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What if one day all the missing good primarchs return ? Could they lead humanity to glory and defeat the other races once and for all?

No, I don't think so. The Horus Heresy series shows them to all be pretty poor really. The Imperium already have the musculus minds of Calgar, Creed and others and the physical beatsticks of Titans, so the primarchs really have no purpose.
They'd probably just end up spitted on a Reaper Chainsword.

The reawakening of the Necrons and the arrival of the Tyranids coupled with all the other problems seems to definitively state that the Imperium if not humanity as a whole is doomed unless the Emperor joins the Primarchs.

That being said, they won't go down quietly.

That being said, Dante actually has more experience as a commander than any of the Primarchs did before the Horus Heresy.

They would have their moments of Glory, but with Chaos on the rise and Necrons starting to awake, they wouldn't be able to stand up to the new threats.

 Sigvatr wrote:
They would have their moments of Glory, but with Chaos on the rise and Necrons starting to awake, they wouldn't be able to stand up to the new threats.

Not to mention the Tyranids are about to arrive in force and Ork Waaaghs are getting bigger and more frequent.

Not to mention all the minor xenos getting much rowdier/popping up all over the place.

In fairness the Imperium could probably deal with some more minor Xenos with Primarchs fighting but nothing significant unless the Primarchs brought lots of magic new technology.

I dont think the overall picture of the imperium would change much, but having a living breathing god of war and son of the emperor would be a large figurehead to rally around. Their tactical genius could probably give an edge over their foes

It would be an astounding change, rather than the high lords "interpreting" the will of the emperor, they would have his will made manifest, an avatar of God walking amidst their ranks, the imperium is built around faith and having that faith manifest in one of the emperor's sons would have great ramifications throughout the imperium, New crusades would be launched in there names, chapters flocking to there banners and untold billions of humans ready to do any task asked of them.

This is what the primarchs represent to the imperium, 10,000 years of worship in their image has brain washed the entirety of the imperium, there will would be the will of the emperor.

Guiliman: quite possibly the largest impact, re ordering and restructuring the imperium would ensue, possibly leaving the ecclesiarchy intact as that would be "practical" untill such a time that the imperial truth could be re integrated, consolidation of astartes to face major threats (not re introduction of legions), re introduction of technological advancement to either imperium or the 500 world's (at first), fighting the tyranid threat, out thinking and out maneuvering it to destruction.

Guiliman would have the biggest affect on current imperium.

I think it would lead to another civil war. To the best of my knowledge the primarchs have been out of the picture for a long time and would likely not see eye to eye with either the High Lords of Terra (who would see the returned primarchs as a threat to their authority) or with the Ecclesiarchy as it is now.

It's not hard to envisage a situation where the likes of Russ would tell the High Lords to go feth themselves and declare Fenris independant. Nor is it that much more of a stretch to envisage Guilliman dusting off his plans for Imperium Secundus... or leading reconstituted legions to Terra to give the Ecclesiarchy a taste of the real Imperial Truth.

There would be potential problems. The Primarchs knew what the Emperor wanted the Imperium to be, and the Imperium as it is now is NOT what the Emperor wanted it to be. So, a lot will depend on how well the Primarchs are willing to adapt to the current situation. Guilliman would be the most "upsetting" to the Imperium, as he would be the most likely to want to change things. The others would probably be just happy to lead their chapters into battle.

 ashcroft wrote:
I think it would lead to another civil war. To the best of my knowledge the primarchs have been out of the picture for a long time and would likely not see eye to eye with either the High Lords of Terra (who would see the returned primarchs as a threat to their authority) or with the Ecclesiarchy as it is now.

It's not hard to envisage a situation where the likes of Russ would tell the High Lords to go feth themselves and declare Fenris independant. Nor is it that much more of a stretch to envisage Guilliman dusting off his plans for Imperium Secundus... or leading reconstituted legions to Terra to give the Ecclesiarchy a taste of the real Imperial Truth.

I agree about Russ

Lion: more than likely declares himself warmaster and goes on the offensive with his legion, this would cause a tiny amount of distrust but would be otherwise left alone as soon as the high lords realise that he has no interest in ruleing, feel sorry for the enemies of the imperium when the greatest strategist that ever lived comes a knocking.

Khan: no back lash at all, he would do what he has always done, kill the enemies of the imperium and stay on the fringes, more would be done in his name than he would actually do himself.

