Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-4851119-20140118095944/@comment-6078851-20140120040928

i'm sorry vaughn but i also don't see how my statement works in your favour. my opinion in this discussion is that, after a normal human has become an astartes, their entire physiology would mirror their primarch far more than their bio-parents, and as such would not be able to 'blend in' to another legion.

legionaire sums it up quite nicely on the genetics front considering that the astartes-ifying process doesn't work the same after a certain age - once the majority of growth has been obtained, muscle disposition, bone structure etc, then the process can only 'bulk-out' what's already there. whereas the prime candidates are youngsters who's genetically pre-determined growth pattern can actually be altered by a superior genetic code.

and while the primarchs would have to abide by emps' word if he decided they had to incorporate the 'orphan astartes', let's also remember that emps is a vicious and ruthless warmonger who doesn't baulk at wiping out that which is no longer useful or which has incured his wrath - he created and liquidated the thunder warriors and he created the astartes and has destroyed more than a few. as legion says i also doubt he considers astartes anything other than tools which are eminently expendable if he thinks they have to be.