and Chaos would run rampant throughout the galaxy.

And humans can't get around without the Golden Throne anyway.

If the Emperor died I don't think much would happen if i'm honest. I reckon the death would be hushed up the High Lords of Terra, and news of his death will not escape the lips of them.

There are theories that the Emperor will take a new form as Chaos God and wipe out the 4 others.

But if they keep sacrificing the psykers then i doubt the Emperor would die unless he was physically killed. I also think it's beyond the capabilities of the Imperium to revive him, technology long lost to the Imperium might be able to revive him, but we'll never know because if GW made fluff that the Emperor was revived or died then it would ruin it for hobbyist's, i'd like to see him revived and there was a huge battle like the Battle of Terror, Horus returns in a new form etc.

Without the Astronomicon it's curtains for the Imperium, mankind would likely fall to Chaos. In a self-fulfilling prophecy Chaos itself would consume it's own source of sustinence (as I understand from the novel "Legion") and severely weaken or destroy itself. All that's left after that IMO is who evolves faster, Orks from the constant warring (and therefore getting bigger and bigger) or Tyranids from assimilating the newer and more dangerous Orks. Smaller races like Eldar, Dark Eldar, Tau etc would be as a candle in the wind compared to those two giants.

 KingDeath wrote:
Perhaps not much would happen. All that is alive of the carriongod are a few cells, binding preventing his miserable soul from getting lost in the warp ( where it would be consumed by the true gods ).
The Astronomican is powered by psykers and since it worked before the carriongod was put on the golden throne the Imperium might hope that it will somehow work when the carriongod is finaly gone.
In such a case noone, except perhaps his lickspittle Custodes slaves, might even learn of the carriongod's demise.

According to Lexicanum: The "psychic light" of the Astronomican is beamed from Terra, from the Chamber of the Astronomican. The Astronomican is powered by ten thousand psykers trained by the organisation; the omnipotent will of the Emperor constantly directs this energy across around fifty thousand light years of the galaxy. Although the Emperor does not provide the energy of the beacon, only he has the psychic power to handle such immense energy and direct it across the galaxy.

Basically, if the Emperor dies, the Imperium would enter into a new Age of Strife or Old Night, as interstellar travel would cease to exist until another psycher as powerful as the Emperor is born that can direct the energies of the Astronomicon.