We don't know Angron's facet. Everything Angron might have been was lost when the Butcher's Nails were driven into his skull.
I think we largely agree - I'd just be reluctant to put too much weight on how important the facets of the Emperor were. The Primarchs retained a lot of their own free will (arguably too much from the Emperor's point of view, with hindsight) and their legions even more. Horus held the Emperor's ability for inspiration and leadership - he was good at leading (not necessarily at 'ruling' what had been conquered - that was more Guilliman's area of strength), and undoubtedly enjoyed it. However, it was ultimately the choice of the Primarchs on what to do with their skills when the their faith in the Emperor and his vision for humanity was tested. My point was only that each had a reason to decide to jump either way; reflected that nine did, nine didn't, and none of them have ever really forgiven those which made a different choice. You're absolutely right that they made the reasons as much because of their own beliefs, experiences and situations as because of their skills. Chaos made it easier for the Primarchs to choose the path of rebellion, by a mixture of power, trickery and feeding on their doubts (some things never change). But ultimately, Chaos was only a catalyst for them making their own decisions, not the actual cause for those who chose to rebel (again, some things never change).
Lorgar's confidence of his place in the world was broken when the Emperor (eventually) decided to give him and his legion an almighty public bolloc ticking off at the hands of the Space Smu Ultramarines. He'd constructed, in effect, the prototype of the Imperium that would later arise and wrote the book that would one day form the crucible of its faith. Rather than thanking him, or having a private word about why his actions were more dangerous than he realised, his God turned around and, metaphorically speaking, took a long run up and booted him in the nads. Lorgar knew the Emperor was somehow wrong about divinity, and sought out to prove it. When he discovered that there were god-like powers, and that the Emperor knew of them and had hidden that knowledge from the legions and humanity, Lorgar went off the deep end from the sheer hypocrisy of it all and started to carve his own path. Indeed, rebelling against the Emperor's blatant hypocrisy and manipulation was a key theme for a number of the traitor Primarchs. Moral of the story: Don't be a dick to your kids, because they get to choose your nursing home...and that gold-painted chair isn't as comfy as it first looks when you have to sit and rot in it for over ten thousand years quietly shouting "Nuuuuurse!" into the immaterium and wondering why no-one seems to take any notice of what you say any more.
I find it funny the amount of faith the loyalists have in the Emperor despite him lying to everyone and his master plan (destroying chaos by murdering the very notion of faith) being both a failure and failed to account for what really fuels Chaos; souls and raw emotion. It seemed to me in the waning years of the crusade, the Emperor revealed himself to truly be a tyrant. His ban on sorcery, his chastisement of Lorgar, his alleged atempt to assassinate Curze, all after they had been used for years saying little or nothing at all until they'd served their purpose, then turning on them. Same like he did with the Thunderwarriors. I think several Primarch's could have expected only a giant knife in their backs as a reward for their service, Angron for sure. With that in mind they all should have turned on him. A malicious lie is no foundation for an empire.
You think too small. You cannot comprehend a being so powerful and devine that has lived for millennia, has been pushing humanity towards a better path. If the likes of Curze or Angron would threaten that future, even Lorgars idolising, then the Emperor was right to put a stop to it. He was and is the greatest HUMAN to have ever lived or perhaps ever shall. He might of made mistakes, but he has the whole of humanity to care for. You should feel the sorrow, such as Dorn felt, that such a devine being, the master of humanity was brought so low because he loved his son! Millennia of work undone, all his passion and pain gone to waste. Can you imagine being the Emperor the moment Magnus broke the Eternity gate webway? He may never leave the golden throne again for if he does Terra will fall and the astronimcon will fail and Humanity will fall to darkness. Praise the Emperor, but weep for his sacrifice.....
This. He was the greatest visionary and had the long view and big picture firmly in mind. Everything that he did was reasonable given the goal: absolute assurance of survival for the human race. That's why I have no time for Lorgar's weakness and Horus's hurt feelings. They were so petulant for demigods. At least Curze understood that the end justified the means but even he couldn't see that tools need to be set aside once they had served their purpose. You would think that he would have understood that given that he would have surely known about the Thunder Warriors.
It's easy to carry on about how the ends justify the means, but when you are that tool that is to be used and then thrown away, things aren't so clear cut.
All I can think about is all the worlds sentenced to death for refusing to believe his lies, the sorrow one must feel to realize that the man you idolized was just a charlatan pulling the greatest deception the galaxy has ever seen, that the countless worlds put to the sword for not surrendering their souls to a false idol, well, it's unforgivable no matter how noble the intent. It's all well and good to talk about the ends justifying the means, but the problem with that argument is that you have to actually win. The ends here is a totalitarian shithole where free thought and progress is actively suppressed, slowly choking on its own hypocrisy. How can the means be justified when the end is terrible?
The current status quo was not the Emperor's intention. It was brought about by Horus and Lorgar failing at the pivotal moment. I could definitely get behind a universe based on reason, a human webway and an ascended human as the most powerful being in existence. The whole thing about the 30K/40K universe is that it sets up a scenario where totalitarianism is actually necessary unlike IRL were it is just an excuse for greed and elitism.