Guilliman: would not reintroduce the legions, he Brooke them up bra, nor would he introduce imperium secondus, he made the current one, the only issue I see he would have is with the power of the ecclesiarchy, but that would be brought down piece by piece, he is far to smart to attack the glue of the imperium without a major replacement.

Dorn: he WOULD attack the ecclesiarchy and cause civil war.

 Formosa wrote:
Guilliman: would not reintroduce the legions, he Brooke them up bra, nor would he introduce imperium secondus, he made the current one, the only issue I see he would have is with the power of the ecclesiarchy, but that would be brought down piece by piece, he is far to smart to attack the glue of the imperium without a major replacement.

Good points about Guilliman. Somehow it had slipped my mind that he broke up the legions, and as you say he'd tolerate the ecclessiarchy for practical reasons.

But there would definitely be tension and distrust on both sides, though the need to deal with more immediate concerns like the Tyranids would certainly limit Guilliman's opportunities to make reforms.

Guliman could help get things in better order, he was a master of organisation and strategic planning.

So e of others may not have such a massive effect but as leaders in warfare they would be powerful symbols and there chapters would gain a lot of prestige being led by primarchs.

They would certainly help impirial morale and yes be able to tell the high lordss they messed up badly, now do as we say or leave now.

Who could argue with one of the emprors sons, there raised up alnosat as gods by the propognada.

Guilliman was the one that set up most of the Imperium as it is in the first place, with the Ecclesiarchy being an exception (albeit a VERY notable one). Guilliman himself was officially a High Lord of Terra (and only one of twelve) during his time.

So I doubt Gulliman will try to break down the current system, considering he's the one that set it up in the first place. At least, on purpose. Obviously he'll try to refine it to be better, though.

Rogal Dorn was also with the Imperium for a long time after Guilliman had set up the High Lords of Terra. So I doubt he'd (purposefully) upset things, either.

The Khan and Russ never cared anough about administrative things in the first place to upset things.

Again, the notable exception/wild card to all of this would be the ecclesiarchy. Personally I think most loyalist primarchs would realize that with the 13th Black Crusade in full swing and all these Xenos threats cropping up, trying to undermine 10,000 years of Emperor worship is probably low on the list of priorities.

... the High Lords of Terra existed in the time of the Primarchs. The Emperor had handed the day-to-day ruling of the Imperium to them while he was still alive. The fact that they are still running the place in his name should not surprise any Primarch. It was, in fact, the handing over of the reigns that was one of Horus' stated reasons for his rebelling.

The Imperial Truth? Never going to happen. That dream is dead and gone, unless and until the Emperor himself gets up and tries to reinstate it... but given how much his power seems to have grown since becoming a god-head... that is unlikely.

Oh, you bet there's going to be a civil war. When entire planets become pilgrimage sites because of a primarch heirloom like a drinking cup or a broken sword then imagine what would happen if you had a walking avatar of your god walking around. Heck, just take it to real world value. How many people started wars about religion right now withing just the branch of Christianity? It would lead to civil war. The high lords of Terra, the inquisition, and the ecclesiarchy have the most to fear as it would be a direct challenge to their authority. Depending on the primarch, I can even imagine them claiming the primarch a heretic because he doesn't live up to the myth/stories and is contradicting the emperors edict.

Some Primarchs would work with the current system for the good of man. I'd imagine Dorn (if he's still alive), Vulkan, and Gulliman to be those. Others may just be indifferent because of how far everything has come from the original Ideal. I'd imagine those would be Russ and Ghan. Others like Corax or the Lion, I'd believe can be a coin toss between trying to go on the offensive and seek vengeance or attempt to destroy the status of the current rulers.

If I had to guess Guilliman and the other Primarchs would get the Legions back together seeing how the Imperium is in a really bad way. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I doubt there would be a civil war, I mean come on the loyalists primarches fought with everything they had to stop the last civil war which single handedly almost destroyed the imperium. All the primarchs agreed to the codex with the exception of the lion because he wasnt there but ulitmately hed agree with it considering what happened with the horus heresy and all.

And i dont think the powers that be would declare a loyalist primarch off all people a heretic they may find that the million odd space marines would be quite enraged and disagree with that. Not too mention killing the emperors sons would be in itself heresy. Id also fail to see why theyd see the primarchs as threat, they were generals not lawmakers or rulers