The Amani, Gurubashi, Drakkari, and Farakki empires were acting at the behest of the Zandalari in MOP, and appear at least somewhat beholden to them when we visit Dazar’alor.
Now that the Zandalari are in the Horde, what do we have, if anything, to suggest what becomes of these groups? Are they now de-facto members of the Horde under the Zandalari?
Yes. We are getting some troll tribe customisation options in Shadowlands.
Well, technically the Farraki were never their own empire. They were a subordinate jungle troll tribe within the Gurubashi Empire that got isolated by the Sundering and became their own sort of independent city-state as the mutated into sand trolls.
Forthcoming new customization options suggest at least some of the other tribes will be siding with the now-Horde-aligned Zandalari, but it’s hard to say how extensively that will happen. The “big three” tribes have been prone to shrugging off Zandalari guidance whenever it suited them (well, it’s “big two” now, with the Drakkari allegedly extinct), but the other smaller tribes have seemed generally more inclined to follow the lead of Zandalar in spite of what the bigger ones did.
I could possibly imagine the likes of the Mossflayers, Skullsplitters, and numerous other smaller tribes (including sand and frost trolls) opting to follow the Zandalari, but honestly the Amani and Gurubashi in particular come across as a little too culturally obsessed with ruling their old empires again to be able to peaceably coexist with the Horde. After all, Chronicle established that the original raids on Zul’Aman and Zul’Gurub were carried out by the Horde, while the second assaults were joint-faction endeavors. It’d seem unlikely for those two specific tribes to just let bygones be bygones after the Horde was responsible for repeatedly invading their cities and violently thwarting their efforts to regain power.
I feel like I’m a weird demographic because I very much like both Blood Elves AND Trolls, Amani included. Zul’jin got done dirty, and I’d be down for incorporating all the troll tribes, including the Amani, into the Horde. Rebuild the Troll Empire in the Horde!
That said, Alliance and Horde have kicked Amani around enough that I have a hard time seeing them willingly joining the Horde, even with the Zadalari’s endorsement.
The only angle I could see maybe working is the Amani really just don’t have any choice and are forced to join the Horde because they just can’t protect themselves anymore, but even then it seems unlikely.
Plus there’s that whole thing where the Amani feel pretty entitled to take all of the lands currently held by the blood elves. Whether one agrees with the justification behind such a sentiment or not, it’s a pretty hard sticking point that would keep them out of any faction that contains said blood elves.
And it’s arguably moreso the case with them than even the other forest tribes; the rest seem to have their own staked-out regions in historically troll lands that they’d probably just be content with keeping and rebuilding if the Horde helped them hold back or oust the local humans and dwarves, but the Amani come across as rather heavily defined by the belief that it’s all theirs, from Tirisfal in the west to Zul’Aman in the east, and from Silvermoon in the north down to Arathi in the south, with the other forest tribes being their subjects therein.
everything was simple before elves joined the horde
trolls were good and pink skins were bad
They’re all hostile. The Zandalari order regular purges of their parts of the city, using the Horde to carry them out.
If those tribes are suddenly okay with the Horde then that’d be stupid as hell and visa-versa. Blood Elves would never accept the Amani.
If Blizz is so inclined, they’ve shattered, smashed, and beaten the hell out of the other troll tribes enough that they could take sub-elements of any of them and make them in to a small Horde faction to justify customization options, if nothing else.
I mean, the Revantusk already exist, so there’s your forest trolls right there. Drakkari splinter? Drop an island off the north coast of the Broken Isles where a small tribe has managed to not be genocided by zombies and themselves.
At this point it isn’t even a big deal except for us lore freaks. There isn’t that much left of any of them, and it would just be fun customization options for troll players.
Those tribes are not members of the Horde and I don’t see them serving under the Zandalari at all. For one the Drakkari are apparently extinct and the Amani, Gurubashi, and Farakki were so anti Horde that they willing to attack the group, of which Princess Talanji was about, for bringing Vol’jin’s urn to Atal’Dazar.
With that said the upcoming customization options for playable Darkspear does include being a sand troll. Though it’s uncertain if that means that the Farakki have joined as a whole or if it’s a sign of individual members joining of their own accord. At the same time if Blizzard did implement a forest troll option then they could easily just have them come from the Revantusk tribe, who are already apart of the Horde.
I think that Drakkari case was very strange. We already stopped the main invasion of Scourge in WotLK and dealt with Drakkuru. Secondly Drakkari had a huge expedition moving on boats and we met a LOT of them in Pandaria. If 500 of them survived then they can be restored to decent numbers, especially if they would also get number boost via Frostmane tribe. Drakkari held a very big zone and had a very big population.
“Fallen Tribe” can attribute to the fact that they sacrificed their loa but I find it hard to believe that all of them perished offscreen. It’s additionally confusing that Dark troll skin is coming as customization option. And the only tribe that was flat out said to be extinct beside one member was Shadowtooth, that was the only well known tribe of Dark Trolls.
