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This is kind of a double-barrelled POD, with the first leading to the second.

During the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, Theodoric, King of the Visigoths (i.e. not Theodoric the Great, who was born shortly afterwards) was slain unbeknownst to his men during a charge, and his son Thorismund was told by Aëtius to consolidate his troops and go home to secure his succession instead of chasing the retreating Huns.

Motivations for Aëtius doing so range from pure avarice (wanting to keep all the battlefield phat l00tz) to political acumen (as long as the Huns were around the Visigoths could be held to their alliance with Rome.)

Earlier in the battle, Thorismund had also blundered into Attila's camp, nearly getting himself surrounded by Huns until his men broke him out.

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So, what if Theodoric was still alive and his son's survival was hence not super crucial (I mean, it's still important but the king's still there), and the Visigoths press their advantage and achieve a decisive breakthrough into Attila's bivouac?

Ancient sources (Jordanes?) state that Attila had heaped spare saddles into a massive pyre and was ready to self-immolate if the Romano-Gothic forces did actually break through, so let's say they do and he dies an appropriately metal death.

What are the immediate and long-term outcomes? I can see these possibilities for the Huns, the Romans and the Visigoths:
  • The Huns are screwed. The battle was a tactical draw but a strategic defeat in OTL, and there's no way to spin this any way but worse ITTL. The Huns barely stayed unified a year after Attila's death in OTL, and they'll probably break up even faster now.
  • The Romans aren't looking great either even if Attila is defeated this early, given that the anti-Hun alliance will soon become invalid and the migration waves will continue unabated without Hunnic territory acting as a "buffer" or "stopgap". It's not like OTL Western Rome was in a particularly good spot after Chalons, given how Aëtius couldn't stop Attila from breaking into Italy later. Speaking of which, Aëtius's job security is now a lot less secure...
  • The Visigoths may break from Rome earlier than OTL and consolidate their gains in Spain, but would they do so under Theodoric's leadership, or would Hispania be spared by a generation?
That's all I've got for now. Let me know what you guys think!
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