King on His Deathbed: Difference between revisions
m
clean up
m (Mass update links) |
m (clean up) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
The King, [[The Emperor]], or the high commander has become terminally ill, but lingers on his deathbed for weeks or months. His loyal retainers stand vigil at his side, mourning the loss of their leader and dreading the moment of his death... or are they? Is seems the anticipated power vacuum has kicked off furious machinations among the members of the court. Heirs and aspirants to the throne are collecting as many supporters as they can beg, bribe or threaten. There may even be whispers of [[Civil War]].
Line 6:
If the royal power is still lucid, he or she may be desperately [[Thanatos Gambit|trying to prevent]] the looming anarchy, but hindered by their lack of trustworthy lieutenants. If the illness is such that they are senile, insane, or comatose, they will [[Succession Crisis|not yet have named their heir]], or left standing orders that make things awkward for everyone, but no one has the authority to rescind them.
If it wasn't a [[Deadly Decadent Court]], it probably is now. Expect to see power plays by [[The Grand Vizier]], [[The Evil Prince]], The [[Royal Bastard]]
{{examples}}
Line 45:
== Tabletop Games ==
* In [[Warhammer 40000]] the Emperor of Mankind has been on life support for ten thousand years, while all around him the "High Lords" politic and scheme. In this case there's no question of
** Something similar played out with his rebel son Konrad Curze, whose descent into crippling madness tore his legion apart long before he died. His assassination by a Calidus assassin was more of an excuse for the [[Night Lords]] to dissolve than an actual reason to do so.
* ''[[Exalted]]'' has an interesting variation; the Scarlet Empress is merely missing, rather than dying, and speculation among her Dynasty includes factors not only related to the possibility of her confirmed death but also of her potential entirely healthy return (which would include her easily resuming control of the empire's superweapon network).
| |||