I think the reason why they gave Drakkari so little consideration was because Zuldazar was meant to have Tal’Drak on top of the mountains where Drakkari emissaries were meant to live and they couldn’t be bothered to make it.
I believe it was stated that the new customization options represent individuals choosing to join the Horde, not entire tribes shifting allegiences.
The dominion that the Zandalari have over the “lesser tribes” has always been a tentative thing. They can be a powerful unifying force for the tribes, but to be that they have to appeal to the tribes with something that they want.
Zul’s Pandaria expedition was able to muster a large and diverse base of support from the other tribes by promising to radically change the world order, returning the tribes to their ancient glory. This isn’t something that Talanji can promise. She can’t tell the Amani that she’s going to exterminate the Blood Elves and give Quel’Thalas back to them. She can’t tell the Gurubashi that she’s going to wipe out the Orcs, Darkspear, Goblins and Humans in Stranglethorn for them.
The Zandalari Empire’s new political alignment puts them at odds with the other tribes, not in a position to lead them.
The tribes are in a very unique position at the moment. While it is true that before BFA, none of them would have dreamed of allying with the Horde, times have changed with one event. Rastakhan’s death.
Even though they despised his choice to allow the Horde in, they still respected him as the King of Zandalar. His funeral was the first time we encounter a large number of Farakki and Amani that are NOT hostile in the moment. They would also know it was the Horde who defended not just Zulduzar, but them during the invasion of Dazar’alor. This may be the chance for them to change their perspective and gain back what they’ve lost through uniting instead of fighting.
Then of course we have Sen’jin’s prophecy about Vol’jin uniting the tribes. There could be something there we have yet to see.
This is what I’m hoping has some tangible effect going forward. Sen’jin’s prophecy wasn’t just that he’d lead the Darkspear to a brighter future, he’s supposed to lead ALL of Troll kind to that future. At least, those that are left. This would theoretically include the Gurubashi, Farakki, and Amani.
Honestly, it would be so cool if we got to see some Character development for current Horde Troll reps in regards to these issues. Rokhan is responsible for bringing in the Farakki, giving him a chance to strut his stuff as a Tribal leader. Talanji can deal with the Gurubashi; due to the tribe’s proximity to Human territories and encroachment. Loa’jin can take the most difficult group, with the Amani. It would be a nice chance to give all 3 some growth, and flesh out each tribes current leadership situation. Even just a small quest chain for each.
You’re not alone: my 3 dearest characters are my NE druid, this DH and my Zandalari Prelate. 
Like Pyrano, you’re not alone. My two favorite races are the Blood Elves and Trolls 
It will take some effort for the Troll tribes to come close to accepting the Horde in any capacity, but you never know where the story is going, not with this crew writing it.
The Empires are gone. In order to be an actual empire, you have to rule over a foreign people. The Amani are but one of several forest troll tribes, over which they don’t have much actual control. Witherbark, Mossflayers, Firebranch, Shadowpine, etc still do their own thing. Same with the Gurubashi and the various jungle troll tribes. Someone already covered the Faraki. They were empires when several disparate tribes and other peoples were united under the leadership of a singular tribe. That’s not the case anymore.
Despite its name, the Zandalari probably doesn’t truly qualify either, as it doesn’t actually rule any other troll tribes. The other tribes don’t pay any taxes/tribute, don’t seem to follow its laws, etc. Then again, the Zandalari do seem to also lead the Vulpera and Tortollans that share their island, so maybe that’s where the empire part comes in. When it comes to the other tribes, the Zandalari have cultural cache and general respect, but they can’t actually dictate what the other tribes do.
But back to the other tribes acting at the behest of the Zandalari…
We see representatives and members of several different their tribes there, but I wouldn’t say they were really acting at the behest of the Zandalari Empire. The Zandalari Empire didn’t really ask much of them to begin with, and even then, tribal disagreements weren’t/aren’t an unheard of thing in Drazar’alor.
And when the Horde champion go to deliver Vol’jin’s ashes with Talanji’s blessing, they are opposed by other tribes who disagree.
It’s important to realize that trolls aren’t a monolith- if they ever truly were one. They tend to operate according to the old saying of “I, against my brothers. I and my brothers against my cousins. I and my brothers and my cousins against the world”.
At some point trolls might be reunited under the Zandalari again, but I think that’s still a ways off.
Given that the zandalari are part of the Horde and the Options of Dark trolls and Sandfury trolls I think it implies in SL All tribes have joined the horde.
That is the only logical change.
Blizzard said that the extra skin options represent individuals joining the Horde. Not groups. It’s not the same as allied and main races.
What about Rastakhan’s funeral? That event was showcasing a huge solidarity among the trolls. I think it should’ve been the event that actually pushed some changes within troll societies.
If Rastakhan had to die it would be better for his legacy to contribute to something positive, to make trolls look past their previous conflicts and focus on cooperation and self preservance.
Many trolls from various tribes showing up to Rastakhan’s funeral is a show of respect for Rastakhan/Zandalari, not recognition that he actually had any real authority over them in life.