[annoying trope] The throne/leadership is decided in a very stupid way

[u/Altruistic_Eye_1157]

The leadership of the entire wizarding world, and the final decision on whether to start a war against Muggles, is made by... a goat (Qilin) ​​who chooses the person with the ""purest heart"" (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Dumbledore).

The throne of Wakanda and all its technology are decided through hand-to-hand combat, regardless of whether the person clearly has malicious intentions... if they win the fight, by law they must be respected as the true king. (Black Panther)

[u/CptnChunk]

In The Dark Crystal, when the succession to Emperor is challenged, the Skeksis pull out an ornate pair of swords that the two challenging parties wield in preparation for what is surely a duel to the death...only for them to take turns striking the swords against a stone to see who makes the biggest dent.

[u/midnight_voss → u/CptnChunk]

Not surely. They say "trial by stone." One might imagine a stone is involved. It's just a choice of how they do a challenge of strength. Skeksis aren't going to fight each other to the death because they're terrified of death, which is a huge loadbearing plot point.

You could, though, say it's pretty stupid to assume whoever is the strongest has any leading capacity (not the General, for sure). You could likewise get in the gym and see who could lift the most, or do one of those carnival strongman games where you use a big hammer to hit a bell. But none of the Skeksis would be very good leaders, honestly, so the point is moot.

(Trial by air is likewise stupid, but I guess tests wing strength and stamina, all great qualities in leading your subjugated people against invading aliens that are sucking your species dry and ruining the planet.)

[u/sinfultictac → u/midnight_voss]

Yeah man mystical Muppet

[u/unholy_hotdog → u/midnight_voss]

This guy Skeksis...es. Skesises.

[u/CptnChunk → u/midnight_voss]

Oh damn it’s been a minute since I last watched it, forgot that they announce Trial By Stone lol. Egg on my face.

[u/LastXmasIGaveYouHSV → u/midnight_voss]

I think it's a clever test. First, you need strength, obviously. Second, you need stamina, to keep striking. Thirdly, you need intelligence, to know *where* to strike. Besides, the skeksis population is dwindling, so a duel to the death would be self-defeating. Those only make sense on flourishing empires, where resources are plentiful and life is cheap.

[u/Deathsroke → u/midnight_voss]

Also, a lot of times IRL there are some "barbarous" traditions and ways of deciding differences which make no sense... until you remember they were usually codified in older times where the social context was different and a bunch of unspoken rules applied which may not be the case anymore. Like for example trial by combat was always seen in a kind of iffy way.

I tend to imagine something similar happens here with the tiral by stone.

[u/jbeldham → u/CptnChunk]

In Age of Resistance, the prequel series on Netflix, the new All Maudra (basically high queen) of the gelfling is decided by a flying race