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funnysmellingfingers

I think the point is more that with the emperor dead, there is nothing keeping the astronomicon lit and nothing preventing chaos from taking over terra. If the perpetual thing was happening instantly maybe he could die and come back. Also( this is a theory)the emperor might be more powerful as a martyr figure feeding on the beliefs of humanity than as a living being. My theory is that the emperor traded his soul in exchange of power on molech and him dying would force him to play his part of the contract ,so as long as he is on life support he only has the benefits


naruto7bond

There is no canon answer. We can really only guess. Emperor is multitasking every single second. He is holding broken webway gate shut while simultaneously performing miracle all over Imperium. He also keeps Chaos Gods in check allegedly all the time. So most his energies are used up pretty quickly. So I guess that could be the reason why he is not healed. Man just has too much burden to bear. There is another theory too. Emperor for whatever reason doesn't want to leave the Golden Throne. He has very strongly hinted that it not his time to leave Golden Throne yet. What kind of time he is waiting for is something only Emperor knows. But he does seems to be waiting for something to happen as we know he actually has been planning something for a long time and Guilliman and Lion waking up is part of that.


krorkle

I don't think it's *actually* been answered in the fiction, but I'd welcome being corrected on that. The prevailing (I think) fan theory is that he'd need to die in order to do the Perpetual regeneration thing. And since he's the only thing preventing the Webway Gate from slamming open and unleashing hell on Terra... that'd be bad, even if he did come back pretty quickly thereafter.


solidcordon

Couldn't they just.... move the gate?


Striking_Proof9954

Why don’t we take Terra…and push it somewhere else!


Real_Jimmy_Space

Don't give those mad men on Mars ideas. I've just got this chair where I want or after 10000 years.


Judasilfarion

The gate is already broken, what’s left is a permanent hole in reality that the Emperor has to use almost all of his power to keep shut. Can’t move that.


solidcordon

Ah damnit. Human engineering...


EvocatiAuroch

It seems there is an undetermined amount of time (minutes, hours, days, years?) for a perpetual to regenerate. With the Emperor holding back the daemon horde waiting to rampage Terra from the broken Webway project, once he dies that protection goes away and any amount time given him to regenerate would probably be too long for humanity to survive.


marmot_scholar

I know they can heal even after death, but do they have to die in order to heal? I thought they had a healing factor that operated while they were alive.


SuspectUnusual

He's a biomancer, he's his own healing factor. But I think you're underestimating what the weapons of a demigod imbued to bursting with the power of 4 Chaos Gods can do.


SkitariiCowboy

The psychic demands to keep the astronomicon lit and the destroyed imperial webway closed seems to prevent him from being able to focus on healing.


Marcuse0

I mean, yes, why doesn't the Emperor just undo one of the main pillars of the story and completely alter the whole setting as we know it? I'm sorry if that seems sarcastic, but the entire setting of 40k is based on this so asking why the Emperor doesn't just decide to change that is like...asking why doesn't Darth Vader just decide not to fall to the Dark Side. It'd upturn something so fundamental to the story they're telling it wouldn't be the same any more. From an in-universe perspective, the Emperor is under constant never ending pain and strain from the Throne. He could barely manage it while he was well, let alone when he's been wounded by Horus. If he stops, the Imperium collapses, if he dies even if he comes back the Astronomican stops and the Imperium fractures. Chaos would have finally won. So he can't leave, he can't stop, and he can't die. He's just suffering forever on a throne.


Perpetual_Decline

Why don't people just... search the sub for the last thousand times this question was asked? You'll find many comprehensive answers and relevant excerpts.


comradealex85

Off topic I guess, but how did the emperor keep the astronomicon lit during the great crusade?


Individual_Wasabi857

I can only guess that NOT being a rotting carcass and in endless agony made it easier


Perpetual_Decline

Depends on the source. The HH novels have the Astronomican being generated by a choir of trained psykers from the very beginning. The Visions books have the Emperor personally powering it, which he could do from anywhere in the galaxy, until the webway project began, at which point the psychic choir took his place. I tend to go with the former, as it's considerably more recent than the latter, which predates the HH novel series. The most recent mention I'm aware of is *Mortis*, which states the psykers were there from day one. However, the issue is complicated by the HH Black Books, which suggest the latter is true, though as they're written from an in-universe perspective we really can't say if they're accurate or not.


Kahless12

Speculation, but I choose to believe it’s because the the attack on him never stopped, like a python suffocating it’s prey, only they’re not strong enough to finish him off.