The Relics are hardly canon: they're a gameplay mechanic, making people replay the game to try and secure the best pieces of loot. I wouldn't take those seriously. Keep in mind, throughout the events of both Retribution and the original Dawn of War, Inquisitors were present and accounted for. They were keeping as close and eye on things as possible, what with actually being present and all. Remember, Inquisitor Toth TOLD Gabriel Angelos to destroy the Maledictum at the end of Dawn of War. Any fault Gabriel has for unleashing the daemon is shared by the Inquisitor. Adrastia as well was aware of Kyras' dealings with Chaos, and had decided that Gabriel and a few others could be saved and used to stop Kyras. Remember as well, that the Inquisition had taken enough shit from Aurelia: Exterminatus was, after all, en route. It was only BECAUSE the Blood Ravens had proved their innocence that they were spared from being killed that way. And if you think that the Inquisitors were shit for believing in the Blood Ravens, remember that there are Inquisitors out there who actively utilize Chaos weaponry and psykers and daemons and whatever else they need to get the job done. Trusting a Space Marine chapter is hardly a stretch.
It's that line of thinking that lead to the Wolfin' Space Puppies riding into battle onto their wolf cavalry wearing wolf pelts and wolf armor with wolf weapons and wolf history and wolf soldiers. While it can have hits like the Black Dragons, the results are usually horrendous and last thing we need is another chapter like the Space Wolves. Overcompensating for uniqueness and special quality results in the trend of Space Marine Chapters practically being a memetic portrayal of their respective theme. While W40K is a parody, there is a line, and Blood Ravens seem to be following in the footsteps of the Space Wolves. And their armor looks exactly the same as several other Chapters. How is it exactly special at all? And no, the activity we've seen of the Inquisition on the Blood Ravens is minimal. They're far worse than the Black Dragons. Not to mention that 'watching' with the Inquisition typically is trying to actively disband. With the massive amount of Chaos taint in their Chapter, they should have by now ordered to provide a massive collection of gene-seed and an active investigation. And the Inquisition is a morass of dogmatic hypocrisy. It doesn't matter if some Inquisitors use daemon weapons. They should be attempting to freeze the Blood Ravens and pick through every single sample of gene seed after the events that nearly lead to multiple warp portals being opened into the sub sector and letting the forces of Chaos spill forth into the sector and overrun it and the activity of a Greater Daemon as well. (Not to mention the Inquisitor we saw in the game(s) was hilariously liberal as Inquisitors get.)
Forgive me if this was already answered but there was an issue of White Dwarf that was published containing information about the Blood Ravens about a year after the first Dawn of War released which stated Gabriel Angelos was the Chapter Master. Here is where the conflict originates from.
All that says to me is that the canon ending of Retribution was the Space Marine one, and that Angelos is now the Blood Raven Chapter Master. EDIT: So you could really say the first two DoW games were Angelos' ascension story.
IIRC, the official ending is actually the Imperial Guard's. Not the Blood Raven's. Oh, and you were discussing the Minotaurs? I thought you were on about the Blood Ravens. Sorry about the confusion. Yeah, they're pretty interesting as they're effectively the hitmen of the High Lords of Terra.
I always figured it was the Blood Ravens, because the ending was longest, most substantial, and because of the preceding document. I could be wrong, but we'll have to wait for DoW III to be sure.
The Blood Ravens aren't the worst of Relic's attentions in accordance to the fluff. I still think the 'Blood Legion of Khorne' who makes an extensive use of a Chaos Sorcerer (even though Sindri was by far the greatest) manages to eclipse all others. As to the Thousand Sons, I am positive I have read somewhere that not all Thousand Sons were psykers. Perhaps it was in the Prospero Burns novel. Those who were psykers were traditionally much stronger than the Librarian's of the other factions though (I'm just hypothesizing here given the love affair Magnus had with sorcery, it seems entirely within reason that Magnus would see to it that those who could have the gift, , would be properly cultivated. The training regimes that the Thousand Sons implemented seems to have become at least in some degree common practice in the 40k universe in 'modern times.'). Also, since the Thousand Sons were a byproduct of the strongest psyker Magnus, it also seems pretty likely that their would be a lot more psykers in the legion in comparison as a result of his gene-seed, although I don't think that was explicitly stated anywhere, but I haven't read all of the HH novels at all. The flesh-change could afflict anyone in the legion, whether Librarian or otherwise and the Rubric cancelled the mutations by changing those of no psyker potential to become dust enclosed in their armour, but also greatly increased the psychic strengths of the actual psykers who managed to survive the spell (which caused a psychic backlash throughout the legion; it's how Magnus became aware).
I can't tell if it's referring to Isador's turn to chaos and betraying Captain Angelos, or if it's refering to Avitus's corruption at the hands of Kyras. Either way that is one epic, yet very foreshadowing quote. You also shouldn't forget the quotes Eliphas the Inheritor made toward Davian thule in Dark crusade , which hint at the Blood Raven's descendants being from a chaotic Legion.
There is no "official" ending for Retribution. However, speculation would lead you to believe the SM ending is canon, as there was an Index Astartes that stated Angelos was Chapter Master. They're also a fan favorite, alongside Space Wolves. Just because you don't like them, doesn't mean they shouldn't/don't exist. Nor does that give you the right to get hostile when people are simply having a discussion. You might wanna chalk common courtesy up there along with knowing lore with your rules for the website. While this is an interesting theory, the majority view the "brothers" remark as more sarcasm than anything else. As a traitor marine referring to loyalists as "brothers" is like the ultimate insult. However, that theory does further the rumor that Blood Ravens are descended from TS.
