Mostly because Konrad has spent several years trying to break every rule and debase everything he touches to teach his father a lesson. Needless to say, Konrad Curze doesn’t love this conversation. But that was not how fate (LORGAR YOU ASSHOLE) willed it. Had the Emperor raised him, he could have helped Konrad suss through his visions better. It’s funny because his palace was built of flesh.ĭid you ever wonder why the Emperor stomached Konrad’s BS? Well he pretty much lays it out for Konrad, and explains that Konrad was everything he was made to be. But guess what, y’all? THE EMPEROR TALKS BACK AND OMG IF I THOUGHT I HAD KONRAD FEELS BEFORE THE FEELERS WERE OFF THE CHARTS IN THIS SCENE. The entire story is told very conversationally, and shows how Konrad has not only come to terms with his madness, he sees it justified. Retreating to his palace of flesh and insanity, Konrad relays his story to an effigy of the Emperor. Once again, similar to Perturabo, the meat of this story comes in the last 40 pages. Had he laid better foundations on Nostramo he might not be in this mess. Were he a stronger father-figure he probably could have stopped this. Despite this all feeling somewhat familiar, it’s heart-breaking to see Konrad just brood and give over to the inevitability of his legion’s fall. Who then intentionally recruit more criminals and assholes.Īs his legion starts to descend into madness and cruelty, Konrad again refuses to see any hope or potential and instead falls to despair. Which means instead of getting semi-decent warriors and uppercrust recruits, he gets criminals and assholes. So things go ploin-shaped as soon as he leaves.
Konrad was never great at delegation or actually helping the citizens of Nostromo figure out how to govern. Of course, as we watch the inevitable progress of his legion, it’s hard to blame the guy. It’s heartbreaking to watch him turn from any positivity. Naturally our boy Konrad decides the only true vision is the one that ends in violence because Konrad is a glass-half-empty type of dude. In the other vision, he tries to grab a knife and kill the Night Haunter. He’s heralded as a hero and proof that the Night Haunter can be benevolent. In one vision the Night Haunter shows him mercy and he grows up to help other violent boys find a non-violent path. Similar to the criminally underrated Minority Report, Konrad is struck by a vision early on that details a young man’s future. Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter provides an even more interesting glimpse into the visions that the visions could tell two tales. The Unremembered Empire taught us he could manipulate them slightly to determine the best course of action. Not just that they physically overwhelm him, but that they can also be unreliable on occasion. We’ve seen how Konrad’s visions of the future affect him in previous stories. It’s no wonder then that Konrad Curze would A) prefer the sobriquet “Night Haunter” and B) have a decidedly dim view on humanity. Eternal darkness, crime-ridden streets, an oppressive ruling class? Hard pass. Both Guy Haley and Aaron Dembski-Bowden go to great lengths to portray the planet as a nightmare come to life. Nostramo has always sounded like a hell hole.
Guy Haley’s Konrad Kurze: The Night Haunter is the first book in the series that redeems some of the damage done* by 50+ books in the Horus Heresy. Perturabo’sstory was a much-needed critique of the once-sympathetic Iron Warrior patriarch, but I stand by my assessment that the more I read about the Primarchs, the less I wish I read. My response to the Primarchsbook series has thus been “cool story, bro.” I haven’t disliked any of the books, but I haven’t necessarily loved them yet either.