The political and inheritance system of the Holy Britannian Empire is pretty similar to that employed by the Japanese themselves during those few times when the emperor was an actual leader and not just a figurehead. Those high enough up the social ladder have wives and concubines, the Emperor having the most impressive harem of all, and all of the Emperor's children are raised to think of themselves as having a shot at the throne - if they can prove they deserve it. There is intense inter- and intra-house rivalry as everybody tries to intrigue their way to the top; the Emperor encourages some of his children and incites vicious competition among all of them; being born into the royal family means that your "family" consists of your mother and maybe any full siblings you might have; your Father (capital F) is the boss you are born under and are destined to overthrow. It's a little bit naive, in my opinion, to make value judgements about Charles' parenting. He's not trying to be a 'daddy'. He's trying to hold on to and consolidate power as long and as much as possible while grooming (ideally) one successor. On the subject of why it seems that only the Emperor is polygamus, I would assume it's because he's the only one with a Royal Blood Line to preserve and a throne to protect. Nobody else needs to go to such extreme breeding measures to produce a suitable heir; nobody else needs to create the next Emperor. A question of my own - does it ever look to anyone else like Charles' true favorite is Lelouche? There's something about all this that makes me think he's testing Lelouche especially hard because he expects the most from him. And if he dies during the test, there's always Schneizel.
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On the subject of why it seems that only the Emperor is polygamus, I would assume it's because he's the only one with a Royal Blood Line to preserve and a throne to protect. Nobody else needs to go to such extreme breeding measures to produce a suitable heir; nobody else needs to create the next Emperor.
A question of my own - does it ever look to anyone else like Charles' true favorite is Lelouche? There's something about all this that makes me think he's testing Lelouche especially hard because he expects the most from him. And if he dies during the test, there's always Schneizel.