So we know that Nolan was the son of Emperor Argell and that he was the heir to the throne of Viltrum. And when his father was murdered no one knew who Nolan was and their society fell into chaos. But how did no one know who he was? Why wasn’t Argell raising his heir and telling people who he was? Also, I’ve heard that Nolan had half-siblings is this right?
My guess is overconfidence.
Argall was probably the only one left alive who knew, because he’s an immortal unstoppable Viltrumite king, right? He’s the only one who NEEDS to know. In another 10,000 years or whatever, he might be feeling a little older and is ready to step down, then he’ll tell whoever he needs to that Nolan is the heir.
Argall had heirs but weren’t they all kept hidden away so that assassinations and power plays wouldn’t be made for the throne?
people are pointing out protection from assassin’s but also viltrumite are social darwinists it makes sense their heirs would be raised without knowledge of their royalty to ensure they grow as strong soldiers rather then getting by being pampered by kissasses, this also prevents succession a succession crisis, any royals who are not the chosen heir will simply never know
I don’t think it’s really explained in the comic.
It’s possible that he was one of many heirs and that there was no one specific person meant to inherit the Empire until selected. Another possibility is that he wasn’t a direct heir to him but rather two or three generations removed, meaning that Nolan’s parents would have very potentially not even realized his lineage. The last and, in my opinion, most likely explanation is that Robert Kirkman didn’t specifically plan out all of the minutiae of the series and just left this to the waist side or thought it up later