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The Emperor, obviously, had a very big hand in it due to his poor parenting (unless we theorise the emperor WANTED the heresy to happen for some reason). However without the powers of chaos there would have been no heresy. Even if the emperor had been more competent in his parenting chaos would have found a way to twist some of the primarchs against the emperor (see the Dornian Heresy alternate reality where the roles of the legions are reversed).

While the Emperor was definitely a bad parent in the short time he had access to the primarchs, the Chaos Gods whisked away the primarchs as infants, so he couldn't really raise them, he could only interact with them as a parent interacting with teens he barely knows.

In the end, that was very likely the trigger for the Horus Heresy.

 Melissia wrote:
The Chaos Gods, mostly, in the end.

Though don't let you think that absolves the, as Maniac_nmt puts it, "petulant teenage boys" that are most of hte primarchs. Or the obstinance of the Emperor who is a bit of a bad parent.

Wow. All this time, and I only just learn that you know how to use understatement!

 Melissia wrote:
While the Emperor was definitely a bad parent in the short time he had access to the primarchs, the Chaos Gods whisked away the primarchs as infants, so he couldn't really raise them, he could only interact with them as a parent interacting with teens he barely knows.

In the end, that was very likely the trigger for the Horus Heresy.

I think that the Emperor's problem mainly was that, as Lorgar states it, "He is incapable of sharing the truth with others" (not his exact words, but pretty much along those lines). Him telling the Primarchs about the existance of Chaos and its dangers would certainly have prevented a lot of nasty stuff, and he should also have immediately told Lorgar about how he shouldn't be worshipped, instead of doing so after bombing a city, and humiliating an entire Legion.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Wow. All this time, and I only just learn that you know how to use understatement!

Meh. The Emperor is a bad parent by most standards, but compared the disgusting and abusive parenting habits of ultraconservative homeschoolers like Michael and Debi Pearl (whom do things like advocate beating children with a quarter inch plumbing supply line until they no longer have the energy to scream, just for the sake of breaking the child's will), he's the Saint of Parenthood.

I think I'm rather glad that I have no idea who those are.

Probably. It's very depressing.

You guys haven't taken things back to their ultimate origin.

We're to blame for being so goshdarn angry, lustful, conniving, and full of despair.

It's really....
GW'S BUDGET GUY! (Or Tzeentch when I think about it)
When warhammer was originally made they didn't have enough money to make anything besides space marines because of Tzeentch's evily dark powers. So they invented the heresy. Thus Tzeentch was born and had the power to make himself!

The Emperor. For all his wisdom, he thought he could dishonour a deal made with the Ruinious Powers. They're sorta like the Lannisters, or the Iron Bank. They get their due.

 Melissia wrote:

 Furyou Miko wrote:
Wow. All this time, and I only just learn that you know how to use understatement!

Meh. The Emperor is a bad parent by most standards, but compared the disgusting and abusive parenting habits of ultraconservative homeschoolers like Michael and Debi Pearl (whom do things like advocate beating children with a quarter inch plumbing supply line until they no longer have the energy to scream, just for the sake of breaking the child's will), he's the Saint of Parenthood.

The Emperor's negligence led to the deaths of billions, and despite knowing that his son, Angron, was going to die from the Nails eventually, instead of trying to cure him he said "Just have him kill my enemies until he goes insane and dies".

He's far worse.

 Void__Dragon wrote:
The Emperor's negligence

Having his children stolen from him by the Chaos Gods is not negligence.

The Emperor never had a chance to raise his children to begin with.

He reneged on his deal, so they took his kids. It's his fault.

 Melissia wrote:
Having his children stolen from him by the Chaos Gods is not negligence.

The Emperor never had a chance to raise his children to begin with.

While it is always amusing to see you attack the barest minimum of someone else's posts (Because you have no answer for the rest), I feel it is important that you take mine as a whole.

Anyway, even your rebuttal is frankly irrelevant. Having them stolen from him is not negligence, no.

Allowing Angron to fester and continually grow insane until he either dies or rebels however is.

 Melissia wrote:

 Void__Dragon wrote:
The Emperor's negligence

Having his children stolen from him by the Chaos Gods is not negligence.

