Annotated 46-27
In earlier notes, this chapter included a lot of B’ial Vezk and sky elf stuff that we ultimately put into Chapter 47. There was also a different ending in which Harky, though spared by Penk, is still kind of broken past the limits of even troll healing. He retires from battle, content that trolldom has a future. Bonecrusher ascends to the world beyond, and we end with Auraugu at Madam Arfa’s bedside, delivering news of Penk and Harky’s contest that pleases her.
It wasn’t bad, but it was all a little unfocused. And I think we’ve been over why Harky ultimately needed to go. In light of that, we elected to keep Arfa up and around for a little longer.
Very nice silent moment in panel 2.
In his closing speech, Penk embraces the language of his allies that he once viewed with skepticism. The Gastonian Peacemakers are no more, but informally, he and his allies are all peace-makers now.
In the words of an ancient (Vietnam-era?) Playboy cartoon which I seriously doubt I could find online, “We shall sack and pillage them to the conference table”
I wonder if Penk might also have a thought or two about how his own reign will end eventually…
This kind of tradition is hard to get rid of because if you’re the head troll, and you try to change the rule that means you die at the end, that looks rather self-serving, and might trigger a contest right then and there. So maybe better not suggest that sort of thing.
I didn’t get the impression that a successor HAD to kill the previous chieftain – rather that that was what happened when a successor-to-be wanted to dramatically change things.
Especially considering that things are vaguely based off of World of Warcraft, and the mak’gora ritual is one only done when one defies the warchief (and has the clout to have some worthwhile support).
makes sense. I’m not too familiar with WoW-internal lore.
So, the “normal” way of succession would be to die of old age or in battle? Or is there a way to honorably hand over your position to someone else?
Not the person you originally replied to, but I spent a frankly embarrassing amount of time playing World of Warcraft on RP servers, as such I’m decently familiar with the lore. To answer your question:
There totally is. Warchief Thrall (of Warcraft 3 fame) gave up the title and made Garrosh Hellscream his successor just prior to the games “Cataclysm” expansion. They did fight a Mak’gora earlier, during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, which ended inconclusive due to being interrupted by an invasion (Blizzard is anything but subtle in their writing).
Apart from that the title of Warchief has mostly been passed on by virtue of the person currently holding it dying. Garrosh, for example, turned out to be a bad choice for a leader and became the big bad of the game just an expansion later, which lead to him being chased away (and some alternate reality shenanigans *another* expansion later. I hate what this game has become so much) and later (during said alternate reality shenanigans) killed by Thrall in a second Mak’Gora. He did, however, not reclaim the title of Warchief, but passed it to Vol’Jin, the leader of the Darkspear trolls (also of warcraft 3 fame).
Either way, peaceful transition of power is possible. Provided Blizzards writers remember that it is and they don’t need another bad guy.
Oh yeah, Blizzard writing … I did play Warcraft 2 and 3, and of course Starcraft 1 and 2 (still playing SC2 occasionally), and the campaign stories are … well they have their moments, but otherwise they’re not what I’d recommend the games for.
“Either way, peaceful transition of power is possible. Provided Blizzards writers remember that it is and they don’t need another bad guy.”
I personally wouldn’t bet on Blizzard’s writers deciding NOT to rehash the same concept for the umpteenth time, heh.
Yeah, it’s a lot closer to the normal way of succession. It’s not so much that there was a rule against peaceful transitions, but that orcs in a leadership role tended to want (or feel the need to) stay there, yet didn’t tend to lead wars from the back row. Also, the issue that the orcs have often been caught up in wars against external and internal enemies for most of their recent history.
Thrall stepped down as Warchief because he was one of the more prominent orc shamans, there was a major natural disaster that needed all hands on deck, and it’s vaguely implied that he both wanted his aggressive successor to be tempered by duty and his more moderate peers, as well as that he wanted the Horde to show a little fang in the wake of the recent tensions with the Alliance, and promoting a more warmongery general would help send that message. He also ended up having a kid as the disaster site finally started clearing up, so he stayed away for a bit longer. By the time he returned, his chosen successor had COMPLETELY lost his fucking mind, despite a rather promising start, and he didn’t feel worthy of the title in the wake of the sheer scope of his mistake, so he let the troll who’d first started leading the revolution take the mantle.
That’s a bit of a lore dump, but, basically, try to imagine Harky peacefully stepping down, if he and Penk HADN’T had completely different plans. He could have, sure, but he was very unlikely to do so. He would have felt the responsibility of the role, and the need to remain there, doing his best. He’d likely have given it over in old age, though. Instead, because neither of them was going to back down, they engaged in this duel, their sacred tradition for handling conflicts like this in a very conclusive manner. Harky, of course, knew that by forcing the issue, even if he lost, he’d still win by having ensured that Penk had the willpower to kill an ally – a friend – if need be, and with that kind of strength of will, he sure as shit wouldn’t let the humans push him around or fuck him over.
I’m reminded of how part of the way Tokugawa Ieyasu solidified the Tokugawa Shogunate was by “retiring” and allowing his heir to become Shogun while he unofficially ran things. By the time he died his son was firmly in power. I could see something similar happening here.