eatingcroutons:

jinlinli:

so a quick meta

ive seen some posts joking about how crappy the ritual combat method is for picking a leader of a nation, but honestly? i think it’s kind of brilliant. 

because one of the most important facets of this ceremony is the fact that the leaders of the five tribes choose whether or not to challenge the ascending king. it changes the whole process from a simple ritualistic duel to a test of the future king’s diplomacy, political strength, and his relationship to the five tribes.

a future king who has established strong ties to the other tribes will never need to fight for his throne. the ritual combat is a symbolic representation of this. he will neither have to fight physically in ritual combat or politically after he ascends. in a monarchial society, this ceremony acts as a check on the king’s power. if the future king is hated, has done an injustice to any of the other tribes, or is in any way unfit to rule, they can remove his ability to ascend to the throne and replace him with their own candidate. no one can fight five equally strong warriors consecutively without eventually yielding.

remember that t’challa would not have had to fight at all if m’baku or killmonger hadn’t entered the picture, and both of them were unexpected random elements that appeared at the last minute. if the ceremony had gone as it was supposed to, he would’ve ascended the throne without conflict because he’d done what he was supposed to do and gained the trust and loyalty of all the tribes.

I really like this interpretation! And it’s supported by the information in the artbook:

“The idea of anyone coming in to challenge and having to fight is a big surprise with this tradition. Everyone dresses up, and it’s almost boring. As Shuri says, ‘Come on, can we get on with this? This outfit is uncomfortable.’ So although everyone goes there to talk about the challenge, there has never been one–and then all of a sudden there is one.” 

– Victoria Alonso, Executive Producer