User blog comment:Magma MK-II/Category Cleanup (continued)/@comment-25886777-20160502201449/@comment-26884760-20160503161555

not all despots need be the true "supreme leader" either, even in reality it was seldom the case.. Joffery was a pawn but he still held enough power within his setting he was seen as "King" and any Dark Lord, by very definition, holds power over inferiors.. if they have a superior themselves that's just the price of tyranny, always a larger fish in the sea.

a despot may serve a larger despot if it benefits them, just as any villain may work with a greater villain if they feel it will accomplish something (or if they simply want to keep power) : better to rule as a puppet-king after all than a slave.