Word Bearers - Loyalist Word Bearers Canon Controversy: Please Note: The following is informed speculation based on the sources, and is not yet recognised as canon.Although the Word Bearers Legion had initially been thrown into disarray after their public humiliation and rebuke by the Emperor on the world of Khur, it has been established that the Legion was divided into two camps.Those who remained faithful to the previous religion which held the Emperor of Mankind to be the god of Humanity taught by their Primarch (primarily the Astartes from Terra) and those who began to embrace the dark precepts of Chaos, rediscovered by Lorgar after completing his Pilgrimage (primarily the Astartes from Colchis).The Word Bearers kept their faith in Chaos secret for many solar decades, remaining loyal, at least in name, to the Imperial Truth, until the events of the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, after which time they openly embraced their new faith without any pretense and eagerly joined the Horus Heresy.Were there those amongst the Legion who still wished to serve the Emperor? The current literature would seem to indicate as much. Those who refused to accept this new creed were "purged" from the Legion over the course of one solar week. This involved the elimination of every one of the Terran-born members of the Legion by The Brotherhood, as well as any Colchisian Astartes who refused to accept the new religious doctrine espoused by their Primarch.In order to accomplish these purges, Lorgar ordered an internal sect known as The Brotherhood to be formed, composed of his most loyal sons to carry out his will. The Urizen was notably mournful, acting with great reluctance when his hand was forced to form this clandestine sect.The Word Bearers novel Dark Creed by Anthony Reynolds speaks of the purges within the ranks of the Word Bearers against the Terran-born Astartes:"Our Fraternity represents divine change. On ancient Colchis, a billion souls were released from earthly flesh in the Brotherhood's purge of the Covenant, and great was the rejoicing; and stronger did Colchis become. The second cleansing saw the Legion's ranks purified of Terran taint; and stronger did the Legion become, its chaff cast aside." (pg. 111)"The Second Purge came a century later, after our blessed lord, the Urizen, had reunited with his Legion; after our glorified Primarch's eyes were opened to the lies of the golden-tongued so-called Emperor of Mankind." (pp. 184-185)"With realization came the understanding that the old beliefs of Colchis were the only truth in the universe; that the old gods were the only powers worthy of our faith and worship. There were those amongst our blessed Legion that would not have understood these things, brainwashed and conditioned as they had been in their formative years. Our lord Lorgar once more reformed the Brotherhood, again with great mourning and remorse. Thus were the Legion's ranks cleansed and unified. In one week, thus were all warrior brothers of Terran birth eradicated, leaving only those brothers of Colchis blood behind." (pp. 184-185)"Great was the Urizen's lamentation, for those warriors slain were his sons, his flesh and blood, children of his own gene-code. And yet, through no fault of their own and as a direct result of being raised in isolation from him, they had to be removed. Their will had been utterly corrupted by the lies of the False Emperor. Their souls had been closed off to the great truth." (pp. 184-185)There are a number of unanswered questions. Imperial records repeatedly describe units of Word Bearers stationed on Terra even as the Horus Heresy broke out, but it does not explain what happened to them, though these Astartes were most likely the Outcast Dead.In addition, like every other Legion, it is quite likely that the Word Bearers had their Astartes scattered in several different sectors, on missions that were sometimes held in common with other Loyalist formations. The fate of these Astartes remains unknown.The simple answer, for the moment, is that we can generally assume that, however briefly, there were Loyalists in the service of the Word Bearers, but we cannot be certain how many, where they were located, or even for how long they were permitted to exist.Previous sources intimated that there were Loyalists from all of the Traitor Legions who were eventually absorbed by other Legions or chosen for new tasks such as service with the Knights Errant -- but this contentious issue has not yet been settled.