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I think it's an order to kill The Emperor.
A last ditch effort to save humanity by freeing The Emperor's soul so he may ascend to godhood. The star child if you will.

Now, that would be a cool idea! I can't believe I didn't even consider that, and its been bugging me since I read about it...

It's a good idea, but I think that the Inquisition would have something to say about it...

It could either be a decree to end the Emperors life, or orders from the Emperor to seize complete control of the Imperium from the High Lords.

It's something to do with the Golden Throne, it's mentioned that the seal on the box the Decree is contained in matches that seen on the Golden Throne.

Could be jumper cables for the Emperor once the throne dies out or something.

Terminus= The End/Finality/Something/one ends
Decree: We all know.


So in context with todays English.

The Final/last order

Yup I believe it's a kill switch for the golden throne so the emperor can be reborn

Could be
If the Emperor of Mankind is no longer fit to rule he shall be killed. Another will then be designated as the new Emperor of Humanity.
If the Emperor is healed the High Lords of Terra must stand down from their positions unless stopped by the Emperor.
If the Emperor is no longer fit to rule he shall be sacrificed and become the Star Child.

where is this starchild theory coming from?
The =I= War novel has been ret-conned, as its from the perspective of a no longer existing faction, so anything he saw, no longer exists in the fluff.

I am curious because I haven't noticed any other references since?

ShatteredBlade wrote:It could either be a decree to end the Emperors life, or orders from the Emperor to seize complete control of the Imperium from the High Lords.

i agree, could be an order to kill off the High Lords if they are not doing what the Emperor commanded of them

the Star Child theory is this.


the Emperor, when his physical body finally dies, will enter the Warp and do battle with the Chaos Gods. essentially becoming a new Warp Diety, the God of Mankind.

possably after defeating the Chaos Gods he will seal the warp off from reality and be reborn in physical form.

Formosa wrote:where is this starchild theory coming from?
The =I= War novel has been ret-conned, as its from the perspective of a no longer existing faction, so anything he saw, no longer exists in the fluff.

I am curious because I haven't noticed any other references since?

If the Star Child thing is tripping you up then just ignore it. Still mean that I think they have an order to kill the Emperor so he may be released from his corporeal form and move onto whatever his next stage in life is.

Now as for the Star Child thing I don't believe it's been retconned out. I got into it around 3rd edition and in that book there's a story about the Sensei. I didn't think much about it at the time but then Kid Kyoto was explaining them and I went back and checked that story out. For me if anything it completely reaffirms that this whole Star Child-Sensei-Illuminati sub-plot is still cannon.

Grey Templar wrote:the Star Child theory is this.


the Emperor, when his physical body finally dies, will enter the Warp and do battle with the Chaos Gods. essentially becoming a new Warp Diety, the God of Mankind.

possably after defeating the Chaos Gods he will seal the warp off from reality and be reborn in physical form.

I do believe the theory is from Slaves to Darkness and The Lost and the Damned, as well as the Inquisition war trilogy. It's..kinda older fluff from 3rd ed, its cannon as of now is kind of suspect.

The Star Child is much older than The =I= War novels. The Star child/ Sensei/ Illuminati have been around since the original Realms of Chaos books.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Star_Child

There are many online who take the notion that since the story is so old that it is no longer valid. Howevew, GW has never come out and said this, so many others feel it is still possibly true.

I always liked this aspect of 40k Lore and until i'm specifically told differently by GW, I still think it's valid.

It could also simply be "the last direct order" issued by the Emperor. If it truly is something drastic even by Imperial standards, well, it hasn't been unsealed despite tons of truly awful stuff going down. THAT gives one serious pause. If it really is an order to shut down the Golden Throne, it's quite possible that snuffing the Emperor would also take all the rest of humanity with him.

Better to die as yourself, y'know.

Of course, this is Warhammer 40,000. It is just as likely that the decree was supposed to have been carried out long ago, but legend and superstition have confused its purpose and kept it sealed.

