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I've been reading through the book "Fulgrim".

In the 19th chapter Fulgrim tries to convince Ferrus to join the traitor forces. One of the things he says in the argument is:

Lorgar and Angron are ready to strike and Mortarian will soon be with us.

Later on in chapter 21 when Ferrus hears from Dorn he is told that several Primarchs have been reached and are assembling to destroy the traitors.

Salamanders, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, Raven Guard and Night Lords. Including the Iron Hands that's seven entire legions. Horus doesn't stand a chance.

This seems like a huge plot hole. Why wouldn't he be suspicious of the Word Bearers and at least mention to the other legions that he was already told they are traitors?

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An earlier sentence in the same paragraph reads (my translation from the French version):

It seems that the spread of the Warmaster betrayal had been limited to the Legions that were fighting with him on Istvaan III.

We can infer that Ferrus believed that Lorgar didn't betray the Emperor. Why did he come to that conclusion? There are a few elements in the books:

  1. It was Fulgrim's words against official data (from Rogal Dorn) about the mobilization of Loyalist forces against the Warmaster.
  2. Lorgar was known to be the most devoted son of the Emperor. And as the Legions were spread across a huge galaxy, we cannot be sure that Ferrus was fully aware of the punishment of Lorgar for being overzealous and how important it was.
  3. Fulgrim was sure that their friendship and his argument would be enough to convince him to join the Warmaster. This failed. Maybe Ferrus believed that Horus tried to convince Lorgar but also failed, and Fulgrim was oblivious of that fact.

These are tiny elements I reckon, and we are on the edge of a plothole, but they strengthen the main reason I believe Ferrus was unable to connect the dots: a recurring theme in the Horus Heresy is that the Loyalists were flabbergasted by the Warmaster's betrayal and couldn't believe it.

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    In the later book First Heritic we get Lorgar's side of the conflict. While most of the view point is with one of his captains, we nevertheless get a strong impression that Lorgar spends a lot of time convincing people he is a Loyalist.
    – Jontia
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 8:24
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    Great answer, and great use of flabbergasted.
    – Daft
    Commented Jul 26, 2018 at 9:12

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