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11'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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13[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
14* ''Retribution'': In the mission on Calderis, no matter your faction, you have to kill the corrupt Blood Ravens attacking the village. All factions have a good motive to do so: getting information on The Ascendant at least, and alternatively, protecting Imperial territory from renegade Space Marines (Space Marines and Imperial Guard respectively), protecting the nearby Webway assembly (Eldar), fighting the gits while preserving the village so your forces can loot it (Orks) or gathering biomass (Tyranids). As Neroth points out, they can always destroy the village after they pick up their enemy's trail. But this gets an additional advantage while playing Chaos, because ''the attackers are Space Marines in loyalist armor''. What better way to gain cultists than save the villagers from the False Emperor's betrayal?
15* The subtitle of ''Retribution'' can be confusing, but it does have precedent in the source material. A quote from the Imperial Creed is [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves "The reward for treachery is retribution."]] This quote is one of the first game's Imperial Thoughts for the Day and is directly quoted in ''Chaos Rising'' by Avitus. In this context it's likely referring to retribution towards Kyras from his own Chapter, the pay-off for his monumental act of treachery.
16* Read up on the Blood Ravens on Lexicanum. It says their battle doctrine relies on knowing what the enemy is going to do ahead of time and then hitting them at [[AwesomenessByAnalysis just the right moment with just the right combination of forces]]. That suits their psyker-heavy fluff, sure, but doesn't it sound just a bit like an RTS gamer playing their favourite scenarios over and over again?
17* Avitus:
18** Avitus, the [[TokenEvilTeammate violent, cruel]] BigGuy of your squad, seems overly cruel. But every time Avitus acts in a particularly mean or spiteful fashion, the other squad sergeants angrily reprimand him. His cruelty helps bring out the other Marines' inherent kindness and decency, which probably wouldn't show if it didn't resonate against his nastiness. With ''Retribution'' it is generally accepted that Avitus is the canon ''Chaos Rising'' traitor. Relic was foreshadowing it the whole time.
19** He also delivers a blistering rant about how much he hates being a Blood Raven after a late-game mission. No wonder he ends up as one of the guys trying to destroy the universe.
20** Avitus is a walking deconstruction. As much as he acts like a stock Space Marine, throwing himself into battle eagerly and quoting parts of the Imperial Creed... there are hints in his speech near the end of the game that he's extremely maladjusted to his job, notably his grim assertion that "War is all we are. Killing is all we are good for." He can't stop being a Space Marine because it's such a one-way process, but he doesn't like being one, so he channels his all his resultant anger, grief and frustration into battle. Bearing in mind that he's all but confirmed to be the canon traitor, we know he's also haunted by the memory of all the people he's killed, and sees only death where others see life. And not only is he motivated to become a traitor by {{despair|EventHorizon}} and [[BloodKnight bloodlust]], but he simply can't handle living in such a [[CrapsackWorld dump of a universe]] anymore. The things he says and his story has to say about the Imperium, being a Space Marine and even the setting itself are none too flattering.
21** His rant can be seen as what Diomedes could have become after realizing he'd spent centuries in the service of a traitor, and how many heinous actions and purges to protect the Chapter were in fact advancing Kyras' goals.
22* According to the Latin-based conventions of the human language in ''40K'', the name Avitus can be interpreted as A-vita = Non-life/anti-life. Basically, it means "Killer". Now, that's an appropriate name for the bastard.
23* The Tau's Relic unit in the first game is a ''Kroot'' warbeast. This makes little sense... until you realize the Tau are [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth Atheists]]: relics and other religious symbols mean nothing to them (nearly every other relic unit has a religious connotation), but very likely hold significance to the BarbarianHero Kroot (as all Kroot species are derived from the basic one, it could be a form of Ancestor Worship).
24* Carron:
25** Carron's defeat is inevitable when you take into account all his boasts about his temples dedicated to Khorne. Khorne emphatically does ''not'' want his followers to build temples to him, [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Khorne#Worship_of_Khorne as time spent building stuff is time not spent cleaving necks and spilling blood.]] Carron, having unknowingly lost the support of the god he worships right from the start, is doomed.
