Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-24332685-20140111015135/@comment-24944355-20140716080600

It's true that when the surviving primarchs return - and at some point they will return - not all of the astartes chapters will jump for joy and rush to stand with them, but most will. The fact that chaos will immediately target any returning primarch is one reason they haven't returned as yet - the Emperor is waiting for the best moment.

The job of the returning primarchs will be three fold. 1) To unite the various factions of the empire to prepare for the oncoming storm. 2) To rally and lead the empires forces against the armies of chaos while the Emperor battles the chaos gods in the warp. 3) For any primarchs that survive to be a focus to hold parts of the old empire together and lay the foundations for the new empire to rise from the ashes of the old.