Why is Rastakhan a king instead of an emperor? or some kind of incredible title for that particular empire, like i dont know a kaiser, imperator, big kahuna, head honcho, sapa inca or a totally invented title or name given to their particular emperor?
i can go on, Troll overlord? Great dazar?in name of the first troll emperor? Zandalor of the zandalari? i dont know… i know its nitpicking but it just breaks suspension of disbelief for me every time i hear genn calling him king and rasta answer that he has an empire.
The British Empire had Kings and Queens, not Emperors and Empresses. It’s just the naming convention that was used.
5 Likes
I didnt knew this, makes more sense, now i could argue it would make more sense if he is called an emperor, it says here that one of the reasons they avoided the title was to not give the feeling there was an absolute monarchy, since zandalar looks much like an absolute monarchy… but im no troll so i dont know much about that.
In terms of power, it seems that Rastakhan ruled absolutely within Dazar’alor, but we also know that his power was very limited within the subject states of the Empire. Zul’Drak and Zul’Gurub both essentially told the empire to screw off at various points in time, after all.
Keep in mind that these kinds of definitions - what’s a King vs what’s an Emperor - are inconsistent and usually made up long after the people holding these titles are already dead. (further complicating this is the term “chieftain,” which often just means “King from a culture that I think is too primitive to deserve the word ‘king’.”)
We know the “First King” was Dazar. He ruled what was presumably a smaller Kingdom, which expanded over time by conquering its neighbors. At some point they started calling their holdings an Empire. So why didn’t they adopt a higher title? Who knows? Maybe Dazar’s descendants thought it would be disrespectful to him, in the same way that Kael’thas insisted on being called a Prince out of respect for his father.
His title should’ve been “Mayor,” since all that seems to be left of the alleged empire is one city.
7 Likes
It is also woth knowing that in truth rulers of countries have a lot more than one title, for example Queen Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India.
We could say that Rastakhan is the king of Zandalar but the Emperor of troll land.
off topic, i Kinda want to see some sunstrider bastard trying to claim the throne from theron
Welp i already stand corrected about his title.
Felomalorn quest already covered that. The only ones left with the Sunstrider family name are so far distant relatives that their claims aren’t viewed as any more valid than any other noble.
So in short, without a love child of Kael’thas or Anastarian showing up, there is nobody with a strong enough claim.
Let alone, Anastarian appears to have been the first one where the title of Sun King was an active leader, rather than an honorary title honoring the Heir of Dathramar Sunstrider.
That didn’t stop the last of the Byzantine Emperors, did it?
1 Like
I am surprised there aren’t one or two by-blows out there. Perhaps one will show up at a later date.
You mean like her most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Kronos, Regina Andor, Emperor Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius ?
Well… you never know, this is a fantasy setting i bet they can pull something like “only a true sunstrider can put this crown/scepter/whatever of dath remar/anasterian/sunstrider dinasty” then bam, legitimate bastard = mildy meaningful conflict for theron and the blood elves.
They’re not. I’ve quested in the zone and they feel more like a city state. I’m going to assume that they call themselves an empire because they hold onto the legacy of the first united Troll empire.
They’re pretty Byzantium where even though the Byzantines were reduced to a couple of outpost and Constantinople, they were still referred to as an empire. It’s the legacy.
The night elves had an empire but azshara was still their queen. Emperor’s in Roman society were often either selected as successors or seized power it was rare that their children would stick around and rule I mean it happened but usually the kid meant an uh unfortunate end. Kings and queens more describe a hereditary line of succession than the form of government being used in that nation
Doesn’t even have to be a bastard–Kael didn’t have an official wife, so he could have had a secret one if the devs want an unquestionable Sunstrider heir. But frankly, I’d rather the current crop of writers stay away from blood elf story as much as possible.