The Emperor never had a chance to raise his children to begin with.

QFT.
on angron: the nails couldn't be removed, it would be taking a CHUNK out of angrons brain. as to putting him down, would you kill your own child?
if yes, please go to asylum.
also, the emperor had planned to raise the primarchs himself, and even had a number of suites constructed for them, finally, when did he make a deal with chaos? I have never read that.

It is heavily implied he made a deal with chaos to make the primarchs a thing.

In terms of Angron, it still doesn't make him any better of a father. Basically all the Emperor does with Angron is warp him up as his "family" is slaughtered him not able to die alongside them and then just teleports him over to the World Eater ship to get things sorted out there. Then he gets sent far away to just keep on butchering things. Based on how he treats them, I doubt him raising them would even entirely be a good thing. He seemed rather gakky with it and it is more like a it using tools rather than a father and child.

 the shrouded lord wrote:
finally, when did he make a deal with chaos? I have never read that.

In The First Heretic we see where the Primarchs were developed. The laboratory was protected by the most powerful Gellar Field ever witnessed. I think we can understand why.

 thenoobbomb wrote:

 the shrouded lord wrote:
finally, when did he make a deal with chaos? I have never read that.

In The First Heretic we see where the Primarchs were developed. The laboratory was protected by the most powerful Gellar Field ever witnessed. I think we can understand why.

Geller fields are to contain warp energy,
So either,
Incase terra was invaded by warp,
Or... To keep it in..

And doesn't Primarch of the White Scars go on about the warp is in their blood?

That's because they're psykers. Psykers have "the warp in their blood", as it were.

 the shrouded lord wrote:
Geller fields are to contain warp energy,

Nah, they shut out the warp entirely and enforce a zone of "Real-Space" unless/until they fail. Never heard of them being used to keep warp-energy inside the field.

Of course I can't find it, but I recall the emperor using the phrase "Like a son" in regards to possibly Horus, or a different primarch.

They are not his children. They are his creations

 the shrouded lord wrote:

QFT.
on angron: the nails couldn't be removed, it would be taking a CHUNK out of angrons brain. as to putting him down, would you kill your own child?
if yes, please go to asylum.
also, the emperor had planned to raise the primarchs himself, and even had a number of suites constructed for them, finally, when did he make a deal with chaos? I have never read that.

If my child was gradually suffering and going insane from a metal parasite in his brain that had absolutely no hope of being removed? If given the choice between watching him suffer and die slowly from his mental degradation, as he continues to cause others to suffer because he fundamentally can't help doing so? Yes. Every time, and you'd have to be morally repugnant to not do so.

The Emperor went about handling Angron in the worst possible way.

Well... a person's biological children are also their "creations", since their genetic material is required for the development of said children.

That's not really saying a lot, to suggest they are his creations but not his children.

It would be more-accurate to say that they are not his children but his clones. He may have been expecting them to be more like him. Or perhaps he was amazed to learn that they weren't, and had foreseen them as such? As we see later, denied his foresight, the Emperor became uncertain.

The Eldar. Ask me how. I dare you.

 rednecroncryptek wrote:
The Eldar. Ask me how. I dare you.

...
...
...

how

Chaos, Obvoisly.

I'm all about the heretic Lorgar as being a key figure in it.

It was a sad story to read about the heros falling from grace, and killing brother marines.

We are to blame for accepting poor writing and terrible ideas.

Rick Priestly.

The Emperor is to blame for his irresponsible parenting.
-> Hey, I just lost my 20 sons to the warp.

He is also to blame for not realizing what a poor parent he is, after finding his sons.
-> Hey, I put Angron and Dorn in the same room, and I do not realize one of them is a complete whack job, and still give him an army of super soldiers.

Then the grand architect is Erebus, just playing on those mistakes.

The great question stays : how can you be the Emperor and not realize you made THAT MANY mistakes : Lorgar? Cruze? Angron? Sending one's own son to exterminate his brother?

The emperor bred legions of space marines, that are ultimate, obedient and conditionned killing machines, but yet gave command of those guys to erratic and crazed primarchs - some very obviously so.

In the end, it is a wonder the great crusade could go all that way before the heresy. So many things could have gone wrong much earlier.