I wonder if the Ilclan is really just one clan and instead all the IS clans as some form of gestalt political entity mixed with what's left of the Republic, it would give a lot of friction between all the internal factions that would give writers a lot to play with if/when they want to get rid of them.
As for factions needing to be knocked down a peg, yep, some do need that, Drac's, Wolves, Falcon's, Cappies all do. As much as i'm not that much of a fan of the Fed's i don't want to see them become the cappies as under dog MKII, just slapped enough to change them, but they've had their time at the top and need a noticeable shake up, map wise not just internally. I also don't want to see the cappies remain the under dog either maybe a absorbing or joining with the Magistracy in an official manner and loosing some of the gains into Fed Suns so that they become stronger but allow the Feds to not get too kicked down, but that will rankle some Magistracy fans.
As for the Bears, if they get attacked they have enough forces in a relatively small area to attack back, but if they get left alone they will become stagnant, maybe the Commonwealth try their luck over the worlds the Bears accepted that were formerly Lyran worlds that the Wolves held.
Ok this turned into an incoherent ramble, sorry, if i waited until i was awake enough for this to make sense, i would have forgotten it :-[
