Can you say "Civil War"?
That's part of why the Imperium is so hostile to other immortals. To acknowledge another man out of time as equal to the Hegemon would undermine his authority, and thus that of the Emperor, which would likely lead to significant political instability. On the other hand, if other immortals are pretenders or deceivers, there is no cognitive dichotomy necessary to justify why men should follow Viktor instead of these others.





