#otomai

First of all, in the OVAs, King Oakheart heavily implied that he and his wife never planned for their kids to go through arranged marriages unless absolutely necessary. As evidenced when he said the queen never would have allowed him to let Amalia marry Harebourg.

Secondly, for all his flaws, there's no way Armand would have been so intent on courting Eva back in season 1 if he had been promised to an Osamodas princess by then, as the relationship would have objectively had no future to begin with. And there's no trace of the Sheran Sharms being ones to take mistresses or concubines outside of their marriages in the first place.

And then there's Aurora herself. While there's no official statement on her age (I personally headcanon her to be about 27 years old), there is no denying that she was probably conceived as younger than Armand. Especially when we take into account her design from season 2 as opposed to her redesign in season 3.

Armand looks pretty much the same throughout the show because he was already a young adult by the time he was introduced at 21 years old, but Aurora's redesign confirms she had yet to hit her growth spurt back in season 2. Which makes her original design look like a particularly buxom 14-year-old.

This in turn would suggest that those two weren't engaged back then since Aurora was still too young. Even if such age difference is nothing new in real life politics, there's (thankfully) no indication of that being the case in the World of Twelve.

(With the sole exception of Count Harebourg and Amalia, but his nature as an immortal demigod murkies the waters).

So that leaves the question, why did Armand choose to marry Aurora in the first place? Outside of his hopeless flirting with Eva, there was never the slightest indication that Armand was in any hurry to marry, nor was it a requirement for him to ascend to the throne. Which also has the side effect of making his dogged insistence of Amalia marrying at 22 look all the more hypocritical.

But I digress.

Seriously, why Aurora? Why ally themselves with the Osamodas Kingdom out of all the possibilities?

The World of Twelve consists over about two dozen territories/kingdoms, as evidenced by the assembly from season 4.

Objectively speaking, there's no way Armand couldn't have chosen a queen consort between at least half of those kingdoms. Or even marry a Sadida noble or even commoner, as it can be easily interpreted to have been the case with his own parents.

So why go out of his way to choose Aurora? What was ToT thinking when he decided for her to become an "important" character in the late seasons? What's his reason for turning what was introduced back in season 2 as a reasonable and even accepting kingdom into the hateful characters we know today? Was he just referencing the fact that, back in the Dofus era, the Sheran Sharms were both the Bontarian Royal Family and Osamodas?

To be completely honest, after much consideration, I've come up with two possible explanations. One is funny, though not necessarily unlikely, and the other one is more serious and realistic.

Let's start with some humour, okay?

As my friends @cocogum @kokiriri and @lucemet can testify, for the longest time now I've just been waiting for a specific issue of Slices of Life Wakfu to drop: an issue aptly named "A Bride for Armand."

I swear to God, given the comic's overall silly tone, I will not be at all surprised if it was revealed that the reason Armand chose Aurora as his wife was because she reminded him of Eva and he subconsciously chose her as his old crush's replacement.

It sounds cruel, I will give you that, but it can't be denied that Armand was shown to be quite shallow in his crush on Eva; there was never any indication that he cared about her beyond her beauty. Moreover, even his marriage to Aurora was shown to be quite superficial in its affection; there's nothing to indicate why he would come to care for her beyond the unfortunate implication that he fell for her manipulations when she kept siding with him over his arguments with Amalia because it also served her goals.

But I'm getting sidetracked. The thing is, you can't tell me that Armand looking for a replacement for Eva isn't likely, especially when we take into account the very skin-deep similarities between both women (they couldn't be any more different in every other aspect).

After all, both are point-eared blondes with a noticeable rack.

Though I have to admit, if this were the case, then he might as well have chosen an Eniripsa princess, especially with their queen looking like an aristocratic version of Eva. But, oh well, I still have hope.

Now, as for the most serious reason, I'd say it all traces back to what happened during the OVAs. And that is the fact that, except for Otomai and Master Joris and his family, nobody but the Brotherhood of the Tofu was willing to help the Sadida Kingdom during their time of need (Harebourg doesn't count since he had ulterior motives for helping Amalia's people).

Something Armand was bitterly aware of and did not hesitate to point out.

Starting with the OVAs, every time the Sadida Kingdom has been in need of help, the vast majority of nations have turned their backs on them, culminating in the Sadida and Eliatropes warding off the Necro threat in season 4 entirely by themselves.

If we get inside Armand's mind, that of a royal who knows it's only a matter of time before he becomes king and starts calling the shots, then it's easy to deduce he probably sped up his marriage with the sole intention of ensuring his kingdom will count with powerful allies who won't turn their back on his people.

Which makes what happened with the Osamodas all the more tragic, even if it aligns with a flaw that's been following Armand since season 1: his arrogance and difficulty knowing who his true allies are.

Think about it, his arrogance is what constantly leads Armand to overlook people in his blind belief that his position as heir to the throne and older brother ensures he will always know best. And in spite of their saving his kingdom and the world countless times in the past, Armand never really showed the Brotherhood of the Tofu their due respect. Not even Amalia, his own sister.

He did admittedly get better in season 4, but he took Eliatrope's meddling as a personal attack meant to humiliate him, was rarely shown being grateful to Yugo for all his help and for choosing time and time again to protect his kingdom out of altruism and genuine love for Amalia, and was about to decline the Eliatropes' help during the war despite being the only ones willing to assist until his sister pointed it out.

All in all, while it doesn't make you feel for him any less, it is really not surprising that he chose to marry into the one kingdom that would eventually betray him and see his territory as nothing but an extension of their own power. Hell, might as well have married a Sram.

(That last image is the exact moment when the Osamodas King whispers to Aurora that nobody will go to help and to flee back to their kingdom, by the way).

As for why he would choose the Osamodas in specific, I can only assume he was under the impression that their seemingly symbiotic relationship would ensure their loyalty, similar to the relationship between the Sadida and Cra. Much like how both races benefit from a solid alliance thanks to the Sadida supplying the Cra with wood and bows in exchange of their protection, Armand probably believed the fact that their forests and plants provide the Osamodas' animals with shelter and food was enough for Aurora and her family to want to protect them.

Sadly, that was not the case.

All in all, this serves to highlight yet another difference between Amalia and Armand, and another possible reason as to why many of their subjects would rather be ruled by her: even though Armand was the one raised to be king, it's Amalia with the better diplomatic skills and who's best surrounded by allies. (Excluding her jumping the gun during the webtoon, that is).