Emperor: "DIDN'T I SAY TO PUT THE CAT OUT?? I'M PRETTY SURE IT WAS THE LAST THING I SAID."

Draigo: "Er..."

lol, that would be funny but It's more like a big, giant red button in a glass case with a little hammer that says "Break in case of Galaxy on fire". That's why its not to take control of the IoM as some suggested. We're talking some of the big worst case scenarios. 'Nids eaten most of the galaxy. Necron Apocalypse. Fabric of reality has split open completely and the Warp is mutating the universe. Those kinda things. There's no IoM to take charge of at that point.

GKs have a kill order on The Emperor, they just don't know it yet.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:lol, that would be funny but It's more like a big, giant red button in a glass case with a little hammer that says "Break in case of Galaxy on fire". That's why its not to take control of the IoM as some suggested. We're talking some of the big worst case scenarios. 'Nids eaten most of the galaxy. Necron Apocalypse. Fabric of reality has split open completely and the Warp is mutating the universe. Those kinda things. There's no IoM to take charge of at that point.

GKs have a kill order on The Emperor, they just don't know it yet.

They gonna smear his blood on their armour to?

But it does seem like it's an order to finish the Big E in some way or fashion

the Star Child isn't contradicted by newer fluff(like most of the old fluff) so it's still valid.

some of the Timeline events may be a little off.


the Timing of the Birth of Slannesh has some inconsistancies.


the Eldar codex holds that it happened sometime during the Dark Age of Technology and that millions of non-eldar died at the same time.

the newer fluff seems to suggest that the Eldar fall actually occured before the rise of mankind.


after all, how would Humanity have expanded amoung the stars with an Empire of increasingly sadistic and pleasure driven psykers on the loose. the Eldar, in the time before the fall, would probably have fallen upon the fledgling Human settlements to sate their lusts.

Grey Templar wrote:after all, how would Humanity have expanded amoung the stars with an Empire of increasingly sadistic and pleasure driven psykers on the loose. the Eldar, in the time before the fall, would probably have fallen upon the fledgling Human settlements to sate their lusts.

I don't think the men would complain too much. "Mrs.Yriel are you trying to seduce me?"

Exopheric wrote:It could also simply be "the last direct order" issued by the Emperor. If it truly is something drastic even by Imperial standards, well, it hasn't been unsealed despite tons of truly awful stuff going down. THAT gives one serious pause.

There really hasn't been much awful stuff for the Imperium since the Horus Heresy. The Age of Apostasy was the biggest threat to the Imperium, but even if it had succeeded there would just have been a slightly different structure and different person in charge, you wouldn't see the end of the IoM. Other than that, it's really all been local issues or short-term wars by Imperial standards - remember that the IOM has a million worlds and has been around for ten thousand years. Losing a dozen worlds with 50 billion people in a century-long war is a short pinprick that's not even worth noting in the main timeline on that scale. The 'current' events are written up like everything is falling apart, but that just seems more like a pessimistic slant on ordinary events, there's not really much damage that has happened 'yet'.

BearersOfSalvation wrote:

Exopheric wrote:It could also simply be "the last direct order" issued by the Emperor. If it truly is something drastic even by Imperial standards, well, it hasn't been unsealed despite tons of truly awful stuff going down. THAT gives one serious pause.

There really hasn't been much awful stuff for the Imperium since the Horus Heresy. The Age of Apostasy was the biggest threat to the Imperium, but even if it had succeeded there would just have been a slightly different structure and different person in charge, you wouldn't see the end of the IoM. Other than that, it's really all been local issues or short-term wars by Imperial standards - remember that the IOM has a million worlds and has been around for ten thousand years. Losing a dozen worlds with 50 billion people in a century-long war is a short pinprick that's not even worth noting in the main timeline on that scale. The 'current' events are written up like everything is falling apart, but that just seems more like a pessimistic slant on ordinary events, there's not really much damage that has happened 'yet'.

True, I was sort of doubting that even as I typed it. Although I think that the beginning of the 41st millennium IS supposed to be set during a rising tide of darkness for humankind, it hasn't reached the flood-mark yet.

