Argall's Assassination

Argall's Assassination stands as a defining moment in Viltrumite history, unfolding ages ago on Viltrum when the race's first emperor, Argall, dies at the hand of Thaedus. The killing closes the era that bears Argall's name, long remembered as the height of Viltrumite civilization.

The chain begins with the Relonians, a conquered people who bomb one of Viltrum's resource sites in ongoing revolt. Argall convenes the Viltrumite Council to decide a response. Kregg demands a sweeping cull to make an example of them, while Thaedus argues that the Relonians resist precisely because their occupiers are cruel, and that real restraint would serve Viltrum better. Asked for his view, Thragg agrees Viltrumites prize strength but claims the Relonians lack it, framing their weakness as an affront to the natural order. Argall orders a quarter of the population destroyed, warning that continued rebellion means total extinction, and Thaedus dares not defy him openly.

Walking out afterward, Thragg voices unease over Thaedus and his newfound talk of mercy, and Argall tells him to handle any threat himself. Thaedus, now the first Viltrumite to fully break with the Empire, resolves that ending Argall's cruel reign might steer his people toward change. Armed with a dagger, he slips into the throne room under cover of night and kills the emperor in cold blood.

Rather than reforming, the Viltrumites grow crueler after the emperor's death, and Thaedus flees the homeworld to escape execution, thereafter known as The Betrayer and marked the Empire's foremost outlaw. Later, red-cloaked Viltrumites bear Argall's casket in a solemn procession beside the council and a scarlet-clad Thragg. Delivering the eulogy, Thragg vows to purge every trace of the treachery and tests an older councilor over any wish to betray the Empire. Unconvinced by the man's denial, he beheads him before the whole assembly, declares himself Grand Regent until an heir of Argall can be found, and orders all Viltrumites to fight one another to the death to burn away perceived weakness. As the purge rages, Thragg settles into Argall's throne to await its end.