Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

After the events resulting in Aun'Va's death in the duology Kauyon and Mont'ka, has there been any official successor or is it now just a council of Ethereals?

Lacking good FTL communication, the Tau pretty much have to have a largely distributed leadership.

 Psionara wrote:
After the events resulting in Aun'Va's death in the duology Kauyon and Mont'ka, has there been any official successor or is it now just a council of Ethereals?

It was always a council of Ethereals. Their governing body is quite literally the Ethereal High Council, with Aun'Va being the "first among equals" in that body (the latest "Ethereal Supreme" as the title goes)..

Sterling191 wrote:

 Psionara wrote:
After the events resulting in Aun'Va's death in the duology Kauyon and Mont'ka, has there been any official successor or is it now just a council of Ethereals?

It was always a council of Ethereals. Their governing body is quite literally the Ethereal High Council, with Aun'Va being the "first among equals" in that body (the latest "Ethereal Supreme" as the title goes)..

Very true. What I meant to convey is that, do they have a new "Ethereal Supreme" as of now?

 Psionara wrote:

Very true. What I meant to convey is that, do they have a new "Ethereal Supreme" as of now?

They do not, nor will they any time soon. Aun'Va's death is a state secret, and there's currently an AI controlled hologram impersonating him across the Empire for public functions.

Which makes no sense. How has nobody tried to elect a new Ethereal Supreme in the last couple of hundred years...

pm713 wrote:
Which makes no sense. How has nobody tried to elect a new Ethereal Supreme in the last couple of hundred years...

Sometimes its easier to patch up the house of cards and keep things going as they are, rather than risk shaking everything apart with a powerplay for the very top .Especially if the position steadily became more of a figurehead position than one with actual power within the Etherials; but outside of them had the opposite impression. Ergo that one person who could take seat might not have more power within the council, but might be able to wield far more with their influence over the masses.

I think a big part of it is not wanting to lose a (un)living legend like him since the failure of the Fourth Sphere Expansion attempt and the Great Rift effectively limiting their scope, and their ideology basically requires constant expansion to demonstrate that they are successful. To maintain morale, they need an icon of their previous explosive expansions to show that they still got it, even in the face of significant hindrances. Also, given that Tau propaganda is pretty thorough and their lifespans are already so short (and stasis is a thing) its easy to hand wave it and keep their figurehead.

pm713 wrote:
Which makes no sense. How has nobody tried to elect a new Ethereal Supreme in the last couple of hundred years...

Which would lead me to believe that even if he wasn't already assassinated, he would have died anyways due to the T'au's short lifespan according to The Munitorum Repot: The Tau in White Dwarf 91 (2015), unless retconned recently or they put him on ice like Puretide.

The only reason (I think) there isn’t a new ethereal supreme is because we have a model of aunva. Which is kinda dumb imo because they could just rename the model as a generic ethereal supreme and move on. It’s really a testament to how special characters drag down the lore.
It’s not like he’s been the one and only supreme ethereal anyway. He was only elected just prior to the 3rd sphere iirc. Him dying of old age, officially, would be far more believable than pretending he’s still alive.

So... what if the Tau who know about this guy all died and the Tau ended up being ruled by an AI? that'd be an intreasting grim dark twist, hell, the Tau could eventually become a bit like the Kree from marvel comics

Dandelion wrote:
Him dying of old age, officially, would be far more believable than pretending he’s still alive.

Tau empire is extremely authoritarian state, vastly more so than even a Stalinist USSR. Them having a cult of personality and infallible, perfect, undying leader is really nothing that far out and even pretty par for the course, I'd say. "If only daddy Tzar knew", eh?

BrianDavion wrote:
So... what if the Tau who know about this guy all died and the Tau ended up being ruled by an AI? that'd be an intreasting grim dark twist, hell, the Tau could eventually become a bit like the Kree from marvel comics

Wouldn't be grim dark at all. They've got their council and everything could just go on as normal, AI leader or not.

 Irbis wrote:

Dandelion wrote:
Him dying of old age, officially, would be far more believable than pretending he’s still alive.

Tau empire is extremely authoritarian state, vastly more so than even a Stalinist USSR. Them having a cult of personality and infallible, perfect, undying leader is really nothing that far out and even pretty par for the course, I'd say. "If only daddy Tzar knew", eh?

So a evil communist government that insists it's dead leader is still ruling them via a personality cult?

Tau = North Korea!

BrianDavion wrote:
So a evil communist government that insists it's dead leader is still ruling them via a personality cult?

Last time I checked, communists had no castes (and were in fact instrumental in removing them in a lot of places), especially as insanely strict as Tau ones (death penalty for writing poem or pressing reset button if you're not 'right' caste). Extreme societal stratification, social conservatism, pervasive ideology and praise of constant warfare fits far right government much better than anything left wing.

Though I suppose it fits China or North Korea pretty well, both dumped all pretenses of equality, social liberalism and mobility, and freedom long time ago becoming hard right, opressive states ruled by oligarchy, much like Tau

Also not relevant to the topic of who is to lead the greater Good.

 Overread wrote:

pm713 wrote:
Which makes no sense. How has nobody tried to elect a new Ethereal Supreme in the last couple of hundred years...

Sometimes its easier to patch up the house of cards and keep things going as they are, rather than risk shaking everything apart with a powerplay for the very top .Especially if the position steadily became more of a figurehead position than one with actual power within the Etherials; but outside of them had the opposite impression. Ergo that one person who could take seat might not have more power within the council, but might be able to wield far more with their influence over the masses.

I'd say it could lead to something interesting with AI but GW wouldn't do that. It could be interesting.

Wait, I skipped a chapter, I didn't know of it. Would anyone be so kind as to tell me how and when he died?

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Wait, I skipped a chapter, I didn't know of it. Would anyone be so kind as to tell me how and when he died?

A Culexus assassin had him for lunch on Agrellan Prime

Sterling191 wrote:

 Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote:
Wait, I skipped a chapter, I didn't know of it. Would anyone be so kind as to tell me how and when he died?

A Culexus assassin had him for lunch on Agrellan Prime

Well that's straight forward.

I still find it weird a Culexus did it. The assassin for psykers kills one of the famously not psychic races leader.

pm713 wrote:
Which makes no sense. How has nobody tried to elect a new Ethereal Supreme in the last couple of hundred years...

Because GW didn't make a new model for a replacement and still intend to sell the some Aun Va models. The fact that GW can ill afford to make a jump of several centuries for species who live only a century or so like the Tau. Now, they will have to find conveniant excuses to explain the continuous existence of all their special character. Aun Va is now an uploaded mind that controls an hologram.

epronovost wrote:

pm713 wrote:
Which makes no sense. How has nobody tried to elect a new Ethereal Supreme in the last couple of hundred years...

Because GW didn't make a new model for a replacement and still intend to sell the some Aun Va models. The fact that GW can ill afford to make a jump of several centuries for species who live only a century or so like the Tau. Now, they will have to find conveniant excuses to explain the continuous existence of all their special character. Aun Va is now an uploaded mind that controls an hologram.

They could easily sell it as Ethereal Supreme. Generic characters aren't hard.

pm713 wrote:
I still find it weird a Culexus did it. The assassin for psykers kills one of the famously not psychic races leader.

Unless they knew something about Ethereals that we don’t yet?