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Varian is now the official High King of the Alliance
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Post by
Lordplatypus
To me, High King is more like an emergency measure. WWII, US, all japanese rounded up and placed under arrest due to fear of spies. WWII, Britain, All democracy ceased for war. a Total war (What the Alliance-Horde conflict now is) means more than just war. it means that everything is a second priority to winning the war now. as a result, varian takes the helm to help the alliance keep a more co-ordinated effort rather than 6 nations fighting on their own.
Post by
Skreeran
To me, High King is more like an emergency measure. WWII, US, all japanese rounded up and placed under arrest due to fear of spies. WWII, Britain, All democracy ceased for war. a Total war (What the Alliance-Horde conflict now is) means more than just war. it means that everything is a second priority to winning the war now. as a result, varian takes the helm to help the alliance keep a more co-ordinated effort rather than 6 nations fighting on their own.I can understand this, and honestly, it's probably a strategically sound move. All the Horde needs to do to implement a strategy or a strike a blow is for the Warchief to say it. The Alliance has to coordinate six independent countries militaries and if, say, the Dwarven Council of Three Hammers doesn't agree on a plan, their armies might not be able to play the part they need to in a campaign. By selecting a supreme leader, everything can be orchestrated more smoothly.
Now, the big worry on everyone's mind is that, like seems to always happen in fiction when drastic measures are taken in wartime, the government will never rescind their power, justifying it as there never really being an end to war (e.g. The Emperor, the governments in 1984, the Patriot Act, etc.).
Post by
Behelich
When the Romans called upon a dictator to protect the republic, only Caesar ended up never giving up the power. A desperate measure, but probably justified.
Besides, I don't really see Varian all too willing to usurp the supreme power over the Alliance - even though he probably puts his kingdom first, he's smart enough to realize that Stormwind will fare better in times of peace without its king lording over five more nations.
Post by
588688
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Adamsm
Still could have just called it the Supreme Commander, and made it one of the Generals from any of the races, rather then making one of the actual racial leaders it in a ham-fisted attempt to make the Alliance like the Horde.
Post by
588688
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Lordplatypus
Still could have just called it the Supreme Commander, and made it one of the Generals from any of the races, rather then making one of the actual racial leaders it in a ham-fisted attempt to make the Alliance like the Horde.
It's also a tittle to sound cool.
Now, the big worry on everyone's mind is that, like seems to always happen in fiction when drastic measures are taken in wartime, the government will never rescind their power, justifying it as there never really being an end to war (e.g. The Emperor, the governments in 1984, the Patriot Act, etc.).
Varian already hates being king enough.Imho being HIGH king to him, sounds like a sacrfice more than anything else.
Post by
Skreeran
I suppose we'll see. As I mentioned before, post-Cataclysm, I don't really have anything against Varian, except that I think his backstory is really contrived and he's been forced into an unnatural parallel to Thrall. If this is just a strategic thing, and he's going to step down once things between the Horde and Alliance cool down (which, based on all the themes presented so far in Mists, they're going to have to), then I'll be happy.
Unfortunately, with Blizzard's track record, I don't think they'll end up doing it.
Post by
Skreeran
This is actually a very good explanation for why a supreme military leader is necessary.
Granted, it focuses on why the war had to happen, but it points out the elves trying to go it alone against a united Horde, and the Horde rolling over the humans in Stonetalon, but the Alliance presenting a more united from in Mists.
Post by
Adamsm
It's also a title to sound cool.That's the absolute worse reason to ever list a title; those types should be dragged out into the street and shot as Garfield was always so fond of saying.
Post by
588688
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Anne
My take is that in a war there has to be an ultimate authority,one that everyone trusts. Would the Dwarves like to see Tyrande in charge? Would the Draenei answer to the Council of 3? Would Gnomes answer to Velen?
Varian seems to be the obvious choice, also Stormwind is fairly central.It also has a harbour.
The Varian we see now seems to have his two sides well incorporated and his anger issues under control. He also has a very good reason for going into the fray, Anduin.
The model seems to loosely follow chess in this expansion the way of the two princes, black and white we now have two "kings" which in a way balances the sides. The new bases are set on each end of the beach, with fighting in between.
The horde is increasingly fragmented, the Alliance incrasingly unified.
"For the King"......your move ;)
Post by
Lordplatypus
THANK YOU!
As I was saying, there's certain "Realpolitik" matters in such a thing as a war.
Having a badass like wrymbane in charge would be nice, but we need field commanders FOR THE FIELD, The king's proven himself better as a tactician than Leeroy Hellscream (Thats not saying much though, i'm pretty sure westfall chicken would outmaneuver hellscream). A great speaker (Read his short story for one great example) and ofcourse, a perfect figurehead.
Tyrande's too wild and religous
Velen's too focused on the burning legion to fight the horde
The council of 3 is already at eachothers throats as is
Greymane is a newcomer unknown to many and even hated by others.
Mechatorque wouldn't be popular because A) Playerbase would revolt if they were lead by a gnome, and B)Not good at speeches and kinda short for a figurehead.
Post by
Adamsm
kinda short for a figurehead.Only an idiot would judge a leader by his height.....
Post by
Lordplatypus
He's unable to rally the troops, a key aspect of leadership.
Post by
Adamsm
He's unable to rally the troops, a key aspect of leadership.
Um....what? Did you do Operation Gnomeragon or the Gnome starting area? He was able to do both of those, and led his people deep inside...plus you know, as seen in his Leader story, he kicked ass massively.
Oh....and one more thing: The leadership of the Gnomes is done through a vote; his people still have a #$%^ ton of confidence in his skills as a leader, and on another note, out of all of the Leaders, the High Tinker is easily the most intelligent: again, see his leader story where he used the trap to kill three Troggs unarmed and left Thermaplugg bisected and crushed.
Post by
Lordplatypus
The thing is, Can he inspire the same confidence in the rest of the alliance?
Can he get the other leaders to follow him?
Post by
Adamsm
The thing is, Can he inspire the same confidence in the rest of the alliance?
Can he get the other leaders to follow him?
He probably could, same as any of the other faction leaders can.
However, as shown above, all Varian is doing is just taking over the position of Supreme Commander, and Blizzard decided to put a silly title instead.
I'd still rather have Shandris Feathermoon though.
Post by
229054
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
H3Knuckles
I think you guys are coming at this all wrong. You gotta think like aristocracy and commissioned officers do. Titles are super-important status symbols in that kind of culture. A Supreme Allied Commander is a Commander who is superior to all allies. A Commander, as in a commissioned officer, which is to say beneath a King. It would probably be considered improper to bestow a monarch such a lesser title. The aristocracy would expect Varian's new title to represent a kind of promotion or additional honors over what he already was; thus the "High King."
It's not to say that he's a "king of kings" or anything, just that he has been granted responsibilities beyond those of the other Alliance rulers.
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