26** One of the aforesaid temple's abilities is to poison the enemy. Not only does this not spill blood (unless it incidentally dissolves something and causes bleeding that way), but Nurgle is the Chaos God most associated with such things - many illnesses are caused simply by bacteria crapping where they eat. Even if the shield's emanating from a Khornate temple, any deaths from this kind of method are likely to go to Nurgle ''instead of Khorne''. Strike two for Carron.
27** In addition, he at one point starts yelling that they will be Khorne's hand and strangle the enemy. Strangling, aka a method of killing that does ''not'' spill blood, and does ''not'' end with the head separated from the body. Did Carron fail Basic Ruinous Powers 101?
28** Then there's the small matter of the shields he erected that poison any non-Chaos units which enter it. First of all, poison is yet ''another'' method of killing someone that doesn't involve spilling blood. Second of all, Khorne expects you to [[VillainousValour be proactive, meet your enemies head-on and stomp them into a slurry]]; hiding behind defences like a civilian and [[OrcusOnHisThrone waiting for them to come to you]], in the Blood God's view, is the ''coward's'' way of fighting. Whoever won the Kaurava conflict, it's pretty clear Khorne was rooting for ''them'' when they came to the Peninsula of Iseult. As ''DOW 3'' confirms that it's Warboss Gorgutz, this makes much more sense.
29** When you play as Chaos, Carron's tactics will inevitably become more pleasing to the Blood God. For one, the player will have to actively attack and conquer enemy territory. You can play defensively just fine, but Carron will still be killing without relying on the blasphemous shield. His last stand in the Peninsula will (probably) not come to pass, meaning Carron will be out taking blood and skulls all over the system. Carron will be doing all this in melee, which is the form of combat demanded by the Blood God. He would be far, far more likely to earn Khorne's favor at this point; indeed, he can become a Daemon Prince after earning all of his wargear. Not that this actually happened in the canon result of the Kaurava campaign, but the point still stands.
30** In fairness, The Kaurava Chaos Forces are Chaos Undivided (Alpha Legion), not Khornites. Carrion may lean Khorne, but they're still making use of whatever they can from all 4 chaos gods. (and are probably just sticking with Khorne so they don't have to make any new models for Nurgle demons, which seems much more likely that Carrion would actually support).
31* As the ''Dawn of War II'' entries demonstrate (especially ''Retribution''), the Imperial Guard are capable of making their own field repairs without the need of a Tech-priest. This would technically be considered an affront to the machine spirits if not the Omnissiah (something that Guardsmen themselves dryly note). But given what they do and the conditions of the battlefield, it'd make sense that they're forced to understand everything about their equipment and make the most of them. At the same time, this also emphasizes the Guard's professionalism.
32** It's not just in ''DOW'': One overheard line in ''[[VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine Space Marine]]'' is a Guardsman asking for a field manual, because there are no (living) Techpriests around despite being on a Forge World (likely due to the Ork Waaagh invading), so the remaining Guardsmen are forced to do their own repairs for survival.
33* Once you play ''Retribution'', every misfortune that's befallen the Blood Ravens now makes sense once Kyras's betrayal is revealed. Going to aid a planet that holds a daemonic artifact, which Kyras might know about and want them to either release the daemon or bring it back to the Chapter? Going to Kronus and engaging in a costly war there that results in the deaths of millions, as well as suspicion being thrown on the Loyalist Blood Ravens by the Inquisition? Sending ''half of the Chapter'' to Kaurava at the command of an incompetent Commander, getting them all killed and grievously weakening the Chapter as a result, as well as resulting in ''more'' deaths? It all makes sense! [[TheChessmaster Kyras was behind everything since the beginning!]]
34* For one mission of ''Chaos Rising'', you have to explore a Space Hulk, and if you spend too long in the mission your characters will start to fall under the influence of the Warp, and can be heard arguing with non-existent people or muttering to themselves. Although what they say seems to be random mutterings when you first play through the game, when you play through a second time you realize their comments actually foreshadow their reasons for possibly being the traitor! For example:
35** Jonah can be heard screaming for somebody to "Get out!" If Jonah is the traitor, it's because he's been possessed by a Daemon.