Grey Templar wrote:the Star Child isn't contradicted by newer fluff(like most of the old fluff) so it's still valid.

some of the Timeline events may be a little off.


the Timing of the Birth of Slannesh has some inconsistancies.


the Eldar codex holds that it happened sometime during the Dark Age of Technology and that millions of non-eldar died at the same time.

the newer fluff seems to suggest that the Eldar fall actually occured before the rise of mankind.


after all, how would Humanity have expanded amoung the stars with an Empire of increasingly sadistic and pleasure driven psykers on the loose. the Eldar, in the time before the fall, would probably have fallen upon the fledgling Human settlements to sate their lusts.

Are you sure you don't have it backwards? New fluff says M30 for fall.

As for your other question I've wondered the same thing myself: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/339696.page

It's their nothing can be worse option.

Agreed its a "final order" for the worst case scenario.
Its unknown outside a small circle, consisting of only the grand masters of the GK. ( inq don't know....)
Located where the resting place of Malcador is assumed to be.

- the Terminus decree could be destruction or safety for the IoM.


The GK dex contains hints on chaos winning, so maybe its a tool to reboot the background from a small mysterious piece hidden beneath
questionable fluff. A failsafe to keep "end times" and the IoM without eternal stasis for the background. Just nearly allow the enemys to win,
then turn it into defeat.

Option A ) : killswitch >the old fluff is still valid and the Emperor raises to a higher state of beeing.

Tried to not be a God, but cannot escape that fate can't he?
Only helps if the opponent is using the warp / gods himself. Doesn't achieve much against nids IMO.

Option B ) : killswitch > old fluff is old, Terminus executed IF the Emperor dies. Maybe shut off the warp with necron tech?

Same problem, just worse as it would be beneficial to the C'tan. OtOH, maybe the creature at Mars is a honored guest and a pact was made long ago... you know labyrinths can keep in but also keep out....

Option C ) : activate dormant virus. Life eater variant, spread on every human colony and programmed to exterminate any non-Human

Doesn't hit demons and necrons that hard. And may reduce food ressources greatly..

Option D ) : time travel. Emperor is awakened and has a word with the GW design team. 6th ed is considered to never happened

Ease of use. If the 6th ed fails, reboot the game with WH30k. Declare anyone heretical who mentions the year M42.

It seems like a toss up between A and D

Only problem is one of the High Lords is an Astrates. (Captain-General) And then the Admech's Leader who you can't really kill off. IF you do, Mar's leaves the Imperium.

Asherian Command wrote:Only problem is one of the High Lords is an Astrates. (Captain-General) And then the Admech's Leader who you can't really kill off. IF you do, Mar's leaves the Imperium.

The Captain-General is a Custodes, not an Astartes, he is superior in every way and loyal until the very end. What the Emperor commands, he executes.

I hope the Terminus Decree is the death of the Emperor...
Hopefully that will cause some kind of massive warp/real space psychic death bomb to go off.
Mess up whatever managed to beat the Imperium and attack Terra.

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

Asherian Command wrote:Only problem is one of the High Lords is an Astrates. (Captain-General) And then the Admech's Leader who you can't really kill off. IF you do, Mar's leaves the Imperium.

The Captain-General is a Custodes, not an Astartes, he is superior in every way and loyal until the very end. What the Emperor commands, he executes.

True but he also commands the Custodes and I don't think they want to attack the Custodes who know everything the emperor ever commanded. But he would probably not let the Grey Knights do it. Probably he would do it himself. And then kill himself. Custodes are awesome.

This sounds very interesting.

I would like to think that this decree has to do with turning off the golden throne. The emperor has become a machine spirit for all intents and purposes imho. I have often thought that the billions of psykers are sacrificed not to the emperor, but by the Lords of Terra to a machine that transforms and focuses that power in lieu of the emperors guidance.

Perhaps the machine was designed to release all of the psychic energy stored in one great blast which would disturb the fabric of reality so much that an emperor would be reborn, or, something completely different.