Had Renpa returned to Zhao pre Gian arc, and had Riboku resumed his position as well, how would their dynamic play out? Riboku is the GOAT that even Renpa acknowledges, but Renpa is an alpha male whilst Riboku is quite a humble person.
Would Renpa bow down to Riboku’s superior intellect?
Who is recognised as Zhao’s #1?
How do they get along with each other?
Whom do the Zhao soldiers respect more?
- Renpa never acknowledge Riboku as his superior, simply called him the most dangerous in China, which isn't strictly related to one's abilities as a general, but includes political aspects as well. It's all about whether Renpa returns first or whether Riboku returns first. If Renpa returns he'd be the top guy with Riboku serving as the strategist. If Riboku returns first, Renpa would be willingly going under him. Neither would have an ego conflict as they're uniting to protect Zhao against the Qin. More than likely though, they'd have equal authority as "Zhao 3" (Houken/Shibashou aren't really "Zhao 3" but more like substitutes) akin to the Qin 6.
- He would let Riboku make the strategies and intervene/go against where he sought fit.
- Renpa based off of reputation, or unclear until a campaign happened.
- Perfectly fine.
- Renpa, 3-5 decades of service under Zhao. The morale boost he gave to the Wei soldiers despite only being a Wei general for few days is something no other Zhao general has been able to replicate. It's like he said, people will always doubt whether the likes of Riboku/Shin/etc are clearly above the likes of Ouki/Renpa, until they accomplish an unprecedented feat, which is the unification.
We'd likely see the greatest morale boosting in the series so far if Renpa did return.