36** Thaddeus can be heard sobbing "I've done what you asked, no more!" If Thaddeus is the traitor, it's because he's being forced to uphold a bargain he made with Ulkair to save his brothers.
37** Cyrus can be heard grumbling "He leads us in circles. Why does he lead?" If Cyrus is the traitor, it's because he feels all the Blood Raven commanders (especially Boreale) are incompetent.
38** Avitus can be heard yelling "Kill them all, Let there be Blood!" If Avitus is the traitor, it's because he succumbs to his hatred/bloodlust.
39** Tarkus can be heard mumbling how "None other will do, it must be mine, then we can fight back..." If Tarkus is the traitor, it's because he wants to use Chaos-corrupted wargear to become powerful enough to destroy all the Chapter's enemies.
40* Psykers and Khorne:
41** In ''Retribution'' as well as the preceding ''Dawn of War 2'' games, the notion that a psyker like Azariah Kyras would be an aspiring servant of Khorne would initially seem like an oversight if not an AssPull on the part of the game's writers. That is until one realizes that while Khorne has no love for psykers or sorcerers, neither does he actually ''care'' about whose blood is spilled (let alone how), only that it ''does.'' Using the Exterminatus as a dedicated sacrifice to the Chaos God definitely helps his ascension to daemonhood too.
42** Additionally, it's stated ''in official canon'' that Khorne's hang-up about Psykers/Sorcerer is when they ''only'' use their psychic powers for combat, and no martial prowess, i.e. a weakling just slinging spells or psychic attacks. A Psyker/Sorcerer that fights more like a MagicKnight, using their psychic powers to ''augment'' their martial abilities, is not as hated as a "pure mage" psyker.
43** The fact that his ascension involves erecting towers that make him invulnerable is probably not winning him any points with Khorne. Perhaps that's why he's trapped in a pit with only half his body out, leaving him stuck with only his arms and short-ranged attacks to defend himself. If he wants his daemonhood so badly, he'll have to do it with his own two hands.
44* The Ork aboard the space hulk is pretty angry to be there despite being under constant attack, something most other Orks would be thrilled about. However this Ork is also called the ''Mad'' Mek, and [[BlueAndOrangeMorality by Ork standards]] an Ork that doesn't want to fight all the time would be insane. Also, Tyranids have no vehicles or guns to loot, so the Mek has had nothing to use in his own projects (asides from ripping stuff off the hulk's walls) for about a decade, meaning his [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder compulsive mad science]] as an Ork Mek has had no real outlet for a long time.
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46[[AC:FridgeHorror]]
47* Each loading screen in Dawn of War is a strategic map. In each mission, despite the Blood Raven's victories, the number of Orks only increases, eventually overwhelming the defences. The Fridge Horror: the Orks reproduce by producing spores and dying in combat produces more than they would ordinarily produce in their lives. Thus, the player's own actions help speed the destruction of Tartarus. Even worse, not attacking the Orks would only allow them to kill the population of the planet anyway. Welcome to 40k.
48* The presence of so many Chaos tainted artifacts in the Blood Ravens' armory makes a lot more sense in light of Kyras falling to Chaos. In all likelihood the corrupted Chapter Master encouraged the collection of such relics in order to corrupt additional members of the Chapter... which literally happens if the Captain and his squad use said tainted wargear.
49* The ending to the Space Marine Campaign in ''Retribution'' has Diomedes and Angelos finishing the purge of heresy on the Chapter, and Angelos ascending as the new Chapter Master in front of a crowd of Marines. Considering how high the Blood Raven casualties have been over the course of ''Dawn of War II'', that may very well be all that's left of the Chapter. However, it's made slightly less horrific, as several other Space Marine Chapters have bounced back from massive losses; the most recent well-known example is the Celestial Lions, who were brought to less than 96 Astartes and are currently recouping their losses, with the aid of the Black Templars.
50** Fortunately, the July 2019 edition of White Dwarf states that the Chapter was indeed able to recover thanks to renewed recruiting efforts and Primaris reinforcements.
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